THE BUCK ISLAND MASSACRE
by Harold Bouldin

    Buck Island near Guntersville contained about 80 acres in dense forest land before the dam was constructed.  Several farmers brought their cattle in the winter to feed on evergreen cane, which grew up to 30 feet tall in some places.  Much of the island was so think in undergrowth that it could only be penetrated by an axe.  This was the setting for the worst massacre that the citizens of Marshall County experienced during the War of Northern Aggression.

The story of the massacre is condensed from the original by Dr. John Allen Wyeth, who wrote the account in 1897 in Harper's Weekly.  Dr. Wyeth got the story directly from the only man to survive the attack, Mr. C. L. Hardcastle.

Ben Harris was the acknowledged leader of a band of Federal terrorists who toook sides with the North.  Harris lived on the Paint Rock river, knew all the trails, and proved to be a valuable guide for the Union Army.

On December 21, 1863, C. L. Hardcastle of Gurley came home on furlough from the Confederate Army to visit his family who resided just north of Guntersville.  Shortly after his arrival, the entire community was greatly alarmed to hear that Ben Harris and a gang of criminals had shown up.

Fearing that he would share the fate that the Yankees meted out to captured Confederates, Hardcastle made efforts to hide.  Hardcastle, together with James M. Roden, Porter Roden, and R. M. Roden, sought to hide in a crude one room hut which had been built by Mr. Benjamin Roden.  The small cabin was built to live in while Roden's cattle winter fed.  Benjamin soon joined the other Confederate soldiers in hiding.  Most of the men were soldiers in the 48th and 49th Alabama infantry.

On the morning of December 27th, 1863, they were awakened by a knock on the door and a loud demand for their immediate surrender.  When they opened the door, there stood Ben Harris!  Harris and his henchmen were accompanied by a squadron of United States Calvary.

Harris demanded Ben Roden's cattle, and he promised them their lives if they would aid them in ferrying the cattle back across the river.  After the stock were safely across the river, the five captives were taken a few hundred yards down the river and informed that they were to be shot.  The Rodens had known Harris for many years and called him aside to plead for their lives.  It was no use; Harris wanted no witnesses.

Harris, being generous as most Yankees were, did allow the men a few minutes to pray.  In another monumental act of generosity he told the condemned men that they could send any of their gelongings home to their families.  Porter Roden gave Harris several things to carry to his wife and children and then led the poor condemned men in prayer.  After the prayer, the brave Confederate soldiers turned to face their executioners.

Hardcastle was the last one in line.  Harris and his men fired at the head of the line, shooting each one tow or three times with their pistols.  When the first pistol shot hit Hardcastle, he fell to the ground as if dead, although he was only wounded in the arm.  Harris and his men threw the bodies into the river and never noticed that Hardcastle was still very much alive.  They did become suspicious as the bodies floated off downstream - they fired more shots at them.  C. J. Hardcastle managed to survive to tell the world of the massacre.

The question of who informed Harris that the Rodens were hiding with their cattle is not known, but it is thought that Charlotte Roden, the sister-in-law of the condemned men may have been the culprit.  She was said to be a Union sympathizer, and people in the area generally feared her.  Charlotte may have been embittered by the fact that her husband was killed by the Yankee invaders at the battle of Chancellorsville.

The Roden boys are kin to several members of the DeKalb Rifles.

DEO VINDICE!!!