Any civil war is extremely nasty.
From Free State Civil War Events and the Jasper Raid
"It was on or about the 8th of June, 1862, when Stoke Roberts, with about 20 men, came into the county [Winston]. It was said that the group came from Eldridge, the west part of Walker County; that, while their names are not known, the men lived in northeast Fayette, southeast Marion, and northwest Walker. Roberts and his men arrived in the vicinity of Rock Creek Baptist Church, about four miles north of Double Springs, about eight o’clock, A.M. Wash Curtis, the oldest son of Solomon Curtis and a brother of [Probate] Judge Tom Pink Curtis, lived about two hundred yards northeast of the church. ‘Wash’ Curtis had been hunting as well as hiding from the ‘invaders,’ as he called the Enlistment Officers, just as many others were doing...Wash Curtis rode up to his home and hitched his horse. His daughter had arrived with her young baby about eight o’clock, or a little before. The weather was a little cool. Shortly after Wash reached the door and greeted his daughter with a kiss, his wife returned with two buckets of water from the spring. Her given name as shown by the U.S. Census in 1860 was Nancy, her daughter being named for her mother. ‘Wash Curtis, Dear, I have got a plenty of food prepared for you to do you a couple of days, there in that sack. You should lose no time in getting it, and getting away from here. Strange men have been slipping around here. Two groups have been in sight at two different times in the last half hour. They are surely Confederates, for they didn’t look right. Wash, I beg you, believe your dear wife, you had better get your sack of food, and get away from here, or it will be too late. We will all be in trouble, unless you hurry. Go now!’ Wash replied to his wife, ‘Dear, I have not seen my grandchild, as it is on the bed asleep. I will have to hug and kiss my grandbaby this morning, for I may never see it again.’ Just as Wash was making the foregoing reply, his daughter ran into the house, grabbed her sleeping baby in her arms and ran back to her father, who hastily took it into his arms, hugged and kissed it, while tears were streaming down his cheeks. While this was taking place, Wash’s wife screamed out: ‘Wash, yonder they come! Be in a hurry, or they will get you...It was too late. Just as he got balanced in his saddle, he applied his heel spurs to his horse a little too hard. This excited the horse, and caused him to stand on his rear feet. Just as the horse’s front feet reached the ground, he refused to go forward. Wash, again, applied his spurs to the horse’s sides, which caused the horse to stand on his rear feet again when Wash, about the same time pulled the left rein of the bridle, which caused the horse to whirl to the left in a circle almost half around to face the invaders. They were within sixty to seventy-five yards up the road, the old Cheatham Road, and they were still getting nearer every second. Without any orders to halt, or any warning whatever to the victim, Wash Curtis was shot by several of the invaders led by Stoke Roberts. Wash died in less than a minute. When Roberts saw that Wash Curtis was dead, he immediately turned and fled up the road, down which they came. They fled in great haste...
The Home Guard was a group, usually of older men not able to fight in the Confederacy, who went around to get supplies for the Confederate Army. However, several of these groups turned out to be robbers and murderers. In December of 1863, the second child of Solomon Curtis to die during the Civil War was Joel Jackson Curtis from the actions of Captain F. Lee B. Goodwin's men. The following is an account from And West is West by Charles E. Wilson:
"The Home Guard captured Joel and carried him to Jasper and put him in jail. He was given five days to sign up with the Confederate Army. Joel refused and they carried him to what they called the Slaughter Pen and shot him in the back. He was buried in a shallow grave. At the time of Joel’s death he was married to Lucinda Barker. When Lucinda heard of Joel’s death she went to Jasper, dug him up, and brought him to Union Grove. Some of the neighbors helped to bury him next to Wash and Solomon. Lucinda made this trip in a steer wagon, which was a slow way to travel. She had to make this trip herself. The men knew if they went to help her they would be put in jail. On her way back some of the people along the way tried to get her to spend the night with them. She refused due to the condition of Joel’s body as he was stinking."
Then comes the revenge:
In August of 1864, Jim Curtis, another brother to those killed and was also, at one time, tax collector of Winston County, learned about the deaths of his brothers and got a furlough from the Union Army; he worked in a hospital. While he was at home, he was captured by Southern Raiders and put in jail in Jasper. Either on the way to the jail or during his stay in the jail, he learned the names of the men who took part in the killing of his brothers...Jim Curtis continued his "manhunt" of those who took part in the killing of his brothers. He killed two of them in Walker County, shooting them in the dogtrot of their home. He also killed two in Texas and two in Mississippi.
Civil wars are blood feuds, and they don't end until everyone's desire for revenge has been slaked, or everyone is dead. That's always been true, and if Ukraine slides into one, it will be true for them too. Nothing modern about it; it's as old as humanity. Which is why the responsibility of all concerned should be to
make sure it does not happen.
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