On January 25, 1865, Confederate guerillas attacked Company E of the 5th United States Colored Cavalry while the unit was driving a herd of 900 cattle to Louisville, killing about 22 men and severely wounding at least eight. Based at Camp Nelson, nearly all of the recruits were former slaves, and the 5th had also fought in the 1864 Saltville battles. The troopers killed in the 1865 Simpsonville slaughter were buried in a mass grave by local residents, and the area was then used as an African American cemetery operated by members of the Trim #2 United Brothers of Friendship Lodge until the last member died in 1965. The lodge hall was located in Simpsonville.