Bottom line, if his officers or enlisted were out of control to the degree that the kill ratio was 14:231, he had to be aware of the continued firing after the battle was over.
Foote is a great story-teller but not noted as a forensic historian. Check out: Albert Castel, The Fort Pillow Massacre: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence, Civil War History, 1958. Castel is a retired professor of History at Western Michigan University.
But let's go ahead and see what Foote has to say: Shelby Foote, The Civil War, a Narrative: Red River to Appomattox (New York: Vintage, 1986), 110
"Some kept going, right into the river, where a number drowned and the swimmers became targets for marksmen on the bluff. Others, dropping their guns in terror, ran back toward the Confederates with their hands up, and of these some were spared as prisoners, while others were shot down in the act of surrender."
How about Confederate soldier Achilles Clark, who wrote to his wife that “I with several others tried to stop the butchery. . . , but Gen. Forrest ordered them [Negro and white Union troops] shot down like dogs, and the carnage continued.”
Union surgeon Dr. Charles Fitch, who was taken prisoner by General Forrest, testified that he saw Confederate soldiers “kill every Negro who made his appearance in Federal uniform.” There is no question that Forrest demanded surrender twice threatening no quarter. When that was refused, Forrest's men carried out the No Quarter orders, Forrest probably saw the carnage and tried to stop it, too late for 231 black prisoners.
Forrest was responsible.
But let’s go ahead and see what Foote has to say: Shelby Foote, The Civil War, a Narrative: Red River to Appomattox (New York: Vintage, 1986), 110
“Some kept going, right into the river, where a number drowned and the swimmers became targets for marksmen on the bluff. Others, dropping their guns in terror, ran back toward the Confederates with their hands up, and of these some were spared as prisoners, while others were shot down in the act of surrender.”
Its telling what you didn’t ‘copy’ from the same page.
Many of us actually own the three volume ‘narrative’. You can pull that with others, but not with me.
The Union wanted a fight and expected the gunboat to cover their retreat should one occur. Forrest was known for treating prisoners fairly
As for the report, "Southerners might argue the document [Commission Report] tissue of lies from end to end, which it was." - Shelby Foote
Gandalftb, you and LS should swap stories about how inaccurate Shelby Foote is since he's Southern.