Here is what the Memphis Argus (Memphis was in Federal hands at the time) said of the Fort Pillow battle as reported in the New Orleans Daily Picayune (New Orleans was also under Federal rule):
Capt. Young, Provost Marshall, was taken prisoner, slightly wounded, and paroled the liberty of their camps, and allowed to see his wife. He says that our troops [the Federals] behaved gallantly throughout the whole action, that our loss [Federals again] in killed will exceed 200; he also stated that Gen. Forrest shot one of his own men for refusing quarters to our men.
IIRC, there are a couple of documented occasions where Forrest personally shot one of his own soldiers in the heat of battle for not following his orders. You didn't want to encounter his temper.
Forrest also would threaten the enemy with annihilation if they didn't surrender. Here is what Union correspondence said Forrest sent them at the Battle of Murfreesborough:
MURFREESBOROUGH, July 13, 1862.
COLONEL: I must demand an unconditional surrender of your force as prisoners of war or I will have every man put to the sword. You are aware of the overpowering force I have at my command, and this demand is made to prevent the effusion of blood.
I am, colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
N. B. FORREST,
Brigadier-General of Cavalry, C. S. Army.
The threat often worked. Forrest was known to treat prisoners fairly.
Forrest had a strong advantage at Fort Pillow which he pointed out to the Feds. He sent them a surrender offer twice. The Union soldiers in Fort Pillow were holding out for reinforcements from visible Federal boats on the Mississippi and didn't accept Forrest's offers. Forrest sent part of his force down to the river to successfully block the Union reinforcements.
Bump. Any "atrocities" that occurred at Ft. Pillow were the blame of stupid Union commanders. Forrest was a soldier and a gentleman, a man of his word. Many of his former slaves served under him, refusing to leave. Often charged with creating the klan the opposite is true - Forrest did not create it, but he did call for it to be dismantled. After the war Forrest worked to improve relations, evidenced in part by the speech he made to the "Pole Bearers" cited previously. I think it says volumes that that group invited him to speak and present him with flowers of appreciation.
The comments made by ignorant posters on this thread are ample evidence of the power of brainwashing. The character of many good Southern men have been tarnished, simply to paint them as some unworthy opponent. For me, I'll take the words of a black Mississippi congressman John F. Harris anyday (1 Feb 1890):
I am convinced that had he [a political opponent] seen what I saw at Seven Pines, and in the Seven Day's fighting around Richmond, the battlefield covered with the mangled forms of those who fought for their country and for their country's honor, he would not have made the speech. When the news came that the South had been invaded, those men went forth to fight for what they believed, and they made no requests for monuments. But they died, and their virtues should be remembered. Sir, I went with them. I, too, wore the gray, the same color my master wore. We stayed four long years, and if that war had gone on till now I would have been there yet. I want to honor those brave men who died for their convictions.Kudos to Gen. Forrest and the brave men who sacrificed all.