If -you- deny that a massacre occured at Fort Pillow, you will lose credibility completely.
"Without doubt, the most famous series of atrocities in the war occurred at Fort Pillow, some forty miles north of Memphis, in April 1864. There a force of 1,500 Confederate cavalrymen under the command of Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest demanded the suurender of the fort, manned by some 550 Federals, nearly half of whom were black soldires. When the Union commander refused, Forrest's forces stormed the fort and killed, wounded, or captured almost the entire garrison. Some two-thirds of all black soldiers at Fort Pillow lost their lives, while Confederates killed 36 percent of all white troops. Forrest and Confederate authorities claimed that no such thing occurred, that only black soldiers who continued to fight or tried to escape lost their lives. Eventually, the U.S. Congress's Committtee on the Conduct of the War investigated the affair and concluded that Forrest's men had butchered black troops. Southerners, on the other hand, argued that the report was sheer propaganda, and that Forrest and his command had done nothing wrong. Testimony from both Federal and Confederate troops and civilians on the scene, indicate that Forrest's men did execute some black soldiers. No one will ever know how many men from the USCT lost their lives after they had surrendered, nor will anyone satisfactorily determine Forrest's role in the massacre."
--From Joseph T. Glathaar: "Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers" (New York: Free Press, 1990), at pp. 156-157
CAIRO, ILL.,
April 18, 1864.
General M. BRAYMAN.
GENERAL:
We have the honor of reporting to you, as the only survivors of the commissioned officers of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, that on the morning of the 12th day of the present month, at about the hour of daylight, the rebels, numbering from 5,000 to 7,000, attacked our garrison at Fort Pillow, Tenn., numbering as it did only about 500 effective men.
They at first sent in a flag of truce demanding a surrender, which Major Booth, then commanding the post (Major Booth of the Sixth U. S. Heavy Artillery, colored), refused. Shortly after this Major Booth was shot through the heart and fell dead.
Maj. William F. Bradford, then commanding the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, assumed command of the fort, and under his orders a continual fire was kept up until about I p.m., when our cannon and the rifles of the sharpshooters were mowing the rebels down in such numbers that they could not make an advance. The rebels then hoisted a second flag of truce and sent it in, demanding an unconditional surrender. They also threatened that if the place was not surrendered no quarter would be shown. Major Bradford refused to accept any such terms; would not surrender, and sent back word that if such were their intentions they could try it on. While this flag of truce was being sent in the rebel officers formed their forces in whatever advantageous positions they were able to select. They then formed a hollow square around our garrison, placed their sharpshooters within our deserted barracks, and directed a galling fire upon our men. They also had one brigade in the trenches just outside the fort, which had been cut by our men only a few days before, and which provided them with as good protection as that held by the garrison in the fort.
Their demand of the flag of truce having been refused, the order was given by General Forrest in person to charge upon the works and show no quarter. Half an hour after the issuance of this order a scene of terror and massacre ensued. The rebels came pouring in solid masses right over the breast-works. Their numbers were perfectly overwhelming. The moment they reached the top of the walls and commenced firing as they descended, the colored troops were panic-stricken, threw down their arms, and ran down the bluff, pursued sharply, begging for life, but, escape was impossible. The Confederates had apprehended such a result, and had placed a regiment of cavalry where it could cut off all effective retreat. This cavalry regiment employed themselves in shooting down the negro troops as fast as they made their appearance.
The whites, as soon as they perceived they were also to be butchered inside the fort, also ran down. They had previously thrown down their arms and submitted. In many instances the men begged for life at the hands of the enemy, even on their knees. They were only made to stand upon their feet, and then summarily shot down.
Capt. Theodore F. Bradford, of Company A, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, was signal officer for the gun-boat, and was seen by General Forrest with the signal flags. The general in person ordered Captain Bradford to be shot. He was instantly riddled with bullets, nearly a full regiment having fired their pieces upon him. Lieutenant Wilson, of Company A, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, was killed after he had surrendered, he having been previously wounded. Lieut. J. C. Ackerstrom, Company E, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, and acting regimental quartermaster, was severely wounded after he had surrendered, and then nailed to the side of the house and the house set on fire, burning him to death. Lieut. Cord Revelle, Company E, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, was shot and killed after surrender.
Maj. William F. Bradford, commanding our forces, was fired upon after he had surrendered the garrison. The rebels told him he could not surrender. He ran into the river and swam out some 50 yards, they all the time firing at him but failing to hit him. He was hailed by an officer and told to return to the shore. He did so, but as he neared the shore the riflemen discharged their pieces at him again. Again they missed. He ran up the hill-side among the enemy with a white handkerchief in his hand in token of his surrender, but still they continued to fire upon him. There were several Confederate officers standing near at the time. None of them would order the firing to cease, but when they found they could not hit him they allowed him to give himself up as a prisoner and paroled him to the limits of the camp. They now claim that he violated his parole the same night and escaped. We have heard from prisoners who got away from the rebels that they took Major Bradford out in the Hatchie Bottom and there dispatched him. We feel confident that the story is true.
We saw several negroes burning up in their quarters on Wednesday morning. We also saw the rebels come back that morning and shoot at the wounded. We also saw them at a distance running about, hunting up wounded, that they might shoot them. There were some whites also burning. The rebels also went to the negro hospital, where about 30 sick were kept, and butchered them with their sabers, hacking their heads open in many instances, and then set fire to the buildings. They killed every negro soldier Wednesday morning upon whom they came. Those who were able they made stand up to be shot. In one case a white soldier was found wounded. He had been lying upon the ground nearly twenty-four hours, without food or drink. He asked a rebel soldier to give him something to drink. The latter turned about upon his heel and fired three deliberate shots at him, saying, "Take that, you negro equality." The poor fellow is alive yet, and in the hospital. He can tell the tale for himself.
They ran a great many into the river, and shot them or drowned them there. They immediately killed all the officers who were over the negro troops, excepting one, who has since died from his wounds. They took out from Fort Pillow about one hundred and some odd prisoners (white) and 40 negroes. They hung and shot the negroes as they passed along toward Brownsville until they were rid of them all. (Out of the 600 troops, convalescents included, which were at the fort, they have only about 100 prisoners, all whites, and we have about 50 wounded, who are paroled.
Major Anderson, Forrest's assistant adjutant-general, stated that they did not consider colored men as soldiers, but as property, and as such, being used by our people, they had destroyed them. This was concurred in by Forrest, Chalmers, and McCulloch, and other officers.
We respectfully refer you to the accompanying affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle, lettered A, and those of Mrs. Rufins, lettered B, and Mrs. Williams, lettered C. Respectfully submitted.
F. A. SMITH,
First Lieutenant Company D, 13th Tennessee Cavalry.
O.R.-- SERIES I--VOLUME XXXII/1 [S# 57]
From a letter to his family by Sgt. Achilles V. Clark of Forrest's command, written a few days after the massacre. The original is in the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville:
"The slaughter was awful--words cannot describe the scene. The poor deluded negros would run up to our men, fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but then were ordered to their feet and shot down. The white men fared but little better." Incidentally, Clark wrote that he and others tried to stop the butchery, only to find that "Gen. Forrest ordered them shot down like dogs and the carnage continued."
There is some confusion in the various accounts, but no one today doubts that a large number of black Union soldiers were executed.
Declaring a "no quarter" policy was no excuse then, and certainly shouldn't provide mitigation now.
Walt
I deny that most of what was written in the Northern newspapers was true. The only real "massacre" aspect of the battle was the mercilessly effective firing done on the troops trying to retreat to the boats and a secondary defensive position they had prepared below the bluffs. They were cut down mercilessly in a crossfire, which was a 'massacre', of sorts. Such 'massacres' are usually bragged about when done by Union troops. "Good planning, and effective shooting", would be your words for it if the tables had been turned. Forrest and his officers ordered a stop to that firing as soon as they arrived. Even the union testimony attests to that. Much of the "testimony" of the "atrocities" that is often quoted are patently fantastical and contradictory and are disproven by other union survivors with more credibility. The same goes for the "official report" of the US 13th Tennessee. Major Bradford never surrendered the garrison, and that cute little story in their "official" report that he was fired upon after doing so is typical of the lies and twisting of truth in the unit's report. He never surrendered the garrison, even the garrison's surgeon (among others) attested to that fact. Yes, the firing done on the retreating members of the garrison was "merciless", that is probably a good way to describe it. Those men ran straight into a cross fire. The same thing happened to many Confederates at other battles.
If the letter of Achilles Clark, which I could not find listed in the holdings of the Tennessee State Archives, professes that General Forrest "ordered them shot down like dogs", it is directly contradicted by the testimony of nearly everyone else, including Union witnesses who testified that General Forrest immediately ordered firing ceased the moment he arrived.
There is some confusion in the various accounts, but no one today doubts that a large number of black Union soldiers were executed.
I agree that there is confusion (and outright contradiction) in the union accounts. I would also say that some were wrongly shot. But most were killed "in the heat of battle", during the initial storming of the fort (which never surrendered) and then as the rest fled to their secondary postition. The union plan, as testified to by union officers, was that if the garrison fell, they would fall back to a previously prepared position under the bluffs where they had stashed ammunition and would continue to fight until they could reach the boats. The gunboats were to cover their retreat from the garrison and hold off the Confederates until they could evacuate. Unfortunately, the gunboats had abandoned them. The few that reached the secondary position, after traversing through a crossfire, realised that there was no hope without the boats, and did try to surrender. No doubt some of those were wrongly shot, just as Confederates were sometimes wrongly shot trying to surrender to Union troops after a hotly fought contest. Fort Pillow became a fantasy event for Union propagandists, and much more fiction was written about it than truth. If it was a "massacre", then the Union is just as guilty of committing such "massacres". It is an unfortunate fact of war that sometimes soldiers are shot trying to surrender when others about them still fight.