1864 — Apr 12/13, massacre, Confederates kill captives, esp. black, Fort Pillow, TN– ~300
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-12-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–~300 Blanchard estimate. Though there is a large range of fatality estimates noted in sources
below (180-600), our reading persuades us to use the number of approximately (~) 300 deaths as noted in most of the sources below.
–500-600 Brigham, James R., civilian store clerk, Fort Pillow, statement, p 108-9, US Cong.[1]
— 503 NYT. “The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Additional Particulars…” 4-22-1864, 1
— ~450 Surviving officers statement, 13th TN Vol. Cav., 4-18-1864, p. 105 in US Cong.[2]
–400-450 Underwood, Dr. Chapman. Testimony, 4-22-1864, US Congress, Fort Pillow…[3]
— 400 NYT. “The Black Flag. Horrible Massacre by the Rebels.” 4-16-1864, p. 1.
— ~400 Wardner, USA Surgeon Horace, in US Congress. Fort Pillow Massacre, 1864, 14.[4]
— 356 NYT. “A Word to the European Admirers of Southern Chivalry.” 4-19-1864, p. 4.
— >300 Encyclopedia Britannica. “Fort Pillow Massacre.”
— >300 W. Ferguson, Acting Master USN., Com’dg U. S. Steamer Silver Cloud; in US Cong.
— 300 History.com. “Fort Pillow Massacre.” 6-21-2019.
— ~300 Lincoln, President Abraham, in NYT. “The President at Baltimore.” 4-24-1864, p.3[5]
— 300 NYT. “The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Official Confirmation of…Report.” 4-17-1864, 1.
— 300 Spartacus Educational. “Fort Pillow Massacre.” www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
— ~300 TN History for Kids! “Fort Pillow.”[6]
— <231 Rickard, J. “Fort Pillow Massacre, 12 April 1864.” Historyofwar.org.
— >180 Burkhardt. Confederate Rage, Yankee Wrath: No Quarter in the Civil War. 2007, 117
Narrative Information
(In Alphabetical Order)
Burkhardt: “Neither Forrest[7] nor his men knew that Fort Pillow would become a cause célèbre, a bitter controversy reverberating for many years after their attack. Assuredly, they never dreamed that it would create a great propaganda coup for the North or a benchmark for Civil Ware atrocities, light the fuse for a private war or provide a chilling battle cry. While it was not the first, last, or largest, the massacre that ensued was the only one widely and almost immediately publicized by many different sources from both sides. Civilians, newspaper correspondents, and Federal sailors and soldiers arrived just after the last killings, and they repeated what they had seen and heard. There, also, Confederate officers conceded a slaughter had occurred but defended the bloodletting, and Forrest’s men soon wrote home and to newspapers candidly describing the butchery of black and white Federals….
“From a military standpoint, Fort Pillow had no importance in 1864. Each side had at times occupied and abandoned the place. Confederates had built it and then left in June 1862. Federals ignored the empty fort for three months before sending troops to watch over the Mississippi River near the midpoint of Tennessee’s river border with Arkansas. After that, nothing much happened at the isolated post with its small civilian population, trading store, and tiny hotel. Sherman eventually decided the post was unnecessary and ordered it vacated in early January 1864. Without his approval or knowledge, the area commander ordered black and white troops to return in early February. Major William F. Bradford’s cavalry battalion of loyal Tennesseans arrived first and then a unit of thirty-four black artillerymen came shortly after. Major Lionel F. Booth’s four companies of the 6th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery were ordered there on March 28.
“Forrest led a two-brigade force of about fifteen hundred men, with Brigadier General James R. Chalmers in nominal command. One brigade had Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas troopers in seven regiments and an independent battalion, while the second brigade had three Tennessee regiments. After a long, exhausting ride in miserable wet weather [from Paducah assault], which caused sickness and short tempers, the first troops arrived about 5 A.M. on April 12…They saw an earthwork with a perimeter of 320 feet. Shaped like an irregular, shallow bracket, it faced landward on a seventy-five-to one-hundred-foot bluff overlooking the Mississippi. Six-foot-thick walls shielded defenders, and a deep, wide moat ringed the works. However, a half dozen knobs on nearby hills enabled snipers to fire down into the fort, cabins near the south face could conceal riflemen, and ravines creasing the ground permitted the protected approach of assaulting troops. On the north side, a creek flowed into the river, and near its mouth, a ravine turned southward, encircling the fort for almost half its length. Design flaws required defenders to expose their heads when firing and created blind spots near the earthwork….
“Once inside the fort, the Confederates began an indiscriminate massacre….Without question, a horrific slaughter ensued after Forrest’s troops entered the fort. Without let or hindrance, they slew helpless, wounded, unarmed, or surrendered black and white Federals; hospital patients; civilian men, women, young boys, and allegedly, black children. Some Confederates later tried to justify the killing with the contention that some black soldiers refused to surrender or continued to resist. At the time, though, most made no pretense that it was anything but a wholesale butchery impelled by remorseless fury….
“Sergeant Achilles V. Clark, 20th Tennessee, a slaveholder and former college student, told his sisters, ‘The slaughter was awful. Words cannot describe the scene. The poor deluded negroes would run up to our men fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. The white men fared but little better. Their fort turned out to be a great slaughter pen. Blood, human blood stood about in pools and brains could have been gathered up in any quantity.’….
“Federal losses approached 100 percent. Of the twenty-one officers, twenty became casualties. Ten were killed, three wounded, six became prisoners, and one lieutenant escaped by donning civilian clothes and walking away. However, the precise number of enlisted men in each loss category cannot be determined. Just before the attack, the garrison numbered 580 officers and men, but some men deserted after that report. On the other hand, probably present were some uncounted recruits, both black and white. As of April 8, Bradford’s Battalion had 285 officers and men, and about 85 were killed while almost all the rest were either wounded or captured, adding up to a 97 percent loss. The two black artillery units had a strength of 292 officers and men, and 112 lived through the massacre. Survivors included a maximum of fifty-seven men taken prisoner, thirty-two wounded, two officers absent that day, and about twenty soldiers who escaped by hiding. Based on this survivor count, 180 black soldiers and their officers fell during the slaughter, but that toll rose to at least 200 when badly wounded men succumbed or died on the march southward as prisoners. By this tally, the black units had more than 68 percent killed and lost 93 percent of their strength.
“Yet Forrest’s men and the sailors reported burying about 450 bodies, although duplications occurred. That tally does not include those who drowned or some overlooked by the burial parties. A large number of civilians and some uncounted recruits probably account for the extra graves. In Southern reports, the civilian mortality rate almost matched that of the garrison. Confederates blamed the citizens for the high toll, insisting that the foolish and fearful people had plunged lemminglike into the river to drown. Forrest also reported capturing ‘about 40 negro women and children,’…He advised President Davis, ‘It is safe to say that in troops, negroes, and citizens the killed, wounded and drowned will range from 450 to 500.’….” (Burkhardt, George S. Confederate Rage, Yankee Wrath: No Quarter in the Civil War. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007, pp. 105-106, 109-110, 116-117.)
Cimprich, John. Fort Pillow: A Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory.: “A high bluff in the Fort Pillow[8] State Historic Area gives visitors a panoramic view of the Mississippi River….The fort’s fame rests upon a massacre, the occurrence of which has been questioned….The Fort Pillow incident in 1864 stands out as the most famous atrocity of the nation’s bloodiest war….” (Cimprich, John. Fort Pillow: A Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory. Louisiana State University Press, 2005, pp. vii-viii.)
Encyclopedia Britannica: “Fort Pillow Massacre, (April 12, 1864), in the American Civil War, Confederate slaughter of black Federal troops stationed at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The action stemmed from Southern outrage at the North’s use of black soldiers. From the beginning of hostilities, the Confederate leadership was faced with the question of whether to treat black soldiers captured in battle as slaves in insurrection or, as the Union insisted, as prisoners of war.[9]
“In what proved the ugliest racial incident of the war, Confederate forces under General Nathan B. Forrest captured Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, and proceeded to kill all the black troops within; some were burned or buried alive.[10] A Federal congressional investigating committee subsequently verified that more than 300 blacks, including women and children, had been slain after the fort surrendered. After the incident, black soldiers going into battle used the cry “Remember Fort Pillow!”
History.com. “Fort Pillow Massacre.” 6-21-2019:
“The Fort Pillow Massacre in Tennessee on April 12, 1864, in which some 300 African American soldiers were killed, was one of the most controversial events of the American Civil War (1861-65). Though most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as prisoners of war, the soldiers were killed. The Confederate refusal to treat these troops as traditional prisoners of war infuriated the North, and led to the Union’s refusal to participate in prisoner exchanges…..
“On the morning of April 12, Forrest’s force, estimated at 1,500 to 2,500 troops, quickly surrounded the fort. When the fort’s commander, Union Maj. Lionel Booth, was killed by a Confederate sniper’s bullet, the second in command, Major William Bradford took control. By 3:30 pm, Forrest demanded surrender from the Union troops. Bradford, hoping for reinforcements from Union boats arriving by the Mississippi River, called for a one-hour cease fire.
“Forrest, however, spotted Union boats approaching and sent men to block the possible reinforcements. Then he declared his troops would storm the fort in 20 minutes—which they did, meeting little meaningful resistance.
“While Major Bradford fled toward the Mississippi, most of the Union garrison surrendered, and thus should have been taken as prisoners of war. But Confederate and Union witness accounts attest that some 300 soldiers were gunned down by the Confederate forces, the majority of them Black. The Confederate refusal to treat these soldiers as traditional POWs infuriated the North, and led to the Union’s refusal to participate in prisoner exchanges.
“Union survivors’ accounts, later supported by a federal investigation, concluded that African-American troops were massacred by Forrest’s men after surrendering. Southern accounts disputed these findings. Forrest, himself, claimed that he and his troops had done nothing wrong and that the Union men were killed because Bradford had refused to surrender. Controversy over the battle continues today….”
Rickard, J. “Fort Pillow Massacre, 12 April 1864.” Historyofwar.org: “The Fort Pillow massacre was one of the worst blots on the record of Confederate troops during the American Civil War. Fort Pillow was located on the Tennessee bank of the Mississippi River, and had fallen into Union hands in May 1862. However, even two years later, and with the main fighting now focused on the road to Atlanta, Confederate raiders still forced the Union to maintain garrisons across the occupied south.
“One of the best known of those raiders was Nathan Bedford Forrest. He had been commanding the cavalry of the army in Tennessee, but after the Confederate victory at Chickamauga (19-20 September 1864), he had fallen out with General Bragg (as had so many others), and refused to serve under him any longer. While Bragg settled down to besiege Chattanooga, Forrest headed back to an independent command in Mississippi.
“In March 1864, Forrest took a division of cavalry (about 1,500 men),[11] on a raid north through western Tennessee, that actually reached as far north as Paducah, Kentucky.[12] It was on his way back south that Forrest and his men committed what is now generally accepted as a massacre.[13]
“Fort Pillow was garrisoned by one regiment of black troops, numbering 262, and a cavalry detachment of similar size, for a total of 557 men. On 12 April Forrest’s men attacked the fort. After a brief fight they overwhelmed the garrison. Confederate losses were fairly low (14 killed and 86 wounded).[14] Union losses were much heavier. Of the garrison of 557 men, 231 were killed, 100 wounded and 226 captured. Only 75 of the 262 black troops were amongst the captured.[15]
“The very high number of dead immediately attracted attention. The Federal commander of the fort, Major William Bradford, was conveniently killed ‘while attempting to escape’. Despite southern denials at the time, it seems clear that several dozen black soldiers were killed after they had surrendered.[16] The Confederacy had an ambiguous attitude to the presence of black soldiers in the Union army. On the one hand their view on the racial inferiority of their slaves made it hard for them to accept that black soldiers would be able to fight. On the other hand the Union’s black soldiers soon proved that they could indeed fight, and often very well indeed. Fort Pillow was the most visible outbreak of a Confederate fury at the very idea of black soldiers. The Fort Pillow massacre and a suitable response to it was the subject of some days debate in Lincoln’s cabinet. In the end, they could not find a response that would not risk escalating beyond control. Meanwhile, black soldiers continued to play a major, and increasing, role in the Union war effort, providing nearly 200,000 men to the northern war effort.” (Rickard, J. “Fort Pillow Massacre, 12 April 1864.” http://www.historyofwar.org/articles.)
Spartacus Educational: “In April, 1864, General Nathan Forrest and his men captured Fort Pillow in Jackson, Tennessee. The fort contained 262 African American and 295 white soldiers. It was afterwards claimed that most of these soldiers were killed after they surrendered.[17]
“Abraham Lincoln condemned the atrocity but refused to agree to the demands of William Seward (Secretary of State), Salmon Chase (Secretary of the Treasury), Gideon Welles (Secretary of the Navy) and Edwin M. Stanton (Secretary of War), that an equal number of Confederate prisoners should be executed in an act of revenge.[18]
“After the war[19] an official investigation discovered evidence that “the Confederates were guilty of atrocities which included murdering most of the garrison after it surrendered, burying Negro soldiers alive, and setting fire to tents containing Federal wounded.” However, N [General Nathan Forrest] was never prosecuted for the offence and he went on to become the first Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.” (Spartacus Educational. “Fort Pillow Massacre.” www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)
TN History for Kids!: “….People also argue about General Forrest’s role in what took place. Some believe that he told and encouraged his men to shoot Union soldiers even after they tried to surrender, especially ones that were African American. Other accounts claim that he screamed at his men to stop firing at surrendered troops.
“When the fighting had ceased that day, about 20 Confederates had died. Meanwhile nearly 300 Union troops were killed, and about two-thirds of those were black. In fact, African-American soldiers had a 63 percent casualty rate that day — which is unbelievable even by Civil War standards — making Fort Pillow one of the saddest days in African American history.”
U.S. Congress: “Joint Resolution directing the Committee on the Conduct of the War to examine into the recent attack on Fort Pillow.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War be, and they are hereby, instructed to inquire into the truth of the rumored slaughter of the Union troops, after their surrender, at the recent attack of the rebel forces upon Fort Pillow, Tennessee; as, also, whether Fort Pillow could have been sufficiently re-enforced or evacuated, and if so, why it was not done; and that they report the facts to Congress as soon as possible. Approved April 21, 1864.” (US Congress 1864, 1)
Report of Sub-Committee.
“Messrs. Wade and Gooch, the sub-committee appointed by the Joint Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War, with instructions to proceed to such points as they might deem necessary for the purpose of taking testimony in regard to the massacre at Fort Pillow, submitted the following report to the joint committee, together with the accompanying testimony and papers:
“In obedience to the instructions of this joint committee adopted on the 18th ultimo, your committee left Washington on the morning of the 19th, taking with them the stenographer of this committee, and proceeded to Cairo and Mound City, Illinois; Columbus, Kentucky; and Fort Pillow and Memphis, Tennessee; at each of which places they proceeded to take testimony.
“Although your committee were instructed to inquire only in reference to the attack, capture, and massacre of Fort Pillow, they have deemed it proper to take some testimony in reference to the operations of Forrest and his command immediately preceding and subsequent to that horrible transaction. It will appear, from the testimony thus taken, that the atrocities committed at Fort Pillow were not the result of passions excited by the heat of conflict, but were the results of a policy deliberately decided upon and unhesitatingly announced.[20] Even if the uncertainty of the fate of those officers and men belonging to colored regiments who have heretofore been taken prisoners by the rebels has failed to convince the authorities of our government of this fact, the testimony herewith submitted must convince even the most skeptical that it is the intention of the rebel authorities not to recognize the officers and men of our colored regiments as entitled to the treatment accorded by all civilized nations to prisoners of war. The declarations of Forrest and his officers, both before and after the capture of Fort Pillow, as testified to by such of our men as have escaped after being taken by him; the threats contained in the various demands for surrender made at Paducah, Columbus, and other places; the renewal of the massacre the morning after the capture of Fort Pillow; the statements made by the rebel officers to the officers of our gunboats who received the few survivors at Fort Pillow — all this proves most conclusively the policy they have determined to adopt….” (US Congress 1864, 1-2)
“It was at Fort Pillow…that the brutality and cruelty of the rebels were most fearfully exhibited. The garrison there, according to the last returns received at headquarters, amounted to 19 officers and 538 enlisted men, of whom 262 were colored troops, comprising one battalion of the 6th United States heavy artillery, (formerly called the 1st Alabama artillery,) of colored troops, under command of Major L. F. Booth; one section of the 2d United States light artillery, colored, and one battalion of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, white, commanded by Major W. F. Bradford. Major Booth was the ranking officer, and was in command of the post.
“On Tuesday, the 12th of April, (the anniversary of the attack on Fort Sumter, in April, 1861,) the pickets of the garrison were driven in just before sunrise, that being the first intimation our forces there had of any intention on the part of the enemy to attack that place. Fighting soon became general, and about 9 o’clock Major Booth was killed. Major Bradford succeeded to the command, and withdrew all the forces within the fort. They had previously occupied some intrenchments at some distance from the fort, and further from the river.
“This fort was situated on a high bluff, which descended precipitately to the river’s edge, the side of the bluff on the river side being covered with trees, bushes, and fallen timber. Extending back from the river, on either side of the fort, was a ravine or hollow-the one below the fort containing several private stores and some dwellings, constituting what was called the town. At the mouth of that ravine, and on the river bank, were some government buildings containing commissary and quartermaster’s stores. The ravine above the fort was known as Cold Creek ravine, the sides being covered with trees and bushes. To the right, or below and a little to the front of the fort, was a level piece of ground, not quite so elevated as the fort itself, on which had been erected some log huts or shanties, which were occupied by the white troops, and also used for hospital and other purposes. Within the fort tents had been erected, with board floors, for the use of the colored troops. There were six pieces of artillery in the fort, consisting of two 6-pounders, two 12-pounder howitzers, and two 10-pounder Parrots.
“The rebels continued their attack, but, up to two or three o’clock in the afternoon, they had not gained any decisive success. Our troops, both white and black, fought most bravely, and were in good spirits. The gunboat No. 7, (New Era,) Captain Marshall, took part in the conflict, shelling the enemy as opportunity offered. Signals had been agreed upon by which the officers in the fort could indicate where the guns of the boat could be most effective. There being but one gunboat there, no permanent impression appears to have been produced upon the enemy; for as they were shelled out of one ravine, they would make their appearance in another. They would thus appear and retire as the gunboat moved from one point to the other. About one o’clock the fire on both sides slackened somewhat, and the gunboat moved out in the river, to cool and clean its guns, having fired 282 rounds of shell, shrapnell [sic], and canister, which nearly exhausted its supply of ammunition.
“The rebels having thus far failed in their attack, now resorted to their customary use of flags of truce. The first flag of truce conveyed a demand from Forrest for the unconditional surrender of the fort. To this Major Bradford replied, asking to be allowed one hour to consult with his officers and the officers of the gunboat. In a short time a second flag of truce appeared, with a communication from Forrest, that he would allow Major Bradford twenty minutes in which to move his troops out of the fort, and if it was not done within that time an assault would be ordered. To this Major Bradford returned the reply that he would not surrender.
“During the time these flags of truce were flying, the rebels were moving down the ravine and taking positions from which the more readily to charge upon the fort. Parties of them were also engaged in plundering the government buildings of commissary and quartermaster’s stores, in full view of the gunboat. Captain Marshall states that he refrained from firing upon the rebels, although they were thus violating the flag of truce, for fear that, should they finally succeed in capturing the fort, they would justify any atrocities they might commit by saying that they were in retaliation for his firing while the flag of truce was flying. He says, however, that when he saw the rebels coming down the ravine above the fort, and taking positions there, he got under way and stood for the fort, determined to use what little ammunition he had left in shelling them out of the ravine; but he did not get up within effective range before the final assault was made.
“Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the rebels made a rush from the positions they had so treacherously gained and obtained possession of the fort, raising the cry of “No quarter!” But little opportunity was allowed for resistance. Our troops, black and white, threw down their arms, and sought to escape by running down the steep bluff near the fort, and secreting themselves behind trees and logs, in the bushes, and under the brush —some even jumping into the river, leaving only their heads above the water, as they crouched down under the bank.
“Then followed a scene of cruelty and murder without a parallel in civilized warfare, which needed but the tomahawk and scalping-knife to exceed the worst atrocities ever committed by savages. The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white or black, soldier or civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie with each other in the devilish work; men, women, and even children, wherever found, were deliberately shot down, beaten, and hacked with sabres; some of the children not more than ten years old were forced to stand up and face their murderers while being shot; the sick and the wounded were butchered without mercy, the rebels even entering the hospital building and dragging them out to be shot, or killing them as they lay there unable to offer the least resistance. All over the hillside the work of murder was going on; numbers of our men were collected together in lines or groups and deliberately shot; some were shot while in the river, while others on the bank were shot and their bodies kicked into the water, many of them still living but unable to make any exertions to save themselves from drowning. Some of the rebels stood on the top of the hill or a short distance down its side, and called to our soldiers to come up to them, and as they approached, shot them down in cold blood; if their guns or pistols missed fire, forcing them to stand there until they were again prepared to fire. All around were heard cries of “No quarter!” “No quarter!” “Kill the damned niggers; shoot them down!” All who asked for mercy were answered by the most cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared for a time, only to be murdered under circumstances of greater cruelty. No cruelty which the most fiendish malignity could devise was omitted by these murderers. One white soldier who was wounded in one leg so as to be unable to walk, was made to stand up while his tormentors shot him; others who were wounded and unable to stand were held up and again shot. One negro who had been ordered by a rebel officer to hold his horse, was killed by him when he remounted; another, a mere child, whom an officer had taken up behind him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers, who at once ordered the officer to put him down and shoot him, which was done. The huts and tents in which many of the wounded had sought shelter were set on fire, both that night and the next morning, while the wounded were still in them-those only escaping who were able to get themselves out, or who could prevail on others less injured than themselves to help them out; and even some of those thus seeking to escape the flames were met by those ruffians and brutally shot down, or had their brains beaten out. One man was deliberately fastened down to the floor of a tent, face upwards, by means of nails driven through his clothing and into the boards under him, so that he could not possibly escape, and then the tent set on fire; another was nailed to the side of a building outside of the fort, and then the building set on fire and burned. The charred remains of five or six bodies were afterwards found, all but one so much disfigured and consumed by the flames that they could not be identified, and the identification of that one is not absolutely certain, although there can hardly be a doubt that it was the body of Lieutenant Akerstrom, quartermaster of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, and a native Tennessean; several witnesses who saw the remains, and who were personally acquainted with him while living, have testified that it is their firm belief that it was his body that was thus treated.
“These deeds of murder and cruelty ceased when night came on, only to be renewed the next morning, when the demons carefully sought among the dead lying about in all directions for any of the wounded yet alive, and those they found were deliberately shot. Scores of the dead and wounded were found there the day after the massacre by the men from some of our gunboats who’ were permitted to go on shore and collect the wounded and bury the dead. The rebels themselves had made a pretence of burying a great many of their victims, but they had merely thrown them, without the least regard to care or decency, into the trenches and ditches about the fort, or the little hollows and ravines on the hill-side, covering them but partially with earth. Portions of heads and faces, hands and feet, were found protruding through the earth in every direction. The testimony also establishes the fact that the rebels buried some of the living with the dead, a few of whom succeeded afterwards in digging themselves out, or were dug out by others, one of whom your committee found in Mound City hospital, and there examined. And even when your committee visited the spot, two weeks afterwards, although parties of men had been sent on shore from time to time to bury the bodies unburied and rebury the others, and were even then engaged in the same work, we found the evidences of this murder and cruelty still most painfully apparent; we saw bodies still unburied (at some distance from the fort) of some sick men who had been met fleeing from the hospital and beaten down and brutally murdered, and their bodies left where they had fallen. We could still see the faces, hands, and feet of men, white and black, protruding out of the ground, whose graves had not been reached by those engaged in re-interring the victims of the massacre; and although a great deal of rain had fallen within the preceding two weeks, the ground, more especially on the side and at the foot of the bluff where the most of the murders had been committed, was still discolored by the blood of our brave but unfortunate men, and the logs and trees showed but too plainly the evidences of the atrocities perpetrated there….” (U.S. Congress 1864, 3-5)
“In reference to the fate of Major Bradford, who was in command of the fort when it was captured, and who had up to that time received no injury, there seems to be no doubt. The general understanding everywhere seemed to be that he had been brutally murdered the day after he was taken prisoner….When your committee arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, they found and examined a man (Mr. McLagan) who had been conscripted by some of Forrest’s forces, but who, with other conscripts, had succeeded in making his escape. He testifies that while two companies of rebel troops, with Major Bradford and many other prisoners, were on their march from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford was taken by five rebels-one an officer-led about fifty yards from the line of march, and deliberately murdered in view of all there assembled. He fell-killed instantly by three musket balls, even while asking that his life might be spared, as he had fought them manfully, and was deserving of a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to have been the simple fact that, although a native of the south, he remained loyal to his government. The testimony herewith submitted contains many statements made by the rebels that they did not intend to treat “home-made Yankees,” as they termed loyal southerners, any better than negro troops….” (U.S. Congress 1864, 6)
“Mound City, Illinois, April 22, 1864.
“Surgeon Horace Wardner sworn and examined.
“By the chairman: Question. Have you been in charge of this hospital, Mound City hospital? “Answer. I have been in charge of this hospital continually since the 25th of April, 1863.
“Question. Will you state, if you please, what you know about the persons who escaped from Fort Pillow? And how many have been under your charge?
“Answer. I have received thirty-four whites, twenty-seven colored men, and one colored woman, and seven corpses of those who died on their way here.
“Question. Did any of those you have mentioned escape from Fort Pillow?
“Answer. There were eight or nine men, I forget the number, who did escape and come here, the others were paroled. I learned the following facts about that: The day after the battle a gunboat was coming up and commenced shelling the place; the rebels sent a flag of truce for the purpose of giving over into our hands what wounded remained alive; a transport then landed and sent out details to look about the grounds and pick up the wounded there, and bring them on the boat….
“Question. They were then brought under your charge? “Answer. They were brought immediately to this hospital….
“Question. Please state their condition.
“Answer. They were the worst butchered men I have ever seen. I have been in several hard battles, but I have never seen men so mangled as they were; and nearly all of them concur in stating that they received all their wounds after they had thrown down their arms, surrendered, and asked for quarters. They state that they ran out of the fort, threw down their arms, and ran down the bank to the edge of the river, and were pursued to the top of the bank and fired on from above.
“Question. Were there any females there? Answer. I have one wounded woman from there.
“Question. Were there any children or young persons there?
“Answer. I have no wounded children or young persons front there….
“Question. Were any of the wounded…in the hospital in the fort, and wounded while in the hospital? “Answer. I so understand them.
“Question. How many in that condition did you understand?
“Answer. I learned from those who came here that nearly all who were in the hospital were killed. I received a young negro boy, probably sixteen years old, who was in the hospital there sick with fever, and unable to get away. The rebels entered the hospital, and with a sabre hacked his head, no doubt with the intention of splitting it open. The boy put up his hand to protect his head, and they cut off one or two of his fingers. He was brought here insensible, and died yesterday. I made a post-mortem examination, and found that the outer table of the skull was incised, the inner table was fractured, and a piece driven into the brain.
“Question. This was done while he was sick in the hospital?
“Answer. Yes, sir, unable to get off his bed.” (US Congress 1864, 13)
“Question. Have you any means of knowing how many were murdered in that way?
“Answer. No positive means, except the statement of the men.
“Question. How many do you suppose from the information you have received?
“Answer. I suppose there were about four hundred massacred-murdered there.
“Question. What proportion white, and what proportion colored, as near as you could ascertain?
“Answer. The impression I have, from what I can learn, is, that all the negroes were massacred except about eighty, and all the white soldiers were killed except about one hundred or one hundred and ten.
“Question. We have heard rumors that some of these persons were buried alive; did you hear anything about that?
“Answer. I have two in the hospital here who were buried alive.
“Question. Both colored men? “Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. How did they escape?
“Answer. One of them I have not conversed with personally, the other I have. He was thrown into a pit, as he states, with a great many others, white and black, several of whom were alive; they were all buried up together. He lay on the outer edge, but his head was nearer the surface; he had one well hand, and with that hand he was able to work a place through which he could breathe, and in that way he got his head out; he lay there for some twenty-four hours, and was finally taken out by somebody. The others, next to him, were buried so deep that they could not get out, and died….
“Question. What is the general condition now of the wounded men from Fort Pillow under your charge?
“Answer. They are in as good condition as they can be, probably about one-third of them must die….
“Question. Are the wounds of these men such as men usually receive in battle?
“Answer. The gunshot wounds are; the sabre cuts are the first I have ever seen in the war yet. They seem to have been shot with the intention of hitting the body. There are more body wounds than in an ordinary battle.
“Question. Just as if they were close enough to select the parts of the body to be hit?
“Answer. Yes, sir; some of them were shot with pistols by the rebels standing from one foot to ten feet of them.
“The committee then proceeded to the various wards and took the testimony of such of the wounded as were able to bear the examination. The testimony of the colored men is written out exactly as given, except that it is rendered in a grammatical form, instead of the broken language some of them used. (U.S. Congress 1864, 13)
“Elias Falls, (colored,) private, company A, 6th United States heavy artillery., or 1st Alabama artillery, sworn and examined [April 22]. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when the battle took place there, and it was captured by the rebels?
“Answer. I was there; I was a cook, and was waiting on the captain and major.
“Question. What did you see done there? What did the rebels do after they came into the fort?
“Answer. They killed all the men after they surrendered, until orders were; given to stop; they killed all they came to, white and black, after they had surrendered.
“Question. The one the same as the other? “Answer. Yes, sir, till he gave orders to stop firing.
“Question. Till who gave orders? “Answer. They told me his name was Forrest.
“Question. Did you see anybody killed or shot there?
“Answer. Yes, sir; I was shot after the surrender, as I was marched up the hill by the rebels.
“Question. Where were you wounded? “Answer. In the knee.
“Question. Was that the day of the fight? “Answer. The same day.
“Question. Did you see any men shot the next day? “Answer. I did not.
“Question. What did you see done after the place was taken?
“Answer. After peace was made some of the secesh[21] soldiers came around: cursing the boys that were wounded. They shot one of them about the hand, aimed to shoot him in the head, as he lay on the ground, and hit him in the hand; and an officer told the secesh soldier if he did that again he would arrest him, and he went off then….
“Question. Do you know anything about their going into the hospital and killing those who were there sick in bed?
“Answer. We had some three or four of our men there, and some of our men came in and said they had killed two women and two children. [U.S. Congress 1864, 15]
“Duncan Harding, (colored,) private, company A, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you in Fort Pillow at the time it was captured?
“Answer. Yes, sir; I was a gunner No. 2 at the gun.
“Question. What did you see there?
“Answer. I did not see much until next morning. I was shot in the arm that evening; they picked me up and marched me up the hill, and while they were marching me up the hill they shot me again through the thigh.
“Question. Did you see anybody else shot after they had surrendered?
“Answer. The next morning I saw them shoot down one corporal in our company.
“Question. What was his name? Answer. Robert Winston.
“Question. Did they kill him? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What were you doing at the time? Answer. I was lying down.
“Question. What was the corporal doing?
“Answer. When the gunboats commenced firing he was started off with them, but he would not go fast enough and they shot him dead.
“Question. When you were shot the last time had you any arms in your hands? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. Had the corporal any arms in his hands? Answer. No, sir; nothing.
“By the chairman: Question. What do you know about any buildings being burned?
“Answer. I saw them burn the buildings; and that morning as I was going to the boat I saw one colored man who was burned in the building.
“Question. When was that building burned? Answer. The next morning….
“Question. How did you get away?
“Answer. I started off with the rebels; we were all lying in a hollow to keep from the shells; as their backs were turned to me I crawled up in some brush and logs, and they all left; when night come I came back to the river bank, and a gunboat came along.
“Question. Were any officers about when you were shot last? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Did they say anything against it?
“Answer. No, sir; only, “Kill the God damned nigger.” (U.S. Congress 1864, 15-16.)
“Nathan Hunter, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was captured? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What did you see done there?
“Answer. They went down the hill, and shot all of us they saw; they shot me for dead, and I lay there until the next morning when the gunboat came along. They thought I was dead and pulled my boots off. That is all I know.
“Question. Were you shot when they first took the fort?
“Answer. I was not shot until we were done fighting.
“Question. Had you any arms in your hands when you were shot? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. How long did you lie where you were shot? Answer. I lay there from three o’clock until after night, and then I went up in the guard-house and staid there until the next morning when the gunboat came along.
“Question. Did you see any others shot? Answer. Yes, sir; they shot, down a whole parcel along with me. Their bodies were lying there along the river bank the next morning. They kicked some of them into the river after they were shot dead.
“Question. Did you see that?
“Answer. Yes, sir; I thought they were going to throw me in too; I slipped away in the night.
“By the chairman: Question. Did you see any man burned? Answer. No, sir; I was down under the hill next the river. Question. They thought you were dead when they pulled your boots off?
“Answer. Yes, sir; they pulled my boots off, and rolled me over, and said they had killed me.
“Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, (colored,) company D, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow in the fight there? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What did you see there?
“Answer. I saw them shoot two white men right by the side of me after they had laid their guns down. They shot a black man clear over into the river. Then they hallooed to me to come up the hill, and I came up. They said, “Give me your money, you damned nigger.” I told them I did not have any. “Give me your money, or I will blow your brains out.” Then they told me to lie down, and I laid down, and they stripped everything off me.
“Question. This was the day of the fight? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Go on. Did they shoot you?
“Answer. Yes, sir. After they stripped me and took my money away from me they dragged me up the hill a little piece, and laid me down flat on my stomach; I laid there till night, and they took me down to an old house, and said they would kill me the next morning. I got up and commenced crawling down the hill; I could not walk.
“Question. When were you shot? Answer. About 3 o’clock.
“Question. Before they stripped you?
“Answer. Yes, sir. They shot me before they said, “come up.”
“Question. After you had surrendered?
“Answer. Yes, sir; they shot pretty nearly all of them after they surrendered….
Question. Did they bury anybody who was not dead?
“Answer. I saw one of them working his hand after he was buried; he was a black man. They had about a hundred in there, black and white. The major was buried on the bank, right side of me. They took his clothes all off but his drawers; I was lying right there looking at them. They had my captain’s coat, too; they did not kill my captain; a lieutenant told him to give him his coat, and then they told him to go down and pick up those old rags and put them on.
“Question. Did you see anybody shot the day after the battle? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. How did you get away? Answer. A few men came up from Memphis, and got a piece of plank and put me on it, and took me down to the boat.
“Question. Were any rebel officers around when the rebels were killing our men?
“Answer. Yes, sir; lots of them.
“Question. Did they try to keep their men from killing our men?
“Answer. I never heard them say so. I know General Forrest rode his horse over me three or four times. I did not know him until I heard his men call his name. He said to some negro men there that he knew them; that they had been in his nigger yard in Memphis. He said he was not worth five dollars when he started, and had got rich trading in negroes…. (US Congress 1864, 16-18.)
“Daniel Tyler, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“….Question. When were you wounded? Answer. I was wounded after we all surrendered; not before.
“Question. At what time? Answer. They shot me when we came up the hill from down by the river.
“Question. Why did you go up the hill? Answer. They called me up….
“Question. How near was he to you? Answer. I was right at him; I had my hand on the end of his gun,
“Question. What did he say to you? Answer. He said, “Whose gun are you holding?” I said, “Nobody’s.”‘ He said, ” God damn you, I will shoot you,” and then he shot me. I let go, and, then another one shot me.
“Question. Were many shot at the same time? Answer. Yes, sir, lots of them; lying all round like hogs….
“Question. Did you see anybody buried alive? Answer. Nobody but me.
“Question. Were you buried alive? Answer. Yes, sir; they thought they had killed me. I lay there till about sundown, when they threw us in a hollow, and commenced throwing dirt on us.
“Question. Did you say anything? Answer. No, sir; I did not want to speak to them. I knew if I said anything they would kill me. They covered me up in a hole; they covered me up, all but one side of my head. I heard them say they ought not to bury a man who was alive. I commenced working the dirt away, and one of the secesh made a young one dig me out. They dug me out, and I was carried not far off to a fire….
“Question. How did you lose your eye? Answer. They knocked me down with a carbine, and then they jabbed it out.
“Question. Was that before you were shot? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. After you had surrendered? Answer. Yes, sir; I was going up the hill, a man came down and met me; he had his gun in his hand, and whirled it around and knocked me down, and then took the end of his carbine and jabbed it in my eye, and shot me.
“Question. Were any of their officers about there then? Answer. I did not see any officers.
“Question. Were any white men buried with you? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Were any buried alive? Answer. I heard that one white man was buried alive; I did not see him.
“Question. Who said that? Answer. A young man; he said they ought not to have done it. He staid in there all night; I do not know as he ever got out. (US Congress 1864, 18-19.)
“John Haskins, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was captured? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What did you see done there? Answer. After we had surrendered they shot me in the left arm. I ran down the river and jumped into the water; the water ran over my back; six or seven more men came around there, and the secesh shot them right on the bank. At night I got in a coal-boat and cut it loose, and went down the river.
“Question. Did you see anybody else killed after they had surrendered? Answer. A great many; I could not tell how many.
“Question. Did they say why they killed our men after they had surrendered? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. How many did you see killed after they surrendered? Answer. Six or eight right around me, who could not get into the water as I did; I heard them shooting above, too.
“Question. Did they strip and rob those they killed? Answer. Yes, sir; they ran their hands in my pockets — they thought I was dead — they did all in the same way.
“Question. What time were you shot? Answer. After four o’clock.
“Question. How long after you had surrendered? Answer. Just about the time we ran down the hill.
“Question. Did you have any arms in your hands when you were shot? Answer. No, sir….
“Question. Do you know anything about their burning buildings? Answer. Yes, sir; they burned the lieutenant’s house, and they said they burned him in the house.
“Question. He was a white man? Answer. Yes, sir; quartermaster of the 13th Tennessee cavalry.
“Question. Did you see them kill him? Answer. No, sir; I did not see them kill him; I saw the house he was in on fire….
“Question. Where are you from? Answer. From Tennessee. Question. Have you been a slave? Answer. Yes, sir.
“[Q]. How long have you been in the army? [A]. About two months. (US Congress 1864, 19-20.)
“Thomas Adison, (colored,) private, company C, 6th United States heavy, artillery, sworn and examined. By the chairman:
“Question. Where were you raised. Answer. In South Carolina. I was nineteen years old when I came to Mississippi. I was forty years old last March.
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was captured? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. When were you wounded — before or after you surrendered. Answer. Before.
“Question. What happened to you after you were wounded? Answer. I went down the hill after we surrendered; then they came down and shot me again in my face, breaking my jaw-bone.
“Question. How near was the man to you? Answer. He shot me with a revolver, about ten or fifteen feet off.
“Question. What happened to you then? Answer. I laid down, and a fellow came along and turned me over and searched my pockets and took my money. He said: ” God damn his old soul; he is sure dead now; he is a big, old, fat fellow.”
“Question. How long did you lay there? Answer. About two hours.
“Question. Then what was done with you Answer. They made some of our men carry me up the hill to a house that was full of white men. They made us lie out doors all night, and said that the next morning they would have the doctor fix us up. I went down to a branch for some water, and a man said to me: ” Old man, if you stay here they will kill you, but if you get into the water till the boat comes along they may save you;” and I went off. They shot a great many that evening.
“Question. The day of the fights? Answer. Yes, sir. I heard them shoot little children not more than that high, [holding his hand off about four feet from the floor,] that the officers had to wait upon them.
“Question. Did you see them shoot them? Answer. I did not hold up my head.
“Question. How did you know that they shot them then? Answer. I heard them say, ” Turn around so that I can shoot you good;” and then I heard them fire, and then I heard the children fall over.
“Question. Do you know that those were the boys that waited upon the officers? Yes, sir; one was named Dave, and the other was named Anderson.
“Question. Did you see them after they were shot? Answer. No, sir; they toted them up the hill before me, because they were small. I never saw folks shot down so in my life.
By Mr. Gooch: Question. Do you know of anybody being buried alive? Answer. No, sir.
“[Q]. Do you know of any one being burned. [A]. They had a whole parcel of them in a house, and I think they burned them. The house was burned up, and I think they burned them in it.
“Question. Were the men in the house colored men? Answer. No, sir. The rebels never would have got the advantage of us if it had not been for the houses built there, and which made better breastworks for them than we had. The major would not let us burn the houses in the morning. If they had let us burn the houses in the morning, I do not believe they would ever have whipped us out of that place. (US Congress 1864, 20-21.)
“Manuel Nichols, (colored,) private, Company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you in the late fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Were you wounded there? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. When? Answer. I was wounded once about a half an hour before we gave up.
“Question. Did they do anything to you after you surrendered?
“Answer. Yes, sir; they shot me in the head under my left ear, and the morning after the fight they shot me again in the right arm. When they came up and killed the wounded ones, I saw some four or five coming down the hill. I said to one of our boys, “Anderson, I expect if those fellows come here they will kill us.” I was lying on my right side, leaning on my elbow. One of the black soldiers went into the house where the white soldiers were. I asked him if there was any water in there, and he said yes; I wanted some, and took a stick and tried to get to the house. I did not get to the house. Some of them came along, and saw a little boy belonging to company D. One of them had his musket on his shoulder, and shot the boy down. He said: “All you damned niggers come out of the house; I am going to shoot you.” Some of the white soldiers said, “Boys, it is only death anyhow; if you don’t go out they will come in and carry you out.” My strength seemed to come to me as if I had never been shot, and I jumped up and ran down the hill. I met one of them coming up the hill; he said “stop!” but I kept on running. As I jumped over the hill, he shot me through the right arm.
“Question. How many did you see them kill after they had surrendered? Answer. After I surrendered I did not go down the hill. A man shot me under the ear, and I fell down and said to myself,” If he don’t shoot me any more this won’t hurt me.” One of their officers came along and hallooed, “Forrest says, no quarter! no quarter!” and the next one hallooed, “Black flag! black flag!”
“Question. What did they do then? Answer. They kept on shouting. I could hear them down the hill.
“Question. Did you see them bury anybody? Answer. Yes, sir; they carried me around right to the corner of the fort, and I saw them pitch men in there.
“Question. Was there any alive? Answer. I did not see them bury anybody alive.
“Question. How near to you was the man who shot you under the ear? Answer. Right close to my head. When I was shot in the side, a man turned me over, and took my pocket-knife and pocket-book. I had some of these brass things that looked like cents. They said, “Here’s some money; here’s some money.” I said to myself, “You got fooled that time.” (US Congress 1864, 21-22.)
“Arthur Edwards, (colored,) private, company C, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By the chairman:
“Question. Where were you raised? Answer. In Mississippi.
“Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was taken? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Tell what you saw there. Answer. I was shot after I surrendered.
“Question. When Answer. About half past four o’clock.
“Question. Where were you when you were shot? Answer. I was lying down behind a log.
“Question. Where were you shot? Answer. In the head first, then in the shoulder, then in my right wrist; and then in the head again, about half an hour after that.
“Question. How many men shot at you? Answer. One shot at me three times, and then a lieutenant shot at me.
“Question. Did they say anything when they shot you? Answer. No, sir, only I asked them not to shoot me, and they said, ” God damn you, you are fighting against your master.”
“Question. How near was the man to you when he shot you? Answer. He squatted down, and held his pistol close to my head.
“Question. How near was the officer to you when he shot you? Answer. About five or ten feet off; he was sitting on his horse.
“Question. Who said you-were fighting against your master? Answer. The man that shot me.
“Question. What did the officer say? Answer. Nothing, but “you God damned nigger.” A captain told him not to do it, but he did not mind him; he shot me, and run off on his horse.
“Question. Did you see the captain? Answer. Yes, sir; he and the captain were side by side.…
“Question. How long did you stay there? Answer. Until next morning about 9 o’clock.
“Question. How did you get away? Answer. When the gunboat commenced shelling I went down the hill, and staid there until they carried down a flag of truce. Then the gunboat came to the bank, and a secesh lieutenant made us go down to such a place, and told us to go no further, or we would get shot again. Then the gunboat men came along to bury the dead, and told us to go on the boat.
“Question. Did you see anybody shot after they had surrendered, besides yourself? Answer. Yes, sir; they shot one right by me, and lots of the 13th Tennessee cavalry.
“Question. After they had surrendered? Answer. Yes, sir….” (US Congress 1864, 22.)
“Charles Key, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Where were you raised? Answer. In South Carolina. Question. Have you been a slave? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. Where did you enlist? Answer. In Tennessee.
“Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Were you wounded before or after you surrendered? Answer. After the surrender, about 5 o’clock.
“Question. Did you have your gun in your hands when you were wounded? Answer. No, sir; I threw my gun into the river.
“Question. How did they come to shoot you? Answer. I was in the water, and a man came down and shot me with a revolver.
“Question. Did you see anybody else shot? Answer. Yes, sir; right smart of them, in an old coal boat. I saw one man start up the bank after he was shot in the arm, and then a fellow knocked him back into the river with his carbine, and then shot him. I did not go up the hill after I was shot. I laid in the water like I was dead until night, and then I made up a fire and dried myself, and staid there till the gunboat came along….” (US Congress 1864, 22-23.)
“Aaron Fentis, (colored,) company D, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By the chairman:
“Question. Where were you from? Answer. Tennessee. Question. Have you been a slave? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. Where did you enlist? Answer. At Corinth. Question. Who was your captain? Answer. Captain Carron.
“Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What did you see done there? Answer. I saw them shoot two white men, and two black men, after they had surrendered.
“Question, Are you sure they were shot after they had surrendered Answer. Yes, sir. Some were in the river swimming out a piece, when they were shot; and they took another man by the arm, and held him up, and shot him in the breast.
“Question. Did you see any others shot? Answer. Yes, sir; I saw two wounded men shot the next morning; they were lying down when the secesh shot them.
“Question. Did the rebels say anything when they were shooting our men? Answer. They said they were going to kill them all; and they would have shot us all if the gunboat had not come along.
“Question. Were you shot? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. When? Answer. After the battle, the same evening.
“Question. Where were you shot? Answer. Right through both legs. Question. How many times were you shot? Answer. Only once, with a carbine. The man stood right close by me.
“Question. Where were you? Answer. On the river bank.
“Question. Had you arms in your hands? Answer. No, sir.
Question. What did the man say who shot you? Answer. He said they were going to kill us all….
“Question. Do you know how many of your company got away? Answer. I do not think any of my company got away.
“Question. How many were killed before they surrendered? Answer. I don’t know how many; a good many, I think.
“Question. Would you have surrendered, if you had known what they were going to do to you? Answer. No, sir.” (US Congress 1864, 24-25.)
“George Shaw, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch: Question. Where were you raised? Answer. In Tennessee. Question. Where did you enlist? Answer. At Fort Pillow.
“Question. Were you there at the fight? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. When were you shot? Answer. About four o’clock in the evening. Question. After you had surrendered? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Where were you at the time? Answer. About ten feet from the river bank….
“Question. Who shot you? Answer. A rebel soldier.
“Question. How near did he come to you? Answer. About ten feet.
“Question. What did he say to you? Answer. He said, “Damn you, what are you doing here?” I said, “Please don’t shoot me.” He said, “Damn you, you are fighting against your master.” He raised his gun and fired, and the bullet went into my mouth and out the back part of my head. They threw me into the river, and I swam around and hung on there in the water until night.
“Question. Did you see anybody else shot.
Answer. Yes, sir; three young boys, lying in the water, with their heads out; they could not swim. They begged them as long as they could, but they shot them right in the forehead.
“Question. How near to them were they? Answer. As close as that stone, (about eight or ten feet.)
“Question. How old were the boys? Answer. Not more than fifteen or sixteen years old. They were not soldiers, but contraband boys, helping us on the breastworks.
“Question. Did you see any white men shot? Answer. No, sir. I saw them shoot three men the next day.
“Question. How far from the fort? Answer. About a mile and a half; after they had taken them back as prisoners.
“Question. Who shot them? Answer. Private soldiers. One officer said, “Boys, I will have you arrested, if you don’t quit killing them boys.” Another officer said, “Damn it, let them go on; it isn’t our law to take any niggers prisoners; kill every one of them.” Then a white man took me to wait on him a little, and sent me back to a house about two hundred yards, and told me to stay all night. I went back and staid until about a half an hour by sun. Another man came along and said, “If you will go home with me I will take good care of you, if you will stay and never leave.” I did not know what to do, I was so outdone; so I said, “If you will take care of me, I will go.” He carried me out about three miles, to a place called Bob Greene’s. The one who took me there left me, and two others came up, and said, “Damn you, we will kill you, and not be fooling about any longer.” I said, “Don’t shoot me.” One of them said, “Go out and hold my horse.” I made a step or two, and be said, “Turn around; I will hold my horse, and shoot you, too.” I no sooner turned around than he shot me in the face. I fell down as if I was dead. He shot me again, and hit my arm, not my head. I laid there until I could hear him no more, and then I started back. I got back into Fort Pillow about sun up, and wandered about there until a gunboat came along, and I came up on that with about ten others.” (US Congress 1864, 25-26.)
“Major Williams, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By the chairman: Question. Where were you raised? Answer. In Tennessee and North Mississippi. Question. Where did you enlist? Answer. In Memphis. Question. Who was your captain? Answer. Captain Lamburg.
“Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Was your captain with you? Answer. No, sir; I think he was in Memphis. Question. Who commanded your company? Answer. Lieutenant Hunter and Sergeant Fox were all the officers we had….
“Question. Were you wounded then? Answer. Yes, sir; after the surrender….
“Question. Did you have any arms in your hands when they shot you? Answer. No, sir, I was an artillery man, and had no arms….
“Question. Did you see ally buildings burned? Answer. I staid in the woods all day Wednesday. I was there Thursday and looked at the buildings. I saw a great deal left that they did not have a chance to burn up. I saw a white man burned up who was nailed up against the house.
“Question. A private or an officer? Answer. An officer; I think it was a lieutenant in the Tennessee cavalry.
“Question. How was he nailed? Answer. Through his hands and feet right against the house.
“Question. Was his body burned? Answer. Yes, sir; burned all over — I looked at him good.
“Question. When did you see that? Answer. On the Thursday after the battle.
“Question. Where was the man? Answer. Right in front of the fort.
“Question. Did any one else that you know see the body nailed up there? Answer. There was a black man there who came up on the same boat I was on. Question. Was he with you then? Answer. Yes, sir; and there were some five or six white people there, too, from out in the country, who were walking over the place.” (US Congress 1864, 26-27.)
“….Eli Carlton, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn and examined. By the chairman:
“Question. Where were you raised? Answer. In East Tennessee. Question. Have you been a slave? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time it was taken? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. State what happened there. Answer. I saw 23 men shot after they surrendered; I made 24; 17 of them laid right around me dead, and 6 below me.
“Question. Who shot them? Answer. The rebels; some white men were killed.
“Question. How many white men were killed? Answer. Three or four.
“Question. Killed by the privates? Answer. Yes, sir; I did not see any officers kill any.
“Question. Were the white men officers or privates? Privates.
“Question. Were the men who shot you near to you? Answer. Yes, sir; ten or fifteen steps off.
“Question. Were you shot with a musket or a pistol? Answer. With a musket. I was shot once on the battle-field before we surrendered. They took me down to a little hospital under the hill. I was in the hospital when they shot me a second time. Some of our privates commenced talking. They said, “Do you fight with these God damned niggers?” they said, ‘Yes.’ Then they said, “God damn you, then, we will shoot you,” and they shot one of them right down. They said, “I would not kill you, but, God damn you, you fight with these damned niggers, and we will kill you;” and they blew his brains out of his head. They then went around and counted them up; I laid there and made 18 who were there, and there were 6 more below me. I saw them stick a bayonet in the small part of the belly of one of our boys, and break it right off — he had one shot then.
“Question. Did you see any of our men shot the next day? Answer. No, sir; but I heard them shooting. I hid myself in the bushes before the next morning. I left a fellow lying there, and they came down and killed him during the night. I went down there the next morning and he was dead.
“….Question. Did you see any buildings burned up? Answer. Yes, sir; most all were burned up.
“Question. Were any persons in them when they were burned? Answer. I heard so. I went to the quarters and staid about a house there. One of the rebels told me that he should take me out the next morning and kill me. He went out and I slipped out into the bushes, and laid there until the gunboat came. I saw them take the quartermaster; they said, ” Here is one of our men; let us take him up and fix him.” A white man told me the next day that they burned him.
“Question. Was he wounded? Answer. No, sir; he walked right straight. He had three stripes on his arm. I knew him well; I worked with him. He was a small fellow, weak and puny.” (US Congress 1864, 28-29.)
“….Jacob Thompson, (colored,) sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow? Answer. No, sir, I was not a soldier; but I went up in the fort and fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head.
“Question. When were you shot? Answer. After I surrendered….
“Question. Did you see anybody else shot? Answer. Yes, sir; they just called them out like dogs, and shot them down. I reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. They nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the logs on fire.
“Question. When did you see that? Answer. When I went there in the morning I saw them; they were burning all together.
“Question. Did they kill them before they burned them? Answer. No, sir, they nailed them to the logs; drove the nails right through their hands.
“Question. How many did you see in that condition? Answer. Some four or five; I saw two white men burned.
“….Question. Did you notice how they were nailed? Answer. I saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to the boat when I saw it.
“Question. Did you see them kill any white men? Answer. They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed more than twenty after it was all over; called them out from under the hill, and shot them down. They would call out a white man and shoot him down, and call out a colored man and shoot him down; do it just as fast as they could make their guns go off.
“Question. Did you see any rebel officers about there when this was going on? Answer. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one.
“Question. Did you know Forrest? Answer. Yes, sir; he was a little bit of a man. I had seen him before at Jackson.
“Question. Are you sure he was there when this was going on? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Did they bury any alive? Answer. I heard the gunboat men say they dug two out who were alive. Question. You did not see them? Answer. No, sir.” (US Congress 1864, 30-31.)
“Ransom Anderson, (colored,) Co. B, 6th United States heavy artillery, sworn, and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“….Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Describe what you saw done there. Answer. Most all the men that were killed on our side were killed after the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. Then they put some in the houses and shut them up, and then burned the houses.
“Question. Did you see them burn? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Were any of them alive? Answer. Yes, sir; they were wounded, and could not walk. They put there in the houses, and then burned the houses down.
“Question. Do you know they were in there? Answer. Yes, sir; I went and looked in there.
“Question. Do you know they were in there when the house was burned? Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when the houses were burning.
“Question. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead, when they were put in there? Answer. Yes, sir; they told them they were going to have the doctor see them, and then put them in there and shut them up, and burned them.
“Question. Who set the house on fire? Answer. I saw a rebel soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, and set it on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy.
“Question. Was the door fastened up? Answer. Yes, sir; it was barred with one of those wide bolts.” (US Congress 1864, 31-32.)
“Sergeant W. P. Walker, (white,) sworn and examined: By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. In what capacity did you serve in the army? Answer. I was a sergeant in the 13th Tennessee cavalry, company D.
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Will you state what took place there? Answer. In the morning the pickets ran in. We were sent out a piece as skirmishers. They kept us out about a couple of hours, and then we retreated into the fort. The firing kept up pretty regular until about two o’clock, when a flag of truce came in. While the flag of truce was in, the enemy was moving up and taking their positions; they were also pilfering and searching our quarters.
“Question. They finally took the fort? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. What happened then? Answer. They just shot us down without showing us any quarter at all. They shot me, for one, after I surrendered; they shot me in the arm, and the shoulder, and the neck, and in the eye.
“Question. How many times did they shoot you? Answer. They shot me in the arm and eye after I surrendered; I do not know when they shot me in the other places.
“Question. Who shot you? Answer. A private shot me with a pistol; there were a great many of us shot.
“Question. What reason did he give for shooting you after you had surrendered? Answer. A man came down the hill and said that General — some one; I could not understand the name — said that they should shoot every one of us, and take no prisoners, and then they shot us down.
“Question. How did you escape? Answer. They thought they had killed me. They searched my pockets half a dozen times, or more, and took my pocket-book from me.
“Question. Did you see anybody else shot after they had surrendered? Answer. Yes, sir; I saw several shot right around me.
“Question. Did they shoot all, colored and white? Answer. They shot all where I was. When they turned in and went to shooting the white men, they scattered and ran, and then they shot them down.
“Question. Did you see them do anything besides shooting them. Answer. I saw some knock them over the heads with muskets, and some stick sabres into them….
“Question. Were any of the rebel officers about while this was going on? Answer. Not where I was; I was down under the hill then. The niggers first ran out of the fort, and then, when they commenced shooting us, we ran down under the hill, and they followed us up and shot us. They came back the next day and shot several wounded negroes.
“Question. Did you see that? Answer. I was lying in a house, but I heard the negroes begging, and heard the guns fired; but I did not see it.” (US Congress 1864, 32-33.)
“James Walls, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch: Question. To what company did you belong? Answer. Company E5, 13th Tennessee cavalry….
“Question. State what you saw there of the fight, and what was done after the place was captured. Answer. We fought them for some six or eight hours in the fort, and when they charged our men scattered and ran under the hill; some turned back and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag of truce came in I went down to get some water. As I was coming back I turned sick, and laid down behind a log. The secesh charged, and after they came over I saw one go a good ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there I thought I could not live there, so I threw down my arms and surrendered. He did not shoot me then, but as I turned around he or some other one shot me in the back.
“Question. Did they say anything while they were shooting? Answer. All I heard was, “Shoot him, shoot him!” “Yonder goes one!” Kill him, kill him! ” That is about all I heard.
“Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they surrendered? Answer. I did not see but two or three shot around me. One of the boys of our company, named Taylor, ran up there, and I saw him shot and fall. Then another was shot just before me, like — shot down after he threw down his arms.
“Question. Those were white men? Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them make lots of niggers stand up, and then they shot them down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying around there, and would come to a nigger and say, “You ain’t dead, are you?” They would not say anything, and then the secesh would get down off their horses, prick them in their sides, and say, “Damn you, you ain’t dead; get up,” Then they would make them get up on their knees, when they would shoot them down like hogs.
“Question. Do you know of their burning any buildings? Answer. I could hear them tell them to stick torches all around, and they fired all the buildings. Question. Do you know whether any of our men were in the buildings when. they were burned? Answer. Some of our men said some were burned; I did not see it, or know it to be so myself.
“….Question. How many negroes do you suppose were killed after the surrender? Answer. There were hardly any killed before the surrender. I reckon as many as 200 were killed after the surrender, out of about 300 that were there.
“Question. Did you see any rebel officers about while this shooting was going on? Answer. I do not know as I saw any officers about when they were shooting the negroes. A captain came to me a few minutes after I was shot; he was close by me when I was shot.
“Question. Did he try to stop the shooting? Answer. I did not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they were shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged him not to let. them shoot me again, and he said they would not. One man, after he was shot down, was shot again. After I was shot down, the man I surrendered to went around the tree I was against and shot a man, and then came around to me, again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up to him, and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got the watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow knife I had in my pocket. It was not worth five cents; was of no account at all, only to cut tobacco with.” (US Congress 1864, 33-34.) ….
“Woodford Cooksey, sworn and examined. By Mfr. Gooch: Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? Answer. Company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry….
“Did you have any arms in your hands when you were shot? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. Did the one who shot you say anything to you? Answer. I was lying down. He said, “Hand me up your money, you damned son of a bitch.” I only had four bits… I handed it up to him. He said he had damned nigh a notion to hit me in the head on account of staying there and fighting with the niggers. He heard a rally about the bank and went down there. They were shooting and throwing them in the river. A part of that night and the next morning they were burning houses and burying the dead and stealing goods. The next morning they commenced on the negroes again, and killed all they came across, as far as I could see. I saw them kill eight or ten of them the next morning.
“Question. How many did you see killed? Answer. I saw them kill three white men and seven negroes the next morning.
“Question. Did you see them shoot any white men the day after the fight? Answer. No, sir. I saw one of them shoot a black fellow in the head with three buck shot and a musket ball. The man held up his head, and then the fellow took his pistol and fired that at his head. The black man still moved, and then the fellow took his sabre and stuck it in the hole in the negro’s head and jammed it way down, and said “Now, God damn you, die!” The negro did not say anything, but he moved, and the fellow took his carbine and beat his head soft with it. That was the next morning after the fight.” (US Congress 1864, 36-37.)
“John F. Ray, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch: Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? Answer. Company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. At what time were you wounded? Answer. I was wounded about 2 o’clock, after the rebels got in the breastworks?
“Question. Was it before or after you had surrendered? Answer. It was after I threw down my gun, as they all started to run.
“Question. Will you state what you saw there? Answer. After I surrendered they shot down a great many white fellows right close to me-ten or twelve, I suppose-and a great many negroes, too.
“Question. How long did they keep shooting our men after they surrendered? Answer. I heard guns away after dark shooting all that evening, somewhere; they kept up a regular fire for a long time, and then I heard the guns once in a while….
“Question. Do you think of anything else to state? If so, go on and state it.
“Answer. I saw a rebel lieutenant take a little negro boy up on the horse behind him; and then I heard General Chalmers — I think it must have been — tell him to “take that negro down and shoot him,” or ” take him and shoot him,” and he passed him down and shot him.
“Question. How large was the boy?
“Answer. He was not more than eight years old. I heard the lieutenant tell the other that the negro was not in the service; that he was nothing but a child; that he was pressed and brought in there. The other one said: “Damn the difference; take him down and shoot him, or he would shoot him.” I think it must have been General Chalmers. He was a smallish mall; he had on a long gray coat, with a star on his coat….” (US Congress 1864, 50-51.)
“Dr. Chapman Underwood, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch:
“Question. Where do you reside? Answer. I reside in Tennessee.
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow, or on board a gunboat, during the attack there? Answer. Yes, sir; I was there.
“Question. What was your position? Answer. I was sent from there, about ten days before that, on detached service, looking after convalescents, and returned on the Saturday evening before the fight on Tuesday morning. I was acting assistant surgeon. The regiment was not full enough to have a surgeon with the regular rank.
“Question. Will you state what came within your own observation in connection with the attack and capture? Answer. I roomed with Lieutenant Logan, first lieutenant of company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry. About sun-up, I got up as usual. About the time I got up and washed, the pickets ran in and said Forrest was coming to attack the fort. I started up to the fort. Lieutenant Logan knew the feeling the rebels had towards me, and told me to go on the gunboat.
“Question. What do you mean by that? Answer. Well, they had been hunting me — had shot at me frequently. Faulkner’s regiment, and a part of another, was raised in the country where I knew all of them. I was a notorious character with them, and always had to leave whenever they came around. The lieutenant advised me to go on board the gunboat for safety, and I did so. The attack came on then, and we fired from the gunboat, I think, some 260 or 270 rounds, and the sharpshooters on the boat were firing, I among the rest. We fought on, I think, until about one or half past one. The rebels had not made much progress by that time. They then came in with a flag of truce, and firing ceased from the fort and gunboat, and all around. They had a conference, I think, of about three-quarters of an hour. They returned with the flag of truce; but in a very short time came back again with it to the fort, and had another interview. During the time the flag of truce was in there, there was no firing done from either side, but we could see from the gunboat up the creek that the rebels were moving up towards the fort. The boat lay about 200 yards from the shore, right opposite the quartermaster’s department. By the time the first flag of truce got to the fort, they commenced stealing the quartermaster’s stores, and began packing them off up the hill. For an hour and a half, I reckon, there seemed to be above one or two hundred men engaged in it.
“Question. This was before the capture of the fort?
“Answer. Yes, sir; while under the protection of the flag of truce. When the last flag of truce started back from the fort, in three minutes, or less, the firing opened again, and then they just rushed in all around, from every direction, like a swarm of bees, and overwhelmed everything. The men — white and black-all rushed out of the fort together, threw down their arms, and ran down the hill; but they shot them down like beeves, in every direction. I think I saw about 200 run down next to the water, and some of them into the water, and they shot them until I did not see a man standing.
“Question. How many do you think were shot after the capture of the fort, and after they threw down their arms?
“Answer. Well, I think, from all the information I could gather, there were about 400 men killed after the capture, or 450. I think there were about 500 and odd men killed there. A very great majority of them were killed after the surrender. I do not suppose there were more than 20 men killed before the fort was captured and the men threw down their arms and begged for quarter.
“Question. Was there any resistance on the part of our soldiers after the capture of the fort?
“Answer. None in the world. They had no chance to make any resistance.
“Question. And they did not attempt to make any?
“Answer. None that I could discover. There were about 500 black soldiers in all there, and about 200 whites able for duty. There were a great many of them sick and in the hospital.
“Question. What happened after that?
“Answer. They then got our cannon in the fort, and turned them on us, and we had to steam off up the river a little, knowing that they had got a couple of 10 or 12-pounder Parrott guns. They threw three shells towards us. We steamed off up the river, anchored, and lay there all night. We returned the next morning. We got down near there, and discovered plenty of rebels on the hill, and a gunboat and another boat lying at the shore. We acted pretty cautiously, and held out a signal, and the gunboat answered it, and then we went in. When we got in there, the rebel General Chalmers was on board, and several other officers — majors, captains, orderlies, &c. –and bragged a great deal about their victory, and said it was a matter of no consequence. They hated to have such a fight as that, when they could take no more men than they had there. One of the gunboat officers got into a squabble with them, and said they did not treat the flag of truce right. An officer — a captain, I think who was going home, came up and said that, “Damn them. he had 18 fights with them, but he would not treat them as prisoners of war after that,” and that he intended to go home, and would enlist again. Chalmers said that he would treat him as a prisoner of war, but that they would not treat as prisoners of war the “home-made Yankees,” meaning the loyal Tennesseans. There were some sick men in the hospital, but I was afraid to go on shore after the rebels got there. I merely went on shore, but did not pretend to leave the boat.
“Question. Did you see any person shot there the next morning after you returned?
“Answer. I heard a gun or a pistol fired up the bank, and soon afterwards a negro woman came in, who was shot through the knee, and said it was done about that time. I heard frequent shooting up where the fort was, but I did not go up to see what was done.” (US Congress 1864, 84-85.) ….
“Eli A. Bangs, sworn and examined. By the chairman:
“Question. Do you belong to the navy or the army? Answer. To the navy.
“Question. In what capacity? Answer. Acting master’s mate for the New Era gunboat.
“Question. Were you here on the day of the fight at Fort Pillow? Answer. I was.
“Question. Tell us what you observed in regard to the battle, and what followed. Answer. I did not observe much of the first part of the engagement, because I was stationed below, in a division, with the guns; but after we hauled out into the stream I saw the flag of truce come in, and then I saw our colors come down at the fort, and saw our men running down the bank, the rebels following them and shooting them after they had surrendered.
“Question. What number do you suppose the rebels killed after they had surrendered? Answer. I could not say, only from what I saw the next day when I went ashore.
“Question. You were there the next day? Answer. Yes, sir; we came in under a flag of truce.
“Question. What did you see? Answer. Captain Marshall sent me out with a detail of men to collect the wounded and bury the dead. We buried some 70 or 80 bodies, 11 white men and one white woman….
“Question. Did you observe how the dead had been buried by the rebels?
“Answer. Yes, sir; I saw those in the trench. Some had just been thrown in the trench at the end of the fort — white and black together — and a little dirt thrown over them; some had their hands or feet or face out. I should judge there were probably 100 bodies there. They had apparently thrown them in miscellaneously, and thrown a little dirt over them, not covering them up completely.
“Question. Did you see or hear anything there that led you to believe that any had been buried before they were dead? Answer. I did not see any myself, but I understand from a number of others that they had seen it, and had dug one out of the trench who was still alive.
“Question. Did you see any peculiar marks of barbarity, as inflicted upon the dead?
“Answer. I saw none that I noticed, except in the case of one black man that I took up off a tent floor. He lay on his back, with his arms stretched out. Part of his arms were burned off, and his legs were burned nearly to a crisp. His stomach was bare. The clothes had either been torn off, or burned off. In order to take away the remains, I slipped some pieces of board under him, and when we took him up the boards of the tent came up with him; and we then observed that nails had been driven through his clothes and his cartridge-box, so as to fasten him down to the floor. His face was not burned, but was very much distorted, as if he had died in great pain. Several others noticed the nails through his clothes which fastened him down.
“Question. Do you think there can be any doubt about his having been nailed to the boards? Answer. I think not, from the fact that the boards came up with the remains as we raised them up; and we then saw the nails sticking through his clothes, and into the boards.
“Question. Did you notice any other bodies that had been burned? Answer. Yes, sir; I buried four that had been burned….
“Question. How came they to be burned? Answer. They were in the tents, inside of the fort, which had been burned. I am certain that there were four that lay where the tent had been burned, for there were the remains of the boards under them, which had not been fully burned. Those that were burned in the fort were black men.” (US Congress 1864, 90-91.)
“Sergeant Henry F. Weaver, sworn and examined by Mr. Gooch: Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? Answer. To company C, 6th United States heavy artillery, colored. I am a sergeant. Question. You were here at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Did they give any quarter to the negroes? Answer. No, sir.
“Question. Did the negroes throw away their arms? Answer. Yes, sir; and some of them went down on their knees begging for their lives. I saw one shot three times before he was killed.
“By the chairman: Question. What number of our troops do you suppose were killed before the fort was captured?
“Answer. I could not tell exactly, but I do not think over a dozen of the cavalry were killed, and probably not more than fifteen or twenty of the negroes. There were a great many of the negroes wounded, because they would keep getting up to shoot, and were where they could be hit.
“Question. The rebels must have killed a great many of the white men after they had surrendered? Answer. Yes, sir. I saw yesterday afternoon a great number of cavalry taken up, and almost every one was shot in the head. A great many of them looked as if their heads had been beaten in.
“Question. That must have been done after the fort had been captured? “Answer. Yes, sir; two-thirds of them must have been killed after the fort was taken.
“Question. Do you know why the gunboat did not fire upon the rebels after the fort was captured, while they were shooting down our men? Answer. They could not do that without killing our own men, too, as they -were all mixed up together.” (US Congress 1864, 92-93.)
“Frank Hogan, (colored,) sworn and examined. By the chairman: Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day of the fight? Answer. Yes; sir. Question. In what company and regiment? Answer. Company A, 6th United States heavy artillery.
“Question. What did you see there that day, especially after the fort was taken? Answer. I saw them shoot a great many men after the fort was taken, officers and private soldiers, white and black.
“Question. After they had given up? Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them shoot a captain in our battalion, about a quarter of an hour after he had surrendered. One of the secesh called him up to him, and asked him if he was an officer of a nigger regiment. He said, “Yes,” and then they shot him with a revolver. Question. Did they say anything more at the time they shot him? Answer. Yes, sir; one of them said, “God damn you, I will give you a nigger officer.” They talked with him a little time before they shot him. They asked him how he came to be there, and several other questions, and then asked if he belonged to a nigger regiment, and then they shot him. It was a secesh, officer who shot him. I was standing a little behind. Question. What was the rank of the secesh officer? Answer. He was a first lieutenant. I do not know his name. Question. Do you know the name of the officer he shot? Answer. Yes, sir; Captain Carson, company D.
“Question. Why did they not shoot you? Answer. I do not know why they didn’t. Question. How long did you stay with them? Answer. I staid with them two nights and one day. They took me one Tuesday evening, and I got away from them Thursday morning, about two hours before daylight. They were going to make an early move that morning, and they sent me back for some water, and I left with another boy in the same company with myself….
“Question. Do you know anything of the rebels burning any of the tents that. had wounded men in them? Answer. I know they set some on fire that had wounded men in them, but I did not see them burn, because they would not let us go around to see….
“Question. Did you hear the men in there after they set the building on fire?’ Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them in there. I knew they were in there. I knew that they were there sick. I saw them shoot one or two men who came out of the hospital, and then they went into the tents, and then shot them right in the tents. I saw them shoot two of them right in the head. When they charged the fort they did not look into the tents, but when they came back afterwards they shot those sick men in the head. I knew the men, because they belonged to the company I did. One of them was named Dennis Gibbs, and the other was named Alfred Flag….” (US Congress 1864, 94.)
“Alfred Coleman, (colored,) sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch: Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? Answer. Company B, 6th United States heavy artillery.
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. Were you captured here? Answer. Yes, sir….
“Question. Where did they take you to? Answer. Out towards Brownsville, between twelve and eighteen miles. Question. What did you do after you were captured Answer. I helped to bury some of the dead; then I came to the commissary store, and helped to carry out some forage.
“What did they say about giving quarter? Answer. They said they would show no quarter to colored troops, nor to any of the officers with them, but would kill them all. Question. Who said that? Answer. One of the captains of the 2d Missouri. He shot six himself, but, towards evening, General Forrest issued an order not to kill any more negroes, because they wanted them to help to haul the artillery out.
“Question. How do you know that? Answer. This captain said so. Question. Were colored men used for that purpose? Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them pulling the artillery, and I saw the secesh whip them as they were going out, just like they were horses. Question. How many men did you see that way? Answer. There were some ten or twelve men hold of a piece that I saw coming out. The secesh said they had been talking about fighting under the black flag, but that they had come as nigh fulfilling that here as if they had a black flag.
“Question. How long did you stay with them Answer. I was taken on the Tuesday evening after the fight, and remained with them until about an hour before day of Thursday morning. I then took a sack of corn to feed the horses, and got the horses between me and them, and, as it was dark and drizzling rain, I left them and escaped.
“Question. Did you see any of the shooting going on? Answer. Yes, sir. I was lying right under the side of the hill where the most of the men were killed. I saw them take one of the Tennessee cavalry, who was wounded in one leg, so that he could not stand on it. Two men took him, and made him stand up on one leg, and then shot him down. That was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
“Question. How many do you think you saw them shoot? Answer. The captain that carried me off shot six colored men himself, with a revolver. I saw him shoot them. I cannot state about the rest….
“Question. How many of our men were killed before the fort was taken? Answer. I do not think there were more than ten or fifteen men killed before the fort was taken.” (US Congress 1864, 95-96)
“Papers forwarded by Lieutenant Colonel Harris to Washington.
“Headquarters, 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.
“….The garrison of Fort Pillow, by last reports received, consisted of the 1st battalion 6th United States heavy artillery, colored, eight commissioned officers and 213 enlisted men; one section company D, 2d United States light artillery, colored, one commissioned officer and forty men; 1st battalion 13th Tennessee cavalry, Major H. F. Bradford, ten commissioned officers and 285 enlisted men.
“Total white troops…………………………………. 295
“Total colored troops………………………………. 262
557
“Six field pieces: two 6-pounders, two 12-pounder howitzers, and two 10-pounder Parrotts.
“T. H. Harris,
“Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General.” (US Congress 1864, 98) ….
“United States Steamer Silver Cloud, Off Memphis, Tennessee, April 14, 1864.
[To: Major General Hurlbut, Commanding, 16th Army Corps.]
“Sir: In compliance with your request that I would forward to you a written statement of what I witnessed and learned concerning the treatment of our troops by the rebels at the capture of Fort Pillow by their forces under General Forrest, I have the honor to submit the following report:
“Our garrison at Fort Pillow, consisting of some 350 colored troops and 200 of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, refusing to surrender, the place was carried by assault about 3 p. m. of the 12th instant. I arrived off the fort at 6 a. m. on the morning of the 13th instant. Parties of rebel cavalry were picketed on the hills around the fort, and shelling those away, I made a landing and took on board some twenty of our troops, some of them badly wounded, who had concealed themselves along the bank, and came out when they saw my vessel. Whilst doing so I was fired upon by rebel sharpshooters posted on the hills, and one wounded man limping down to the vessel was shot.
“About 8 a. m. the enemy sent in a flag of truce, with a proposal from General Forrest that he would put me in possession of the fort and the country around until 5 p. m., for the purpose of burying our dead and removing our wounded, whom he had no means of attending to. I agreed to the terms proposed, and hailing the steamer Platte Valley, which vessel I had convoyed up from Memphis, I brought her alongside, and had the wounded brought down from the fort and battlefield and placed on board of her. Details of rebel soldiers assisted us in this duty, and some soldiers and citizens on board the Platte Valley volunteered for the same purpose. We found about seventy wounded men in the fort and around it, and buried, I should think, 150 bodies. All the buildings around the fort, and the tents and huts in the fort, had been burned by the rebels, and among the embers the charred remains of numbers of our soldiers, who had suffered a terrible death in the flames, could be seen.
“All the wounded, who had strength enough to speak, agreed that after the fort was taken an indiscriminate slaughter of our troops was carried on by the enemy, with a furious and vindictive savageness which was never equaled by the most merciless of the Indian tribes. Around on every side horrible testimony to the truth of this statement could be seen. Bodies with gaping wounds, some bayoneted through the eyes, some with skulls beaten through, others with hideous wounds, as if their bowels had been ripped open with Bowie knives, plainly told that but little quarter was shown to our troops, strewn from the fort to the river bank, in the ravines and hollows, behind logs and under the brush, where they had crept for protection from the assassins who pursued them. We found bodies bayoneted, beaten, and shot to death, showing how cold-blooded and persistent was the slaughter of our unfortunate troops. Of course, when a work is carried by assault there will always be more or less blood shed; even when all resistance has ceased; but here there were unmistakable evidences of a massacre carried on long after any resistance could have been offered, with a cold-blooded barbarity and perseverance which nothing can palliate. As near as I can learn, there were about 500 men in the fort when it was stormed. I received about 100 men, (including the wounded and those I took on board before the flag of truce was sent in.) The rebels I learned had few prisoners, so that at least 300 of our troops must have been killed in this affair. I have the honor to forward a list of the wounded officers and men received from the enemy under flag of truce.
“I am, general, your obedient servant, W. Ferguson, Acting Master U. S. N., Com’dg U. S. Steamer Silver Cloud.” (US Congress 1864, 100-101) ….
“W. R. McLagan sworn, and examined. By Mr. Gooch: ….
“Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day of its capture? Answer. No, sir. Question. Where were you? Answer. About sixteen miles off, at Covington….
“Question. Did you yourself see Major Bradford shot? Answer. I did. Question. How do you know it was Major Bradford? Answer. He represented himself to me as a Major Bradford?
“Question. Did you have any conversation with him? Answer. Yes, sir; and while we were marching from Covington to Brownsville I heard them call him Major Bradford. He told me himself that he was Major Bradford, but he did not wish it to be known, as he had enemies there; and it never would have been known but for a detective in the confederate army from Obion county, Tennessee, named Willis Wright, who recognized him as Major Bradford, and told them of it. Wright is a notorious spy and smuggler in Forrest’s command. There is no doubt that the man was Major Bradford.
“Question. Was there anything said at the time he was shot? Answer. Nothing more than what I said.
“Question. What did he say? Answer. He simply said that he had fought them honorably and as a brave man, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. He was taken prisoner at Fort Pillow, and was then sent to Covington, to the custody of a Colonel Duckworth, commanding the 7th Tennessee rebel cavalry, and from that place he was sent under guard, with about thirty of us conscripts. We arrived at Brownsville on the 13th; we started out on the evening of the 14th instant, about dusk. Previous to our leaving Brownsville, five of the guards were ordered back to Duckworth’s headquarters. Those five guards seemed to have received special instructions about something, I don’t know what. After marching about five miles from Brownsville, we halted, that is, the two companies of the rebels. These five guards then took Major Bradford out about fifty yards from the road. He seemed to understand what they were going to do with him. He asked for mercy, and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. Three of the five guards shot him. One shot struck him about in the temple; a second in the left breast, and the third shot went through the thick part of the thigh. He was killed instantly. They left his body lying there. I escaped from the rebels at Jackson. I left on the Friday morning about 2 o’clock, and Saturday night about 12 o’clock I came back where the murder was committed, and saw his body there, yet unburied….
“Question. Did you hear them give any reason for shooting Major Bradford? Answer. Simply that he was a Tennessee traitor, and to them they showed no quarter. They said that he was a Tennessean, and had joined the Yankee army, and they showed them no quarter. I think myself that the order for shooting Major Bradford was given by Colonel Duckworth, for the reasons I have stated.
“Question. What was the officer in command at the time he was shot? Answer. A lieutenant went out with him. He was one of the five guards. Question. Who commanded the, two companies of rebels? Answer. I do not know who ranked in these two companies. Russell and Lawler commanded the companies. Duckworth, who, I think, gave the order for killing Major Bradford, belongs to Chalmers’s command. He is a notorious scoundrel. He never had any reputation, either before the war or afterward.
“Question. Did Major Bradford have on his uniform? Answer. No, sir. He had tried to conceal his identity as much as possible, by putting on citizen’s clothes, as he said that he had enemies among them, who would kill him if they knew him.
“Question. Did you hear any of their officers say anything as to the manner in which they treated our soldiers whom they had captured, and the way in which they intended to treat them? Answer. On the evening of the 12th I was in Colonel Duckworth’s headquarters. I had not been conscripted then. I saw a despatch there from Forrest to Duckworth, dated that afternoon. It read something like this: “Colonel W. L. Duckworth, Covington, Tennessee. I have killed 300 and captured 300.” Duckworth remarked to me previous to the attack that no quarter would be shown at Fort Pillow at all; that they were a set of damned Yankees and Tennessee traitors there, and they intended to show them no quarter.
“Question. When did he say this? Answer. On the evening of the 11th of April, at Covington.
“Question. How long had you known Duckworth? Answer. I never saw him before I saw him there. Question. Did he say this to you? Answer. I was not in conversation with him, but I heard him say this to a Captain Hill, a retired confederate captain, who formerly belonged to his command. He was within five or six feet of me when he said it.
“Question. Were they talking at that time about the intended attack on Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir; and five days’ rations were ordered then, and Duckworth said they were going to take Fort Pillow, and no quarter would be shown at all.
“Question. Do you know how Major Bradford got to Covington, and when? Answer. I think he arrived there on the evening of the 12th, just about dusk.
“Question. Did Major Bradford state to you that he desired to disguise himself? Answer. Yes, sir. He said that he had personal enemies in that command, among whom was this Willis Wright, who recognized him and told them who he was. Major Bradford was a native Tennessean.
“Question. Did any of the conscripts who were with you see Major Bradford shot? Answer. Yes, sir; and I understand that one or two others, who escaped when I did, are here in the city; and I shall try to get their statements.
“W. R. McLagan, a citizen of the United States, being first duly sworn, states, upon oath, that for the last two years he has been trading between St. Louis, Missouri, and Covington, Tennessee; that at the time of the attack upon Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, he was at Covington, Tennessee, and was taken by General Forrest as a conscript on the 13th of April, with about thirty other citizens; that on the evening of the 12th of April Major Bradford, 13th Tennessee cavalry, United States forces, arrived at Covington, under guard, as a prisoner of war, and was reported as such to Colonel Duckworth, commanding 7th Tennessee cavalry, confederate forces; that on the 13th of April Major Bradford and the conscripts, including the affiant, were placed in charge of two companies of the 7th Tennessee cavalry, Captains Russell and Lawler commanding. They were taken to Brownsville, Tennessee, and started from there to Jackson, Tennessee. When they had proceeded about five miles from Brownsville a halt was made, and Major Bradford was taken about fifty yards from the command by a guard of five confederate soldiers in charge of a lieutenant, and was there deliberately shot, three of the confederate soldiers discharging their fire-arms, all of which took effect, killing him instantly. This was on the 14th day of April, 1864, near dusk; that the body of Major Bradford was left unburied in the woods about fifty yards from the road. The affiant, with the other conscripts, were taken on to Jackson, and on the 22d day of April the affiant and twenty-five others of the conscripts made their escape from the confederate forces at Jackson. On the way back he saw the body of Major Bradford lying in the same place where he was shot. This was on Saturday night, the 23d of April. Major Bradford, before he was shot, fell on his knees and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war.
“W. R. McLagan. Headquarters District of West Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, April 25, 1864. Subscribed and sworn to before me this day. T. H. Harris, Lieut. Col. and Ass’t Adj’t Gen’l 16th Army Corps.” (US Congress 1864, 101-103) ….
“Appendix. The following papers and affidavits were furnished the committee by General Mason Brayman, at Cairo, and are herewith submitted:
“Cairo, Illinois, April 18, 1864.
“We have the honor of reporting to you, as the only known survivors of the commissioned officers of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, that, on the morning of the 12th day of the present month, at about the hour of daylight, the rebels, numbering from five thousand to seven thousand, attacked our garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, numbering as it did only about five hundred 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 6th United States heavy artillery, colored,) refused. Shortly after this Major Booth was shot through the heart and fell dead. Major William F. Bradford, then commanding the 13th Tennessee cavalry, assumed command of the fort, and under his orders a continual fire was kept up until about one o’clock 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 breastworks. 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 they 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.
“Captain Theo. F. Bradford, of company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was signal-officer for the gunboat, 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, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was killed after he had surrendered, he having been previously wounded. Lieutenant J. C. Akerstrom, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, and acting regimental quartermaster, was severely wounded after he had surrendered, and then nailed to the side of a house and the house set on fire, burning him to death. Lieutenant Cord. Revelle, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was shot and killed after surrender. Major 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 fifty 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 hillside 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 ordered 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 went to the negro hospital, where about thirty sick were kept, and butchered them with their sabres, 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 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 forty negroes. They hung and shot the negroes as they passed along toward Brownsville until they were rid of them all. Out of the six hundred troops (convalescents included) which were at the fort they have only about one hundred prisoners, (all whites,) and we have about fifty 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 McCullough, and other officers.
“We respectfully refer you to the accompanying affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle, lettered ” A,” and those of Mrs. Rufin, lettered “B,” and Mrs. Williams, lettered “C.”
“Respectfully submitted.
- A. Smith, First Lieut. Co. D, 13th Tenn. Vol. Cavalry.
William Cleary, Second Lieut. Co. B. 13th Tenn. Vol. Cavalry.
“General M. Brayman.
“A true copy. C. B. Smith, Lieutenant and A. D. C. (US Cong. 1864, 104-105)…
“Statement of Edward B. Benton, upon oath, relative to the massacre by the confederate troops under General Forrest, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
“I was born in Waltham, Vermont. Question. Where have you resided last? Answer. I was in Missouri engaged in furnishing beef to the government troops on the North Missouri railroad until a year ago last July. I then went down to Fort Pillow, and have been there ever since.
“Question. What was your business there? Answer. I owned 215 acres of the fort, bordering on the river, and the very land we fought on. I was putting in 100 acres of cotton just outside the fortifications, which was my principal business. Question. You lived outside the fort? Answer. Yes, sir — slept there. I was in the fort every day; it was only about a mile from the landing-not a mile from the fortifications.
“Question. Just say when you saw Forrest’s men; the day and the time of day, and what you did. Answer; On Tuesday morning, the 12th of this month, I was awakened about five o’clock, or half past five, by a little darkey boy, who came up to my room and says: “Oh, Mr. Benton, all of Forrest’s men have come, and they are just going into the fort. What will I do?” I got out of bed and looked out of the window towards the fort, and saw about three or four hundred of Forrest’s men drawn up in line, and some one was making a speech to them, which was answered by cheering. They cheered, and then the pickets fired. I put some things in my valise and started for the fort in a roundabout way, and got in, by running the pickets, about six o’clock, and went immediately to Major Booth and asked for a gun, and took my stand with the soldiers inside the breastworks, where I remained and shot at every person of Forrest’s men that I could get a chance at, firing forty-eight shots in all, until the flag of truce was sent in….
“Question. Were four hundred all there were there? Answer. Those were all I saw there. This was when they first made their appearance when I first saw these four hundred. After getting into the fort we saw more than a thousand coming in at the different passes, and the sharpshooters were stationed on every hill on every side of us except the river side….
“Question. When the flag went back did they commence firing again? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. Kept it up for how long? Answer. They commenced firing again, but the firing didn’t last fifteen: minutes. Up to this time there had not been twenty killed on our side.
“Question. What was the strength of the garrison? Answer. 580, I think, just. Question. How many of these were negroes? Answer. About 380 — nearly 400 — I don’t know exactly to a man.
“Question. How many citizens besides yourself? Answer. William W. Cutler, of Chicago, and a young man by the name of Robinson; he was a soldier but in citizen’s clothes, and got off on that plea….
“Question. Was there no firing while the first [flag of truce] was in?
“Answer. No, sir, not a single shot fired on either side. After the flag of truce had been rejected, or the surrender had been rejected, they were so close to the fort that about 3,000 of them just sprang right in, and the whole garrison threw down their arms at once. The bigger portion of the darkeys jumped down the bank towards the Mississippi river, without any arms at all, and were followed by Forrest’s men and shot indiscriminately, black and white, with handkerchiefs held over them in a great number of instances-as many as fifty I should think.
“Question. Did you see any of those prisoners formed in line and shot down? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. How many? Answer. They were collected at least four different times. Question. How long a line? Answer. Well, it was more in a collection than it was properly in a straight line. There was a line probably as long as this room, or longer-about thirty or thirty-five feet. Question. These lines were scattered by rebel shots several times? Answer. They were. Question. These men were unarmed? Answer. Unarmed; no arms of any description, and they holding up both hands begging for quarter.
“Question. Were you put in the line? Answer. No, sir; I was not. It was attempted to put me in line, but I clung to a man who tried to shoot me, but I caught his gun and prevented him, and he took my money from me, some seventy dollars, and ordered me into line, raising his gun to strike me; and as I came to the line the captain made a feint to strike me with his sword, and told me to give him my pocket book, which I did, and as he turned to look after others, I sprang away and clung close to this man that had just taken my money. I said to him that he had taken all my money, and he must keep me from being shot like a dog, as I was a citizen, and had nothing to do with the fight. He abused me in every way by bad language, saying that we had fought them like devils, and tried to kill all of Forrest’s men, until we came to the back of the stores, where he gave me a soldier’s coat and told me to wait a moment until he could step in and steal his share. As soon as I was left I took some clothing, a saddle blanket, and halter that were there and started out of the fort as one of Forrest’s men, but on the way I saw three persons shot — mulattoes and blacks — shot down singly in cold blood. I succeeded in getting over the fortifications and hid under fallen timber, where I remained until dark. After dark I attempted to go towards Hatchie River bottom, but the fallen timber being so bad I got lost, and wandered near the Pass No. 2, leading out of the fort, inside of it, where I could see all, where I laid until the next day about two o’clock. I heard fifty-one or fifty-two shots fired singly at different times within the fort during that time, and screams and cheers. About two o’clock the dogs were getting so close to me that I knew they were on my track.
“Question. What do you mean by the dogs? Answer. Hunting out people everywhere. They have dogs. Question. They had bloodhounds? Answer. Yes, sir. I left the most of my clothing and hastened down a ravine in the timber, and kept on through the ravines till I came to the Coal Creek bottom, some mile and a half, and swam across. Finally, I succeeded in getting to the island. I had to swim across the river and a bayou. That is all that I saw. Oh! I was there at the fort two days after the battle and saw the remains of burned persons; helped to bury one of the dead that I saw shot in cold blood lying right where he was left, and saw many of them, white and black, all buried together, and a number, three days afterwards, not buried.
“Question. How many did you see shot in this way? Answer. I should think probably about two hundred.
“Question. It was an indiscriminate butchery, was it? Answer. Yes, sir. There were about fifteen or twenty that lay close in one pile, huddling together, shot after they were wounded.
“Question. Some white soldiers shot after they were wounded? Answer. Yes, sir, with the hospital flag flying, and they holding white handkerchiefs over their heads. I saw at least ten soldiers shot individually with white handkerchiefs over their heads. They tore off pieces of their shirts — anything they could get — for flags of truce and to denote surrender.
“Question. You say these men were shot down in hospital, with hospital flag flying? Answer. Yes, sir, lying right down under it — not up walking at all. Every man lying near me was killed — lying close to me and on me. Two lay over me, because they kept piling themselves right up on top close under the bank. It was just down under the brow of the hill. A great many were lying in the water and were shot. Trees that were lying one end in the water and the other on shore, they would just go over on the other side of them and hide in the water, and the rebels would go over and shoot them.
“Question. Your citizen’s clothes saved you? Answer. Yes, sir; I told them I had nothing to do with them. They robbed every citizen, taking off most of their clothing. Question. How much did they take from you? Answer. Seventy dollars. Question. You say you were robbed twice. Answer. Yes, once by the captain of the company and once by the private. I carry my money in my vest pocket always, and had my pocket-book in my pocket with notes in it. Question. That was what you gave to the captain, wasn’t it? Answer. Yes, sir. Question. And the seventy dollars in money to the soldier? Answer. Yes, sir. He asked, “Give me your money,” and the other for the pocket-book.
“Question. You say they had bloodhounds; did you see any of them? Answer. Yes, sir; and not only I but others saw them. One other, Mr. Jones, was treed by them, and staid there a long time. Question. What Jones was that? Answer. I don’t know his given name. He lives on Island 34. I can find out his name. He is not any too good a Union man, but is rather southern in his feelings.
“Question. State about Bradford’s death — when he was shot. What was done? Was he wounded before the surrender? Answer. No, sir; but it was reported by very reliable persons that Bradford was shot and hung near Covington, in Hatchie River bottom. Question. Who told you this? Answer. This same Jones; and there were some darkeys came in to the gunboat and said that. Darkey evidence is very correct there. You might not think it worth while to take their evidence, but it is a great deal more to be relied upon than the southern evidence there. I might state that I was inquired after by a large number of officers, and it was said they would hang me on a flag-pole.
“Question. What for? Answer. From the fact that I employed government darkeys from Colonel Phillips, at Memphis. Question. On your plantation? Answer. Yes, sir. And they shot all my horses unfit for cavalry. Question. Did they shoot your darkeys? Answer. I understand they did, and burned them all. I understand they took one yellow woman, and two or three boys escaped that I tried to take to the fort with me in the morning to help fight. The balance, a darkey whose name I don’t know, said they were killed and burned in the house. Question. You did not go back there, then? Answer. I did not go back there. That is only what is told me. It was told me by persons who were hid right near, and I saw persons bury the bodies after they were burned.
“Question. Where? Answer. In the fort, sir — burned in the house. Question. In connection with the fort buildings? Answer. Yes, sir, and out on timber. There was a large number of them burned in the buildings, but they had been buried the day before.
“Question. You say there were 580 men, you think, in the fort? Answer. Yes, sir.
“Question. How many do you suppose escaped? Answer. Well, I know there were not more than 100 as they marched out there surrounded by the other troops, and I would not think there were fifty of them. There were five darkeys in Cairo hospitals who were buried alive. Two of them have died since they got there.
“Question. Did you see any of these men buried alive? Answer. No, I did not; but they are facts that can easily be proved by the darkeys — the darkeys themselves — and those who saw it done, and saw the quartermaster burned, too. [Signed] Edward B. Benton.
“Subscribed and sworn…this 22d April, 1864.” (U.S. Cong. 1864, 119-123)
(United States Congress. House of Representatives. Fort Pillow Massacre (Report No. 65, 38th Cong., 1st Sess.). Washington, DC: GPO, approved 4-21-1864, ordered to be printed 5-6-1864.)
Contemporary Periodicals and Newspapers:
(In Chronological Order)
April 14, New York Times: “From Cairo [IL], Thursday, April 14. On Tuesday morning the rebel Gen. Forrest attacked Fort Pillow. Soon after the attack Forrest sent a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the fort and garrison, meanwhile disposing of his force so as to gain the advantage. Our forces were under command of Major Booth, of the Thirteenth Tennessee (U.S.) Heavy Artillery, formally of the First Alabama Cavalry.
“The flag of trace was refused, and fighting resumed. Afterward a second flag came in, which was also refuted. Both flags gave the rebels advantage of gaining new position.
“The battle was kept up until 3 P. M., when Major Booth was killed, and Major Bradford took command.
“The rebels now came in swarms over our troops, compelling them to surrender.
“Immediately upon the surrender ensued a scene which utterly baffles description. Up to that time, comparatively few of our men had been killed; but, insatiate as fiends, bloodthirsty as devils incarnate, the Confederates commenced an indiscriminate butchery of the whites and blacks, including those of both colors who had been previously wounded.
“The black, soldiers, becoming demoralized, rushed to the rear, the white officers having thrown down their arms.
“Both white and black were bayoneted, shot or sabred; even dead bodies were horribly mutilated,
and children of seven and eight years and several negro women killed in cold blood. Soldiers unable to speak from wounds were shot dead, and their bodies rolled down the banks into the river. The dead and wounded negroes were piled in heaps and burned, and several citizens who had joined our forces for protection were killed or wounded.
“Out of the garrison of six hundred, only two hundred remained alive.
“Among our dead officers are Capt. Bradford, Lieuts. Barr [next name unclear], Wilson, Revel and Major Booth, all of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry….
“The steamer Platte Valley came up at about half-past 3 o’clock, and was hailed by the rebels under a flag of truce. Men were sent ashore to bury the dead, and take aboard such of the wounded as the enemy had allowed to live. Fifty-seven were taken aboard, including seven or eight colored. Eight died on the way up. He steamer arrived here this evening, and was immediately sent to the Mound City Hospital, to discharge her suffering cargo….
“Later. Cairo, Thursday, April 15. Two negro soldiers, wounded at Fort Pillow, were buried by the rebels, but afterward worked themselves out of their graves. They were among those brought up in the Platte Valley, and are now in hospital at Mound City….
Reports From St. Louis.
“St. Louis, Friday, April 15. The correspondent of the Union, who was on board the steamer Platte Valley at Fort Pillow, gives even a more appalling description of the fiendishness of the rebels than our Cairo dispatches.
“Many of our wounded were shot in the hospital. The remainder were driven out, and the hospital was burned.
“On the morning after the battle the rebels went over the field, and shot the negroes who had not died from their wounds….
“Many of those who had escaped from the works and hospital, who desired to be treated as prisoners of war, as the rebels said, were ordered to fall into line, and when they had formed, were inhumanely shot down.
“Of 350 colored troops not more than 56 escaped the massacre, and not one officer that commanded them survives. Only four officers of the Thirteenth Tennessee escaped death.
“Gen. Chalmers told this correspondent,[22] although it was against the policy of his Government to spare negro soldiers or their officers, he had done all in his power to stop the carnage. At the same time he believed it was right….” (New York Times. “The Black Flag. Horrible Massacre by the Rebels. Fort Pillow Captured After a Desperate Fight. Four Hundred of the Garrison Brutally Murdered. Wounded and Unarmed Men Bayoneted and Their Bodies Burned. White and Black Indiscriminately Butchered.” 4-16-1864, p. 1.)
April 14, NYT: “Correspondent of the Missouri Democrat. Cairo, Thursday, April 14, 1864.
“Before leaving Memphis Tuesday afternoon, we heard a report that Fort Pillow was captured, and at 5 P. M. we proceeded up the river in the Platte Valley, loaded down with passengers, and with the gunboat Silver Cloud, No. 27, under Acting Master Ferguson, in tow. We designedly proceeded slowly, and arrived near the fort at 8 A.M., where the gunboat cast off, and steamed up toward the fort. We were about three miles below the fort, and could see mounted pickets on the shore. After the gunboat got within reach she opened on the fort with shell, but met with no reply. She continued slowly on til she got in near the fort end near the shore, where she fired a shot or two and then stopped. We had followed her at a distance, and now, about 10 A.M., came up abreast and passed her and the fort. As we came up, we saw fire and smoke proceeding from the shore, which proved to be some buildings and some hay on the levee. We also, for the first time, saw people moving about, some on foot and some on horseback, behind the smoke; and soon several persons came to the bank of the river with a white flag. The gunboat sent a skiff ashore, which returned in about twenty minutes, and then the gunboat landed. We, at this time, were a mile above, and being signaled by the gunboat, returned and landed by the boat. While returning near the shore, we saw numerous dead bodies strewed along the river and on the sides of the bluff. We found, on landing, quite a number of Confederate officers; among them Brig. Gen. Chalmers with his Staff, and Maj. C. W. Anderson, of Gen. Smith’s staff, and others of the rebel officers whose names I did not learn. Arrangements were made to parole all the wounded, and men were detached to bring them in. An agreement for truce till 5 P.M., was agreed upon, and permission freely given to visit the fort and founds. Escorted by Capt. Lindsey, formerly of Natchez, now in the rebel army, your correspondent visited the fort and adjacent grounds 00 the scene of action the day preceding. On the way up – about three miles below the fort – we were signaled by a flat-boat on the Missouri shore, and took on board a colored corporal and three wounded men, and received our first account from them of the fight.
The Assault and Capture of the Fort.
We have gleaned the facts of the fight from authentic sources, and they may be relied upon as truthful. The rebels, under Forrest, appeared and drove in the pickets about sunrise on Tuesday morning. The garrison of the fort consisted of about two hundred of the Thirteenth Tennessee Volunteers and four hundred negro artillery, all under command of Major Booth; the gunboat No. 7 was also in the river. The rebels first attacked the outer forts, and in several attempts to charge were repulsed. They were constantly reinforced, and extended their lines to the river on both sides of the fort. The garrison in the two outer forts were at length overpowered by superior numbers, and about noon evacuated them and retired to the fort on the river. Here the fight was maintained with great obstinacy, and continued till about 4 P.M. The approach to the fort from the rear is over a gentle declivity, cleared and fully exposed to a raking fire from two sides of the fort. About 30 yards from the fort is a deep ravine, running all along the front, and so steep at the bottom as to be hidden from the fort, and not commanded by its guns. The rebels charged with great boldness down the declivity, and faced without blanching a murderous fire from the guns an small arms of the fort, and crowded into the ravine where they were sheltered from fire by the steep bank which had been thus left by some unaccountable neglect or ignorance. Here the rebels organized for a final charge upon the fort, after sending a flag of truce with a demand for surrender, which was refused. The approach from the ravine was up through a deep, narrow gully, and the steep embankments of the fort. The last charge was made about 4 P.M., by the whole rebel force, and was successful after a most desperate and gallant defence.
“The rebel army was estimated at from two thousand to four thousand, and succeeded by mere force of numbers. The gunboat had not been idle, but guided by signals from the fort, poured upon the rebels a constant stream of shot and shell. She fired 260 shells, and as testified to by those who could see, with marvelous precision and with fatal effect. Maj. Booth, who was killed near the close of the fight, conducted the defence with great coolness, skill and gallantry. His last signal to the boat, was, ‘We are hard pressed and shall be over-powered.’ He refused to surrender, however, and fought to the last. By the uniform and voluntary testimony of the rebel officers as well as the survivors of the fight, that the negro artillery regiments fought with the bravery and coolness of veterans and served the guns with skill and precision. They did not falter nor flinch until at the last charge, when it was evident they would be overpowered, they broke and fled toward the river, and here commenced the most barbarous and cruel outranges that ever the fiendishness of rebels have perpetrated during the war.
Rebel Atrocities.
“After the rebels were in undisputed possession of the fort and the survivors had surrendered, they commenced the indiscriminate butchery of all the Federal soldiery. The colored soldiers threw down their guns and raised their arms in token of surrender, but not the least attention was paid to it. They continued to shoot down all they found. A number of them finding no quarter was given, ran over the bluff to the river, and tried to conceal themselves under the bank and in the bushes, were pursued by the rebel savages, and emplored them to spare their lives. Their appeals were made in vain, and they were all shot down in cold blood and if full sight of the gun-boat, chased and shot them down as they would dogs. I passed up the bank of the river and counted fifty dead strewed along. One had crawled into a hollow log and was killed in it, another had got over the bank in the river, and had got onto a board that run out into the water. He lay on in on his face, with his feet in the water. He laid there when exposed stark [unclear] and stiff. Several had tried to hide in crevices made by the falling bank, and could not be seen without difficulty, but they were singled out and killed. From the best information I could get, the white soldiers were, to a very considerable extent, treated in the same way. One of the Thirteenth Tennessee on board – D. W. Harrison – informs me that after the surrender he was below the bluff, and one of the rebels presented a pistol to shoot him. He told him he had surrendered, and requested him not to fire. He spared him, and directed him to go up the bluff to the fort. Harrison asked him to go before him, or he would be shot be others, but he told him to go along. He started, and had not proceeded far before he met a rebel, who presented his pistol. Harrison begged him not to fire, but paying no attention to his request, he fired and shot him through the shoulder, and another shot him in the leg. He fell, and while he lay unable to move, another came along and was about to fire again, when Harrison told him he was badly wounded twice, and implored him not to fire. He asked Harrison if he had any money. He said he had a little money and a watch. The rebel took from him his watch and ninety dollars in money, and left him. Harrison is, probably, fatally wounded. Several such cases have been related to me, and I think, to a great extent, the whites and negroes were indiscriminately murdered. The rebel Tennesseans have about the same bitterness against Tennesseans in the Federal army, as against the negroes. I was told by a rebel officer that Gen. Forrest shot one of his men and cut another with his sabre who were shooting down prisoners. It may be so, but he is responsible for the conduct of his men, and Gen. Chalmers stated publicly, while on the Platte Valley, that though he did not encourage or countenance his men in shooting down negro captives, yet that it was right and justifiable.
Incidents of the Fight.
“The negro corporal, Jacob Wilson, whom we picked up below Fort Pillow, had a narrow escape.
He was down on the river bank, and seeing that no quarter was shown, stepped into the water so that he lay partly under it. A rebel coming along asked him what was the matter; he said he was badly wounded, and the rebel, after taking from his pocket all the money he had, left him. It happened to be near by a flat boat tied to the bank and about 3 o’clock in the morning. When all was quiet Wilson crawled into it and got three more wounded comrades also into it, and cut loose. The boat floated out into the channel, and we found it ashore some miles below. The wounded negro soldiers we have aboard feigned themselves dead until we came along. Capt. Young, Twenty-fourth Missouri, Provost-Marshall at the fort, was captured, and was out on his parole. He was at the boat, and while there the Lady Pike, from St. Louis, came up, with his wife aboard. He was allowed to go into the boat to see her, and then returned to his captors. Major Bradford was also captured, and at large on his parole. The rebel officers denounce him for breaking his parole, and say that during Tuesday night he escaped. It is believed that the rebels killed him, and that the charge of breaking his parole is a mere pretence to conceal his murder.
“Capt. Lindsay, rebel officer, to whom I am indebted for courteous attention, admitted to me that Gen. Forrest was slightly wounded, and had a horse killed under him, but another rebel officer informed a friend of his, who was on the boat with us, that Gen. F. was twice wounded, and badly, but the bursting of a shell.
“The rebels claim to have but only ten killed and thirty wounded, but Capt. Young, who had been to their camp, says that they have two hospitals well filled, and he thinks their killed and wounded exceed ours.
“When I visited the fort, the guns had all been taken away. The huts scattered around had been mostly burned up. In one of these were bodies of colored soldiers partly burned, but whether or not be design I cannot state.
“Dr. Fitch, Surgeon of the fort, was taken prisoner, and through the influence of some rebel Surgeons was released on his parole and came up with us. He confirms, from his own personal observation, the butchery of our soldiers by the rebels. He informed me, that after the fort was taken the soldiers ran down the bluff to the river, throwing away their arms, holding up their hands, and crying out that they surrendered, but the rebels continued to fire on them from the bluff without the least regard to their cries. Dr. Fitch says he saw twenty white soldiers paraded in line on the bank of the river, and when in line the rebels fired upon and killed all but one, who ran to the river and hid under a log, and in that condition was fired at a number of times and wounded. He says that Major Bradford also ran down to the river and after he told them he had surrendered, more than fifty shots were fired at him. He then jumped into the river, and swam out a little ways, and whole volleys were fired at him there without hitting him. He returned to the shore, and meeting, as the Doctor supposes, some officer, was protected, but he heard frequent threats from the rebels that they would kill him. It was a subject of considerable remark that Capt. Young was treated by the rebels with so much favor – and it is said that his brother, who has been in the rebel army, kept a grog shop at the fort, and was a rebel sympathizer.
Disgusting Toadyism.
Two or three Federal band-box officers on board the Platte Valley, one of them with his young bride, made themselves conspicuous in fawning around the rebel officers. They brought Gen. Chalmers and several subordinate cut-throat looking officers on board the Platte Valley, drank with them, introduced them to their wives, and invited them to dinner. They made room for them at the ladies’ table, and they sat down to dinner, but it happened, either by accident or from a just idea of the fitness of things on the part of our high spirited Captain, that at that moment the signal bell for moving was heard, and the rebel officers, leaving their soup untouched, skedaddled. Gen. Chalmers, soliloquizing as he hurried past your correspondent that he had learned to run as well as to fight. In the conversation preceding the dinner, Gen Chalmers said he did not countenance or encourage his soldiers in killing captive negro soldiers, but it was right and justifiable. A federal officer who will so disgrace himself and his country, ought to be dismissed [from?] the service.
“The rebel officers were generally well clad, but had very little to distinguish them from the privates. Gen. Chalmers had simply a black feather in his hat, and the other officers stripes on their collars.” (New York Times. “The Massacre At Fort Pillow. Details of the Butchery – A Walk Through the Fort Under Flag of Truce – Scenes and Incidents.” 4-20-1864, p. 1.)
April 15-16, New York Times: “Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 16. Yesterday afternoon, about 5 o’clock, dispatches were received here from Gen. Sherman, confirming the surrender of Fort Pillow, and the brutal conduct of the rebels immediately afterward, which bids fair to be amply retaliated in that quarter in due time. The Star says:
“According to Gen. Sherman, our loss was fifty-three white troops killed, and one hundred wounded, and three hundred black troops murdered in cold blood after the surrender. Fort Pillow is an isolated post, of no value whatever to the defence of Columbus and utterly untenable by the rebels, who have no doubt left that vicinity ere this, hiving been disappointed, with considerable loss, in the object of their raid thither, which was the capture of Columbus, whence they were promptly and severely repulsed with no loss to us. We are satisfied that due investigation will show that the loss of Fort Pillow was simply the result of a mistake of the local commander, who occupied it against direct orders a contingency incident to all wars.”….
Reports From Cairo.
“Cairo, Friday, April 15. Three other negroes were buried alive by the rebels at Fort Pillow, making five in all. All were wounded but one. He was forced to help dig the pits and was then thrown in and covered up.
“Gen. Chalmers said to a Federal officer on the Platte Valley that it was their intention “to show no mercy to home-made Yankees” — thereby meaning Southerners serving in the Union army and negroes — “but that genuine Yankees would be treated as prisoners of war.”….
The Fort Pillow Massacre.
“Mr. Howard, of Michigan (Union), offered a resolution that the Committee on the Conduct of the War inquire into the expediency of sending such of their number as they may depute to Fort Pillow, Tenn., to inquire into the late massacre of Union troops, and report as soon as possible….
“Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts (Union), said that he had called at the War Department this morning, and the Secretary had told him he had a dispatch from Gen. Sherman, saying that about three hundred of our soldiers had been massacred at Fort Pillow, and he intended to make immediate investigation of the matter. He had appointed officers for that purpose….
“Mr. Howard said he wished to get the original evidence of persons on the spot. It would be a disgrace to the nation not to avenge promptly this gross wrong. No matter what was the color of the soldiers, this must be done. It would be impossible to keep colored troops in the service, unless we protected them the same as white troops. It concerned the national honor to protect the men who are fighting our battles, and those who wear our uniform. If this is not done, the black troops, by reason of these threatened terrors, at some critical hour in battle may lose us the day. It has been and he supposed it would continue to be the practice of the rebels to put them to death in cold blood, or sell them into Slavery when captured, and hide it from our officers; but he was for retaliation, man for man, and, if necessary, two for one. He was for retaliation in the promptest and the severest manner.
“Mr. Johnson, of Maryland (Union), agreed with the objects of the resolution, but it did not go far enough. This was not the first time a small garrison had been left to be sacrificed. It had been done at Paducah, Kentucky. Those in command in that region should know their responsibility to the Government, and should know that there is now in the rebel ranks a feeling instigated by their officers equal to that of savages. The Government must act. As the life of a soldier under our flag is as dear as that of any rebel, nothing less than life for life is dictated by our reputation and our duty. But he wanted to know why these disasters had been brought against our flag, while we appropriated money without stint. He moved to amend the resolution by directing the Committee also to inquire whether Fort Pillow could not have been reinforced or evacuated. Which was agreed to.
“Mr. Howard then withdrew the clause requiring the committee to send some of their members to the spot, and as thus modified the resolution was adopted.” (New York Times. “The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Official Confirmation of the Report. Three Hundred Black Soldiers Murdered After Surrender. Fifty-Three White Soldiers Killed and One Hundred Wounded.” 4-17-1864, 1.)
April 16, NYT: “Baltimore, Monday, April 16. The inauguration exercises of the great fair, at the American Institute, to-night, were vary imposing….The immense building was thronged. President Lincoln made a speech….
“The President then pasted on to refer to a matter which he said he supposed was just now deeply agitating the minds of the people all over the country. He alluded to the occurrence which was reported to have taken place at Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi River — the massacre of several hundred colored soldiers by the Confederates. Many supposed that the Government did not intend to do its duty in regard to the protection of these colored soldiers. He desired to say that all such were mistaken. When the question of employing colored men as soldiers was left to the Government, it rested very much with himself whether he should make soldiers of them or not. He pondered the matter carefully, and when he became convinced that it was a duty to so employ
them, he did not hesitate to do so. He stood before the American people responsible for the act — responsible before the Christian world. Responsible for it he should stand in the eye of the historian. Responsible for it he stood before God, and he did not shrink from the decision he had made, for he believed it was right. But when the Government determined to make soldiers of these colored people, he thought it only just that they should have the same protection as the white soldier; {applause} and he hesitated not to declare that the Government would so protect them to the utmost of its power. Whenever a clear, authenticated case should be made out, retribution would follow. It had hitherto been difficult to ascertain with that certainty which should govern a decision in a matter so serious. But to the affair at For Pillow he thought they were likely to find a clear case. The Government had no direct evidence to confirm the reports in existence relative to the massacre. But he himself feared that the facts as related were true. When the Government does know the facts from official sources, and they are substantiated the reports, retribution will be surely given {Applause}. But how should that retribution be administered, was a question still to be settled. Would it be right to take the life of prisoners in Washington, in Fort Delaware or elsewhere, in retaliation for acts in which they had not shared? Would it be right to take the prisoners captured, say at Vicksburgh, and shoot him, for acts of which he was not guilty, and which it will probably be found were the ordering of only a few individuals, or possibly of only one man.
“The President reiterated that the Government would not fail to visit retribution when the facts were clearly proven.
“Throughout his remarks were warmly applauded, especially his enunciation of a determination to visit retribution for the barbarous deeds of the rebels.” (New York Times. “A Speech from President Lincoln – The Fort Pillow Massacre – His Views on Retaliation.” 4-19-1864, 4.)
April 19, NYT: “….Some further particulars of the horrible massacre at Fort Pillow have been received. The atrocities committed by the rebels are almost beyond belief. An affidavit, made at Cairo by a wounded soldier, declares that the Quartermaster of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry was, while living, nailed to a board by the rebels and thrown into the flames of a burning building at Fort Pillow….” (New York Times. “News of the Day. The Rebellion.” 4-19-1864, 4.)
April 19, NYT: “We commend the accounts of last Tuesday’s massacre at Fort Pillow, now confirmed in its important features, to the attention of the enthusiastic defenders of the Rebel Confederacy in England and France. For some years, Mr. Spence, and his co-laborers in the Anglo-rebel Press, have been picturing to an admiring public the gallant and heroic chivalry of the South struggling for independence, and the slave bound by a thousand ties of affection and respect to his patriarchal master. The aristocratic class of England and the polished circles of France have been appealed to for sympathy with “the only aristocracy” on the Western Continent. The North has been painted as sordid, vulgar and low-born; the South as chivalrous and noble. Tho sympathies of a large part of the aristocracy of Great Britain are now with the South, in part because they believe that the Confederacy is an association of gentlemen, and the North a mob and a vulgar Democracy.
“We commend to these admirers of the Southern system, the specimen just given of the chivalry and civilization of the new member they hope to introduce into the family of nations. A fort is taken after no very severe assault or long siege, where hot blood has not been aroused, and at once the conquerors proceed to a general butchery of the prisoners. Three hundred black soldiers and fifty-six white are murdered in cold blood. Other atrocities are reported, such as bayoneting the sick and wounded, shooting women and children, and burying alive a number of wounded black prisoners.
“The sole pretence for this outbreak of cruelty, is the fact that slaves have been enlisted by our Government, and that these unhappy soldiers were mostly black.
“There is nothing in this horrid burst of revenge which will much surprise the Northern public. We have long understood the civilization that springs from the plantation and the slave-pen. We well know the savage habits begotten by irresponsible power. The gilding and tinsel which covered the barbaric reality of Southern society, have long been rubbed off to Northern eyes. Since the butchery of Northern prisoners at Bull Run – after the nameless atrocities and petty cruelties inflicted on our helpless soldiers in Southern prisons — after the most savage massacre of Lawrence — with a thousand experiences of Southern civilization fresh in our memories — not the most rabid Pro-Slavery man in the North ventures any longer to talk of Southern honor or chivalry, or the humanity of slaveholders….” (New York Times. “A Word to the European Admirers of Southern Chivalry.” 4-19-1864, 4.)
April 22, NYT: “The Illinois State Journal has the following particulars of the massacre, from an officer on board a gunboat which accompanied the transport Platte Valley to Fort Pillow under a flag of truce:
“Thirty-six white men and twenty-one colored were the remnant left from six hundred troops, saving the forty prisoners taken away. The attack was made just before sunrise — the fort being occupied by nearly three hundred white men (Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry) and the rest black (Sixth United States Artillery). The fight lasted until 5 o’clock P.M., the garrison refusing to surrender, when treacherously and in true chivalric style, the enemy, under flag of truce, moved up the defiles in the rear of the fort and stormed it. Up to this time only eight or ten had been hurt, but now the massacre begun, our men having thrown down their arms and given themselves up. They pleaded to be treated as prisoners of war, but their murderers reviled and cursed them, pursuing their bloody work, robbing our men of money and valuables, and thrusting their hands into the pockets and breasts of our soldiers to be sure they had given up all. After all the white men, except those on board our boat, were killed, the few negroes left were ordered to bury the dead in the trenches. They were then made to dig a ditch for themselves, and were shot and thrown into it. The following morning the shooting of negroes was resumed, and many who had escaped the night before, were now discovered and met their fate.
The rebel surgeons offered to do something for our wounded, but their officers came and forbade it, at the same time shooting down some negroes who had ventured into the quarters. It is beyond question that the few suffered to live, were spared as a show of humanity, and these were so mutilated that nearly all the wounds will prove mortal. Eight died before we reached Cairo, and not more than ten will probably survive of the remainder. Liet. Libbeth is already dead. We left Capt. P [unclear] and the Adjutant almost dying. The wounds are all of the most terrible and fatal character. Some of the sabre gashes were frightful. Eyes were shot out, heads laid open till the brains oozed out, and many were shot through both lungs. Most of the wounds were in the bowels and lungs, and some of the men had from one [unclear] to nine wounds. The legs of one man were both crushed, and one boy, not yet fifteen, had both legs and his back broken. Scarcely any had less than two and three severe wounds.
There is no doubt that the murderers intended every one should die. Nearly all the wounded could talk when first brought on board, and they all told the same story. There were no contradictions in their statements, and every one assured me he was unwounded when he gave himself up a prisoner. The hospital was fired and the sick and wounded burned without mercy, and one sick man brought on the boat, who had escaped, told me himself that the rebels came to his tent and deliberately set fire to it. The men all assured us that Chalmers did not take more than forty prisoners – some thought there were not more than twenty. The prisoners were drawn up in line and marched off under the eyes of the wounded who say that no artillery officer was amongst them….
They [survivors onboard the Platte River] assured me they did not dare surrender until compelled, as the rebels would not agree to spare the colored troops, and the white soldiers were nearly all deserters from the Southern army.
I have given you simply a statement of reliable facts, gathered carefully from those in the fight, and which may be depended upon. Many persons can testify to the burning bodies seen in the fort, and other evidences of the brutality and fiendish barbarities perpetrated by the murderers of Fort Pillow….
The massacre stands without a parallel – words can give no adequate idea of the blood and destruction. Evermore the place will be held in horror and known as the spot where the blackest deed of the war recorded itself.” (New York Times. “The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Additional Particulars of the Barbarities Perpetrated.” 4-22-1864, p. 1.)
April 23, NYT: “There is now an overwhelming and painfully minute mass of proof of the truth of the first reports of the rebel massacre of our troops, black and white, at Fort Pillow….Jeff Davis officially proclaimed this to be his policy [denial of prisoner of war status to black troops and their white officers], and he was backed up in his ferocious proclamation by the whole rebel press….” (New York Times. “The Fort Pillow Butchery.” 4-23-1864, p. 4.)
April 30, Harper’s Weekly, in Spartacus Educational: “On the 12th April, the rebel General Forrest appeared before Fort Pillow, near Columbus, Kentucky, attacking it with considerable vehemence. This was followed up by frequent demands for its surrender, which were refused by Major Booth, who commanded the fort. The fight was then continued up until 3 p.m., when Major Booth was killed, and the rebels, in large numbers, swarmed over the entrenchments. Up to that time comparatively few of our men had been killed; but immediately upon occupying the place the rebels commenced an indiscriminate butchery of the whites and blacks, including the wounded. Both white and black were bayoneted, shot, or sabred; even dead bodies were horribly mutilated, and children of seven and eight years, and several negro women killed in cold blood. Soldiers unable to speak from wounds were shot dead, and their bodies rolled down the banks into the river. The dead and wounded negroes were piled in heaps and burned, and several citizens, who had joined our forces for protection, were killed or wounded. Out of the garrison of six hundred only two hundred remained alive. Three hundred of those massacred were negroes; five were buried alive. Six guns were captured by the rebels, and carried off, including tow 10-pound Parrotts, and two 12-pound howitzers. A large amount of stores was destroyed or carried away.” (Reproduced in: Spartacus Educational. “Fort Pillow Massacre.”)
Harper’s Weekly 2-18-1865 in Spartacus Educational: “With a fine tact of simple honesty the President, in his little speech at the opening of the Fair in Baltimore, said exactly what we all wished to hear. The massacre at Fort Pillow had raised the question in every mind, does the United States mean to allow its soldiers to be butchered in cold blood? The President replies, that whoever is good enough to fight for us is good enough to be protected by us: and that in this case, when the facts are substantiated, there shall be retaliation. In what way we can retaliate it is not easy to say.
“There is no evidence from Richmond, and there will be none, that Forrest’s murders differ from those of Quantrell. On the other hand, we must not forget that the same papers which brought the President’s speech promising retaliation brought us also the return of the rebel General in Florida, containing, for the relief of friends at home, the names and injuries of our wounded men in his hands, and the list included the colored soldiers of the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Massachusetts regiments. But if public opinion has justified a stronger policy from the beginning – if the criminally stupid promises of M’Clellan and Halleck to protect slavery and to repel the negroes coming to our lines had never been made, we should not now be confronted with this question, because the rebels would never have dared to massacre our soldiers after surrender. But yet to be deterred from retaliation from fear of still further crimes upon the part of the rebels is simple inhumanity.
“Let us either at once release every colored soldier and the officer of their regiments from duty, or make the enemy feel that they are our soldiers. It is very sad that rebel prisoners of war should be shot for the crimes of Forrest. But it is very sad, no less, that soldiers fighting for our flag have been buried alive after surrendering, and it is still sadder that such barbarities should be encouraged by refraining from retaliation. Do we mean to allow Mr. Jefferson Davis, or this man Forrest, or Quantrell, to dictate who shall, and who shall not, fight for the American flag? The massacre at Fort Pillow is a direct challenge to our Government to prove whether it is in earnest or not in emancipating slaves and employing colored troops. There should be no possibility of mistake in the reply. Let the action of the Government be as prompt and terrible as it will be final. Then the battles of this campaign will begin with the clear conviction upon the part of the rebels that we mean what we say; and that the flag will protect to the last, and by every means of war, including retaliation of blood, every soldier who fights for us beneath it.” (Reproduced in: Spartacus Educational. “Fort Pillow Massacre.”)
Sources
Burkhardt, George S. Confederate Rage, Yankee Wrath: No Quarter in the Civil War. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2007
Cimprich, John. Fort Pillow: A Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory. Louisiana State University Press, 2005. Partially Google digitized. Accessed 12-23-2012 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=wrRa2ZrlSFYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
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New York Times. “A Word to the European Admirers of Southern Chivalry.” 4-19-1864, 4. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=7672789&sterm=fort+pillow+massacre
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New York Times. “The Black Flag. Horrible Massacre by the Rebels. Fort Pillow Captured After a Desperate Fight. Four Hundred of the Garrison Brutally Murdered. Wounded and Unarmed Men Bayoneted and Their Bodies Burned. White and Black Indiscriminately Butchered.” 4-16-1864, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=7672067&sterm=
New York Times. “The Fort Pillow Butchery.” 4-23-1864, p. 4. Accessed 12-27-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=7673626&sterm=fort+pillow+massacre
New York Times. “The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Official Confirmation of the Report. Three Hundred Black Soldiers Murdered After Surrender. Fifty-Three White Soldiers Killed and One Hundred Wounded.” 4-17-1864, p. 1. Accessed 12-23-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=7672300&sterm=fort+pillow+massacre
New York Times. “The President at Baltimore. An Authorized Report of His Speech.” 4-24-1864, p. 3. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=7673864&sterm=fort+pillow
Rickard, J. “Fort Pillow Massacre, 12 April 1864.” Accessed 12-23-2012 at: http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_fort_pillow_1864.html
Spartacus Educational. “Fort Pillow Massacre.” Accessed 12-23-2012 at: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWpillow.htm
TN History for Kids! Fort Pillow (webpage). Accessed 3-20-2024 at: https://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/history/virtual-tours/fort-pillow/
United States Congress, House of Representatives. Fort Pillow Massacre (Report No. 65, 38th Cong., 1st Sess.). Washington, DC: GPO, approved 4-21-1864, copies ordered to be printed 5-6-1864. Accessed 12-25-2012: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AAW7861.0001.001
[1] “There were from twenty-five to thirty black soldiers carried off as prisoners, and not over thirty to thirty-five white. All the rest of that…garrison, some five or six hundred in number, were killed or wounded in action, or murdered or wounded after the surrender.” (United States Congress, House of Representatives. Fort Pillow Massacre (Report No. 65, 38th Cong., 1st Sess.). Washington, DC: GPO, approved 4-21-1864, pp. 108-109.)
[2] “Out of the six hundred troops (convalescents included) which were at the fort they have only about one hundred prisoners (all whites), and we have about fifty wounded who are paroled.” This leaves about 450 dead. Some of these were killed during the attack (elsewhere put at about 2-3 dozen with most of the remainder killed after surrender at or in the vicinity of the fort, with the exception of about forty blacks who the Confederates took with them, ostensibly for labor and then “hung and shot the negroes as they passed along toward Brownsville until they were rid of them all.” (U.S. Congress, House. Fort Pillow Massacre, approved 4-21-1864, pp. 104-105.)
[3] Dr. Underwood was stationed at Fort Pillow and was on the gunboat during the battle. His testimony, when asked how many he thought were killed after the capture of the fort, was “…I think, from all the information I could gather, there were about 400 men killed after the capture, or 450. I think there were about 500 and odd men killed there. A very great majority of them were killed after the surrender. I do not suppose there were more than 20 men killed before the fort was captured and the men threw down their arms and begged for quarter.” (Page 85)
[4] United States Congress, House of Representatives. Fort Pillow Massacre. Approved 4-21-1864.
[5] From the Washington Chronicle: “….A painful rumor, true I fear, has reached us of the massacre, by the rebel forces at Fort Pillow, in the west end of Tennessee, on the Mississippi River, of some three hundred colored soldiers and white officers, who had just been overpowered by their assailants….” (New York Times. “The President at Baltimore. An Authorized Report of His Speech.” 4-24-1864, p. 3.)
[6] “…nearly 300 Union troops were killed.” The total white and black killed both before and after surrender.
[7] Confederate Calvary Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee.
[8] “Before the Civil War, Gideon Pillow ranked as Tennessee’s best known war veteran…he often reminded listeners about his extensive combat experience in the Mexican War as a major general, a position gained solely through political connections….The presidential election of Abraham Lincoln…convinced him that the South must secede and fight to preserve its way of life, especially white supremacy and slavery. Consequently, he helped Governor Isham G. Harris activate militia units in West Tennessee during a long and contentious referendum campaign on separation from the United States and alliance with the new Southern Confederacy.” (Cimprich 2005, 3)
[9] At the time the Confederate position was not to treat black soldiers or their officers as prisoners of war.
[10] Once the massacre began, blacks and whites were indiscriminately murdered, though blacks disproportionately.
[11] The force which attacked Fort Pillow, was estimated by several sources as several or more thousand. In their affidavit, the surviving officers of the 13th Tennessee Volunteer Calvary, state that they were attacked by a force “numbering from five thousand to seven thousand.” (U.S. Congress. Fort Pillow Massacre. 1864, 104-105.)
[12] The commander of the Union forces in Paducah, KY, Colonel S. G. Hicks, 40th IL Infantry, stated in his report that opposed to his force was “the rebel force under the command of Generals Forrest, Buford, J. G. Harris, and A. P. Thompson, of six thousand five hundred men.” (U.S. Congress. Fort Pillow Massacre. 4-21-1864, p. 118.)
[13] This was viewed as a massacre at the time as well.
[14] This could well be an underestimation, based on statements included in the Congressional report on Fort Pillow.
[15] See U.S. Cong. report, quoted from below, for statistics at variance with these, the source of which are not cited.
[16] Again, see the Congressional report quoted from herein, which clearly shows that far more than “several dozen” black soldiers were killed. Black and white soldiers were murdered after the fort was captured in numbers that measure in the hundreds, not the dozens.
[17] The massacre was the subject of immediate press, military, Congressional and White House attention.
[18] George Burkhardt, in his Confederate Rage, Yankee Wrath: No Quarter in the Civil War(Southern Illinois University Press, 2007, pp, 2-3), writes that “When Frederick Douglass, the former slave and prominent black leader, urged Lincoln to adopt an effective reprisal policy for black soldiers, the president replied, ‘Once begun, I do not know where such a measure would stop.’ Burkhardt asserts that “He knew exactly where it would end, and that is why he declined to protect his black troops. If he ordered white Southerners executed for murdering black soldiers, Confederates would respond, not just by executing blacks but also by shooting whites. Lincoln knew the people would never stand for the sacrifice of whites for blacks when a virulent racial prejudice reigned in the North. Keeping the nation whole and winning the war was his enduring aim, and he could not afford to jeopardize that goal by alienating voters and losing support for the war. So, nonintervention became the Federal government’s de facto policy on atrocities against black soldiers.”
[19] The Joint Congressional investigation began just days after the massacre and led to a report submitted before the month was out. Military reports and affidavits, both Army and Navy, were also produced in the immediate aftermath.
[20] On May 1, 1863 the Confederate Congress approved a joint resolution asserting that white officers captured while commanding blacks “ought” to be “put to death or be otherwise punished” by a ‘military court.” (Weymouth T. Jordan Jr. and Gerald W. Thomas, “Massacre at Plymouth.” Chapter 8 in Gregory J. W. Urwin (ed.). Black Flag Over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War, Southern Illinois University, 2004, p. 166.
[21] Short form of the word secessionist used in the Union during the Civil War. (Words@Randon. “The Mavens’ Word of the Day. “secesh.” 9-18-2000.
[22] It is reported elsewhere in the article that “While the steamer Platte Valley lay under flag of truce, taking on board our wounded, some of the rebel officers…among them Gen. Chalmers, went on board….”