Action leading up to Fort Pillow

According to the Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Greg Stewart the reason for the SCV selecting Nathan Bedford Forrest for their 2014 commemorative tag was his service to the confederacy during the Civil war. The SCV cites numerous engagements such as Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Brice's Crossroads as examples of Forrest's military brilliance and bravery. However even with such exemplary marks on his service record Nathan Bedford Forrest's military service has a black mark on it called Fort Pillow.

While the "Fort Pillow Massacre" is seen by Forrest detractors as a demonstration of his racial views there are numerous documented events surrounding Fort Pillow that are ignored. According to author and editor of Military Heritage Magazine Roy Morris Jr. the actions of Union commanders and Norther news papers had a profound affect on the mind set of Forrest's troops. To understand the mindset of Forrest and his men prior to Fort Pillow it is first important to understand their demographics, as stated by Morris. "For Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest and the 3,000 troopers he led front northern Mississippi that March - Mostly Tennesseans who were eager to reenter their home state...(Morris P.26)" Forrest, who considered Tennessee his home was returning with men who had been forced out by the union occupation. As such any mistreatment of the locals would be taken far more seriously as it was quite possible they were family members of Forrest's men. Forrest himself commented on the state of the territory he was now entering, "The whole of West Tennessee is overrun by bands and squads of robbers, horse thieves and deserters, whose depredations and unlawful appropriations of private property are rapidly and effectually depleting the country(Morris P.26)." This undoubtedly had a profound affect on Forrest's men as it was their lively hoods that were being stolen.

As if the prospect of loss of property weren't enough reason for Forrest's men to fight the capture, torture, and subsequent murder of several of Forrest's subordinate commanders gave them even more reason to hate the union army in Tennessee. Forrest recounted the fate of Lieutenant Willis Dodds as described to him by a local witness to the crime. "Dodds had been put to death most horribly mutilated, the face having been skinned, the nose cut off the under jaw disjoined, the privates cut off, and the body otherwise barbarously lacerated and most injured (Morris P.26)." According to records this act was carried out by the forces of Colonel Fielding Hurst of the 6th Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.). The Tennessee 6th was also reportedly responsible for a large portion of the abuses against the citizens of western Tennessee. "These homemade Yankees were hated by Forrest's men, many of whose families reportedly had been victims of the turncoats' threats, abuses, and outright thievery (Morris P.26)." However the Tennessee 6th was not present at Fort Pillow rather Forrest and his men caught up to them in Bolivar, Tennessee; a battle in which Hurst would be resoundingly humiliated. However while the defeat of the Tennessee 6th provided Forrest and his men with some form of revenge they would all have their reputations insulted by numerous northern papers.

Paducah, Kentucky was a small town just over the Mississippi river between Western Tennessee and Eastern Kentucky. The battle that ensued was largely a diversionary maneuver as Forrest was more interested in taking the supplies in the town of Paducah rather than the Union fort outside of town. Forrest and his men easily took the city of Paducah, as recounted by 13th Tennesse cavalry commander Chalmers who moved into Paducah on orders from Forrest. "[We] drove Hurst hatless into Memphis, leaving in our hands all his wagons, ambulances, papers, and his mistresses, both black and white (Hurst P.163)." However while Paducah was a victory for Forrest's forces the Chicago Tribune as well as the Louisville Journal were reporting otherwise. The Louisville Journal reported that Forrest's men were ""gloriously drunk, and but little better than a mob which with wild cheers and blasphemous oaths...thronged the streets and commenced an indiscriminate pillage of the houses" (Hurst p.163)." Articles such as this made no mention of the Union force that Forrest and his men defeated, rather the northern papers painted a picture of drunk rebels invading a helpless town. As if this account wasn't enough of an insult The Emancipationist Tribune, an abolitionist paper, reported that "The rebels were repulsed [from the fort] at each assult, and about 9 o'clock P.m. skedaddled, after killing as many negroes as they could, which seems to have been their primary objective in coming to Paducah (Hurst 163-164)." While this article shows that the confederate force did not simply attack a helpless town it is only a partial description of the events that transpired. The attack The Emancipationist is speaking of is that of one of Forrest's subordinates, Colonel A.P. Thompson, without Forrest's knowledge. Additionally prior to the actions at Paducah Forrest's force had no prior knowledge of black troops in the area. Irregardless of what troops were stationed at Paducah Forrest mission in the town was to acquire as many supplies as possible. "Forrest had no intention of making a needless sacrifice of his troops in an assault. His objective was to hold the Federals there and on board of their gunboats until he could remove all the supplies and horses which could be obtained from Paducah (Wyeth P.299)." The inaccurate news reports from the northern press undoubtedly had an affect of the attitude of Forrest and his men as they began marching for Fort Pillow. The accusations of being little more than a drunken mob taking advantage of a defenseless city as wells as being repulsed with ease by former slaves undoubtedly angered Forrest and his men. The anger felt by Forrest's men would not be assuaged in the coming days. In fact when the final assault on Fort Pillow began their tempers would be at the boiling point.