Fort Pillow "Massacre"

Contrary to reports from northern newspapers about Forrest's intentions at Paducah Forrest did not attack Fort Pillow because it was garrisoned by Black troops. Rather the reason for his attack was its supply stores as he stated when writing to General Leonidas Polk after Paducah, "There is a Federal force of 500 or 600 at Fort Pillow, which I shall attend to in a day or two, as they have horses and supplies which we need (Hurst P.164)." The reason for Forrest's needing of supplies was largely due to the fact that he had been given a new detachment of soldiers. "About the 1st of March, 1864, Brigadier General Abe Buford...was ordered to report to Forrest in Mississippi, and to take with him the fragments of three Kentucky infantry regiments which had formerly served in Bragg's army (Wyeth P.299)." These fragmented Kentucky regiments had applied to become mounted infantry largely because they had been "decimated in the numerous battles and hardships through which they had passed (Wyeth P.299)." However at this point in the war the confederate government was not able to provide the horses and supplies needed for these men. Supplying his men and obtaining the necessary horses for his new troops was the reason for Forrest's campaign in western Tennessee in March and April 1864. His quest for these supplies would lead him to numerous engagements including Paducah. During this time, as stated in a previous post, Forrest and his men were repeatedly insulted by Union forces and northern newspapers. All of these events would ultimately culminate in the action at Fort Pillow in early April 1864.

Fort Pillow had a Union Garrison made up of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry and two black artillery units the 6th heavy artillery and 2nd U.S. light Artillery. Records estimate the Garrison was approximately 580 men, six artillery pieces, and the Union gun boat New Era in the Mississippi river. What later news paper reports fail to reference is that fact that nearly half the force of 580 men at Fort Pillow were black troops. This high concentration of black troops helps explain the numbers reported by northern papers following Forrest's assault. The commanding Union officer, Major L.F. Booth, was assigned to the Fort on March 28th barely two weeks before Forrest's attack. Booth was so confident in his position, partially because of the reports from northern news papers in the previous weeks, that on April 3rd he wrote to his commanding officer General S.A. Hurlbut that "Everything is quiet within a radius of thirty or forty miles around, and I do not think any apprehensions need be felt of fears entertained in reference to this place being attacked or even threatened; I think it perfectly safe (Wyeth P.313)." Ironically Booth wrote this letter the day before Forrest wrote his commanding officer expressing his intent to take Fort Pillow and all its supplies.

May 10, 1864 was the day that Forrest's forces began to move against Fort Pillow. The actual attack began on April 12th and met with initial success. "All the confederates advanced to the charge the moment the rifles were cracking at the picket line, and so sudden was the attack that the Federals abandoned the entire outer line of defenses without serious resistance (Wyeth P.315)." Upon taking the initial defensive lines the confederate forces were able to establish positions for sharpshooters as well as sealing off Fort Pillow to prevent escape via land. The confederate sharp shooters would prove incredibly affective during the assault on Fort Pillow as Union Adjutant Mack J. Leaming reported. "We suffered pretty severly in the loss of commissioned officers by the unerring aim of the rebel sharp shooters, and among this loss I have to record out post commander, Major L. F. Booth, who was killed almost instantly by a Musket-ball through the breast (Wyeth P.315)." The death of Major Booth would prove to be a crucial loss for the defenders of Fort Pillow as his replacement Major W.F. Bradford was very inexperienced. By noon on April 12th Nathan Bedford Forrest had arrived at Fort Pillow to take direct command of his already attacking army.It is at this point that the controversy over Forrest's actions at Fort Pillow begin to take shape. The NAACP and other anti-Forrest persons call Fort Pillow a Massacre. The principle claim is that Forrest ordered the slaughter of hundreds of Black troops as they were trying to surrender. However as evidence indicates the situation is far more complicated than a commanding officer issuing an order of slaughter.

Upon arrival at Fort Pillow one of the first things Forrest did was send a messenger in under a white flag of truce to demand the honorable surrender of the Garrison. Forrest's message was his normal message even though prior to arriving he knew that nearly half the garrison were black soldiers. "Major, - The conduct of the officers and men garrisoning Fort Pillow has been such as to entitle them to being treated as prisoners of war. I demand the unconditional surrender of this garrison, promising you that you shall be treated as prisoners of war. My men, have received a fresh supply of ammunition, and from their present position can easily assault and capture the fort. Should my demand be refused, I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command (Hurst P.169)." It is at this point that the issue of black union soldiers comes to the forefront of the debate, how would they be treated if they surrendered? A confederate soldier Captain Walter A. Goodman was present at the time that Forrest and his officers discussed the treatment of the black union soldiers should they surrender. "There was a discussion about it among the officers present, and it was asked whether it was intended to include the negro soldiers as well as the white; to which both General Forrest and General Chalmers replied that it was so intended, and that if the fort surrendered, the whole garrison, white and black, should be treated as prisoners of war (Morris P.31)." What Goodman wrote is incredibly important as it made a historic record of the fact that both General Forrest and General Chalmers agreed that the black soldiers would be treated as equal soldiers. A statement such as this would not be characteristic of a man bent on "killing as many Negros as possible," as many northern newspapers had stated at this time. However this would become a moot point as the Union commander, Major Bradford, who was pretending to be Major Booth did not surrender .

Upon receiving Forrest's surrender demand Major Bradford, acting under Booth's name, requested an hour to make his decision; Forrest granted his request. However Forrest would find his generosity misplaced as Bradford attempted to use this hour to land reinforcements via the gunboats Olive Branch and Liberty. After securing the bluffs and making it impossible to land reinforcements Forrest sent another message giving the defenders only twenty minutes to decide. Bradford's reply was brief, "General: I will not surrender. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, L.E Booth, commanding U.S. Forces, Fort Pillow (Morris P.31)." Shortly after Forrest received Bradford/Booth's reply the final assault began. It is at this point that the events of the previous weeks became significant. Coupled with events of simply getting to Fort Pillow Forrest's men were now in a fever pitch and in less than a forgiving mood. "The wrathful Confederates--most of whom had marched all night to the outskirts of the fort, run and sniped under enemy fire all morning, and then waited anxiously in the hot afternoon sun for the final assault to begin--were in no mood to be forgiving. To a man they believed that the Federals had been fools to refuse Forrest's surrender demand. That refusal had cost them another 100 good men, dead or wounded (Morris P.32)." The Confederates easily overtook the fort and the Union defenders fled from their posts and ran for the gun boats on the river below. But in the ensuing kayos men who were attempting to surrender were shot as some union soldiers kept firing back at the advancing confederates.DeWitt Clinton Fort, one of Forrest's men during the battle wrote in his diary shortly after the battle. "The wildest confusion prevailed among those who had run down the bluff. Many of them had thrown down their arms while running and seemed desirous to surrender while many others had carried their guns with them and were loading and firing back up the bluff as us with a desperation which seemed worse than senseless. We could only stand there and fire until the last man of them was ready to surrender (Morris P.32)." It is historically documented that Fort was a soldier for the confederacy during the civil war and attached to Forrest's command at this time therefore his account is highly credible. Subsequently Forrest gave an interview on the events of Fort Pillow some years after the war which was published in The Philadelphia Weekly Times. "The Negroes ran out down to the river; and although the white flag was flying, they kept on turning back and shooting ar my men, who consequently continued to fire into them crowded on the brink of the river, and they killed a good many of them in spite of my efforts and those of their officers to stop them. But there was no deliberate intention nor effort to massacre the garrison as has been so generally reported by the Northern papers (Morris P.32)." While this account is subject some speculation about Forrest trying to save his own reputation taken in conjunction with DeWitt Fort's account it is likely that the actual events resembled what these two men described. However those opposed to Forrest's memory hold that the slaughter was deliberate and intentional and this is likely do to the ruling of the Northern congressional committee chaired by Radical Republican Senator Benjamin E Wade. The committee found that Forrest was guilty of "an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white or black, soldier or citizen (Morris P.33)," however this ruling in of itself is problematic as there were no women and children in the fort at the time of Forrest's assault. And the only civilian killed had taken up arms in defense of the fort and was by military law no longer a civilian. Ultimately this ruling carried no weight and when Forrest was brought up on charges after the war he was found to be innocent. However one thing is undeniable Forrest and his men did kill a large number of black troops at Fort Pillow, Forrest himself admitted this fact, but the fog of war prevents the real truth of history to be know. While it is probable that some men, both black and white, were killed while trying to surrender it is even more likely that many more were killed while firing their weapons in an attempt to escape the confederate forces. While the evidence fro either argument many never be completely conclusive Fort Pillow has left a mark on the Military record of Nathan Bedford Forrest that he is not likely to recover from any time soon.