Battle of Fort Pillow

Battle of Fort Pillow

Part of: American Civil War

Massacre of captured colored soldiers

date	April 12, 1864
place	Fort Pillow
output	Confederation victory

Parties to the conflict
United States	Confederate States of America
Commander
Lionel F. Booth (fallen) William F. Bradford (fallen)	Nathan Bedford Forrest James R. Chalmers
Troop strength
600	1,500-2,500
losses
277–297 dead (numbers are disputed) 277–297 injured	14 dead 86 injured

The battle for Fort Pillow took place on April 12, 1864 during the American Civil War on the Mississippi in Lauderdale County , Tennessee . Following the battle, Confederate soldiers massacred Union prisoners of war. Most of the Union soldiers killed were African-Americans . Commander of the troops of the Confederacy was Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest . The military historian David J. Eicher called this event "one of the saddest and most desolate moments in American military history".

background

Fort Pillow was 40 miles north of Memphis , Tennessee. The Confederation built it in the spring of 1862 and abandoned it in June 1862. On June 6, 1863, Union troops occupied Fort Pillow. In March 1864, Nathan Bedford Forrest led a raid in western Tennessee and Kentucky in the hinterland of the Union armies fighting in northern Georgia . The goal was to cut supplies between Paducah , Kentucky and Memphis and to make prisoners of war. Half of the crew at Fort Pillow consisted of African-American soldiers who were members of the 6th US Heavy Artillery Regiment (Colored) and the 2nd US Light Artillery Regiment (Colored) and were led by Major Lionel F. Booth were led.

The battle

Forrest arrived at Fort Pillow on the morning of April 12th. Chalmers had already surrounded the fort. Forrest was almost hit by a Union rifle. Forrest posted snipers and began firing at the fort. By 3:30 p.m. the Confederates had a major strategic advantage: snipers had already killed many of the fort's defenders, and Forrest's soldiers had captured two barracks. Forrest sent a surrender to the Union soldiers. The commander refused to give up. The Confederates launched a heavy attack that ultimately turned the decision in their favor. Union commanders Lionel F. Booth and William F. Bradford died in battle.

The massacre

What happened after the surrender between 4 p.m. and sunset is controversial. Both Union troop sources and Southerners sources agree that Forrest's soldiers cold-bloodedly murdered the Union soldiers who had already surrendered. The Union soldiers were shot or stabbed with the bayonet or slit open, while the winners “No quarter! No quarter! ”(Eng .:“ No mercy! No mercy! ”) Shouted. The Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War , a Union commission that investigated incidents of war, promptly investigated the incident and found that most Union soldiers had been killed after the surrender. A study from 2002 by Albert Castel came to the same conclusion. Historian Andrew Ward also stated in 2005 that atrocities had taken place without Confederate commanders either ordering or intervening. Current historians conclude that a massacre did indeed take place. Richard Fuchs, author of An Unerring Fire , concludes:

"The affair at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death, a mass lynching to satisfy the basest of conduct - intentional murder - for the vilest of reasons - racism and personal enmity."

"What went on at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death, a mass lynching that satisfied the lowest instincts out of the lowest ethos - racism and personal hostility."

- Richard Fuchs

Historian Andrew Ward writes:

"Whether the massacre was premeditated or spontaneous does not address the more fundamental question of whether a massacre took place ... it certainly did, in every dictionary sense of the word."

"Whether the massacre was planned or spontaneous doesn't change the fact that it took place ... it took place, in every sense of the word."

- Andrew Ward

John Cimprich wrote:

"The new paradigm in social attitudes and the fuller use of available evidence has favored a massacre interpretation ...."

"The new paradigm on social issues and the full use of new evidence come to the conclusion that a massacre has taken place."

- John Cimprich

Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery Regiment wrote in his official report:

"There never was a surrender of the fort, both officers and men declaring they never would surrender or ask for quarter."

"There was no surrender of the fort, both officers and soldiers declared that they would never surrender and never beg for mercy."

- Daniel Van Horn

Another officer of the Tennessee 13th Cavalry Regiment later testified that unarmed soldiers who had surrendered were shot. A Confederation sergeant later spoke of the “poor negroes who ran to our people, fell on their knees, and begged for mercy. They were ordered to stand and then they were shot. ”Forrest's men claimed that the Union soldiers continued to hold their weapons even as they fled. During the escape, they turned around and continued firing, so that the Confederates shot in self-defense. This claim was consistent in that numerous Union soldiers' weapons were found near the river. The Union flag fluttered over the fort, indicating that it had not surrendered. A Jackson , Tennessee newspaper claimed that "General Forrest begged the troops to surrender, which did not happen." Similar reports were made in newspapers in the northern and southern states.

The historian Allan Nevins wrote:

"Northerners, however, saw only one side. They read headlines announcing 'Attack on Fort Pillow - Indiscriminate Slaughter of the Prisoners - Shocking Scenes of Savagery'; dispatches from Sherman's army declaring 'there is a general gritting of teeth here'; reports from the Missouri Democrat detailing the 'fiendishness' of rebel behavior; and editorials like that in the Chicago Tribune condemning the 'murder' and 'butchery'. "

“The northern states saw only one side. They read headlines that said, 'Attack on Fort Pillow - Indiscriminate Slaughter of Prisoners - Shocking Scenes of Bestiality'; War reports from Sherman's army say there is an angry gnash of teeth. Reports from the Missouri Democrat wrote of the 'cruelty' of the rebels and the Chicago Tribune condemned the murder and slaughter. "

- Allan Nevins

The New York Times reported on April 24th:

"The blacks and their officers were shot down, bayoneted and put to the sword in cold blood .... Out of four hundred negro soldiers only about twenty survive! At least three hundred of them were destroyed after the surrender! This is the statement of the rebel General Chalmers himself to our informant. "

“The blacks and their officers were gunned down, bayoneted or killed in cold blood with the sword…. Out of four hundred Negro soldiers only 20 survived! At least 300 of them were destroyed after the surrender! That is the own statement that the rebel General Chalmers made to our informant. "

- The New York Times

Ulysses S. Grant , who was absent, wrote in his memoir:

"Forrest, however, fell back rapidly, and attacked the troops at Fort Pillow, a station for the protection of the navigation of the Mississippi River. The garrison consisted of a regiment of colored troops, infantry, and a detachment of Tennessee cavalry. These troops fought bravely, but were overpowered. I will leave Forrest in his dispatches to tell what he did with them. 'The river was dyed,' he [Forrest] says, 'with the blood of the slaughtered for two hundred yards. The approximate loss was upward of five hundred killed, but few of the officers escaping. My loss was about twenty killed. It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners. ' Subsequently, Forrest made a report in which he left out the part which shocks humanity to read. "

“Forrest fell back quickly and attacked the force at Fort Pillow, a fort that protected shipping on the Mississippi. The crew consisted of a regiment of colored soldiers, infantry and a division of the Tennessee Cavalry. The soldiers fought valiantly, but were beaten down. I leave Forrest to write in his reports what he did to them. Forrest said: 'The river was stained with blood from soldiers for 200 yards. About 500 had been killed. I hope these facts will demonstrate to Northerners that Negro soldiers cannot compete with Southern soldiers. ' Forrest also had a report made, where he left out the passages that would have shocked humanity. "

- Ulysses S. Grant

The consequences

The numbers regarding the casualties have fluctuated, but there is agreement that skin color was the trigger for the murders. But white soldiers who surrendered were also murdered. Major Bradford e.g. B. was shot after his surrender. The Confederates withdrew from Fort Pillow that evening.

On April 17, 1864, Grant ordered that General Benjamin Butler , who was in negotiations with the Confederate prisoner exchanges, demand that black prisoners of war be treated the same as white prisoners. "This request was denied and the Confederation Secretary of War described in June 1864 the position of his government:

"I doubt, however, whether the exchange of negroes at all for our soldiers would be tolerated. As to the white officers serving with negro troops, we ought never to be inconvenienced with such prisoners. "

“I doubt that the exchange of negroes for our soldiers would be tolerated at all. As for the white (opposing) officers who serve with negro soldiers, we should never be molested with such prisoners. "

The Union had a policy of retaliation before the massacre. On July 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the following order:

“It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed; and for every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery a rebel soldier shall be placed at hard labor on the public works, and continued at such labor until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of war. "

“Therefore it is commanded that for every United States soldier killed in violation of the general rules of war, a rebel soldier should be executed; and for anyone enslaved or sold into slavery by the enemy, a rebel soldier should do hard physical labor in the public interest until the relevant soldiers are released or treated according to prisoner-of-war rules. "

In the US Senate , Henry Wilson mentioned the massacre when he campaigned for equal wages for African-American and white soldiers. A Vermont newspaper outlined Wilson's position:

"Henry Wilson of Massachusetts, in a speech in the US Senate on Friday, said he thought our treatment of the negro soldiers almost as bad as that of the rebels at Fort Pillow. This is hardly an exagerration. "

"Massachusetts's Henry Wilson said in a speech to the Senate Friday that he believed our treatment of the Negro soldiers was almost as bad as the treatment of the rebels at Fort Pillow. That is hardly an exaggeration. "

Fort Pillow was designated a US National Historic Landmark in 1974 .

In culture

• In 1997, the American film Last Stand at Saber River (based on the novel by Elmore Leonard ) was released. Here Tom Selleck plays a Confederate soldier who witnessed and reports on the Fort Pillow massacre.
• In 1999 Stan Armstrong made the documentary The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow .
• An alternate version of the Fort Pillow Massacre was featured in the 2004 satirical documentary CSA: The Confederate States of America .
• The massacre is also discussed in episode 4 of the new edition of the miniseries Roots , published in 2016 .
• In 2006 the novel Fort Pillow by Harry Turtledove was published.
• The author Frank Yerby described the massacre in 1946 in his novel The Foxes of Harrow ( film adaptation 1947 )

swell

• Bailey, Ronald H., and the Editors of Time-Life Books. Battles for Atlanta: Sherman Moves East . Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1985. ISBN 0-8094-4773-8 .
• Castel, Albert: Winning and Losing in the Civil War: The Fort Pillow Massacre - A Fresh Examination of the Evidence . University of South Carolina Press, 1996 ( full text in Google Book Search).
• Cimprich, John, and Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., eds. "Fort Pillow Revisited: New Evidence About An Old Controversy." Civil War History 4 (Winter, 1982).
• Clark, Achilles V. "A Letter of Account." Edited by Dan E. Pomeroy. Civil War Times Illustrated 24 (4) (June 1985).
• Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War . New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5 .
• Fisher, John E. They Rode With Forrest and Wheeler: A Chronicle of Five Tennessee Brothers' Service in the Confederate Western Cavalry. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1995. ISBN 0-7864-0083-8 .
• Foote, Shelby . The Civil War: A Narrative . Vol. 3, Red River to Appomattox . New York: Random House, 1974. ISBN 0-394-74913-8 .
• Fuchs, Richard L. An Unerring Fire: The Massacre at Fort Pillow . Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-8117-1824-0 .
• Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of US Grant . 2 vols. Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885-86. ISBN 0-914427-67-9 .
• Jordan, John L. "What There a Massacre at Ft. Pillow?" Tennessee History Quarterly VI (June 1947): 99-133.
• Nevins, Allan . The War for the Union . Vol. 4, The Organized War to Victory 1864-1865 . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. ISBN 1-56852-299-1 .
• US Congress Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War , "Fort Pillow Massacre." House Report No. 65 , 38th Congress, 1st session.
• Ward, Andrew. River Run Red: The Fort Pillow Massacre in the American Civil War . New York: Viking Adult, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03440-1 .
• National Park Service description of the battle
• CWSAC report (PDF; 3.9 MB)

literature

• Burkhardt, George S .: "No Quarter." North & South , Issue No. 10, No. 1.
• Frist, William Harrison, Jr .: A Telling Battle: The Fort Pillow Massacre During the American Civil War , Senior Thesis No. 20318, Princeton University, 2006.
• Wills, Brian Steel: The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest . Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992. ISBN 0-7006-0885-0 .

Web links

Commons : Battle for Fort Pillow  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• US and CSA reports on Fort Pillow
• About Bradford's 14th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
• Website: Mr. Lincoln and Freedom: Fort Pillow
• Illustration of the Fort Pillow massacre
• Roster 100 names of Confederate soldiers at Fort Pillow
• Roster 590 names of Union soldiers at Fort Pillow
• The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow on IMDB

Individual evidence

1. ^ Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5 . Page 657
2. ↑ Eicher, David J. The Longest Night. A Military History of the Civil War . Simon & Schuster, New York 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5 , p. 657
3. ↑ I will not surrender . In: The War Of The Rebellion: A Compilation Of The Official Records of The Union And Confederate Armies . Volume XXXII Part 1, pp. 597f, Washington, DC, 1880. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Bailey, p. 25.
5. ↑ Castel, pp. 37–50.
6. ^ Andrew Ward: River Run Red: The Fort Pillow Massacre in the American Civil War . Penguin Books, 2005, ISBN 1-4406-4929-4 , pp. 3 .
7. ↑ Richard Fuchs: An Unerring Fire: The Massacre At Fort Pillow (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 2002), 14.
8. ^ Ward (2005), p. 227.
9. ↑ John Cimprich, Fort Pillow: A Civil War Massacre and Public Memory (Louisiana State University Press, 2005), 123-124.
10. ↑ Lieut. Daniel Van Horn's Official Report For The Battle Of Fort Pillow . In: The War Of The Rebellion: A Compilation Of The Official Records of The Union And Confederate Armies . Volume XXXII Part 1 pp. 569f, Washington, DC, 1880. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
11. ^ Foote pp. 111-112
12. ↑ Cimprich and Main Fort, pages 293-306.
13. ^ Nevins, p. 60
14. ↑ Fuchs, page 84.
15. ^ Grant, p. 391. Fisher pp. 145-146
16. ^ Dyer, Frederick H .: A Compendium of the War of Rebellion , Des Moines: The Dyer Publishing Company 1908, p. 590.
17. ↑ Eicher, p. 657; US Congress JCCW, p. 103.
18. ↑ Fuchs, pp. 143-144
19. ↑ Fuchs, p. 144
20. ^ Lincoln, Abraham: Abraham Lincoln Complete Works . Edited by John G. Nicolay and John Hay. Vol. II. New York, NY: The Century Company, 1920, p. 378.
21. ↑ United States. Congress: The Congressional Globe: Containing the Debate and Proceedings of the First Session of the Thirty-eight Congress . Published by John C. Rives. Washington, DC: Congressional Globe Printing Office, 1864, pp. 1805/06.
22. ^ The Burlington Free Press . "Our Colored Soldiers", April 29, 1864: p. 2.
23. ↑ List of National Historic Landmarks by State (PDF) US Department of the Interior. July 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2016.