Battle of Fort Pillow - Revision history

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Karajou: Created page with "{{ACWbattle |name=Battle of Fort Pillow
Fort Pillow Massacre |image= |begin=April 12, 1864 |end=Same day |place=Lauderdale County, Tennessee |theater=Western T..."

2010-12-21T01:27:56Z

Created page with "{{ACWbattle |name=Battle of Fort Pillow Fort Pillow Massacre |image= |begin=April 12, 1864 |end=Same day |place=Lauderdale County, Tennessee |theater=Western T..."

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{{ACWbattle
|name=Battle of Fort Pillow Fort Pillow Massacre
|image=
|begin=April 12, 1864
|end=Same day
|place=Lauderdale County, Tennessee
|theater=Western Theater
|campaign=Forrest’s Expedition into West Tennessee and Kentucky
|result=Confederate victory
|combatants1=Union garrison
|combatants2=1st Division, Forrest’s Cavalry Corps
|commanders1=[[Lionel F. Booth]] Major, USA [[William F. Bradford]] Major, USA
|commanders2=[[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] Major General, CSA
|strength1=557
|strength2=2,500
|casualties1='''574'''
|casualties2='''80'''
}}
In April 1864, the Union garrison at Fort Pillow, a Confederate-built earthen fortification and a Union-built inner redoubt, overlooking the Mississippi River about forty river miles above Memphis, comprised 295 white Tennessee troops and 262 U.S. Colored Troops, all under the command of Maj. Lionel F. Booth. Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the fort on April 12 with a cavalry division of approximately 2,500 men. Forrest seized the older outworks, with high knolls commanding the Union position, to surround Booth’s force. Rugged terrain prevented the gunboat ''New Era'' from providing effective fire support for the Federals. The garrison was unable to depress its artillery enough to cover the approaches to the fort. Rebel sharpshooters, on the surrounding knolls, began firing into the fort, killing Booth. Maj. William F. Bradford then took over command of the garrison. The Confederates launched a determined attack at 11:00 am, occupying more strategic locations around the fort, and Forrest demanded unconditional surrender. Bradford asked for an hour for consultation, and Forrest granted twenty minutes. Bradford refused surrender and the Confederates renewed the attack, soon overran the fort, and drove the Federals down the river’s bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of the black troops, and that controversy continues today. The Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow that evening so they gained little from the attack except a temporary disruption of Union operations. The “Fort Pillow Massacre” became a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion. (''NPS summary'')

{{Template:Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}
{{Template:ACW Battles of 1864}}

[[Category:American Civil War Battles]]

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 |casualties2='''80'''
 }}
-In April 1864, the Union garrison at Fort Pillow, a Confederate-built earthen fortification and a Union-built inner redoubt, overlooking the Mississippi River about forty river miles above Memphis, comprised 295 white Tennessee troops and 262 U.S. Colored Troops, all under the command of Maj. Lionel F. Booth. Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the fort on April 12 with a cavalry division of approximately 2,500 men. Forrest seized the older outworks, with high knolls commanding the Union position, to surround Booth’s force. Rugged terrain prevented the gunboat ''New Era'' from providing effective fire support for the Federals. The garrison was unable to depress its artillery enough to cover the approaches to the fort. Rebel sharpshooters, on the surrounding knolls, began firing into the fort, killing Booth. Maj. William F. Bradford then took over command of the garrison. The Confederates launched a determined attack at 11:00 am, occupying more strategic locations around the fort, and Forrest demanded unconditional surrender. Bradford asked for an hour for consultation, and Forrest granted twenty minutes.  Bradford refused surrender and the Confederates renewed the attack, soon overran the fort, and drove the Federals down the river’s bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of the black troops, and that controversy continues today. The Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow that evening so they gained little from the attack except a temporary disruption of Union operations. The “Fort Pillow Massacre”  became a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion. (''NPS summary'')
+The '''Battle of Fort Pillow''' was a battle of the [[American Civil War]], fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow, a Union-held fortification overlooking the Mississippi River in west Tennessee north of Memphis. The Union garrison, a mixture of white Union-loyal Tennesseans and United States Colored Troops, was attacked by Confederate cavalry under Major General [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]] in an action which lasted most of the day and ended in mid-afternoon with an assault that overran the fort, wiping out the garrison in the process. Union casualties were high, especially among the black soldiers, and many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a deliberate massacre, a controversy that continues today. On the Union side, the battle soon became known as the “Fort Pillow Massacre," a rallying cry especially popular among the U.S. Colored Troops units. (''NPS summary'')
 ==Background==

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:46, April 8, 2021
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	After departing Fort Pillow, Forrest and his cavalrymen remained in West Tennessee for some days. Eventually, Union forces in the region were able to coordinate and use their superior numbers to drive him back into Mississippi during the last week of April and the beginning of May, as a prelude to further actions in that region during the summer of 1864.		After departing Fort Pillow, Forrest and his cavalrymen remained in West Tennessee for some days. Eventually, Union forces in the region were able to coordinate and use their superior numbers to drive him back into Mississippi during the last week of April and the beginning of May, as a prelude to further actions in that region during the summer of 1864.
		+
		+	==Controversy==
		+
		+	The attack on and capture of Fort Pillow, though it had no large-scale effects on the progress of the war in general, was regarded as a significant event in multiple ways. It was a well-publicized incident of a cavalry unit seizing a fortified position backed by artillery and naval support, a relatively uncommon event that added to Forrest's reputation as a brilliant and innovative tactician. It was also one of the first pitched battles largely fought between Confederate soldiers and former slaves. However, it was the question of Confederate conduct during and after the battle, especially towards those ex-slaves, which made Fort Pillow controversial in many quarters.
		+
		+	One minor point concerned the question of whether Forrest and his soldiers had properly respected the flag of truce during the unsuccessful negotiations for the fort's surrender. Survivors among the garrison later reported seeing movement in and out of the ravine around the fort's northern face while the white flags flew, and alleged that Forrest had used the truce and negotiations to seize this close-up position, which the Confederates had not previously possessed, as a preliminary for assaulting the fort--a violation of the acknowledged rules of war. Forrest's senior officers, however, countered that the Union garrison had itself violated the truce by not signaling the approaching ships that negotiations were under way (in which case they should have halted their progress), and that, regardless, they had in fact gained control of the ravine before a truce was called; the movements seen by the garrison were those of detachments sent to observe the ships' progress. Other testimony, including after-action reports on both the Union and the Confederate side, tend to confirm the view that no violations of the truce were made by the attackers.<ref>''Official Records'', Vol. xxxii, Part I, p. 559.</ref>
		+
		+	The main point of contention, however, was the Confederate treatment of the garrison's survivors after the fort was taken. The high number of fatalities--221 out of 557, or approximately 40%, an uncommonly-high death rate--drew attention almost at once, as did the disparity in the fates of white and black Union troops. Of the 295 soldiers in the (white) Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, 127 had been killed or too seriously wounded to be escorted south as prisoners, compared to 204 of the 262 in the black artillery units (including their white officers). Given the much lower survival rate among the black soldiers, and the well-known fury of the Confederates at the arming of former slaves, many in the Union military and political leadership swiftly concluded that they had been deliberately murdered while trying to surrender. The battle was soon popularly dubbed "The Fort Pillow Massacre," and representatives from the [[United States Congress\|U.S. Congress]]'s Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War had arrived in Tennessee by April 21 to gather testimony. Their official report subsequently alleged that "an indiscriminate slaughter" of white and black soldiers as well as women and children had followed the fort's capture, and that the Union wounded had been "intentionally burned to death" and even buried alive. "Many other instances of equally atrocious cruelty might be enumerated," their report concluded, but they felt "compelled to refrain from giving here more of the heart-sickening details."<ref>Shelby Foote, ''The Civil War: Volume 3'' (1974), p. 111.</ref>
		+
		+	Though most of the specific charges made by the Congressional report have since been refuted, debate continues today on the extent to which deliberate atrocities did occur at Fort Pillow, with pro-Confederate sources expressing far more skepticism than pro-Union sources. Most have agreed that, on the one hand, at least some soldiers, of both races, had been shot down while genuinely attempting to surrender; on the other hand, neither Forrest himself (despite the implied threat in his demand for surrender that a massacre might occur) nor any other Confederate officer gave any order to conduct a general slaughter. Confederate historians have further argued that a breakdown of military discipline had occurred on the Union side following Major Booth's death, and that some of the soldiers, especially the blacks, had become intoxicated by the time of the final assault, and had acted too wildly to be taken prisoner (though they also acknowledge that some of Forrest's troops had themselves been drinking before the attack).<ref>Wyeth, ''Life of Forrest'', p. 367.</ref>
		+
		+	Given all the evidence on hand, it would appear that multiple factors played a role in the high death count. Antagonism toward the Union troops (white "Tennessee Tories" as well as black) was certainly running high among the Confederates, and the bellicose tone of Forrest's demand for surrender may have been taken by some as permission to commit unnecessary killings--though it is worth remembering that Forrest had ordered a cease-fire almost immediately after his soldiers entered the fort. Additionally, the garrison at no time made a formal surrender, first retreating towards the riverbank and then breaking apart once its escape routes were closed, with some continuing to resist while others tried to give themselves up: a state of confusion that would have encouraged the Confederates to continue firing on them. A possible aggravating factor (apart from the allegations of drunkenness) was the black soldiers' fear of what would happen to them if taken prisoner, whether death, ill-treatment, or return to their former masters; they may have fought more desperately and suffered higher casualties for this reason.
		+
		+	Taking these factors into account, most historians have concluded that while the Confederates' behavior at Fort Pillow was hardly above reproach, it did not meet the standard of a deliberate massacre, nor was it entirely racially motivated, and can be attributed more to the heat of battle than to a premeditated decision to kill unarmed prisoners.<ref>Jay Winik, ''April 1865: The Month That Saved America'' (2001), p. 280-81, 433.</ref> Historian Shelby Foote noted that Union general [[William Tecumseh Sherman]], ordered by [[Ulysses S. Grant]] to conduct his own investigation of Fort Pillow and conclude whether Confederate conduct had been such as to demand retaliation, ultimately did not recommend any harsh counter-measures: "proof in itself that none was justified, since no one doubted that otherwise, with Sherman in charge, retaliation would have been as prompt as even Grant could have desired."<ref>Foote, ''The Civil War'', p. 112.</ref>

	==References==		==References==

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 Once the main body had completed scaling the ditch, the sharpshooters held their fire and the attackers launched themselves atop and over the parapet, delivering a massive volley into the Union troops at close range. After some brief resistance, most of the defenders turned and fled the fort, making their way to the bank at the foot of the bluff and southward toward the gunboat; it continued to keep itself sealed up, though, and the Confederates nearby fired into their ranks, causing them to fall back in panic and flee northward, only to be met by the detachment coming from that direction as well. Order among the garrison's survivors completely broke down at this point, with some continuing to fight back, others jumping into the river to escape and either drowning or being shot, and others throwing down their weapons and attempting to surrender. Some of these were indeed taken prisoner, while others were shot down, some of Forrest's soldiers believing this was in line with the implicit threat in his demand to the garrison. However, Forrest had already given orders to cease firing, and he and other senior officers quickly put an end to the action and set to work rounding up survivors.
 Under continuing fire, the ''New Era'' sailed upriver, while the Confederates gathered up the fort's supplies and the able-bodied prisoners; the dead were buried, and the Union wounded were left on the scene in the care of their surgeon. By nightfall Forrest and his troops had left the area.
 {{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}

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 As the demand for surrender was delivered, lookouts on both sides spotted a steamer coming downriver with Federal troops on board, followed by two more coming upriver from Memphis. Major Bradford (responding to the message in Booth's name) requested from Forrest one hour in which to consult with his officers and the officers of the gunboat and make a decision. Suspecting this was a ploy to gain time in which to be reinforced from the approaching steamers, Forrest replied, allowing no more than twenty minutes; "if at the expiration of that time the fort is not surrendered, I shall assault it."
 Based on later testimony, Bradford and the other officers believed that even if the main fortification was overrun--which they deemed unlikely, given the stoutness of the parapet--and the garrison forced to abandon the fort, the gunboat ''New Era'' could easily cover their retreat with volleys of canister (short-range artillery) and break up the Rebel pursuit. After a short consultation, Bradford responded to Forrest's demand with the simple message, "I will not surrender." On receiving this refusal, shortly before 4:00 p.m., Forrest gave orders to begin the attack.
 {{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}

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 At daybreak, the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, of McCulloch's brigade, was sent forward to drive in the pickets, rushing them so quickly that the entire outer defense line was soon abandoned. Part of the Thirteenth Tennessee then moved out to contest the Confederate advance, backed by fire from the fort's artillery and from a nearby gunboat, the ''New Era''. However, taking advantage of the thick underbrush that lay between the outer and middle lines, the Rebel soldiers were by mid-morning able to gain the second line of defense, bringing them within 300 yards of the main fortification, within which all the Union troops now withdrew. In the course of this early fighting, Major Booth, the post commander, was shot and killed; Major Bradford, described by a senior officer as "a good officer, though not of much experience," now took command.
 At about 11:00 a.m., Forrest himself arrived on the field and took over direction of the operations. He promptly ordered McCulloch's brigade to press forward again and seize several barracks and other outbuildings that lay between the middle line and the fort's thick earthen parapet, which it succeeded in doing despite heavy fire from the fort. At this point, the Confederates were at such close range that the fort's artillery could not be sufficiently depressed in elevation to be of further effect against them; the remaining fighting would be done chiefly via small arms.
 {{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}

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	In early April 1864, the fort was garrisoned by the First Battalion, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery (Colored), with a total strength of 221 officers and men; one section of Company D, Second United States Light Artillery (Colored), with 41 officers and men; and the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, with 295 officers and men. Major Lionel F. Booth was in overall command, with Major William F. Bradford, commander of the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, the next-ranking officer. The total complement for Fort Pillow came to 557 officers and men, and six pieces of artillery. Of the fort's garrison, slightly over half (the Thirteenth Tennessee) were pro-Union white Southerners (often dubbed "Tennessee Tories" by the Confederates); the rest were ex-slaves now serving in the Union Army. Both groups were despised by Confederate soldiers, the former for betraying their countrymen, the latter for having been armed against their former masters, and there were cases before and after Fort Pillow of their being mistreated or even killed when taken prisoner, though this was never official policy of the Confederate government or military leadership.		In early April 1864, the fort was garrisoned by the First Battalion, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery (Colored), with a total strength of 221 officers and men; one section of Company D, Second United States Light Artillery (Colored), with 41 officers and men; and the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, with 295 officers and men. Major Lionel F. Booth was in overall command, with Major William F. Bradford, commander of the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, the next-ranking officer. The total complement for Fort Pillow came to 557 officers and men, and six pieces of artillery. Of the fort's garrison, slightly over half (the Thirteenth Tennessee) were pro-Union white Southerners (often dubbed "Tennessee Tories" by the Confederates); the rest were ex-slaves now serving in the Union Army. Both groups were despised by Confederate soldiers, the former for betraying their countrymen, the latter for having been armed against their former masters, and there were cases before and after Fort Pillow of their being mistreated or even killed when taken prisoner, though this was never official policy of the Confederate government or military leadership.
		+
		+	==Battle: April 12==
		+
		+	'''Morning Preliminaries'''
		+
		+	On April 11, Chalmers' detachment, consisting of most of the brigades of Colonels Robert McCulloch and Tyree Bell (close to 2,000 effectives in all), moved toward Fort Pillow from the east, guided in the latter stage of their march by a local who had recently been imprisoned in the fort. By dawn on the 12th, the two brigades were approaching its outermost fortifications, McCulloch moving up a road from the south, while Bell advanced westward along Coal Creek.
		+
		+	At daybreak, the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, of McCulloch's brigade, was sent forward to drive in the pickets, rushing them so quickly that the entire outer defense line was soon abandoned. Part of the Thirteenth Tennessee then moved out to contest the Confederate advance, backed by fire from the fort's artillery and from a nearby gunboat, the ''New Era''. However, taking advantage of the thick underbrush that lay between the outer and middle lines, the Rebel soldiers were by mid-morning able to gain the second line of defense, bringing them within 300 yards of the main fortification, within which all the Union troops now withdrew. In the course of this early fighting, Major Booth, the post commander, was shot and killed; Major Bradford, described by a senior officer as "a good officer, though not of much experience," now took command.
		+
		+	At about 11:00 a.m., Forrest himself arrived on the field and took over direction of the operations. He promptly ordered McCulloch's brigade to press forward again and seize several barracks and other outbuildings that lay between the middle line and the fort's thick earthen parapet, which it succeeded in doing despite heavy fire from the fort. At this point, the Confederates were at such close range that the fort's artillery could not be sufficiently depressed in elevation to be of further effect against them; the remaining fighting would be done chiefly via small arms.

	{{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}		{{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}

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 In April 1864, the Union garrison at Fort Pillow, a Confederate-built earthen fortification and a Union-built inner redoubt, overlooking the Mississippi River about forty river miles above Memphis, comprised 295 white Tennessee troops and 262 U.S. Colored Troops, all under the command of Maj. Lionel F. Booth. Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked the fort on April 12 with a cavalry division of approximately 2,500 men. Forrest seized the older outworks, with high knolls commanding the Union position, to surround Booth’s force. Rugged terrain prevented the gunboat ''New Era'' from providing effective fire support for the Federals. The garrison was unable to depress its artillery enough to cover the approaches to the fort. Rebel sharpshooters, on the surrounding knolls, began firing into the fort, killing Booth. Maj. William F. Bradford then took over command of the garrison. The Confederates launched a determined attack at 11:00 am, occupying more strategic locations around the fort, and Forrest demanded unconditional surrender. Bradford asked for an hour for consultation, and Forrest granted twenty minutes.  Bradford refused surrender and the Confederates renewed the attack, soon overran the fort, and drove the Federals down the river’s bluff into a deadly crossfire. Casualties were high and only sixty-two of the U.S. Colored Troops survived the fight. Many accused the Confederates of perpetrating a massacre of the black troops, and that controversy continues today. The Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow that evening so they gained little from the attack except a temporary disruption of Union operations. The “Fort Pillow Massacre”  became a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion. (''NPS summary'')
-{{Template:Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}
+{{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}
-{{Template:ACW Battles of 1864}}
+{{ACW Battles of 1864}}
 [[Category:American Civil War Battles]]

Battle of Fort Pillow - Revision history

Teakin88: Revised introduction

Teakin88: Added to page

Teakin88: Added to page

Teakin88: Added to page

Teakin88: Added to page

Teakin88: Added to page

Teakin88: Added to page

DavidB4-bot: /* top */clean up

Karajou: Created page with "{{ACWbattle |name=Battle of Fort PillowFort Pillow Massacre |image= |begin=April 12, 1864 |end=Same day |place=Lauderdale County, Tennessee |theater=Western T..."

Karajou: Created page with "{{ACWbattle |name=Battle of Fort Pillow
Fort Pillow Massacre |image= |begin=April 12, 1864 |end=Same day |place=Lauderdale County, Tennessee |theater=Western T..."