On the 18th of April, 1864, Gen. N. B. Forrest, commanding a corps of Confederate cavalry, appeared before Fort Pillow, situated about forty miles above Memphis, Tennessee, and demanded its surrender. It was held by Major L. F. Booth, with a garrison of 557 men, 262 of whom were Colored soldiers of the 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery; the other troops were white, under Major Bradford of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. The garrison was mounted with six guns. From before sunrise until nine A.M. the Union troops had held an outer line of intrenchments; but upon the death of Major Booth Major Bradford retired his force into the fort. It was situated upon a high bluff on the Mississippi River, flanked by two ravines with sheer declivities and partially timbered. The gun-boat "New Era" was to have coöperated with the fort, but on account of the extreme height of the bluff, was unable to do much. The fighting continued until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when the firing slackened on both sides to allow the guns to cool off. The "New Era," nearly out of shell, backed into the river to clean her guns. During this lull Gen. Forrest sent a flag of truce demanding the unconditional surrender of the fort. A consultation of the Federal officers was held, and a request made for twenty minutes to consult the officers of the gun-boat. Gen. Forrest refused to grant this, saying that he only demanded the surrender of the fort and not the gun-boat. He demanded an immediate surrender, which was promptly declined by Major Bradford. During the time these negotiations were going on, Forrest's men were stealing horses, plundering the buildings in front of the fort, and closing in upon the fort through the ravines, which was unsoldierly and cowardly to say the least. Upon receiving the refusal of Major Booth to capitulate, Forrest gave a signal and his troops made a frantic charge upon the fort. It was received gallantly and resisted stubbornly, but there was no use of fighting. In ten minutes the enemy, assaulting the fort in the centre, and striking it on the flanks, swept in. The Federal troops surrendered; but an indiscriminate massacre followed. Men were shot down in their tracks; pinioned to the ground with bayonet and sabre. Some were clubbed to death while dying of wounds; others were made to get down upon their knees, in which condition they were shot to death. Some were burned alive, having been fastened into the buildings, while still others were nailed against the houses, tortured, and then burned to a crisp. A little Colored boy only eight years old was lifted to the horse of a rebel who intended taking him along with him, when Gen. Forrest meeting the soldier ordered him to put the child down and shoot him. The soldier remonstrated, but the stern and cruel order was repeated, emphasized with an oath, and backed with a threat that endangered the soldier's life, so he put the child on the ground and shot him dead! From three o'clock in the afternoon until the merciful darkness came and threw the sable wings of night over the carnival of death, the slaughter continued. The stars looked down in pity upon the dead—ah! they were beyond the barbarous touch of the rebel fiends—and the dying; and the angels found a spectacle worthy of their tears. And when the morning looked down upon the battle-field, it was not to find it peaceful in death and the human hyenas gone. Alas! those who had survived the wounds of the day before were set upon again and brained or shot to death.
The Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War gave this "Horrible Massacre" an investigation. They examined such of the Union soldiers as escaped from death at Fort Pillow and were sent to the Mound City Hospital, Illinois. The following extracts from the testimony given before the Committee, the Hons. Ben. F. Wade and D. W. Gooch, give something of an idea of this the most cruel and inhuman affair in the history of the civilized world.
Manuel Nichols (Colored), private. Company B, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. Were you in the late fight at Fort Pillow?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you wounded there?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When?
A. I was wounded once about a half an hour before we gave up.
Q. Did they do any thing to you after you surrendered?
A. 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.
Q. How many did you see them kill after they had surrendered?
A. 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!"
Q. What did they do then?
A. They kept on shooting. I could hear them down the hill.
Q. Did you see them bury any body?
A. Yes, sir; they carried me around right to the corner of the Fort, and I saw them pitch men in there.
Q. Was there any alive?
A. I did not see them bury any body alive.
Q. How near to you was the man who shot you under the ear?
A. 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."
Major Williams (Colored), private. Company B, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery, sworn and examined.
By the Chairman:
Q. Where were you raised?
A. In Tennessee and North Mississippi.
Q. Where did you enlist?
A. In Memphis.
Q. Who was your captain?
A. Captain Lamburg.
Q. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was your captain with you?
A. No, sir; I think he was at Memphis.
Q. Who commanded your company?
A. Lieutenant Hunter and Sergeant Fox were all the officers we had.
Q. What did you see done there?
A. We fought them right hard during the battle, and killed some of them. After a time they sent in a flag of truce. They said afterward that they did it to make us stop firing until their reinforcements could come up. They said that they never could have got in if they had not done that; that we had whipped them; that they had never seen such a fight.
Q. Did you see the flag of truce?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did they do when the flag of truce was in?
A. They kept coming up nearer, so that they could charge quick. A heap of them came up after we stopped firing.
Q. When did you surrender?
A. I did not surrender until they all ran.
Q. Were you wounded then?
A. Yes, sir; after the surrender.
Q. At what time of day was that?
A. They told me it was about half after one o'clock, I was wounded. Immediately we retreated.
Q. Did you have any arms in your hands when they shot you?
A. No, sir; I was an artillery man, and had no arms.
Q. Did you see the man who shot you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you hear him say any thing?
A. No, sir; I heard nothing. He shot me, and I was bleeding pretty free, and I thought to myself: "I will make out it was a dead shot, and maybe I will not get another."
Q. Did you see any others shot?
A. No, sir.
Q. Was there any thing said about giving quarter?
A. Major Bradford brought in a black flag, which meant no quarter. I heard, some of the rebel officers say: "You damned rascals, if you had not fought us so hard, but had stopped when we sent in a flag of truce, we would not have done any thing to you." I heard one of the officers say: "Kill all the niggers"; another one said: "No; Forrest says take them and carry them with him to wait upon him and cook for him, and put them in jail and send them to their masters." Still they kept on shooting. They shot at me after that, but did not hit me; a rebel officer shot at me. He took aim at my side; at the crack of his pistol I fell. He went on and said: "There's another dead nigger."
Q. Was there any one shot in the hospital that day?
A. Not that I know of. I think they all came away and made a raft and floated across the mouth of the creek and got into a flat bottom.
Q. Did you see any buildings burned?
A. I stayed 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.
Q. A private or an officer?
A. An officer; I think it was a lieutenant in the Tennessee cavalry.
Q. How was he nailed?
A. Through his hands and feet right against the house.
Q. Was his body burned?
A. Yes, sir; burned all over—I looked at him good.
Q. When did you see that?
A. On the Thursday after the battle.
Q. Where was the man?
A. Right in front of the Fort.
Jacob Thompson (Colored), sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch: