The country and the world stood aghast. The first account of this human butchery was too much for credence: after a while the truth began to dawn upon the country; and at last the people admitted that in a Christian land like America a deed so foul—blacker than hell itself!—had actually been perpetrated. The patience of the North and the Union army gave way to bitterest imprecations; the exultation and applause of the South and Confederate army were succeeded by serious thoughts and sad reflections. But it is the duty of impartial history to record that this bloody, sickening affair was not endorsed by all the rebels.
In a letter dated Okalona, Mississippi, June. 14, 1864, to the "Atlanta Appeal," a rebel gives this endorsement of Forrest's conduct at Fort Pillow:
"You have heard that our soldiers buried negroes alive at Fort Pillow. This is true. At the first fire after Forrest's men scaled the walls, many of the negroes threw down their arms and fell as if they were dead. They perished in the pretence, and could only be restored at the point of the bayonet. To resuscitate some of them, more terrified than the rest, they were rolled into the trenches made as receptacles for the fallen. Vitality was not restored till breathing was obstructed, and then the resurrection began. On these facts is based the pretext for the crimes committed by Sturgis, Grierson, and their followers. You must remember, too, that in the extremity of their terror, or for other reasons, the Yankees and negroes in Fort Pillow neglected to haul down their flag. In truth, relying upon their gun-boats, the officers expected to annihilate our forces after we had entered the fortifications. They did not intend to surrender.
"A terrible retribution, in any event, has befallen the ignorant, deluded Africans."
Gen. Forrest was a cold-blooded murderer; a fiend in human form. But as the grave has opened long since to receive him; and as the cause he represented has perished from the earth, it is enough to let the record stand without comment, and God grant without malice! It is the duty of history to record that there is to be found no apologist for cruelties that rebels inflicted upon brave but helpless Black soldiers during the war for the extirpation of slavery. The Confederate conduct at Pillow must remain a foul stain upon the name of the men who fought to perpetuate human slavery in North America, but failed.
FOOTNOTES:
[112] New York Tribune, April 14, 1863.
[113] Rebellion Recs., vol. viii. Doc. pp. 418, 419.
[114] Gen. Chalmers has denied, with vehemence, that he ever did any cruel act at Fort Pillow, but the record is against him. Soldiers under brave, intelligent, and humane officers could never be guilty of such cruel and unchristian conduct as these rebels at Pillow. Gen. Chalmers is responsible. As an illustration of the gentle and forgiving spirit of the Negro, it should be recorded here that many supported the candidacy of Gen. Chalmers for Congress, and voted for him at the recent election in Mississippi.
[115] See Report of Committee on Conduct of War.