GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Forrest's Cavalry, }
In the Field, June 23, 1864. }Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding District of West Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn.:
Your communication of the nineteenth inst. is received, in which you say "you are left in doubt as to the course the Confederate government intends to pursue hereafter in regard to colored troops."
Allow me to say that this is a subject upon which I did not and do not propose to enlighten you. It is a matter to be settled by our governments through their proper officers, and I respectfully refer you to them for a solution of your doubts.
You ask me to state whether "I contemplate either their slaughter or their return to slavery." I answer that I slaughter no man except in open warfare, and that my prisoners, both white and black, are turned over to my government to be dealt with as it may direct. My government is in possession of all the facts as regards my official conduct, and the operations of my command since I entered the service, and if you desire a proper discussion and decision, I refer you again to the President of the Confederate States. I would not have you understand, however, that in a matter of so much importance I am indisposed to place at your command and disposal any facts desired, when applied for in a manner becoming an officer holding your rank and position, for it is certainly desirable to every one occupying a public position to be placed right before the world, and there has been no time since the capture of Fort Pillow, that I would not have furnished all the facts connected with its capture, had they been applied for properly, but now the matter rests with the two governments. I have, however, for your information, enclosed you copies of the official correspondence between the commanding officers at Fort Pillow and myself; also copies of a statement of Captain Young, the senior officer of that garrison, together with (sufficient) extracts from a report of the affair by my A. D. C., Captain Chas. W. Anderson, which I approve and endorse as correct.
As to the death of Major Bradford, I knew nothing of it until eight or ten days after it is said to have occurred.
On the thirteenth (the day after the capture of Fort Pillow) I went to Jackson, and the report I had of the affair was this: Major Bradford was, with other officers, sent to the headquarters of Colonel McCulloch, and all the prisoners were in charge of one of McCulloch's regiments. Bradford requested the privilege of attending the burial of his brother, which was granted, he giving his parole of honor to return. Instead of returning, he changed his clothing and started for Memphis. Some of my men were hunting deserters, and came on Bradford just as he had landed on the south bank of the Hatchie, and arrested him. When arrested, he claimed to be a Confederate soldier belonging to Bragg's army; that he had been on furlough, and was then on his way to join his command.
As he could show no papers he was believed to be a deserter, and was taken to Covington, and not until he was recognized and spoken to by citizens did the guards know that he was Bradford.
He was sent by Colonel Duckworth, or taken by him, to Brownsville.
All of Chalmers's command went from Brownsville, via La Grange, and as all the other prisoners had been gone some time, and there was no chance for them to catch up and place Bradford with them, he was ordered by Colonel Duckworth or General Chalmers to be sent south to me at Jackson.
I knew nothing of the matter until eight or ten days afterwards I heard that his body was found near Brownsville. I understand that he attempted to escape and was shot. If he was improperly killed, nothing would afford me more pleasure than to punish the perpetrators to the full extent of the law, and to show you how I regard such transactions.
I can refer you to my demand on Major-General Hurlbut (no doubt upon file in your office) for the delivery to Confederate authorities of one Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regiment, who deliberately took out and killed seven Confederate soldiers, one of whom they left to die after cutting off his tongue, punching out his eyes, splitting his mouth on each side to his ears, and cutting off his privates. I have mentioned and given you these facts in order that you may have no further excuse or apology for referring to these matters in connection with myself, and to evince to you my determination to do all in my power to avoid the responsibility of causing the adoption of the policy which you have determined to press. In your letter you acknowledge the fact that the negro troops did take an oath on bended knees to show no quarters to my men, and you say further "you have no doubt they went to the battle-field expecting to be slaughtered," and admit, also, the probability of their having proclaimed on their march that no quarter would be shown us. Such being the case, why do you ask for the disavowal on the part of the commanding general of this department of the government, in regard to the loss of life at Tishemingo Creek? That your troops expected to be slaughtered, appears to me, after the oath they took, to be a very reasonable and natural expectation. Yet you who sent them out, knowing and now admitting that they had sworn to such a policy, are complaining of atrocities, and demanding acknowledgments and disavowals on the part of the very men you sent forth sworn to slay whenever in your power.
I will, in all candor and truth, say to you that I had only heard these things, but did not believe them; indeed, did not attach to them the importance they deserved, nor did I know of the threatened vengeance as proclaimed along the line of march until the contest was over. Had I and my men known it, as you admit it, the battle of Tishemingo Creek would have been noted as the bloodiest battle of the war. That you sanctioned this policy is plain, for you say now "that if the negro is treated as a prisoner of war, you will receive with pleasure the announcement, and will explain the facts to your colored troops, and desire (not order) that they recall the oath; but if they are to be either slaughtered or returned to slavery, let the oath stand." Your rank forbids a doubt as to the fact that you and every officer and man of your department are identified with the policy and responsible for it, and I shall not permit you, notwithstanding by your studied language in both your communications you seek to limit the operations of your unholy scheme, and visit its terrible consequences alone upon that ignorant, deluded, but unfortunate people, the negroes, whose destruction you are planning in order to accomplish ours. The negroes have our sympathy, and, so far as consistent with safety, we will spare them at the expense of those who are alone responsible for the inauguration of a worse than savage warfare.
Now, in conclusion, I demand a plain and unqualified answer to two questions, and then I have done with further correspondence with you on this subject. This matter must be settled. In battle and on the battle-field do you intend to slaughter my men who fall into your hands? If you do not intend so to do, will they be treated as prisoners of war?
I have over two thousand of Sturgis's command prisoners, and will hold every officer and private hostage until I receive your declarations, and am satisfied that you carry out in good faith the answers you make, and until I am assured that no Confederate soldier has been foully dealt with from the day of the battle of Tishemingo Creek to this time. It is not yet too late for you to retrace your steps and arrest the storm.
Relying, as I do, upon that Divine power which in wisdom disposes of all things; relying also upon the support and approval of my government and countrymen, and the unflinching bravery and endurance of my troops; and with a consciousness that I have done nothing to produce, but all in my power, consistent with honor and the personal safety of myself and command, to prevent it, I leave with you the responsibility of bringing about, to use your own language, "a state of affairs too fearful to contemplate."
I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
N. B. FORREST, Major-General.
OFFICIAL MEMORANDA.
Cahaba Hospital, Cahaba, Alabama, }
May 11, 1864. }Colonel H. C. Davis, Commanding Post Cahaba:
Colonel: I herewith transmit you, as near as my memory serves me, according to promise, the demand made by Major-General Forrest, C. S. A., for the surrender of Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
Major Booth, Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow, Tennessee:
I have force sufficient to take your works by assault. I therefore demand an unconditional surrender of all your forces. Your heroic defence will entitle you to be treated as prisoners of war, but the surrender must be unconditional. I await your answer.
FORREST, Major-General, Commanding.
Headquarters United States Forces, )
Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864.)Major-General Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces:
General: Your demand for the surrender of United States forces under my command received. I ask one hour for consultation with my officers and the commander of gunboat No. 7, at this place. I have the honor to be
Your obedient servant,
L. F. BOOTH, Major, Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow.
Major L. F. Booth, Commanding United States Forces:
I do not demand the surrender of the gunboat No. 7. I ask only for the surrender of Fort Pillow, with men and munitions of war. You have twenty minutes for consideration. At the expiration of that time, if you do not capitulate, I will assault your works.
Your obedient servant,
FORREST, Major-General, Commanding.
Headquarters United States Forces,}
Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 12, 1864.}Major-General Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces:
General: Your second demand for the surrender of my forces is received. Your demand will not be complied with.
Your obedient servant,
L. F. BOOTH, Major, Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow.
I give you the above for your own satisfaction from memory. I think it is true in substance. My present condition would preclude the idea of this being an official statement.
I am, Colonel, your obedient servant,
JOHN T. YOUNG, Captain, Company A, Twenty-fourth Mo. Inf. Vols.
CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO MAJOR-GENERAL FORREST.
Cahaba, Alabama, May 19, 1864.
Major-General Forrest, C. S. A.:
General: Your request, made through Judge P. T. Scroggs, that I should make a statement of the treatment of the Federal dead and wounded at Fort Pillow, has been made known to me. Details from Federal prisoners were made to collect the dead and wounded. The dead were buried by their surviving comrades. I saw no ill treatment of their wounded on the evening of the battle, or next morning. My friend, Lieutenant Leaming, Adjutant Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, was left wounded in the sutler's store near the fort, also a lieutenant Sixth U. S. Artillery; both were alive next morning, and sent on board U. S. transport, among many other wounded. Among the wounded were some colored troops—I don't know how many.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. T. YOUNG, Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers.
P. S.—I have examined a report said to be made by Captain Anderson (of) A. D. C. to Major-General Forrest, appendix to General Forrest's report, in regard to making disposition of Federal wounded left on the field at Fort Pillow, and think it is correct. I accompanied Captain Anderson, on the day succeeding the battle, to Fort Pillow, for the purpose above mentioned.
JOHN T. YOUNG, Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers.
A true copy.
Samuel Donalson, Lieutenant and A. D. C.Official,
Henry B. Lee, A.D.C.
GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST.
Headquarters District of West Tennessee, }
Memphis, Tenn., July 2, 1864. }Major-General N. B. Forrest, Commanding Confederate Forces, near Tupelo:
General: Your communications of the twentieth and twenty-third ult. are received. Of the tone and temper of both I do not complain. The desperate fortunes of a bad cause excuse much irritation of temper, and I pass it by. Indeed, I received it as a favorable augury, and as evidence that you are not indifferent to the opinions of the civilized world.
In regard to the Fort Pillow affair, it is useless to prolong the discussion.
I shall forward your report, which you did me the favor to enclose, to my government, and you will receive the full benefit of it.
The record is now made up, and a candid world will judge of it. I beg leave to send you herewith a copy of the report of the Investigating Committee from the United States Congress on the affair. In regard to the treatment of Major Bradford, I refer you to the testimony contained in that report, from which you will see that he was not attempting to escape when shot. It will be easy to bring the perpetrators of the outrage to justice if you so desire.
I will add to what I have heretofore said, that I have it from responsible and truthful citizens of Brownsville, that when Major Bradford was started under an escort from your headquarters at Jackson, General Chalmers remarked that "he would never reach there."
You call attention, apparently as an offset to this affair of Major Bradford, to outrages said to have been committed by Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regiment (Sixth Tennessee Cavalry). The outrages, if committed as stated by you, are disgraceful and abhorrent to every brave and sensitive mind.
On receiving your letter I sent at once for Colonel Hurst, and read him the extract pertaining to him. He indignantly denies the charge against him, and until you furnish me the names of the parties murdered, and the time when, and the place where, the offence was committed, with the names of witnesses, it is impossible for me to act. When you do that, you may rest assured that I shall use every effort in my power to have the parties accused tried, and if found guilty, properly punished.
In regard to the treatment of colored soldiers, it is evidently useless to discuss the question further.
Your attempt to shift from yourself upon me the responsibility of the inauguration of a "worse than savage warfare," is too strained and far-fetched to require any response. The full and cumulative evidence contained in the Congressional Report I herewith forward, points to you as the person responsible for the barbarisms already committed.
It was your soldiers who, at Fort Pillow, raised the black flag, and while shooting, bayoneting, and otherwise maltreating the Federal prisoners in their hands, shouted to each other in the hearing of their victims that it was done by "Forrest's orders."
Thus far I cannot learn that you have made any disavowal of these barbarities.
Your letters to me inform me confidently that you have always treated our prisoners according to the rules of civilized warfare, but your disavowal of the Fort Pillow barbarities, if you intend to make any, should be full, clear, explicit, and published to the world.
The United States Government is, as it always has been, lenient and forbearing, and it is not yet too late for you to secure for yourself and your soldiers a continuance of the treatment due to honorable warriors, by a public disclaimer of barbarities already committed, and a vigorous effort to punish the wretches who committed them.
But I say to you now, clearly and unequivocally, that such measure of treatment as you mete out to Federal soldiers will be measured to you again.
If you give no quarter, you need expect none. If you observe the rules of civilized warfare, and treat our prisoners in accordance with the laws of war, your prisoners will be treated, as they ever have been, with kindness.
If you depart from these principles, you may expect such retaliation as the laws of war justify.
That you may know what the laws of war are, as understood by my Government, I beg leave to enclose a copy of General Orders No. 100 from the War Department Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, April twenty-four, 1863.
I have the honor to be, sir,
Very respectfully yours,C. C. WASHBURN, Major-General.
GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHBURN.
Headquarters Department Alabama, Mississippi, and }
East Louisiana, Meridian, June 28, 1864. }Major-General C. C. Washburn, Commanding Federal Forces at Memphis, Tennessee:
General: I am in receipt of your letter of the seventeenth inst., and have also before me the reply of Major-General Forrest thereto. Though that reply is full, and approved by me, yet I deem it proper to communicate with you upon a subject so seriously affecting our future conduct and that of the troops under our respective commands.
Your communication is by no means respectful to me, and is by implication insulting to Major-General Forrest. This, however, is overlooked in consideration of the important character of its contents.
You assume as correct an exaggerated statement of the circumstances attending the capture of Fort Pillow, relying solely upon the evidence of those who would naturally give a distorted history of the affair.
No demand for an explanation has ever been made either by yourself or your government, a course which would certainly recommend itself to every one desirous of hearing truth; but, on the contrary, you seem to have been perfectly willing to allow your soldiers to labor under false impressions upon a subject involving such terrible consequences. Even the formality of parades and oaths have been resorted to for the purpose of inciting your colored troops to the perpetration of deeds which, you say, "will lead to consequences too fearful to contemplate."
As commanding officer of this Department I desire to make the following statement concerning the capture of Fort Pillow—a statement supported in a great measure by the evidence of one of your own officers captured at that place.
The version given by you and your government is untrue, and not sustained by the facts to the extent that you indicate.
The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its commanding officer assumed the responsibility of refusing to surrender after having been informed by General Forrest of his ability to take the fort, and of his fears as to what the result would be in case the demand was not complied with.
The assault was made under a heavy fire, and with considerable loss to the attacking party.
Your colors were never lowered, but retreated from the fort to the cover of the gunboats, with arms in their hands, and constantly using them.
This was true, particularly of your colored troops, who had been firmly convinced by your teachings of the certainty of their slaughter in case of capture. Even under these circumstances many of your men—white and black—were taken prisoners.
I respectfully refer you to history for numerous cases of indiscriminate slaughter, even under less aggravated circumstances.
It is generally conceded by all military precedents that where the issue has been fairly presented, and the ability displayed, fearful results are expected to follow a refusal to surrender.
The case under consideration is almost an extreme one.
You had a servile race armed against their masters, and in a country which had been desolated by almost unprecedented outrages.
I assert that our officers, with all these circumstances against them, endeavored to prevent the effusion of blood; and, as evidence of this, I refer you to the fact that both white and colored prisoners were taken, and are now in our hands.
As regards the battle of Tishemingo Creek, the statements of your negro witnesses are not to be relied on. In this panic they acted as might have been expected from their previous impressions. I do not think many of them were killed—they are yet wandering over the country, attempting to return to their masters.
With reference to the status of those captured at Tishemingo Creek and Fort Pillow, I will state that, unless otherwise ordered by my government, they will not be regarded as prisoners of war, but will be retained and humanely treated, subject to such future instructions as may be indicated.
Your letter contains many implied threats; these you can of course make, and you are fully entitled to any satisfaction that you may feel from having made them.
It is my intention, and that also of my subordinates, to conduct this war upon civilized principles, provided you permit us to do so; and I take this occasion to state that we will not shrink from any responsibilities that your actions may force upon us.
We are engaged in a struggle for the protection of our homes and firesides, for the maintenance of our national existence and liberty; we have counted the cost and are prepared to go to any extremes; and although it is far from our wish to fight under the "black flag," still, if you drive us to it, we will accept the issue.
Your troops virtually fought under it at the battle of Tishemingo Creek, and the prisoners taken there state that they went into battle with the impression that they were to receive no quarter, and I suppose with the determination to give none.
I will further remark that if it is raised, so far as your soldiers are concerned, there can be no distinction, for the unfortunate people whom you pretend to be aiding are not considered entirely responsible for their acts, influenced as they are by the superior intellect of their white brothers.
I enclose for your consideration certain papers touching the Fort Pillow affair, which were procured from the writer after the exaggerated statements of your press were seen.
I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,S. D. LEE, Lieutenant-General, Commanding.
ENCLOSURE IN THE FOREGOING.
Cahaba, Alabama, May 16, 1864.
I was one of the bearers of the flag of truce, on the part of the United States authorities, at Fort Pillow. A majority of the officers of the garrison doubted whether General Forrest was present, and had the impression that it was a ruse to induce the surrender of the fort. At the second meeting of the flag of truce, General Forrest announced himself as being General Forrest; but the officers who accompanied the flag, being unacquainted with the General, doubted his word, and it was the opinion of the garrison, at the time of the assault, that General Forrest was not in the vicinity of the fort. The commanding officer refused to surrender. When the final assault was made, I was captured at my post, inside the works, and have been treated as a prisoner of war.
JOHN T. YOUNG, Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers.
F. W. Underhill, First Lieutenant, Cavalry.