"W. HOFFMAN,
"Colonel 3rd Infantry, Commissary General of Prisoners.
"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C."
This report does not refer to the treatment of the soldiers of the Phalanx who were taken by the confederates in battle,[29] after the surrender of Fort Pillow, Lawrence and Plymouth, and at several other places. It is inserted to enable the reader to form an opinion as to what the negro soldier's treatment must have been. The same committee also published as a part of their report, the testimony of a number,—mostly black, soldiers, who escaped death at Fort Pillow; a few of their statements are given:
| 38th Congress, | } | { | Rep. Com. |
| 1st Session. | } | { | No. 63 & 68. |
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War to whom was Referred the Resolution of Congress Instructing them to Investigate the late Massacre at Fort Pillow.
"Deposition of John Nelson in relation to the capture of Fort Pillow.
"John Nelson, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith:
"'At the time of the attack on and capture of Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, I kept a hotel within the lines at Fort Pillow, and a short distance from the works. Soon after the alarm was given that an attack on the fort was imminent, I entered the works and tendered my services to Major Booth, commanding. The attack began in the morning at about 5-1/2 o'clock, and about 1 o'clock P.M. a flag of truce approached. During the parley which ensued, and while the firing ceased on both sides, the rebels kept crowding up to the works on the side near Cold Creek, and also approached nearer on the south side, thereby gaining advantages pending the conference under the flag of truce. As soon as the flag of truce was withdrawn the attack began, and about five minutes after it began the rebels entered the fort. Our troops were soon overpowered, and broke and fled. A large number of the soldiers, black and white, and also a few citizens, myself among the number, rushed down the bluff toward the river. I concealed myself as well as I could in a position where I could distinctly see all that passed below the bluff, for a considerable distance up and down the river.