"You say in your letter that it has been reported to you that all the negro troops stationed in Memphis took an oath, on their knees, in the presence of Major General Hurlburt and other officers of our army, to avenge Fort Pillow and that they would show your troops no quarter. I believe it is true that the colored troops did take such an oath, but not in the presence of General Hurlburt. From what I can learn this act of theirs was not influenced by any white officer, but was the result of their own sense of what was due to themselves and their fellows who had been mercilessly slaughtered."
The chief of Forrest's artillery writes in the Philadelphia Times, in September, 1883:
"Col. Arthur T. Reeve, who commanded the Fifty-fifth Colored Infantry in this fight, tells me that no oath was taken by his troops that ever he heard of, but the impression prevailed that the black flag was raised, and on his side was raised to all intents and purposes. He himself fully expected to be killed if captured. Impressed with this notion a double effect was produced. It made the Federals afraid to surrender and greatly exasperated our men, and in the break-up the affair became more like a hunt for wild game than a battle between civilized men."
In his description of the battle at Brice's Cross Roads, he says:
"The entire Confederate force was brought into action at once. We kept no reserves; every movement was quickly planned and executed with the greatest celerity. A potent factor which made the battle far bloodier than it would have been, was it being reported, and with some degree of truth, that the negroes had been sworn on their knees in line before leaving Memphis to show 'no quarter to Forrest's men,' and badges were worn upon which were inscribed, 'Remember Fort Pillow.' General Washburn, commanding the district of West Tennessee, distinctly admits that the negro troops with Sturgis had gone into this fight with the declared intention to give no quarter to Forrest's men."
The fate of the black soldiers taken in these fights is unknown, which is even worse than of those who are known to have been massacred.
The details of the massacre at Fort Pillow have been reserved for this portion of the present chapter in order to state them more at length, and in connection with important movements which soon after took place against the same confederate force.
The most atrocious of all inhuman acts perpetrated upon a brave soldiery, took place at Fort Pillow, Kentucky, on the 13th of April, 1864. No cause can be assigned for the shocking crime of wanton, indiscriminate murder of some three hundred soldiers, other than that they were "niggers," and "fighting with niggers."
On the 12th, General Forrest suddenly appeared before Fort Pillow with a large force, and demanded its surrender. The fort was garrisoned by 557 men in command of Major L. F. Booth, consisting of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry, Major Bradford, and the 6th Phalanx Battery of heavy artillery, numbering 262 men, and six guns. At sunrise on the 13th, General Forrest's forces advanced and attacked the fort. The garrison maintained a steady brisk fire, and kept the enemy at bay from an outer line of intrenchments. About 9 a. m. Major Booth was killed, and Major Bradford taking command, drew the troops back into the Fort, situated on a high, steep and partially timbered bluff on the Mississippi river, with a ravine on either hand. A federal gunboat, the "New Era," assisted in the defence, but the height of the bluff prevented her giving material support to the garrison. In the afternoon both sides ceased firing, to cool and clean their guns. During this time, Forrest, under a flag of truce, summoned the federals to surrender within a half hour. Major Bradford refused to comply with the demand. Meantime the confederates taking advantage of the truce to secret themselves down in a ravine, from whence they could rush upon the Fort at a given signal. No sooner was Bradford's refusal to surrender received, than the confederates rushed simultaneously into the Fort. In a moment almost the place was in their possession. The garrison, throwing away their arms fled down the steep banks, endeavoring to hide from the promised "no quarter," which Forrest had embodied in his demand for surrender: "If I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." The confederates followed, "butchering black and white soldiers and non-combatants, men, women and children. Disabled men were made to stand up and be shot; others were burned within the tents wherein they had been nailed to the floor." This carnival of murder continued until dark, and was even renewed the next morning. Major Bradford was not murdered until he had been carried as a prisoner several miles on the retreat.
It is best that the evidence in this matter, as given in previous pages of this chapter, should be read. It is unimpeachable, though Forrest, S. D. Lee and Chalmers have attempted to deny the infernal work. The last named, under whose command these barbarous acts were committed, offered on the floor of the United States Congress, fifteen years afterward, an apologetic denial of what appears from the evidence of those who escaped,—taken by the Congressional Committee,—and also contradictory to the confederate General S. D. Lee's report, in which he fails to convince himself even of the inaccuracy of the reports of brutality, as made by the few who escaped being murdered. Lee says: