Lieutenant William Clary, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. What is your rank and position in the service?
Answer. I am second lieutenant of company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked?
Answer. No, sir; I was sent to Memphis the day before, and returned to Fort Pillow the morning after the fight. I came up on gunboat No. 28. The rebels were at Fulton, about two miles and a half below Fort Pillow. We fired at them, and the rebels at Fort Pillow heard it, and thought we were bringing up re-enforcements, and then they set the town on fire.
Question. When did you get up there?
Answer. Early in the morning, or little after daylight.
Question. When did you land at Fort Pillow?
Answer. We got there about 8 o'clock in the morning, and shelled there an hour or so. The rebels were occupying the fort in large numbers. By and by the rebels came down with a flag of truce, and I went on shore to see what was wanting. One of the officers of the 6th United States heavy artillery said he did not like to go on shore for fear the rebels would kill him. I went on shore with one of the naval officers and saw General Forrest's adjutant general, Major Anderson. He said if we would recognize the parole of Forrest we might take our wounded on the gunboat; and that was agreed upon. I rode all around the battle-ground, and saw some of our dead half buried, and I saw five negroes burning. I asked Colonel Chalmers, the general's brother, if that was the way he allowed his men to do. He concluded that he could not control his men very well, and thought it was justifiable in regard to negroes; that they did not recognize negroes as soldiers, and he could not control his men. I did not see any white men burning there; if there were any, I did not recognize them as such. Their faces were burned, and some of them were sticking out of the tents and houses with their clothes partly burned. The negroes were lying upon the boards and straw in the tents which had been set on fire. It seemed to me as if the fire could not have been set more than half an hour before. Their flesh was frying off them, and their clothes were burning.