The Grand Fabrication

Fort Pillow Attack

THE GRAND FABRICATION

It is almost as difficult to find consistent information about

the incident at Fort Pillow as it is to determine the moral

significance of its outcome. Scholars disagree about exactly

what transpired on April 12, 1864 at Fort Pillow, when General

Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the fort with his 1,500 troops

and claimed numerous Union lives in the process (Wyeth 250). It

became an issue of propaganda for the Union, and as a result the

facts were grossly distorted. After close examination it is clear

that the ¦Fort Pillow Massacre_ (as it became known by

abolitionists) was nothing of the sort. The 1,500 troops under

the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest acted as men and as

soldiers in their capture of Fort Pillow.

It is first necessary to understand what happened in the battle

before any judgment can be made. A careful study performed by Dr.

John Wyeth revealed the following information: from April 9-11,

1864, troops under the command of Ben McCulloch, Tyree Harris

Bell, and Brig. General James Chalmers marched non-stop to Fort

Pillow to begin their assault under the command of General Nathan

Bedford Forrest. Confederate sharpshooters claimed the lives of

several key Union officers during the morning assault on the

fort. The losses included the commanding officer Major Loinel F.

Booth, and his second in command shortly after that. These

losses created a complete breakdown of order and leadership among

the Union troops within the fort. (251) During the morning

engagement, the gun boat the New Era was continually attempting

to shell the Confederate forces from the Mississippi, but with

minimal success. The Union forces fought back heartily until

around one o¦clock in the afternoon, when both sides slowed down.

Around that time the New Era steamed out of range to cool its

weapons. It had fired a total of 282 rounds, and its supplies

were almost totally exhausted. During this hiatus in the firing,

while Confederate troops waited for supplies that would arrive

around three o¦clock, Forrestwas injured when his horse fell on

him after being mortaily wounded (252). When the supplies

arrived, Confederate troops under a flag of truce delivered a

message from Forrest that said, ¦My men have received a fresh

supply of ammunition, and from their present position can easily

assault and capture the fort,_ (253). Forrest demanded ¦the

unconditional surrender of the garrison,_ promising that you

shall be treated as prisoners of war_ ( 253). This agreement was

refused by Major William F. Bradford using the name of Major

Booth, and Forrest was left with no option but to attack (Long &

Long 484). Without a word, Forrest rode to his post, and a bugle

call began the charge. The soldiers stormed the fort under the

cover of sharpshooter fire. The Union spent their rounds on the

charging mass, and the second wave was to all intents and

purposes a ¦turkey shoot._ As hordes of soldiers came