Part 37 (2/2)
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 ma.s.sacred.
The details of the ma.s.sacre 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 a.s.signed for the shocking crime of wanton, indiscriminate murder of some three hundred soldiers, other than that they were ”n.i.g.g.e.rs,” and ”fighting with n.i.g.g.e.rs.”
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,” a.s.sisted 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:
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE Ma.s.sACRE AT FORT PILLOW.--APRIL 12TH, 1864.]
”The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its commanding officer a.s.sumed the responsibility of refusing to surrender after having been informed by General Forrest of his ability to take the Fort, and of his fears of what the result would be in case the demand was not complied with.
The a.s.sault was made under a heavy fire, and with considerable loss to the attacking party. Your colors were never lowered, and your garrison never surrendered, but retreated under cover of a gunboat, with arms in their hands and constantly using them. This was true particularly of your colored troops, who had been firmly convinced by your teaching of the certainty of slaughter, in case of capture.
Even under these circ.u.mstances, many of your men, white and black, were taken prisoners.”
Continuing, he says:
”The case under consideration is almost an extreme one. You had a servile race armed against us. I a.s.sert that our officers with all the circ.u.mstances against them endeavored to prevent the effusion of blood.”
This is an admission that the ma.s.sacre of the garrison actually occurred, and because Phalanx troops were a part of the garrison. That the black soldiers had been taught that no quarter would be shown them if captured, or if they surrendered, is doubtless true. It is also too true that the teaching was the _truth_. One has but to read the summons for the surrender to be satisfied of the fact, and then recollect that the President of the Confederate States, in declaring General Butler an outlaw, also decreed that negroes captured with arms in their hands, their officers as well, should be turned over to the State authorities wherein they were captured, to be dealt with according to the laws of that State and the Confederacy.
The sentiment of the chief confederate commander regarding the employment of negroes in the Union army, notwithstanding the Confederate Government was the first to arm and muster them into service, as shown in previous and later chapters, is manifested by the following dispatch, though at the time of writing it, that General had hundreds of blacks under his command at Charleston building fortifications.
”CHARLESTON, S. C., Oct. 13th, 1862.
”HON. WM. P. MILES, RICHMOND, VA.
”Has the bill for the execution of abolition prisoners, after January next, been pa.s.sed? Do it, and England will be stirred into action. It is high time to proclaim the black flag after that period: let the execution be with the garrote. G. T. BEAUREGARD.”
The confederate thirst for ”n.i.g.g.e.r” blood seemed to have been no stronger in Kentucky than in other Departments, but it does appear, for some reason, that Kentucky and northern Mississippi were selected by the confederate generals, Pillow and Forrest, as appropriate sections in which to particularly vent their spite. The success of Forrest at Fort Pillow rather strengthened General Beauford's inhumanity. He commanded a portion of Pillow's forces which appeared before Columbus the day after the Fort Pillow ma.s.sacre, and in the following summons demanded its surrender:
”_To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus, Ky._:
”Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison, I desire to avoid shedding blood. I therefore demand the unconditional surrender of the forces under your command.
Should you surrender, the negroes in arms will be returned to their masters. Should I be compelled to take the place by force, _no quarter will be shown negro troops whatever_; white troops will be treated as prisoners of war.
”I am, sir, yours, A. BEAUFORD, Brig. Gen.”
Colonel Lawrence, of the 34th New Jersey, declined to surrender, and drove the enemy off, who next appeared in Paducah, but retired without making an a.s.sault upon the garrison.
These occurrences, with the mysterious surrender of Union City to Forrest, on the 16th of March, so incensed the commander of the Department that a strong force was organized, and in command of General S. D. Sturgis, started, on the 30th of April, in pursuit of Forrest and his men, but did not succeed in overtaking him. A few weeks later, General Sturgis, with a portion of his former force, combined with that of General Smith's,--just returning from the Red River (Banks) _fiasco_,--again went in pursuit of General Forrest. At Guntown, on the 10th of June, Sturgis' cavalry, under General Grierson, came up with the enemy, charged upon them, and drove them back upon their infantry posted near Brice's Cross Roads. General Grierson, needing support, sent back for the infantry, which was several miles in his rear. The day was intensely hot, and the roads, from constant rains, in very bad condition. However, Sturgis marched the troops up at double-quick to the position where General Grierson was holding the confederates in check.
The infantry had become so exhausted when they reached the scene of action, that they were unable to fight as they otherwise would have done. Sturgis, either ignorant of what was going on or incapacitated for the work, heightened the disorder at the front by permitting his train of over two hundred wagons to be pushed up close to the troops, thus blocking their rear, and obstructing their manoeuvring; finally the wagons were parked a short distance from the lines and in sight of the foe. The troops exhausted by the rapid march, without proper formation or commanders, had been brought up to the support of the cavalry, who were hotly engaged with the enemy, whose desperation was increased at the sight of the Phalanx regiments. General Beauford had joined Forrest, augmenting his force 4,000. Sturgis' force numbered about 12,000, in cavalry, artillery and infantry. Forrest was well provided with artillery, which was up early and took a position in an open field enfilading the Federal line, which fought with a determination worthy of a better fate than that which befel it.
A confederate writer says:
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