, 1862-03-10

Gen. Pillows 0meial Report-M1s
account Of the surrender OF Fort,
Bonelson and his Escape. =
Gen. Pillow publishes his official report q
operations Mt Fort Donelson in the McmRhts
Ata1anehe: We extract that part in which, hes
narrates the closing events Oh Saturday Of tic
fight, and details his reasons for running away:
=. The operations Of the day had forced the en-
Wing ond E Il m 1fent % of Suaa our Dur
sition In the 1ntEenchments, when his
command reached his :pssit = - found the
enemy rapidly advancing 1ke possession
Of this poit1en Of bis @woI had stub
sien of the extreme @ tight as posi,ion, sHi p and
ne held It 80 firmly that he3 ID pot dislodsse
The position thus gained 6e enemy VAS
on the rear Of our liver battery and fieid woi
for its protection. From it he could neadif4E
turn the intrenched work occupied by Geoe.ae247
Buckncr, and attack him in reverse, or adsz
vance under cover Of an intervening ridge di:s
he held this position, it was manifest we could
not hola the main work or battery. Such was
the condition Of the armies at nishtfA1I, after
nine hours of ecEere conflict, On the 18th inst,
In which our loss WIS severe, and leaving not
less than five thousand Of the enemy dead and
wounded on the tiell. We lernl1n the field
nearly all his wounded, becauseaecou1dn not
remove them. We left his dead unburied be-
cause we could not bury them.
Such conflict and courage has perhaps neTeT
before occurred npon this continent. We took
about 500 prisoners and q large number Of
arms. We had fought this battle to open the
way for our army and relieve US from an in-
veetment, which would necessarily reduce US
and the position by famine. We had occupied
the whole day to accomplish our object, and
in the wounded and the dead, tile enemy had
thrown around us again in the night, IN I'M
mense force Of fresh troops, and rc-occupied
his original position in the line Of Investment,
thus again cutting off our retreat.
We had only about L, ,0N troops, a1l told
EIhe truth Of this assertion may be Judged by
the fact that We took more than COO prisoners,
that e,100 sece=h were killed and wounded, and at
least G,tto eacapsd with the thief Floyd; making
! 4 total Of more than ao,C00.-ED. TE1pESE-]
OF these, large proportion VIC lost In the
| three battles. The command had been in the
| trenches night and day for five days, exposed
| to the snow, sleet, mud and ice-Water, without
| shelter and without adequate covering, ana
| without sleep.
| consultation to determine what TIC should do.
Gen. Euckner gave it as his decided opinion
TINT he could not hold his position one half
| hour against an assault Of the enemy, and
sa11 Tue enemy would attack him next morn
ing At daylight. The proposition was then
made by the undersigned to again fight our
way through the entmy's line, and cut our
| way ont. Gen. Buckner said his command
| vas so worn out, cut to pieces and demoral-
lied, That he could not make another fight;
that it would cost the command three quar-
ters Of its present number to cut its way
through. and it Was wroug to sacrifice three
| quarters Of a command to save q quarter.
that no officer had right to cause such d
sacrifice. Gen. Floyd and Major Gillner IN.
derstood to concur in this opinion.
then expressed the opinion that we could
| hold out another day, and in that time VIC
| could get steamboats, and set the command
oEcr he riyer, and probably save large por-
/ tlon Of it. To this Gen Bucknc1 replied That
| the enemy would certainly attack him at day-
| Light, and that he could not hold Ills position
| BALI an hour. Tic alternative Of these propo,
| Eitions Was a surrender Of their position and
command. Gen. Floyd said that lie would nei.
| tier surrender the command, nor would he sur.
| render EimEelfa prisoner. I had taken the sare
| position Gen Buckner said he was satisfied
nothing else could be done, and thai, therefore,
he would surrender if placed in command. Gen.
| Floyd said he would turn over the command
| command To this General BuckueF con-
septed. Thercupon General Floyd turned the
command oger to Me, passed it instantly to
Gen Buckncr, saying would neither surrcn-
der the command nor myself prisoner, |
directed Col. Forrest to cut his way out.
| Under these circumstances Gen Buckner &C.
| cepted the command, and sent flag Of truce
to the enemy, for an armsticc Of six hours to
| negotiate for terms of eapitn1ation. Before
this flag and communication WAS delivered, !
retired from the garrison.