The New York herald., 1864-05-06

About one O'Clock the Ore o. oots sldes siAokeoed
soS tie @ 'Ss Two "a
eighty two rounds Of sSei, shrapneh and canister.
which ns.sy s1h...,ss . e s%,sn'',Ss
tack oov rssortsd v their customary aAss e.
truce Tne drst asg a truos conveyed de
| OF the fort 10 this Major Bradford replied askiag
10 be allowed one hour 70 co0sult with hm omcers 2pA
Of truce appeared. with os~nuaoassoA froW sosrsss
that he would ALLOW MAJOR Bradford twsety minutes Y
which TO move his troops out OF the fort and WAS
nos done thai time assault w0ad be ordered 10
this Major Bradford replied tAat he would not surrender
During the time those ags were flying the rebels were
\ nevng dowa the ravass and takiss positions from
Parties OF them also engaged In pundcring the gov
eSdas S snS q md .,s %:sss.
that he rorsined from firing upon the rebels al
though they thus violating as Of truce for fear
they might justify any atrocities that might bs commit
ted by saying that they done n retaliation for bis
arlas while nag sraos vas nyng Hs says: sr how ~.
ravins above The ort taking positions there, be got
under way and stood for tho fort He determined TO
what little ammunition ho had left in sheng out tho
ravine. But he did not get up within eneOtve range
before the final assault made
Immediately after the second Tag Of truce retired the
rebels made rush from the positions they ha1 -
rcacherousy gained and obtained of the FORT
raising the cry Of "No quarter" But little opportunity
was allowed Tor resistance Our troops-biack and
wAe-threw down their arms and sought V escape BY
running down the steep bluff ths fort aad sscreag
themselves behind trees and logs in the bushes and
leaving only their heads wsssr as they
aud murder without parallel In civilized warfare whch
needed but the tomahawk and scalping knife 70
exceed tho worst atrocities over committed BY
savages The rebels commenced an ndiscriminate
slaughter, sparng neither nor Sex white or black.
soldier or civilian The officers and men seemed 70 vie
with each other in the devilsh work Men, women and
children, wherever found, we're deliberately shot
down, beaten and hacked with sabres, Some Of tho
children not moro shan teu years Old were forced TO
stand and face their murd0rer5 while being shot, The
sick and wounded were butchered without mercy the
rebels entering the hospital buildings and dragging
them TO be shot, killing them they lay thore
unable TO Offer the least resistance All over the hillside
the work OF murder going Numbers OF our
shot Some shot while 10 the river, while Others
on the bauk. were shot and their bodies kicked into
the water, many OF them still living, but unable to
exertions themselves from drowning Some
Of the rebels stood upon the top of the HILL or short
distance from s side and called 70 soldiers TO come
up them and they approached shot them down in
cold blood and their guns pistols missed hre forcing
them TO stand there until they were again prepared to
All around were heard cries OF 'No quarter" "No
quarter" ssKil the damned niggets," "Sho0t them
down." All who asked for mercy answered by
cruel taunis and Some were spared for
me only TO be murdered under OF greater
cruelty No cruelty which the most fendish malguity
could devise omitted by these murderers OHe white
soldier wounded in the leg to be unable to
walk made to stand up while his tOrment0rs shot
him Others who wounded and unable TO stand up
held up and again shot, One negro. who had been
ordered by rebel officer hold his horse, killed by
him when he demonstrated Another. more child,
whom officer had taken up behind him
n.s horse, was seen & ~ eha,mers Ind ~nS S a. $ once
which done. The huts and tents in which
many OF the wounded had sought shelter set e,
both that night and the next mornug while the wounded
still In them, those only escaping who were able to
get themselves out who could prevail on others less
injured help them out, AID some Of these thus
see ling escape the flames mot by these ruians
brutaly shot down. had thoir brains beaten out
one deliberately fastened down to tho door Of
tent face upwards by means oil nails driven through
clothing and into the boards under him. that hc could
Another nailed to the side Of building outside Of
fort. and then the building set tire and burned
The charred remains Of five or six bodies were after
wards found, all but one so nuch disngured and con-
sumed by the flames that they could tot be identified
Identification oI that is not absolutely Ger
tair, although there can hardly be doubt was the
body OF Lieutepant Abertsou, Quar,ermaster OF the
Thirteenth Virginia cavalry and native OF Tennessee
Several witnesses who the remains and who were
personally acquainted him while living here testified
that their firm belief that it was his body that was
These deeds Of murder cruelty closed night
only to be renewed the next morning. when the
demons carefully sough. among me dead lying about in
they found deliberately shot, Scores Of the dead
and wounded found there the day Of the massacre
by from OF gunboltS, who were per.
nit,ed shore and collect the wounded and bury
The dead The rebels themselves had made pretence
of ing great many OF their vicms but they had
merely thrown them, without the least regard t.
deceucy into the trenches and bitches about the fort
little h0ows and ravines on the hillside covering
them but partially with earth. Portions OF heads and
faces hands and feet found protrudng through ihs
EARN I,n & every no even wneo yo.a
had been sent shore to bury
the bodies unbured and rebury the others, and
then engaged in the work, found
tho evidences OF this murder aud cruelty still pain
fully. We bodies still unbured distance from
the fort OF sick who had been met gecng
the hospital beaten down and craey murdered and
their bodies lott where they had fallen We could still
the and feet of men, white and black
prorudng out OF the ground whose graves had been
reached by those engaged in renterrng the victims OF
the massacre; and, although great deal OF rain had
fallen within tue preceding two weeks the grouudmore
especially the side and at the foot Of the bluff where
Of the murders had been committed-was still
discolored by the blood Of brave unfortunate
and the logs and trees showed but too plainly the
evidences OF the atrocities perpetr ated there.
Many other Instances OF equally atroc,ous cruelty
might be enumerated; but your committee feel COM
PEELED to refrain from giving hero more OF the heart
sickCuiug details, refer To the statements contained
in the voumnous testimony herewith submitted. Those
statements were obtained by them from eve witnesses
and sufferers many OF them as they examined by
your committee we're lying upon beds OF pam and sur
fering some 80 feeble that their lips could with difficulty
frame the words by which they endelv convey
idea Of the crueities which had oeen inflicted
them. and which they had seen en- naic.ed on Others
command OF the fort when It was captured and ~ho had
to that time received injury there seems TO be
seemed TO DO that he had been brutally murdered
the day after he taken prisoner. How
many OF troops thus fell victims to the malgnity
and barbarity Forrest and his followers be de
nitely ascertained Two officers belonging 10 the garr
absent at tue time OF the capture and
OF the remaining officers; but two arc known to be
living, and they wounded and the hospital ~
Mound City. One OF tnem Capt. Porter, may even now
be dead. the surgeons. when your committee we're
there expressed hope OF his recovery. VI tho men
from three hundred TO four hundred are known 10 have
been killed Port Pillow, OF whom at least three hun
dred murdered 10 cold blood after the tort in
possession Of the rebels and our men bad thrown down
their arms and ceased 70 Offer resistance. or the
surviving except the wounded IN the hospttls At
Mound City aud the lew VINO succeeded IN making
their escape unhurt, nothing definite is known,
aud is TO be feared that many hsve been murdered
after being taken away from the fort When your
mittee arrived Memphis, tennessee they found and
examined man Mr.. McLagaD VINO had been conscrpted
By Of Forests forces, but who, with other
scripts had succeeded making his escape. He tesi6es
that whke two companies OF rebel troops With MAJOR
Bradford and many other prisoners their march
from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford
taken BY Eve rebels, officer, led about dfty
yards from the line OF march and deliberately murdered
10 vicw OF al those assembled. He fell instantly, killed
by three musket balls, while asking that his life
might be spared, as he had fought them maufsny and
was deserving OF better fate. The motive the
Of Major Bradford TO have been the simple fact