Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1864-06-23
LETTRR FRom mTssIssIPPI.
F0rrsst&Grsat PtctOrg- Atrseities and Grimes
Of Negro SOidisTs-H0B ApsHgsd-Lct Tea
nsSsssaHs Read and RemsH5er.
Cor&gDondanca Of tbs A,1eall

80 eN1AN1A . Ae@el ISIS ~ sHFSo
Of Negro SOidisrs-HSS AVsHgsd-LSt Tea
nessssaHs Read and RsmsH5er.
COrNsPondence Of the Appeal
OKoLOSA. MISS. June u, 1864.
There is but one fact significant above all others, in
connseioH with the recent vietsry Of Gen. Forrszt-ii
: The drst which has been wen by the smaller over the
larger force, where the inequality III numbers was 50
great that every participant IN the struggle must have
bssn conscious OF tie relative strength Of the combat
ants. Strategy, Eerrssts name and confidence in their
leader, won The day. The Yankees and negroes ssp'
posed Forrest in Middle Tennessee, and came forb
simply TO slaughter The helpless, to plumber aud desOlsie
the country.
Forrests strength in the contest was about $500 men.
The number Of negroes and whites Is not accurately
ssesrtatnsd. Prisoners say that their force was twelve
or fifteen thouEAnd. Telegraphic dispatches have
given the general results OF the battle, but many days
mast eIspso before The details are known. Prisoners
as constantly brought in BY the country people.
Very few negroes, itseemS, have been esPtured. Per.
hAps not more than forty or fifty hsvs appeared at
headquarters Most Of them fed as soon as it was
known that Forrest was on the battle field. Those
that were taken escaped % The soldsrs ssy they " lost
them"
You must know that most q Forests men are from
Western Tennessee. Befors the battle, fugi,ives from
the counties through which siurgls ana his troops were
advancing, came into our camp detailing incidents
which made men shudder who are accustomed to scenes
Of violence and bloodshed. 1 csnzoE recite the stories
Of these poor Heightened people. Robbery rapins, and
the ASSIMILATION Of msa and women, were the least Of
crimes committed while the Avengers Of Fort Pillow"
oEsEraa and dssslsied the country. Rude u~ulettersd
men, who had fought at Shiloh, and in many subse.
qu0zt battles, Wept ike children when they heard OF the
eHornitiss to which their mothers, sisters and wives had
been subjected By the Regre megcenariss Of gturgls.
The Eiidest most psscssbls Of our soldiers became
nadmen when they heard how the persons of their
kisEwomsn we're violated. The negroes were raaa-s-
less OF TIE sEe.E cnBdEtisBy -sa, VI e~atreaies Of their vic
TINS In enc instance, the g~rAndaothsr, daughter, and
Granddaughter, were each, IN the same room, held by
tue drunken bruteS ssd subjected to Outrages, by the
bare recital Of which humanity is appalled,. A young
wife, eRcisnte, taken to = negro encampmsnt and, tied
to stakes driven in the ground, was made to minister to
the hel.born passions Of a dozen tends. Death, in
mercy, came 10 her relief A little bog, who sought to
defend Es mother, was bru,aIly bsyoneted. When
thsir ssysge lusts were ~gratiaod, the victims here and
there were burned in their dwellings Insanity. in some
instances, came to the relief Of sufsringS such as never
before were Inflicted upon human creatures by rsmorse-
less Ands in human shape. Terror, and the agony of
hopeless shame, and famine, and FIRE, and blood, ana the
assassination Of tine helpless and unodending, marked
The progress Of the " Avengers Of Fort Pillow" It
Is not strange that negro prisoners were lost The
whites who led them on snd melted them to thess
dsmnSble deeds deserve a more terrible punishment
Yet we have sent three thousand Of those white men to
prison to be exchanged. Simple justice demands thsir
instant execution by the hangmsns rope. \
You have heard that our soldiers buried negroes alive |
At Fort Pillow. ThiA is true. At the first ere, after
FORESTS men scaled the walls, many Of the negroes
threw down their arms and fall a. If they were dead
They persisted in the pretenesi and could only be re
stored At the point Of the bsyonet To resuseitate
sous Of then mere terrified than the resi-, they were
into he trenches made as receptseles for the
Vitality was not restored till breathing uas OBJ
siructed. and then the resurrection began On these
facts is based the pretext for the crimes committed by
Sfurgis Grerson, and their followers You must re-
member, too. that in the extremity Of their terror, or
Ter other reasons, the Yankees snd negroes in Fort PHI
neglected to haul down their hag. In truth, rely
Ug upon their ~gunboss, the 0f6eers expected to ami
luate our forces after We hAS entered the fortifesusn-
Tbsy I'D not intend to surrender.
Aterribis retribution. 10 any event, has befallen the
dsiudeo Africans. Fur1ished with arms, be.
sorted BY whisky, mais1 By lies. maddsned by hopes
which they can never resiWe. they have committed
orass which makes the blood run cold, and must
stock ths moral sentinent Of he sge. The world will
hagdly known which 20 eondem most, tho fslsehsoa Of
he report Of The COMMITTEES Of Federal congressman
Investigated The Fort Pillow massacre or the
conduct Of the savage brutes employed 70 Rvenge it
Il all that Is alleged in this congressional report be
there would be found no Qualification for The :
iRheRrd Of snorziiies p~ractieed upon helpless NO. a
more helpless Old age, and hopeless poverty, 4
y the mob OF murderers and lswless zaiseresps who h
oiowed sturgis from Memphis. The crimes Of Bntlsr. 4
be paagcn cf brutes, have lost their blackness; Mlroy D
rssld sdoru tbe calendar Of saints; sherman bseomsg t.
d angel OF mercy, compared with this henbora mon 70
Ter, who hcites negroes TO The commission Of erines tn
ash az were never perpeTslea since christianity lila. N