Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1864-04-22
THE mAssAcRE At 4 FoTT PIIrovv

u
Negro Soldiers buried AIfve.Tfse~ yvar& ,,S-
themselves out Of the Ground and are saved
On Tuesdsy morning the 18th inst. the reb.,
General Forrest with some six thousand men ~
taeked Fort Pillow. Soon after the attack For.
reat sent flag Of truce demanding the surrender
OF the fort and garrison, in the meanwhile dispo
sing ms foree 30 as TO gain an advantage Major
booth, OF the Thirteenth Tennessee 1 IS HEAVY
Artillery, formerly the First Alabama Caya,y
lcoloredl refused to receive flag Of truce, and
lighting was resumed. Afterwards a second fag
came in, which was also refused. Both flags gaTs
the e, Rebels the advantage ofgziningnew positions
Inc battle was kept up till three o clock P NJ,
when MAJOR Booth was killed and Major Bradford
took command. The rebels had come in swarrns
over to our troops compelling them to surrender.
Immediately upon the surrender the rebels com
nenced an indiscrimin&te butehery of the whites
and blacks, including those of both colors who
had been previously wounded. The dead and
wounded negroes were piled in heaps and burned
ana several citizens whojolned our forces for pro
lection, were killed or wounded.
The black soldiers, becoming demoralized rpsh
ed to the rear their white officers having thrown
down their arms. Both black and white were bxv
oneted, or sahred, and even dead bodies yvsr,,
horribly mutilated, Children of seven or eight
years Of age, and several negro women, werekilled
Soldiers unable To speak from their wounds yq.-.
banks into the river. Out Of a garrison Of six
hundred men, only two hundred remaining alive.
the steamer Platte \ alley came up about 81 o.
clock. She ras hailed hy the Rebels under far
OF truce and her men sent ashore to bury the dead
and take aboard such ofthe wounded IS the rebels
haq allowed t0iiFc. ttty seven were taken aboard,
including seven or eight colored men, Eight OF
them died on the way up The steamer arrived
here thi, evening and was Immediately sent to tho
Mound City lHospitsl 70 discharge her suffering
passengers.
Six guns we're captured by The Rebel, and car
ned Oh including two 10 pound PARROTS aud two
y pound howltzcTs large amount Of stores
were destroyed and carried away Tho intention
OF the rebels seemed to be to eyacuate the pscs
and move on towards Memphis
Several ofthe guns captured by Forrest at Fort
Pillow were spiked hcfore falling into his hands.
The others were turned upon tho gun boat No, 7,
which, from exhaustatien, having fired some three
hundred ronnds, was compelled to Withdraw al
though only tin-clad she received but slight inin-
~.
Gen Lee arrived and ass1med the command at
the beginning OF the battle, previous 10 which
Chalmers directed the movements
Forrest, with the main force retired after the
hghtto Brownsville, taking with rim the funds he
had captured.
While the steamer Platte Valley Law under
flag oftruce, taking on the wounded, therebeio of
6eers, among them Chalmers, went aboard and
some of our officers showed them great deference
drinking with them, and showing other marks Of
courtesy.
81. LOUIS April ia correspondent of the
Union OF this city, who WAS aboard the Platte Val-
ley, at Fort Pillow, gives an even more appalling
de cription 0 the iendiahness of the Rebels than
our Carlo despatch.
Many of our wounded, he says, were shot in the
hospital, and the remainder were driven out of the
buildings. which were burned
After the battle the rebels went over the field
and shot the negroes who had notdied from their
previous wounds
Many of these who deserved to be treated as
prisoners ofwar, as the rebels said, were ordered
to fall into line, when they were inhumanly SHOT
down.
0fthree hundred and fifty colorsd troops, not
more than fftyAsix escaped the massacre, and not
an officer that commanded them survives
Gen. Chalmers told the correspondent of the Tn
ion that although it was against the policy Of his
'Government" to spare the negro soldiers and
their officers be had done all in his power 30 stop
the carnage, At the same time be said be below
ell it waa right
Some further particulars Of the horrible m.saa-
ere at Fort Pillow have been received. The atroc-
tiles committed by the rebels are almost beyond
belief An affidavit made at Carlo by wound
ed soldier declares that the Quartermaster of the
Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry was, while living,
nailed to board by the rebels aud thrown into the
flames ofa burning building at Fort Pillow.