, 1864-06-19

The Capture Of Fort piltow-A Heba1
IIistQry Of tho Affair."

On the ground not more than l 900 men- |
The horses wero all more than mile In the |
reaz, and the artillery consisted or only four
ANAL and Inferior mounted ho"lt.ers.
When the order to attack WAS announced
the line officers aud men for moment stood |
appalled, at its APPARENT aueaclty; but as .he
TOW ering form, blazing cyt and the clarion |
voice Of the iearless leader Wis seen and
heard along the llno "Morc up, move up"
tie lnspIrh'i9n flashed thronsh 2 tAc men With
the call Of their daring chief, who, *lth his
quick eye and cool Judgment, guarded every
point, aud seemed everywhere on the field At
almost the same time, encoura aln5 the brave
by mis- own nobse during, and applying tue
sabre to any ono who dared to shrink o. stop
to pluudsr.
IL u few nssutea' time the whole COM
mard Eas rate un.lef the guns, within forty
5srds at tht tort.
In the meantime. Asjor Charles Anderson,
A .. c., with tile Escort @nd four conpa-
MES hGd been sent eouth OF the tors, On the
banks Of the Mississippi River, to prevent
the gul.bcats landing resIiurcsEeuts, ar any
escape from the fort by means Of q large coal
ha1ee 1T the wharf: Having the sarrison
thus Invested, Geu. Forrest sant in 11g Of
truce, whercupon the folio ing correspond
snce epsued:
HkApQuArrEAs FoEaxsr's C4vA.1
BKEoAa Fonr f11Lov. Aprllta, 1s3t.5
Aqtor: The condition Of the ollceEa 1nd men
them 70 be treated - prisoners Of war, amt d.
uAnd the unconditional Surrender OF the entire
Garrisos, prunisinc you .ast 5oa shkl1 ha t,oated
i1esi r6ppI5 of ammunition, aud, from their pre-
ssrt position, c.n esei1y assault aud cspsure the
| fort. Should my command be ra:ases. canuss
| be rcsronsib a for tie 1Ato of yuhr command.
Respectfully. N. 3. foAREar, aaj. Con.
pllan.
EEApoTAHTHns UNITED STATES FoacEs,
| FonT Pillow. Tenn. April l., 1854.
efa: fofTtss, @ @eo1.g,ssding c. s.Josees:
t1or with MY officers and the on.cers Of the gun.
bot,. In the GeaItlns Io preparation TO be
made on either hite.
Va7 respectfully. L.F. Bo3rn.
Commanding United States forces.
| HzADQgAnrnns FoE.z,r's cArA1pr,l
b1f1ka FoEr PnLow, April Il, 1864.
MAJOR: hare the honor 10 Acknowledges receipt
Of your note askin: for ene hour to consider MY
demand for Joar surrender.
Your request cannot he granted. will allow
you twenty nlinutcs from the reeeip: Of this note
Tor consideration, Il The fort is not surrendered
asthe e1p'E:ttoa q TIA. time. shall s.sanls l.
Gsj.f 1. = Booth, commandin: uni,ea H'sii States
Qasrison, Fort Pillow.
HEADQUARTERS United STATES FoEcss,l .
Fonr rniow. April II, 1864.
| Etates Forces:
owii not surrender. Re'pectfn115,
L. F. Doo7h. MA]or Commanding.
It will be observed that thla correspond.
encc on tue part OF tho enemy purporis to
come from Major Booth, who had been killed
early In the day, and waa dead bafore the
surrender was demanded. It is IN ascer-
tained fact that 1iquor and lager beer had
been Issued to the ncgroeB fer the parpose
ot keeping their courage up; snd when the
d1ae Of truce wss sent in, those deluded crcA.
turas were marching around the Tag staff, In
the center Of the fort, singing In old corn
sbucki' 6 style, Rally, boys, raly," and 20
It was IN their drunken frenzy they had not
discretion enough to ground their arms aud
lover their 1ag when our forces Ind carried
their works and were hearing down on the1
With shower OF death. And here wish
to correct IN erroneous impression in regard
to Gen. Forests views In relation to the ne.
grocs. He Is opposed to killing them at all.
Ho thinks they should be treated as captu.
red propsfty. He execcts the foo to. be
whipped and our Independence gained, and
institutions maintained; consequently he
wants 10 protect aud reclaim the negroes
fren the Yankees for laboring IN our csttou
fields I'D with this view ho did Ill that he
could. When he demanded the surrender II
Was Indignantly refused. The Commander
ssked IN hour to consult the gunaoats, which
was refused. "a Gen Forrest was imms,
dlatclJ under the guns ct the fort. and could
allow no chance for reinforeements or ieccp
tion. He gavc them .went' minutes, which
was all that he could allow, A. transports
with troops were: then IN right One boat
did attempt to land pending the parley. but
Maior Anderson, who hid been wisely placed
on the bank to prevent 1t, sent the steamcl
ur the river.
! Upon tile return of tho Tag OF truce, Gen
Forrest sounded the bugle to charge, and in
twenty-five minutes the last gun WAS fired
and the fort IVES in onr possession
Fonf hnr6feH and rfrh$y 1Ynr4 Ef11AH Ef
wounded; l24 whites and 2s negroes wers
captured. How many jumped fnto the rive1
md were drowned or shot NC c.n norcl
knew.
When our soldiers commenced clina5irI
the wall, the crcm5 abandoned their guns Ii
terror, forgetting evcn to spike them. TheJ
never lowered the old stars and stripes
which float ed from long pole in the c.ntro
and looked down In silence, giving no pro
lection to those who had pcrpetratod 81
mlny wrongs In their name. The fly Wa
finally cut down By somo Of our men.