The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1864-05-20

fcctlOnS, LOT NHJf ObHtT NOufueu Net
alive, and those they found were dc.
liberately shot Scores of the dead
and wounded were fouad there the day
OF the massacre, by the men from some
of our gunboats, who were permitted
to 60 on shore and collect the wound
ed and bury the dead. The rebels.
themselves had made prctcnse of
burying great many Of their victims,
but they had merely thrown them into
the trenches and ditcees about the
Fort or the little hollows and ravines
on the hillside, covering them partial
~ with earth. Portions ofheads and
faces, hands and feet, were found pro
truding in every direction, and were,
when your committee visited the spot
two weeks afterward. Although par
ties of men had been sent on shore
from time to time, TO bury the bodies
unburied and re-bury the others, and
were even then engaged in the same
work, we found the evidences of this
murder and cruelty still most painful
ly evident. We saw the bodies still
unburied, at some distance from the
fort. of the sick who had been met
fleeing from the hospital, and beaten
down and brutaly murdered, and their
bodies left where. they had fallen.~
Many other instances of equnlly afro
cious cruelty might he enumerated,
but your Committee feel compelled
to refrain from giving here more of
the heart sickening details, and refer
to the statements contained in the vo.
luminous testimony herewith submit
ted. Those statements were obtain
cd by them from eye witnesses and
sufferers. Many of them, rs .hey
were examined by your committee,
were lying upon beds of pain and suf-
fering, some so feeble that their lips
could with difficulty tell their story.
But two officers arc known to be liv-
ing, and they arc wounded. One of
them, Captain Porter, may even now
be dead; no hopes were entertained
of his recovery. OF the men, from
800 to 400 are known to have been
killed Mt Fort Pillow, of whom at
least 800 were murdered in cold
blood, and after the fort was in po-
session of the rebels, and our men
had thrown down their arms and
ceased to offer resistance.
When your committee reached
Memphis, they found and examined q
man, Mr.. McTagan, who had been
conscriptcd bv some Of FORESTS for.
ces, but with other conscripts had sue
cecdcd IN making his escape. lie
testified that while two companies of
rebels, with Major Bradford and ma
ny other prisoners, were on their
march from Brownsville to Jackson,
Tenn Major Bradford was taken by
five rebels, Zone all ofllcer) led about
fifty yards from the line Of march, and
deliberately murdered in view of all
there assembled. He fell instantly
killed by the muskct balls, even while
asking that his life might he spared,
as he had fought them manfully, and
was deserving of q better fate. The
motive for this murder seems to have
been that, although native of the
South, he remained loyal TO his Gov
crnment. The testimony, herewith
submitted, contains many statements
made by the rebels. that they did not
trust home made Yankees, rs they
termed loyal Southerners, any better
than rcgro troops.
There is one circumstance conect-
cd with the events here narrated,
which your committee cannot permit
to pass unnoticed. The testimony
herewith transmitted, discloses the
most astounding and shameful fact,
, that on the morning Of the day sue
cecding the capture of Fort Pillow,
the gunboat Silver Cloud, the trans
port Platte Valley, and the gunboat
New Era landed at Fort Pillow un,
, der flag Of truce. While they were
[ living there the rebel General ChalmeI
and other rebel officers came down to
the landing, and some of them went
on the boats. Notwithstanding the
| evidences of rebel atrocity and bar
barity with which the ground was
covered, there were some of our Off
, GERS on board the Platte Valley so 81
lent to every feeling of decency, hon
@ or and self-respect, a. to make them
n selves disgraccfully conspicuous il
S bestowing civilities and attention up
on the rebel officers, even while boast
/. ing of the murders they had there
9 committed. Your committee were
{ happy to be assured, however, by th'
n military authorities, that every clior
@ will he made to ascertain their names
@ and bring them to the puuisllmen
4 they so richly deserve.
{ In relation to the reinforcement o
Il evacuation of Fort Pillow, it woulC
O appcsr that the troops there stationed
y weIc withdrawn on the 25th of Jan
d last in order to accompany the Meri
f dian expedition under Gen. Sherman
@ Gen Hurlburt testiilcs that he ha'
s received instructions to permanent,
s vacate the post, and deeming it i'm
portant to occupy it, that that rebel
d should not interrupt the navigation o
J. the river by planting artillery there
, He sent some troops there about tn
l. middle of February, increasing thei
i. number afterward until the garriso
It amounted to nearly 600 men He ais