The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-10-03

Tlse Fsess Fssisc.y ~ sr1eA scsard fIS.,h
E,rl -, General n, =. ESorrsaf. r. 81
10 Ae EdtFifor 81, ,tsss NssOi York u IPases:
"a correspondent Of the Times,
whose letter was published ON. the
Goth instant, says: d
cat the time Of the capture lofa
Fort Pillow by the rebel General
Forrest, and the massacre of its en-
tire garrison, General (then Colonel)
Lawrence was in command of +, rt
Columbus, point on The Mississippi
! river above Fort Pillow. General
Forrest, flushed with his victory and
his murders, marched from Fort Pill
low directly on Fort Columbus, noti-
| fed Colonel Lawrence that the com
mander, and garrison of Fort Pillow
had been s.ass:.S s.asssa.SS cred informed soon hiui
that he commanded 10, 900 troops,
and knew that he Nawrence) had
only 1000, and ordered him TO sur
render III one hodrs' time, or he and
his command should share the fate
which had been visited on the garri-
son at Fort Pillow" 4
have hitherto borne in silence
character as man and n soldier; but
q decent regard for my own reputa-
tion, and sense of duty to the brave
gentlemen who fought under me dur
ing the late war, will not permit me
to remain silent any longer. I must,
therefore, ask you to be pleased to
allow me to say through the columns
of the Times, that the charges made
against me by your correspondent
are utterly false, and that their faIsi-
ty can be easily demonstrated by
proof, which is within easy reach.
The official report of the United
States officer commanding ut Fort
fIiiow. ana the testimony reported
by the Congressional Investigating
Committee, of which Vice President
Wade was chairman, show that the
garrison consisted of only about $50
officers and men. Other proofs,
which 1 can produce at any time,
show that [ captured, and can ac-
count for, more than 800 of these
sixty-five of them, who were badly
wounded, having been delivered by
me to the officer commanding q |
United States gun-boat in the vicinity
OF the fort, and about 250 ian official
descriptive list of whom is now in
this city, in the possession of General
Thomas Jordan having been turned
over by me to General Polk, ut De-
mopolis, Alabama. OF these cap
tured men, ninety were negro soldiers.
Nor were the rest of the garrison al
killed; for many of them effected
THAR acoono xph.lo 1kl>o.z
drowned in the attempt. It will
thus be seen that the proportion of
killed was not greater than is usual
In the case of 80 severe fight, ac-
companied by a desperate assault and
defence.
These facts are known to the Go
vernment of the United States, and
acquit me, not only in the opinion of
the President, Mr.. Stanton, and
Judge Holt, but in that of Congress,
of any violation of the rules of civil
lied warfare. OMerwise, 1 would
have been long ago arrested and tried
upon that charge. For my own part.
conscious of my innocence, and know
ing perfectly we'll that I have always
waged war with the strictest regard
w ciAO oodSoCo VI ClNlllLto uuGlOQS, i
have never Stunned any investiga-
tion to which the Executive or Con
gress might subject my military con-
duct.
AS to the absurd charge that +
marched against Columbus with 1O,-
600 men and demanded its surrender,
with the threat that I would, in the
event of refusal, massacre" its gar
rison, 1 have only to say that I never
was, during .the war, within forty
miles of Columbus, after its evacua-
tion by the Confederates in 1862; and
that the only troops which approach
ed it at the time referred to, was
scouting party of less than 100 men;
and that the official report of General
Lawrence himself utterly disproves
your correspondents statements.
N. B. FORREST.
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