Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-11-23

Eye'y strrns hsAoi like every strong man las Mr.
BuSIy II re remember rightly has remarked. is dis
aeter--as .,rurlIiiy, The French; lmmobIlity, The
Eiigiish dignity the Spdhshi uVek= =sveIiess, the
IRISH caution, ihe Se9ch, end ilt6resshItess, the
German what Is The DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
of tae American? y Il mae9a4lnilly r. fqrgetful
neSs9 no natIop was evf "a aeiletyius 10 defeated
foe, fn5 nd itas.tr egef showed such genius for
fOrgetulness. We have forgotten Andersdpyille and
ness. 10 forget-unt'l tne ehibfits REPENT. These
shoF9 'sss ass s3a% kindly y north b believe
RACES m the south against the b'aeR Hha dsa!nst The
white Uqop'sts IN 6rdet z keep alive the spirit OF
The old CRY Of Bleeding Kansas'IdeyiJed
Of The Free sfs,s tiSs.'ers1 been been
the cry of 'the bloody shirt" 1t has been too effect
i've. 1t has drowned the sighs Of the white Union
But now at lhat, fAsIhfih 5s bgIii brought face to
face HitH Heil winch cOmpels It to give an ear to
evidence II Is not the north now that waves the
bloody shirt The rebels again led by South Caro-.
lfi and Mississippi deAantly flaunt the bloody gar
mentof slaughtered lOyasts before our eyes, Well,
We must look at them now, however offensive the
sight mas be 10 sentimental scholars who know sll
about the petty kite and crow squabbles Of Greece
and Rome, but are prOfOundly ignorant of the his
toF of the south since the rebellion was nomnally
ended,
What was the Fort Pillow massacres Hundreds
Of thousands who voted In SgYenlBer have never
IL. IL
take quick glance at it Fort Pillow is situated
o. the Mss@ssiR @ ysr asSut seventy @ 81 miles @ below
son consisted q nlre'eeIi officers jibd i've hundred
and thlTtyeieht enlisted men, Of whom two hundred
and sixty-tWO were col0red troops Major Booth was
the ranking officer. A demand was made by Gen
eTal Forrest for the unconditional surrender Of the
fort
Our officers determined 10 'hOld the fort"
Early on the morning of the twelfth of April Ouf
plckets were driven in. The assault was made BY
General Chalmerss division. Forrest led Bells brig
ade, and Chalmers led MCulloch's brigade in per
trenchments and occupied the fort One of the most
conservative historians Of the civil war writes:
About one o'clock the fire on both sides slackened
someHhat and the gmboat moveA AOut in the river to
cool and clean the guns. The rebels having thus
failed In their attack, reSored to the customary flags
General Forrest for the unconditional surrender Of
the tort To this Major Bradford replied asking to
bealloTed an hour TO consult with his officers and
the officers In command of the gunboat, In o short
time second nag OF truce appeared with cOmmu
nlcatiOn from General Forrest. He would allow Ma
lor Bradford twenty minutes in which to move his
troops out OF the fort and II 1t was not DONE an as
sault would be ordered. To this Major Bradford
replied that lie would not surrender. Immediately
after the second flag of truce RETIRED the rebels made
rush from the positions they had treacherOusly
gained while the flags of truce were sent n and OBJ
tsiDl possession OF the fort raising the cry of No
qua1er! But little opportunity Was allowed for re
sstlnca The Federal troops, white and black threw
doH1l their arms, and sought to escape by running
d0SIl the steep blum near the fort, and secTeting
themselves behind trees and logs In the bushes and
under the brush, SOME even jumping into Tie river
leaving only their heads above the water us they
erouched under the bank. The scenes that now fol
lowed became subject of Investigation by com
mittee OF congress, who state In their report as fol-
lows
The rebels commenced an lndiscrimnate slaugh-
ter spafng neither age or sex, white black, SOL
der or civilian The officers and men seemed to vie
with each other In the deViish work. Men women
and even children wherever found, were deliberately
shot down, beaten, and hacked with sabres.
some Of the chiHren, not more than ten years
old, were fOgced TO sand up and face their mothers
/ %The SIX ana wounded we're butchered without
mercy the ebels even entering the hospital build
llGs and draasqng them out TO be shot, or killing
them thesldy there unable to offer the least re-
'Au over the hillside the work of murder was
g0iTIg on. Numbers OF our men were gathered to-
gether I'm lines or groups and deliberately Shot Some
were shot while In the river while Othen on the bank
were shot and their bodies kicked into the water,
many Of them stlll living, but unable to make any
exertlOn 10 save themselves from drowning.
Some OF the rebels stood at the top OF the HILL or
snort distance down Its SIDE and called 10 our SOL
diers 20 come up to them, and, rs they approached
Snot them down In cold blood; II their guns or pis
tolls missed fire. forcing them to stand there until
they were again prepared TO fire.
"-AIl around were heard cries Of No quarter No
quarter! XIII the d-n niggers! Shoot them
downr All who asked for mercy were answered by
the most cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared
fora time, only to be murdered under circumstances
OF greater cruelty. No cruelty which the most iend
lSh malignity could devise omitted by these muT
dererS. zone white soldier, who was wounded in the
leg. was made 10 stand up while his OTmentors shot
him. Others, who we're wounded and unable to
stand up Were heldup and again shot. One negro
Who had been ordered by rebel officer to hold his
horse was shot by bim when he demonstrated.
Another, a mere child whom an officer had taken
behind him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers,
vino at once ordered the officer to put him down and
shoot him, which was at once done
The huts and tents in which many of the wound
ed sought shelter We're set on fire, both that night
uiW next morning, while the wounded were still In
themselves or vino could prevail on others, less In
lua,l than themselves, to help them out; and even
some OF them, thus seeking to escape the flames,
were met by these rulians, aud brutaly shot down,
Or had their brains beaten out. One man was DELHI
el5. iaSiened doS9 TO the il2or NC Of the tent BY
the boards under him. SO that he could not possibly
escape, and then the tent was SET ON fire. Another
was Nailed 10 the side of building, outside of the
fort and then the building was set on fire and
burned The charred remains OF five or six bodies
were a1teward found. all but one so much dsfigured
and consumed by the flames that they could not be
Identified, and the Identification OF that one is not
absolutely certain.
These deeds of cruelty and murder closed when
night came on, only to be renewed I'm the morning.
when the demons carefully sought among the dead
yng about In all directions for any other wounded
yet alive, and those they killed Scores of the dead
and wounded were found there the day after the mas
SacIe by the men from some OF our gun-bOats who
were permitted to go on shore and collect the
wounded and bury the dead. The rebels themselves
had made a pTetenSe of buIying a great many OF
their victims, but they had merely thrown them,
without regard to care or decency into the trenches
and bitches about the fort or the little hOIlows and
rayneS on the hillside covering them but partially
with eqrth. Portions OF heads and faces hands and
feet were found In every direction, even when your
committee visited the spot two weeks afteTward al
though parties Of men had been sent on shore from
time to time to burg the bodies unburied and rebury
the Others aud were even then engaged In the same
work. 90 .a-
I'VE found evidences OF this murder and cruelty
stl more painful We saw bodies still unburied at
some distance from the fort of some sick men who
had been fleeing from the hospital and beaten down
aud cruelty murdered, and their bodies left where
they had fallen. We could see the faces and hands
aud feet of men, white and black, prOtrudng out Of
the ground. whose graves had not been reached by
those engaged ia FeinterrIng the victims of the mas
sacre and although great deal of rain had fallen
within the preceding two weeks, the ground more
especially the side at the foot OF the bluff, where
the most OF the murders had been committed, was
still dsc0l1Ted by the blood OF our brave but unfOT
tunate men, and the logs and trees showed but too
plainly the evidences of the atrocities perpetrated
there. Many other Instances OF equally dtrOciOus
cruelty might be e2umerated, but your committee
ieel compelled 10 refrain from giving here more OF
the Notwithstanding details. These state
tments were obtained from eyewinesses and suf-
feTers. Many OF them, as they were examined by
your committee, were lying upon beds of pain and
suffering: some so feeble that their lips could with
dlficatg frame the words by which they endeaYOred
to convey some idea OF the cruelty which had been
inflicted on them and which fhey had seen inflicted
on others. Ht.
How many Of our troops thus fell victims TO the
magnlty and barbarity OF Forrest and his folloNfqs
cannot vet be definitely asoertained.
''Of The men. from 300 to 400 are known 10 have
been killed at Fort Pillow, OF whom at least 300
were murdered IN cold blood utter the fOrt was IN
UgOsSeSsO1 of the rebels and our men had thrown
fhai "a n "a.