Battle of Fort Pillow The Battle of Fort Pillow , also known as the Fort Pillow Massacre , was fought on April 12 , 1864 , at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning , Tennessee , during the American Civil War . The battle ended with a massacre of Federal black troops , some while attempting to surrender , by soldiers under the command of Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest . Military historian David J . Eicher concluded , " Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest , saddest events of American military history . " Background . Fort Pillow , north of Memphis , was built by Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow in early 1862 and was used by both sides during the war . With the fall of New Madrid and Island No . 10 to Union forces , Confederate troops evacuated Fort Pillow on June 4 , in order to avoid being cut off from the rest of the Confederate Army . Union forces occupied Fort Pillow on June 6 and used it to protect the river approach to Memphis . The fort stood on a high bluff and was protected by three lines of entrenchments arranged in a semicircle , with a protective parapet thick and high surrounded by a ditch . ( During the battle , the thick parapet would in fact prove to be a disadvantage to the defenders because they could not fire upon approaching troops without mounting the top of the parapet , subjecting them to enemy fire . Similarly , operators of the six artillery pieces of the fort found it difficult to depress their barrels enough to fire on the attackers once they got close . ) A Federal gunboat , the USS " New Era " , commanded by Captain James Marshall , was also available for the defense . On March 16 , 1864 , Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a month - long cavalry raid with 7 , 000 troopers into western Tennessee and Kentucky . Their objectives were to capture Union prisoners and supplies and to demolish posts and fortifications from Paducah , Kentucky , south to Memphis . Forrest ' s Cavalry Corps , which he called " the Cavalry Department of West Tennessee and North Mississippi " , consisted of the divisions led by Brig . Gens . James R . Chalmers ( brigades of Brig . Gen . Robert V . Richardson and Colonel Robert M . McCulloch ) and Abraham Buford ( brigades of Cols . Tyree H . Bell and A . P . Thompson ) . The first of the two significant engagements in the expedition was the Battle of Paducah on March 25 , and Forrest ' s men did considerable damage to the town and its military supplies . It was there , on that day , that Forrest unsuccessfully demanded surrender of U . S . Col . Stephen G . Hicks : Numerous skirmishes occurred throughout the region in late March and early April . Needing supplies , Forrest planned to move on Fort Pillow with about 1 , 500 to 2 , 500 men . ( He had detached part of his command under Buford to strike Paducah again . ) He wrote on April 4 , " There is a Federal force of 500 or 600 at Fort Pillow , which I shall attend to in a day or two , as they have horses and supplies which we need . " The Union garrison at Fort Pillow consisted of about 600 men , divided almost evenly between black and white troops . The black soldiers belonged to the 6th U . S . Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery and a section of the 2nd U . S . Colored Light Artillery ( previously known as the Memphis Battery Light Artillery ( African Descent ) , under the overall command of Major Lionel F . Booth . Many were former slaves and understood the personal consequences of a loss to the Confederates — at best an immediate return to slavery rather than being treated as a prisoner of war . Some Confederates had threatened to kill any Union black troops they encountered . The white soldiers were predominantly new recruits from the 13th Tennessee Cavalry , a Federal regiment from western Tennessee , commanded by Maj . William F . Bradford . ( Major Bradford ' s regiment was known as Bradford ' s Tennessee Cavalry Battalion and was organized as the 13th West Tennessee Cavalry ( US ) . Officially it was the 14th Tennessee Cavalry Regiment ( US ) . ) Battle . Forrest arrived at Fort Pillow at 10 : 00 on April 12 . By this time , Chalmers had already surrounded the fort . A stray bullet struck Forrest ' s horse , felling the general and bruising him . ( This would be the first of three horses he lost that day . ) He deployed sharpshooters around the higher ground that overlooked the fort , bringing many of the occupants into their direct line of fire . Major Booth was killed by a sharpshooter ' s bullet to the chest and Bradford assumed command . By 11 : 00 , the Confederates had captured two rows of barracks about from the southern end of the fort . The Union soldiers had failed to destroy these buildings before the Confederates occupied them and subjected the garrison to a murderous fire . Rifle and artillery fire continued until 15 : 30 , when Forrest sent a note demanding surrender : " The conduct of the officers and men garrisoning Fort Pillow has been such as to entitle them to being treated a prisoners of war . I demand the unconditional surrender of the entire garrison , promising that you shall be treated as prisoners of war . My men have just received a fresh supply of ammunition , and from their present position can easily assault and capture the fort . Should my demand be refused , I cannot be responsible for the fate of your command . " Bradford replied , concealing his identity as he did not wish the Confederates to realize that Booth had been killed , requesting an hour for consideration . Forrest , who believed that reinforcing troops would soon arrive by river , replied that he would only allow 20 minutes , and that " If at the expiration of that time the fort is not surrendered , I shall assault it . " Having been given the opportunity to surrender Bradford ' s final reply was : " I will not surrender . " Forrest ordered his bugler to sound the charge . The Confederate assault was furious . While the sharpshooters maintained their fire into the fort , a first wave entered the ditch and stood while the second wave used their backs as stepping stones . These men then reached down and helped the first wave scramble up a ledge on the embankment . All of this proceeded flawlessly and with very little firing , except from the sharpshooters and around the flanks . Their fire against the " New Era " caused the sailors to button up their gun ports and hold their fire . As the sharpshooters were signaled to hold their fire , the men on the ledge went up and over the embankment , firing now for the first time into the massed defenders , who fought briefly , but then broke and ran to the landing at the foot of the bluff , where they had been told that the Union gunboat would cover their withdrawal by firing grapeshot and canister rounds . The gunboat did not fire a single shot because its gun ports were sealed , and there probably would have been more Union casualties than Confederate if they had fired . The fleeing soldiers were subjected to fire both from the rear and from the flank , from the soldiers who had been firing at the gunboat . Many were shot down . Others reached the river only to drown , or be picked off in the water by marksmen on the bluff . Massacre . Conflicting reports of what happened next , from 4 : 00PM to dusk , led to controversy . Union and Confederate sources claimed that even though the Union troops surrendered , Forrest ' s men massacred them in cold blood . Surviving members of the garrison said that most of their men surrendered and threw down their arms , only to be shot or bayoneted by the attackers , who repeatedly shouted , " No quarter ! No quarter ! " The Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War immediately investigated the incident and concluded that the Confederates shot most of the garrison after it had surrendered . A 2002 study by Albert Castel concluded that the Union forces were indiscriminately massacred after Fort Pillow " had ceased resisting or was incapable of resistance . " Historian Andrew Ward in 2005 reached the conclusion that an atrocity in the modern sense occurred at Fort Pillow , including the murders of fleeing black civilians , but that the event was not premeditated nor officially sanctioned by Confederate commanders . Recent histories agree that a massacre occurred : Richard Fuchs , author of " An Unerring Fire " , concludes , “ The affair at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death , a mass lynching to satisfy the basest of conduct – intentional murder – for the vilest of reasons – racism and personal enmity . ” Ward states , “ Whether the massacre was premeditated or spontaneous does not address the more fundamental question of whether a massacre took place . . . it certainly did , in every dictionary sense of the word . ” John Cimprich states , “ The new paradigm in social attitudes and the fuller use of available evidence has favored a massacre interpretation . . . Debate over the memory of this incident formed a part of sectional and racial conflicts for many years after the war , but the reinterpretation of the event during the last thirty years offers some hope that society can move beyond past intolerance . ” Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U . S . Heavy Artillery ( Colored ) stated in his official report " There never was a surrender of the fort , both officers and men declaring they never would surrender or ask for quarter . " Another officer of the unit , however , and the only surviving officers of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry attested to the characterization that unarmed soldiers were killed in the act of surrendering . However , a Confederate sergeant , in a letter written home shortly after the battle said that " the poor , deluded negroes would run up to our men , fall upon their knees , and with uplifted hand scream for mercy , but were ordered to their feet and then shot down . " This account is consistent with the relatively high comparative casualties sustained by race of the defenders . ( See next section . ) Forrest ' s men insisted that the Federals , although fleeing , kept their weapons and frequently turned to shoot , forcing the Confederates to keep firing in self - defense . Their claim is consistent with the discovery of numerous Federal rifles on the bluffs near the river ( see Jordan , who inconclusively asked in 1947 , " Was there a Massacre . . . ? " " THQ " ) . The Union flag was still flying over the fort , which indicated that the force had not formally surrendered . A contemporary newspaper account from Jackson , Tennessee , states that " General Forrest begged them to surrender , " but " not the first sign of surrender was ever given . " Similar accounts were reported in both Southern and Northern newspapers at the time . Historian Allan Nevins wrote that although the interpretation of the facts had " provoked some disputation " : The " New York Times " reported on April 24 : Later , in his " Memoirs " , Ulysses S . Grant , who was not present at the battle , wrote of the battle : Aftermath . Casualty figures vary according to different sources . Dyer gives the following statistics of Union casualties : 350 killed and mortally wounded , 60 wounded , 164 captured and missing , 574 aggregate . Confederate casualties were comparatively low ( 14 killed and 86 wounded ) and Union casualties were high . Of the 585 – 605 men present , the Union losses were reported as 277 – 297 dead . Some scholars , however , believe these reports were exaggerated ( Jordan ) . It is obvious that the race of the soldiers affected casualties . Of the black members of the garrison , only 58 ( around 20 % ) were marched away as prisoners ; 168 ( almost 60 % ) white soldiers were taken prisoner . Not all of the prisoners who were shot were black – Major Bradford was apparently among those shot after he surrendered . Confederate anger at the thought of blacks fighting them , and their initial reluctance to surrender ( because many of the black troops believed they would only be killed if they surrendered in Federal uniform ) resulted in a tragedy . The Confederates evacuated Fort Pillow that evening , so they gained little except a temporary disruption of Union operations . The " Fort Pillow Massacre " was thereafter used as a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion . On April 17 , 1864 , in the aftermath of Fort Pillow , Grant ordered General Benjamin F . Butler , who was negotiating prisoner exchanges with the Confederacy , to demand that in the exchange and treatment of prisoners , black prisoners had to be treated identically to whites . A failure to do so would " be regarded as a refusal on their part to agree to the further exchange of prisoners , and [ would ] be so treated by us . " This demand was refused and Confederate Secretary of War Seddon in June 1864 stated the confederate position : The Union already had a policy about killing prisoners of war . On July 30 , 1863 , prior to the massacre , President Abraham Lincoln wrote his Order of Retaliation : On May 3 , 1864 , President Abraham Lincoln requested his cabinet give him opinions on how the Union should respond to the massacre . Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P . Chase recommended that Lincoln enforce his Order of Retaliation of July 30 , 1863 . Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles wanted to wait for the congressional committee to obtain more information . However , Welles expressed his disdain by writing in his diary : “ There must be something in these terrible reports , but I distrust Congressional committees . They exaggerate . ” Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton and Attorney General Edward Bates wanted retaliatory measures . Secretary of the Interior John P . Usher wrote that it was “ inexpedient to take any extreme action ” and wanted the officers of Forrest ’ s command to be made responsible . Postmaster General Montgomery Blair wanted the “ actual offenders ” given the “ most summary punishment when captured . ” Blair cited page 445 of the book " International Law ; or , Rules Regulating the Intercourse of States in Peace and War " , written by Henry W . Halleck ( the Union Chief of Staff ) as justification for retaliation . Secretary of State William H . Seward wanted the commanding general of the Union army to confront the commanding general of the Confederate army about the allegations . Welles wrote of the cabinet meeting on May 6 : Lincoln began to write instructions to Secretary of War Edwin M . Stanton , but took no subsequent action because he was “ distracted ” by other issues . In the United States Senate , Henry Wilson cited the massacre when he advocated for equal pay for African - American soldiers . A Vermont newspaper portrayed Wilson ' s position : Fort Pillow , now preserved as the Fort Pillow State Park , was named a National Historic Landmark in 1974 . In popular culture . In 1997 , an American motion picture , titled " Last Stand at Saber River " ( based on the Elmore Leonard novel ) , features a character ( played by Tom Selleck ) who was a Confederate soldier at the Fort Pillow Massacre . The character returns to his home in the U . S . Southwest and describes the incident as murder . In 1999 , Las Vegas documentary filmmaker , Stan Armstrong produced " The Forgotten Battle of Fort Pillow " . The documentary explores the details of the battle and gives an in - depth look at General Forrest who planned and led the attack . An alternate version of the Fort Pillow massacre is described in the 2004 mockumentary " " . The only difference is that the massacre took place somewhere in the north , following the Confederacy winning the Civil War . In 2006 , in contrast to his many alternative history novels , Harry Turtledove published the historical novel " Fort Pillow " about the battle and the massacre . In his alternate history novel , " The Guns of the South " , the events of Fort Pillow are referred to as a massacre in the novel ' s imagined timeline . African American novelist Frank Yerby provided a brief narration of the massacre in his 1946 novel , " The Foxes of Harrow " ( Chapter XXXVI ) .