Fort Pillow Attack

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Fort Pillow Attack
THE GRAND FABRICATION

It is almost as difficult to find consistent information about the
incident at Fort Pillow as it is to determine the moral significance of
its outcome. Scholars disagree about exactly what transpired on April 12,
1864 at Fort Pillow, when General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the
fort with his 1,500 troops and claimed numerous Union lives in the process
(Wyeth 250). It became an issue of propaganda for the Union, and as a
result the facts were grossly distorted. After close examination it is
clear that the ¦Fort Pillow Massacre_ (as it became known by
abolitionists) was nothing of the sort. The 1,500 troops under the
command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest acted as men and as soldiers in
their capture of Fort Pillow.

It is first necessary to understand what happened in the battle before any
judgment can be made. A careful study performed by Dr. John Wyeth revealed
the following information: from April 9-11, 1864, troops under the
command of Ben McCulloch, Tyree Harris Bell, and Brig. General James
Chalmers marched non-stop to Fort Pillow to begin their assault under the
command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Confederate sharpshooters
claimed the lives of several key Union officers during the morning assault
on the fort. The losses included the commanding officer Major Loinel F.
Booth, and his second in command shortly after that. These losses created
a complete breakdown of order and leadership among the Union troops within
the fort. (251) During the morning engagement, the gun boat the New Era
was continually attempting to shell the Confederate forces from the
Mississippi, but with minimal success. The Union forces fought back
heartily until around one o¦clock in the afternoon, when both sides slowed
down. Around that time the New Era steamed out of range to cool its
weapons. It had fired a total of 282 rounds, and its supplies were almost
tot...