FORT PILLOW MASSACRE. (continued 4)

Question. Where did they shoot you?

Answer. In the breast, and the ball passed right through.

Question. Did you see other men shot after they had surrendered?

Answer. I did not see any after I laid down, but I heard the hallooing around me, and begging them "Not to shoot," and then I heard them say "Shoot them down, shoot them down!" In fact, when they stripped me, one of them said "He ain't dead," and they jerked me up and took off my coat. It hurt me pretty bad, and I cried out to them "Kill me, out and out." One of them said "Hit him a crack on the head," but another said "Let the poor fellow be, and get well, if he can. He has nothing more left now." I fainted then. After I revived I crawled into a tent near where I was. A captain of artillery was in there very badly wounded. Some one had thrown an overcoat over us after I got in there. In the night they roused us up, and wanted to know "If we wanted to be burned up." I said "No." They said "They were going to fire the tent, and we had better get out," and wanted to know if we could walk. I said "I could not." They helped me out and made me walk some, but carried the officer out. They took us to a house and left us there. They would not give us any water, but told us to get it for ourselves. There were other wounded men there. Some petty officer came in there and looked at us, and wanted to know how badly we were hurt. I said, "Pretty bad," and asked him for water, and he made some of the men fetch us some. We lay there until the gunboat came up and commenced shelling, when they made us get out of that—help ourselves out the best way we could. Three of our own men were helping the wounded out of the houses, when they commenced burning them. As soon as they saw I could walk a little, they started me up to headquarters with a party. When we got to the gully the gunboat threw a shell, which kind of flurried them, and we got out of sight of them. I got alongside of a log, and laid there until a party from the boat came along picking up the wounded.

Question. Did they have a hospital there that the wounded were put in?

Answer. There were four or five huts there together which they put them in. That was all the hospital I saw.

Question. Do you know whether they burned anybody in there?

Answer. I do not know, but they hallooed to us to "Get out, if we did not want to get burned to death." I told an officer there, who was ordering the houses to be burned, to let some of the men go in there, as there were some eight or nine wounded men in there, and a negro who had his hip broken. He said "The white men can help themselves out, the damned nigger shan't come out of that." I do not know whether they got the wounded out or not. I got out, because I could manage to walk a little. It was very painful for me to walk, but I could bear the pain better than run the risk of being burned up.

Question. Do you know anything about rebel officers being on the boat, and our officers asking them to drink?

Answer. Yes, sir. There were several rebel officers on board the Platte Valley. I went on board the boat, and took my seat right in front of the saloon. I knew the bar-tender, and wanted to get a chance to get some wine, as I was very weak. I was just going to step up to the bar, when one of our officers, a lieutenant or a captain, I don't know which, stepped in front of me and almost shoved me away, and called up one of the rebel officers and took a drink with him; and I saw our officers drinking with the rebel officers several times.

Columbus, Kentucky, April 24, 1864.

Colonel Wm. H. Lawrence, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank and position in the army?

Answer. I am colonel of the 34th New Jersey volunteers.

Question. Where are you stationed now, and how long have you been there stationed?

Answer. I am stationed at Columbus, and have been there since the end of January last.

Question. What do you know with regard to the attack and capture of Fort Pillow?

Answer. All I know about that is, that General Shipley arrived here on the 13th of April. He took me one side, and told me that as he passed Fort Pillow he was hailed from a gunboat, and told that there had been severe fighting there; that he saw a flag of truce at Fort Pillow, and that, after passing the fort a little distance, he saw the American flag hauled down, or the halliards shot away, he did not know which; and he afterward saw a flag, which was not raised higher than a regimental flag, and that he believed Fort Pillow had surrendered. He then offered me two batteries of light artillery, which he said were fully manned and equipped. He repeated this same conversation to General Brayman, as I understand, after arriving at Cairo.

Question. Did he give any reason why he did not undertake to assist the garrison at Fort Pillow?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. From his conversation, did you gather that he was in a condition to render assistance?

Answer. [After a pause.] It struck me as the most remarkable thing in the world that he had not found out positively; had not landed his batteries, and gone to the assistance of Fort Pillow.

Question. Under what circumstances did you understand he was there?

Answer. The steamer on which he was passed by there. I am under the impression that he had also two or three hundred infantry on the steamer.

Dr. Chapman Underwood, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. Where do you reside?

Answer. I reside in Tennessee.

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow, or on board a gunboat, during the attack there?

Answer. Yes, sir; I was there.

Question. What was your position?

Answer. I was sent from there, about ten days before that, on detached service, looking after convalescents, and returned on the Saturday evening before the fight on Tuesday morning. I was acting assistant surgeon. The regiment was not full enough to have a surgeon with the regular rank.

Question. Will you state what came within your own observation in connexion with the attack and capture?

Answer. I roomed with Lieutenant Logan, first lieutenant of company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry. About sun-up, I got up as usual. About the time I got up and washed, the pickets ran in and said Forrest was coming to attack the fort. I started up to the fort. Lieutenant Logan knew the feeling the rebels had towards me, and told me to go on the gunboat.

Question. What do you mean by that?

Answer. Well, they had been hunting me—had shot at me frequently. Faulkner's regiment, and a part of another, was raised in the country where I knew all of them. I was a notorious character with them, and always had to leave whenever they came around. The lieutenant advised me to go on board the gunboat for safety, and I did so. The attack came on then, and we fired from the gunboat, I think, some 260 or 270 rounds, and the sharpshooters on the boat were firing, I among the rest. We fought on, I think, until about one or half past one. The rebels had not made much progress by that time. They then came in with a flag of truce, and firing ceased from the fort and gunboat, and all around. They had a conference, I think, of about three-quarters of an hour. They returned with the flag of truce; but in a very short time came back again with it to the fort, and had another interview. During the time the flag of truce was in there, there was no firing done from either side, but we could see from the gunboat up the creek that the rebels were moving up towards the fort. The boat lay about 200 yards from the shore, right opposite the quartermaster's department. By the time the first flag of truce got to the fort, they commenced stealing the quartermaster's stores, and began packing them off up the hill. For an hour and a half, I reckon, there seemed to be above one or two hundred men engaged in it.

Question. This was before the capture of the fort?

Answer. Yes, sir; while under the protection of the flag of truce. When the last flag of truce started back from the fort, in three minutes, or less, the firing opened again, and then they just rushed in all around, from every direction, like a swarm of bees, and overwhelmed everything. The men—white and black—all rushed out of the fort together, threw down their arms, and ran down the hill; but they shot them down like beeves, in every direction. I think I saw about 200 run down next to the water, and some of them into the water, and they shot them until I did not see a man standing.

Question. How many do you think were shot after the capture of the fort, and after they threw down their arms?

Answer. Well, I think, from all the information I could gather, there were about 400 men killed after the capture, or 450. I think there were about 500 and odd men killed there. A very great majority of them were killed after the surrender. I do not suppose there were more than 20 men killed before the fort was captured and the men threw down their arms and begged for quarter.

Question. Was there any resistance on the part of our soldiers after the capture of the fort?

Answer. None in the world. They had no chance to make any resistance.

Question. And they did not attempt to make any?

Answer. None that I could discover. There were about 500 black soldiers in all there, and about 200 whites able for duty. There were a great many of them sick and in the hospital.

Question. What happened after that?

Answer. They then got our cannon in the fort, and turned them on us, and we had to steam off up the river a little, knowing that they had got a couple of 10 or 12-pounder Parrott guns. They threw three shells towards us. We steamed off up the river, anchored, and lay there all night. We returned the next morning. We got down near there, and discovered plenty of rebels on the hill, and a gunboat and another boat lying at the shore. We acted pretty cautiously, and held out a signal, and the gunboat answered it, and then we went in. When we got in there, the rebel General Chalmers was on board, and several other officers—majors, captains, orderlies, &c.—and bragged a great deal about their victory, and said it was a matter of no consequence. They hated to have such a fight as that, when they could take no more men than they had there. One of the gunboat officers got into a squabble with them, and said they did not treat the flag of truce right. An officer—a captain, I think—who was going home, came up and said that, "Damn them, he had 18 fights with them, but he would not treat them as prisoners of war after that," and that he intended to go home, and would enlist again. Chalmers said that he would treat him as a prisoner of war, but that they would not treat as prisoners of war the "home-made Yankees," meaning the loyal Tennesseeans. There were some sick men in the hospital, but I was afraid to go on shore after the rebels got there. I merely went on shore, but did not pretend to leave the boat.

Question. Did you see any person shot there the next morning after you returned?

Answer. I heard a gun or a pistol fired up the bank, and soon afterwards a negro woman came in, who was shot through the knee, and said it was done about that time. I heard frequent shooting up where the fort was, but I did not go up to see what was done.

Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 25, 1864.

Captain James Marshall, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank and position in the naval service?

Answer. I am an acting master, commanding the United States steamer New Era, gunboat No. 7.

Question. Where is your boat?

Answer. My boat has been twenty-four hours run from Fort Pillow. Since the attack here, that has been changed. At the time the fort was attacked, I was to make my principal headquarters here.

Question. Were you present with your gunboat at the time Fort Pillow was attacked and captured?

Answer. I was.

Question. Please describe that affair.

Answer. At six o'clock, on the morning of the 12th of April, Major Booth sent me word that the rebels were advancing on us. I immediately got the ship cleared for action. I gave the men their breakfasts. I had no idea that there would be a fight. I thought it would merely be a little skirmish. I went out into the stream. Major Booth and myself had previously established signals, by which he could indicate certain points where he would want me to use my guns. He first signalled me to commence firing up what we call No. 1 ravine, just below the quartermaster's department, and I commenced firing there. Then he signalled me to fire up Coal Creek ravine No. 3, and I then moved up there. Before I left down here at ravine No. 1 the rebel sharpshooters were firing at me rapidly. I came along up, and the women and children, some sick negroes, and boys, were standing around a great barge. I told them to get into the barge if they wanted to save themselves, and when I came down again I would take them out of danger. They went in, and I towed them up and landed them above Coal Creek, where the rebel sharpshooters commenced firing at them. The next time I moved up Coal Creek ravine I told them to go on up to a house, as the rebels were firing upon them. The trees and bushes around them there probably prevented them from being hit. On knowing that they were fired at much, I kept a steady fire up to about one o'clock. At that time the fire had ceased or slackened, and everything seemed to be quieting down, and I thought, perhaps, they were waiting to get a little rest. My men were very tired, not having had anything to eat since morning, and the officers nothing at all. I ran over on the bar to clean out my guns and refresh my men. We had fired 282 rounds of shell, shrapnell, and canister, and my guns were getting foul. While we were lying on the bar a flag of truce came in—the first one. It was, I should judge, about half past six o'clock. While the flag of truce was in, some of the officers came to me and told me the rebels were robbing the quartermaster's department. I went out on the deck and saw them doing so. Some of the officers said that we should go in and fire upon them; that we could slay them very nicely. I remarked to them that that was not civilized warfare; that two wrongs did not make a right; and that if the rebels should take the fort afterwards they would say that they would be justified in doing anything they pleased, because I had fired on them while the flag of truce was in, although they were thus violating that flag of truce themselves. They were also moving their forces down this hill, and were going up the ravine. When I saw that, I got under way, and stood off for the fort again, intending to stop it. I had only seventy-five rounds of ammunition left, but I told the boys that we would use that at any rate. The flag of truce started and went out, and I do not think it had been out more than five minutes when the assault was made. Major Bradford signalled to me that we were whipped. We had agreed on a signal that, if they had to leave the fort, they would drop down under the bank, and I was to give the rebels canister. I was lying up above here, but the rebels turned the guns in the fort on us—I think all of them—and a Parrott shot was fired but went over us. I had to leave, because, if I came down here, the channel would force me to go around the point, and then, with the guns in the fort, they would sink me. Had I been below here at the time, I think I could have routed them out; but part of our own men were in the fort at the same time, and I should have killed them as well as the rebels. The rebels kept firing on our men for at least twenty minutes after our flag was down. We said to one another that they could be giving no quarter. We could see the men fall, as they were shot, under the bank. I could not see whether they had arms or not. I was fearful that they might hail in a steamboat from below, capture her, put on 400 or 500 men, and come after me. I wanted to get down so as to give warning, and I did send word to Memphis to have all steamboats stopped for the present. The next morning the gunboat 28 and the transport Platte Valley came up.

Question. When did you go ashore after the fort had been captured?

Answer. I went ashore the next morning, about ten o'clock, under a flag of truce, with a party of men and an officer, to gather up the wounded and bury the dead. I found men lying in the tents and in the fort, whose bodies were burning. There were two there that I saw that day that had been burned.

Question. What was the appearance of the remains? What do you infer from what you saw?

Answer. I supposed that they had been just set on fire there. There was no necessity for burning the bodies there with the buildings, because, if they had chosen, they could have dragged the bodies out. There was so little wood about any of those tents that I can hardly understand how the bodies could have been burned as they were.

Question. Were the tents burned around the bodies?

Answer. Yes, sir. On the 14th of April (the second day after the capture) I came up again. I had a lot of refugees on board, and as I came around I hoisted a white flag, intending to come in and see if there were any wounded or unburied bodies here. When I landed here, I saw, I should judge, at least fifty cavalry over on Flower island, and while I was lying here with a white flag they set fire to an empty coal barge I had towed over there. I put the refugees on the shore, took down the white flag, and started after them, and commenced shelling them, and the gunboats 34 and 15 and the despatch boat Volunteer came down and opened on them. We did not see the rebels then, but saw where they were setting wood piles on fire, and we followed them clear round and drove them off. At this time I received information that the body of Lieutenant Akerstrom had been burned; that it was he who was burned in the house. Some of the refugees told me this, and also that they had taken him out and buried him. There was also one negro who had been thrown in a hole and buried alive. We took him out, but he lived only a few minutes afterwards. After we had followed these rebels around to the head of Island 30, I came back to the fort, landed, and took on board the refugees I had put on shore. The next morning the three gunboats landed here, and we sent out pickets, and then sent men around to look up the dead. We found a number there not buried, besides one man whose body was so burnt that we had to take a shovel to take up his remains.

Question. Was he burned where there was a tent or a building?

Answer. Where there was a building.

Question. Do you know whether there were any wounded men burned in those buildings?

Answer. I do not. All I know about that is what I was told by Lieutenant Leming, who said that while he was lying here wounded, he heard some of the soldiers say that there were some wounded negroes in those buildings, who said, "You are trying to get this gunboat back to shell us, are you, God damn you," and then shot them down. I went to Memphis, and then had to go to Cairo. I was then ordered to patrol the river from here (Fort Pillow) to Memphis. I started down on my first trip on Friday morning last. I arrived at Memphis on Friday afternoon. I mentioned there the manner in which our men had been buried here by the rebels, and said that I thought humanity dictated that they should be taken up and buried as they ought to be. The general ordered some men to be detailed, with rations, to come up here and rebury them properly. They have come here, and have been engaged in that work since they came up.

Question. How many have you already found?

Answer. We have found already fifty-two white men and four officers, besides a great many colored men.

Question. Had the blacks and whites been buried together indiscriminately?

Answer. We have not found it so exactly; we have found them in the same trench, but the white men mostly at one end, and the black men at the other; but they were all pitched in in any way—some on their faces, some on their sides, some on their backs.

Question. Did you hear anything said about giving quarter or not giving, quarter on that occasion?

Answer. No, sir; but our paymaster here could tell you what he heard some of their officers say.

Question. Do you know anything about the transport Platte Valley being here?

Answer. She was lying alongside the gunboat 28 here when I came down the day after the fight, and came alongside of her.

Question. Do you know anything about any of our officers showing civilities to the rebel officers after all these atrocities?

Answer. I saw nothing of that kind but one lieutenant, who went up around with them on the hill. Who he was I do not know, but I recollect noticing his stripe.

Question. Did he belong to the navy or army?

Answer. He belonged to the army. I saw the rebel General Chalmers but once. When I came down here that morning I was the ranking officer; but the captain of gunboat 28 had commenced negotiations with the flag of truce, and I told him to go on with it. I met those men in the cabin of the 28 on business. I was not on board the Platte Valley but once, except that I crossed over her bow once or twice. I was not on her where I could see anything of this kind going on.

Question. How many of our men do you suppose were killed after they had surrendered?

Answer. I could not say. I have been told that there were not over 25 killed and wounded before the fort was captured.

Question. Do you know how many have been killed in all?

Answer. My own crew buried, of those who were left unburied, some 70 or 80. The Platte Valley buried a great many, and the gunboat 28 buried some.

Question. What number do you suppose escaped out of the garrison?

Answer. I have no means of knowing. I have understood that the rebels had 160 prisoners—white men—but I think it is doubtful if they had that many, judging from the number of men we have found.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. Where did those men come from whose bodies we have just seen unburied?

Answer. I should judge they came from the hospital. One of them had a cane, showing that he was not a well man, and they had on white shirts—hospital clothing—and, as you saw, one looked thin, very thin, as if he had been sick.

Question. How far are these bodies lying from the hospital?

Answer. I should think about 150 yards.

Question. Would men, escaping from the fort, run in that direction?

Answer. They would be very apt to run in almost any direction; and they would be more likely to run away from the stores that these rebels were robbing.

By the chairman:

Question. From the hospital clothing they had on; from their appearance showing that they had been wounded or sick persons; and from the bruised appearance of their heads, as if they had been killed by having their brains knocked out, do you infer that they were hospital patients that had been murdered there?

Answer. I should. I should be just as positive of that as I should be of anything I had not actually seen.

Question. You take it that they were sick or wounded men endeavoring to escape from the hospital, who were knocked in the head?

Answer. I should say so.

Paymaster William B. Purdy, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank, and where have you been stationed, and in what service?

Answer. Acting assistant paymaster of the navy. I have no regular station or quarters at present; but on the day of the attack on Fort Pillow I was acting as signal officer on the gunboat No. 7.

Question. Will you state what you observed that day, and afterwards, in relation to that affair?

Answer. After our flag was down, I saw the rebels firing on our own men from the fort, and I should say that while the flag of truce was in, before the fort was captured, I could see the rebels concentrating their forces so as to be better able to take the fort.

Question. Do you mean that they took advantage of the flag of truce to place their men in position so as to better attack the fort?

Answer. Yes, sir; I could see them moving down to their new positions, and, as soon as the flag of truce was out, firing commenced from these new positions.

Question. Do you understand such movements to be in accordance with the rules of warfare?

Answer. No, sir; I do not.

Question. Had you any conversation with one of General Chalmers's aids about their conduct here?

Answer. Yes, sir; with one who said he was an aide-de-camp to General Chalmers, and a captain in the 2d Missouri cavalry. He told me that they did not recognize negroes as United States soldiers, but would shoot them, and show them no quarter—neither the negroes nor their officers.

Question. When was this?

Answer. That was the day after the capture of the fort, while the flag of truce was in. He then spoke in relation to the Tennessee loyal troops. He said they did not think much of them; that they were refugees and deserters; and they would not show them much mercy either.

Question. Was this said in defence of their conduct here?

Answer. No, sir; there was not much said about that. He opened the conversation himself.

Question. How many of our men do you suppose were killed here after our flag was down and they had surrendered?

Answer. I have no idea, only from what citizens have told me. They said there were not more than 25 or 30 killed before the place was captured; that all the rest were killed after the capture, and after the flag was down.

Question. Were you on the ground the day after the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you discover upon the field, or learn from any information derived there, of any act of peculiar barbarity?

Answer. I saw men who had been shot in the face, and I have since seen a body that was burned outside of the fort. The day after the fight I did not go inside the fort at all.

Question. Did you see the remnants of one who had been nailed to a board or plank?

Answer. I did not see that.

Question. Then it was another body that had been burned which you saw?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. It has been said that men were buried alive. Did any such information come to your notice?

Answer. I heard of it, but did not see it.

Question. What was said about it?

Answer. A young man said he saw one in the morning up there who was alive, and he went back a short time afterwards to attend to him, but he was then dead; and I have heard of others who crawled out of their graves, and were taken up on the Platte Valley, but I do not know about them.

Question. Where was this man you found burned?

Answer. He was inside of a tent.

Question. Do you suppose him to have been burned with the tent?

Answer. Yes, sir. I took him to be a white man, because he was in the quarters where the white men were.

Question. So far as you could observe, was any discrimination made between white and black men, as to giving no quarter?

Answer. I should think not, from all I could see, because they were firing from the top of a hill down the bluff on all who had gone down there to escape.

Question. Did you notice how these men had been buried by the rebels?

Answer. I saw officers and white men and black men thrown into the trenches—pitched in in any way, some across, some lengthways, some on their faces, &c. When I first saw them, I noticed a great many with their hands or feet sticking out.

Question. Have you lately discovered any that are still unburied?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you see the three there to-day that were lying unburied?

Answer. No, sir; I heard about them, but did not go to see them.

Eli A. Bangs, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Do you belong to the navy or the army?

Answer. To the navy.

Question. In what capacity?

Answer. Acting master's mate for the New Era gunboat.

Question. Were you here on the day of the fight at Fort Pillow?

Answer. I was.

Question. Tell us what you observed in regard to the battle, and what followed.

Answer. I did not observe much of the first part of the engagement, because I was stationed below, in a division, with the guns; but after we hauled out into the stream I saw the flag of truce come in, and then I saw our colors come down at the fort, and saw our men running down the bank, the rebels following them and shooting them after they had surrendered.

Question. What number do you suppose the rebels killed after they had surrendered?

Answer. I could not say, only from what I saw the next day when I went ashore.

Question. You were there the next day?

Answer. Yes, sir; we came in under a flag of truce.

Question. What did you see?

Answer. Captain Marshall sent me out with a detail of men to collect the wounded and bury the dead. We buried some 70 or 80 bodies, 11 white men and one white woman.

Question. Did you bury any officers?

Answer. No, sir; I buried none of them. They were buried by the rebels.

Question. Did you observe how the dead had been buried by the rebels?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw those in the trench. Some had just been thrown in the trench at the end of the fort—white and black together—and a little dirt thrown over them; some had their hands or feet or face out. I should judge there were probably 100 bodies there. They had apparently thrown them in miscellaneously, and thrown a little dirt over them, not covering them up completely.

Question. Did you see or hear anything there that led you to believe that any had been buried before they were dead?

Answer. I did not see any myself, but I understand from a number of others that they had seen it, and had dug one out of the trench who was still alive.

Question. Did you see any peculiar marks of barbarity, as inflicted upon the dead?

Answer. I saw none that I noticed, except in the case of one black man that I took up off a tent floor. He lay on his back, with his arms stretched out. Part of his arms were burned off, and his legs were burned nearly to a crisp. His stomach was bare. The clothes had either been torn off, or burned off. In order to take away the remains, I slipped some pieces of board under him, and when we took him up the boards of the tent came up with him; and we then observed that nails had been driven through his clothes and his cartridge-box, so as to fasten him down to the floor. His face was not burned, but was very much distorted, as if he had died in great pain. Several others noticed the nails through his clothes which fastened him down.

Question. Do you think there can be any doubt about his having been nailed to the boards?

Answer. I think not, from the fact that the boards came up with the remains as we raised them up; and we then saw the nails sticking through his clothes, and into the boards.

Question. Did you notice any other bodies that had been burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; I buried four that had been burned.

Question. What was the appearance of them?

Answer. I did not notice any particular appearance about them, except that they had been burned.

Question. How came they to be burned?

Answer. They were in the tents, inside of the fort, which had been burned. I am certain that there were four that lay where the tent had been burned, for there were the remains of the boards under them, which had not been fully burned. Those that were burned in the fort were black men.

Charles Hicks, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you on the ground after the battle of Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir; the day after the battle.

Question. What did you see there?

Answer. A great many dead men.

Question. Did you see any man there that had been nailed down to a board and burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw the nails through his clothes after he was taken up.

Question. In what position did he lie?

Answer. On his back. There were nails through his clothes and through the cartridge-box.

Question. So that it fastened him to the boards in such a way that he could not get up, even if he had been alive?

Answer. Yes, sir, in just that way.

Question. When you tried to take him up you raised the boards with him?

Answer. Yes, sir.

A. H. Hook, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Did you see the man that Charles Hicks has just spoken of?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw him. His body was partly burned, and I saw the nails through his clothes, and into the floor of the tent.

Question. The tent had been burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; there were three or four bodies burned there, but this man in particular was nailed down.

George Mantell, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you on the ground at Fort Pillow at the time that these men, who have just testified, spoke of?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. You have heard their testimony?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you agree with them?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw the same.

Sergeant Henry F. Weaver, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?

Answer. To company C, 6th United States heavy artillery, colored. I am a sergeant.

Question. You were here at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. State briefly what you saw, particularly after the capture.

Answer. The rebels charged after the flag of truce, the Tennessee cavalry broke, and was followed down the hill by the colored soldiers. They all appeared to go about the same time, as near as I could tell in the excitement of the battle. I came down the hill to the river and jumped into the water, and hid myself between the bank and the coal barge. They were shooting the negroes over my head all the time, and they were falling off into the water. The firing ceased a little, and I began to get out. I saw one of the rebels and told him I would surrender. He said, "We do not shoot white men." I went up to him and he ordered me away; he kept on shooting the negroes. There were six or eight around there, and he and another one shot them all down. I went up about a rod further and met another rebel, who robbed me of watch, money, and everything else, and then he left me. I went on to the quartermaster's building below here, and was taken by another rebel and taken up into the town. He went into a store and I went in with him. He went to pillaging. I slipped on some citizen's clothing, and it was not long before I saw that they did not know who I was. I staid with them until the sun was about an hour high, and then I went away. I walked off just as if I had a right to go.

Question. Where did you go?

Answer. I went down the river, just back of the old river batteries. I then got on board a tug-boat and came down here, and the Sunday afterwards went to Memphis.

Question. Did you have any conversation with these rebels?

Answer. Not anything of any consequence about the fight.

Question. What were they doing when you were with them?

Answer. Just pillaging the store. They commenced going down to the river, and I came down with them. They went into the quartermaster's department and went a carrying off things.

Question. Did they give any quarter to the negroes?

Answer. No sir.

Question. Did the negroes throw away their arms?

Answer. Yes, sir; and some of them went down on their knees begging for their lives. I saw one shot three times before he was killed.

By the chairman:

Question. What number of our troops do you suppose were killed before the fort was captured?

Answer. I could not tell exactly, but I do not think over a dozen of the cavalry were killed, and probably not more than fifteen or twenty of the negroes. There were a great many of the negroes wounded, because they would keep getting up to shoot, and were where they could be hit.

Question. The rebels must have killed a great many of the white men after they had surrendered?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw yesterday afternoon a great number of cavalry taken up, and almost every one was shot in the head. A great many of them looked as if their heads had been beaten in.

Question. That must have been done after the fort had been captured?

Answer. Yes, sir; two-thirds of them must have been killed after the fort was taken.

Question. Do you know why the gunboat did not fire upon the rebels after the fort was captured, while they were shooting down our men?

Answer. They could not do that without killing our own men, too, as they were all mixed up together.

Charles A. Schetky, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your position?

Answer. I am acting ensign of the gunboat New Era.

Question. Were you here at the time of the attack on Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. State what you saw after the fort was captured.

Answer. After the flag was down I saw the rebels pouring down their bullets on our troops under the hill, although they were unarmed, and held up their hands in token of surrender.

Question. Were they shooting the black men only, or the black and white together?

Answer. The black and white were both together under the hill, and the sick and wounded were there, too.

Question. How many do you think you saw shot in that way?

Answer. I should think I saw not less than fifty shot.

Question. How many white men among those?

Answer. I could not tell. I judge that the number of whites and blacks were nearly equal.

Question. You were here the day after the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir, but I was not ashore at all that day. My duty kept me on board the boat all the time.

Frank Hogan, (colored,) sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. In what company and regiment?

Answer. Company A, 6th United States heavy artillery.

Question. What did you see there that day, especially after the fort was taken?

Answer. I saw them shoot a great many men after the fort was taken, officers and private soldiers, white and black.

Question. After they had given up?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them shoot a captain in our battalion, about a quarter of an hour after he had surrendered. One of the secesh called him up to him, and asked him if he was an officer of a nigger regiment. He said, "Yes," and then they shot him with a revolver.

Question. Did they say anything more at the time they shot him?

Answer. Yes, sir; one of them said, "God damn you, I will give you a nigger officer." They talked with him a little time before they shot him. They asked him how he came to be there, and several other questions, and then asked if he belonged to a nigger regiment, and then they shot him. It was a secesh officer who shot him. I was standing a little behind.

Question. What was the rank of the secesh officer?

Answer. He was a first lieutenant. I do not know his name.

Question. Do you know the name of the officer he shot?

Answer. Yes, sir; Captain Carson, company D.

Question. Why did they not shoot you?

Answer. I do not know why they didn't.

Question. How long did you stay with them?

Answer. I staid with them two nights and one day. They took me on Tuesday evening, and I got away from them Thursday morning, about two hours before daylight. They were going to make an early move that morning, and they sent me back for some water, and I left with another boy in the same company with myself.

Question. Where did you go then?

Answer. Right straight through the woods for about three or four miles, and then we turned to the right and came to a road. We crossed the road, went down about three miles, and crossed it again, and I kept on, backwards and forwards, until I got to a creek about five or six miles from here.

Question. Do you know anything of the rebels burning any of the tents that had wounded men in them?

Answer. I know they set some on fire that had wounded men in them, but I did not see them burn, because they would not let us go around to see.

Question. About what time of the day was that?

Answer. It was when the sun was about an hour or three-quarters on from the day of the battle.

Question. Did you hear the men in there after they set the building on fire?

Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them in there. I knew they were in there. I knew that they were there sick. I saw them shoot one or two men who came out of the hospital, and then they went into the tents, and then shot them right in the tents. I saw them shoot two of them right in the head. When they charged the fort they did not look into the tents, but when they came back afterwards they shot those sick men in the head. I knew the men, because they belonged to the company I did. One of them was named Dennis Gibbs, and the other was named Alfred Flag.

Question. How long had they been sick?

Answer. They had been sick at the hospital in Memphis, and had got better a little, and been brought up here, but they never did any duty here, and went to the hospital. They came out of the hospital and went into these tents, and were killed there. They were in the hospital the morning of the fight. When the fight commenced, they left the hospital and came into the tents inside the fort.

Question. Did you see them bury any of our men?

Answer. I saw them put them in a ditch. I did not see them cover them up.

Question. Were they all really dead or not?

Answer. I saw them bury one man alive, and heard the secesh speak about it as much as twenty times. He was shot in the side, but he was not dead, and was breathing along right good.

Question. Did you see the man?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. How came they to bury him when he was alive?

Answer. They said he would die any how, and they would let him stay. Every once in a while, if they put dirt on him, he would move his hands. I was standing right there, and saw him when they put him in, and saw he was not dead.

Question. Have you seen the three bodies that are now lying over beyond the old hospital?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you know them?

Answer. I knew one of them. I helped to take him to the hospital on the Sunday before the fight. There was another man there. I knew the company he belonged to, (company B,) but I do not know his name. He was a colored man, but he had hair nearly straight, like a white man or an Indian. He had been sick a great while.

Captain James Marshall, recalled.

By the chairman:

Question. Does this witness (Hogan) speak of the same men that you supposed were fleeing from the hospital when they were killed?

Answer. Yes, sir, the same men.

Frank Hogan, resumed.

By the chairman:

Question. What did they do with the prisoners they took away with them?

Answer. I saw several officers of our regiment, and some of the men.

Question. Did you hear anything said about Major Bradford?

Answer. The first night after they had taken the fort, Major Bradford was there without any guard. Colonel McCullough waked us up to make a fire, and Major Bradford walked up and asked the liberty to go out a while. He came back, and I went to sleep, leaving Major Bradford sitting at the fire. When they waked up the next morning, they asked where Major Bradford was, and I told them he was lying there by the fire. They uncovered the head of the man who was lying there, but they said it was not Major Bradford. That was only a short distance from here. I did not see him afterwards.

Alfred Coleman, (colored,) sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?

Answer. Company B, 6th United States heavy artillery.

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Were you captured here?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. About what time?

Answer. About six o'clock, I should think.

Question. Where did they take you to?

Answer. Out towards Brownsville, between twelve and eighteen miles.

Question. What did you do after you were captured?

Answer. I helped to bury some of the dead; then I came to the commissary store, and helped to carry out some forage.

Question. Did you hear the rebels say anything about a fight?

Answer. Nothing more than it was the hardest fight they had been in, with the force we had here. I was then with the 2d Missouri cavalry.

Question. What did they say about giving quarter?

Answer. They said they would show no quarter to colored troops, nor to any of the officers with them, but would kill them all.

Question. Who said that?

Answer. One of the captains of the 2d Missouri. He shot six himself, but, towards evening, General Forrest issued an order not to kill any more negroes, because they wanted them to help to haul the artillery out.

Question. How do you know that?

Answer. This captain said so.

Question. Were colored men used for that purpose?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them pulling the artillery, and I saw the secesh whip them as they were going out, just like they were horses.

Question. How many men did you see that way?

Answer. There were some ten or twelve men hold of a piece that I saw coming out. The secesh said they had been talking about fighting under the black flag, but that they had come as nigh fulfilling that here as if they had a black flag.

Question. How long did you stay with them?

Answer. I was taken on the Tuesday evening after the fight, and remained with them until about an hour before day of Thursday morning. I then took a sack of corn to feed the horses, and got the horses between me and them, and, as it was dark and drizzling rain, I left them and escaped.

Question. Did you see any of the shooting going on?

Answer. Yes, sir. I was lying right under the side of the hill where the most of the men were killed. I saw them take one of the Tennessee cavalry, who was wounded in one leg, so that he could not stand on it. Two men took him, and made him stand up on one leg, and then shot him down. That was about four o'clock in the afternoon.

Question. How many do you think you saw them shoot?

Answer. The captain that carried me off shot six colored men himself, with a revolver. I saw him shoot them. I cannot state about the rest.

Question. Did you see more than one white man shot?

Answer. No, sir. The others that were killed were a little nearer the water than I was. I was lying down under a white-oak log near the fort, and could not see a great way.

Question. Do you know how many of their men were lost?

Answer. I heard some of them say, when they went out towards Brownsville, that they had lost about 300 killed, wounded, and missing.

Question. How many of our men were killed before the fort was taken?

Answer. I do not think there were more than ten or fifteen men killed before the fort was taken.

Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Harris, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank and position in the service?

Answer. I am a lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general of the 16th army corps.

Question. How many troops do your records show to have gone from the 6th United States heavy artillery (colored) to Fort Pillow?

Answer. There were 221 officers and men left Memphis to go to Fort Pillow.

Question. How many whites went there?

Answer. None were sent from here. I understand, unofficially, that the colored troops were recruited, to some extent, after they arrived at Fort Pillow; but I have no official knowledge of that fact. Of the 221 officers and men who went from here, there are thirty here who escaped, and some twenty or more above at Mound City and Cairo.

Question. Do you know what was the character and military experience of Major Bradford?

Answer. To the best of my knowledge and belief, Major Bradford had no military experience. I had known him for about a year. He never claimed to have had any military experience.

Question. What was the character of Major Booth as a military man?

Answer. It was good. He was originally sergeant major of the 1st Missouri light artillery, and was an officer of experience and tried courage, and of irreproachable character.

Question. Do you know whether or not any information was received here that Fort Pillow was threatened before it was actually attacked?

Answer. I know that Major Booth assured General Hurlbut that he stood in no danger, and begged him not to feel any apprehension. General Hurlbut, I believe, answered that report by sending Major Booth two additional guns, with a fresh supply of ammunition.

Question. How long have you been here in this department?

Answer. Since the 1st of August, 1862.

Question. Have you, during that time, been familiar with the condition of the garrison at Fort Pillow?

Answer. I have been familiar with it since the 1st of May, 1863.

Question. Has the garrison been entirely withdrawn from Fort Pillow at any time since then?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Why?

Answer. In order to send troops for the Meridian expedition into Mississippi, under General Sherman.

Question. For how long a period was Fort Pillow without a garrison?

Answer. Fort Pillow was evacuated about the 25th of January, 1864, and remained unoccupied for a short time afterwards.

Question. Why was a garrison again placed there?

Answer. Major Bradford was with his command at and near Columbus and Paducah, Kentucky, in the early part of this year. Finding recruiting very difficult there, he applied for permission to proceed to Fort Pillow and establish his headquarters there, as he believed that he could easily fill his regiment at that point.

Question. It was then occupied rather as a recruiting station than for any other purpose at that time?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you know whether it has been considered a military necessity to keep a garrison at Fort Pillow since the gunboats have been in the river?

Answer. It is one of the most important points on the whole river. It commands a very long stretch of the river, and a single well-manned field-piece there would stop navigation entirely.

Question. When the garrison was removed from Fort Pillow, was it in pursuance of any order from either General Grant or General Sherman?

Answer. I cannot answer that definitely without looking at the records.

Papers forwarded by Lieutenant Colonel Harris to Washington.

Headquarters 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.

I wish to state that one section of company D, 2d United States light artillery, colored, (1 commissioned officer and 40 men,) were sent to Fort Pillow about February 15, as part of the garrison.

The garrison of Fort Pillow, by last reports received, consisted of the 1st battalion 6th United States heavy artillery, colored, eight commissioned officers and 213 enlisted men; one section company D, 2d United States light artillery, colored, one commissioned officer and forty men; 1st battalion 13th Tennessee cavalry, Major H. F. Bradford, ten commissioned officers and 285 enlisted men.

Total white troops295

Total colored troops262

557

Six field pieces: two 6-pounders, two 12-pounder howitzers, and two 10-pounder Parrotts.

T. H. HARRIS, Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General.

Headquarters 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1864.

Sir: You will proceed with your own battalion to Fort Pillow, and establish your force in garrison of the works there. As you will be, if I am correct in my memory, the senior officer at that post, you will take command, conferring, however, freely and fully with Major Bradford, 13th Tennessee cavalry, whom you will find a good officer, though not of much experience.

There are two points of land fortified at Fort Pillow, one of which only is now held by our troops. You will occupy both, either with your own troops alone, or holding one with yours, and giving the other in charge to Major Bradford.

The positions are commanding and can be held by a small force against almost any odds.

I shall send you at this time two 12-pound howitzers, as I hope it will not be necessary to mount heavy guns.

You will, however, immediately examine the ground and the works, and if, in your opinion, 20-pound Parrotts can be advantageously used, I will order them to you. My own opinion is, that there is not range enough. Major Bradford is well acquainted with the country, and should keep scouts well out and forward; all information received direct to me.

I think Forrest's check at Paducah will not dispose him to try the river again, but that he will fall back to Jackson and thence cross the Tennessee; as soon as this is ascertained I shall withdraw your garrison.

Nevertheless, act promptly in putting the works into perfect order, and the post into its strongest defence. Allow as little intercourse as possible with the country, and cause all supplies which go out to be examined with great strictness. No man whose loyalty is questionable should be allowed to come in or go out while the enemy is in West Tennessee.

Your obedient servant, S. A. HURLBUT, Major General.

Major L. F. Booth, Com'dg 1st Batt. 1st Alabama Siege Artillery.

Headquarters 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.

A true copy.

T. H. HARRIS, Assistant Adjutant General.

[Extract.]

Headquarters Fort Pillow, Fort Pillow, Tennessee, April 3, 1864.

General: **********

Everything seems to be very quiet within a radius of from thirty to forty miles around, and I do not think any apprehensions need be felt or fears entertained in reference to this place being attacked, or even threatened. I think it perfectly safe.

I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

T. F. BOOTH, Major 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery, colored, Com'dg Fort.

Major General Hurlbut.

Headquarters 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, April 25, 1864.

A true extract from the last report received from Major L. F. Booth, 6th United States heavy artillery, commanding Fort Pillow.

T. H. HARRIS, Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General.

Without application or requisition being made for the guns, General Hurlbut concluded to add two to the four already at the fort, and made the following order:

Special Orders,}Headquarters 16th Army Corps, No. 88. }Memphis, Tennessee, April 7, 1864.

**********

III. Captain J. C. Heely, commanding ordnance depot, Memphis, Tennessee, will turn over to Major L. F. Booth, 6th United States heavy artillery, two 10-pounder Parrott guns, complete, except caissons, with 150 rounds of ammunition per piece, and will ship same, to-day, to Major Booth, at Fort Pillow, Tennessee. The quartermaster's department will furnish necessary transportation.

**********

By order of Major General S. A. Hurlbut.

T. H. HARRIS, Assistant Adjutant General.

A true copy.

T. H. HARRIS, Assistant Adjutant General.

United States Steamer Silver Cloud, Off Memphis, Tennessee, April 14, 1864.

Sir: In compliance with your request that I would forward to you a written statement of what I witnessed and learned concerning the treatment of our troops by the rebels at the capture of Fort Pillow by their forces under General Forrest, I have the honor to submit the following report:

Our garrison at Fort Pillow, consisting of some 350 colored troops and 200 of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, refusing to surrender, the place was carried by assault about 3 p. m. of the 12th instant. I arrived off the fort at 6 a. m. on the morning of the 13th instant. Parties of rebel cavalry were picketed on the hills around the fort, and shelling those away. I made a landing and took on board some twenty of our troops, some of them badly wounded, who had concealed themselves along the bank, and came out when they saw my vessel. Whilst doing so I was fired upon by rebel sharpshooters posted on the hills, and one wounded man limping down to the vessel was shot. About 8 a. m. the enemy sent in a flag of truce, with a proposal from General Forrest that he would put me in possession of the fort and the country around until 5 p. m., for the purpose of burying our dead and removing our wounded, whom he had no means of attending to. I agreed to the terms proposed, and hailing the steamer Platte Valley, which vessel I had convoyed up from Memphis, I brought her alongside, and had the wounded brought down from the fort and battle-field and placed on board of her. Details of rebel soldiers assisted us in this duty, and some soldiers and citizens on board the Platte Valley volunteered for the same purpose.

We found about seventy wounded men in the fort and around it, and buried, I should think, 150 bodies. All the buildings around the fort, and the tents and huts in the fort, had been burned by the rebels, and among the embers the charred remains of numbers of our soldiers, who had suffered a terrible death in the flames, could be seen.

All the wounded, who had strength enough to speak, agreed that after the fort was taken an indiscriminate slaughter of our troops was carried on by the enemy, with a furious and vindictive savageness which was never equalled by the most merciless of the Indian tribes. Around on every side horrible testimony to the truth of this statement could be seen.

Bodies with gaping wounds, some bayoneted through the eyes, some with skulls beaten through, others with hideous wounds, as if their bowels had been ripped open with Bowie knives, plainly told that but little quarter was shown to our troops, strewn from the fort to the river bank, in the ravines and hollows, behind logs and under the brush, where they had crept for protection from the assassins who pursued them. We found bodies bayoneted, beaten, and shot to death, showing how cold-blooded and persistent was the slaughter of our unfortunate troops. Of course, when a work is carried by assault there will always be more or less blood shed, even when all resistance has ceased; but here there were unmistakable evidences of a massacre carried on long after any resistance could have been offered, with a cold-blooded barbarity and perseverance which nothing can palliate.

As near as I can learn, there were about 500 men in the fort when it was stormed. I received about 100 men, (including the wounded and those I took on board before the flag of truce was sent in.) The rebels I learned had few prisoners, so that at least 300 of our troops must have been killed in this affair. I have the honor to forward a list of the wounded officers and men received from the enemy under flag of truce.

I am, general, your obedient servant,

W. FERGUSON, Acting Master U.S.N., Com'dg U.S. Steamer Silver Cloud.

Major General Hurlbut, Commanding 16th Army Corps.

Headquarters 16th Army Corps, Memphis, Tennessee, April 24, 1864.

A true copy.

T. H. HARRIS, Assistant Adjutant General.

W. R. McLagan sworn, and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. Where were you born?

Answer. In Tennessee.

Question. Where do you now reside?

Answer. St. Paul, Minnesota.

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day of its capture?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. Where were you?

Answer. About sixteen miles off, at Covington.

Question. Have you seen that statement? (showing witness statement appended to this deposition.)

Answer. Yes, sir; I made that statement myself.

Question. It is correct then?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you yourself see Major Bradford shot?

Answer. I did.

Question. How do you know it was Major Bradford?

Answer. He represented himself to me as a Major Bradford.

Question. Did you have any conversation with him?

Answer. Yes, sir; and while we were marching from Covington to Brownsville I heard them call him Major Bradford. He told me himself that he was Major Bradford, but he did not wish it to be known, as he had enemies there; and it never would have been known but for a detective in the confederate array from Obion county, Tennessee, named Willis Wright, who recognized him as Major Bradford, and told them of it. Wright is a notorious spy and smuggler in Forrest's command. There is no doubt that the man was Major Bradford.

Question. Was there anything said at the time he was shot?

Answer. Nothing more than what I said.

Question. What did he say?

Answer. He simply said that he had fought them honorably and as a brave man, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. He was taken prisoner at Fort Pillow, and was then sent to Covington, to the custody of a Colonel Duckworth, commanding the 7th Tennessee rebel cavalry, and from that place he was sent under guard, with about thirty of us conscripts. We arrived at Brownsville on the 13th; we started out on the evening of the 14th instant, about dusk. Previous to our leaving Brownsville, five of the guards were ordered back to Duckworth's headquarters. Those five guards seemed to have received special instructions about something, I don't know what. After marching about five miles from Brownsville, we halted, that is, the two companies of the rebels. These five guards then took Major Bradford out about fifty yards from the road. He seemed to understand what they were going to do with him. He asked for mercy, and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. Three of the five guards shot him. One shot struck him about in the temple; a second in the left breast, and the third shot went through the thick part of the thigh. He was killed instantly. They left his body lying there. I escaped from the rebels at Jackson. I left on the Friday morning about 2 o'clock, and Saturday night about 12 o'clock I came back where the murder was committed, and saw his body there, yet unburied. The moon was shining brightly, and it seemed to me that the buzzards had eaten his face considerably.

Question. Did you hear them give any reason for shooting Major Bradford?

Answer. Simply that he was a Tennessee traitor, and to them they showed no quarter. They said that he was a Tennessean, and had joined the Yankee army, and they showed them no quarter. I think myself that the order for shooting Major Bradford was given by Colonel Duckworth, for the reasons I have stated.

Question. What was the officer in command at the time he was shot?

Answer. A lieutenant went out with him. He was one of the five guards.

Question. Who commanded the two companies of rebels?

Answer. I do not know who ranked in these two companies. Russell and Lawler commanded the companies. Duckworth, who, I think, gave the order for killing Major Bradford, belongs to Chalmers's command. He is a notorious scoundrel. He never had any reputation, either before the war or afterward.

Question. Did Major Bradford have on his uniform?

Answer. No, sir. He had tried to conceal his identity as much as possible, by putting on citizen's clothes, as he said that he had enemies among them, who would kill him if they knew him.

Question. Did you hear any of their officers say anything as to the manner in which they treated our soldiers whom they had captured, and the way in which they intended to treat them?

Answer. On the evening of the 12th I was in Colonel Duckworth's headquarters. I had not been conscripted then. I saw a despatch there from Forrest to Duckworth, dated that afternoon. It read something like this:

"Colonel W. L. Duckworth, Covington, Tennessee. I have killed 300 and captured 300."

Duckworth remarked to me previous to the attack that no quarter would be shown at Fort Pillow at all; that they were a set of damned Yankees and Tennessee traitors there, and they intended to show them no quarter.

Question. When did he say this?

Answer. On the evening of the 11th of April, at Covington.

Question. How long had you known Duckworth?

Answer. I never saw him before I saw him there.

Question. Did he say this to you?

Answer. I was not in conversation with him, but I heard him say this to a Captain Hill, a retired confederate captain, who formerly belonged to his command. He was within five or six feet of me when he said it.

Question. Were they talking at that time about the intended attack on Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir; and five days' rations were ordered then, and Duckworth said they were going to take Fort Pillow, and no quarter would be shown at all.

Question. Do you know how Major Bradford got to Covington, and when?

Answer. I think he arrived there on the evening of the 12th, just about dusk.

Question. Did Major Bradford state to you that he desired to disguise himself?

Answer. Yes, sir. He said that he had personal enemies in that command, among whom was this Willis Wright, who recognized him and told them who he was. Major Bradford was a native Tennesseean.

Question. Did any of the conscripts who were with you see Major Bradford shot?

Answer. Yes, sir; and I understand that one or two others, who escaped when I did, are here in the city; and I shall try to get their statements.

W. R. McLagan, a citizen of the United States, being first duly sworn, states, upon oath, that for the last two years he has been trading between St. Louis, Missouri, and Covington, Tennessee; that at the time of the attack upon Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, he was at Covington, Tennessee, and was taken by General Forrest as a conscript on the 13th of April, with about thirty other citizens; that on the evening of the 12th of April Major Bradford, 13th Tennessee cavalry, United States forces, arrived at Covington, under guard, as a prisoner of war, and was reported as such to Colonel Duckworth, commanding 7th Tennessee cavalry, confederate forces; that on the 13th of April Major Bradford and the conscripts, including the affiant, were placed in charge of two companies of the 7th Tennessee cavalry, Captains Russell and Lawler commanding. They were taken to Brownsville, Tennessee, and started from there to Jackson, Tennessee. When they had proceeded about five miles from Brownsville a halt was made, and Major Bradford was taken about fifty yards from the command by a guard of five confederate soldiers in charge of a lieutenant, and was there deliberately shot, three of the confederate soldiers discharging their fire-arms, all of which took effect, killing him instantly. This was on the 14th day of April, 1864, near dusk; that the body of Major Bradford was left unburied in the woods about fifty yards from the road. The affiant, with the other conscripts, were taken on to Jackson, and on the 22d day of April the affiant and twenty-five others of the conscripts made their escape from the confederate forces at Jackson. On the way back he saw the body of Major Bradford lying in the same place where he was shot. This was on Saturday night, the 23d of April. Major Bradford, before he was shot, fell on his knees and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war.

W. R. McLAGAN.

Headquarters District of West Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, April 25, 1864.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day.

T. H. HARRIS, Lieut. Col. and Ass't Adj't Gen'l 16th Army Corps.

APPENDIX.

The following papers and affidavits were furnished the committee by General Mason Brayman, at Cairo, and are herewith submitted:

Cairo, Illinois, April 18, 1864.

We have the honor of reporting to you, as the only known survivors of the commissioned officers of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, that, on the morning of the 12th day of the present month, at about the hour of daylight, the rebels, numbering from five thousand to seven thousand, attacked our garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, numbering as it did only about five hundred effective men. They at first sent in a flag of truce demanding a surrender, which Major Booth, then commanding the post, (Major Booth, of the 6th United States heavy artillery, colored,) refused. Shortly after this Major Booth was shot through the heart and fell dead. Major William F. Bradford, then commanding the 13th Tennessee cavalry, assumed command of the fort, and under his orders a continual fire was kept up until about one o'clock p. m., when our cannon and the rifles of the sharpshooters were mowing the rebels down in such numbers that they could not make an advance. The rebels then hoisted a second flag of truce and sent it in, demanding an unconditional surrender. They also threatened that if the place was not surrendered no quarter would be shown. Major Bradford refused to accept any such terms, would not surrender, and sent back word that if such were their intentions they could try it on. While this flag of truce was being sent in the rebel officers formed their forces in whatever advantageous positions they were able to select. They then formed a hollow square around our garrison, placed their sharpshooters within our deserted barracks, and directed a galling fire upon our men. They also had one brigade in the trenches just outside the fort, which had been cut by our men only a few days before, and which provided them with as good protection as that held by the garrison in the fort. Their demand of the flag of truce having been refused, the order was given by General Forrest in person to charge upon the works and show no quarter. Half an hour after the issuance of this order a scene of terror and massacre ensued. The rebels came pouring in solid masses right over the breastworks. Their numbers were perfectly overwhelming. The moment they reached the top of the walls, and commenced firing as they descended, the colored troops were panic-stricken, threw down their arms, and ran down the bluff, pursued sharply, begging for life. But escape was impossible. The confederates had apprehended such a result, and had placed a regiment of cavalry where it could cut off all effective retreat. This cavalry regiment employed themselves in shooting down the negro troops as fast as they made their appearance. The whites, as soon as they perceived they were also to be butchered inside the fort, also ran down. They had previously thrown down their arms and submitted. In many instances the men begged for life at the hands of the enemy, even on their knees. They were only made to stand upon their feet and then summarily shot down. Captain Theo. F. Bradford, of company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was signal-officer for the gunboat, and was seen by General Forrest with the signal flags. The general, in person, ordered Captain Bradford to be shot. He was instantly riddled with bullets, nearly a full regiment having fired their pieces upon him. Lieutenant Wilson, of company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was killed after he had surrendered, he having been previously wounded. Lieutenant J. C. Akerstrom, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, and acting regimental quartermaster, was severely wounded after he had surrendered, and then nailed to the side of a house and the house set on fire, burning him to death. Lieutenant Cord. Revelle, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was shot and killed after surrender. Major William F. Bradford, commanding our forces, was fired upon after he had surrendered the garrison. The rebels told him he could not surrender. He ran into the river and swam out some fifty yards, they all the time firing at him, but failing to hit him. He was hailed by an officer and told to return to the shore. He did so. But as he neared the shore the riflemen discharged their pieces at him again. Again they missed. He ran up the hillside among the enemy with a white handkerchief in his hand in token of his surrender, but still they continued to fire upon him. There were several confederate officers standing near at the time. None of them ordered the firing to cease; but when they found they could not hit him, they allowed him to give himself up as a prisoner, and paroled him to the limits of the camp. They now claim that he violated his parole the same night and escaped. We have heard from prisoners who got away from the rebels that they took Major Bradford out in the Hatchie Bottom and there dispatched him. We feel confident that the story is true. We saw several negroes burning up in their quarters on Wednesday morning. We also saw the rebels come back that morning and shoot at the wounded. We also saw them at a distance running about hunting up wounded that they might shoot them. There were some whites also burning. The rebels went to the negro hospital, where about thirty sick were kept, and butchered them with their sabres, hacking their heads open in many instances, and then set fire to the buildings. They killed every negro soldier Wednesday morning upon whom they came. Those who were able they made stand up to be shot. In one case a white soldier was found wounded. He had been lying upon the ground nearly twenty-four hours without food or drink. He asked a rebel soldier to give him something to drink. The latter turned about upon his heel and fired three deliberate shots at him, saying "Take that, you negro equality." The poor fellow is alive yet and in the hospital. He can tell the tale for himself. They ran a great many into the river, and shot or drowned them there. They immediately killed all the officers who were over the negro troops, excepting one who has since died from his wounds. They took out from Fort Pillow about one hundred and some odd prisoners, (white,) and forty negroes. They hung and shot the negroes as they passed along toward Brownsville until they were rid of them all. Out of the six hundred troops (convalescents included) which were at the fort they have only about one hundred prisoners, (all whites,) and we have about fifty wounded who are paroled.

Major Anderson, Forrest's assistant adjutant general, stated that they did not consider colored men as soldiers, but as property, and as such, being used by our people, they had destroyed them. This was concurred in by Forrest, Chalmers, and McCullough, and other officers.

We respectfully refer you to the accompanying affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle, lettered "A," and those of Mrs. Rufin, lettered "B," and Mrs. Williams, lettered "C."

Respectfully submitted.

F. A. SMITH, First Lieut. Co. D, 13th Tenn. Vol. Cavalry. WILLIAM CLEARY, Second Lieut. Co. B. 13th Tenn. Vol. Cavalry.

General M. Brayman.

A true copy.

C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C.

Affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle.

I was in business at Fort Pillow previous to the fight on Tuesday last. Was engaged as a dry-goods clerk for Messrs. Harris & Co. Went into the fight at six o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, the 12th of April. Remained outside of the federal fortifications until about 8.30 a. m., acting as a sharpshooter. At this time we were all ordered within the fort. Lieutenant Barr was killed outside the fort, also Lieutenant Wilson, latter of the 13th Tennessee cavalry. It was not long after nine o'clock that I took my position behind the fortifications and resumed the fight. I was standing not more than ten paces from Major Booth when he fell, struck in the heart by a musket bullet. It was but a few minutes past nine. He did not die immediately, but was borne from the field. At this time there was continued firing on both sides. Rebels were not using artillery; our troops were.

The next thing I recollect is a flag of truce coming in, the bearers of which—General Forrest of the rebel army, and some parties of his staff—demanded a surrender of the garrison. Major Bradford was then in command. Forrest did not come within the breastworks, but remained some fifty yards outside, and Major Bradford went out to meet him. They conferred in a southeasterly direction from what was known as "old headquarters." Bradford is said to have replied that he would not surrender. Forrest told him that if he did not there would not be any quarter shown. They were in conference about fifteen minutes, during which time there was a cessation of firing. Bradford asked for one hour's time in which to confer with the commander of the gunboat. Forrest refused it; but I think there was a pause in actual hostilities of nearly that length of time. The rebels were busily engaged in plundering our hastily deserted encampment outside the fortifications, as well as robbing some of the stores below the hill. They were also massing their troops and placing them in eligible positions while the flag of truce was being considered. It is my opinion that they could never have gained the positions had they not done so under that flag of truce. They had already consumed seven or eight hours in attempting it with no success.

At about half-past two in the afternoon a large force of infantry came upon us from the ravine toward the east of where I stood. It seemed to come down Cold creek. They charged upon our ranks. Another large force of rebel cavalry charged from the south of east, and another force from the northward. They mounted the breastworks at the first charge where I stood. We fired upon them while upon the breastworks. I remember firing two shots while the enemy were upon the walls. The negro troops, frightened by the appearance of such numbers, and knowing they could no longer resist, made a break and ran down the hill, surrendering their arms as the rebels came down on our side of the fortifications. When we found there was no quarter to be shown, and that, white and black, we were to be butchered, we also gave up our arms and passed down the hill. It is stated that at this time Major Bradford put a white handkerchief on his sword point and waved it in token of submission; but it was not heeded if he did. We were followed closely and fiercely by the advancing rebel forces, their fire never ceasing at all. Our men had given signals themselves that they surrendered, many of them throwing up their hands to show they were unarmed and submitted to overwhelming odds.

I was about half way down the hill, partially secreted in a kind of ravine with Dr. Fitch, when I saw two men, white men, belonging to the 13th Tennessee cavalry, standing behind a stump on which they had fixed a white handkerchief, their hands thrown up. They asked for quarter. When they stood on their feet they were exposed, and I saw them shot down by rebel soldiers and killed. A captain of the rebel troops then came where we were and ordered all the federals, white and black, to move up the hill, or he would "shoot their G—d d——d brains out." I started up the hill with a number of others, in accordance with the order. I was surrendered with our men. While going up I saw white men fall on both sides of me who were shot down by rebel soldiers who were stationed upon the brow of the hill. We were at the time marching directly toward the men who fired upon us. I do not know how many fell, but I remember to have seen four killed in this way. I also saw negroes shot down with pistols in the hands of rebels. One was killed at my side. I saw another negro struck on the head with a sabre by a rebel soldier; I suppose he was also killed. One more, just in front of me, was knocked down with the but of a musket. We kept on up the hill. I expected each moment to meet my fate with the rest. At the top of the hill I met a man named Cutler, a citizen of Fort Pillow. He spoke to a rebel captain about me, and we then went, under orders from the captain, to one of the stores under the hill, where the captain got a pair of boots. This was about 4 p. m. on Tuesday. The captain and Cutler and myself then left to find General McCullough's headquarters, where we were to report and be disposed of. The captain introduced me to a lieutenant and to a surgeon of the rebel army. The surgeon made me show him where goods could be found. The lieutenant got a saddle and bridle and some bits, and then we helped them to carry them to where their horses were outside of the fortifications. I also met Mr. Wedlin, a citizen, and he accompanied us. He helped the lieutenant to mount and pack his goods, and then he gave Wedlin and myself permission to depart, and instructed us as to the best means of escape.

I am positive that up to the time of the surrender there had not been more than fifty men (black and white) killed and wounded on the Union side. Of these, but about twenty had been among the killed. The balance of all killed and wounded on our side were killed and wounded after we had given undoubted evidence of a surrender, and contrary to all rules of warfare.

H. N. REVELLE.

Sworn to before me at Cairo, Illinois, this 17th day of April, 1864.

JNO. H. MUNROE, Captain and A. A. Gen'l.

A true copy.

C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C.

Statement of Ann Jane Rufin.

I am the wife of Thomas Rufin, a member of the 13th Tennessee cavalry; was at Fort Pillow on Tuesday, the 12th day of April, A. D. 1864, and was removed to an island during the progress of the battle. Returned to Fort Pillow on Wednesday morning, the 13th of April, and saw the remains of a man lying upon the back, its arms outstretched, with some planks under it. The man had to all appearances been nailed to the side of the house, and then the building set on fire. I am satisfied that the body was that of Lieutenant John C. Akerstrom, second lieutenant company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, who was on duty as quartermaster of the post of Fort Pillow. I was well acquainted with Lieutenant Akerstrom when living. After examining the body I walked around to a ditch where a large number of dead and wounded had been thrown and partially covered. I saw several places where the wounded had dug holes and attempted to get out, but had been unable to do so.

her ANN JANE X RUFIN. mark.

Cairo, April 18, 1864.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1864.

ISAAC M. TALMADGE, Captain and District Provost Marshal.

A true copy.

C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C.

Statement of Mrs. Rebecca Williams.

I am the wife of William F. Williams, a private in the 13th Tennessee cavalry, company D.

I was at Fort Pillow on the Wednesday morning after the fight of Tuesday, the 12th of April, 1864, and saw the body of a man, which had the appearance of having been burned to death. It was pointed out to me as the body of Lieutenant John C. Akerstrom, of the 13th Tennessee cavalry. I know it was the corpse of a white man.

her REBECCA X WILLIAMS. mark.

Cairo, April 18, 1864.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1864.

ISAAC M. TALMADGE, Captain and District Provost Marshal.

I, the undersigned, do certify that I also witnessed the same spectacle described by Mrs. Williams.

her NANCY. M. X HOPPER. mark.

Cairo, April 18, 1864.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 18th day of April, 1864.

ISAAC M. TALMADGE, Captain and District Provost Marshal.

A true copy.

C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C.

James R. Brigham, a resident of Fredonia, Chautauque county, New York, deposes and says:

He was and had been a clerk in a store at Fort Pillow over a year previous to the 12th April instant. On learning, early on the morning of the 12th instant, that the post was to be attacked by the confederates, he went immediately to the fort, and was engaged with a musket in defending the fort, when General Chalmers was repulsed twice. After this, I was detailed to carry wounded down the hill, on which the fort was situated, to the river bank, where, beside a large log, I raised a red flag as a sign of a hospital. The flag was made from part of a red flannel shirt. The last attack was made by General Forrest in person, who headed the column. Forrest was wounded in three (3) different places, and had his horse shot under him.

Major Booth, of the regular army, was in command. He was killed about 11 o'clock by a sharpshooter, when Major Bradford, of the 13th Tennessee regiment, took command. Major Bradford was taken prisoner, and killed near Judge Green's, some six miles from the fort, while a prisoner.

When the confederates rushed into the fort, having taken advantage of a flag of truce to get their men close to the fort in a ravine and directly under the embankments, this force numbered some fifteen hundred, with a large reserve in sight. As soon as the confederates got into the fort, the federals threw down their arms in token of surrender, and many exclaimed, "We surrender." Immediately an indiscriminate massacre commenced on both black and white soldiers. Up to the time of the surrender, I don't think more than from twenty to twenty-five had been killed, and not more than fifteen wounded. I was taken prisoner, and when marching with other prisoners, black and white, I saw the confederates shoot and kill and wound both white and black federal prisoners. Some negroes were severely beaten, but still able to go along. We were taken a few miles into the country, when myself and a few others got relieved by General McCullough, on the ground of being private citizens. I saw General Forrest, and knew he was wounded, as before stated. There were from twenty-five to thirty black soldiers carried off as prisoners, and not over thirty to thirty-five white. All the rest of that faithful and heroic garrison, some five or six hundred in number, were killed or wounded in action, or murdered or wounded after the surrender. I saw officers as well as privates kill and wound prisoners, and heard them say, while held a prisoner with them in the country, that they intended taking the prisoners still further into the country, and make an example of them.

Captain Bradford, of the 13th Tennessee, was engaged with a blue signal flag in connexion with gunboat No. 7. Captain Bradford was ordered shot by General Forrest, who said "Shoot that man with the black flag." This was after the surrender. His body was literally shot to pieces. All, both black and white, fought manfully. I saw several negroes wounded, with blood running from their bodies, still engaged loading and firing cannon and muskets cheerfully. There was no giving way till fifteen hundred confederates rushed inside the fort. Most were killed outside the fort when prisoners. The fort was defended successfully for over eight hours by from 500 to 600 men against 3,500 to 4,000 barbarians. I heard confederate officers say it was the hardest contested engagement that Forrest had ever been engaged in. I heard officers say they would never recognize negroes as prisoners of war, but would kill them whenever taken. Even if they caught a negro with blue clothes on (uniform) they would kill him. Officers of negro troops were treated and murdered the same as negroes themselves.

After lying in the woods two days and nights, I was picked up by gunboat No. 7, some 5 or 6 miles below the fort.

On my return to the fort I saw and recognized the remains of Lieutenant Akerstrom; he had been nailed to a house and supposed burned alive.

There were the remains of two negroes lying where the house burned. I was told they were nailed to the floor. I also found a negro partially buried, with his head out of the ground, alive. I went for assistance and water for him; when I returned he was so near dead that no assistance could save him. We sat by him till he died.

I can recount but a small part of the barbarities I saw on that fatal day, when hundreds of loyal soldiers were murdered in cold blood.

JAS. R. BINGHAM.

Sworn before me at Cairo, Illinois, this 18th day of April, 1864.

JNO. H. MUNROE, Assistant Adjutant General.

A true copy.

J. H. ODLIN, Assistant Adjutant General.

Cairo, Illinois, April 23, 1864.

Elvis Bevel, being duly sworn, deposeth and says:

I am a citizen of Osceola, Arkansas. I was driven from my home by guerillas. I arrived at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the night of the 11th of April, 1864. I was at Fort Pillow during the engagement between the rebel forces under Forrest and Chalmers, and the United States garrison at that place, on the 12th of April instant, 1864. About sun-up, the alarm of rebels being in the fort was received at Major Booth's headquarters. I took a position where I could see all that was done by the rebel and United States forces. Deponent further saith: I saw the contraband camps in flames at different points. Could see the skirmishers of the rebels. Signals were given by Captain Bradford to Captain Marshal, of the navy, commanding gunboat No. 7, to shell them from post No. 1, which is in sight of the fort, which was done by Captain Marshall. About one hour after sunrise, brisk skirmishing began. The bullets from rebel infantry caused me to move from where I was, and take position behind a large stump near the fort. About nine o'clock I moved to the rear of the fort, where I could better see the rebels who swarmed the bluff.