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diff --git a/41787-0.txt b/41787-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..69ec870 --- /dev/null +++ b/41787-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13099 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41787 *** + + REPORTS + OF THE + COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR + + FORT PILLOW MASSACRE. + + RETURNED PRISONERS. + + + + + 38TH CONGRESS, } SENATE. {REP. COM. + _1ST SESSION_. } {NO. 63. + + +IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. + + +MAY 5, 1864.--Ordered to be printed, and that 20,000 additional copies +be printed for the use of the Senate. + + +JOINT RESOLUTION directing the Committee on the Conduct of the War to +examine into the recent attack on Fort Pillow. + +_Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United +States of America in Congress assembled_, That the Joint Committee on +the Conduct of the War be, and they are hereby, instructed to inquire +into the truth of the rumored slaughter of the Union troops, after their +surrender, at the recent attack of the rebel forces upon Fort Pillow, +Tennessee; as, also, whether Fort Pillow could have been sufficiently +re-enforced or evacuated, and if so, why it was not done; and that they +report the facts to Congress as soon as possible. + +Approved April 21, 1864. + + + + + Mr. WADE submitted the following + REPORT. + +_The Joint Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War, to whom +was referred the resolution of Congress instructing them to investigate +the late massacre at Fort Pillow, designated two members of the +committee--Messrs. Wade and Gooch--to proceed forthwith to such places +as they might deem necessary, and take testimony. That sub-committee +having discharged that duty, returned to this city, and submitted to the +joint committee a report, with accompanying papers and testimony. The +report was read and adopted by the committee, whose chairman was +instructed to submit the same, with the testimony, to the Senate, and +Mr. Gooch to the House, and ask that the same be printed._ + + +REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE. + +Messrs. WADE and GOOCH, the sub-committee appointed by the Joint +Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War, with instructions +to proceed to such points as they might deem necessary for the purpose +of taking testimony in regard to the massacre at Fort Pillow, submitted +the following report to the joint committee, together with the +accompanying testimony and papers: + +In obedience to the instructions of this joint committee adopted on the +18th ultimo, your committee left Washington on the morning of the 19th, +taking with them the stenographer of this committee, and proceeded to +Cairo and Mound City, Illinois; Columbus, Kentucky; and Fort Pillow and +Memphis, Tennessee; at each of which places they proceeded to take +testimony. + +Although your committee were instructed to inquire only in reference to +the attack, capture, and massacre of Fort Pillow, they have deemed it +proper to take some testimony in reference to the operations of Forrest +and his command immediately preceding and subsequent to that horrible +transaction. It will appear, from the testimony thus taken, that the +atrocities committed at Fort Pillow were not the result of passions +excited by the heat of conflict, but were the results of a policy +deliberately decided upon and unhesitatingly announced. Even if the +uncertainty of the fate of those officers and men belonging to colored +regiments who have heretofore been taken prisoners by the rebels has +failed to convince the authorities of our government of this fact, the +testimony herewith submitted must convince even the most skeptical that +it is the intention of the rebel authorities not to recognize the +officers and men of our colored regiments as entitled to the treatment +accorded by all civilized nations to prisoners of war. The declarations +of Forrest and his officers, both before and after the capture of Fort +Pillow, as testified to by such of our men as have escaped after being +taken by him; the threats contained in the various demands for surrender +made at Paducah, Columbus, and other places; the renewal of the massacre +the morning after the capture of Fort Pillow; the statements made by the +rebel officers to the officers of our gunboats who received the few +survivors at Fort Pillow--all this proves most conclusively the policy +they have determined to adopt. + +The first operation of any importance was the attack upon Union city, +Tennessee, by a portion of Forrest's command. The attack was made on the +24th of March. The post was occupied by a force of about 500 men under +Colonel Hawkins, of the 7th Tennessee Union cavalry. The attacking force +was superior in numbers, but was repulsed several times by our forces. +For the particulars of the attack, and the circumstances attending the +surrender, your committee would refer to the testimony herewith +submitted. They would state, however, that it would appear from the +testimony that the surrender was opposed by nearly if not quite all the +officers of Colonel Hawkins's command. Your committee think that the +circumstances connected with the surrender are such that they demand the +most searching investigation by the military authorities, as, at the +time of the surrender, but one man on our side had been injured. + +On the 25th of March, the enemy, under the rebel Generals Forrest, +Buford, Harris, and Thompson, estimated at over 6,000 men, made an +attack on Paducah, Kentucky, which post was occupied by Colonel S. G. +Hicks, 40th Illinois regiment, with 655 men. Our forces retired into +Fort Anderson, and there made their stand--assisted by some gunboats +belonging to the command of Captain Shirk of the navy--successfully +repelling the attacks of the enemy. Failing to make any impression upon +our forces, Forrest then demanded an unconditional surrender, closing +his communication to Colonel Hicks in these words: "If you surrender you +shall be treated as prisoners of war, but if I have to storm your works +you may expect no quarter." This demand and threat was met by a refusal +on the part of Colonel Hicks to surrender, he stating that he had been +placed there by his government to defend that post, and he should do so. +The rebels made three other assaults that same day, but were repulsed +with heavy loss each time, the rebel General Thompson being killed in +the last assault. The enemy retired the next day, having suffered a loss +estimated at three hundred killed, and from 1,000 to 1,200 wounded. The +loss on our side was 14 killed and 46 wounded. + +The operations of the enemy at Paducah were characterized by the same +bad faith and treachery that seem to have become the settled policy of +Forrest and his command. The flag of truce was taken advantage of there, +as elsewhere, to secure desirable positions which the rebels were unable +to obtain by fair and honorable means; and also to afford opportunities +for plundering private stores as well as government property. At Paducah +the rebels were guilty of acts more cowardly, if possible, than any they +have practiced elsewhere. When the attack was made the officers of the +fort and of the gunboats advised the women and children to go down to +the river for the purpose of being taken across out of danger. As they +were leaving the town for that purpose, the rebel sharpshooters mingled +with them, and, shielded by their presence, advanced and fired upon the +gunboats, wounding some of our officers and men. Our forces could not +return the fire without endangering the lives of the women and children. +The rebels also placed women in front of their lines as they moved on +the fort, or were proceeding to take positions while the flag of truce +was at the fort, in order to compel our men to withhold their fire, out +of regard for the lives of the women who were made use of in this most +cowardly manner. For more full details of the attack, and the +treacherous and cowardly practices of the rebels there, your committee +refer to the testimony herewith submitted. + +On the 13th of April, the day after the capture of Fort Pillow, the +rebel General Buford appeared before Columbus, Kentucky, and demanded +its unconditional surrender. He coupled with that demand a threat that +if the place was not surrendered, and he should be compelled to attack +it, "no quarter whatever should be shown to the negro troops." To this +Colonel Lawrence, in command of the post, replied, that "surrender was +out of the question," as he had been placed there by his government to +hold and defend the place, and should do so. No attack was made, but the +enemy retired, having taken advantage of the flag of truce to seize some +horses of Union citizens which had been brought in there for security. + +It was at Fort Pillow, however, that the brutality and cruelty of the +rebels were most fearfully exhibited. The garrison there, according to +the last returns received at headquarters, amounted to 19 officers and +538 enlisted men, of whom 262 were colored troops, comprising one +battalion of the 6th United States heavy artillery, (formerly called the +1st Alabama artillery,) of colored troops, under command of Major L. F. +Booth; one section of the 2d United States light artillery, colored, and +one battalion of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, white, commanded by Major +W. F. Bradford. Major Booth was the ranking officer, and was in command +of the post. + +On Tuesday, the 12th of April, (the anniversary of the attack on Fort +Sumter, in April, 1861,) the pickets of the garrison were driven in just +before sunrise, that being the first intimation our forces there had of +any intention on the part of the enemy to attack that place. Fighting +soon became general, and about 9 o'clock Major Booth was killed. Major +Bradford succeeded to the command, and withdrew all the forces within +the fort. They had previously occupied some intrenchments at some +distance from the fort, and further from the river. + +This fort was situated on a high bluff, which descended precipitately to +the river's edge, the side of the bluff on the river side being covered +with trees, bushes, and fallen timber. Extending back from the river, on +either side of the fort, was a ravine or hollow--the one below the fort +containing several private stores and some dwellings, constituting what +was called the town. At the mouth of that ravine, and on the river bank, +were some government buildings containing commissary and quartermaster's +stores. The ravine above the fort was known as Cold Creek ravine, the +sides being covered with trees and bushes. To the right, or below and a +little to the front of the fort, was a level piece of ground, not quite +so elevated as the fort itself, on which had been erected some log huts +or shanties, which were occupied by the white troops, and also used for +hospital and other purposes. Within the fort tents had been erected, +with board floors, for the use of the colored troops. There were six +pieces of artillery in the fort, consisting of two 6-pounders, two +12-pounder howitzers, and two 10-pounder Parrotts. + +The rebels continued their attack, but, up to two or three o'clock in +the afternoon, they had not gained any decisive success. Our troops, +both white and black, fought most bravely, and were in good spirits. The +gunboat No. 7, (New Era,) Captain Marshall, took part in the conflict, +shelling the enemy as opportunity offered. Signals had been agreed upon +by which the officers in the fort could indicate where the guns of the +boat could be most effective. There being but one gunboat there, no +permanent impression appears to have been produced upon the enemy; for +as they were shelled out of one ravine, they would make their +appearance in the other. They would thus appear and retire as the +gunboat moved from one point to the other. About one o'clock the fire on +both sides slackened somewhat, and the gunboat moved out in the river, +to cool and clean its guns, having fired 282 rounds of shell, shrapnell, +and canister, which nearly exhausted its supply of ammunition. + +The rebels having thus far failed in their attack, now resorted to their +customary use of flags of truce. The first flag of truce conveyed a +demand from Forrest for the unconditional surrender of the fort. To this +Major Bradford replied, asking to be allowed one hour to consult with +his officers and the officers of the gunboat. In a short time a second +flag of truce appeared, with a communication from Forrest, that he would +allow Major Bradford twenty minutes in which to move his troops out of +the fort, and if it was not done within that time an assault would be +ordered. To this Major Bradford returned the reply that he would not +surrender. + +During the time these flags of truce were flying, the rebels were moving +down the ravine and taking positions from which the more readily to +charge upon the fort. Parties of them were also engaged in plundering +the government buildings of commissary and quartermaster's stores, in +full view of the gunboat. Captain Marshall states that he refrained from +firing upon the rebels, although they were thus violating the flag of +truce, for fear that, should they finally succeed in capturing the fort, +they would justify any atrocities they might commit by saying that they +were in retaliation for his firing while the flag of truce was flying. +He says, however, that when he saw the rebels coming down the ravine +above the fort, and taking positions there, he got under way and stood +for the fort, determined to use what little ammunition he had left in +shelling them out of the ravine; but he did not get up within effective +range before the final assault was made. + +Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the rebels made a +rush from the positions they had so treacherously gained and obtained +possession of the fort, raising the cry of "No quarter!" But little +opportunity was allowed for resistance. Our troops, black and white, +threw down their arms, and sought to escape by running down the steep +bluff near the fort, and secreting themselves behind trees and logs, in +the bushes, and under the brush--some even jumping into the river, +leaving only their heads above the water, as they crouched down under +the bank. + +Then followed a scene of cruelty and murder without a parallel in +civilized warfare, which needed but the tomahawk and scalping-knife to +exceed the worst atrocities ever committed by savages. The rebels +commenced an indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, +white or black, soldier or civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie +with each other in the devilish work; men, women, and even children, +wherever found, were deliberately shot down, beaten, and hacked with +sabres; some of the children not more than ten years old were forced to +stand up and face their murderers while being shot; the sick and the +wounded were butchered without mercy, the rebels even entering the +hospital building and dragging them out to be shot, or killing them as +they lay there unable to offer the least resistance. All over the +hillside the work of murder was going on; numbers of our men were +collected together in lines or groups and deliberately shot; some were +shot while in the river, while others on the bank were shot and their +bodies kicked into the water, many of them still living but unable to +make any exertions to save themselves from drowning. Some of the rebels +stood on the top of the hill or a short distance down its side, and +called to our soldiers to come up to them, and as they approached, shot +them down in cold blood; if their guns or pistols missed fire, forcing +them to stand there until they were again prepared to fire. All around +were heard cries of "No quarter!" "No quarter!" "Kill the damned +niggers; shoot them down!" All who asked for mercy were answered by the +most cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared for a time, only to be +murdered under circumstances of greater cruelty. No cruelty which the +most fiendish malignity could devise was omitted by these murderers. One +white soldier who was wounded in one leg so as to be unable to walk, was +made to stand up while his tormentors shot him; others who were wounded +and unable to stand were held up and again shot. One negro who had been +ordered by a rebel officer to hold his horse, was killed by him when he +remounted; another, a mere child, whom an officer had taken up behind +him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers, who at once ordered the officer +to put him down and shoot him, which was done. The huts and tents in +which many of the wounded had sought shelter were set on fire, both that +night and the next morning, while the wounded were still in them--those +only escaping who were able to get themselves out, or who could prevail +on others less injured than themselves to help them out; and even some +of those thus seeking to escape the flames were met by those ruffians +and brutally shot down, or had their brains beaten out. One man was +deliberately fastened down to the floor of a tent, face upwards, by +means of nails driven through his clothing and into the boards under +him, so that he could not possibly escape, and then the tent set on +fire; another was nailed to the side of a building outside of the fort, +and then the building set on fire and burned. The charred remains of +five or six bodies were afterwards found, all but one so much disfigured +and consumed by the flames that they could not be identified, and the +identification of that one is not absolutely certain, although there can +hardly be a doubt that it was the body of Lieutenant Akerstrom, +quartermaster of the 13th Tennessee cavalry, and a native Tennesseean; +several witnesses who saw the remains, and who were personally +acquainted with him while living, have testified that it is their firm +belief that it was his body that was thus treated. + +These deeds of murder and cruelty ceased when night came on, only to be +renewed the next morning, when the demons carefully sought among the +dead lying about in all directions for any of the wounded yet alive, and +those they found were deliberately shot. Scores of the dead and wounded +were found there the day after the massacre by the men from some of our +gunboats who were permitted to go on shore and collect the wounded and +bury the dead. The rebels themselves had made a pretence of burying a +great many of their victims, but they had merely thrown them, without +the least regard to care or decency, into the trenches and ditches about +the fort, or the little hollows and ravines on the hill-side, covering +them but partially with earth. Portions of heads and faces, hands and +feet, were found protruding through the earth in every direction. The +testimony also establishes the fact that the rebels buried some of the +living with the dead, a few of whom succeeded afterwards in digging +themselves out, or were dug out by others, one of whom your committee +found in Mound City hospital, and there examined. And even when your +committee visited the spot, two weeks afterwards, although parties of +men had been sent on shore from time to time to bury the bodies unburied +and rebury the others, and were even then engaged in the same work, we +found the evidences of this murder and cruelty still most painfully +apparent; we saw bodies still unburied (at some distance from the fort) +of some sick men who had been met fleeing from the hospital and beaten +down and brutally murdered, and their bodies left where they had fallen. +We could still see the faces, hands, and feet of men, white and black, +protruding out of the ground, whose graves had not been reached by those +engaged in re-interring the victims of the massacre; and although a +great deal of rain had fallen within the preceding two weeks, the +ground, more especially on the side and at the foot of the bluff where +the most of the murders had been committed, was still discolored by the +blood of our brave but unfortunate men, and the logs and trees showed +but too plainly the evidences of the atrocities perpetrated there. + +Many other instances of equally atrocious cruelty might be enumerated, +but your committee feel compelled to refrain from giving here more of +the heart-sickening details, and refer to the statements contained in +the voluminous testimony herewith submitted. Those statements were +obtained by them from eye-witnesses and sufferers; many of them, as they +were examined by your committee, were lying upon beds of pain and +suffering, some so feeble that their lips could with difficulty frame +the words by which they endeavored to convey some idea of the cruelties +which had been inflicted on them, and which they had seen inflicted on +others. + +How many of our troops thus fell victims to the malignity and barbarity +of Forrest and his followers cannot yet be definitely ascertained. Two +officers belonging to the garrison were absent at the time of the +capture and massacre. Of the remaining officers but two are known to be +living, and they are wounded and now in the hospital at Mound City. One +of them, Captain Potter, may even now be dead, as the surgeons, when +your committee were there, expressed no hope of his recovery. Of the +men, from 300 to 400 are known to have been killed at Fort Pillow, of +whom, at least, 300 were murdered in cold blood after the post was in +possession of the rebels, and our men had thrown down their arms and +ceased to offer resistance. Of the survivors, except the wounded in the +hospital at Mound City, and the few who succeeded in making their escape +unhurt, nothing definite is known; and it is to be feared that many have +been murdered after being taken away from the fort. + +In reference to the fate of Major Bradford, who was in command of the +fort when it was captured, and who had up to that time received no +injury, there seems to be no doubt. The general understanding everywhere +seemed to be that he had been brutally murdered the day after he was +taken prisoner. + +There is some discrepancy in the testimony, but your committee do not +see how the one who professed to have been an eye-witness of his death +could have been mistaken. There may be some uncertainty in regard to his +fate. + +When your committee arrived at Memphis, Tennessee, they found and +examined a man (Mr. McLagan) who had been conscripted by some of +Forrest's forces, but who, with other conscripts, had succeeded in +making his escape. He testifies that while two companies of rebel +troops, with Major Bradford and many other prisoners, were on their +march from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford was taken +by five rebels--one an officer--led about fifty yards from the line of +march, and deliberately murdered in view of all there assembled. He +fell--killed instantly by three musket balls, even while asking that his +life might be spared, as he had fought them manfully, and was deserving +of a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to +have been the simple fact that, although a native of the south, he +remained loyal to his government. The testimony herewith submitted +contains many statements made by the rebels that they did not intend to +treat "home-made Yankees," as they termed loyal southerners, any better +than negro troops. + +There is one circumstance connected with the events herein narrated +which your committee cannot permit to pass unnoticed. The testimony +herewith submitted discloses this most astounding and shameful fact: On +the morning of the day succeeding the capture of Fort Pillow, the +gunboat Silver Cloud, (No. 28,) the transport Platte Valley, and the +gunboat New Era, (No. 7,) landed at Fort Pillow under flag of truce, for +the purpose of receiving the few wounded there and burying the dead. +While they were lying there, the rebel General Chalmers and other rebel +officers came down to the landing, and some of them went on the boats. +Notwithstanding the evidences of rebel atrocity and barbarity with which +the ground was covered, there were some of our army officers on board +the Platte Valley so lost to every feeling of decency, honor, and +self-respect, as to make themselves disgracefully conspicuous in +bestowing civilities and attention upon the rebel officers, even while +they were boasting of the murders they had there committed. Your +committee were unable to ascertain the names of the officers who have +thus inflicted so foul a stain upon the honor of our army. They are +assured, however, by the military authorities that every effort will be +made to ascertain their names and bring them to the punishment they so +richly merit. + +In relation to the re-enforcement or evacuation of Fort Pillow, it would +appear from the testimony that the troops there stationed were withdrawn +on the 25th of January last, in order to accompany the Meridian +expedition under General Sherman. General Hurlbut testifies that he +never received any instructions to permanently vacate the post, and +deeming it important to occupy it, so that the rebels should not +interrupt the navigation of the Mississippi by planting artillery there, +he sent some troops there about the middle of February, increasing their +number afterwards until the garrison amounted to nearly 600 men. He also +states that as soon as he learned that the place was attacked, he +immediately took measures to send up re-enforcements from Memphis, and +they were actually embarking when he received information of the capture +of the fort. + +Your committee cannot close this report without expressing their +obligations to the officers of the army and navy, with whom they were +brought in contact, for the assistance they rendered. It is true your +committee were furnished by the Secretary of War with the fullest +authority to call upon any one in the army for such services as they +might require, to enable them to make the investigation devolved upon +them by Congress, but they found that no such authority was needed. The +army and navy officers at every point they visited evinced a desire to +aid the committee in every way in their power; and all expressed the +highest satisfaction that Congress had so promptly taken steps to +ascertain the facts connected with this fearful and bloody transaction, +and the hope that the investigation would lead to prompt and decisive +measures on the part of the government. Your committee would mention +more particularly the names of General Mason Brayman, military +commandant at Cairo; Captain J. H. Odlin, his chief of staff; Captain +Alexander M. Pennock, United States navy, fleet captain of Mississippi +squadron; Captain James W. Shirk, United States navy, commanding 7th +district Mississippi squadron; Surgeon Horace Wardner, in charge of +Mound City general hospital; Captain Thomas M. Farrell, United States +navy, in command of gunboat Hastings, (furnished by Captain Pennock to +convey the committee to Fort Pillow and Memphis;) Captain Thomas +Pattison, naval commandant at Memphis; General C. C. Washburne, and the +officers of their commands, as among those to whom they are indebted for +assistance and attention. + +All of which is respectfully submitted. + + B. F. WADE. + D. W. GOOCH. + +Adopted by the committee as their report. + + B. F. WADE, _Chairman_. + + + + + TESTIMONY. + + + CAIRO, ILLINOIS, _April 22, 1864_. + +Brigadier General Mason Brayman sworn and examined by the chairman. + + +Question. What is your rank and position in the service? + +Answer. Brigadier General of volunteers; have been in command of the +district of Cairo since March 19, 1864. + +Question. What was the extent of your district when you assumed command, +and what your available force? + +Answer. The river, from Paducah to Island No. Ten, inclusive, about 160 +miles, and adjacent portions of Tennessee and Kentucky. My available +force for duty, as appears from tri-monthly report of March 20, as +follows: + + Paducah, officers and men 408 + Cairo do 231 + Columbus do 998 + Hickman do 51 + Island No. Ten do 162 + Union City do 479 + + Aggregate 2,329 + +Question. What was the character of your force and the condition of your +command at that time? + +Answer. Three-fourths of the men were colored, a portion of them not +mustered into service, and commanded by officers temporarily assigned, +awaiting commission. Of the white troops about one-half at the posts on +the river were on duty as provost marshals' guards and similar detached +duties, leaving but a small number in condition for movement. The +fortifications were in an unfinished condition, that at Cairo rendered +almost useless by long neglect. Many of the guns were dismounted, or +otherwise unfit for service, and the supply of ammunition deficient and +defective. A body of cavalry at Paducah were not mounted, and only part +of those at Union City. I had not enough mounted men within my reach for +orderlies. + +Question. What is the character of the public property and interests +intrusted to your care? + +Answer. Paducah commands the Ohio. In hostile hands, the Tennessee and +Cumberland rivers are no longer ours. Mound City, eight miles above +Cairo, is the great naval depot for the western fleet. Gunboats there +receive their armaments, crews, and supplies. An average of probably +$5,000,000 of public property is constantly at that point; I found it +guarded by, perhaps, fifty men of the veteran reserve corps, not +referring to gunboats lying there. Cairo, at the confluence of the great +rivers, is the narrow gateway through which all military and naval +operations of the Mississippi valley must be made. I cannot compute the +amount or value of shipping and property at all times at this point. The +committee must observe that the loss of Mound City and Cairo would +paralyze the western army and navy. The points below Columbus and Island +Ten are fortified places; while holding them, the rebels had control of +the river. It required a prodigious effort to dislodge them. To concede +to them any point on the river, even for a week, would bring disaster. +Furthermore, the rebels now control western Kentucky; they are +murdering, robbing, and driving out the loyal men; they avow their +determination to permit the loyal men to take no part in the approaching +elections. Unless protected in their effort to protect themselves, the +Union men must give way, and the country remain under insurrectionary +control. + +Question. Did you consider your force, as stated, adequate to the +protection of your district? + +Answer. Wholly inadequate, considering the interests at stake, and the +hostile forces within attacking distance. + +Question. When did you first hear that Forrest was advancing? + +Answer. On March 23, four days after I took command, Colonel Hicks, at +Paducah, and Colonel Hawkins at Union City, advised me by telegraph of +the presence in their neighborhood of armed bands, both fearing an +attack. At night of the same day, Colonel Hawkins reported Forrest at +Jackson, 61 miles south, with 7,000 men; and again that he expected an +attack within 24 hours. He wanted re-enforcements. + +Question. Had you the means of re-enforcing him? + +Answer. Of my own command, I had not 150 available men; however, some +regiments and detachments of General Veatch's division had arrived and +awaited the arrival of boats from St. Louis to carry them up the +Tennessee. General Veatch had gone to Evansville, Indiana. +Simultaneously with the reports from Hicks and Hawkins, I received from +General Sherman, then at Nashville, this despatch: "Has General Veatch +and command started up the Tennessee? If not, start them up at once." +Down to this time it was uncertain whether Union City or Paducah was the +real object of attack. Late in the evening I applied to Captain Fox, +General Veatch's assistant adjutant general, to have 2,000 men in +readiness to move during the night, if wanted, promising to have them +back in time to embark, on arrival of their transports. I telegraphed +Hawkins that he would receive aid, directing him to "fortify and keep +well prepared." About 4-1/2 o'clock of the morning of the 24th, I was +satisfied that Union City was the point of attack. Boats were impressed, +four regiments were embarked, and I left at ten; disembarked at +Columbus, and arriving within six miles of Union City at four p. m., +where I learned that a surrender had taken place at 11 a. m., and the +garrison marched off. I turned back, and at three the next morning +turned over General Veatch's men, ready to go up the Tennessee. + +Question. Why did you not pursue Forrest? + +Answer. For three reasons: _First_, his force was all cavalry; mine all +infantry. _Second_, he was moving on Paducah, and, while I could not +overtake him by land, I could head him by the rivers. _Third_, another +despatch from General Sherman reached me as I was going out from +Columbus, prohibiting me from diverting the troops bound up the +Tennessee from that movement on account of the presence of Forrest. My +purpose was to save Union City, bring in its garrison, and have General +Veatch's men back in time for their boats. While I was willing to risk +much to secure a garrison supposed to be yet engaged in gallant defence, +I could do nothing to mitigate the accomplished misfortune of a +surrender. + +Question. Do you think the surrender premature? + +Answer. The garrison was within fortifications; the enemy had no +artillery. A loss of one man killed and two or three wounded does not +indicate a desperate case. The rebels were three times repulsed. A flag +of truce followed, and a surrender. + +Question. How large was the attacking party? + +Answer. I judge fifteen hundred, the largest portion of Forrest's force +being evidently on the way to Paducah. + +Question. How large was his entire force? + +Answer. Apparently 6,500. + +Question. When was Paducah attacked? + +Answer. About 3 p. m. the next day, March 25. + +Question. Was Paducah re-enforced previous to the attack? + +Answer. It was not. I had no men to send, but sent supplies. + +Question. Where was General Veatch's command? + +Answer. Embarking for the Tennessee. + +Question. Was Paducah well defended? + +Answer. Most gallantly, and with success. The conduct of Colonel Hicks +and his entire command was noble in the highest degree. + +Question. How did his colored troops behave? + +Answer. As well as the rest. Colonel Hicks thus refers to them in his +official report: "I have been one of those men who never had much +confidence in colored troops fighting, but those doubts are now all +removed, for they fought as bravely as any troops in the fort." + +Question. Why was the city shelled and set on fire? + +Answer. Our small force retired within the fort; the rebels took +possession of the town, and from adjacent buildings their sharpshooters +fired upon us. It was necessary to dislodge them. The gunboats Peosta, +Captain Smith, and Paw Paw, Captain O'Neal, and the fort drove them out, +necessarily destroying property. Most of the inhabitants being still +rebel sympathizers, there was less than the usual regret in performing +the duty. + +Question. What became of the enemy after the repulse? + +Answer. They went south, and on the 26th I was notified by Colonel Hicks +and by Colonel Lawrence that they were approaching Columbus. + +Question. What was done? + +Answer. I went to Columbus again, with such men as could be withdrawn +from Cairo, and awaited an attack, but none was made. We were too +strong, of which rebels in our midst had probably advised them. + +Question. Do you permit rebels to remain within your lines? + +Answer. Of course; after they have taken the oath. + +Question. What is done in case they violate, by acting as spies, for +instance? + +Answer. I don't like to acknowledge that we swear them over again, but +that is about what it amounts to. + +Question. What became of your garrison at Hickman? + +Answer. It was but 14 miles from Union City; too weak for defence, and +unimportant. Having no re-enforcements to spare, I brought away the +garrison. + +Question. Was Union City important as a military post? + +Answer. I think not, except to keep the peace and drive out guerillas. +The railroad was operated to that point at the expense of the +government, being used in carrying out supplies, which went mostly into +disloyal hands, or were seized by Forrest. The road from Paducah to +Mayfield was used by its owners. Enormous quantities of supplies needed +by the rebel army were carried to Mayfield and other convenient points, +and passed into the hands of the rebel army. I found this abuse so +flagrant and dangerous that I made a stringent order stopping all trade. +I furnish a copy herewith, making it part of my answer, (Exhibit A.) + +Question. What, in your opinion, is the effect of free trade in western +Kentucky and Tennessee? + +Answer. Pernicious beyond measure; corrupting those in the public +service, and furnishing needed supplies to enemies. I am in possession +of intercepted correspondence, showing that while the trader who has +taken the oath and does business at Paducah gets permits to send out +supplies, several wagons at a time, his partner is receiving them within +the rebel lines under permits issued by Forrest. A public officer is now +under arrest and held for trial for covering up smuggling of contraband +goods under permits, and sharing the profits. Pretended loyal men and +open enemies thus combined, and the rebel army gets the benefit. We are +supplying our enemies with the means of resistance. + +Question. Could not the rebels have been sooner driven out of your +neighborhood? + +Answer. They could by withdrawing men from duties which are presumed to +be of greater importance. That point was settled by my superior +officers. Forrest's force was near Mayfield, about equidistant from +Paducah, Cairo, and Columbus, only a few hours from either. He was at +the centre, I going round the edge of a circle. I could only watch the +coming blow and help each weak point in turn. One evening, for instance, +I sent 400 men to Columbus, expecting trouble there, and the next +morning had them at Paducah, 75 miles distant. + +Question. Had you instructions as to the presence of that force so near +you? + +Answer. Not specific. General Sherman, on the 23d of March, telegraphed +that he was willing that Forrest should remain in that neighborhood if +the people did not manifest friendship, and on April 13 he expressed a +desire that Forrest should prolong his visit until certain measures +could be accomplished. I think General Sherman did not purpose to +withdraw a heavy force to pursue Forrest, having better use for them +elsewhere, and feeling that we had force enough to hold the important +points on the river. It may be that the strength of the enemy and the +scattered condition of our small detachments was not fully understood. +We ran too great a risk at Paducah. Nothing but great gallantry and +fortitude saved it from the fate of Fort Pillow. + +Question. What information had you of the attack of Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Fort Pillow is 170 miles below here, not in my district, but +Memphis. On April 13, at 6 p. m., I telegraphed General Sherman as +follows: + +"The surrender of Columbus was demanded and refused at six this morning. +Women and children brought away. Heavy artillery firing this afternoon. +I have sent re-enforcements. Paducah also threatened. No danger of +either, but I think that Fort Pillow, in the Memphis district, is taken. +General Shepley passed yesterday and saw the flag go down and thinks it +a surrender. I have enough troops now from below, and will go down if +necessary to that point. Captain Pennock will send gunboats. If lost, it +will be retaken immediately." + +I was informed, in reply, that Fort Pillow had no guns or garrison; had +been evacuated; that General Hurlbut had force for its defence, &c. I +understand that Fort Pillow had been evacuated and reoccupied, General +Sherman not being aware of it. On the 14th he again instructed me as +follows: + +"What news from Columbus? Don't send men from Paris to Fort Pillow. Let +General Hurlbut take care of that quarter. The Cairo troops may +re-enforce temporarily at Paducah and Columbus, but should be held +ready to come up the Tennessee. One object that Forrest has is to induce +us to make these detachments and prevent our concentrating in this +quarter." + +Question. Did you have any conversation with General Shepley in relation +to the condition of the garrison at Fort Pillow when he passed by that +point? If so, state what he said. What force did General Shepley have +with him? Did he assign any reason for not rendering assistance to that +garrison? If so, what was it? + +Answer. General Shepley called on me. He stated that as he approached +Fort Pillow, fighting was going on; he saw the flag come down "by the +run," but could not tell whether it was lowered by the garrison, or by +having the halliards shot away; that soon after another flag went up in +another place. He could not distinguish its character, but feared that +it was a surrender, though firing continued. I think he gave the force +on the boat as two batteries and two or three hundred infantry. When he +came away the firing was kept up, but not as heavily as at first. He was +not certain how the fight was terminating. In answer to a question of +mine, he said the batteries on board could not have been used, as the +bluff was too steep for ascent or to admit of firing from the water's +edge, and the enemy above might have captured them. This was about the +substance of our conversation. + +Question. What information have you relative to the battle and massacre +at Fort Pillow, particularly what transpired after the surrender? + +Answer. That place not being in my district, official reports did not +come to me. However, under instructions from General Sherman, I detailed +officers, and collected reports and sworn proofs for transmission to +him, also to the Secretary of War. Having furnished the Secretary of War +with a duplicate copy for the use of your committee if he so desired, I +refer to that for the information I have on the subject. + +Question. Do you consider the testimony thus furnished entirely +reliable? + +Answer. "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every work be +established." Here are scores of them living and dying. There are +doubtless errors as to time and place, and scenes witnessed from +different points of observation, but in the main I regard the witnesses +honest and their accounts true. + +Question. What did you learn concerning violations of the flag of truce? + +Answer. I learn from official sources that at Paducah, Columbus, Union +City, and Fort Pillow, the rebels moved troops, placed batteries, formed +new lines, advanced, robbed stores and private houses, stole horses and +other property while protected by flags of truce. J. W. McCord and Mrs. +Hannah Hammond state, in writing, that at Paducah they forced five women +nurses at the hospital out in front of their line, and kept them there +for an hour, thus silencing our guns. Mrs. Hammond was one of the five. +Reference is made to testimony furnished on the subject, and to official +reports when transmitted to the War Department. + +Question. What information have you as to the intention of the enemy to +perpetrate such acts as the massacre at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. I furnish the correspondence growing out of demands to surrender +at Union City, Paducah, and Columbus, showing premeditation on the part +of officers in command of the rebel army. + +[Take in from reports of Lieutenant Gray, Colonel Hicks and Colonel +Lawrence, with which the committee is furnished.--See Appendix.] + +Question. Has there been co-operation and harmony among commanders since +these troubles began? + +Answer. Entire and in every respect, so far as I know. Officers of the +army in charge of troops temporarily here gave all the aid possible. +They were under orders which prevented their going out in pursuit of +Forrest, but they gave me detachments to guard our river posts when +threatened. + +Question. What have been the relations existing generally between you +and Captain Pennock, of the navy, fleet captain of the Mississippi +squadron? + +Answer. Captain Pennock is commandant of the naval station at Cairo and +Mound City, and I understand represents Admiral Porter in his absence. +Our relations have been cordial, and we have co-operated in all +movements. The aid given by his gunboats has been prompt, ample, and +very efficient. His admirable judgment and ready resources have always +been available. + +Question. During the operations consequent upon the movements of +Forrest, did you or did you not receive cordial co-operation and support +from Lieutenant Commander Shirk, commanding the 7th division Mississippi +squadron? + +Answer. I can only repeat my answer to the last question. Lieutenant +Shirk is an admirable officer, vigilant, brave, and of exceedingly safe +judgment. + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY, ILLINOIS, _April 22, 1864_. + +Surgeon Horace Wardner sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Have you been in charge of this hospital, Mound City hospital? + +Answer. I have been in charge of this hospital continually since the +25th of April, 1863. + +Question. Will you state, if you please, what you know about the persons +who escaped from Fort Pillow? And how many have been under your charge? + +Answer. I have received thirty-four whites, twenty-seven colored men, +and one colored woman, and seven corpses of those who died on their way +here. + +Question. Did any of those you have mentioned escape from Fort Pillow? + +Answer. There were eight or nine men, I forget the number, who did +escape and come here, the others were paroled. I learned the following +facts about that: The day after the battle a gunboat was coming up and +commenced shelling the place; the rebels sent a flag of truce for the +purpose of giving over into our hands what wounded remained alive; a +transport then landed and sent out details to look about the grounds and +pick up the wounded there, and bring them on the boat. They had no +previous attention. + +Question. They were then brought under your charge? + +Answer. They were brought immediately to this hospital. + +Question. Who commanded that boat? + +Answer. I forget the naval officer's name. + +Question. How long after the capture of the place did he come along? + +Answer. That was the next day after the capture. + +Question. Did all who were paroled in this way come under your charge, +or did any of them go to other hospitals? + +Answer. None went to other hospitals that I am aware of. + +Question. Please state their condition. + +Answer. They were the worst butchered men I have ever seen. I have been +in several hard battles, but I have never seen men so mangled as they +were; and nearly all of them concur in stating that they received all +their wounds after they had thrown down their arms, surrendered, and +asked for quarters. They state that they ran out of the fort, threw down +their arms, and ran down the bank to the edge of the river, and were +pursued to the top of the bank and fired on from above. + +Question. Were there any females there? + +Answer. I have one wounded woman from there. + +Question. Were there any children or young persons there? + +Answer. I have no wounded children or young persons from there. + +Question. Those you have received were mostly combatants, or had been? + +Answer. Yes, sir, soldiers, white or colored. + +Question. Were any of the wounded here in the hospital in the fort, and +wounded while in the hospital? + +Answer. I so understand them. + +Question. How many in that condition did you understand? + +Answer. I learned from those who came here that nearly all who were in +the hospital were killed. I received a young negro boy, probably sixteen +years old, who was in the hospital there sick with fever, and unable to +get away. The rebels entered the hospital, and with a sabre hacked his +head, no doubt with the intention of splitting it open. The boy put up +his hand to protect his head, and they cut off one or two of his +fingers. He was brought here insensible, and died yesterday. I made a +post-mortem examination, and found that the outer table of the skull was +incised, the inner table was fractured, and a piece driven into the +brain. + +Question. This was done while he was sick in the hospital? + +Answer. Yes, sir, unable to get off his bed. + +Question. Have you any means of knowing how many were murdered in that +way? + +Answer. No positive means, except the statement of the men. + +Question. How many do you suppose from the information you have +received? + +Answer. I suppose there were about four hundred massacred--murdered +there. + +Question. What proportion white, and what proportion colored, as near as +you could ascertain? + +Answer. The impression I have, from what I can learn, is, that all the +negroes were massacred except about eighty, and all the white soldiers +were killed except about one hundred or one hundred and ten. + +Question. We have heard rumors that some of these persons were buried +alive; did you hear anything about that? + +Answer. I have two in the hospital here who were buried alive. + +Question. Both colored men? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did they escape? + +Answer. One of them I have not conversed with personally, the other I +have. He was thrown into a pit, as he states, with a great many others, +white and black, several of whom were alive; they were all buried up +together. He lay on the outer edge, but his head was nearer the surface; +he had one well hand, and with that hand he was able to work a place +through which he could breathe, and in that way he got his head out; he +lay there for some twenty-four hours, and was finally taken out by +somebody. The others, next to him, were buried so deep that they could +not get out, and died. + +Question. Did you hear anything about any of them having been thrown +into the flames and burned? + +Answer. I do not know anything about that myself. These men did not say +much, and in fact I did not myself have time to question them very +closely. + +Question. What is the general condition now of the wounded men from Fort +Pillow under your charge? + +Answer. They are in as good condition as they can be, probably about +one-third of them must die. + +Question. Is your hospital divided into wards, and can we go through and +take the testimony of these men, ward by ward? + +Answer. It is divided into wards. The men from Fort Pillow are scattered +through the hospital, and isolated to prevent erysipelas. If I should +crowd too many badly wounded men in one ward I would be likely to get +the erysipelas among them, and lose a great many of them. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Are the wounds of these men such as men usually receive in +battle? + +Answer. The gunshot wounds are; the sabre cuts are the first I have ever +seen in the war yet. They seem to have been shot with the intention of +hitting the body. There are more body wounds than in an ordinary battle. + +Question. Just as if they were close enough to select the parts of the +body to be hit? + +Answer. Yes, sir; some of them were shot with pistols by the rebels +standing from one foot to ten feet of them. + + +The committee then proceeded to the various wards and took the testimony +of such of the wounded as were able to bear the examination. + +The testimony of the colored men is written out exactly as given, except +that it is rendered in a grammatical form, instead of the broken +language some of them used. + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY HOSPITAL, + _Illinois_, _April 22, 1864_. + +Elias Falls, (colored,) private, company A, 6th United States heavy +artillery, or 1st Alabama artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when the battle took place there, and +it was captured by the rebels? + +Answer. I was there; I was a cook, and was waiting on the captain and +major. + +Question. What did you see done there? What did the rebels do after they +came into the fort? + +Answer. They killed all the men after they surrendered, until orders +were given to stop; they killed all they came to, white and black, after +they had surrendered. + +Question. The one the same as the other? + +Answer. Yes, sir, till he gave orders to stop firing. + +Question. Till who gave orders? + +Answer. They told me his name was Forrest. + +Question. Did you see anybody killed or shot there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I was shot after the surrender, as I was marched up +the hill by the rebels. + +Question. Where were you wounded? + +Answer. In the knee. + +Question. Was that the day of the fight? + +Answer. The same day. + +Question. Did you see any men shot the next day? + +Answer. I did not. + +Question. What did you see done after the place was taken? + +Answer. After peace was made some of the secesh soldiers came around +cursing the boys that were wounded. They shot one of them about the +hand, aimed to shoot him in the head, as he lay on the ground, and hit +him in the hand; and an officer told the secesh soldier if he did that +again he would arrest him, and he went off then. + +Question. Did they burn any buildings? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Was anybody burned in the buildings? + +Answer. I did not see anybody burned; I saw them burn the buildings; I +was not able to walk about; I staid in a building that night with some +three or four white men. + +Question. Do you know anything about their going into the hospital and +killing those who were there sick in bed? + +Answer. We had some three or four of our men there, and some of our men +came in and said they had killed two women and two children. + + * * * * * + +Duncan Harding, (colored,) private, company A, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow at the time it was captured? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I was a gunner No. 2 at the gun. + +Question. What did you see there? + +Answer. I did not see much until next morning. I was shot in the arm +that evening; they picked me up and marched me up the hill, and while +they were marching me up the hill they shot me again through the thigh. + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot after they had surrendered? + +Answer. The next morning I saw them shoot down one corporal in our +company. + +Question. What was his name? + +Answer. Robert Winston. + +Question. Did they kill him? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What were you doing at the time? + +Answer. I was lying down. + +Question. What was the corporal doing? + +Answer. When the gunboats commenced firing he was started off with them, +but he would not go fast enough and they shot him dead. + +Question. When you were shot the last time had you any arms in your +hands? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Had the corporal any arms in his hands? + +Answer. No, sir; nothing. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What do you know about any buildings being burned? + +Answer. I saw them burn the buildings; and that morning as I was going +to the boat I saw one colored man who was burned in the building. + +Question. When was that building burned? + +Answer. The next morning. + +Question. The morning after the capture? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did you get away? + +Answer. I started off with the rebels; we were all lying in a hollow to +keep from the shells; as their backs were turned to me I crawled up in +some brush and logs, and they all left; when night come I came back to +the river bank, and a gunboat came along. + +Question. Were any officers about when you were shot last? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you know any of them? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did they say anything against it? + +Answer. No, sir; only, "Kill the God damned nigger." + + * * * * * + +Nathan Hunter, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was captured? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see done there? + +Answer. They went down the hill, and shot all of us they saw; they shot +me for dead, and I lay there until the next morning when the gunboat +came along. They thought I was dead and pulled my boots off. That is all +I know. + +Question. Were you shot when they first took the fort? + +Answer. I was not shot until we were done fighting. + +Question. Had you any arms in your hands when you were shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. How long did you lie where you were shot? + +Answer. I lay there from three o'clock until after night, and then I +went up in the guard-house and staid there until the next morning when +the gunboat came along. + +Question. Did you see any others shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they shot down a whole parcel along with me. Their +bodies were lying there along the river bank the next morning. They +kicked some of them into the river after they were shot dead. + +Question. Did you see that? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I thought they were going to throw me in too; I +slipped away in the night. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Did you see any man burned? + +Answer. No, sir; I was down under the hill next the river. + +Question. They thought you were dead when they pulled your boots off? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they pulled my boots off, and rolled me over, and said +they had killed me. + + * * * * * + +Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, (colored,) company D, 6th United States +heavy artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow in the fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see there? + +Answer. I saw them shoot two white men right by the side of me after +they had laid their guns down. They shot a black man clear over into the +river. Then they hallooed to me to come up the hill, and I came up. They +said, "Give me your money, you damned nigger." I told them I did not +have any. "Give me your money, or I will blow your brains out." Then +they told me to lie down, and I laid down, and they stripped everything +off me. + +Question. This was the day of the fight? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Go on. Did they shoot you? + +Answer. Yes, sir. After they stripped me and took my money away from me +they dragged me up the hill a little piece, and laid me down flat on my +stomach; I laid there till night, and they took me down to an old house, +and said they would kill me the next morning. I got up and commenced +crawling down the hill; I could not walk. + +Question. When were you shot? + +Answer. About 3 o'clock. + +Question. Before they stripped you? + +Answer. Yes, sir. They shot me before they said, "come up." + +Question. After you had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they shot pretty nearly all of them after they +surrendered. + +Question. Did you see anything of the burning of the men? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you see them bury anybody? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did they bury anybody who was not dead? + +Answer. I saw one of them working his hand after he was buried; he was a +black man. They had about a hundred in there, black and white. The major +was buried on the bank, right side of me. They took his clothes all off +but his drawers; I was lying right there looking at them. They had my +captain's coat, too; they did not kill my captain; a lieutenant told him +to give him his coat, and then they told him to go down and pick up +those old rags and put them on. + +Question. Did you see anybody shot the day after the battle? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. How did you get away? + +Answer. A few men came up from Memphis, and got a piece of plank and put +me on it, and took me down to the boat. + +Question. Were any rebel officers around when the rebels were killing +our men? + +Answer. Yes, sir; lots of them. + +Question. Did they try to keep their men from killing our men? + +Answer. I never heard them say so. I know General Forrest rode his horse +over me three or four times. I did not know him until I heard his men +call his name. He said to some negro men there that he knew them; that +they had been in his nigger yard in Memphis. He said he was not worth +five dollars when he started, and had got rich trading in negroes. + +Question. Where were you from? + +Answer. I came from South Carolina. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + + * * * * * + +Daniel Tyler, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Mississippi. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow at the time it was captured by the +rebels? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you wounded? + +Answer. I was wounded after we all surrendered; not before. + +Question. At what time? + +Answer. They shot me when we came up the hill from down by the river. + +Question. Why did you go up the hill? + +Answer. They called me up. + +Question. Did you see who shot you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I did not know him. + +Question. One of the rebels? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How near was he to you? + +Answer. I was right at him; I had my hand on the end of his gun. + +Question. What did he say to you? + +Answer. He said, "Whose gun are you holding?" I said, "Nobody's." He +said, "God damn you, I will shoot you," and then he shot me. I let go, +and then another one shot me. + +Question. Were many shot at the same time? + +Answer. Yes, sir, lots of them; lying all round like hogs. + +Question. Did you see any one burned? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you see anybody buried alive? + +Answer. Nobody but me. + +Question. Were you buried alive? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they thought they had killed me. I lay there till +about sundown, when they threw us in a hollow, and commenced throwing +dirt on us. + +Question. Did you say anything? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not want to speak to them. I knew if I said +anything they would kill me. They covered me up in a hole; they covered +me up, all but one side of my head. I heard them say they ought not to +bury a man who was alive. I commenced working the dirt away, and one of +the secesh made a young one dig me out. They dug me out, and I was +carried not far off to a fire. + +Question. How long did you stay there? + +Answer. I staid there that night and until the next morning, and then I +slipped off. I heard them say the niggers had to go away from there +before the gunboat came, and that they would kill the niggers. The +gunboat commenced shelling up there, and they commenced moving off. I +heard them up there shooting. They wanted me to go with them, but I +would not go. I turned around, and came down to the river bank and got +on the gunboat. + +Question. How did you lose your eye? + +Answer. They knocked me down with a carbine, and then they jabbed it +out. + +Question. Was that before you were shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. After you had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I was going up the hill, a man came down and met me; +he had his gun in his hand, and whirled it around and knocked me down, +and then took the end of his carbine and jabbed it in my eye, and shot +me. + +Question. Were any of their officers about there then? + +Answer. I did not see any officers. + +Question. Were any white men buried with you? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were any buried alive? + +Answer. I heard that one white man was buried alive; I did not see him. + +Question. Who said that? + +Answer. A young man; he said they ought not to have done it. He staid in +there all night; I do not know as he ever got out. + + * * * * * + +John Haskins, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was captured? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see done there? + +Answer. After we had surrendered they shot me in the left arm. I ran +down the river and jumped into the water; the water ran over my back; +six or seven more men came around there, and the secesh shot them right +on the bank. At night I got in a coal-boat and cut it loose, and went +down the river. + +Question. Did you see anybody else killed after they had surrendered? + +Answer. A great many; I could not tell how many. + +Question. Did they say why they killed our men after they had +surrendered? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. How many did you see killed after they surrendered? + +Answer. Six or eight right around me, who could not get into the water +as I did; I heard them shooting above, too. + +Question. Did they strip and rob those they killed? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they ran their hands in my pockets--they thought I was +dead--they did all in the same way. + +Question. What time were you shot? + +Answer. After four o'clock. + +Question. How long after you had surrendered? + +Answer. Just about the time we ran down the hill. + +Question. Did you have any arms in your hands when you were shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Do you know anything about their killing anybody in the +hospital? + +Answer. I could not tell anything about that. + +Question. Do you know anything about their burning buildings? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they burned the lieutenant's house, and they said they +burned him in the house. + +Question. He was a white man? + +Answer. Yes, sir; quartermaster of the 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Did you see them kill him? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see them kill him; I saw the house he was in +on fire. + +Question. Do you know anything about their burying anybody before they +were dead? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Where are you from? + +Answer. From Tennessee. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How long have you been in the army? + +Answer. About two months. + + * * * * * + +Thomas Adison, (colored,) private, company C, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In South Carolina. I was nineteen years old when I came to +Mississippi. I was forty years old last March. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was captured? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you wounded--before or after you surrendered? + +Answer. Before. + +Question. What happened to you after you were wounded? + +Answer. I went down the hill after we surrendered; then they came down +and shot me again in my face, breaking my jaw-bone. + +Question. How near was the man to you? + +Answer. He shot me with a revolver, about ten or fifteen feet off. + +Question. What happened to you then? + +Answer. I laid down, and a fellow came along and turned me over and +searched my pockets and took my money. He said: "God damn his old soul; +he is sure dead now; he is a big, old, fat fellow." + +Question. How long did you lay there? + +Answer. About two hours. + +Question. Then what was done with you? + +Answer. They made some of our men carry me up the hill to a house that +was full of white men. They made us lie out doors all night, and said +that the next morning they would have the doctor fix us up. I went down +to a branch for some water, and a man said to me: "Old man, if you stay +here they will kill you, but if you get into the water till the boat +comes along they may save you;" and I went off. They shot a great many +that evening. + +Question. The day of the fight? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I heard them shoot little children not more than that +high, [holding his hand off about four feet from the floor,] that the +officers had to wait upon them. + +Question. Did you see them shoot them? + +Answer. I did not hold up my head. + +Question. How did you know that they shot them then? + +Answer. I heard them say, "Turn around so that I can shoot you good;" +and then I heard them fire, and then I heard the children fall over. + +Question. Do you know that those were the boys that waited upon the +officers? + +Answer. Yes, sir; one was named Dave, and the other was named Anderson. + +Question. Did you see them after they were shot? + +Answer. No, sir; they toted them up the hill before me, because they +were small. I never saw folks shot down so in my life. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Do you know of anybody being buried alive? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Do you know of any one being burned? + +Answer. They had a whole parcel of them in a house, and I think they +burned them. The house was burned up, and I think they burned them in +it. + +Question. Were the men in the house colored men? + +Answer. No, sir. The rebels never would have got the advantage of us if +it had not been for the houses built there, and which made better +breastworks for them than we had. The major would not let us burn the +houses in the morning. If they had let us burn the houses in the +morning, I do not believe they would ever have whipped us out of that +place. + + * * * * * + +Manuel Nichols, (colored,) private, Company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you in the late fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When? + +Answer. I was wounded once about a half an hour before we gave up. + +Question. Did they do anything to you after you surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they shot me in the head under my left ear, and the +morning after the fight they shot me again in the right arm. When they +came up and killed the wounded ones, I saw some four or five coming down +the hill. I said to one of our boys, "Anderson, I expect if those +fellows come here they will kill us." I was lying on my right side, +leaning on my elbow. One of the black soldiers went into the house where +the white soldiers were. I asked him if there was any water in there, +and he said yes; I wanted some, and took a stick and tried to get to the +house. I did not get to the house. Some of them came along, and saw a +little boy belonging to company D. One of them had his musket on his +shoulder, and shot the boy down. He said: "All you damned niggers come +out of the house; I am going to shoot you." Some of the white soldiers +said, "Boys, it is only death anyhow; if you don't go out they will come +in and carry you out." My strength seemed to come to me as if I had +never been shot, and I jumped up and ran down the hill. I met one of +them coming up the hill; he said "stop!" but I kept on running. As I +jumped over the hill, he shot me through the right arm. + +Question. How many did you see them kill after they had surrendered? + +Answer. After I surrendered I did not go down the hill. A man shot me +under the ear, and I fell down and said to myself, "If he don't shoot me +any more this won't hurt me." One of their officers came along and +hallooed, "Forrest says, no quarter! no quarter!" and the next one +hallooed, "Black flag! black flag!" + +Question. What did they do then? + +Answer. They kept on shouting. I could hear them down the hill. + +Question. Did you see them bury anybody? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they carried me around right to the corner of the +fort, and I saw them pitch men in there. + +Question. Was there any alive? + +Answer. I did not see them bury anybody alive. + +Question. How near to you was the man who shot you under the ear? + +Answer. Right close to my head. When I was shot in the side, a man +turned me over, and took my pocket-knife and pocket-book. I had some of +these brass things that looked like cents. They said, "Here's some +money; here's some money." I said to myself, "You got fooled that time." + + * * * * * + +Arthur Edwards, (colored,) private, company C, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Mississippi. + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was taken? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Tell what you saw there. + +Answer. I was shot after I surrendered. + +Question. When? + +Answer. About half past four o'clock. + +Question. Where were you when you were shot? + +Answer. I was lying down behind a log. + +Question. Where were you shot? + +Answer. In the head first, then in the shoulder, then in my right wrist; +and then in the head again, about half an hour after that. + +Question. How many men shot at you? + +Answer. One shot at me three times, and then a lieutenant shot at me. + +Question. Did they say anything when they shot you? + +Answer. No, sir, only I asked them not to shoot me, and they said, "God +damn you, you are fighting against your master." + +Question. How near was the man to you when he shot you? + +Answer. He squatted down, and held his pistol close to my head. + +Question. How near was the officer to you when he shot you? + +Answer. About five or ten feet off; he was sitting on his horse. + +Question. Who said you were fighting against your master? + +Answer. The man that shot me. + +Question. What did the officer say? + +Answer. Nothing, but "you God damned nigger." A captain told him not to +do it, but he did not mind him; he shot me, and run off on his horse. + +Question. Did you see the captain? + +Answer. Yes, sir; he and the captain were side by side. + +Question. Did you know the captain? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. How long did you stay there? + +Answer. Until next morning about 9 o'clock. + +Question. How did you get away? + +Answer. When the gunboat commenced shelling I went down the hill, and +staid there until they carried down a flag of truce. Then the gunboat +came to the bank, and a secesh lieutenant made us go down to such a +place, and told us to go no further, or we would get shot again. Then +the gunboat men came along to bury the dead, and told us to go on the +boat. + +Question. Did you see anybody shot after they had surrendered, besides +yourself? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they shot one right by me, and lots of the 13th +Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. After they had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Do you know whether any were buried alive? + +Answer. Not that I saw. + +Question. Did you see anybody buried? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you see anybody shot the day after the fight? + +Answer. No, sir. + + * * * * * + +Charles Key, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In South Carolina. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. In Tennessee. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see done there after the fight was over? + +Answer. I saw nothing, only the boys run down the hill, and they came +down and shot them. + +Question. Were you wounded before or after you surrendered? + +Answer. After the surrender, about 5 o'clock. + +Question. Did you have your gun in your hands when you were wounded? + +Answer. No, sir; I threw my gun into the river. + +Question. How did they come to shoot you? + +Answer. I was in the water, and a man came down and shot me with a +revolver. + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; right smart of them, in an old coal boat. I saw one +man start up the bank after he was shot in the arm, and then a fellow +knocked him back into the river with his carbine, and then shot him. I +did not go up the hill after I was shot. I laid in the water like I was +dead until night, and then I made up a fire and dried myself, and staid +there till the gunboat came along. + +Question. Did they shoot you more than once? + +Answer. No, sir. + + * * * * * + +Henry Christian, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In East Tennessee. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Corinth, Mississippi. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you wounded? + +Answer. A little before we surrendered. + +Question. What happened to you afterwards? + +Answer. Nothing; I got but one shot, and dug right out over the hill to +the river, and never was bothered any more. + +Question. Did you see any men shot after the place was taken? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where? + +Answer. Down to the river. + +Question. How many? + +Answer. A good many; I don't know how many. + +Question. By whom were they shot? + +Answer. By secesh soldiers; secesh officers shot some up on the hill. + +Question. Did you see those on the hill shot by the officers? + +Answer. I saw two of them shot. + +Question. What officers were they? + +Answer. I don't know whether he was a lieutenant or captain. + +Question. Did the men who were shot after they had surrendered have arms +in their hands? + +Answer. No, sir; they threw down their arms. + +Question. Did you see any shot the next morning? + +Answer. I saw two shot; one was shot by an officer--he was standing, +holding the officer's horse, and when the officer came and got his horse +he shot him dead. The officer was setting fire to the houses. + +Question. Do you say the man was holding the officer's horse, and when +the officer came and took his horse he shot the man down? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw that with my own eyes; and then I made away into +the river, right off. + +Question. Did you see any buried? + +Answer. Yes, sir; a great many, black and white. + +Question. Did you see any buried alive? + +Answer. I did not see any buried alive. + + * * * * * + +Aaron Fentis, (colored,) company D, 6th United States heavy artillery, +sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you from? + +Answer. Tennessee. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Corinth. + +Question. Who was your captain? + +Answer. Captain Carron. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see done there? + +Answer. I saw them shoot two white men, and two black men, after they +had surrendered. + +Question. Are you sure they were shot after they had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. Some were in the river swimming out a piece, when they +were shot; and they took another man by the arm, and held him up, and +shot him in the breast. + +Question. Did you see any others shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw two wounded men shot the next morning; they were +lying down when the secesh shot them. + +Question. Did the rebels say anything when they were shooting our men? + +Answer. They said they were going to kill them all; and they would have +shot us all if the gunboat had not come along. + +Question. Were you shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When? + +Answer. After the battle, the same evening. + +Question. Where were you shot? + +Answer. Right through both legs. + +Question. How many times were you shot? + +Answer. Only once, with a carbine. The man stood right close by me. + +Question. Where were you? + +Answer. On the river bank. + +Question. Had you arms in your hands? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. What did the man say who shot you? + +Answer. He said they were going to kill us all. + +Question. Did you see any men buried? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you see anybody burned? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see that. Where I was was a good piece off +from where they had the battle. + +Question. Do you know how many of your company got away? + +Answer. I do not think any of my company got away. + +Question. How many were killed before they surrendered? + +Answer. I don't know how many; a good many, I think. + +Question. Would you have surrendered, if you had known what they were +going to do to you? + +Answer. No, sir. + + * * * * * + +George Shaw, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Tennessee. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Fort Pillow. + +Question. Were you there at the fight? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you shot? + +Answer. About four o'clock in the evening. + +Question. After you had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where were you at the time? + +Answer. About ten feet from the river bank. + +Question. Who shot you? + +Answer. A rebel soldier. + +Question. How near did he come to you? + +Answer. About ten feet. + +Question. What did he say to you? + +Answer. He said, "Damn you, what are you doing here?" I said, "Please +don't shoot me." He said, "Damn you, you are fighting against your +master." He raised his gun and fired, and the bullet went into my mouth +and out the back part of my head. They threw me into the river, and I +swam around and hung on there in the water until night. + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; three young boys, lying in the water, with their heads +out; they could not swim. They begged them as long as they could, but +they shot them right in the forehead. + +Question. How near to them were they? + +Answer. As close as that stone, (about eight or ten feet.) + +Question. How old were the boys? + +Answer. Not more than fifteen or sixteen years old. They were not +soldiers, but contraband boys, helping us on the breastworks. + +Question. Did you see any white men shot? + +Answer. No, sir. I saw them shoot three men the next day. + +Question. How far from the fort? + +Answer. About a mile and a half; after they had taken them back as +prisoners. + +Question. Who shot them? + +Answer. Private soldiers. One officer said, "Boys, I will have you +arrested, if you don't quit killing them boys." Another officer said, +"Damn it, let them go on; it isn't our law to take any niggers +prisoners; kill every one of them." Then a white man took me to wait on +him a little, and sent me back to a house about two hundred yards, and +told me to stay all night. I went back and staid until about a half an +hour by sun. Another man came along and said, "If you will go home with +me I will take good care of you, if you will stay and never leave." I +did not know what to do, I was so outdone; so I said, "If you will take +care of me, I will go." He carried me out about three miles, to a place +called Bob Greene's. The one who took me there left me, and two others +came up, and said, "Damn you, we will kill you, and not be fooling about +any longer." I said, "Don't shoot me." One of them said, "Go out and +hold my horse." I made a step or two, and he said, "Turn around; I will +hold my horse, and shoot you, too." I no sooner turned around than he +shot me in the face. I fell down as if I was dead. He shot me again, and +hit my arm, not my head. I laid there until I could hear him no more, +and then I started back. I got back into Fort Pillow about sun up, and +wandered about there until a gunboat came along, and I came up on that +with about ten others. + + * * * * * + +Major Williams, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Tennessee and North Mississippi. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. In Memphis. + +Question. Who was your captain? + +Answer. Captain Lamburg. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Was your captain with you? + +Answer. No, sir; I think he was in Memphis. + +Question. Who commanded your company? + +Answer. Lieutenant Hunter and Sergeant Fox were all the officers we had. + +Question. What did you see done there? + +Answer. We fought them right hard during the battle, and killed some of +them. After a time they sent in a flag of truce. They said afterwards +that they did it to make us stop firing until their re-enforcements +could come up. They said that they never could have got in if they had +not done that; that we had whipped them; that they had never seen such a +fight. + +Question. Did you see the flag of truce? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did they do when the flag of truce was in? + +Answer. They kept coming up nearer and nearer, so that they could charge +quick. A heap of them came up after we stopped firing. + +Question. When did you surrender? + +Answer. I did not surrender until they all run. + +Question. Were you wounded then? + +Answer. Yes, sir; after the surrender. + +Question. At what time of day was that? + +Answer. They told me it was about half after one o'clock. I was wounded +immediately we retreated. + +Question. Did you have any arms in your hands when they shot you? + +Answer. No, sir; I was an artillery man, and had no arms. + +Question. Did you see the man who shot you? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you hear him say anything? + +Answer. No, sir; I heard nothing. He shot me, and it was bleeding pretty +free, and I thought to myself, "I will make out it was a dead shot, and +may be I will not get another." + +Question. Did you see any others shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Was there anything said about giving quarter? + +Answer. Major Bradford brought in a black flag, which meant no quarter. +I heard some of the rebel officers say: "You damned rascals, if you had +not fought us so hard, but had stopped when we sent in a flag of truce, +we would not have done anything to you." I heard one of the officers +say: "Kill all the niggers;" another one said: "No; Forrest says take +them and carry them with him to wait upon him and cook for him, and put +them in jail and send them to their masters." Still they kept on +shooting. They shot at me after that, but did not hit me; a rebel +officer shot at me. He took aim at my side; at the crack of his pistol I +fell. He went on and said: "There's another dead nigger." + +Question. Was there any one shot in the hospital that day? + +Answer. Not that I know of. I think they all came away and made a raft +and floated across the mouth of the creek, and got into a flat bottom. + +Question. Did you see any buildings burned? + +Answer. I staid in the woods all day Wednesday. I was there Thursday and +looked at the buildings. I saw a great deal left that they did not have +a chance to burn up. I saw a white man burned up who was nailed up +against the house. + +Question. A private or an officer? + +Answer. An officer; I think it was a lieutenant in the Tennessee +cavalry. + +Question. How was he nailed? + +Answer. Through his hands and feet right against the house. + +Question. Was his body burned? + +Answer. Yes, sir; burned all over--I looked at him good. + +Question. When did you see that? + +Answer. On the Thursday after the battle. + +Question. Where was the man? + +Answer. Right in front of the fort. + +Question. Did any one else that you know see the body nailed up there? + +Answer. There was a black man there who came up on the same boat I was +on. + +Question. Was he with you then? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and there were some five or six white people there, +too, from out in the country, who were walking over the place. + + * * * * * + +Alexander Nayron, (colored,) private, company C, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Mississippi. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Lagrange, last August. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the attack? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you wounded? + +Answer. After the fight. + +Question. About what time? + +Answer. About three o'clock, I reckon. + +Question. Where were you when you were wounded? + +Answer. Down at the river, lying down by the side of a log. They came +there and told me to get up, and as I got up they shot me. + +Question. Who shot you, an officer or private? + +Answer. A private. + +Question. How many times were you shot? + +Answer. But once; they shot me in my head, and thought they had killed +me. + +Question. Did you see any others shot there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; several other black men with me. + +Question. Did you see any small boys shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you go back from the river after you were shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. You remained there until you were brought away by the gunboat? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I saw several of our boys shot while they were +fighting. They said, when they shot me, that they were allowed to kill +every damned nigger in the fort--not spare one. + +Question. You saw nobody buried or burned? + +Answer. No, sir; I saw them throw several in the water. + +Question. Were they all dead that were thrown in? + +Answer. Yes, sir; about dead. + + * * * * * + +Eli Carlton, (colored,) private, company B, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In East Tennessee. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Who was your master? + +Answer. Major Fleming. I was sold once; I have had two masters. + +Question. Where did you join the army? + +Answer. At Corinth, Mississippi, about a year ago. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time it was taken? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State what happened there. + +Answer. I saw 23 men shot after they surrendered; I made 24; 17 of them +laid right around me dead, and 6 below me. + +Question. Who shot them? + +Answer. The rebels; some white men were killed. + +Question. How many white men were killed? + +Answer. Three or four. + +Question. Killed by the privates? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I did not see any officers kill any. + +Question. Were the white men officers or privates? + +Answer. Privates. + +Question. Were the men who shot you near to you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; ten or fifteen steps off. + +Question. Were you shot with a musket or a pistol? + +Answer. With a musket. I was shot once on the battle-field before we +surrendered. They took me down to a little hospital under the hill. I +was in the hospital when they shot me a second time. Some of our +privates commenced talking. They said, "Do you fight with these God +damned niggers?" they said, "Yes." Then they said, "God damn you, then, +we will shoot you," and they shot one of them right down. They said, "I +would not kill you, but, God damn you, you fight with these damned +niggers, and we will kill you;" and they blew his brains out of his +head. They then went around and counted them up; I laid there and made +18 who were there, and there were 6 more below me. I saw them stick a +bayonet in the small part of the belly of one of our boys, and break it +right off--he had one shot then. + +Question. Did you see any of our men shot the next day? + +Answer. No, sir; but I heard them shooting. I hid myself in the bushes +before the next morning. I left a fellow lying there, and they came down +and killed him during the night. I went down there the next morning and +he was dead. + +Question. Did you see any of our folks buried by the rebels? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you see any buildings burned up? + +Answer. Yes, sir; most all were burned up. + +Question. Were any persons in them when they were burned? + +Answer. I heard so. I went to the quarters and staid about a house +there. One of the rebels told me that he should take me out the next +morning and kill me. He went out and I slipped out into the bushes, and +laid there until the gunboat came. I saw them take the quartermaster; +they said, "Here is one of our men; let us take him up and fix him." A +white man told me the next day that they burned him. + +Question. Was he wounded? + +Answer. No, sir; he walked right straight. He had three stripes on his +arm. I knew him well; I worked with him. He was a small fellow, weak and +puny. + + * * * * * + +Sandy Cole, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy +artillery, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you born? + +Answer. In Tennessee. + +Question. Have you been a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the late fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When were you wounded? + +Answer. After I started down the hill, after the surrender. They shot me +through the thigh and through the arm. + +Question. Who shot you? + +Answer. A secesh private. + +Question. How near was he to you? + +Answer. About ten feet. + +Question. Did he say anything to you? + +Answer. No, sir. I went to the river and kept my body in the water, and +my head under some brush. + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw some of them shot right through the head. + +Question. How many did you see shot? + +Answer. Some seven or eight. + + * * * * * + +Jacob Thompson, (colored,) sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you a soldier at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. No, sir, I was not a soldier; but I went up in the fort and +fought with the rest. I was shot in the hand and the head. + +Question. When were you shot? + +Answer. After I surrendered. + +Question. How many times were you shot? + +Answer. I was shot but once; but I threw my hand up, and the shot went +through my hand and my head. + +Question. Who shot you? + +Answer. A private. + +Question. What did he say? + +Answer. He said, "God damn you, I will shoot you, old friend." + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they just called them out like dogs, and shot them +down. I reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. They +nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the logs on fire. + +Question. When did you see that? + +Answer. When I went there in the morning I saw them; they were burning +all together. + +Question. Did they kill them before they burned them? + +Answer. No, sir, they nailed them to the logs; drove the nails right +through their hands. + +Question. How many did you see in that condition? + +Answer. Some four or five; I saw two white men burned. + +Question. Was there any one else there who saw that? + +Answer. I reckon there was; I could not tell who. + +Question. When was it that you saw them? + +Answer. I saw them in the morning after the fight; some of them were +burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men, because they +were whiter than the colored men. + +Question. Did you notice how they were nailed? + +Answer. I saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was +nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to the boat +when I saw it. + +Question. Did you see them kill any white men? + +Answer. They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed more +than twenty after it was all over; called them out from under the hill, +and shot them down. They would call out a white man and shoot him down, +and call out a colored man and shoot him down; do it just as fast as +they could make their guns go off. + +Question. Did you see any rebel officers about there when this was going +on? + +Answer. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one. + +Question. Did you know Forrest? + +Answer. Yes, sir; he was a little bit of a man. I had seen him before at +Jackson. + +Question. Are you sure he was there when this was going on? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you see any other officers that you knew? + +Answer. I did not know any other but him. There were some two or three +more officers came up there. + +Question. Did you see any buried there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they buried right smart of them. They buried a great +many secesh, and a great many of our folks. I think they buried more +secesh than our folks. + +Question. How did they bury them? + +Answer. They buried the secesh over back of the fort, all except those +on Fort hill; them they buried up on top of the hill where the gunboats +shelled them. + +Question. Did they bury any alive? + +Answer. I heard the gunboat men say they dug two out who were alive. + +Question. You did not see them? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. What company did you fight with? + +Answer. I went right into the fort and fought there. + +Question. Were you a slave or a free man? + +Answer. I was a slave. + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In old Virginia. + +Question. Who was your master? + +Answer. Colonel Hardgrove. + +Question. Where did you live? + +Answer. I lived three miles the other side of Brown's mills. + +Question. How long since you lived with him? + +Answer. I went home once and staid with him a while, but he got to +cutting up and I came away again. + +Question. What did you do before you went into the fight? + +Answer. I was cooking for Co. K, of Illinois cavalry; I cooked for that +company nearly two years. + +Question. What white officers did you know in our army? + +Answer. I knew Captain Meltop and Colonel Ransom; and I cooked at the +hotel at Fort Pillow, and Mr. Nelson kept it. I and Johnny were cooking +together. After they shot me through the hand and head, they beat up all +this part of my head (the side of his head) with the breech of their +guns. + + * * * * * + +Ransom Anderson, (colored,) Co. B, 6th United States heavy artillery, +sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. In Mississippi. + +Question. Were you a slave? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Corinth. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Describe what you saw done there. + +Answer. Most all the men that were killed on our side were killed after +the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. Then they +put some in the houses and shut them up, and then burned the houses. + +Question. Did you see them burn? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were any of them alive? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they were wounded, and could not walk. They put them +in the houses, and then burned the houses down. + +Question. Do you know they were in there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I went and looked in there. + +Question. Do you know they were in there when the house was burned? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when the houses were +burning. + +Question. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead, when they +were put in there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they told them they were going to have the doctor see +them, and then put them in there and shut them up, and burned them. + +Question. Who set the house on fire? + +Answer. I saw a rebel soldier take some grass and lay it by the door, +and set it on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy. + +Question. Was the door fastened up? + +Answer. Yes, sir; it was barred with one of those wide bolts. + + * * * * * + +Sergeant W. P. Walker, (white,) sworn and examined: + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. In what capacity did you serve in the army? + +Answer. I was a sergeant in the 13th Tennessee cavalry, company D. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state what took place there? + +Answer. In the morning the pickets ran in. We were sent out a piece as +skirmishers. They kept us out about a couple of hours, and then we +retreated into the fort. The firing kept up pretty regular until about +two o'clock, when a flag of truce came in. While the flag of truce was +in, the enemy was moving up and taking their positions; they were also +pilfering and searching our quarters. + +Question. They finally took the fort? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What happened then? + +Answer. They just shot us down without showing us any quarter at all. +They shot me, for one, after I surrendered; they shot me in the arm, and +the shoulder, and the neck, and in the eye. + +Question. How many times did they shoot you? + +Answer. They shot me in the arm and eye after I surrendered; I do not +know when they shot me in the other places. + +Question. Who shot you? + +Answer. A private shot me with a pistol; there were a great many of us +shot. + +Question. What reason did he give for shooting you after you had +surrendered? + +Answer. A man came down the hill and said that General--some one; I +could not understand the name--said that they should shoot every one of +us, and take no prisoners, and then they shot us down. + +Question. How did you escape? + +Answer. They thought they had killed me. They searched my pockets half a +dozen times, or more, and took my pocket-book from me. + +Question. Did you see anybody else shot after they had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw several shot right around me. + +Question. Did they shoot all, colored and white? + +Answer. They shot all where I was. When they turned in and went to +shooting the white men, they scattered and ran, and then they shot them +down. + +Question. Did you see them do anything besides shooting them? + +Answer. I saw some knock them over the heads with muskets, and some +stick sabres into them. + +Question. Did you see anything of any burning or burying alive? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see that. + +Question. Were any of the rebel officers about while this was going on? + +Answer. Not where I was; I was down under the hill then. The niggers +first ran out of the fort, and then, when they commenced shooting us, we +ran down under the hill, and they followed us up and shot us. They came +back the next day and shot several wounded negroes. + +Question. Did you see that? + +Answer. I was lying in a house, but I heard the negroes begging, and +heard the guns fired; but I did not see it. + + * * * * * + +Jason Loudon, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment did you belong? + +Answer. To company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. When? + +Answer. In the evening, after I surrendered. + +Question. Where were you? + +Answer. At the fort. + +Question. State what happened when you were wounded. + +Answer. Nothing; only they were going around shooting the men down. They +shot a sergeant by the side of me twice after he had surrendered. + +Question. Who shot him? + +Answer. A secesh private. + +Question. How near was that to you? + +Answer. About ten steps off. + +Question. Did he say anything to him? + +Answer. He commenced cursing, and said they were going to kill every one +of us. + +Question. How many did you see shot after they had surrendered? + +Answer. I saw five or six shot. + + * * * * * + +James Walls, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company did you belong? + +Answer. Company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Under what officers did you serve? + +Answer. I was under Major Bradford and Captain Potter. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State what you saw there of the fight, and what was done after +the place was captured. + +Answer. We fought them for some six or eight hours in the fort, and when +they charged our men scattered and ran under the hill; some turned back +and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag of truce came in I went +down to get some water. As I was coming back I turned sick, and laid +down behind a log. The secesh charged, and after they came over I saw +one go a good ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and +threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there I thought I +could not live there, so I threw down my arms and surrendered. He did +not shoot me then, but as I turned around he or some other one shot me +in the back. + +Question. Did they say anything while they were shooting? + +Answer. All I heard was, "Shoot him, shoot him!" "Yonder goes one!" +"Kill him, kill him!" That is about all I heard. + +Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they surrendered? + +Answer. I did not see but two or three shot around me. One of the boys +of our company, named Taylor, ran up there, and I saw him shot and fall. +Then another was shot just before me, like--shot down after he threw +down his arms. + +Question. Those were white men? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them make lots of niggers stand up, and then +they shot them down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there +waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying around +there, and would come to a nigger and say, "You ain't dead, are you?" +They would not say anything, and then the secesh would get down off +their horses, prick them in their sides, and say, "Damn you, you ain't +dead; get up." Then they would make them get up on their knees, when +they would shoot them down like hogs. + +Question. Do you know of their burning any buildings? + +Answer. I could hear them tell them to stick torches all around, and +they fired all the buildings. + +Question. Do you know whether any of our men were in the buildings when +they were burned? + +Answer. Some of our men said some were burned; I did not see it, or know +it to be so myself. + +Question. How did they bury them--white and black together? + +Answer. I don't know about the burying; I did not see any buried. + +Question. How many negroes do you suppose were killed after the +surrender? + +Answer. There were hardly any killed before the surrender. I reckon as +many as 200 were killed after the surrender, out of about 300 that were +there. + +Question. Did you see any rebel officers about while this shooting was +going on? + +Answer. I do not know as I saw any officers about when they were +shooting the negroes. A captain came to me a few minutes after I was +shot; he was close by me when I was shot. + +Question. Did he try to stop the shooting? + +Answer. I did not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they +were shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged him +not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would not. One man, +after he was shot down, was shot again. After I was shot down, the man I +surrendered to went around the tree I was against and shot a man, and +then came around to me again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up +to him, and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got the +watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow knife I had in my +pocket. It was not worth five cents; was of no account at all, only to +cut tobacco with. + + * * * * * + +William L. McMichael, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment did you belong? + +Answer. To Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you shot after you had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. They shot the most after they had surrendered. They +sent in a flag of truce for a surrender, and the major would not +surrender. They made a charge and took the fort, and then we threw down +our arms; but they just shot us down. + +Question. Were you shot after you surrendered, or before? + +Answer. Afterwards. + +Question. How many times were you shot? + +Answer. I was shot four times. + +Question. Did you see any others shot? + +Answer. I saw some shot; some negroes. + + * * * * * + +Isaac J. Leadbetter, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. To company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. How long have you been in the army? + +Answer. Only about two mouths. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state what took place after the fort was taken? + +Answer. They shot me after I surrendered. I saw them shoot down lots +after they surrendered. They would hold up their hands and cry to them +not to shoot, but they shot them just the same. + +Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they had +surrendered? + +Answer. More than twenty, I reckon. + +Question. Did you hear of the rebels doing anything else to them beyond +shooting them? + +Answer. I heard of their burning some, but I did not see it. + +Question. How many times were you shot? + +Answer. I was shot twice, and a ball slightly grazed my head. + +Question. Were you shot after you had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you see the man who shot you? + +Answer. I saw the man who shot me the last time in the side with a +revolver. + +Question. Did he say anything to you? + +Answer. He did not say anything until he shot me. He then came down to +where I was, and finding I was not dead, he cursed me, and said he would +shoot me again. He was fixing to shoot me again, when one of the boys +standing by told him not to shoot me again. + +Question. Did they rob you after they had shot you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they took everything I had, even to my pocket-knife. + +Question. You say you heard about the burning? + +Answer. Yes, sir, I heard about it; but I did not see it. + +Question. Did you see any of the rebel officers about while this +shooting was going on? + +Answer. None there that I knew. I did not see them until they carried me +up on the bluff. + +Question. Did they shoot any after they fell wounded? + +Answer. I saw them shoot one man in the head after he fell. + + * * * * * + +D. W. Harrison, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. I had been driving a team and acting as a soldier. I took my gun +that morning and went out in line. They then wanted a train to haul some +ammunition and provisions in the fort. The rebels were throwing balls +around there. I kept hauling, I think five loads. The rest of the wagons +would not go back after they had hauled one load; and after I had hauled +five loads I concluded I would not haul any more. I went down under the +hill and got with two men there close under a log. It was but a few +minutes before the men came over the hill like sheep over a brush fence, +when I saw white men and negroes getting shot down. I threw up my hands +and said: "Don't shoot me; I surrender." One of them said: "Go on up the +hill." I started, but did not get more than two steps before I was shot +in the shoulder. I fell, and while I was undertaking to get up again I +was hit in the body; and this arm that was hit fell over behind me. A +rebel came along with a canteen, and I motioned to him and told him I +wanted a little water. He said: "Damn you; I have nothing for you +fellows. You Tennesseeans pretend to be men, and you fight side by side +with niggers. I have nothing for you." About that time another one came +up with his pistol drawn, and asked if I had any money. I told him I had +a little, and he told me to give it to him. I told him my shoulder was +hurt and he must take it himself. He turned me over and took about $90 +and my watch. Another man, who _was_ a man, came along and brought me +some water. + +Question. Did you see any others shot after they had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. One of the two who was under the log with me was +killed. I don't know whether the other man was killed or not. + + * * * * * + +William A. Dickey, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was taken by the rebels? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. In what company and regiment? + +Answer. Company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Will you state what happened there, especially after the fort +was taken? + +Answer. After the breastworks were charged I first noticed the colored +soldiers throwing down their arms and running down the bluff. After the +rebs got inside the white troops saw that there was no mercy shown, and +they threw down their arms and ran down the bluff, too; and they were at +the same time shot and butchered. I ran myself, but carried my gun with +me down the bluff, and hid myself behind a tree close to the edge of the +river. I staid there some time, and saw my partner shot, and saw men +shot all around me. I saw one man shoot as many as four negroes just as +fast as he could load his gun and shoot. After doing this he came to me. +As he turned around to me, I begged him not to shoot me. He came to me +and I gave him my gun, and he took my caps, saying he wanted them to +kill niggers. I begged him to let me go with him, as I would be exposed +there; but he said "No, stay there." He made me stay there, and would +not let me go with him. Another man came along, and I asked him to spare +my life, and he did so. I asked him to let me go with him, but he +refused me and ordered me to stay with my wounded partner, who was lying +in some brush. I crawled in the brush to him. He was suffering very +much, and I unloosed his belt, and took his cartridge-box and put it +under his head. Some rebels under the hill spied us moving in the brush +and ordered us to come out. My partner could not come out, but I came +out. They ordered me to come to them. I started after one of them, +begging him at the same time not to shoot me. I went, I suppose, eight +or ten steps, when he shot me. I fell there, and saw but little more +after that. As I was lying with my face towards the river I saw some +swimming and drowning in the river, and I saw them shoot some in the +river after that. + + * * * * * + +Woodford Cooksey, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir; from 6 o'clock in the morning until about 4 o'clock in +the evening. + +Question. State what took place after the fort was taken by the rebels. + +Answer. There were a great many white men shot down, and a great many +negroes. + +Question. That you saw? + +Answer. That I saw myself. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. At what time? + +Answer. After 4 o'clock; after we gave up. + +Question. How came they to shoot you after you had surrendered? + +Answer. I can't tell; it was about like shooting the balance of them. + +Question. Do you know who shot you? + +Answer. It was a white man. He shot me with a musket loaded with a +musket ball and three buck shot. + +Question. Did you have any arms in your hands when you were shot? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did the one who shot you say anything to you? + +Answer. I was lying down. He said, "Hand me up your money, you damned +son of a bitch." I only had four bits--two bits in silver and two in +paper. I handed it up to him. He said he had damned nigh a notion to hit +me in the head on account of staying there and fighting with the +niggers. He heard a rally about the bank and went down there. They were +shooting and throwing them in the river. A part of that night and the +next morning they were burning houses and burying the dead and stealing +goods. The next morning they commenced on the negroes again, and killed +all they came across, as far as I could see. I saw them kill eight or +ten of them the next morning. + +Question. Do you know whether any wounded soldiers were burned in any of +those buildings? + +Answer. I do not. I was not in any of the shanties after they were +fired. + +Question. Did you see them bury any of the dead? + +Answer. No, sir; I was lying outside of the fort. + +Question. Did they bury the white and black together, as you understood? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they were burying pretty much all night. + +Question. How many whites and blacks do you suppose were killed after +they had surrendered? + +Answer. I had a mighty poor chance of finding out. But I don't think +they killed less than 50 or 60, probably more; I cannot say how many. It +was an awful time, I know. + +Question. How many did you see killed? + +Answer. I saw them kill three white men and seven negroes the next +morning. + +Question. Did you see them shoot any white men the day after the fight? + +Answer. No, sir. I saw one of them shoot a black fellow in the head with +three buck shot and a musket ball. The man held up his head, and then +the fellow took his pistol and fired that at his head. The black man +still moved, and then the fellow took his sabre and stuck it in the hole +in the negro's head and jammed it way down, and said "Now, God damn you, +die!" The negro did not say anything, but he moved, and the fellow took +his carbine and beat his head soft with it. That was the next morning +after the fight. + + * * * * * + +Lieutenant McJ. Leming, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What is your rank and position? + +Answer. I am a first lieutenant and adjutant of the 13th Tennessee +cavalry. A short time previous to the fight I was post adjutant at Fort +Pillow, and during most of the engagement I was acting as post adjutant. +After Major Booth was killed, Major Bradford was in command. The pickets +were driven in just before sunrise, which was the first intimation we +had that the enemy were approaching. I repaired to the fort, and found +that Major Booth was shelling the rebels as they came up towards the +outer intrenchments. They kept up a steady fire by sharpshooters behind +trees, and logs, and high knolls. The major thought at one time they +were planting some artillery, or looking for places to plant it. They +began to draw nearer and nearer, up to the time our men were all drawn +into the fort. Two companies of the 13th Tennessee cavalry were ordered +out as sharpshooters, but were finally ordered in. We were pressed on +all sides. + +I think Major Booth fell not later than 9 o'clock. His adjutant, who was +then acting post adjutant, fell near the same time. Major Bradford then +took the command, and I acted as post adjutant. Previous to this, Major +Booth had ordered some buildings in front of the fort to be destroyed, +as the enemy's sharpshooters were endeavoring to get possession of them. +There were four rows of buildings, but only the row nearest the fort was +destroyed; the sharpshooters gained possession of the others before they +could be destroyed. The fight continued, one almost unceasing fire all +the time, until about three o'clock. They threw some shells, but they +did not do much damage with their shells. + +I think it was about three o'clock that a flag of truce approached. I +went out, accompanied by Captain Young, the provost marshal of the post. +There was another officer, I think, but I do not recollect now +particularly who it was, and some four mounted men. The rebels announced +that they had a communication from General Forrest. One of their +officers there, I think, from his dress, was a colonel. I received the +communication, and they said they would wait for an answer. As near as I +remember, the communication was as follows: + + "HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE CAVALRY, + "_Near Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864_. + +"As your gallant defence of the fort has entitled you to the treatment +of brave men, (or something to that effect,) I now demand an +unconditional surrender of your force, at the same time assuring you +that they will be treated as prisoners of war. I have received a fresh +supply of ammunition, and can easily take your position. + + "N. B. FORREST. + + "Major L. F. BOOTH, + "_Commanding United States Forces_." + +I took this message back to the fort. Major Bradford replied that he +desired an hour for consultation and consideration with his officers, +and the officers of the gunboat. I took out this communication to them, +and they carried it back to General Forrest. In a few minutes another +flag of truce appeared, and I went out to meet it. Some one said, when +they handed the communication to me, "That gives you 20 minutes to +surrender; I am General Forrest." I took it back. The substance of it +was: "Twenty minutes will be given you to take your men outside of the +fort. If in that time they are not out, I will immediately proceed to +assault your works," or something of that kind. To this Major Bradford +replied: "I will not surrender." I took it out in a sealed envelope, and +gave it to him. The general opened it and read it. Nothing was said; we +simply saluted, and they went their way, and I returned back into the +fort. + +Almost instantly the firing began again. We mistrusted, while this flag +of truce was going on, that they were taking horses out at a camp we +had. It was mentioned to them, the last time that this and other +movements excited our suspicion, that they were moving their troops. +They said that they had noticed it themselves, and had it stopped; that +it was unintentional on their part, and that it should not be repeated. + +It was not long after the last flag of truce had retired, that they made +their grand charge. We kept them back for several minutes. What was +called ---- brigade or battalion attacked the centre of the fort where +several companies of colored troops were stationed. They finally gave +way, and, before we could fill up the breach, the enemy got inside the +fort, and then they came in on the other two sides, and had complete +possession of the fort. In the mean time nearly all the officers had +been killed, especially of the colored troops, and there was no one +hardly to guide the men. They fought bravely, indeed, until that time. I +do not think the men who broke had a commissioned officer over them. +They fought with the most determined bravery, until the enemy gained +possession of the fort. They kept shooting all the time. The negroes ran +down the hill towards the river, but the rebels kept shooting them as +they were running; shot some again after they had fallen; robbed and +plundered them. After everything was all gone, after we had given up the +fort entirely, the guns thrown away and the firing on our part stopped, +they still kept up their murderous fire, more especially on the colored +troops, I thought, although the white troops suffered a great deal. I +know the colored troops had a great deal the worst of it. I saw several +shot after they were wounded; as they were crawling around, the secesh +would step out and blow their brains out. + +About this time they shot me. It must have been four or half-past four +o'clock. I saw there was no chance at all, and threw down my sabre. A +man took deliberate aim at me, but a short distance from me, certainly +not more than 15 paces, and shot me. + +Question. With a musket or pistol? + +Answer. I think it was a carbine; it may have been a musket, but my +impression is that it was a carbine. Soon after I was shot I was robbed. +A secesh soldier came along, and wanted to know if I had any greenbacks. +I gave him my pocket-book. I had about a hundred dollars, I think, more +or less, and a gold watch and gold chain. They took everything in the +way of valuables that I had. I saw them robbing others. That seemed to +be the general way they served the wounded, so far as regards those who +fell in my vicinity. Some of the colored troops jumped into the river, +but were shot as fast as they were seen. One poor fellow was shot as he +reached the bank of the river. They ran down and hauled him out. He got +on his hands and knees, and was crawling along, when a secesh soldier +put his revolver to his head, and blew his brains out. It was about the +same thing all along, until dark that night. + +I was very weak, but I finally found a rebel who belonged to a society +that I am a member of, (the Masons,) and he got two of our colored +soldiers to assist me up the hill, and he brought me some water. At that +time it was about dusk. He carried me up just to the edge of the fort, +and laid me down. There seemed to be quite a number of dead collected +there. They were throwing them into the outside trench, and I heard them +talking about burying them there. I heard one of them say, "There is a +man who is not quite dead yet." They buried a number there; I do not +know how many. + +I was carried that night to a sort of little shanty that the rebels had +occupied during the day with their sharpshooters. I received no medical +attention that night at all. The next morning early I heard the report +of cannon down the river. It was the gunboat 28 coming up from Memphis; +she was shelling the rebels along the shore as she came up. The rebels +immediately ordered the burning of all the buildings, and ordered the +two buildings where the wounded were to be fired. Some one called to +the officer who gave the order and said there were wounded in them. The +building I was in began to catch fire. I prevailed upon one of our +soldiers who had not been hurt much to draw me out, and I think others +got the rest out. They drew us down a little way, in a sort of gulley, +and we lay there in the hot sun without water or anything. + +About this time a squad of rebels came around, it would seem for the +purpose of murdering what negroes they could find. They began to shoot +the wounded negroes all around there, interspersed with the whites. I +was lying a little way from a wounded negro, when a secesh soldier came +up to him and said: "What in hell are you doing here?" The colored +soldier said he wanted to get on the gunboat. The secesh soldier said: +"You want to fight us again, do you? Damn you, I'll teach you," and drew +up his gun and shot him dead. Another negro was standing up erect a +little way from me; he did not seem to be hurt much. The rebel loaded +his gun again immediately. The negro begged of him not to shoot him, but +he drew up his gun and took deliberate aim at his head. The gun snapped, +but he fixed it again, and then killed him. I saw this. I heard them +shooting all around there--I suppose killing them. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Do you know of any rebel officers going on board our gunboat +after she came up? + +Answer. I don't know about the gunboat, but I saw some of them on board +the Platte Valley, after I had been carried on her. They came on board, +and I think went in to drink with some of our officers. I think one of +the rebel officers was General Chalmers. + +Question. Do you know what officers of ours drank with them? + +Answer. I do not. + +Question. You know that they did go on board the Platte Valley and drink +with some of our officers? + +Answer. I did not see them drinking at the time, but I have no doubt +they did; that was my impression from all I saw, and I thought our +officers might have been in better business. + +Question. Were our officers treating these rebel officers with +attention? + +Answer. They seemed to be; I did not see much of it, as they passed +along by me. + +Question. Do you know whether or not the conduct of the privates, in +murdering our soldiers after they had surrendered, seemed to have the +approval of their officers? + +Answer. I did not see much of their officers, especially during the +worst of those outrages; they seemed to be back. + +Question. Did you observe any effort on the part of their officers to +suppress the murders? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see any where I was first carried; just about +dusk, all at once several shots were fired just outside. The cry was: +"They are shooting the darkey soldiers." I heard an officer ride up and +say: "Stop that firing; arrest that man." I suppose it was a rebel +officer, but I do not know. It was reported to me, at the time, that +several darkeys were shot then. An officer who stood by me, a prisoner, +said that they had been shooting them, but that the general had had it +stopped. + +Question. Do you know of any of our men in the hospital being murdered? + +Answer. I do not. + +Question. Do you know anything of the fate of your quartermaster, +Lieutenant Akerstrom? + +Answer. He was one of the officers who went with me to meet the flag of +truce the last time. I do not know what became of him; that was about +the last I saw of him. I heard that he was nailed to a board and burned, +and I have very good reason for believing that was the case, although I +did not see it. The first lieutenant of company D of my regiment says +that he has an affidavit to that effect of a man who saw it. + +Question. Have you any knowledge in relation to any of our men being +buried alive? + +Answer. I have not, other than I have stated. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. How long had your regiment been in Fort Pillow? + +Answer. We reached there the 8th of February. There were no other troops +there then, and we held the place alone for some time. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. By whom were you ordered there? + +Answer. By General W. S. Smith, chief of cavalry, and also by General +Hurlbut. + +Question. What other troops were there at the time of the fight? + +Answer. Four companies of the 6th United States heavy artillery, +colored, and a battery called now, I think, the 2d United States light +artillery. It was before the 1st Tennessee light artillery, colored. + +Question. What was about the number of our force there? + +Answer. Not far from 500 men. + +Question. Do you know what became of Major Bradford? + +Answer. He escaped unhurt, as far as the battle was concerned. I was +told the next morning on the boat that he had been paroled. I did not +see him after that night. + +Question. Do you know why you were left unsupported, as you were, when +it was known that Forrest was in your vicinity? + +Answer. I do not know why, unless it was thought that he would not +attack us. I think it was supposed that he was going to make an attack +on Memphis. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What do you estimate Forrest's force to have been? + +Answer. From all I could see and learn, I should suppose he had from +7,000 to 10,000 men. + +Question. Is there anything further you desire to state? + +Answer. I heard some of the rebels talking during the night after the +fight. They said we ought to have surrendered when we had the +opportunity, but that they supposed the Yankees were afraid the colored +troops would not be treated as prisoners of war; and they intimated that +they would not be; and said it was bad enough to give to the "home-made +Yankees"--meaning the Tennessee soldiers--treatment as soldiers, without +treating the negroes so, too. + +On the morning of the fight there was so much hurry and confusion that +our flag was not raised for a time; we had been firing away an hour +before I happened to notice that our flag was not up. I ordered it to be +raised immediately, and our troops set up vociferous cheers, especially +the colored troops, who entered into the fight with great energy and +spirit. + +Question. How many officers of your regiment were left alive? + +Answer. Only two, immediately after the surrender, that I know of. We +had ten officers in our regiment, and eight were in the battle, only two +of whom remained alive. + +Question. Were those who were killed killed before or after the fort was +captured? + +Answer. I don't know of but one who was killed before we were driven +from the fort. + +Question. Was Captain Potter, who is now lying here unable to speak, +shot before or after the surrender? + +Answer. He was shot in the early part of the engagement. I have been +told that Major Bradford was afterwards taken out by the rebels and +shot; that seems to be the general impression, and I presume it was so. + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY, _April 23, 1864_. + +Nathan G. Fulks, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Where are you from? + +Answer. About twenty miles from Columbus, Tennessee. + +Question. How long have you been in the service? + +Answer. Five months, the 1st of May. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state what happened to you there? + +Answer. I was at the corner of the fort when they fetched in a flag for +a surrender. Some of them said the major stood a while, and then said he +would not surrender. They continued to fight a while; and after a time +the major started and told us to take care of ourselves, and I and +twenty more men broke for the hollow. They ordered us to halt, and some +of them said, "God damn 'em, kill 'em! kill 'em!" I said, "I have +surrendered." I had thrown my gun away then. I took off my cartridge-box +and gave it to one of them, and said, "Don't shoot me;" but they did +shoot me, and hit just about where the shoe comes up on my leg. I begged +them not to shoot me, and he said, "God damn you, you fight with the +niggers, and we will kill the last one of you!" Then they shot me in the +thick of the thigh, and I fell; and one set out to shoot me again, when +another one said, "Don't shoot the white fellows any more." + +Question. Did you see any person shot besides yourself? + +Answer. I didn't see them shot. I saw one of our fellows dead by me. + +Question. Did you see any buildings burned? + +Answer. Yes, sir. While I was in the major's headquarters they commenced +burning the buildings, and I begged one of them to take me out and not +let us burn there; and he said, "I am hunting up a piece of yellow flag +for you." I think we would have whipped them if the flag of truce had +not come in. We would have whipped them if we had not let them get the +dead-wood on us. I was told that they made their movement while the flag +of truce was in. I did not see it myself, because I had sat down, as I +had been working so hard. + +Question. How do you know they made their movement while the flag of +truce was in? + +Answer. The men that were above said so. The rebs are bound to take +every advantage of us. I saw two more white men close to where I was +lying. That makes three dead ones, and myself wounded. + + * * * * * + +Francis A. Alexander, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the fight there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Who commanded your regiment? + +Answer. Major Bradford commanded the regiment, and Lieutenant Logan +commanded our company. + +Question. By what troops was the fort attacked? + +Answer. Forrest was in command. I saw him. + +Question. Did you know Forrest? + +Answer. I saw him there, and they all said it was Forrest. Their own men +said so. + +Question. By what troops was the charge made? + +Answer. They were Alabamians and Texans. + +Question. Did you see anything of a flag of truce? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State what was done while the flag of truce was in. + +Answer. When the flag of truce came up our officers went out and held a +consultation, and it went back. They came in again with a flag of truce; +and while they were consulting the second time their troops were coming +up a gap or hollow, where we could have cut them to pieces. They tried +it before, but could not do it. I saw them come up there while the flag +of truce was in the second time. + +Question. That gave them an advantage? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Not in the fort. I was wounded after I left the fort, and was +going down the hill. + +Question. Was that before or after the fort was taken? + +Answer. It was afterwards. + +Question. Did you have any arms in your hand at the time they shot you? + +Answer. No, sir. I threw my gun away, and started down the hill, and got +about twenty yards, when I was shot through the calf of the leg. + +Question. Did they shoot you more than once? + +Answer. No, sir; they shot at me, but did not hit me more than once. + +Question. Did they say why they shot you after you had surrendered? + +Answer. They said afterwards they intended to kill us all for being +there with their niggers. + +Question. Were any rebel officers there at the time this shooting was +going on? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did they try to stop it? + +Answer. One or two of them did. + +Question. What did the rest of them do? + +Answer. They kept shouting and hallooing at the men to give no quarter. +I heard that cry very frequent. + +Question. Was it the officers that said that? + +Answer. I think it was. I think it was them, the way they were going on. +When our boys were taken prisoners, if anybody came up who knew them, +they shot them down. As soon as ever they recognized them, wherever it +was, they shot them. + +Question. After they had taken them prisoners? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you know anything about their shooting men in the +hospitals? + +Answer. I know of their shooting negroes in there. I don't know about +white men. + +Question. Wounded negro men? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Who did that? + +Answer. Some of their troops. I don't know which of them. The next +morning I saw several black people shot that were wounded, and some that +were not wounded. One was going down the hill before me, and the officer +made him come back up the hill; and after I got in the boat I heard them +shooting them. + +Question. You say you saw them shoot negroes in the hospital the next +morning? + +Answer. Yes, sir; wounded negroes who could not get along; one with his +leg broke. They came there the next day and shot him. + +Question. Do you know anything about their burning buildings and the +hospital? + +Answer. I expect they burned the hospital after we got out. They said +they would not while we wounded ones were in there. The hospital we were +in was standing when I went down the hill on the boat. + +Question. You don't know what happened to it afterwards? + +Answer. I don't. + +Question. Something has been said about men being nailed to the +buildings, and then burned. Do you know anything about that? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see that, but I heard some of them say they +drove the negroes into the houses and then burned them. + +Question. Did you see anything about their burying them? + +Answer. No, sir. + + * * * * * + +Wiley Robinson, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What State are you from? + +Answer. Tennessee. + +Question. When did you enlist? + +Answer. I think about eight months ago. + +Question. How old are you? + +Answer. Eighteen years old the 19th of next May. + +Question. What regiment and company were you in? + +Answer. Company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the attack there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State all about that; when it was, &c. + +Answer. I was wounded once in the hand before I surrendered. + +Question. Were you shot afterwards? + +Answer. Yes, sir; six times. I was shot twice in the foot, twice in the +legs, and twice in the hands. + +Question. Had you arms in your hands when they shot you? + +Answer. We had retreated to the river bank and thrown down our arms. + +Question. What did they say when they shot you? + +Answer. They swore at us, and then shot us. + +Question. Did you see any of the rebel officers there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw some, who came round and told them to kill us +all. + +Question. Did you see them shoot anybody else besides yourself? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw them shoot one white man close beside me. + +Question. Did they shoot you after you were down? + +Answer. Yes, sir; through the leg with a musket. + +Question. Did you see any negroes shot? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not see any. I fell after they shot me, and did +not see much. + +Question. Were you there the next day after the fight? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they took me on board the boat the next day about ten +o'clock. + +Question. Do you know whether they killed any persons in the hospital? + +Answer. I know they killed one of our company in the hospital. They said +they fired into the hospital. + +Question. Do you know anything about their burying anybody alive? + +Answer. No, sir. + + * * * * * + +Daniel Stamps, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. What was your position? + +Answer. I was the company commissary sergeant. + +Question. Where do you reside? + +Answer. In Lauderdale county, Tennessee. + +Question. What was your occupation? + +Answer. I was a farmer. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when the fight was there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State what happened there. + +Answer. The first thing, I went out sharpshooting, and was out about two +hours, and then was ordered in the fort. I staid there, I reckon, about +an hour. Then I was called out by Lieutenant Akerstrom to go down +alongside the bluff sharpshooting again, because the rebels were coming +down Cold creek. We staid there all the time until they charged into the +fort. Then they all ran down under the hill, and we went down under the +hill too. I reckon we staid there close on to an hour. They were +shooting continually. I saw them shooting the white men there who were +on their knees, holding up their hands to them. I saw them make another +man get down on his knees and beg of them, and they did not shoot him. I +started out to go up the hill, and just as I started I was shot in the +thigh. Pretty well towards the last of it, before I got shot, while I +was down under the hill, a rebel officer came down right on top of the +bluff, and hallooed out to them to shoot and kill the last damned one of +us. + +Question. Do you know the rank of that officer? + +Answer. I do not. I can't tell them as I can our officers. Their uniform +is different. I went round on the hill then. I heard several of them say +it was General Forrest's orders to them to shoot us and give us no +quarter at all. I don't know whether they were officers who said so or +not. I don't recollect anything else particularly that I saw that night. +The next morning they came round there again, shooting the negroes that +were wounded. I saw them shoot some 20 or 25 negroes the next morning +who had been wounded, and had been able to get up on the hill during the +night. They did not attempt to hurt us white men the next morning. + +Question. Were any of their officers with the men who were round +shooting the negroes the next morning? + +Answer. One passed along on horseback, the only one I saw. He rode along +while they were shooting the negroes, and said nothing to them. I said, +"Captain, what are you going to do with us wounded fellows?" He said +they were going to put us on the gunboats, or leave us with the +gunboats. He had a feather in his cap, and looked like he might have +been a captain. I don't know what he was. He was the only man I saw pass +that looked like an officer while they were shooting the negroes. + +Question. Where were you when the flags of truce were sent in? + +Answer. I was down under the bluff sharpshooting. + +Question. Is there anything else that you think of important to state? + +Answer. I don't know that there is. + + * * * * * + +James P. Meador, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Do you live in Tennessee? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I am a native of the State. + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow at the time of the attack there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; twice. + +Question. When? + +Answer. Once before I surrendered and once afterwards. + +Question. Did you see anybody shot besides yourself after he +surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw lots of negroes shot, and some few white men, +and I heard them shoot a great many. I was lying down under the bank. + +Question. What were our men doing when they were shot? + +Answer. They were begging for quarter when they shot them. + +Question. Did you see any of them shot while begging for quarter? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I heard an officer say, "Don't show the white men any +more quarter than the negroes, because they are no better, and not so +good, or they would not fight with the negroes." I saw them make one of +our company sergeants kneel down and ask for quarter, and another secesh +soldier came up and snapped his pistol at him twice; but they told him +not to shoot him. I saw them shoot others when they were kneeling down. + + * * * * * + +W. J. Mays, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was attacked? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State what happened there. + +Answer. They attacked us about six o'clock in the morning. Sharpshooting +commenced early afterwards, and kept coming closer and closer until the +skirmishers were drawn in about ten o'clock. After that they made +several efforts to gain the fort, and could not get the position. Under +this last flag of truce they gained the position they had been trying to +get all day. + +Question. Did you see them moving their troops when the flag of truce +was in? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I showed it to the boys. + +Question. What was the movement? + +Answer. The place was pretty well surrounded, but they were not on the +ground they had been trying to get all day. Under that flag of truce +they gained the place, some 75 yards from the fort, and placed +themselves under logs, with a better position. + +Question. Are you sure this movement was made while the flag of truce +was in? + +Answer. I know it. + +Question. Did others see it? + +Answer. Yes, sir; two boys near me, who were both taken prisoners. + +Question. Was anything said about it at the time? + +Answer. We spoke of it among ourselves at the time. We remarked that +under the flag of truce they were only gaining the position they had +been trying for all day. I was shot in the charge on the fort. The place +was then taken. I would not have fallen then, but our men after +surrendering found no quarter shown them, and they flew down the bluff +and ran over me and kept me down for some time, until I bled so that I +could not get up. I saw them shoot a great many after they surrendered. +I saw them shoot four white men and at least 25 blacks, some of them +within 20 feet of me, while they were begging for quarter. They pulled +one out of a hollow log by the foot and held him, when another shot him +close by me. There were two negro women, and three little boys, some 8, +9 or 12 years old, about 25 steps from me. The secesh ran upon them and +cursed them, and said, "Damn them;" they thought they were free to shoot +them. All fell but one, a little fellow, and they took the breech of a +gun and knocked him down. Then they followed up the men that were trying +to get away down the bluff, and some hours afterwards they came back +searching their pockets. They came on back then, looking over them, and +I saw one man with a canteen and asked him for a drink of water. His +reply was to turn on me with his pistol presented and shoot at me three +times, saying, "God damn you; I will give you water." But he didn't hit +me, though he threw the dirt over my face. I concluded it was best to +lie still, and didn't move any more until after dark, and then I crawled +in with some of the dead and laid there until about 9 o'clock the next +morning, when the gunboat came up, and I crawled down on the gunboat +with a piece of white paper in my left hand, and made signs, and the +boat came ashore and I got on the boat. The general cry from the time +they charged the fort until an hour afterwards was, "Kill 'em; kill 'em; +God damn 'em; that's Forrest's orders, not to leave one alive." They +were burning the buildings. They came with a chunk of fire to burn the +building where I was in with the dead. They looked in and said, "These +damned sons of bitches are all dead," and went off. I heard guns the +next morning, but I was in there with the dead, and didn't see them +shoot anybody. + +Question. Did you see any of the men in the fort shot after they had +surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw four white men and 25 negroes that I spoke of +that were shot in the fort. The white men didn't commence flying from +the fort, though they threw their guns down, until they saw there was no +quarter shown them. + + * * * * * + +James McCoy sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where do you reside? + +Answer. When I am suffered to live at home I live in Tennessee. + +Question. You don't belong to the army? + +Answer. No, sir; but I have been with the regiment six months. The head +officers were old acquaintances of mine. I once lived with Major +Bradford. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time the attack was made? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I was in Fort Pillow at headquarters. + +Question. Will you tell us what you observed there? + +Answer. About daylight in the morning part of the pickets came in and +said the rebels had captured some of the pickets and were coming. I had +not got out of bed then. Major Bradford was up immediately the alarm was +given. I had had my hands mashed a few days before. Major Bradford told +me I had better go on the gunboat, as I would be in the way because I +could not hold a gun. I went on board the gunboat, and about sunrise the +firing commenced. The gunboat immediately played up and down the river, +where I could see everything going on at the fort. I could not see over +the bluff. Major Bradford had a flag and stood on the edge of the bluff +and motioned to the gunboat where to throw their shells. We had a great +many guns on the boat, and about 20 used their guns all the time. The +rebel sharpshooters would come over the hill and shoot at the boat and +everybody that passed. + +Question. Where were you when the flag of truce came in? + +Answer. I was on the boat. + +Question. What did you see? + +Answer. As soon as the flag of truce came in the gunboat stopped firing. +It was about 3 o'clock when it came in, and while it was in the enemy +were creeping up constantly, sharpshooters and all, nearer and nearer. I +saw a great many creeping on their hands and feet, getting up to the +hill close to the fort. I don't know what was back of that. Some men in +the fort told me that they had advanced and got close to the fort before +the flag of truce was taken out. I saw them gathering around there all +the time, and all that time they were stealing from the commissary's +stores blankets and everything else they could get at. I reckon I saw +200 men climbing the hill with as much as they could carry on their +backs, shoes, &c. + +Question. Why did our officers permit that without firing on them? + +Answer. The gunboat, I think, was almost out of ammunition and had +nothing to shoot; and none of them supposed the gunboat would stop +shooting, but she ran out of ammunition. + +Question. Were you there until the place was taken? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What happened after that? + +Answer. About the time the rebels got over the fort there was just a +cloud of them, our men in the fort running out. About 500 secesh +cavalry, as well as I could see, came up and turned in to shooting them +down just as fast as they could. I heard a great deal of screaming and +praying for mercy. The negroes took a scare from that and ran down the +hill and into the river, but they kept shooting them. I was not more +than 400 yards off, on the gunboat. I don't suppose one of them got more +than 30 yards into the river before they were shot. The bullets rained +as thick in the water as you ever saw a hailstorm. + +Question. Were those men armed who were shot? + +Answer. No, sir; they threw down their arms. + +Question. How many were shot? + +Answer. I don't know how many. They lay thick there the next morning, +beside those they had buried. + +Question. You came back there the next morning? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What do you know about their burying men who were not dead? + +Answer. I don't know anything myself, only what I heard. + +Question. Did you go up there where they had buried them? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. What did you hear about it? + +Answer. I heard one of them say that he saw where a negro was buried, +and saw a large mass of foam and dirt where somebody had been breathing +through the earth. He brushed it off and saw a negro there still +breathing. I saw one or two who looked as if they had been buried when +they came on board. I heard one ask them if they had been buried, and +they said "Very near it." I don't think they were wounded. One of them +had been in the dirt. I don't know whether he played dead and was buried +or not. + +Question. Do you know anything of their killing the men in the hospital? + +Answer. Not of my own seeing. Mr. Akerstrom was in his office down under +the hill after the flag of truce was in, and made some signs for us to +come to him. Since that time I have been told that they wounded him and +then nailed him to a door and burned him up, but I didn't see that +myself. + +Question. When did you hear about this nailing to a building and burning +him up? + +Answer. Since we came up here. + +Question. Were you on board the gunboat the next day when some of the +rebel officers came on board? + +Answer. I was on board the Platte Valley. + +Question. Did they come with a flag of truce? + +Answer. A flag of truce was hoisted, and when we got in to the shore +some of the rebel officers came on board the Platte Valley. + +Question. How were they received by our officers? + +Answer. Just as though there had been no fight. Some of the officers on +the Platte Valley took one of the rebel officers up to the bar and +treated him, and some would ask the rebel officers what made them treat +our men as they did. He said they intended to treat all home-made +Yankees just as they did the negroes. I went to Captain Marshall and +asked him to let me shoot him. He said that the flag of truce was up, +and it would be against the rules of war to shoot him. + +Question. Do you know what officers treated him? + +Answer. I don't know; they were all strangers to me. The gunboat first +landed, and then the transport Platte Valley came up and took the +prisoners, and then another boat came up and laid alongside of her. The +three lay there together. + +Question. Do you know of anything further on the subject that is +important? + +Answer. I don't think of anything now. + + * * * * * + +William E. Johnson, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what regiment do you belong? + +Answer. I am a sergeant of company B, of the 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the attack there? + +Answer. No, sir; I was at Memphis. I came up to Fort Pillow the morning +after the fight, on the Platte Valley, within some six or eight miles +below Fort Pillow, and then got on the gunboat 28. + +Question. Did you go on shore at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. No, sir; I saw some of the rebel officers come down and go on +board the Platte Valley; and some of our officers were drinking with +them, and making very free with them. I did not particularly notice what +rank, but I took them to be captains and lieutenants. + +Question. Did you hear the conversation between them? + +Answer. They were making very free with one another, joking, talking, +and running on. I did not feel right to see such going on, and did not +go about them. + + * * * * * + +John W. Shelton, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where were you raised? + +Answer. I was born in Arkansas, but raised principally in Tennessee. + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when the attack was made there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you wounded there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Before or after the surrender? + +Answer. It was after I surrendered. + +Question. Where were you when you were shot? + +Answer. I was under the hill, going up the hill. + +Question. What did they say when they shot you? + +Answer. I asked them if they did not respect prisoners of war; they +said "no, they did not," and kept on shooting; and they popped three or +four caps in my face with a revolver after they had wounded me. + +Question. Did you see them shoot any others after they had surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir, lots of them; negroes and white men both. They shot +them down wherever they came to them. + +Question. Were you there the next day after the battle? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you see them shoot anybody the next day? + +Answer. I saw them shoot negroes, not white men. + +Question. How many did you see them shoot that day? + +Answer. I saw them shoot five or six on the hill where I was; they said +they shot all they could find. + +Question. Were you in the hospital there? + +Answer. I was in a house there with the wounded. + +Question. Did you see them kill anybody there that was wounded? + +Answer. They took two negroes out and shot them. + +Question. Did you see them burn any buildings the wounded were in? + +Answer. Not the one we were in. I was told they fired some buildings +that wounded negroes were in. + +Question. Were you where they buried any of the killed? + +Answer. I saw them bury some in a ditch in the evening. + +Question. Did they separate the whites from the blacks? + +Answer. I cannot tell; I was not close enough. I saw them carry them +there and throw them in the ditch. + +Question. Did you hear anything about their nailing a man to a building +and then setting it on fire? + +Answer. I heard of it, but did not see it. + +Question. When did you hear of it? + +Answer. After I came up here. + + * * * * * + +John F. Ray, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. At what time were you wounded? + +Answer. I was wounded about 2 o'clock, after the rebels got in the +breastworks. + +Question. Was it before or after you had surrendered? + +Answer. It was after I threw down my gun, as they all started to run. + +Question. Will you state what you saw there? + +Answer. After I surrendered they shot down a great many white fellows +right close to me--ten or twelve, I suppose--and a great many negroes, +too. + +Question. How long did they keep shooting our men after they +surrendered? + +Answer. I heard guns away after dark shooting all that evening, +somewhere; they kept up a regular fire for a long time, and then I heard +the guns once in a while. + +Question. Did you see any one shot the next day? + +Answer. I did not; I was in a house, and could not get up at all. + +Question. Do you know what became of the quartermaster of your regiment, +Lieutenant Akerstrom? + +Answer. He was shot by the side of me. + +Question. Was he killed? + +Answer. I thought so at the time; he fell on his face. He was shot in +the forehead, and I thought he was killed. I heard afterwards he was +not. + +Question. Did you notice anything that took place while the flag of +truce was in? + +Answer. I saw the rebels slipping up and getting in the ditch along our +breastworks. + +Question. How near did they come up? + +Answer. They were right at us; right across from the breastworks. I +asked them what they were slipping up there for. They made answer that +they knew their business. + +Question. Are you sure this was done while the flag of truce was in? + +Answer. Yes, sir. There was no firing; we could see all around; we could +see them moving up all around in large force. + +Question. Was anything said about it except what you said to the rebels? + +Answer. I heard all our boys talking about it. I heard some of our +officers remark, as they saw it coming, that the white flag was a bad +thing; that they were slipping on us. I believe it was Lieutenant +Akerstrom that I heard say it was against the rules of war for them to +come up in that way. + +Question. To whom did he say that? + +Answer. To those fellows coming up; they had officers with them. + +Question. Was Lieutenant Akerstrom shot before or after he had +surrendered? + +Answer. About two minutes after the flag of truce went back, during the +action. + +Question. Do you think of anything else to state? If so, go on and state +it. + +Answer. I saw a rebel lieutenant take a little negro boy up on the horse +behind him; and then I heard General Chalmers--I think it must have +been--tell him to "take that negro down and shoot him," or "take him and +shoot him," and he passed him down and shot him. + +Question. How large was the boy? + +Answer. He was not more than eight years old. I heard the lieutenant +tell the other that the negro was not in the service; that he was +nothing but a child; that he was pressed and brought in there. The other +one said: "Damn the difference; take him down and shoot him, or he would +shoot him." I think it must have been General Chalmers. He was a +smallish man; he had on a long gray coat, with a star on his coat. + + * * * * * + +Daniel H. Rankin, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the late attack there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state what happened there? + +Answer. The worst thing I saw was the rebels moving up on us while the +flag of truce was up at the fort. One part of their army moved right up +on the brink of the ditch, and when the firing began, they rushed right +into the fort. Before that the rebels were off two or three hundred +yards. They tried twice to make a charge, but they did not succeed; they +did not get within twenty or thirty steps of the fort then. I saw a +great many men shot after they surrendered, white and black both. + +Question. Are you sure you saw the rebels moving up towards the fort +while the flag of truce was in? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I saw them. + +Question. When were you shot? + +Answer. After I surrendered. + +Question. Where were you when you were shot? + +Answer. About half way down the bluff. + +Question. Had you your gun when you were shot? + +Answer. No, sir; if I had had my gun I would have shot the fellow who +shot me. He was not more than ten steps from me. He was loading his gun, +and I saw him shoot a man near me. As he fired at him I threw myself +over the bluff, catching hold of a little locust. He aimed at my body +and hit me in the leg. I then dropped down and got into the river, and +afterwards got out and crawled behind a stump with two of my company. +Some darkeys came there, and we told them to go away; we saw the rebels +were shooting them, and we allowed if they were not with us we might get +clear. I went back to where I was shot, and some fellow fired at us, but +did not hit us. We begged him not to shoot; that the place was +surrendered to them. One of our fellows threw up his hands, but they +fired at him and hit his arm. We were carried out about two miles from +the fort and then paroled. + +Question. How long did you stay where you had been carried out from the +fort? + +Answer. I staid there some eighteen or twenty hours; from about 8 +o'clock at night to about 4 o'clock the next evening. In that time my +wound was dressed, and I was paroled somewhere between 3 and 5 o'clock. +I got three of the rebels to help me up about a half a mile to a +citizen's house, for I was not able to walk. I found out that the +gunboat had a flag of truce, and I got an old man then in the house to +saddle up a horse and carry me to the fort. Two rebel doctors went along +with me. When we got there a rebel lieutenant colonel took my parole +from me, said it was forged, and that he was going to take me back. The +doctors told him my parole was right, and that I was not able to travel. +They took me down to the gunboat No. 28, and then I went from that boat +to gunboat No. 7, and then I went on the flag-ship. + + * * * * * + +Lieutenant William Clary, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the service? + +Answer. I am second lieutenant of company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked? + +Answer. No, sir; I was sent to Memphis the day before, and returned to +Fort Pillow the morning after the fight. I came up on gunboat No. 28. +The rebels were at Fulton, about two miles and a half below Fort Pillow. +We fired at them, and the rebels at Fort Pillow heard it, and thought we +were bringing up re-enforcements, and then they set the town on fire. + +Question. When did you get up there? + +Answer. Early in the morning, or little after daylight. + +Question. When did you land at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. We got there about 8 o'clock in the morning, and shelled there +an hour or so. The rebels were occupying the fort in large numbers. By +and by the rebels came down with a flag of truce, and I went on shore to +see what was wanting. One of the officers of the 6th United States heavy +artillery said he did not like to go on shore for fear the rebels would +kill him. I went on shore with one of the naval officers and saw General +Forrest's adjutant general, Major Anderson. He said if we would +recognize the parole of Forrest we might take our wounded on the +gunboat; and that was agreed upon. I rode all around the battle-ground, +and saw some of our dead half buried, and I saw five negroes burning. I +asked Colonel Chalmers, the general's brother, if that was the way he +allowed his men to do. He concluded that he could not control his men +very well, and thought it was justifiable in regard to negroes; that +they did not recognize negroes as soldiers, and he could not control his +men. I did not see any white men burning there; if there were any, I +did not recognize them as such. Their faces were burned, and some of +them were sticking out of the tents and houses with their clothes partly +burned. The negroes were lying upon the boards and straw in the tents +which had been set on fire. It seemed to me as if the fire could not +have been set more than half an hour before. Their flesh was frying off +them, and their clothes were burning. + +Question. How many did you see in that condition? + +Answer. I saw five. + +Question. Did they burn the hospital? + +Answer. I saw the hospital burning, but I do not know whether they moved +the sick out or not before they burned it. I understood the rebels went +in where there were some 20 or 30 negroes sick, and hacked them over +their heads with sabres and shot them. The negroes had been moved from +the heights up on the hill into two large tents by us; but I do not +think our men had been moved up there. I went through the hospital tents +up there the morning before I started down to Memphis, and saw them full +of colored troops. Dr. Fitch told me that he had his hospital flag on +every bush around the bottom of the hill. At the commencement of the +fight the major had told him to take his instruments and his medicines +down under the bluff and stick up flags there, and have the wounded +taken down to him. But the doctor said they did not notice his flags at +all; that some of his patients were wounded there. He was wounded +himself and taken prisoner and paroled. + +Question. Did you see them shoot any colored men that morning? + +Answer. I saw them shoot one man just before we landed with the flag of +truce. An escort of about 20 men rode up to a livery stable and set it +on fire. The gunboat fired at them but did not hit them, and they got on +their horses and rode off at a trot. There were some paths down the +hill, and a man came along down one of them; I saw them halt; the +foremost one, an officer I think, pulled out a revolver and shot very +deliberately at this man, and then they galloped off in quick time. He +did not kill the man, however, for I saw him walking along afterwards. I +do not know whether the man was white or black. + +Question. Did you hear anything of their nailing men to a building and +then burning it? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I heard of it. And I heard a lady say that a man was +nailed to a building that was burned. She said she was well acquainted +with Lieutenant Akerstrom before the fight took place. Some one asked +why he was not buried. Some of the rebels said he was a damned conscript +that had run away from Forrest. But I never heard Lieutenant Akerstrom +say any such thing. + +Question. Who was that lady? + +Answer. Mrs. Ruffin, the wife of Thomas Ruffin. + +Question. Where is she now? + +Answer. I think she is at Cairo now. Her husband did not get wounded, +but he was sick. I heard an ensign on gunboat 28 invite General Chalmers +and some of his aides-de-camp to come on board the gunboat, and I saw +Major Anderson and several other confederate officers on the Platte +Valley drinking at the bar, and I saw a couple of army officers drinking +there with them, and there might have been some naval officers with them +too, but I am not certain of that. The clerk of the Platte Valley, +General Forrest's adjutant general, Major Anderson, and an ensign of +gunboat 28, took the names of the paroles. I did not take the names +myself, because I was busily engaged going over the battle-field to find +out if any of our men were left alive. I heard a great many rebel +soldiers say they did not intend to recognize those black devils as +soldiers. They said this to me as I was speaking about the slaughter +there. They also expressed the opinion that if we had not been fighting +with black troops they would not have hurt us at all; but they did not +intend to give any quarter to negroes. + + * * * * * + +Dr. Stewart Gordon, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your position? + +Answer. Acting assistant surgeon, United States army. + +Question. Where are you now stationed? + +Answer. I have charge of ward N, Mound City general hospital. + +Question. Is that the ward in which are the colored men we first +examined yesterday? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Have you prepared a statement of the condition of the men in +that ward whose testimony we have taken? + +Answer. I have it here; it is a brief history of their cases, where they +were wounded, how they were wounded, and the condition they are +in.--(Appendix to this deposition.) + +Question. Were you here in the hospital when those men were brought in? + +Answer. I was. + +Question. Had you any conversation with them then? + +Answer. Yes, sir; with the greater part of them. + +Question. Did you hear their testimony yesterday? + +Answer. I did. + +Question. Did the statements they made to us correspond with the +statements they made to you when they were first brought here? + +Answer. They did. + +Question. So far as you can judge, from your experience as a medical +man, are their statements in relation to their injuries corroborated by +the appearance of the injuries themselves? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How many of those men have died since they have been received +here? + +Answer. Only one in my ward. + +Question. How many are there now who you think will not recover? + +Answer. I think there are three who will not recover; perhaps more. + + * * * * * + +_Ward N._--Private Elias Falls, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, shot +in arm while fighting, shot in thigh after being prisoner, flesh wound, +condition favorable; Private Duncan Harden, company A, 1st Alabama +artillery, shot in arm while fighting, arm broke, shot in thigh after +being prisoner, flesh wound, favorable; Private Nathan Hunter, company +D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in side and hip after surrender, flesh +wound, condition favorable; Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, company D, 1st +Alabama artillery, shot in thigh and right leg after surrender, flesh +wound, favorable; Private Daniel Tylor, company B, 1st Tennessee +artillery, shot in right shoulder, shot in right eye after surrender, +destroying sight, unfavorable; Private John Haskins, company B, 1st +Tennessee artillery, shot in left arm after surrender, flesh wound, +slight, favorable; Private Thomas Adison, company C, 1st Alabama +artillery, shot in nose and right eye after surrender, destroying sight, +unfavorable; Private Alfred Flake, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, +shot in left hand while lying sick in hospital, flesh wound, +unfavorable; Private Manuel Nichols, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, +shot in left side before, and right arm after surrender, flesh wound, +serious, unfavorable; Private Arthur Edmonds, company C, 1st Alabama +artillery, shot in head and right arm after surrender, causing fracture +of arm, condition favorable; Private Henry Hanks, company A, 1st Alabama +artillery, shot in left side after surrender, wound serious, condition +unfavorable; Private Charles Key, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot +in right arm after surrender, fracture of arm, condition favorable; +Private Henry Christon, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in back +before surrender, wound serious, rather favorable; Private Aaron +Fintis, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in both legs after +surrender, flesh wound, slight, condition favorable; Private George +Shaw, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot in left side of head, +shot in right wrist after surrender, not serious, favorable; Private +Major William, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot through nose +after surrender, not serious, condition favorable; officer's servant +William Jerdon, 13th Tennessee cavalry, shot in left ankle, amputation, +shot in left arm, fracture of arm after surrender, very unfavorable; +Corporal Alexander Naison, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in +right side of head after surrender, not serious, favorable; Private +Thomas Gadis, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right hip after +surrender, serious, condition unfavorable; Corporal Eli Cothel, company +B, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right leg while fighting, shot in left +arm after surrender, flesh wound, favorable; Private Sandy Cole, company +D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right thigh and arm after surrender, +flesh wound, condition favorable; Private Nathan Modley, company D, 1st +Alabama artillery, shot in right knee after surrender, injury of joint, +condition unfavorable; Private John Holland, company B, 1st Tennessee +artillery, shot in right thigh after surrender, flesh wound, condition +favorable; Private Robert Hall, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, sabre +cut of head and left hand while lying sick in hospital, died. + + STEWART GORDON, + _Charge of Ward N_. + + * * * * * + +Dr. William N. McCoy, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your position in the service? + +Answer. I am an acting assistant surgeon, now stationed at Mound City +general hospital, in charge of wards L, K, I, and H. Wards L, K, and H +have wounded in from Fort Pillow. + +Question. Have you prepared a statement of the cases of those of your +patients whom we examined here? + +Answer. Yes, sir; here is the statement.--(See appendix to this +deposition.) + +Question. Did you have any conversation with those wounded men in +relation to their injuries when they first came to the hospital? + +Answer. I did to some extent. + +Question. Have any of the wounded from Fort Pillow died in your wards? + +Answer. One in ward H. + +Question. Are there others who you think will not recover? + +Answer. There are two whose recovery I think is doubtful. + + * * * * * + +_Wounded in wards L, K, and H, United States General Hospital, Mound +City, Illinois._--W. P. Walker, sergeant, company D, 13th Tennessee +cavalry, received four wounds at Fort Pillow April 12, 1864. One ball +passed through left arm near middle third, fracturing humerus. Second +ball struck right side of neck, 1-1/2 inch below mastoid process, and +remaining in. Third ball made flesh wound in right shoulder. Fourth ball +struck left eye, supposed by himself to be a glancing shot; eye totally +destroyed. Done after the surrender. + +Milas M. M. Woodside, a discharged soldier from the 7th Tennessee +cavalry, also from the 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded by two balls, +first (pistol) ball striking just below insertion of deltoid muscle of +right arm, and remaining in; second (musket) ball striking centre of +right breast over third rib, and passing to the right and downward, +emerged at inner border of the scapula, about 6 inches from point of +entrance. Done after surrender. + +Jason London, private, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received a +ball, which struck the dorsal side of right hand about the junction of +carpal and metacarpal bones of index finger; emerged at carpal bone of +thumb; then struck thigh in front, about 6 inches above knee-joint; +passing over the bone, emerged on inner side. After being wounded, he +was knocked down by one of the fiends with a musket. Done after the +surrender. + +David H. Taylor, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received +five wounds. First (musket) ball passed in under the angle of right jaw, +fracturing the symphysis, where it emerged. Second ball struck front of +right shoulder-joint; emerged immediately behind caracoid process. Third +ball entered 3 inches below, and a little to the right of entiform +cartilage; passing downward, is lost. Fourth ball in left knee, +fracturing inner condyle of femur, and passed into popliteal space. +Fifth ball, upper part of middle third thigh; lost. Done after the +surrender. + +David W. Harrison, private, company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received +three wounds. First (musket) ball passed from behind head of humerus, +left side; emerged between clavicle and axilla, producing compound +comminuted fracture of head and upper end of shaft of bone. Second ball +struck left side 2-1/2 inches above ilium; ball not found. Third ball +entered at upper edge of scapula behind, passing under the bone, is +lost. Wounds received after surrender. + +James Calvin Goeforth, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, +received wound. Ball passed from right to left across the back, entering +at upper part of scapula; emerged at a point a little below and at the +opposite side, (flesh wound.) Done after the surrender. + +William A. Dickey, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded after the +surrender. Ball entered abdomen 4 inches to the right of umbilicus; ball +lost. + +Thomas J. Cartwright, company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received wound +in left shoulder, striking pectoral muscle near axilla, fracturing +clavicle; was extracted near the vertebral column at upper and outer +border of scapula. Done before the surrender. + +William L. McMichael, private, company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry, +received five wounds. First ball glanced along the upper portion of +right parietal bone, making wound (flesh) 2-1/2 inches long. Second ball +glanced ulnar side of left forearm at wrist joint. Third ball struck +left side of abdomen on a line from anterior superior process of ilium +to symphysis pubis; ball not found. Fourth ball struck near the +insertion of tensu of right side; passed downwards 4 inches; was +extracted. Wounds received after the surrender of the fort. + +Isaac J. Leadbetter, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, +received wound in left side. Musket ball struck over eighth rib and +plunged downward; is lost. Done after surrender. + +James Walls, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was wounded by +musket ball striking over origin of gluteus minemus of left side, and +passed upwards and across, emerging 11 inches from point of entrance +almost over the last rib of right side, and about 2-1/2 inches from +vertebral column. Done after the surrender. + + In charge of WILLIAM N. McCOY, + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, United States Army_. + + * * * * * + +Dr. A. H. Kellogg, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the service? + +Answer. I am an acting assistant surgeon, in charge of wards E and F, +Mound City general hospital. + +Question. Were you present yesterday when the testimony of the wounded +men in your wards was taken? + +Answer. I have but one under my charge who was wounded at Fort Pillow. I +heard his testimony. + +Question. Had you previously had any conversation with him in relation +to the circumstances attending his being wounded? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did his statements to us yesterday correspond with the +statements he made to you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; except he gave a few more details yesterday as to what +was said to him. He told me that he was wounded after he had +surrendered. + +Question. Have you prepared a statement of his case? + +Answer. Yes, sir; here it is. + +Woodford Cooksey, private, company A, 13th regiment Tennessee cavalry, +gunshot wound, with comminuted fracture of middle third of left femur, +received at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, _after surrender_. + + A. H. KELLOGG, M. D., + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._ + + * * * * * + +Doctor Charles H. Vail, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the service? + +Answer. Acting assistant surgeon in charge of wards A, B, C, and D, +Mound City general hospital. The adjutant of the 13th Tennessee cavalry +is in ward B. + +Question. Have you prepared a statement of his case? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and also of Captain Porter, who is in the same ward, +and who was too weak to be examined this morning. + +First Lieutenant Mack J. Seaming, adjutant 13th Tennessee cavalry, +gunshot wound of right side, received at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864. +Ball entered right side below inferior angle of scapula, between sixth +and seventh rib, ranged downward and was lost in muscles near hip. +Wounded after he had surrendered; shot by a man standing thirty feet +above him on the bank. Present condition of patient good, with fair +prospect of recovery. + +Captain John H. Potter, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded at +Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864. Ball fractured skull, carrying away a +portion of left parietal and frontal bones, leaving brain exposed for a +distance of an inch and a half; was wounded early in the fight by a +sharpshooter before the surrender. Present condition almost hopeless, +has remained insensible ever since he was wounded. + + CHARLES H. VAIL, M. D., + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., in charge of officers' ward_. + + * * * * * + +Doctor J. A. C. McCoy, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your rank and position? + +Answer. Acting assistant surgeon in charge of wards O, P, Q, and R, in +Mound City general hospital. + +Question. Have you any of the wounded soldiers from Fort Pillow in your +wards? + +Answer. I have. + +Question. Have you prepared a statement of their cases? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I have two statements here prepared at different +times; I will hand you both of them, as each one contains some +particulars not in the other. + +_Ward Q._--John F. Ray, private, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot in +popliteal space, ball lodged, done after surrender; John W. Shelton, +private, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot through left leg, middle +third, flesh wound, done after surrender; Joseph M. Green, private, +company A, 13th Tennessee, shot in right shoulder, behind, ball escaping +at middle of right arm, flesh wound, done after surrender; James H. +Stout, private, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot in right leg, producing +compound fracture of tibia, done after surrender; Thomas J. Thompson, +private, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot between sixth and seventh ribs, +ball passing downward is lost, done after surrender; Daniel H. Rankin, +private, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot through left leg, flesh wound, +done after surrender; Wiley Robinson, private, company A, 13th +Tennessee, shot in right arm and right index finger, flesh wounds, shot +through left index finger and through inferior lobe left lung, ball +lodged, shot through left thigh and through left ankle, flesh wounds, +all but one shot done after surrender; Daniel Stamps, private, company +E, 13th Tennessee, shot through right thigh, flesh wound, done after +surrender; James P. Meador, private, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot +through inferior lobe of right lung and superior lobe of left lung, one +shot after surrender; William J. Mays, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot +through right axilla and side, flesh wounds, done just before surrender; +James N. Taylor, private, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot in right hip, +ball lodged, done after surrender; Francis A. Alexander, private, +company C, 13th Tennessee, shot through right leg, flesh wound, done +after surrender; Nathan G. Fowlkes, private, company D, 13th Tennessee, +shot in left leg, compound fracture of both bones, done after surrender. + + J. A. C. McCOY, + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._ + +Francis A. Alexander, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot once after +surrender, dangerous; Nathan G. Fowlkes, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot +once after surrender, dangerous; Wiley Robinson, company A, 13th +Tennessee, shot seven times, six times after surrender, dangerous; +Daniel Stamps, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, +severe; James P. Meador, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot twice, once +after surrender, dangerous; James N. Taylor, company E, 13th Tennessee, +shot once after surrender, dangerous; William J. Mays, company B, 13th +Tennessee, shot once just before surrender, dangerous; John F. Ray, +company B, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; John W. +Shelton, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, +dangerous; Thomas J. Thompson, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot once +after surrender, dangerous; Joseph M. Green, company A, 13th Tennessee, +shot once after surrender, dangerous; James H. Stout, company B, 13th +Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Daniel H. Rankin, +company C, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous. + + J. A. C. McCOY, M. D., + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._ + + * * * * * + +The following is a statement prepared by Dr. M. Black of the cases under +his charge: + +Horton Casen, private, company A, 1st Alabama infantry, wounded at Fort +Pillow after surrender, gunshot wounds in hip and thigh; Jacob Thompson, +waiter, company B, 11th Illinois cavalry, wounded at Fort Pillow after +surrender, pistol shots through thumb and head and several blows with +blunt instrument (says with a gun) on head and neck, dividing skin in +several places; Henry Parker, company D, 1st Alabama, wounded at Fort +Pillow after surrender, gunshot wound in hip; Ransom Anderson, company +B, 1st Alabama artillery, wounded at Fort Pillow after surrender, sabre +cuts on head and hand and gunshot wounds in shoulder and chest; Mary +Jane Robinson, wife of a soldier at Fort Pillow, wounded by a rebel +after the surrender of the fort, at a distance of ten yards, gunshot +wound through both knees. + + M. BLACK, + _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._ + + * * * * * + +Surgeon Horace Wardner, recalled and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Have you heard our examination of the wounded in this hospital +from Fort Pillow? + +Answer. I have. + +Question. Did you have any conversation with them when they were first +brought to the hospital? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did the statements they made to you then correspond with their +statements to us? + +Answer. They did. + +Question. Do the nature and character of their injuries sustain their +statements in regard to their injuries? + +Answer. The character of the injuries of these men corroborates their +statements in regard to the treatment they received from the rebels. + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY, ILLINOIS, _April 23, 1864_. + +Captain Alexander M. Pennock, United States navy, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the navy? + +Answer. I am a captain in the United States navy; fleet captain of the +Mississippi squadron, and commandant of the station of Cairo and Mound +City. + +Question. How long have you been in the naval service? + +Answer. Since the first of April, 1828. + +Question. Will you please state what services have been rendered by the +naval forces here in checking and preventing the recent movements of the +rebel Forrest and his command in this vicinity? + +Answer. Two gunboats were at Paducah at the time the attack was made +upon that place; they rendered efficient service there. On receiving +information that Paducah had been attacked, or that there was a +probability of its being attacked, I immediately went to Cairo from +Mound City, with Captain Shirk, of the navy, and conferred with General +Brayman and General Veatch. A regiment was sent by General Veatch up to +Paducah. An armed despatch boat was also sent up, with Captain Shirk on +board, and Captain Odlin, assistant adjutant general on General +Brayman's staff, to ascertain the facts, and render such assistance as +might be needed. I was informed by both Captain Shirk and Captain Odlin +that the gunboats there, and the fort, had expended a great deal of +ammunition and were getting short of it. Ammunition both for the army +and navy was immediately sent up; a division of gunboats from the +Cumberland river, Captain Fitch commanding, came down after the fight +and re-enforced Captain Shirk at Paducah. + +Information having reached me that the rebels were crossing over into +Illinois in small squads, four gunboats were stationed by the two +above-named naval officers between Paducah and Mound City, to prevent +their crossing, and orders were given them to destroy all ferries and +skiffs, in fact all means of communication across the Ohio river. + +A gunboat had been stationed at Columbus, Kentucky. Hearing that the +surrender of that place had been demanded, I despatched Captain Fitch +with two of the Cumberland river boats, and another gunboat which was +here for repairs, to Columbus, with orders if all was quiet there to go +down the river a far as Hickman. I instructed him that the Mississippi +river must be kept clear at all hazards. After having given this order, +which was in writing, the captain of a steamboat came to me and informed +me that Fort Pillow had been attacked, and that the captain of the +gunboat stationed there sent word that he had expended nearly all his +ammunition. I directed Captain Fitch, if he could be spared from +Columbus, to go down to Fort Pillow with his three boats, and I +immediately had placed on board a despatch boat the ammunition required +for the gunboat then at Fort Pillow. And boats have since been cruising +up and down the Ohio river, and the Mississippi river as far as Fort +Pillow, for the purpose of giving convoy and keeping the river open. On +the arrival of Captain Fitch near Fort Pillow, he found the enemy in +force on this side of the fort, behind wood piles on the bank of the +river; they were burning wood and barges there. They were shelled and +driven off. Captain Fitch also prevented a detachment of rebels from +crossing over to an island, where a number of transports and other boats +had been detained, which the rebels desired to capture or destroy. He +convoyed that fleet as far as Fort Pillow, clear of danger. Afterwards +three boats were sent down to Hickman, for the purpose of giving +protection to such Union men as desired to leave and bring away their +goods, and if possible to capture any rebels that might be in the place. +A detachment of marines accompanied this expedition. The town was +surrounded twice, once by day and once by night; the guerillas had been +in there and escaped. The people of Hickman were warned that if even a +musket shot was again fired at a transport or other boat the place would +be at once destroyed. These boats have been moving constantly day and +night, and despatch boats have been furnished by the navy to convey +despatches for General Sherman and General Brayman, up the Tennessee +river, or wherever they might require. I would add that when Captain +Fitch returned from Fort Pillow he brought away with him refugees, women +and children, who had been left there, and ten wounded soldiers who had +been there for two days. + +Question. What, in your opinion, would be the competent military and +naval force to protect the public property at Cairo and Mound City? + +Answer. Two gunboats and 2,000 men. + +Question. State briefly your reason for believing so large a force is +required for that purpose. + +Answer. For the reason that we have public property extending along the +river for seven miles, and we should be ready for any emergency. + +Question. What amount of property would be destroyed here, should the +enemy get possession long enough to destroy it? + +Answer. It is difficult to estimate its value accurately. We have here a +a large number of guns, and all the ammunition and other supplies for +the Mississippi fleet, consisting of at least 100 vessels. + +Question. What effect would the destruction or capture of this property +have upon operations here in the west? + +Answer. It would paralyze the fleet. + +Question. For how long a time? + +Answer. For the entire season, besides giving the enemy means to act +more on the offensive--means enough to last them for a campaign. + +Question. Is it also true that all the army supplies for the western +department pass through here? + +Answer. To the best of my knowledge it is. + +Question. What force have you here at Mound City now? + +Answer. I have two gunboats, 85 marines, 100 mechanics, who have been +armed and drilled, one company of the invalid corps, and a detachment of +convalescents from the hospital. Any other forces that may be here are +merely temporary. + +Question. What force have you at Cairo? + +Answer. Seventy-odd marines. But those we have only to protect the wharf +boat and the inspection boat, which have on board provisions, ship +chandlery, &c. Admiral Porter has ordered me to move them up to this +point whenever I can do so without detriment to the public service. I +understand that there is a permanent garrison at Cairo of between 300 +and 400 men. When General Brayman was compelled to re-enforce Columbus, +he was compelled to take away from there all except about 150 men. + + * * * * * + +Captain James W. Shirk, United States navy, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the navy, and where are you +stationed at this time? + +Answer. I am a lieutenant commander, and commandant of the United States +gunboat Tuscumbia, and the 7th district of the Mississippi squadron, +which extends from the headwaters of the Tennessee river to Cairo. + +Question. How long have you been in service in the west? + +Answer. I have been attached to this squadron since the 6th of +September, 1862. + +Question. You are acquainted with the immense amount of public property +at Mound City and Cairo? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Do you consider that there is a permanent force here, both +naval and military, large enough for its protection? + +Answer. I do not consider that there has been force enough here +heretofore. + +Question. What, in your judgment, would be a force sufficient to render +that protection and security which the place ought to have? + +Answer. I should think it would take a couple of gunboats, and at least +two full regiments. The great danger to be apprehended here is from +fire. + +Question. Will you now state what services the navy has rendered in the +late raids in this region of country? + +Answer. I will state in regard to my own division. I returned to +Paducah, from a trip up the Tennessee river, on the 25th of March, at +noon. I immediately called upon Colonel Hicks, the commandant of that +post, as was my custom, to hear what news he had. He informed me that +the rebels had taken Union City the day before, and that he expected an +attack there that night. As I had just come down from the southern part +of Tennessee, and had heard nothing of Forrest there, and as I had been +told so many times before without cause that the rebels were threatening +to attack Paducah, I did not put much confidence in the report; at the +same time, I did not wish to leave the place unprotected by gunboats, +and I accordingly left the Peosta and the Pawpaw at that place, while I +came down to Cairo to communicate with Captain Pennock and the +authorities here, in order to find out whether or not there was any +truth in the report. I left Paducah about one o'clock and arrived here +about dark. Shortly after I arrived here the telegraphic operator at +Metropolis telegraphed down that Paducah was in flames. Captain Pennock +and I went down to Cairo to see Generals Brayman and Veatch. General +Veatch ordered a regiment of his troops up to Paducah to re-enforce +Colonel Hicks, and I immediately started up in the despatch boat +Volunteer with Captain Odlin, General Brayman's assistant adjutant +general. On our way up we destroyed several ferryboats and skiffs, in +order to prevent the rebels crossing the river. We arrived at Paducah +about daylight on the 26th of March. The enemy was in force about two +miles and a half from town. It was reported to me by my subordinate +officers that the enemy had attacked the place about three o'clock in +the evening of the day before; that the fort had been bravely defended +and preserved by the gallantry of Colonel Hicks and his small garrison, +assisted very materially by the two gunboats which I had left there; +that Forrest had occupied the town; that about ten o'clock that night +he had been driven out by the fire of the Peosta, she having gone up and +shelled the town for that purpose. I placed myself in communication with +Colonel Hicks on the morning of the 26th, and found that he was short of +ammunition, as were also the gunboats. I immediately telegraphed to +Captain Pennock to send up a full supply of ammunition for the two +gunboats, and 30,000 rounds of Enfield cartridges for Colonel Hicks. The +supplies were sent up by him immediately, and reached us that evening. +In the afternoon, about three o'clock, Colonel Hicks sent me a message +that the enemy were forming in line of battle at the head of Jersey +street, and requested me to open upon them with shell. I fired shell in +that direction, and about four o'clock the enemy left in the direction +of Mayfield. The captains of the Peosta and the Pawpaw both informed me +that the day before the rebels took advantage of the presence of women +there, behind whom they covered themselves, and fired at the officers +and men on the gunboats. The women came running down towards the fort, +and the rebels got behind them and fired at our people on the boats. + +Question. And the boats could not fire upon the rebels without killing +the women? + +Answer. No, sir. And the rebels also took advantage of a flag of truce, +while it was flying, to enter the town and plant their batteries there, +and to get into brick houses on the levee, from which to fire on the +gunboats, while the flag of truce was flying at the fort. I returned +that night at midnight to Cairo, and assisted Captain Pennock as much as +I could in making preparations to take care of the public property, as I +knew that some few stragglers had crossed the Ohio above, and we were +fearful they would come down and burn the public property here. Again, +on the 12th of this month, I was at Paducah. The rebels were reported in +force all around the town. I telegraphed to Captain Pennock, giving him +that information, and also that in my opinion Colonel Hicks ought to be +re-enforced. Another regiment was immediately sent up by General +Brayman, and Lieutenant Commander Fitch, commanding the 8th district of +the Mississippi squadron, by direction of Captain Pennock, sent four of +his gunboats to report to me for duty. I made disposition of four +gunboats, each with ten marines on board, to patrol between Paducah and +Mound City. The enemy hovered around us until about noon of the 14th, +when they made a dash upon the town, sending in a flag of truce to +Colonel Hicks, giving him one hour to remove the women and children from +the town. I immediately ordered all the transports to the Illinois +shore, and took the women and children over there. When the hour was up +I was informed that the rebels were in Jersey, a suburb of the town, and +Colonel Hicks wished me to go up there and shell them. I did so, with +two gunboats, carrying long-range rifled guns, firing about 120 rounds +of shell, which fell in among them. The rebels retired, and encamped +from three to six miles out of town that night. When the flag of truce +was sent in to the fort, squads of rebel cavalry came into town and +stole all the government horses there, and also a great many belonging +to private citizens. + +Question. Under the flag of truce? + +Answer. Yes, sir; as the flag of truce came in and went to the fort they +came into the town. + +Question. Is not that a direct and utter violation of the rules of +warfare? + +Answer. It is a direct violation of the flag of truce. I have had three +or four boats up the Tennessee river all the time. There are three up +there now, one having come out the day before yesterday. There were two +to have started this morning at daylight, and I received a despatch this +forenoon, saying that the enemy were reported to be crossing the +Tennessee river at Birmingham and above, in force, from the west to the +east side. I immediately telegraphed to Paducah and had two heavy +gunboats go up to ascertain the truth of the report. I do not credit +the story, but I have done all I possibly could do, with the limited +number of boats at my command. + +Question. How long have you been in the navy? + +Answer. Fifteen years. + +Question. You are acquainted with the administration of Captain Pennock, +of the navy, here? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What do you say of it? + +Answer. I do not think any one could have done more than Captain Pennock +has done, with the means at his command. + +Question. Why is it that we do not hear more of the transactions of the +gunboats out here, while we hear so much of what the army does? + +Answer. One reason is that there is a general order by Admiral Porter, +prohibiting any newspaper reporter from going on board any vessel in the +Mississippi squadron. + +Question. Is there a cordial understanding and co-operation between the +navy here and the military forces under General Brayman? + +Answer. I think there is to a very great degree. I never saw more +cordiality existing between officers of the different services. I would +like to say further, that during this late raid I convoyed General +Veatch's division up the Tennessee river. It was ordered up there by +General Sherman to land at or near Savannah, and go out to Purdy and the +Hatchie, in that way intending to catch Forrest. I afterwards sent up +another despatch of the same purport, from General Sherman to General +Veatch, which reached him at the landing near Purdy. I sent up a third +despatch to him, which was brought here by General Corse from General +Sherman. That despatch never reached General Veatch for the reason that +he had come back from Purdy, gone on up the Tennessee and disembarked +his troops at Waterloo, Alabama, and was out of reach of my gunboats. + +Captain Smith, commanding the Peosta, broke up a rebel recruiting office +at Brooklyn, Illinois, a week ago last Sunday. The recruiting office was +on board a trading vessel. He destroyed the boat, but saved seven new +rebel uniforms that were on it. He could not discover the recruiting +agent there, there being so many secesh sympathizers around there. + +Question. In your opinion, has General Brayman acted with vigilance and +activity, and done all he could with the forces intrusted to him, during +these raids? + +Answer. So far as I know, he has done all he could do. + + * * * * * + + CAIRO, ILLINOIS, _April 24, 1864_. + +Major General Steven A. Hurlbut, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the army? + +Answer. I am a major general of volunteers, commanding the 16th army +corps. + +Question. Where have you been stationed? + +Answer. I have been stationed at Memphis for the last sixteen months. + +Question. How long have you been stationed along the river? + +Answer. Ever since the battle of Shiloh. I have commanded at Bolivar and +Jackson, Tennessee, until about the 20th of November, 1862, when I was +ordered to Memphis. + +Question. Now, with regard to this raid of Forrest, was that raid made +in your department? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Please give us, in your own way, a brief account of that +raid. + +Answer. Forrest first crossed the Memphis and Charleston railroad last +December. I organized a force in Columbus, and moved it down and drove +him out. General Sherman then ordered all the available troops in my +command to be got together--leaving very small garrisons at the +important points--for the Meridian expedition. I marched and crossed +there, and marched back again. Two divisions of my command were then +detailed to go up Red river, under General Banks. As an auxiliary to the +infantry movement to Meridian, General W. S. Smith came to Memphis and +took command of all my cavalry and another brigade which he brought +over, all amounting to about seven thousand effective men, to move +across the country, drive the enemy's force out, cut his way across to +Columbus and Aberdeen, and to go down to the Mobile and Ohio railroad, +and join us at Meridian. He failed to make that junction; was met by +Forrest about West Point, and for some reason or other (I do not know +what) retreated and fell back to Memphis. The effect of a retreat, at +the rate at which they retreated, and the loss they met with, and the +retreating before an inferior force, demoralized the cavalry very +seriously. I returned to Memphis about the Three Points, marched, and +found that Forrest was organizing a very considerable force, so far as I +could find out, with the intention of moving up to West Tennessee. I had +orders from the War Department to send home all the veteran regiments +(cavalry especially) as rapidly as possible. I took an inventory of my +force, and found that I had about six thousand cavalry to two thousand +two hundred horses, which limited the efficiency of the cavalry. I +furloughed and sent home the 3d Michigan, 2d Iowa, 3d, 6th, 7th, and 9th +Illinois, and distributed their horses among the men that were left, so +as to keep men enough always, and more, to mount with horses. Forrest +moved up, and crossed the line of the Charleston and Memphis railroad, +towards Jackson, Tennessee, and occupied it. General Grierson was +directed by me to go out with his cavalry, feel him, attack him, and +cripple him as much as possible. He went out, and reported that he was +"a little too strong for him, and he could not touch him." My effective +force at Memphis consisted of 2,200 cavalry, 2,100 white infantry, and +2,400 colored infantry. I had the choice to move out a force +sufficiently strong to attack Forrest and leave Memphis open, with its +immense amount of government stores, ordnance, hospitals, and everything +of that nature. I became satisfied that if I moved out 4,000 men, (which +was the lowest I considered safe to send out,) and they should move out +50 or 60 miles into the country, the enemy, being all mounted, would +turn that force and come in and occupy Memphis, which I considered would +be a greater disaster than to allow Forrest to range in West Tennessee. +I therefore did not send them out, but I kept the cavalry out as far as +we could go, or dared go. It was not possible to divine precisely what +Forrest's intentions were. My own opinion was, that it was his intention +to organize a force, cross the Tennessee river, and operate upon General +Sherman's line of communication. I was at Cairo at the time Union City +was attacked. Four regiments and a battery of one of my divisions, which +were ordered up the Tennessee river, were here also. I directed General +Brayman to take them and throw them up to Columbus in rear of Forrest +when he was at Paducah, but they were peremptorily ordered up the +Tennessee river. + +Question. Ordered up by General Sherman? + +Answer. Yes, sir. The result was, that there was not force enough, in my +opinion, in the command on the Mississippi river, from Paducah to +Memphis, to operate upon Forrest with any prospect of success. + +Question. What was the estimated strength of Forrest's forces? + +Answer. Forrest's entire force, according to the best of my information, +was between 8,000 and 9,000 men altogether. That includes this division +of Buford's that operated up here. I have somewhere among my papers a +list of all his brigades. I know nearly all of them. I have run against +nearly all of them. He had five of the oldest regiments in the +confederate service detailed expressly for this purpose as a nucleus of +his organization. These were troops that had seen a great deal of +service along the line below Memphis--Chalmers's brigade, Ely's brigade, +Bell's brigade, and McCullough's. I cannot estimate Forrest's force at +less than between 8,000 and 9,000 men. The cause of his raid, +unquestionably, was the fact that so large an amount of troops which had +been holding this region of country had been removed--a portion of them +up the Tennessee river to Decatur, and a portion up the Red river--also +the fact that he knew perfectly well, from his spies at Memphis, the +condition of our cavalry. Memphis, from the nature of the ground there, +is a place that requires not less than five thousand men to garrison the +outer line. It is the worst place to cover that I ever saw. We have a +fort there that was built that would take seven thousand men as a +reasonable amount to line the parapets. We have immense stores there, +for from Memphis not only the 16th and 17th army corps are supplied, but +General Steele's army at Little Rock are supplied from there also. We +have large hospitals there, scattered all over the city. We have an +unsteady and unreliable population; and the daily interior guard duty, +for the city proper, requires over 300 men. I considered then, and I +consider now, that the removal of any force competent to make any +serious impression upon Forrest would have imperilled Memphis; and I +believe that was what General Forrest wanted done. + +Question. How large a force did you retain there for the safety of that +place? + +Answer. I retained the infantry--four thousand men. I kept the cavalry +out all the time as far as they could go. + +Question. How came you to reoccupy Fort Pillow? Had it been abandoned? + +Answer. No, sir. When I moved to Meridian, the 52d Indiana regiment +which had been there was withdrawn, and made a part of the expedition, +and the 13th Tennessee cavalry, which was recruiting, was moved down +there as a recruiting point. I afterwards re-enforced it by sending up +Major Booth with four companies of colored heavy artillery and six guns, +and a section of light artillery, making in all about 600 men. + +Question. Do I understand you to say that the post had never been +entirely abandoned? + +Answer. No, sir. When the 52d Indiana was taken away it was temporarily +abandoned until the 13th Tennessee came down to hold it as a recruiting +point. I considered Fort Pillow as a place which ought to be held with a +small garrison, and I think so yet, and any navy officer or river man +will tell you that the situation of the channel there requires it. + +Question. I am not questioning that at all. I merely inquired as to the +fact. + +Answer. I sent Major Booth there because I had great confidence in him +as a soldier. He was an old soldier who had served in the regular army, +and I considered him the best man I had for that purpose. I received a +report from him "that he could hold that post against any force for +forty-eight hours," which was all I expected him to do, and if he had +not been killed I think he would have held it. I have no doubt that his +death was the immediate cause of the capture of the place. + +Question. Just in this connexion, please to state why you deemed it +important to keep up a garrison at that place. + +Answer. The steamboat channel at Fort Pillow runs right under the bluff, +and brings every boat as it passes within musket-shot of the shore, and +a couple of guns mounted up above there would stop most effectually the +navigation of the river, and drive away any of the tin-clad gunboats we +have, for a plunging fire would go right through them, and they could +not get elevation enough to strike. The whole life of the army below, +especially while these large movements were going on, depended upon an +uninterrupted communication by the river, and the stopping that +communication for two or three days might deprive us of necessary +supplies just at the moment that they were required. These were my +reasons for holding the place. + +Question. What information have you in regard to the attack upon Fort +Pillow; its capture, and the barbarities practiced there? + +Answer. I am not positive about dates, but my recollection is that Fort +Pillow was attacked on the 12th of April. Just about dusk of the 12th a +boat came down to Memphis from Fort Pillow, bringing information that +the place was attacked, but that Major Booth was perfectly confident of +being able to hold out until he could be re-enforced. I immediately +ordered a regiment to be got ready, with four days' rations and an extra +supply of ammunition; took the steamer "Glendale," dropped her down to +Fort Pickering, and the regiment was in the very act of going on board +when another boat came down with the information that the fort was +captured. The order to move up the regiment was countermanded, for there +was no use in sending it then. There were at Fort Pillow two 10-pound +Parrotts, two 6-pounder field guns, and two 12-pounder howitzers, and +about 600 men. I cannot tell precisely the number of the 13th Tennessee +cavalry, for it was a recruiting regiment, and filling off and on. If +the men had been left in the position in which they had been placed by +Major Booth, and from which position he had already repelled an assault +of the enemy, I think they would have been able to have held the fort +until re-enforced. I believe that the ground there is so strong that 600 +men with that artillery ought to have held it; but the command devolved +upon a very good gentleman, but a very young officer, entirely +inexperienced in these matters. The enemy rushed on the fort from two or +three directions, and confused him, I think, and broke him and carried +it. The information which I have from all sources, official and +otherwise, is that--whether by permission of their officers, or contrary +to their permission, I cannot say--a butchery took place there that is +unexampled in the record of civilized warfare. We always expect, in case +of a place carried by assault, that some extravagance of passion will +occur; but this seems to have been continued after resistance had +ceased, when there was nothing to keep up the hot blood, and to have +been of a nature brutal to an extent that is scarcely credible, and I +have embodied in my official report to General McPherson (my present +superior officer) my opinion that the black troops will hereafter be +uncontrolable, unless the government take some prompt and energetic +action upon the subject. I know very well that my colored regiments at +Memphis, officers and men, will never give quarter. + +Question. They never ought to. + +Answer. They never will. They have sworn it; and I have some very good +colored regiments there. + +Question. What do you say of the fighting qualities of the colored +troops? + +Answer. That depends altogether upon their officers. If they are +properly officered, they are just as good troops as anybody has. I have +two or three regiments at Memphis that I am willing to put anywhere that +I would put any soldiers which I have ever seen, with the same amount of +experience. + +Question. Did you learn anything of the particulars of those atrocities +that were committed there at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. I learned the particulars from the reports of the officers. + +Question. Did you learn anything about any flags of truce being taken +advantage of? + +Answer. They always do that; that is a matter of habit with them. + +Question. And they took advantage of them in this case, as you learn? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and they did it at Paducah, and they tried it at +Columbus. + +Question. Did you hear anything about their setting fire to hospitals, +while the wounded were in there? + +Answer. I learn from what I consider unquestionable authority, that +bodies were found which had been wounded by musket shots, and then their +eyes bayoneted out; men wounded in a similar way, with their bowels cut +open; and I have heard many other instances of equal barbarity. + +Question. Did you hear, recently after that capture, of anybody being +nailed to a building and burned? + +Answer. I heard that Lieutenant Akerstrom was so treated. + +Question. Did you learn that from a source that you could give credit +to? + +Answer. I had no reason to doubt it, with the exception of the +identification of the body. The fact that somebody was so treated, I +consider to be sufficiently proven; the identification I think is +doubtful. + +Question. Is there anything more you wish to state? If so, will you +state it without further questioning? + +Answer. I do not know that I can state anything more than my opinion in +regard to certain things that might have been done. I do not know that +it is worth while to do that. As I am under censure myself, at present I +prefer not to. + +Question. Will you give us a description of the situation of Fort +Pillow? + +Answer. It is a very difficult thing to describe. The original +fortifications, as made by the rebels, were very much too large to be +held by any force that we could spare. It was intended for a very large +force; but there are two crowning heights--bold knobs--that stand up +there, which command the entire region of approach, and which Major +Booth was directed to occupy. He went up and examined the ground, and +reported to me. A light work was thrown up upon one of them, and there +was a portion of a work upon the other. The one to the south was not +occupied during the fight; the one to the north of the ravine, which +leads down to the landing, was occupied. That was the point which I +considered should have been held; and I think yet it could have been, +and would have been, if Major Booth had lived. + +Question. Can you describe the position in which the men were placed by +Major Booth? + +Answer. Major Booth had his artillery upon this knoll, and held the +slope of the hill with some rifle pits. From these rifle pits, as I am +informed, he repulsed the enemy. The troops were afterwards drawn in by +Major Bradford, into the fortification proper, and that was attacked on +all sides. My opinion is that Major Bradford lost his head--got +confused. The rush was too strong for him. The amount of the enemy's +force that actually attacked there I do not know, but from all the +testimony I could get, I should judge it to have been not less than +2,500 men. + +Question. Who do you understand led the enemy's forces? + +Answer. Forrest was there personally. I understand, however, that the +main body of the force was Chalmers's command, who was also there. There +was also a portion of Forrest's force there. Forrest will carry his men +further than any other man I know of; he is desperate. + +Question. Have we any force at Fort Pillow now? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Do you consider that a point which should be occupied by a +force, in order to make the navigation of the river safe? + +Answer. I do. + +Question. What force do you deem should be placed there to hold it? + +Answer. I think 500 steady troops, properly supplied with artillery, and +properly covered with works, could hold the place until +re-enforced--hold it, all that is necessary. + +Question. Did you ever have any instructions or orders to evacuate Fort +Pillow? or did you, at any time, ever propose to evacuate it? + +Answer. I never had any orders to evacuate it. My orders from General +Sherman were to hold certain points on the river. I never had any +instructions with regard to Fort Pillow one way or the other that I +recollect. I considered it necessary to hold it, and never intended to +abandon it. + +Question. Had it been held by us for some considerable time? + +Answer. It had been held since we first occupied the river. + +Question. Do not the same reasons exist for holding it now, that had +existed during all that period? + +Answer. The same. The reasons are geographical, and do not change. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Then I understand you to state that your instructions, in +spirit, required you to hold it, and that it was necessary that it +should be held? + +Answer. My opinion is distinct that it should be held always, and there +is nothing in my instructions that requires it to be abandoned. Some +discretion, I suppose, belongs to an officer in charge of as much range +as I have had to hold; and I certainly should not abandon that place, if +I had troops to hold it. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Will you tell us what you know about the attack on Union City? + +Answer. Colonel Hawkins, of the 7th Tennessee regiment, was at Union +City as an advanced post. He had in round numbers about six hundred men. +He was threatened by about fifteen hundred, I should think. They +attacked him, and were repulsed. General Brayman moved from here with +two thousand troops, and got down as far as the bridge, six miles from +Union City, before Hawkins surrendered. They commenced the flag-of-truce +operation on him, when they found they could do nothing else, +threatening to open upon him with artillery, and to give no quarter. +Contrary to the entreaties, prayers, and advice of all his officers and +all his men, he did surrender his post, with a relieving force within +six miles of him; and surrendered it, as I have no doubt, from pure +cowardice. + +Question. Was he aware of the re-enforcements approaching? + +Answer. I think so, but I will not be positive. General Brayman can tell +more about that than I can. I was at Columbus when General Brayman +returned. + +Question. Where is Colonel Hawkins now? + +Answer. He is a prisoner. This is the second time he has surrendered to +Forrest. + + * * * * * + +Captain Thomas P. Gray, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the army? + +Answer. For the last four months I have been holding the place of +captain in the 7th Tennessee cavalry, but I have not been mustered in +yet. + +Question. Had you been in service before? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. For how long? + +Answer. I enlisted in Illinois on the 24th of July, and was mustered +into the United States service August 1, 1861. + +Question. Were you at Union City when the late attack was made there? + +Answer. I was. + +Question. Will you give us an account of what occurred there? + +Answer. On the 23d of March last it was generally understood by the +troops there that the rebels were advancing upon us; we supposed under +General Forrest. That night two companies, I think, were ordered to keep +their horses saddled. The first orders I received were about half-past +four, the morning of the 24th. The adjutant of our regiment came to me +and told me to have my horses saddled. In perhaps half an hour after +that we were ordered into line, and I held my company in line for some +time waiting for orders. As Colonel Hawkins came by I asked him if he +wanted me to take my position at the breastworks, and he said he did. I +then took my position at a place where I thought I was most needed, at +some breastworks that my company had thrown up on the east side. At this +time the rebels were firing on our pickets. I think there was no general +charge until about half-past 5 or 6 o'clock. That charge was made by +cavalry, on the south side. They did not charge a great way, and were +easily repulsed. The same men then reassembled, dismounted, and charged +on the fort. This time they came very close to the breastworks, but were +again repulsed. After that our troops were very exultant, and ready to +meet the rebels anywhere. The next charge was made on the northwest; +that was easily repulsed. The last charge was made on the northeast, +fronting my position; that was repulsed tolerably easily, but with more +loss to the rebels than previously. Then there was sharpshooting for +about an hour and a half, and we were all in good spirits. At the +expiration of that hour and a half a flag of truce came in in my front. +I sent word to Colonel Hawkins that there was a flag of truce coming. I +went in person to meet the flag, and halted it about two hundred yards +from the breastworks, and asked them what they desired. They said they +wished to see the commander of the forces there. I told them I had +notified him, and he would be there in a moment. At that time they +ordered me under arrest, because I made myself easy looking around upon +their position. I demanded their right to order me under arrest under a +flag of truce, and told them I had as much right to look around as they +had. They then ordered me to sit down. I told them that was played out; +that I was not only there under the right of a flag of truce, but that I +was there to give them their orders if they made any mismoves. They gave +up then, as Colonel Hawkins was in sight. When the colonel came a +document was handed him. I do not know anything about it; for, as soon +as the colonel came near, I went back to the breastworks. The flag of +truce then retired. As soon as I got back I made it my business to go +around inside the breastworks to get a view of the rebel troops. They +were there upon stumps and logs, and every place where they could see. + +In about twenty minutes, I think it was, they came again with another +flag of truce. I met them as before. This time a demand for surrender +was handed to Colonel Hawkins. I remained there this time, and saw the +communication. I could once give almost the exact language of it. At any +rate, it was a demand for unconditional surrender, promising us the +rights of prisoners of war if the surrender was made; if not, then we +must take the consequences. After consulting with them for a little time +Colonel Hawkins was allowed fifteen minutes to go to camp and back +again. I remained there about fifteen minutes with the rebel truce +bearers. During this time I could observe in every move and remark they +made that they were beaten. Perhaps I should have said before, that when +Colonel Hawkins was talking about the matter, I gave my opinion in +regard to it. This was before the flag of truce came in at all. Colonel +Hawkins came down to my corner of the breastworks. I told him that the +rebels were beaten on their first programme, at any rate; that it was my +opinion that they would either consolidate and make a charge on one +side, or else they would leave the field, or else lie there and +sharpshoot until they could get re-enforcements. I state this merely to +show what our feelings were--that we were satisfied they were whipped, +were beaten. + +When the colonel came back from his second flag of truce I left them and +went inside the breastworks. I was satisfied from appearances that the +surrender would be made, and I hid a couple of revolvers and some other +things I had; I did not know whether I should ever find them again or +not. The troops considered that the surrender was made as soon as they +saw a rebel officer coming back with the colonel, and every man tried to +hide his stuff. Some broke their guns, and all were denouncing Colonel +Hawkins as a coward, in surrendering them without cause. That is all I +know of the matter up to the time of the surrender. + +Question. Do you say it was the opinion of all the officers and men, so +far as you know, that the surrender was wholly unnecessary? + +Answer. Yes, sir; every man I ever heard say anything about it. + +Question. To what cause do you attribute the surrender? + +Answer. Some said that the colonel was half rebel, anyway; others said +that he was a little cowardly, and surrendered to an imaginary foe--to a +force that was not there. Those were the reasons that I have heard. + +Question. What was your force there? + +Answer. About 500 men. + +Question. Did you have any colored troops? + +Answer. None. + +Question. What was the force of the enemy? + +Answer. As near as I could judge--and I tried to estimate their +number--they had about 800 after the surrender; I think they must have +had a thousand at first. + +Question. Could you have held that position against them? + +Answer. I am satisfied we could have held it all day, unless our +ammunition had given out. + +Question. Had you any information in regard to any re-enforcements +approaching to your relief? + +Answer. For the last two hours we had expected to see them at any time. + +Question. What reason had you to expect re-enforcements? + +Answer. We had a communication that they knew our situation at Columbus, +that they knew the rebels were advancing on us, and, of course, I +thought they would send us re-enforcements. + +Question. From what point did you expect re-enforcements? + +Answer. From Columbus. I remarked to the men, as soon as the surrender +was made, that I would be ten times more mad if I should hear afterwards +that our re-enforcements were right close to us, which I expected was +the case. + +Question. What occurred after the surrender? + +Answer. The men were marched on foot; the officers were allowed to ride +their horses. They were marched two days--it was rainy and muddy +weather--nearly east, towards Dresden. They had nothing to eat for two +days, until eight o'clock the second night, and then we got some +corn-bread and meat. The second day they turned from the Dresden road, +towards Trenton, through the country, not in the regular road. On the +evening of the third day we arrived at Trenton, Tennessee. There all our +money, and I think all our watches, were taken--I know some of them +were--and the pocket-knives were taken from the men: all done +officially, one company at a time. + +We laid over the fourth day at Trenton. On the fifth day at noon we +marched toward Humboldt, and arrived there in the evening, just before +dark. At seven o'clock, or nearly seven o'clock, I left them. My +intention was to go to the commander at Memphis and get him to send a +force out to make the rebels release our troops. Before I left the +rebels, after I had concluded to leave them, I commenced getting up a +plot to break the guards, and see if we could not redeem our name a +little in that way and get off. It was working finely, but I met the +opposition of the officers, because it was the general opinion that if +we were caught, one in every ten would be killed. I abandoned that and +escaped. I travelled on foot twenty-five hours without stopping, through +the brush, dodging the rebels and guerillas. I was then directed by a +negro to a farm where there were no whites, and where, he said, I could +get a horse. When I got there I found I was so tired and sleepy that I +dared not risk myself on a horse, and I secreted myself and rested there +until early the next morning; I got a little refreshment there, too. I +then got an old horse, with no saddle, and rode into Fort Pillow, just +forty miles, in a little more than five hours. I reached there a little +before noon, on the 30th of March. + +The morning after I escaped from the rebels I wrote myself a parole, +which screened me from a great many rebels whom I could not avoid. I was +chased by two guerillas for some distance at this place, where I stopped +over night, and got a horse. I knew two guerillas had been chasing me +over ten miles. I told the negroes, as I laid down, that if any +strangers came on the place, or any one inquiring for Yankees, to tell +them that one had been there and pressed a horse and gone on. They did +so; and more than that, they told the guerillas that I had been gone but +a few minutes, and if they hurried they would catch me. They dashed on +five miles further, and then gave up the chase and turned back. That is +the way I avoided them. + +After I got to Fort Pillow I got on a boat and went to Memphis, reaching +there before daybreak on the morning of the 31st of March, and waked +General Hurlbut up just about daybreak, and reported to him. + +Question. Did you have much conversation with these rebels, or hear them +express opinions of any kind, while you were with them? + +Answer. I was talking almost continually with them. Somehow or other I +got a little noted in the command, and a great many came to me to +discuss matters about the war. They seemed to be confident that they +were all right, and would succeed. I did not hear the command I was with +say they intended to attack Fort Pillow; but while I was on my way from +there to Fort Pillow, the report was current along the road that the +rebels were going to attack it. But I reported to Major Booth, when I +got to Fort Pillow, that I did not think there was any danger of an +attack, because I thought I should have seen or heard something more to +indicate it. I told him, however, that I thought it would be well to be +on the lookout, though I did not think they would attack him. I heard +the rebels say repeatedly that they intended to kill negro troops +wherever they could find them; that they had heard that there were negro +troops at Union City, and that they had intended to kill them if they +had found any there. They also said they had understood there were negro +troops at Paducah and Mayfield, and that they intended to kill them if +they got them. And they said that they did not consider officers who +commanded negro troops to be any better than the negroes themselves. + +Question. With whom did you have this conversation? + +Answer. With officers. I did not have any extensive conversation with +any officer higher than captain. I talked with three or four captains, +and perhaps twice that number of lieutenants. + +Question. Did you see Colonel Hawkins, or have any conversation with +him, after the surrender? + +Answer. I did not. I felt so disgusted with him that I never spoke a +word to him after the surrender. + + * * * * * + +Captain John W. Beattie, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what regiment do you belong? + +Answer. I am a captain in the 7th Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Were you at Union City when it was surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What was our force there? + +Answer. Something near five hundred, altogether. There were some there +that did not belong to our regiment. + +Question. What was the force that attacked you? + +Answer. From 1,500 to 1,800, as near as we could learn from the rebel +officers while we were with them. + +Question. What rebel officers were in command there? + +Answer. The surrender was made to Colonel Duckworth; but I am not +certain whether it was Duckworth or Faulkner who had the command. + +Question. Will you state briefly the circumstances attending the attack +and surrender of Union City? + +Answer. Our pickets were driven in about 4 o'clock in the morning. We +sent some men out to see what force it was. As soon as it was light +enough to see we found the rebels were all around our camp. Skirmishing +commenced all around. Those of our men who were out, and could get in, +came in; but some of the pickets did not get in at all. My company were +almost all out on picket. The enemy, mounted men, made a charge on our +camp; they came up on all sides, but we drove them back. They then +dismounted and made three other charges, and we drove them back each +time. I did not see but one of our men killed; and I did not see any +that were wounded at all. One of my sergeants was killed. About 9 +o'clock, I should think, the enemy got behind logs and stumps, and all +such places, and commenced sharpshooting. If a man raised his head up, +there would be a shot fired at him. We put out the best of our men as +sharpshooters. A great many of our men lay down inside of our works and +went to sleep, as they felt altogether easy about the matter. I think it +was about half past ten o'clock when the bugle was sounded to cease +firing; and fifteen minutes before eleven they sent in a flag of truce +demanding an unconditional surrender. Colonel Hawkins called the +officers together and asked them what they thought best to be done. All +were in favor of fighting. When he asked me about it I told him that if +they had artillery they could whip us; but if they had no artillery we +could fight them till hell froze over; those were my very words. Then +the telegraph operator said that he had seen two pieces of artillery. He +had my glass, and had been up in a little log shanty, where he could see +all over the ground. Colonel Hawkins said if they had artillery, and we +renewed the fight, like enough they would kill every man of us they got. +So we agreed then he should make the surrender on condition that we +should be paroled there, without being taken away from the place, and +each one allowed to keep his private property, and the officers allowed +to keep their fire-arms. He went out to make the surrender on those +conditions; and if they did not accept them, then we were to fight them +as long as a man was left. He went out, and the next thing I knew there +was an order came there for us to march our men out and lay down their +arms. We marched them out in front of his headquarters and laid down our +arms. The rebels then piled into our camp and cleaned out everything; +what they could not carry off they burned. We were then marched off. The +colonel had not then told us on what conditions the surrender was made; +he only said he supposed we would be paroled. + +Question. The enemy had used no artillery? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you find out subsequently whether or not they had any +artillery? + +Answer. They had two pieces of artillery, but they did not have them at +Union City. + +Question. Where was it? + +Answer. On the way from Dresden to Paducah. They told me it was in +supporting distance; that they could have had it at Union City in a +short time; but I heard so many stories I did not know what to believe. + +Question. Did you suppose at the time you made the surrender that +re-enforcements were approaching you? + +Answer. The colonel could not tell us whether any re-enforcements were +coming or not. + +Question. How far was Union City from Columbus? + +Answer. I think it was twenty-six miles; but I am not certain. + +Question. You supposed re-enforcements would come from there, if at all? + +Answer. From Cairo. + +Question. How far were you from Cairo? + +Answer. It is about forty-six miles from here to Union City. You would +have to go from here to Columbus, and from Columbus out to Union City. + +Question. How long did you remain with the enemy? + +Answer. From Thursday until Monday night. + +Question. How did you effect your escape? + +Answer. We were not guarded very closely. When I was ready to leave I +went into the kitchen, just after supper, and asked for some bread and +meat for a man who was sick. The cook gave it to me, and I then went out +the door and called Captain Parsons, and asked him if he did not want to +go down and see the boys; that I had got a piece of meat to take down. +He said yes; but instead of going down to see the boys we turned off +into the woods. + +Question. At what point did you come into our lines? + +Answer. We came in at Waverly landing. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Have you heard since that re-enforcements under General +Brayman were approaching to your relief? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you hear how near they had got to you? + +Answer. Within six miles of the place at four o'clock that morning. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Had you any conversation with the rebel officers while you +were with them? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did you hear them say anything about negro troops, &c.? + +Answer. Not much. I was talking with them about our regiment. They said +when they first started to come there that they were going to get us, +and seemed to be surprised to think we had fought them as well as we +did, for they said they expected to get us without any trouble. + +Question. Did they say why they expected to get you without any trouble? + +Answer. No, sir. They said they would parole Hawkins again, and let him +get some more horses, and knives, and things, and then they would come +when they wanted him again. + +Question. How did they treat our men? + +Answer. They gave them nothing to eat until the second night, when they +gave them about an ounce of fat bacon each. Some got a little bread, but +a few of them, however. On Sunday morning they marched the men up in +front of the court-house, passed them in one at a time and searched +them, taking boots, hats, coats, blankets, and money from them. + +Question. Did they leave you without boots, coats, or blankets? + +Answer. There were a great many of our men who had new boots, and the +rebels would take the new boots and give them their old ones, and so +they exchanged hats and blankets. + +Question. How many days were you in reaching our lines after you escaped +from the rebels? + +Answer. I reached Waverly landing on Thursday, the 7th of April, and +Cairo in two weeks from the time that I got away from them. + + * * * * * + +Captain P. K. Parsons, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Were you at Union City when that place was surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State briefly the circumstances attending the attack there and +the surrender. + +Answer. I think it was a few minutes after 4 o'clock in the morning that +our pickets were driven in by the enemy. I was then sent out to look +after them, and commenced skirmishing with them just at daylight. Before +sun-up they had surrounded the fort. They then made three or four +charges, two on horseback, I believe, but they were repulsed very +easily. They then did not do anything but use their sharpshooters until +about ten minutes before 11 o'clock, when they sent in a flag of truce +demanding an unconditional surrender. The colonel went out and received +the demand and brought it in. He then called the officers together and +asked what we thought of the matter. He turned to Captain Harris, as the +oldest officer, and asked him what we should do. The captain said he was +for fighting, and I believe other officers there said "fight." The +colonel then asked me to ride out with him, and I did so. On our way out +I told the colonel that I thought we had the rebels whipped unless they +had re-enforcements, which I did not think they had. They gave us +fifteen minutes more to consider. Then some officers said they thought +they saw artillery out there. Captain Beattie said if they had artillery +they could whip us, but not without. The colonel then went out and made +an unconditional surrender of the fort, about sixteen officers and about +500 men. I guess there were 300 men and officers out of the 500 who +wanted to fight. + +Question. Did you see any artillery? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. They had none there? + +Answer. No, sir; I rode out as far as I dared go to see, and I did not +see anything with the glass I had but an ambulance; there was no +artillery there at all. + +Question. To what do you attribute the surrender by Colonel Hawkins? + +Answer. It is hard for me to make up my mind about that. Colonel Hawkins +was a first lieutenant of a company in the Mexican war and I fought +under him there, and I have fought under him in this war, and I never +saw any cowardice about him before. I think this was one of the most +cowardly surrenders there ever was. Still, I cannot think Colonel +Hawkins is a coward; at least I never saw any show of cowardice in him +before. I could see no reason for surrendering when we had but one man +killed or hurt in the fort. + +Question. You escaped from the enemy? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did you effect your escape? + +Answer. I escaped with Captain Beattie. + +Question. How long were you with the enemy? + +Answer. Four days and a half. + +Question. Who did you understand was in command of the rebels? + +Answer. Colonel Duckworth. + +Question. How many men did he have? + +Answer. From the best information I could get there were about 1,500 of +them. Several of their officers said they had 1,250 men, regular troops, +and four independent companies. That was their statement to me. + +Question. Had you a good position at Union City? + +Answer. It was a very good position against small arms; it was not +strong against artillery. + +Question. Did you know anything about re-enforcements coming to you? + +Answer. We were looking for re-enforcements. We had a despatch to hold +the place, that re-enforcements would be sent. + +Question. From whom was that despatch? + +Answer. From General Brayman. + +Question. Did Colonel Hawkins receive that despatch before he +surrendered? + +Answer. Yes, sir; the day before the fight, before the wire was cut. He +was getting a despatch when the wire was cut; we did not know what that +despatch was. But the one he got before was an order to hold the place, +that re-enforcements would be sent to him. We were looking for them to +come that morning or that night. I heard some rebel officers and men say +they had come 450 miles for our regiment, and that they had known they +would get it. I asked them how they knew they would get it, but they +would not tell me. A rebel cursed Colonel Hawkins; said he was a God +damned coward, but he had good men. + +Question. Were our men in good spirits before the surrender? + +Answer. They were just as cool and quiet as you ever saw men; not a bit +excited, but talking and laughing. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Rosa Johnson, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where have you been living? + +Answer. I have a home at Hickman, Kentucky, but have been at Fort +Pillow. + +Question. Did you live there? + +Answer. No, sir; my son was there, and I went down to stay with him. + +Question. Where were you during the fight? + +Answer. I was on a big island, where the gunboat men took us. I staid +there a part of two days and one night. + +Question. Did you go back to Fort Pillow after the fight? + +Answer. Yes, sir; the gunboat took us over there. + +Question. When did you go back there? + +Answer. The battle was on Tuesday, and I went back Wednesday evening. + +Question. Had our wounded men been taken away when you went back? + +Answer. Yes, sir, I believe so. + +Question. How long did you stay there? + +Answer. I went about 2 o'clock in the evening, and staid till night. + +Question. Did you go about the fort after you went back? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I went up in it, expecting to find my son lying there, +and I went around, where I saw some half buried, some with feet out, or +hands out, or heads out; but I could not find him. I was so distressed +that I could not tell much about it. + +Question. Did you see anybody nailed to any boards there? + +Answer. We saw a man lying there, burned they said; but I did not go +close to him. I was looking all around the fort for my child, and did +not pay attention to anything else. + +Question. You came away that night? + +Answer. I think we did. + +Question. Is that all you know about it? + +Answer. That is about all I know about it. There was a pile of dirt +there, and there was a crack in it, which looked like a wounded man had +been buried there, and had tried to get out, and had jammed the dirt, +for they buried the wounded and the dead altogether there. There were +others knew about that. + + * * * * * + +Mrs. Rebecca Williams, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where do you reside? + +Answer. In Obion county, Tennessee. + +Question. Was your husband in that fight at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were you there during the fight? + +Answer. I was over on the island with Mrs. Johnson. + +Question. Did you go back to Fort Pillow after the battle? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What did you see there? + +Answer. I did not see anything more than what Mrs. Johnson saw. I saw a +burned man. He was lying right where a house was burned. He was a white +man, but as I was alone by myself, I felt frightened, and did not look +at it. I saw many buried there, some half buried, and negroes lying +around there unburied. I heard that there was a man nailed up to a +building and burned, but I did not see it. + +Question. What time of day was it that you were there? + +Answer. About 2 o'clock, the day after the fight. I saw that the man who +was burned was a white man. Mrs. Ruffin was there and examined it, and +can tell you all about it. + + * * * * * + +Captain James H. Odlin, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the service? + +Answer. I am a captain, and assistant adjutant general and chief of +staff for General Brayman, for the district of Cairo, where I have been +stationed since the 23d of January, 1864. + +Question. Do you know anything about the capture of Fort Pillow? + +Answer. Only from hearsay. + +Question. You are acquainted somewhat with the circumstances attending +the surrender of Union City? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you tell us about that? + +Answer. About 4 o'clock on the evening of the 23d of March we received a +telegram that it was likely Union City would be attacked within two +days. Shortly afterwards we received a telegram from Colonel Hawkins +that he would be attacked within 24 hours. He said his men had not seen +the enemy, but that his information was reliable. General Brayman +instructed me to proceed by special boat to Columbus, and from thence, +by special train, to Union City, to inquire into the matter, find out +the truth of the case, and let him know; also, to find out whether +re-enforcements were necessary. I left Cairo about 5 p. m. on the 23d, +arrived at Columbus about half past seven o'clock, and immediately +proceeded to the telegraph office and telegraphed to Colonel Hawkins, +asking him if he had any further information. He answered that he had +none. I then asked him if his information and his despatches could be +relied upon, and whether he had seen the enemy. He answered that none of +his men had seen the enemy; that he had not seen any one who had seen +the enemy, but that his information was entirely reliable, and that he +would be attacked, there was no doubt of it. + +I then proceeded, by special train, to Union City, and had a +consultation with Colonel Hawkins. He told me that the ferries on the +Obion had been destroyed, and that scouts whom he had expected in the +day before had not returned; that he supposed that they were captured, +or that it was impossible for them to get across the Obion. He said that +his men had not seen the enemy; that he could not get any of them across +the Obion in consequence of the rebel forces having destroyed the +private ferries, and guarding the other places. + +About half past 3 o'clock on the morning of the 24th a messenger came in +and stated that the pickets at the bridge on the Dresden and Hickman +road had been attacked and driven in, and that they were probably cut +off, which afterwards proved to be the fact. The messenger also reported +that, when shots were exchanged, he thought the rebels had brought +artillery to the front, but he could not be certain of that; that it +sounded on the bridge like artillery. I immediately directed Colonel +Hawkins to have his men saddle their horses ready for a fight. I +instructed him, if he saw fit, and thought he could not hold the place, +to abandon it and fall back on Columbus. He asked me how soon I would +re-enforce him if he remained there. I told him I would re-enforce him +just as quick as I could get the troops up there. He said he thought he +could hold the place with his regiment if he had some artillery; but +that he could not contend against artillery without he had some himself. +I told him I did not want him to retreat without having seen the enemy; +that he must have a skirmish with them, and feel their strength, before +falling back to Columbus; that I did not want the command disgraced by +retreating without seeing the enemy, which it would be if the reports +should prove false, or he found that he had fallen back before a small +number of men. + +I then told Colonel Hawkins I must leave, for my orders were not to +endanger the train, but to save it. The train consisted of nine cars and +a locomotive, and was loaded with stores from Union City belonging to +the government and to the railroad company, and 150 contrabands, +(railroad hands.) The last words I said to Colonel Hawkins were, that if +he found he could not whip the enemy, he should immediately retreat to +Columbus. He said that, if he did not fall back, he would hold the place +until re-enforcements reached him. I told him I would immediately push +forward re-enforcements; that the garrison at Columbus consisted of only +1,100 men in all, and that 900 and odd of them were negroes, who had +never been in a fight, and that re-enforcements would have to come from +Cairo. I wrote a telegraphic despatch at the time to General Brayman, +giving all the facts. But while it was being sent, the wires were cut, +and we did not get the half of it through. + +I then started to return to Columbus with the train, with the distinct +understanding with Colonel Hawkins that he should either hold Union City +until re-enforcements should arrive, or fall back to Columbus. The State +line bridge was burning as I crossed it with the train, the evident +intention of the rebels being to capture the train. I succeeded, +however, in getting it through to Columbus safe. + +Colonel Lawrence, commanding at Columbus, had telegraphed General +Brayman that communications with Union City were cut off; that I was on +the opposite side of the bridge, and that Colonel Hawkins was probably +attacked. General Brayman immediately forwarded re-enforcements to +Columbus, taking 2,000 men belonging to General Veatch's command, then +on their way up the Tennessee river. He had received telegraphic orders +from General Sherman not to take any of those troops out of their proper +course, but forward them as soon as possible up the Tennessee. As +transports were not ready for them, and as General Brayman could go to +Union City and back again before transportation would be ready, he +concluded to use some of the troops for the purpose of re-enforcing +Union City. The movement was made with as little delay as possible. He +arrived at Columbus about ten or half past ten o'clock on the morning of +the 24th, and immediately proceeded on a railroad train towards Union +City. Upon arriving within about seven miles of Union City, we were +informed, by citizens and some scouts, that Colonel Hawkins had +surrendered at 11 o'clock of that day; that the rebels had destroyed all +the works and the government property, and had retreated. General +Brayman being fully convinced that Union City had been surrendered, +everything there destroyed, and that the enemy had fled, returned to +Columbus, and from thence to Cairo, with the troops ready to be +forwarded up the Tennessee in obedience to the orders of General +Sherman. + +Question. Will you now state what you know in relation to the attack on +Paducah? + +Answer. About 8 o'clock on the night of the 25th of March we received a +telegraphic despatch from the operator at Metropolis, stating that a big +light was seen in the direction of Paducah; that it looked as if the +town or some boats were burning. The despatch also stated that the +telegraph repairer had come in and reported that he had been within two +miles of Paducah, and had heard firing there. We had received, previous +to this, no intimation from Colonel Hicks, commanding at Paducah, that +the place was in danger of an attack. In obedience to instructions from +General Brayman, I immediately got on a despatch boat, furnished by +Captain Pennock, of the navy, and with Captain Shirk, of the navy, +proceeded to Paducah. We found, on our arrival there, that General +Forrest, with his command of about 6,500 men, had attacked Paducah in +the afternoon, about 3 o'clock, the troops under Colonel Hicks having +only about fifteen minutes notice of their coming. Colonel Hicks's +scouts had returned from the road over which the rebels had come in, and +reported that they had heard nothing of the enemy. They were just about +sending out new scouts when the rebels dashed into the town, driving our +pickets in, and driving our troops into the fort. As the rear of the +battalion of the 16th Kentucky cavalry were marching into the fort they +were fired upon by the rebels. + +After fighting a short time, the rebels sent in a demand, under flag of +truce, for the unconditional surrender of all the forces under Colonel +Hicks's command, and all the government property, stating that, if he +should comply with the demand, his troops should be treated as prisoners +of war; if not, then an overwhelming force would be thrown against him, +and no quarter would be shown him. Colonel Hicks replied by stating that +he had been placed there by his government to hold and defend the place +and the public stores there, and that he should obey the command of his +superior officer, and do so; that he was prepared for the enemy, and +should not surrender. + +Forrest then again attacked the fort, making three different charges. +Our troops, both black and white, behaved in the most gallant and +meritorious manner, fighting most bravely. After fighting until half +past seven or eight o'clock in the evening our ammunition began to run +short, so much so that men and officers began to count their cartridges. +Colonel Hicks had only 3,000 rounds of small ammunition left when +Forrest made the second demand for a surrender. But Colonel Hicks, as +before, positively refused to comply with the demand. Firing then ceased +until daylight the next morning. + +During this cessation of firing I succeeded in getting into the fort +with re-enforcements and a small supply of ammunition from the gunboats. +The supply of ammunition from Cairo did not arrive until the evening. As +it was impossible to get any despatches through from Colonel Hicks, the +line being cut, we knew nothing when I left Cairo of his being short of +ammunition. The understanding we had with Colonel Hicks, before any +attack was made, was that we had a large supply of ammunition on hand; +that there were about 33,000 cartridges, calibre 58, on hand--that being +the calibre used by the troops there--and a large supply of artillery +ammunition in the fort. + +The next morning, about six o'clock, the enemy again advanced in line of +battle towards the fort. There was some firing on both sides, but it did +not amount to much. Some of the rebel troops, while their main body was +firing at the fort, were engaged in pillaging the town, stealing +property from private citizens, horses, and government stores, burning +houses, and committing all sorts of depredations. + +While the flag of truce was at the fort the first, second, and third +times, the rebel troops were taking new positions in line of battle, +although they had made a distinct agreement and understanding with +Colonel Hicks that while the flag of truce was in there should be no +movements of troops on either side; that everything should remain as it +was. + +While the fight was going on, women, children, and other non-combatants +came running down to the river towards the gunboats. The officers in the +fort and on the gunboats called to them to run down to the river bank to +the left of our fort. They did so, and under cover of the gunboats they +got on a wharf boat or a little ferry-boat and were ferried across the +river as fast as possible. While they were doing this the rebel +sharpshooters got in among them, so that we could not fire upon them +without killing the women and children, and fired on our troops in the +fort and on the gunboats, wounding one officer on a gunboat and two men. +They also made women stand up in front of their sharpshooters, where it +was impossible for us to return the fire without killing the women. They +also fired into houses where there were women, and where there were none +of our soldiers. They also went into a hospital, took the surgeon of the +hospital prisoner, and took a lady that was there and carried her off +and took her clothing from her, leaving her nothing but an old dress to +cover herself with. This woman, as well as Dr. Hart, the surgeon of the +hospital, were taken away by them as prisoners. All the prisoners taken +there by Forrest, with the exception of three or four men, were sick men +from the hospital, unable to move or walk from the hospital to the fort +without injury to their health. All the men who were able to walk were +brought from the hospital to the fort. They took the rest of the men +from the hospital, and under the third flag of truce offered to exchange +them. This Colonel Hicks and myself refused, because we thought it +treachery on their part. We also refused for the reason that we did not +think they had a right to take as prisoners of war men in the hospital +who were unable to walk without danger to their lives. Yet the rebels +took those men and marched them ten miles, and then camped them down in +a swampy piece of ground at night, with their clothes nearly all taken +from them. Some of them were left bareheaded and barefooted, with +nothing on but their pants and shirts, compelled to stay in that swampy +ravine all night long, with nothing to eat, and not permitted to have +fires. The next morning they were marched off again. I have certain +knowledge that for two days and one night those sick men were compelled +to march with the rebel troops without anything to eat, with hardly any +clothing, and a number of them without any boots or shoes. + +Question. Do you know that the rebels placed women and other +non-combatants in front of their lines as they advanced towards the +fort? + +Answer. They had women and children between us and their lines, and they +stood behind them, the women and children forming a sort of breastwork +for the rebels, as we were unable to return their fire for fear of +killing the women and children. Colonel Hicks reported to me that they +took several women and compelled them to stand in front of their lines +during the fight; that there were women and children between our fire +and theirs; that as the women moved the rebels moved along with them, +keeping behind them. + +Question. Have you any idea of the number of women and children they had +thus placed in front of them? + +Answer. It varied at different times. Colonel Hicks informed me that at +one time the rebels held six women in front of them, refused to let them +escape, but compelled them to stand there under the hottest of the fire. + +Question. Were those women so placed that we could not fire upon the +enemy with advantage without endangering the lives of the women? + +Answer. We could not fire upon them at that particular point without +endangering the lives of the women and children. + +Question. Do you know whether the flag of truce was violated by the +rebels at any time? + +Answer. Yes, sir, it was. While the flag of truce was in they moved +their troops into new positions; they marched their troops around to the +back of the fort, and brought them up through the timber, dashed up +towards the fort at full speed, then turned off towards the right of the +fort, taking up their position between the fort and the town. During +the first flag of truce they marched the majority of their forces, if +not the whole of them, down into an open common between the fort, the +river, and the town, along the river bank, then obliqued off to the +left, and took position in line of battle off to the right of the fort +as you faced the town; and at one time, while their troops were taking +position between the town and the fort during a flag of truce, they had +women placed in front of their lines. + +Question. While they were making the movement? + +Answer. Yes, sir. The rebel General Thompson with his forces took +position on the right of the fort between the hospital and the fort +while the flag of truce was at the fort. The fact of the rebel movements +was reported to Colonel Hicks, and he requested of the flag of truce +that they should be stopped, as they had violated their word, it being +distinctly understood that there should be no movements during that +time, and the officer sent an orderly to stop it, but it was not done; +the troops continued to move. After they had placed their troops in +position the flag of truce left the fort. As the flag of truce passed +from the fort down through the town, the rebel troops escorting the flag +shot down in the streets some citizens and some men straggling from the +hospital. A charge was then immediately made on the fort, at which time +the rebel General Thompson was killed. The rebels also, while the flag +of truce was at the fort, pillaged the town, and robbed citizens on the +streets who were on their way down to the river for the purpose of going +across. They pillaged the town right in view of our gunboats; and as +soon as the flag of truce left the fort our gunboats opened upon the +rebels, and drove them out of that part of the town. + +The morning after I arrived there, when the rebel forces advanced on the +fort, they sent in a flag of truce asking for an exchange of prisoners, +which was refused. It was a written communication from General Forrest, +asking, if his request was granted, that Colonel Hicks, with one or two +staff officers, would meet him at a point designated, when they would +agree between themselves upon the exchange. Colonel Hicks replied that +he had no authority to exchange prisoners; otherwise he would be happy +to do so. When this written reply was handed to the rebel officer in +charge of the flag of truce, he asked three or four questions for the +purpose of gaining time. Colonel Hicks and I both noticed this, and sent +him off as soon as possible. While this flag of truce was at the fort +the rebels were taking position. They afterwards fell back into the +timber. + +The main body of the rebels, Forrest with them, retreated on the +Mayfield road, while about 300 of his men remained in the town making +movements and feints on the fort, to prevent our sending out and +ascertaining his movements. Forrest, by that time, had found out that we +had been re-enforced with troops, and that more boats were arriving; +also, that the navy had re-enforced us with two or three more gunboats. + +In the afternoon, about 5 o'clock, by Colonel Hicks's consent and +direction, I sent word to the gunboats to move up opposite the town and +shell it at the head of Jersey street, our troops having seen squads of +rebels in that part of the city. This the gunboats did. After that the +town was quiet, the rebels who had remained there having been driven out +by the shells. + +Question. Do you know what was our loss and the loss of the enemy there? + +Answer. Our loss altogether was 14 killed--of which 11 were negroes--and +46 wounded; I do not know how many of them were negroes. The rebels lost +about 300 killed, and from 1,000 to 1,200 wounded. That is what the +citizens reported Forrest said, and we believed it to be correct from +the number of graves we found, and from other circumstances. Forrest +seized the Mayfield and Paducah train and carried all his wounded off to +Mayfield, except a few who lay near the fort. + +Our black troops were very much exposed. The fort was in bad condition, +and the negro troops, with the heavy artillery, were compelled to stand +up on the platforms to man the guns, their only protection there being a +little bank or ridge of earth about knee high. Our loss in killed +resulted from this exposure. The rebel troops got up on the tops of +houses, and also in the hospital, and fired down into the fort upon our +gunners. But the troops fought bravely, without flinching; as soon as a +man fell at the guns, one of his comrades would drag him out of the way +and take his place. The black troops, having muskets as well as serving +the artillery, would load and fire their muskets while the artillery was +being fired. The white troops were better covered and had more +protection; but they fought as well as any men could be expected to +fight. + +Question. Will you state to us what you know about the operations of the +rebels against Columbus? + +Answer. The first news we received of any operations against Columbus +was about 12 o'clock in the day--I do not remember the exact day, but it +was just before the attack on Fort Pillow. I received a written +communication by despatch boat from Colonel Lawrence, commanding the +post at Columbus, stating that he had received a communication from +General Buford demanding an unconditional surrender of the forces under +his command, with all government property, with the assurance that the +white troops would be treated as prisoners of war, while the black +troops, I think, would either be returned to their masters, or made such +disposition of as the rebels should see fit. To this Colonel Lawrence +replied that he had been placed there by his government to defend the +place and the government property and stores there, and that he should +obey the orders of his superiors; surrender, therefore, was out of the +question. + +The rebel general then offered to give Colonel Lawrence half an hour to +remove the women and children out of the town. Colonel Lawrence replied +that he should immediately notify the women and children to leave on a +boat; that if he (the rebel general) attempted to attack the place, the +lives of the women and children would rest on his head, but if he waited +half an hour he would have them all out; that he (Colonel Lawrence) +would not ask them to wait, for he felt amply prepared to receive their +attack. + +The flag of truce then returned. On their way out, or while the flag of +truce was at the fort, the rebel cavalry occupied themselves in stealing +horses that had been brought in by Union citizens, and stabled near our +picket lines for protection. The rebels stole something like twenty-five +or thirty horses belonging to Union men while this flag of truce was in. +That was the last Colonel Lawrence heard of the enemy that day. Colonel +Lawrence then gave notice that he should receive no more flags of truce +from Forrest; that as Forrest did not respect them, he should not +himself respect them. That was all that occurred at Columbus. + +Question. You have said that you went up to Paducah on a gunboat with +Captain Shirk, of the navy: did he co-operate cordially with the land +forces in repelling the attack upon Paducah? + +Answer. He did. Captain Shirk and all his officers did everything in +their power to aid us. He was very accommodating, even furnishing us +with ammunition, although he himself was getting short of it. He had but +a very small amount, yet he divided with us, giving us a share of what +he had. He also sent by boat to Metropolis all the despatches that were +sent by Colonel Hicks and myself to General Brayman, and he sent a +despatch boat to Cairo. To make sure that the information should get +through, and to have supplies forwarded to us, the gunboats did +everything in their power, and rendered great assistance in defending +the place. + +Question. Has Captain Pennock, of the navy, co-operated cordially with +the military authorities in their operations in this vicinity, where it +has been possible for the navy to co-operate? + +Answer. Yes, sir; Captain Pennock has always been on hand, always had +boats ready; has made such dispositions of his boats that he could at +any moment throw from one to three boats, and at one time as many as +five boats, on any one point in the district, whenever asked to do so. +At the time of the attack upon Paducah he was very prompt in furnishing +us with a despatch boat and supplying us with ammunition. I believe he +has done everything in his power to assist us in carrying out all our +movements and operations. At the same time Captain Pennock has labored +under the difficulty of being compelled to send some of his boats up the +Tennessee river with despatches for General Veatch. I mention that to +show that he has had to send some of his boats away. Yet he has always +been ready to assist us at any time, night or day. The best feeling has +always existed, and still exists, between the naval officers and the +military authorities at this post, and at all the posts in the district; +and they co-operate cordially in carrying out all orders and measures +that are deemed for the good of the service. + + * * * * * + +John Penwell, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where do you reside? + +Answer. Detroit, Michigan. + +Question. Do you belong to the army? + +Answer. I do not. + +Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked? + +Answer. Yes, sir; this last time. + +Question. In what capacity were you there? + +Answer. As a volunteer for the occasion. + +Question. Will you tell us, in your own way, what you saw there? + +Answer. Nothing occurred of much account--only the fighting part of +it--until after they sent the last flag of truce there. They kept on +fighting, but the fort was not surrendered. While the flag of truce was +outside the fort, and they were conferring together, I noticed and spoke +about seeing men going around behind the fort. They who were out with +the flag of truce came back and said they were not going to surrender, +and commenced fighting again. I had just fired my musket off, and heard +a shot behind me. I saw the rebels come running right up to us. I was +just feeling for a cartridge. They were as close as from here to the +window (about 10 feet). I threw my musket down. A fellow who was ahead +asked "if I surrendered." I said, "Yes." He said, "Die, then, you damned +Yankee son of a bitch," and shot me, and I fell. More passed by me, and +commenced hallooing "Shoot him down," and three or four stopped where I +was and jumped on me and stripped me, taking my boots and coat and hat, +and $45 or $50 in greenbacks. + +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 troops 295 + Total colored troops 262 + --- + 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. + +The rebels were here so near the gunboat that the crew under Captain +Marshall had to close their ports and use their small-arms. At one +o'clock p. m. the firing on both sides ceased. A flag of truce was sent +from the rebel lines to demand an unconditional surrender. While the +flag of truce was approaching the fort, I saw a battery of artillery +moved to a better position by the rebels, and saw their sharpshooters +approaching the fort from another quarter. At two o'clock the fight +began again; about fifteen or twenty minutes after I saw a charge made +by about two thousand on the breastworks and near it on the bluff. Sharp +fighting took place inside the fort of about five minutes' duration. I +saw their bayonets and swords. I saw the Union soldiers, black and +white, slaughtered while asking for quarter; heard their screams for +quarter, to which the rebels paid no attention. About one hundred left +the fort and ran down the bank of the bluff to the river, pursued by the +rebels, who surrounded them; in about twenty minutes, every one of them, +as far as I could see, were shot down by the rebels without mercy. + +I left at this time, getting on the gunboat. On Thursday, the 14th of +April, I met Captain Farris, of Forrest's command, about six miles from +Fort Pillow, at Plum point: his soldiers said they were hunting for +negroes. I asked him if they took any prisoners at Fort Pillow. He said +they took some of the 13th Tennessee, who surrendered, but no others. + + ELVIS BEVEL. + +Signed and sworn to before me this 23d day of April, A. D. 1864, at +Cairo, Illinois. + + C. B. SMITH, + _Lieut. and A. A. A. G._ + +A true copy. + + C. B. SMITH, + _Lieut. and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Wm. B. Walker, company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry._ + +I hereby certify that I was at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the 12th day +of the present month, when it was attacked by the confederates. I saw +nothing more than has probably been related by a dozen others, until +about the time of the panic and the retreat down the bluff by both white +and black Union troops. We were followed closely by the rebels, and +shot down, after surrender, as fast as they could find us. One of the +rebels, after I had given him up my money as he had ordered me, fired +upon me twice, after I had surrendered, and while I begged for my life. +One ball struck me in the left eye. The rebels had almost ceased firing +upon us, when an officer came down and told them to "shoot the last +d----d one of us," and "not to take one prisoner." He said it was the +order of the general, (I could not hear the name plainly, but I think it +was Chalmers.) Then the slaughter of the prisoners was resumed. I saw +some six white and ten colored soldiers thus shot, long after they had +surrendered, and while the negroes were on their knees begging to be +spared. + + his + WILLIAM B. x WALKER. + mark. + + Witness: WM. CLEARY, + _2d Lieut. Co. B, 13th Tennessee Cavalry_. + + MOUND CITY, _Illinois_, _April 23_, A. D. 1864. + +Sworn and subscribed to before me this 25th day of April, 1864, at Mound +City, Illinois. + + WM. STANLEY, + _Lieutenant and Assistant Provost Marshal_. + +A true copy. + + C. B. SMITH, + _Lieutenant and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Jason Lonan, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry._ + +I do hereby certify that I was at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the twelfth +(12th) of the present month, when it was attacked by the rebels under +General A. B. Forrest. I was ordered into the fort at the commencement +of the engagement. We kept up a continual fire on both sides until about +1 o'clock p. m., when a flag of truce was sent in, and firing ceased. +While the flag of truce was being considered I saw the enemy plundering +our evacuated quarters, and moving their forces up in large bodies, +getting them in position. We had been driving them all the morning. They +were at the same time placing their sharpshooters in the buildings we +had occupied as barracks. The object of the flag of truce not having +been agreed to, the firing again commenced. About one hour afterwards +the enemy charged on our works in overwhelming numbers, and the negro +soldiers, being panic-stricken, dropped their arms and ran down the +bluff. The whites also, when they found there was to be no quarter +shown, also ran down the bluff. The rebels ran after us, shooting all +they came to, both black and white. I also certify that I was myself +shot after I had surrendered, and while I had my hands up and was +imploring them to show me mercy. They also shot Sergeant Gwalthney, of +my company, while he was within ten feet of me, after he had given up +his revolver, and while he had his hands up crying out for mercy. They +took his own revolver and shot him with its contents twice through the +head, killing him instantly. I also certify that I saw the rebels shoot, +in all, six men who had surrendered, and who had their hands up asking +quarter. I further certify that I saw the rebels come about on the +ensuing morning, the 13th day of April, A. D. 1864, and despatch several +of the colored soldiers of the 6th United States heavy artillery, who +had survived their wounds received on the previous day. + + his + JASON + LONAN. + mark. + + Witness: WILLIAM CLEARY, + _2d Lieut. Co. B, 13th Tenn. Vol. Cav_. + + MOUND CITY, ILLINOIS, _April 23, 1864_. + +Sworn and subscribed to before me this 23d day of April, 1864, at Mound +City, Illinois. + + WM. STANLEY, + _Lieutenant and Assistant Provost Marshal_. + +A true copy. + + C. B. SMITH, + _Lieutenant and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Corporal Wm. P. Dickey, company B, 13th Tennessee +cavalry._ + +I do hereby certify that I was at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the 12th +day of April, A. D. 1864, when that place was attacked by the rebel +General Forrest. I went into the fort at the commencement of the action. +We kept up a continuous fire upon both sides until about 1 o'clock p. m., +when a flag of truce was sent in by the rebels, and while it was +being considered the firing was ordered to cease. I also certify that +while this was going on I plainly saw the enemy consolidating their +forces and gaining positions they had been endeavoring to gain without +success. At the same time their men were plundering our deserted camp, +and stealing goods from the quartermaster's depot, and from the stores +of the merchants of the post. They also at the same time put their +sharpshooters into our deserted barracks, whence they had fair view, and +were in fair range of our little garrison. The firing recommenced after +the flag of truce had retired. About one hour thereafter the rebels +stormed our works. They had no sooner obtained the top of our walls when +the negroes ran, and the whites, obtaining no quarter, ran after them. +The rebels followed closely, shooting down all who came in the way, +white and black. I also certify that I was myself shot by a rebel +soldier after I had surrendered, and while I had my hands up begging for +mercy. I also certify that I saw the rebels shoot down ten men, white +soldiers, within ten paces of me, while they had their hands up +supplicating quarter. I also certify that I saw twelve negro soldiers +killed long after they had surrendered. I also certify that I saw the +rebels throw several negroes into the river while they were begging for +life. One rebel came to me and took my percussion caps, saying he had +been killing negroes so fast that his own had been exhausted. He added +that he was going to shoot some more. I also certify that I saw negroes +thrown into the river by rebels, and shot afterwards, while struggling +for life. + + his + WM. P. + DICKEY. + mark. + + Witness: WM. CLEARY, + _2d Lieut. Co. B, 13th Tenn. Vol. Cav_. + + MOUND CITY, _April 23_, A. D. 1864. + +Sworn and subscribed to before me this 23d day of April, 1864, at Mound +City, Illinois. + + WM. STANLEY, + _Lieutenant and Assistant Provost Marshal_. + +A true copy. + + C. B. SMITH, + _Lieutenant and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY, _April 25, 1864_. + +_Statement of Sergeant William A. Winn, company B, 12th Tennessee +cavalry volunteers._ + +I was in Fort Pillow on Tuesday, the 12th of April, 1864, when the +attack was made by General Forrest upon that place. At the firing of the +first gun I hastened on board the gunboat, as I had been wounded some +time before and could not fight. The first thing I saw afterwards was +the rebel sharpshooters on the top of the hill and ours at +quartermaster's department, firing at each other, and the rebels were +also firing at the gunboat. The next thing I saw was a flag of truce +come in, which was in waiting some half an hour. This was about one +o'clock p. m., and as soon as it started back, the enemy immediately +started up the hill on the double-quick, not waiting for the flag of +truce to return. As soon as they came close to the fort and had their +sharpshooters distributed through our barracks, (which were just outside +the fort,) they opened fire upon the garrison, and then charged the +works. Those troops which I saw came from the direction that the flag of +truce did. I saw our men run down the bluff, the rebels after them, +shooting them down as fast as they came up with them. I saw twelve or +fifteen men shot down after they had surrendered, with their hands up +begging for mercy. Next I saw them turn their cannon on us (the boat) +and throw several shells at the boat, trying to sink her, but she +steamed up the river, out of range, leaving behind us a scene of +cold-blooded murder too cruel and barbarous for the human mind to +express. + + W. A. WINN. + +Sworn and subscribed to before me this 25th day of April, 1864. + + WM. STANLEY, + _Lieutenant and Assistant Provost Marshal_. + +A true copy. + + _C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + + MOUND CITY, _April 18, 1864_. + +_Statement of William F. Mays, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry._ + +I was at Fort Pillow on the 12th of April, 1864, and engaged in the +fight there. The pickets were driven in about six o'clock a. m., when +skirmishers were thrown out to ascertain the position and number of the +enemy. The contraband camp was then discovered to be on fire, and the +firing of small-arms was heard in the same direction. The skirmishing +lasted about one hour, when our skirmishers were gradually drawn back +towards the fort on the bluff. They then attacked the fort. Two assaults +were made by them, and both repulsed. This was about eleven or twelve +o'clock a. m., when a flag of truce was sent in, demanding a surrender. +While the flag was being received and the firing suspended, the enemy +were moving their forces into position, and occupied one position which +they had been fighting to obtain all day, but had not been able to gain, +except under the protection of a flag of truce. It was from this +position they made their heaviest assault, it being impossible to bring +our artillery to bear upon them. + +Question. Do you believe they could have taken the fort or that +particular position had they not done so under cover of the flag of +truce? + +Answer. I do not. They had been kept from it for six hours. + +Question. What further took place? Go on with your statement. + +Answer. In about five minutes after the disappearance of the flag of +truce, a general assault was made upon our works from every direction. +They were kept at bay for some time, when the negroes gave way upon the +left and ran down the bluff, leaving an opening through which the rebels +entered and immediately commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of both +white and black. We all threw down our arms and gave tokens of +surrender, asking for quarter. (I was wounded in the right shoulder and +muscle of the back, and knocked down before I threw down my gun.) But no +quarter was given. Voices were heard upon all sides, crying, "Give them +no quarter; kill them; kill them; it is General Forrest's orders." I saw +four white men and at least twenty-five negroes shot while begging for +mercy; and I saw one negro dragged from a hollow log within ten feet of +where I lay, and as one rebel held him by the foot another shot him. +These were all soldiers. There were also two negro women and three +little children standing within twenty-five steps from me, when a rebel +stepped up to them and said, "Yes, God damn you, you thought you were +free, did you," and shot them all. They all fell but one child, when he +knocked it in the head with the breech of his gun. They then disappeared +in the direction of the landing, following up the fugitives, firing at +them wherever seen. They came back in about three-quarters of an hour, +shooting and robbing the dead of their money and clothes. I saw a man +with a canteen upon him and a pistol in his hand. I ventured to ask him +for a drink of water. He turned around, saying, "Yes, God damn you, I +will give you a drink of water," and shot at my head three different +times, covering my face up with dust, and then turned from me, no doubt +thinking he had killed me, remarking, "God damn you, it's too late to +pray now," then went on with his pilfering. I lay there until dark, +feigning death, when a rebel officer came along, drawing his sabre and +ordered me to get up, threatening to run his sabre into me if I did not, +saying I had to march ten miles that night. I succeeded in getting up +and got among a small squad he had already gathered up, but stole away +from them during the night, and got among the dead, feigning death for +fear of being murdered. The next morning the gunboat came up and +commenced shelling them out, when I crawled out from among the dead, and +with a piece of paper motioning to the boat, she came up and I crawled +on board. + + his + WM. F. + MAYS. + mark. + +Sworn and subscribed to before me this 27th day of April, 1864. + + WM. STANLEY, + _Lieutenant and Assistant Provost Marshal_. + +A true copy. + + C. B. SMITH, _Lieutenant and A. D. C._ + + * * * * * + +_Official statement of facts connected with the attack, defence, and +surrender of the United States military post at Union City, Tennessee, +on the 24th of March, 1864._ + + CAIRO, ILLINOIS, _April 4, 1864_. + +On the 23d of March it was generally understood at the said post that at +least a portion of the rebel General Forrest's command were advancing on +us. At about eight o'clock p. m. of that day the advance of the enemy +were seen and fired upon, near Jacksonville, six miles from Union City, +by a small scouting party sent in that direction from our post. This +party reported the facts immediately to Colonel Hawkins, of the 7th +Tennessee cavalry, who was commander of the post. + +The picket guard was then doubled, and two or three companies were +ordered to keep their horses saddled during the night. + +I was notified at 4.30 a. m. of the 24th of March to order my horses +saddled. About five o'clock firing commenced all around the line of +pickets. The main part of company B, Captain Martin, were abreast, and a +part of company I, also, I think. The remaining force, about 500 +strong, were distributed around at the breastworks. The pickets were +driven in, with a loss of two killed and several wounded. About 5.30 a. m. +a cavalry charge was made from the south side. It was repulsed with +but little difficulty. The same were immediately dismounted and charged +again, this time coming within twenty or thirty yards of the +breastworks. They were repulsed again, and with considerable loss this +time. Immediately following this another charge was made in front, from +the northwest, and again repulsed. Immediately following this, the +fourth charge, and last, was made from the northeast, which charge +confronted my company, and were repulsed again with loss. This charge +was made at about 8 a. m. About this time the colonel came to this part +of the works; I remarked to him that it was my opinion the rebels were +defeated in their first programme; that they would either leave the +field or assemble and make a consolidated charge. Our troops were in +fine spirits. Sharpshooting lasted till 9.30 a. m., when an escort, with +a flag of truce, approached my position. I sent notification to Colonel +Hawkins of the approaching truce flag, and then advanced in person and +halted the truce escort two hundred yards from the defences. Then +Colonel Hawkins came; a document was handed him, the contents of which I +know not. At this time the rebel troops were in full view, in the logs +and stumps. The truce escort retired, and in twenty minutes after again +came. I again halted them on the same ground as before, and remained +with them during this interview. This time an order was handed to +Colonel Hawkins, which I read. As near as I can remember, it read as +follows: + + "HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE STATES FORCES, + "_In the Field, March 24, 1864_. + +"_Commanding Officer United States Forces, at Union City, Tennessee_: + +"SIR: I have your garrison completely surrounded, and demand an +unconditional surrender of your forces. If you comply with the demand, +you are promised the treatment due to prisoners of war, according to +usages in civilized warfare. If you persist in a defence, you must take +the consequences. + +"By order of + + "N. B. FORREST, _Major General_." + +Then followed a council of our officers, in which a large majority +violently opposed any capitulation whatever with the enemy. +Notwithstanding this, the colonel made a surrender at 11 a. m., which, +to the best of my knowledge and belief, was unconditional. No artillery +was seen or used. The surrendered troops were very indignant on hearing +of the surrender. Only one man had been killed and two or three wounded +inside of the works. It was generally believed to be a rebel defeat. Our +troops, after grounding arms, were marched away on foot. The rebel +troops were commanded by Colonel Duckworth, and as nearly as I could +estimate them, there were 800. + +A list of prisoners was made on the 26th, at Trenton, which numbered +481, including ten of Hardy's men and a few of the 24th Missouri +infantry, who were doing provost duty. + + T. P. GRAY, + _Captain, Company C, 7th Tennessee Cavalry_. + + * * * * * + + HEADQUARTERS POST OF PADUCAH, + _Paducah, Kentucky, April 6, 1864_. + +SIR: I have the honor to report in relation to the late engagement with +the rebel General Forrest. On the 25th instant my scouts came in at +about 12 o'clock m., bringing no news of the enemy's whereabouts. I +immediately ordered out others, and directed them to proceed on the +Mayfield road. They had gone but three miles when they were met by +Forrest's advance guard, who fired upon them. They hurriedly fell back +and gave the alarm, and in less than ten minutes after they reported, +the enemy were driving in my pickets, who opened a skirmish-fire and +fell back to Fort Anderson, according to previous instructions. I +immediately ordered the little force under my command to double-quick to +the fort, which order was promptly obeyed; yet, before they could reach +there, such was the impetuosity of the attack, that their rear was fired +into by the enemy. + +At 2 p. m. the enemy took position surrounding the fort, and a sharp +fight commenced, which in a few minutes became furious, and continued +for about one hour, when it was announced that a flag of truce was +approaching. I immediately ordered my men to cease firing, and sent out +to meet the bearer, from whom I received the following demand for a +surrender: + + "HEADQUARTERS FORREST'S CAVALRY CORPS, + "_Paducah, Kentucky, March 25, 1864_. + +"COLONEL: Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce +the place, and in order to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood, I +demand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all public property. +If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war; but if I +have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter. + + "N. B. FORREST, + "_Major General, Commanding Confederate Troops_. + + "Colonel HICKS, + "_Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah_." + +To which I replied as follows: + + "HEADQUARTERS POST OF PADUCAH, + "_Paducah, Kentucky, March 25, 1864_. + +"I have this moment received yours of this instant, in which you demand +the unconditional surrender of the forces under my command. I can answer +that I have been placed here by my government to defend this post, and +in this, as well as all other orders from my superior, I feel it to be +my duty as an honorable officer to obey. I must, therefore, respectfully +decline surrendering as you may require. + +"Very respectfully, + + "S. G. Hicks, + "_Colonel, Commanding Post_. + + "Major General N. B. FORREST, + "_Commanding Confederate Forces_." + +While the flag of truce was near the fort, and during its pendency, the +enemy were engaged in taking position and planting a battery. As soon as +the answer was returned they moved forward, and our forces opened on +them, and the fight became general. They attempted to storm our works, +but were repulsed. They rallied and tried it again, and met the same +fate. They made a third effort, but were forced to abandon their design. +It was in this last struggle that Brigadier General A. P. Thompson +(confederate) was killed. + +I now discovered, on examination, that my ammunition was growing short, +and out of 30,000 rounds, (the amount we commenced the fight with,) +27,000 had been already expended. In this emergency I ordered the +remainder to be equally distributed; the men to fix their bayonets; to +make good use of the ammunition they had, and, when that was exhausted, +to receive the enemy on the point of the bayonet, feeling fully +determined never to surrender while I had a man alive. When this order +was repeated by the officers to their respective commands, it was +received with loud shouts and cheers. + +The enemy's sharpshooters in the mean time got possession of the houses +around and near the fort, from which position they picked off some of my +gunners, shooting nearly all of them in the head. + +Towards dark the enemy took shelter behind houses, in rooms, and +hollows, and kept up a scattering fire until half past 11 o'clock, when +it entirely ceased, and the rebel general withdrew his command out of +the range of my guns, and went into camp for the night. + +On the morning of the 26th the enemy again made a demonstration by +surrounding the fort in the distance. As soon as I discovered this, I +ordered Major Barnes, of the 10th Kentucky cavalry, to send out squads +to burn all the houses within musket range of the fort, from which the +sharpshooters had annoyed us the day previous. + +While the houses were burning General Forrest sent in a second flag of +truce, with the following communication: + + "HEADQUARTERS FORREST'S CAVALRY CORPS, + "_Near Paducah, Kentucky, March 26, 1864_. + +"SIR: I understand you hold in your possession in the guard-house at +Paducah a number of confederate soldiers as prisoners of war. I have in +my possession about thirty-five or forty federal soldiers who were +captured here yesterday, and about five hundred who were captured at +Union City. I propose to exchange man for man, according to rank, so far +as you may hold confederate soldiers. + + "Respectfully, + N. B. FORREST, + "_Major General, Commanding Confederate Forces_. + + "Colonel S. G. HICKS, + "_Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah, Ky_." + +In answer to which I sent the following: + + "HEADQUARTERS POST OF PADUCAH, + "_Paducah, Kentucky, March 26, 1864_. + +"SIR: I have no power to make the exchange. If I had, I would most +cheerfully do it. + + "Very respectfully, + S. G. HICKS, + "_Colonel 40th Illinois Infantry, Com'dg Post_. + + "Major General N. B. FORREST, + "_Commanding Confederate Forces_." + +With the above General Forrest sent a list of the names of the prisoners +captured, (!) all of whom, with one exception, were convalescents in the +general hospital, and too feeble to get to the fort. + +The following troops composed my command during the fight: + +Companies C, H, and K, 122d Illinois infantry, commanded by Major J. F. +Chapman, one hundred and twenty men; 16th Kentucky cavalry, Major Barnes +commanding, two hundred and seventy-one men; 1st Kentucky heavy +artillery, (colored,) two hundred and seventy-four men, commanded by +Lieutenant R. D. Cunningham, of the 2d Illinois artillery, making a +total of six hundred and sixty-five men. + +Opposed to this was the rebel force under the command of Generals +Forrest, Buford, J. G. Harris, and A. P. Thompson, of six thousand five +hundred men. + +The casualties of my command were fourteen killed and forty-six wounded. + +The enemy's loss, according to the most reliable information that I can +obtain, was three hundred killed and from one thousand to twelve hundred +wounded. His killed and wounded may be safely set down at fifteen +hundred. + +General Forrest admitted, in conversation with some of his friends in +this city, that in no engagement during the war had he been so badly cut +up and crippled as at this place. + +Our loss in government stores was inconsiderable. The quartermaster's +depot, a temporary wooden building, was burned, and in consequence +thereof a small lot of quartermaster's property was lost. Our commissary +stores, and most of our government horses, mules, wagons, &c., were +saved. + +In justice to the officers and soldiers under my command, allow me to +say they acted _well_ their part, proving themselves worthy of the great +cause in which they are engaged, and all deserving of the highest +praise. + +The three companies of the 122d Illinois were the only portion of my +command that had ever been under fire before. + +And here permit me to remark that I have been one of those men who never +had much confidence in colored troops fighting, but those doubts are now +all removed, for they fought as bravely as any troops in the fort. + +The gunboats Peosta, Captain Smith, and Paw Paw, Captain O'Neal, were +present and rendered valuable aid in shelling the city and operating on +the flank of the enemy as they surrounded the fort. + +A list of the names of the killed and wounded I will furnish hereafter. + +Respectfully submitted. + + S. G. HICKS, + _Colonel 40th Illinois Infantry, Commanding Post_. + + Captain J. H. ODLIN, + _Assistant Adjutant General_. + + * * * * * + + HEADQUARTERS CONFEDERATE STATES, + _Before Columbus, Kentucky, April 13, 1864_. + +Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison by force, I desire to +avoid the shedding of blood, and therefore demand the unconditional +surrender of the forces under your command. Should you surrender, the +negroes now in arms will be returned to their masters. Should I, +however, be compelled to take the place, no quarter will be shown to the +negro troops whatever; the white troops will be treated as prisoners of +war. + +I am, sir, yours, + + A. BUFORD, _Brigadier General_. + + The COMMANDING OFFICER + _United States Forces, Columbus, Kentucky_. + + * * * * * + + HEADQUARTERS OF THE POST, + _Columbus, Kentucky, April 13, 1864_. + +GENERAL: Your communication of this date to hand. In reply, I would +state that, being placed by my government with adequate force to hold +and repel all enemies from my post, surrender is out of the question. + +I am, general, very respectfully, + + WILLIAM HUDSON LAWRENCE, + _Colonel 34th New Jersey Volunteers, Commanding Post_. + + Brigadier General A. BUFORD + _Commanding Confederate forces before Columbus, Ky_. + + * * * * * + +The following affidavit was furnished, at the request of the committee, +by General W. S. Rosecrans, from St. Louis: + + "HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, + "_Saint Louis, April 26, 1864_. + +"Respectfully forwarded to Hon. B. F. Wade, Cairo, Illinois, chairman +congressional Committee on Conduct of the War. + + "W. S. ROSECRANS, + "_Major General, Commanding_. + + "By O. D. GREEN, A. A. G., + "_Absence of General_." + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Edward B. Benton, upon oath, relative to the massacre by +the confederate troops under General Forrest, at Fort Pillow, +Tennessee._ + + +I was born in Waltham, Vermont. + +Question. Where have you resided last? + +Answer. I was in Missouri engaged in furnishing beef to the government +troops on the North Missouri railroad until a year ago last July. I then +went down to Fort Pillow, and have been there ever since. + +Question. What was your business there? + +Answer. I owned 215 acres of the fort, bordering on the river, and the +very land we fought on. I was putting in 100 acres of cotton just +outside the fortifications, which was my principal business. + +Question. You lived outside the fort? + +Answer. Yes, sir--slept there. I was in the fort every day; it was only +about a mile from the landing--not a mile from the fortifications. + +Question. Just say when you saw Forrest's men; the day and the time of +day, and what you did. + +Answer. On Tuesday morning, the 12th of this month, I was awakened about +five o'clock, or half past five, by a little darkey boy, who came up to +my room and says: "Oh, Mr. Benton, all of Forrest's men have come, and +they are just going into the fort. What will I do?" I got out of bed and +looked out of the window towards the fort, and saw about three or four +hundred of Forrest's men drawn up in line, and some one was making a +speech to them, which was answered by cheering. They cheered, and then +the pickets fired. I put some things in my valise and started for the +fort in a roundabout way, and got in, by running the pickets, about six +o'clock, and went immediately to Major Booth and asked for a gun, and +took my stand with the soldiers inside the breastworks, where I remained +and shot at every person of Forrest's men that I could get a chance at, +firing forty-eight shots in all, until the flag of truce was sent in. + +Question. About what was the time of day it came in? + +Answer. It came in about two o'clock, I should think--half past one or +two o'clock in the afternoon. + +Question. Had they made any attack then? + +Answer. Oh, yes, sir. + +Question. Had they tried to carry the fort by storm and been repulsed? + +Answer. At one time the confederate troops had all disappeared. + +Question. Were four hundred all there were there? + +Answer. Those were all I saw there. This was when they first made their +appearance when I first saw these four hundred. After getting into the +fort we saw more than a thousand coming in at the different passes, and +the sharpshooters were stationed on every hill on every side of us +except the river side. + +Question. Do you recollect how many attacks they made to carry the fort +before the flag of truce came? + +Answer. It is not proper to call their fighting but one attack upon the +fort, although they all, or nearly all, seemed to be driven outside the +outside works at one time, and soon came back fighting harder and in +greater force than before. + +Question. Did they use artillery? + +Answer. Yes, sir. They did not hurt us with that; they shot at the +gunboats. + +Question. When the flag of truce came in did they make any disposition +of their troops around the fort there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; after the flag of truce was sent in and the firing +ceased they came up on all sides to within ten yards of the very +embankments that screened us. + +Question. While the flag of truce was waiting? + +Answer. Yes, sir; more especially on the northern side, just under the +bank looking towards Coal Creek. + +Question. How long was that flag inside of our lines? + +Answer. One hour was the time. I suppose it was all of an hour. + +Question. Do you know the nature of it? + +Answer. It was for an unconditional surrender. + +Question. It was refused by Major Booth? + +Answer. By Major Bradford, yes, sir. Major Booth had been killed. He +asked for time to consult with the gunboat, and finally returned the +answer that there was none of Hawkins's men there, and he never would +surrender. + +Question. Did not Major Bradford make any protest against troops coming +up under the flag in that way? + +Answer. I don't know, sir. + +Question. When the flag went back did they commence firing again? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Kept it up for how long? + +Answer. They commenced firing again, but the firing didn't last fifteen +minutes. Up to this time there had not been twenty killed on our side. + +Question. What was the strength of the garrison? + +Answer. 580, I think, just. + +Question. How many of these were negroes? + +Answer. About 380--nearly 400--I don't know exactly to a man. + +Question. How many citizens besides yourself? + +Answer. William W. Cutler, of Chicago, and a young man by the name of +Robinson; he was a soldier but in citizen's clothes, and got off on that +plea. + +Question. The second flag that came in--about how long was it after the +first? + +Answer. Well, there was no _second_ flag of truce, except the one. There +was no firing in the interim. + +Question. Was there no firing while the first was in? + +Answer. No, sir, not a single shot fired on either side. After the flag +of truce had been rejected, or the surrender had been rejected, they +were so close to the fort that about 3,000 of them just sprang right in, +and the whole garrison threw down their arms at once. The bigger portion +of the darkeys jumped down the bank towards the Mississippi river, +without any arms at all, and were followed by Forrest's men and shot +indiscriminately, black and white, with handkerchiefs held over them in +a great number of instances--as many as fifty I should think. + +Question. Did you see any of those prisoners formed in line and shot +down? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How many? + +Answer. They were collected at least four different times. + +Question. How long a line? + +Answer. Well, it was more in a collection than it was properly in a +straight line. There was a line probably as long as this room, or +longer--about thirty or thirty-five feet. + +Question. These lines were scattered by rebel shots several times? + +Answer. They were. + +Question. These men were unarmed? + +Answer. Unarmed; no arms of any description, and they holding up both +hands begging for quarter. + +Question. Were you put in the line? + +Answer. No, sir; I was not. It was attempted to put me in line, but I +clung to a man who tried to shoot me, but I caught his gun and prevented +him, and he took my money from me, some seventy dollars, and ordered me +into line, raising his gun to strike me; and as I came to the line the +captain made a feint to strike me with his sword, and told me to give +him my pocket book, which I did, and as he turned to look after others, +I sprang away and clung close to this man that had just taken my money. +I said to him that he had taken all my money, and he must keep me from +being shot like a dog, as I was a citizen, and had nothing to do with +the fight. He abused me in every way by bad language, saying that we had +fought them like devils, and tried to kill all of Forrest's men, until +we came to the back of the stores, where he gave me a soldier's coat and +told me to wait a moment until he could step in and steal his share. As +soon as I was left I took some clothing, a saddle blanket, and halter +that were there and started out of the fort as one of Forrest's men, but +on the way I saw three persons shot--mulattoes and blacks--shot down +singly in cold blood. I succeeded in getting over the fortifications and +hid under fallen timber, where I remained until dark. After dark I +attempted to go towards Hatchie River bottom, but the fallen timber +being so bad I got lost, and wandered near the Pass No. 2, leading out +of the fort, inside of it, where I could see all, where I laid until the +next day about two o'clock. I heard fifty-one or fifty-two shots fired +singly at different times within the fort during that time, and screams +and cheers. About two o'clock the dogs were getting so close to me that +I knew they were on my track. + +Question. What do you mean by the dogs? + +Answer. Hunting out people everywhere. They have dogs. + +Question. They had bloodhounds? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I left the most of my clothing and hastened down a +ravine in the timber, and kept on through the ravines till I came to the +Coal Creek bottom, some mile and a half, and swam across. Finally, I +succeeded in getting to the island. I had to swim across the river and a +bayou. That is all that I saw. Oh! I was there at the fort two days +after the battle and saw the remains of burned persons; helped to bury +one of the dead that I saw shot in cold blood lying right where he was +left, and saw many of them, white and black, all buried together, and a +number, three days afterwards, not buried. + +Question. How many did you see shot in this way? + +Answer. I should think probably about two hundred. + +Question. It was an indiscriminate butchery, was it? + +Answer. Yes, sir. There were about fifteen or twenty that lay close in +one pile, huddling together, shot after they were wounded. + +Question. Some white soldiers shot after they were wounded? + +Answer. Yes, sir, with the hospital flag flying, and they holding white +handkerchiefs over their heads. I saw at least ten soldiers shot +individually with white handkerchiefs over their heads. They tore off +pieces of their shirts--anything they could get--for flags of truce and +to denote surrender. + +Question. You say these men were shot down in hospital, with hospital +flag flying? + +Answer. Yes, sir, lying right down under it--not up walking at all. +Every man lying near me was killed--lying close to me and on me. Two lay +over me, because they kept piling themselves right up on top close +under the bank. It was just down under the brow of the hill. A great +many were lying in the water and were shot. Trees that were lying one +end in the water and the other on shore, they would just go over on the +other side of them and hide in the water, and the rebels would go over +and shoot them. + +Question. Your citizen's clothes saved you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I told them I had nothing to do with them. They robbed +every citizen, taking off most of their clothing. + +Question. How much did they take from you? + +Answer. Seventy dollars. + +Question. You say you were robbed twice. + +Answer. Yes, once by the captain of the company and once by the private. +I carry my money in my vest pocket always, and had my pocket-book in my +pocket with notes in it. + +Question. That was what you gave to the captain, wasn't it? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. And the seventy dollars in money to the soldier? + +Answer. Yes, sir. He asked, "Give me your money," and the other for the +pocket-book. + +Question. You say they had bloodhounds; did you see any of them? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and not only I but others saw them. One other, Mr. +Jones, was treed by them, and staid there a long time. + +Question. What Jones was that? + +Answer. I don't know his given name. He lives on Island 34. I can find +out his name. He is not any too good a Union man, but is rather southern +in his feelings. + +Question. State about Bradford's death--when he was shot. What was done? +Was he wounded before the surrender? + +Answer. No, sir; but it was reported by very reliable persons that +Bradford was shot and hung near Covington, in Hatchie River bottom. + +Question. Who told you this? + +Answer. This same Jones; and there were some darkeys came in to the +gunboat and said that. Darkey evidence is very correct there. You might +not think it worth while to take their evidence, but it is a great deal +more to be relied upon than the southern evidence there. I might state +that I was inquired after by a large number of officers, and it was said +they would hang me on a flag-pole. + +Question. What for? + +Answer. From the fact that I employed government darkeys from Colonel +Phillips, at Memphis. + +Question. On your plantation? + +Answer. Yes, sir. And they shot all my horses unfit for cavalry. + +Question. Did they shoot your darkeys? + +Answer. I understand they did, and burned them all. I understand they +took one yellow woman, and two or three boys escaped that I tried to +take to the fort with me in the morning to help fight. The balance, a +darkey whose name I don't know, said they were killed and burned in the +house. + +Question. You did not go back there, then? + +Answer. I did not go back there. That is only what is told me. It was +told me by persons who were hid right near, and I saw persons bury the +bodies after they were burned. + +Question. Where? + +Answer. In the fort, sir--burned in the house. + +Question. In connexion with the fort buildings? + +Answer. Yes, sir, and out on timber. There was a large number of them +burned in the buildings, but they had been buried the day before. + +Question. You say there were 580 men, you think, in the fort? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How many do you suppose escaped? + +Answer. Well, I know there were not more than 100 as they marched out +there surrounded by the other troops, and I would not think there were +fifty of them. There were live darkeys in Cairo hospitals who were +buried alive. Two of them have died since they got there. + +Question. Did you see any of these men buried alive? + +Answer. No, I did not; but they are facts that can easily be proved by +the darkeys--the darkeys themselves--and those who saw it done, and saw +the quartermaster burned, too. + + EDWARD B. BENTON. + +Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22d April, 1864. + + ISAAC J. DODGE, + _Lieutenant and Assist. Paymaster General, Department of Missouri_. + + * * * * * + +In consequence of some portions of the evidence of General Brayman and +Colonel Lawrence, which, unexplained, might impeach the good conduct of +General Shepley, Mr. Gooch, of the sub-committee, telegraphed to General +Shepley, giving him the substance of the testimony relating to himself, +and asking him to forward to the committee any explanation he might deem +necessary in writing. The following communication was received from +General Shepley, and the testimony of Captain Thornton, an officer of +his staff, was taken. The sub-committee deemed the explanation therein +contained to be entirely satisfactory, and directed that the following +communication and testimony be incorporated with the testimony in +relation to Fort Pillow. + + HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF NORFOLK AND PORTSMOUTH, + _Norfolk, Virginia, May 7, 1864_. + +SIR: I have the honor respectfully to forward by Captain C. C. G. +Thornton, 12th Maine volunteers, now acting on my staff, a statement in +reply to the communication I had the honor to receive by telegraph. + +Captain Thornton was on the Olive Branch, and is subject to examination +by the committee. + +I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, + + G. F. SHEPLEY, + _Brigadier General, Commanding_. + + Hon. D. W. GOOCH, + _Of Committee on Conduct of the War_. + + HEADQUARTERS NORFOLK AND PORTSMOUTH, + _Norfolk, Virginia, May 7, 1864_. + +SIR: At my own request having been relieved from duty as military +governor of Louisiana, and ordered to report for duty to the commanding +general of the army, I left New Orleans, on the evening of the 6th of +April, as a passenger in the Olive Branch, a New Orleans and St. Louis +passenger steamer _not in the service of the government_, but loaded +with male and female passengers and cargo of private parties. The +steamer was unarmed, and had no troops and no muskets for protection +against guerillas when landing at wood yards and other places. + +The boat stopped at Vicksburg, and I went ashore. When I returned to the +boat as she was about leaving, I found that a detachment of a portion of +the men of two batteries--one Ohio and one Missouri--belonging to the +17th army corps, with the horses, guns, caissons, wagons, tents, and +baggage of the two batteries, had been put on board, with orders, as I +afterwards learned on inquiring, to report to General Brayman, at Cairo. + +The horses occupied all the available space, fore and aft, on the sides +of the boilers and machinery, which were on deck. The guns, caissons, +baggage wagons, tents, garrison and camp equipage, were piled up +together on the bows, leaving only space for the gang plank. + +The men had no small arms, so that when the boat landed, as happened in +one instance at a wood yard where guerillas had just passed, the pickets +thrown out to prevent surprise were necessarily unarmed. + +As the boat was approaching, and before it was in sight of Fort Pillow, +some females hailed it from the shore, and said the rebels had attacked +Fort Pillow, and captured two boats on the river, and would take us if +we went on. + +The captain of the Olive Branch said they had probably taken the Mollie +Able, which was due there about that time from St. Louis. + +He turned his boat, saying he would go back to Memphis. + +I objected to going back; stopped the boat below the next point; hailed +another smaller steamer without passengers which I saw approaching, and +ordered it alongside. I ordered the captain of this boat to cast off the +coal barges he had in tow, and take me on board with a section of a +battery to go to Fort Pillow. + +While he was trying to disencumber his boat of the coal barges, another +boat, better for the purpose, (the Cheek,) hove in sight. Finding I +could get her ready quicker than the other, I had her brought alongside, +and went aboard myself with Captain Thornton, of my staff, and Captain +Williams, the ranking officer of the batteries. + +Before we could get the guns on board, _a steamer with troops_ hove in +sight _coming down the river_ from Fort Pillow. + +We could not distinguish at first whether they were Union or rebel +soldiers. + +I asked Captain Pegram, of the Olive Branch, if the story of the women +turned out to be true, and the rebels had the steamer, could his boat +sink her. Captain Pegram replied, "Yes, my boat can run right over her." +I ordered him to swing out into the stream to be ready for her. When she +approached we saw _United States infantry soldiers on board that had +just passed the fort_. She kept on going rapidly down with the current, +only hailing the Olive Branch: "_All right up there; you can go by_. +_The gunboat is lying off the fort_." + +This steamer was the Liberty. We then proceeded up the river in the +Olive Branch. Near Fort Pillow some stragglers or guerillas fired from +the shore with musketry, aiming at the pilot-house. + +I was then in the pilot-house, and, as we kept on, I observed that one +of the two other boats I have mentioned, which followed us at some +distance, was compelled to put back. The Olive Branch kept on to report +to the gunboat on the station. + +An officer came off from the gunboat, in a small boat, and said he did +not want any boat to stop; ordered us to go on to Cairo, and tell +captain (name not recollected) to send him immediately four hundred +(400) rounds of ammunition. There was no firing at the fort at this +time. + +The Union flag was flying, and after we had passed the fort we could see +a "flag of truce" outside the fortifications. + +_No signal of any kind was made to the boat from the fort, or from the +shore._ + +No intimation was given us from the gunboat, which had the right to +order a steamer of this description, other than the order to proceed to +Cairo, to send down the ammunition. + +From the fact that the Liberty had just passed down the river from the +fort, with troops on board; from her hailing us _to go by_, and +continuing her course down the river without stopping; that no signal +was made the Olive Branch from the fort on the shore, and no attack was +being made on the fort at the time; that the officer of the gunboat said +he did not want any boats to stop, and ordered the captain of the Olive +Branch to go on, and have ammunition sent down to him by first boat, I +considered, and now consider, that the captain of the Olive Branch was +not only justified in going on, but bound to proceed. + +The Olive Branch was incapable of rendering any assistance, being +entirely defenceless. If any guns could have been placed in position on +the boat, they could not have been elevated to reach sharpshooters on +the high steep bluff outside the fort. + +A very few sharpshooters from the shore near the fort could have +prevented any landing, and have taken the boat. We supposed the object +of the rebels was rather to seize a boat, to effect a crossing into +Arkansas, than to capture the fort. We had no means of knowing or +suspecting that so strong a position as Fort Pillow had not been +properly garrisoned for defence, when it was in constant communication +with General Hurlbut at Memphis. + +The Olive Branch had just left Memphis, General Hurlbut's headquarters, +where it had been during the previous night. If it had not been for the +appearance of the Liberty, I should have attempted a landing at Fort +Pillow in the small steamer. If any intimation had been given from the +gunboat, or the shore, I should have landed personally from the Olive +Branch. The order given to the contrary prevented it. + +Coming from New Orleans, and having no knowledge of affairs in that +military district, I could not presume that a fort, with uninterrupted +water communication above and below, could possibly be without a +garrison strong enough to hold it for a few hours. + +I write hastily, and omit, from want of time, to state subsequent +occurrences at Fort Columbus and Cairo, except to say that, at Fort +Columbus, in front of which Buford then was demanding a surrender, I +stopped, started to ride out to the lines, met Colonel Lawrence, the +commanding officer, coming in from the front to his headquarters. +Offered to remain, with the men on board. + +Colonel Lawrence said he was in good condition to stand any attack; +could communicate with General Brayman; had already taken four hundred +(400) infantry and one battery from the L. M. Kennett, which had just +preceded us, and left six hundred (600) men, and another, or other +batteries, on board, which he did not need. He declined the proffered +assistance, as not needed, and immediately on arrival at Cairo I +reported all the information in my possession to General Brayman, in +command, who was about leaving for Columbus. + +Captain Thornton, 12th Maine volunteers, a gallant officer, +distinguished for his bravery at Ponchitoula, where he was wounded and +left in the hands of the enemy, was on board the Olive Branch, and will +take this communication to the committee. + +I respectfully ask that he may be thoroughly examined as to all the +circumstances. + +I am conscious that a full examination will show that I rather exceeded +than neglected my duty. + +I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, + + G. F. SHEPLEY, + _Brigadier General, Commanding_. + + Hon. D. W. GOOCH, + _Of Committee on Conduct of the War_. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON, D. C., _May 9, 1864_. + Captain Charles C. G. Thornton, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your rank and position in the army? + +Answer. I am a captain, and aid on General George F. Shepley's staff. + +Question. Were you with General Shepley when he passed Fort Pillow, +about the time of the capture of that place? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state what occurred there, and the reason, if any, +why you did not stop there to aid the garrison? + +Answer. We were passengers on the boat Olive Branch, which left New +Orleans on the 6th of April, without troops. On arriving at Vicksburg, +parts of two batteries--a Missouri and an Ohio battery--were put on +board. I do not know the exact number of men, but I should think that +perhaps there were 120 men with the two batteries. The men had no +small-arms whatever--no arms but the guns of their batteries. We stopped +at a place to take in wood, where we were told the guerillas had just +passed, and we threw out pickets to keep from being surprised. We were +unable to arm those men with anything whatever, and merely stationed +them so that we should not be surprised, but have an opportunity of +getting on board the boat and leave. Upon arriving within three +miles--perhaps two and a half miles--of Fort Pillow, some women on shore +hailed us and told us that Fort Pillow was captured with two transports +or steamers, and motioned to us to return. The captain of the boat +turned about for the purpose of returning to Memphis, but General +Shepley stopped it. Colonel Sears, the owner of the boat, who was on +board, came to me and asked me to go to General Shepley and tell him the +importance of our going back to Memphis; that it was dangerous for us to +proceed with so many passengers. The boat was a very large one, loaded +with passengers, every state-room being occupied by men, women, and +children. + +Question. How many passengers, non-combatants, do you suppose you had on +board? + +Answer. Perhaps one hundred and fifty, but that is a mere guess. When +Colonel Sears urged me to ask General Shepley to go back to Memphis, I +told him I should do nothing of the kind; that if he wished General +Shepley to allow the boat to go back, he might see him about it himself. +He did so, but General Shepley positively refused to go. He ordered the +captain of the Olive Branch to hail a boat which came in sight, and +direct her to come alongside. General Shepley then said, "I will have a +section of the battery put on this boat, and will go up and +reconnoitre." The boat was called the "Hope," I think. There is a point +just below where the rebels, if they had a battery, might bring it to +bear on us. General Shepley consented to have the Hope go below that +point with the boat we were on, in order to have this section of a +battery put on board of her. On our way down we met another boat, the +"Cheek," which would answer our purpose better, and she was stopped. +General Shepley ordered a section of a battery put on board of her, and +directed Captain Williams, commanding the battery, and myself, to +accompany him up to Fort Pillow to reconnoitre. I suggested to General +Shepley, or was on the point of suggesting to him, that perhaps he had +better not go himself, but send Captain Williams and myself. The instant +I suggested that, he said "No, I will go myself, and personally +ascertain the condition of affairs." He asked the captain how many +minutes it would take him to get his guns on board. He said he could +probably get a couple of guns on in a few minutes. + +Just then a steamer, which afterwards proved to be the steamer +"Liberty," hove in sight. We supposed at first that she was the Mollie +Able, which the captain of our boat said was due at Fort Pillow just +about that time, and that she was one of the boats the rebels had +captured, if the story of the women was true. When we saw her coming we +noticed that she was loaded with troops, whether Union or rebel troops +we could not tell. The general said to our captain, "Can you run that +boat down?" He said, "If it is the Mollie Able, I can run right over +her." When she hove in sight we saw at once that there was no time to +put a battery on board the Cheek; General Shepley then ordered the Cheek +to move out of the way, and the captain of our boat to swing out, with +the intention of running this other boat down if she should prove to be +loaded with rebel soldiers. When the boat got nearer, however, we found +she had Union troops on board. As she passed us our captain hailed her, +and she replied "All right up there; you can go by. There is a gunboat +there." We were then satisfied that everything was all right, as she had +been allowed to come down by them with so large a body of troops on +board. + +We went up, and when within perhaps a mile of the place some rebel +soldiers fired upon our boat, probably aiming at the pilot-house. I +stood on the after part of the deck at the time. The general was in the +pilot-house looking out. The shots did not take effect or amount to +anything. We went on up, and found no firing at the fort. We stopped at +the gunboat, as all boats are required to do which pass. An officer came +on board from the gunboat and said to the captain of our boat, "I want +you to proceed immediately to Cairo, and send down 400 or 500 rounds of +ammunition; and order all boats back that may be coming down; we want no +boats here." We talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that +the object of this Fort Pillow affair was not to capture the fort, but +to capture more of our boats, if possible, in order to get across the +river. That was merely our supposition, as we knew nothing about the +battle. There was no firing at the fort at that time, and our boat went +on up the river in obedience to the orders of the gunboat, as it had a +right to give that order. + +We had proceeded but a little way before we discovered a flag of truce +at the fort, as it was reported to me; I did not see it myself, but it +undoubtedly was there. We passed on a short distance further, and then +noticed that our flag at the fort was down; we had seen it flying as we +passed the fort. I went to the stern of our boat, and with a glass +looked carefully at the fort. After a time I discovered that the gunboat +had steamed up a little ways, as I supposed for the purpose of firing +upon the right flank of the rebels. We could see a line of fire or smoke +in the woods, which we supposed to be from the musketry of the rebels. +We then saw a flag raised up on a pole at the fort, I should think ten +or twelve feet high. I supposed that our flag had been shot away, and +they were raising it again. The guns from the fort at that time were +pretty heavy, while the fire of the enemy, appeared to be from musketry. +I have no doubt now that that was the rebel flag that was raised after +the fort was taken. + +We proceeded on up to Columbus. Before we arrived there we noticed that +there was heavy firing there. On our arrival there we saw a great many +troops, and they remarked from the shore that there was hot work there. +General Shepley told me to accompany him, and went up to Colonel +Lawrence's headquarters, but was told he was at the front. General +Shepley ordered two horses to be prepared for us to go to the front, to +see Colonel Lawrence. Just as the horses were ready, and we were about +starting, Colonel Lawrence came over and rode down to his headquarters. +He told us that it was all right; that there had been some skirmishing; +that Buford had come there and demanded a surrender of the fort, but he +had refused to surrender. General Shepley told him that he had portions +of two batteries on hand, and asked him if he wanted them; told him how +they came there, and that they were ordered to Cairo as a portion of the +17th corps. Colonel Lawrence said that he had taken 400 troops from the +Luther M. Kennett, and, I think, one battery. The Luther M. Kennett had +just preceded us as we passed by Fort Pillow. Colonel Lawrence said that +he did not need the batteries of General Shepley. General Shepley +inquired particularly about the condition of affairs, and told Colonel +Lawrence what had occurred at Fort Pillow. After ascertaining that there +was nothing to be done by us down there we proceeded to Cairo. On our +arrival there General Shepley called upon General Brayman and told him +the substance of what occurred; the condition of things as we left, the +flag coming down, and the fear that the fort had surrendered. We did not +know then that the fort had surrendered, though we know now it had. + +The caissons and artillery had been hoisted on our boat by means of what +they call a derrick, I think, and were piled up, closely packed all +round. It would, therefore, have been impossible for us to have removed +those cannon for several hours. It took us several hours to land them at +Cairo; and it would have been an utter impossibility for us to have +taken those cannon up to Fort Pillow, as we had no infantry to cover our +landing; and half a dozen sharpshooters could have undoubtedly captured +our boat had we attempted it. + +Question. If I understand you, General Shepley had no opportunity to +relieve Fort Pillow any way? + +Answer. He went on board the boat a mere passenger, with no arms. We did +not know any troops were coming on board. Those two portions of +batteries, with their guns, were ordered to report at Cairo. The gunboat +was lying right by the side of us, and its fire was of no account, and, +of course, ours would not have been. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Would it have been possible for you to have used your +batteries from the boat with any effect upon the rebels? + +Answer. No, sir; it would have been an utter impossibility to have done +so. If we had gone in and stopped five minutes there, the rebels could +have captured us without the least trouble in the world. The question +may be asked why we offered assistance at Columbus and not at Fort +Pillow. The fort at Columbus is clear in back from the river, and there +were infantry troops there to protect our landing. But Colonel Lawrence +said he did not expect the fight to occur for some time, even if there +was any fight at all, which he did not expect. + +Question. At Columbus you could have landed your batteries under the +protection of our forces there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. And you could not have done that at Fort Pillow? + +Answer. No, sir; for at Fort Pillow we should have been right under the +fort, and could have been easily reached. This was all stated to General +Brayman, and I was quite surprised when I heard of the testimony in +regard to the matter. + + * * * * * + + + + + 38th Congress,} SENATE. {Rep. Com. + _1st Session_.} {No. 68. + +IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. + + +May 9, 1864.--_Ordered_, That the report, with the accompanying +evidence, be printed in connexion with the report of the committee in +relation to the Fort Pillow massacre, and that twenty thousand +additional copies be printed for the use of the Senate. + + * * * * * + + Mr. Wade submitted the following + REPORT. + +_The Joint Committee on the Conduct and Expenditures of the War +submitted the following report, with the accompanying testimony._ + +On the 4th instant your committee received a communication of that date +from the Secretary of War, enclosing the report of Colonel Hoffman, +commissary general of prisoners, dated May 3, calling the attention of +the committee to the condition of returned Union prisoners, with the +request that the committee would immediately proceed to Annapolis and +examine with their own eyes the condition of those who have been +returned from rebel captivity. The committee resolved that they would +comply with the request of the Secretary of War on the first +opportunity. The 5th of May was devoted by the committee to concluding +their labors upon the investigation of the Fort Pillow massacre. On the +6th of May, however, the committee proceeded to Annapolis and Baltimore, +and examined the condition of our returned soldiers, and took the +testimony of several of them, together with the testimony of surgeons +and other persons in attendance upon the hospitals. That testimony, with +the communication of the Secretary of War, and the report of Colonel +Hoffman, is herewith transmitted. + +The evidence proves, beyond all manner of doubt, a determination on the +part of the rebel authorities, deliberately and persistently practiced +for a long time past, to subject those of our soldiers who have been so +unfortunate as to fall in their hands to a system of treatment which has +resulted in reducing many of those who have survived and been permitted +to return to us to a condition, both physically and mentally, which no +language we can use can adequately describe. Though nearly all the +patients now in the Naval Academy hospital at Annapolis, and in the West +hospital, in Baltimore, have been under the kindest and most intelligent +treatment for about three weeks past, and many of them for a greater +length of time, still they present literally the appearance of living +skeletons, many of them being nothing but skin and bone; some of them +are maimed for life, having been frozen while exposed to the inclemency +of the winter season on Belle Isle, being compelled to lie on the bare +ground, without tents or blankets, some of them without overcoats or +even coats, with but little fire to mitigate the severity of the winds +and storms to which they were exposed. + +The testimony shows that the general practice of their captors was to +rob them, as soon as they were taken prisoners, of all their money, +valuables blankets, and good clothing, for which they received nothing +in exchange except, perhaps, some old worn-out rebel clothing hardly +better than none at all. Upon their arrival at Richmond they have been +confined, without blankets or other covering, in buildings without +fire, or upon Belle Isle with, in many cases, no shelter, and in others +with nothing but old discarded army tents, so injured by rents and holes +as to present but little barrier to the wind and storms; on several +occasions, the witnesses say, they have arisen in the morning from their +resting-places upon the bare earth, and found several of their comrades +frozen to death during the night, and that many others would have met +the same fate had they not walked rapidly back and forth, during the +hours which should have been devoted to sleep, for the purpose of +retaining sufficient warmth to preserve life. + +In respect to the food furnished to our men by the rebel authorities, +the testimony proves that the ration of each man was totally +insufficient in quantity to preserve the health of a child, even had it +been of proper quality, which it was not. It consisted usually, at the +most, of two small pieces of corn-bread, made in many instances, as the +witnesses state, of corn and cobs ground together, and badly prepared +and cooked, of, at times, about two ounces of meat, usually of poor +quality, and unfit to be eaten, and occasionally a few black worm-eaten +beans, or something of that kind. Many of our men were compelled to sell +to their guards, and others, for what price they could get, such +clothing and blankets as they were permitted to receive of that +forwarded for their use by our government, in order to obtain additional +food sufficient to sustain life; thus, by endeavoring to avoid one +privation, reducing themselves to the same destitute condition in +respect to clothing and covering that they were in before they received +any from our government. When they became sick and diseased in +consequence of this exposure and privation, and were admitted into the +hospitals, their treatment was little, if any, improved as to food, +though they, doubtless, suffered less from exposure to cold than before. +Their food still remained insufficient in quantity and altogether unfit +in quality. Their diseases and wounds did not receive the treatment +which the commonest dictates of humanity would have prompted. One +witness, whom your committee examined, who had lost all the toes of one +foot from being frozen while on Belle Isle, states that for days at a +time his wounds were not dressed, and that they had not been dressed for +four days when he was taken from the hospital and carried on the +flag-of-truce boat for Fortress Monroe. + +In reference to the condition to which our men were reduced by cold and +hunger, your committee would call the attention to the following +extracts from the testimony. + +One witness testifies: + +I had no blankets until our government sent us some. + +Question. How did you sleep before you received those blankets? + +Answer. We used to get together just as close as we could, and sleep +spoon-fashion, so that when one turned over we all had to turn over. + +Another witness testifies: + +Question. Were you hungry all the time? + +Answer. Hungry! I could eat anything in the world that came before us; +some of the boys would get boxes from the north with meat of different +kinds in them; and, after they had picked the meat off, they would throw +the bones away into the spit-boxes, and we would pick the bones out of +the spit-boxes and gnaw them over again. + +In addition to this insufficient supply of food, clothing, and shelter, +our soldiers, while prisoners, have been subjected to the most cruel +treatment from those placed over them. They have been abused and +shamefully treated on almost every opportunity. Many have been +mercilessly shot and killed when they failed to comply with all the +demands of their jailers, sometimes for violating rules of which they +had not been informed. Crowded in great numbers in buildings, they have +been fired at and killed by the sentinels outside when they appeared at +the windows for the purpose of obtaining a little fresh air. One man, +whose comrade in the service, in battle and in captivity, had been so +fortunate as to be among those released from further torments, was shot +dead as he was waving with his hand a last adieu to his friend; and +other instances of equally unprovoked murder are disclosed by the +testimony. + +The condition of our returned soldiers as regards personal cleanliness, +has been filthy almost beyond description. Their clothes have been so +dirty and so covered with vermin, that those who received them have been +compelled to destroy their clothing and re-clothe them with new and +clean raiment. Their bodies and heads have been so infested with vermin +that, in some instances, repeated washings have failed to remove them; +and those who have received them in charge have been compelled to cut +all the hair from their heads, and make applications to destroy the +vermin. Some have been received with no clothing but shirts and drawers +and a piece of blanket or other outside covering, entirely destitute of +coats, hats, shoes or stockings; and the bodies of those better supplied +with clothing have been equally dirty and filthy with the others, many +who have been sick and in the hospital having had no opportunity to wash +their bodies for weeks and months before they were released from +captivity. + +Your committee are unable to convey any adequate idea of the sad and +deplorable condition of the men they saw in the hospitals they visited; +and the testimony they have taken cannot convey to the reader the +impressions which your committee there received. The persons we saw, as +we were assured by those in charge of them, have greatly improved since +they have been received in the hospitals. Yet they are now dying daily, +one of them being in the very throes of death as your committee stood by +his bed-side and witnessed the sad spectacle there presented. All those +whom your committee examined stated that they have been thus reduced and +emaciated entirely in consequence of the merciless treatment they +received while prisoners from their enemies; and the physicians in +charge of them, the men best fitted by their profession and experience +to express an opinion upon the subject, all say that they have no doubt +that the statements of their patients are entirely correct. + +It will be observed from the testimony, that all the witnesses who +testify upon that point state that the treatment they received while +confined at Columbia, South Carolina, Dalton, Georgia, and other places, +was far more humane than that they received at Richmond, where the +authorities of the so-called confederacy were congregated, and where the +power existed, had the inclination not been wanting, to reform those +abuses and secure to the prisoners they held some treatment that would +bear a public comparison to that accorded by our authorities to the +prisoners in our custody. Your committee, therefore, are constrained to +say that they can hardly avoid the conclusion, expressed by so many of +our released soldiers, that the inhuman practices herein referred to are +the result of a determination on the part of the rebel authorities to +reduce our soldiers in their power, by privation of food and clothing, +and by exposure, to such a condition that those who may survive shall +never recover so as to be able to render any effective service in the +field. And your committee accordingly ask that this report, with the +accompanying testimony, be printed with the report and testimony in +relation to the massacre of Fort Pillow, the one being, in their +opinion, no less than the other, the result of a predetermined policy. +As regards the assertions of some of the rebel newspapers, that our +prisoners have received at their hands the same treatment that their own +soldiers in the field have received, they are evidently but the most +glaring and unblushing falsehoods. No one can for a moment be deceived +by such statements, who will reflect that our soldiers, who, when taken +prisoners, have been stout, healthy men, in the prime and vigor of life, +yet have died by hundreds under the treatment they have received, +although required to perform no duties of the camp or the march; while +the rebel soldiers are able to make long and rapid marches, and to offer +a stubborn resistance in the field. + +Your committee, finding it impossible to describe in words the +deplorable condition of these returned prisoners, have caused +photographs to be taken of a number of them, and a fair sample to be +lithographed and appended to their report, that their exact condition +may be known by all who examine it. Some of them have since died. + +There is one feature connected with this investigation, to which your +committee can refer with pride and satisfaction; and that is the +uncomplaining fortitude, the undiminished patriotism exhibited by our +brave men under all their privations, even in the hour of death. + +Your committee will close their report by quoting the tribute paid these +men by the chaplain of the hospital at Annapolis, who has ministered to +so many of them in their last moments, who has smoothed their passage to +the grave by his kindness and attention, and who has performed the last +sad offices over their lifeless remains. He says: + +"There is another thing I would wish to state. All the men, without any +exception among the thousands that have come to this hospital, have +never in a single instance expressed a regret (notwithstanding the +privations and sufferings they have endured) that they entered their +country's service. They have been the most loyal, devoted and earnest +men. Even on the last days of their lives they have said that all they +hoped for was just to live and enter the ranks again and meet their +foes. It is a most glorious record in reference to the devotion of our +men to their country. I do not think their patriotism has ever been +equalled in the history of the world." + +All of which is respectfully submitted. + + B. F. WADE, _Chairman_. + + * * * * * + + WAR DEPARTMENT, + _Washington City, May 4, 1864_. + +SIR: I have the honor to submit to you a report made to this department +by Colonel Hoffman, commissary general of prisoners, in regard to the +condition of Union soldiers who have, until within a few days, been +prisoners of war at Richmond, and would respectfully request that your +committee immediately proceed to Annapolis to take testimony there, and +examine with their own eyes the condition of those who have been +returned from rebel captivity. The enormity of the crime committed by +the rebels towards our prisoners for the last several months is not +known or realized by our people, and cannot but fill with horror the +civilized world when the facts are fully revealed. There appears to have +been a deliberate system of savage and barbarous treatment and +starvation, the result of which will be that few, if any, of the +prisoners that have been in their hands during the past winter will ever +again be in a condition to render any service, or even to enjoy life. + +Your obedient servant, + + EDWIN M. STANTON, + _Secretary of War_. + + Hon. B. F. WADE, + _Chairman of Joint Committee on Conduct of the War_. + + * * * * * + + OFFICE OF COMMISSARY GENERAL OF PRISONERS, + _Washington, D. C., May 3, 1864_. + +SIR: I have the honor to report that, pursuant to your instructions of +the 2d instant, I proceeded, yesterday morning, to Annapolis, with a +view to see that the paroled prisoners about to arrive there from +Richmond were properly received and cared for. + +The flag-of-truce boat New York, under the charge of Major Mulford, with +thirty-two officers, three hundred and sixty-three enlisted men, and one +citizen on board, reached the wharf at the Naval School hospital about +ten o'clock. On going on board, I found the officers generally in good +health, and much cheered by their happy release from the rebel prisons, +and by the prospect of again being with their friends. + +The enlisted men who had endured so many privations at Belle Isle and +other places were, with few exceptions, in a very sad plight, mentally +and physically, having for months been exposed to all the changes of the +weather, with no other protection than a very insufficient supply of +worthless tents, and with an allowance of food scarcely sufficient to +prevent starvation, even if of wholesome quality; but as it was made of +coarsely-ground corn, including the husks, and probably at times the +cobs, if it did not kill by starvation, it was sure to do it by the +disease it created. Some of these poor fellows were wasted to mere +skeletons, and had scarcely life enough remaining to appreciate that +they were now in the hands of their friends, and among them all there +were few who had not become too much broken down and dispirited by their +many privations to be able to realize the happy prospect of relief from +their sufferings which was before them. With rare exception, every face +was sad with care and hunger; there was no brightening of the +countenance or lighting up of the eye, to indicate a thought of anything +beyond a painful sense of prostration of mind and body. Many faces +showed that there was scarcely a ray of intelligence left. + +Every preparation had been made for their reception in anticipation of +the arrival of the steamer, and immediately upon her being made fast to +the wharf the paroled men were landed and taken immediately to the +hospital, where, after receiving a warm bath, they were furnished with a +suitable supply of new clothing, and received all those other attentions +which their sad condition demanded. Of the whole number, there are +perhaps fifty to one hundred who, in a week or ten days, will be in a +convalescent state, but the others will very slowly regain their lost +health. + +That our soldiers, when in the hands of the rebels, are starved to +death, cannot be denied. Every return of the flag-of-truce boat from +City Point brings us too many living and dying witnesses to admit of a +doubt of this terrible fact. I am informed that the authorities at +Richmond admit the fact, but excuse it on the plea that they give the +prisoners the same rations they give their own men. But can this be so? +Can an army keep the field, and be active and efficient, on the same +fare that kills prisoners of war at a frightful per-centage? I think +not; no man can believe it; and while a practice so shocking to humanity +is persisted in by the rebel authorities, I would very respectfully urge +that retaliatory measures be at once instituted by subjecting the +officers we now hold as prisoners of war to a similar treatment. + +I took advantage of the opportunity which this visit to Annapolis gave +me to make a hasty inspection of Camp Parole, and I am happy to report +that I found it in every branch in a most commendable condition. The men +all seemed to be cheerful and in fine health, and the police inside and +out was excellent. Colonel Root, the commanding officer, deserves much +credit for the very satisfactory condition to which he has brought his +command. + +I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + W. HOFFMAN, + _Colonel 3d Infantry, Commissary General of Prisoners_. + + Hon. E. M. STANTON, + _Secretary of War, Washington, D. C._ + + * * * * * + + + + +TESTIMONY. + + ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, + _May 6, 1864_. + +Howard Leedom, sworn and examined: + + +By the chairman: + +Question. To what company and regiment have you belonged? + +Answer. Company G, 52d New York. + +Question. How long have you been in the service? + +Answer. About seven months. + +Question. What is your age? + +Answer. Seventeen. + +Question. When and where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. At a place called Orange Grove, I think, back of +Chancellorsville. + +Question. How long ago? + +Answer. In November last. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. Right to Richmond. + +Question. In what prison were you placed? + +Answer. I was put on Belle Isle first, and then I got sick and was taken +to the hospital. + +Question. Describe how you were treated there, and the cause of your +sickness. + +Answer. They did not treat me very kindly. I froze my feet on the +island. + +Question. How came they to be frozen? + +Answer. When they took me prisoner they got away the good shoes I had +on, and gave me an old pair of shoes, all cut and split open; and when I +was on the island, I had just an old tent to lie under. + +Question. Did you not have some blankets to put over you? + +Answer. No, sir. They took away my blanket, and everything else--my +shoes--even a pair of buckskin gloves I had. + +Question. Did they give you anything in place of them? + +Answer. No, sir; only that pair of shoes I said. + +Question. You had stockings? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What kind of a tent did you have? + +Answer. The tent was not very good; the rain beat right through it. + +Question. How badly were your feet frozen? + +Answer. Well, my toes are all off one of my feet now. [The surgeon +accompanying the committee here took the dressings off the witness's +feet, and exhibited them to the committee. The stumps of the toes were +just healing.] + +Question. What did they give you to eat? + +Answer. They gave us corn-bread, and once in a while a little piece of +meat. + +Question. How often did they give you meat? + +Answer. Maybe once a day; maybe once a week--just as they happened to +have it. + +Question. Did you get enough to eat, such as it was? + +Answer. No, sir; I did not even get enough corn-bread. + +Question. How long were you on the island? + +Answer. I was on the island only a month, and in the hospital three +months. + +Question. How long is it since you were exchanged? + +Answer. I came here on the 24th of March. + +Question. There were others there with you on the island? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did they fare? + +Answer. The same as I did; we all fared alike. + +Question. Were any others frozen? + +Answer. Yes, sir; plenty of them frozen to death. + +Question. Frozen to death? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Were their blankets taken away like yours? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they had to lie out in the open ditch. They did not +have as good over them as I had. + +Question. Did not they have a tent to sleep under? + +Answer. No, sir; no tent at all. There was an embankment thrown up, so +as to keep them inside like, and they had to lie right down in the ditch +there. + +Question. With nothing over them? + +Answer. If some of them had their blanket, they put that over them; but +they had no tent, or anything of that kind. + +Question. Nothing to keep off the rain and snow? + +Answer. No, sir; nothing at all. + +Question. Are you certain that any of them froze to death there? + +Answer. Yes, sir, I am. + +Question. State about the treatment you received after your feet were +frozen, when you were in the hospital. + +Answer. Sometimes my feet were dressed there every day; sometimes I went +three or four days without dressing--just whether their nurses happened +to be busy or not. When I was exchanged, I had not been dressed for four +or five days. + +Question. Were any of the confederate sick in the hospital with you? + +Answer. Not that I know of. + +Question. Do you know how they treated their own soldiers that were in +the hospital? + +Answer. I do not. I suppose they treated them better than they did us, +though. + +Question. Was your food any better in the hospital than on the island? + +Answer. It was when we first went there, but when I came away it was no +better. + + * * * * * + +Washington Collins, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company A, 5th Kentucky infantry regiment. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. I was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. From there to Richmond, as straight through as they could get us +through. + +Question. State how you were treated after you were taken prisoner. + +Answer. We were treated very rough. The eatables we got on the way from +the battle-field to Richmond were mouldy crackers, such as you would +never try to eat, with one or two exceptions, when we got a little light +bread. + +Question. Where were you confined at Richmond? + +Answer. We were put in tobacco factories, and kept there without +clothing or blankets, until our government sent us blankets and +clothing, and some provisions. + +Question. Were the clothing and blankets which you had when taken +prisoners taken from you? + +Answer. Yes, sir; our blankets were pretty much all taken from us. + +Question. Did you suffer from cold? + +Answer. Yes, sir, severely. + +Question. Was your money taken from you? + +Answer. Those of us that had money, had it pretty much all taken away, +or scared out of us. + +Question. What kind of food had you after you reached Richmond? + +Answer. We got, I should judge, about six ounces of light bread, and in +the afternoon about two spoonfuls of black beans--worm-eaten beans. + +Question. Was that all you had for the day? + +Answer. I think we got, once a day, about two ounces of meat. + +Question. What was the character of the meat and bread? + +Answer. The character of the meat was pretty tolerably rough. I cannot +exactly describe it. I never did eat any beef like some of it; and the +first dose of medicine I took since I was in the army, was when I was +put in the hospital at Danville. About six or seven weeks ago, before +that, I was always a hearty, healthy man. + +Question. Have you had any disease or sickness except that occasioned by +want of proper food and clothing? + +Answer. No, sir; I think not. (The surgeon here remarked, "His disease +is the result of starvation, privation, and exposure.") + +Question. When were you exchanged? + +Answer. We left the 1st of May, I think. I have more of a life-like +feeling about me now than I had when I left Richmond. + +Question. Do you think you are in a better condition now? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I know I am. The authorities did not think it safe for +me to start; but I told them if I was going to die, I would rather die +on the Chesapeake than die there. + +Question. After you grew so very sick, was your food improved any? + +Answer. Very little. The last food I received was light diet. When I +left the hospital to go on board the flag-of-truce boat, I received +about a gill of what they call soup, though in fact it was just nothing; +I should say it was only a little starch and water; and then I got a +little piece of corn-bread, about that large, (measuring on his fingers +about two inches square,) and we got a piece of meat, once a day, about +the same size. + +Question. Were the other men treated as you were, so far as you know? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I wish to speak of one thing. After this food was +issued out, what was called the ward-master would go round in the +evening with a little mush made of meal, and give some of us a +table-spoonful of it. Say there were 60 or 80 patients, and there would +be 6 or 8, maybe 10, of those patients would get a little spoonful of +this mush; and then he would come round a little while afterwards and +pour a table-spoonful of molasses over it; and just as likely as not, in +a few minutes after that he would come round with some vinegar and pour +a spoonful of vinegar over that. + +Question. Why did he do that? + +Answer. He said that was the way it was issued to him. + +Question. Did he give any reason for mixing it altogether in that way? + +Answer. No, sir; and there were a great many of our own men who treated +us as bad as the secesh, because those there acting as nurses, if there +was any little delicacy for the sick; would just gobble it up. + +Question. Were all of our men suffering for want of food? + +Answer. Yes, sir, all of them. In the winter time these secesh got so +they would haul up loads of cabbages, all full of lice, and throw them +raw into the room for us to eat. + + * * * * * + +Charles Gallagher, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. Where are you from? + +Answer. From Guernsey county, Ohio. + +Question. To what regiment do you belong? + +Answer. 40th Ohio. + +Question. How long have you been in the service? + +Answer. Pretty nearly three years. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. At Chickamauga. + +Question. When? + +Answer. On the 22d of last September. + +Question. State what happened then to you. + +Answer. When they took me prisoner they took me right on to Richmond, +kept me there awhile, then sent me to Danville and kept me there awhile. +I got sick at Danville and was put in the hospital, and then they sent +me back to Richmond and paroled me and sent me here. + +Question. How did they treat you while you were a prisoner? + +Answer. Pretty bad. They gave us corn-bread, and not very much of it; +and we had to lie right down on the floor, without any blankets, until a +long while about Christmas. We had just to lie as thick on the floor as +we could get. + +Question. How were you treated when you were taken sick? + +Answer. A little better. We then had a sort of bed to lie on. + +Question. Did you have all the food you wanted? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. What kind of food did you get? + +Answer. Corn-bread, a little piece of meat, sometimes a little +rice-soup, and sometimes a few beans. + +Question. How often did you get meat? + +Answer. Along through the winter we got a little bit of fresh beef, +(perhaps once a day,) and then from about March a little pork. + +Question. What was the matter with you when you went to the hospital? + +Answer. I got a cough which settled on me, and I had pain in my breast. + +Question. Were there any other prisoners at Danville? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did they suffer at all from want? + +Answer. They were pretty hungry. + +Question. Did you complain to the authorities that you did not get food +enough? + +Answer. No, sir; it would not have made any difference. They said there +that we got every ounce that was allowed to us. + +Question. Did you make your wants known to any one? + +Answer. Yes, sir; but they would not give us any more. They would come +in and give you a half a loaf of bread, and tell you that was your day's +rations; you could take that or nothing. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Did they give you as much as their own soldiers for rations? + +Answer. No, sir; their own soldiers got a great deal more. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. What was your treatment aside from your supply of food? Was it +kind? + +Answer. No, sir. They just came in and shoved us round; finally, they +run us all up from one floor to the second floor, and only let one go +down at a time. When he got back they let another go down. + + * * * * * + +Isaiah G. Booker, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Harding: + +Question. How old are you? + +Answer. Twenty-one on the 13th of this month. + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. Bath, Maine. + +Question. How long were you in the army before you were taken prisoner? + +Answer. I enlisted on the 5th of September, 1861, and was taken prisoner +last July. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. On Morris island, Charleston, South Carolina. + +Question. Where were you then sent? + +Answer. I was sent to Columbia, South Carolina, where we were kept about +two months, and then we were sent to Richmond, put on Belle Isle, and +staid there the remainder of the time. + +Question. How were you treated at Columbia? + +Answer. I was treated a great deal better there than I was at Belle +Isle. We got meat twice a day, rice once, and Indian bread once. We got +very near as much as we wanted to eat. + +Question. How were you treated at Richmond? + +Answer. I suffered there terribly with hunger. I could eat anything. + +Question. Can you tell us what kind of food you got there? + +Answer. Dry Indian bread, and, when I first went there, a very little +meat. + +Question. When were you taken sick? + +Answer. I was taken sick--I was sick with the diarrhoea a fortnight +before I went to the hospital, and I was in the hospital a little over a +week before I was exchanged. I was released on the 7th of March, and got +here the 9th. + +Question. How were you treated while in the hospital? + +Answer. I was treated there worse than on Belle Isle. We did not get any +salt of any account--only a little piece of bread that would hardly keep +a chicken alive. + +Question. Did you get any rice? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Any soup? + +Answer. Once in a while of mornings I would get a little. + +Question. Did the physician come round to see you every day? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did he give you any medicine? + +Answer. He gave me some pills. + +Question. What was their manner towards you after you were taken sick +and in the hospital? Were they kind, or rough? + +Answer. They were neither kind nor rough, but indifferent. The +corn-bread I got seemed to burn my very insides. When I would go down to +the river of mornings to wash myself, as I put the water to my face it +seemed as though I wanted to sup the water, and to sup it, and sup it, +and sup it all the time. + +Question. Did you make no complaint to the officers on Belle Isle of +your food? + +Answer. No, sir. + +Question. Did you ask them for any more? + +Answer. No, sir; I knew there was no use. I do not think I spoke to an +officer while I was there. + +Question. Did you ever tell those who furnished you with the food you +did get, of the insufficiency of it? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What answer did they give you? + +Answer. That was all we were allowed, they said. + +Question. Did you have blankets while you were on Belle Isle? + +Answer. I had no blanket until our government sent us some. + +Question. How did you sleep before you received those blankets? + +Answer. We used to get together just as close as we could, and sleep +spoon-fashion, so that when one turned over we all had to turn over. + +Question. Did they furnish you any clothing while you were there? + +Answer. No, sir; the rebs did not furnish us a bit. It was very warm +weather when I was taken prisoner, and I had nothing on me but my pants, +shirt, gloves, shoes, stockings, and cap; and I received no more +clothing until our government sent us some in December, I think. We had +to lie right down on the cold ground. + +Question. Did you not have a tent? + +Answer. I had none when I first went there. After a while we had one, +but it was a very poor affair; the rain would come right through it. + +Question. Were you exposed to the dew and rain, and wind and snow? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. And before you got the tent you lay in the open air? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did the others there with you fare; the same as you did? + +Answer. Many of them had money, with which they bought things of the +guard; but I had no money. + +Question. Were there others there who had no money? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did they fare the same as you? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. After you went into the hospital, did you receive the same +treatment as their own sick received who were in the hospital with you, +or did they have any of their sick in there? + +Answer. I think none of their sick were in there. I suffered a great +deal with hunger when I was on Belle Isle. When I first went there I had +no passage of the bowels for eighteen days, and when I did have one it +was just as dry as meal. + +Question. Did you have any medicine at that time? + +Answer. No, sir; I took no medicine until I went to the hospital. About +the middle or last of February (somewhere about there) I took a very +severe cold. It seemed to settle all over me. I was as stiff in all my +joints as I could be. + +Question. Did your strength decrease much before you were taken sick in +February? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I stood it very well until about the 1st of February. +After that I commenced to go down pretty fast. I know that one day I +undertook to wash my shirt, and got it about half washed, when I was so +weak I had to give it up. + +Question. Do you think you had any other disease or sickness than what +was caused by exposure and starvation at that time? + +Answer. No, sir. When I was taken prisoner I weighed about 170 pounds, I +think. I had always been a very hearty, stout man--could eat anything, +and stand almost anything. + + * * * * * + +Isaac H. Lewis, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Julien: + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company K, 1st Vermont cavalry. + +Question. When were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. I was taken prisoner on the 22d of March, on Kilpatrick's raid. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. They carried me to Richmond, and put me in a tobacco house +there. + +Question. How did they treat you there? + +Answer. Well, they did not treat me as well as they might. + +Question. What did they give you to eat? + +Answer. They gave me corn-bread. + +Question. How much and how often? + +Answer. Not but very little. They gave me a little twice a day. + +Question. Did they give you any meat? + +Answer. Once in a while, a little. + +Question. What kind of meat? + +Answer. Beef. + +Question. Could you eat it? + +Answer. No, sir. + +[The witness here was evidently so weak and exhausted that the committee +suspended his examination.] + + * * * * * + +Mortimer F. Brown, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where are you from, and to what company and regiment do you +belong? + +Answer. I am from Steubenville, Ohio; I was in the 2d Ohio; Colonel +McCook was our colonel when I was taken prisoner. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. At Chickamauga. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. From Chickamauga to Richmond. + +Question. How did you fare while in Richmond? + +Answer. We lived very scantily, and hardly anything to eat. Some of the +boys, in order to get enough to live on, had to trade away what clothing +they could to the guard for bread, &c. + +Question. What did they allow you to eat? + +Answer. When we first went to Richmond our rations were bacon and +wheat-bread. We did very well at first, but they went on cutting it +down. + +Question. How was it finally? + +Answer. We received corn-bread once or twice a day--I think it was +twice. After we went to Danville we fared a great deal better in regard +to rations. + +Question. Did you have enough to eat, such as it was? + +Answer. I did, at Danville. + +Question. How was it at Richmond? + +Answer. Well, some had plenty to eat, but, as far as I was concerned, I +was hungry most all the time. From the time we left Richmond until we +drew our meat at Danville--say ten days--we had with us to eat only what +they called Graham bread--nothing but bread and water for those ten +days. After we got to Danville it was better. They issued us pork and +beef sometimes. There, there would be times when we would be without +meat for a couple of days. + +Question. What was their bearing and treatment towards you, aside from +your food? + +Answer. We were treated tolerably kindly until we commenced our +tunnelling operations; then they treated us very harshly; then they took +the prisoners that had occupied three floors and put them all on two +floors, and would only allow from three to six to go to the rear at one +time. + +Question. What is the matter with you now? + +Answer. Nothing at all but scurvy. I am getting along very well now +since I got here. The treatment at Danville was a palace alongside of +that at Richmond. + + * * * * * + +Franklin Dinsmore, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Where did you enlist? + +Answer. At Camp Nelson, Kentucky. + +Question. To what State do you belong? + +Answer. Eastern Tennessee. + +Question. How long have you been in the army? + +Answer. I enlisted on the 11th or 12th of last July; I do not remember +which day. + +Question. To what regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Eighth Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Who was your colonel? + +Answer. Colonel Strickland. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. At Zollicoffer, near the East Tennessee and Virginia line. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. Right straight on to Richmond. I was taken on the line of the +railroad. We were burning bridges there to keep the enemy out. + +Question. How did you fare after you got to Richmond? + +Answer. They just starved us. + +Question. What did they give you to eat? + +Answer. For forty-eight hours after we got there they gave us only just +what we could breathe; then they gave us a little piece of white bread +and just three bites of beef. A man could take it all decently at three +bites. That is the way we lived until we went to Danville, and then we +had meat enough to make half a dozen bites, with bugs in it. + +Question. What brought on your sickness? + +Answer. Starvation. I was so starved there that when I was down I could +not get up without catching hold of something to pull myself up by. + +Question. What did you live in? + +Answer. In a brick building, without any fire, or anything to cover us +with. + +Question. Had you no blankets? + +Answer. No, sir; we had not. They even took our coats from us, and part +of us had to lie there on the floor in our shirt sleeves. + +Question. In the winter? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Did any of the men freeze? + +Answer. Yes, sir; many a man just fell dead walking around trying to +keep himself warm, or, as he was lying on the floor, died during the +night; and if you looked out of a window, a sentinel would shoot you. +They shot some five or six of our boys who were looking out. Some of our +boys would work for the guards to get more to eat, just to keep them +from starving. There would be pieces of cobs in our bread, left there by +the grinding machine, half as long as my finger, and the bread itself +looked just as if you had taken a parcel of dough and let it bake in the +sun. It was all full of cracks where it had dried, and the inside was +all raw. + +Question. Were you hungry all the time? + +Answer. Hungry! I could eat anything in the world that came before us. +Some of the boys would get boxes from the north with meat of different +kinds in them, and, after they had picked the meat off, they would throw +the bones away into the spit-boxes, and we would pick the bones out of +the spit-boxes and gnaw them over again. + +Question. Did they have any more to give you? + +Answer. They had plenty. They were just doing it for their own +gratification. They said Seward had put old Beast Butler in there, and +they did not care how they treated us. + +Question. Did you complain about not having enough? + +Answer. Certainly we complained, but they said we had plenty. They +cursed us, and said we had a sight more than their men had who were +prisoners in our lines. + +Question. Do you feel any better now since you have been here? + +Answer. A great deal better; like a new man now. I am gaining flesh now. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. What was your occupation before you went into the army? + +Answer. I was a farmer. + + +By Mr. Julian: + +Question. Do you know how they treated their own sick? + +Answer. No, sir. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. Were other Tennesseeans taken prisoners the same time you +were? + +Answer. Yes, sir; there were twenty-four of us taken prisoners. The +small-pox was very severe among us. Our own men said that they were +just trying to kill the Tennesseeans and Kentuckians. Out of the +twenty-four, there were ten of us left when they started for Georgia. No +man can tell precisely how we were treated and say just how it was. + + * * * * * + +L. H. Parhan, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. From what State are you? + +Answer. West Tennessee. + +Question. To what regiment do you belong? + +Answer. The 3d West Tennessee cavalry. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. In Henry county, West Tennessee. + +Question. From there where were you carried? + +Answer. From there they marched us on foot, some 350-odd miles, to +Decatur. + +Question. What were you given to eat? + +Answer. Sometimes for twenty-four or thirty hours we would have a little +piece of beef and some corn-bread. + +Question. Were you a well man when you were taken prisoner? + +Answer. Yes, sir; a stout man for a little man. I was very stout. + +Question. Were you brought to your present condition by want of food? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and sleeping in the cold. They took my money and +clothes and everything else away from me, even my pocket-comb and knife, +and my finger-ring that my sister gave me. They were taken away when I +was captured. + +[The witness, who was so weak that he could not raise his head, appeared +to be so much exhausted by talking that the committee refrained from +further examination. As they were moving away from his bed, he spoke up +and said: "I am better now than when I came here. I have some strength +now. I hope I shall get better, for I want to see my old father and +mother once more."] + + * * * * * + +James Sweeney, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Where did you reside when you enlisted? + +Answer. Haverhill, Massachusetts. + +Question. To what company and regiment do you belong? + +Answer. Company E, 17th Massachusetts. + +Question. When were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. First of February. + +Question. Where? + +Answer. Six miles from Newbern, North Carolina. + +Question. Where were you then carried? + +Answer. To Richmond. + +Question. How were you treated after you were taken prisoner? + +Answer. We had no breakfast that day. We started out early in the +morning--the 132d New York was with us--without anything to eat. We had +nothing to eat all that day, and they made us sleep out all that night +without anything to eat. It rained that night; then they marched us the +next day thirty miles, to Kingston, without anything to eat, except it +was, about twelve o'clock, one of the regular captains, who had some +crackers in his haversack, gave us about one each, and some of the boys +managed to get an ear of corn from the wagons, but the rest of them were +pushed back by the guns of the guard; then we were kept in the streets +of Kingston until about nine o'clock, when we had a little pork and +three barrels of crackers for about two hundred of us. I got three or +four crackers. Then they put us in freight cars that they had carried +hogs in, all filthy and dirty, and we were nearly frozen by the time we +got to Goldsborough; and near Weldon they camped us in a field all day +long, like a spectacle for the people to look at, and when we got to +Richmond they put us in a common for a while, and then we were taken to +prison. About eleven o'clock that day they brought us some corn-bread. +They gave me about three-quarters of a small loaf and a dipper of hard, +black beans with worms in them. We were kept there all night. If we went +near the window, bullets were fired at us. Two or three hundred men lay +on the floor. I was kept between three and four weeks on Belle Isle. + +Question. How was it for food there? + +Answer. That night they gave us a piece of corn-bread about an inch +thick, two or three inches long. Some nights we would have a couple of +spoonfuls, maybe, of raw rice or raw beans; other nights they would not +give us that. A squad of 100 men of us would have about 20 sticks of +wood, and in order to cut that up we would have to pay a man for the use +of an axe by giving him a piece of the stick for splitting up the rest. +We lay right on the ground in the snow. Twenty of us together would lay +with our feet so close to the fire that the soles of our boots would be +all drawn, and we would get up in the morning all shivering, and I could +not eat what little food I did get. + +Question. What is the cause of your sickness? + +Answer. Just the food we got there and this exposure. Eating this +corn-bread continually gave me the diarrhoea. We would get thirsty and +drink that river water. We had little bits of beef sometimes; generally +it was tough, more like a piece of India-rubber you would rub +pencil-marks out with. What little food we did get was so bad we could +not eat it. At first, for five or six days, we could eat it pretty well, +but afterwards I could not eat it. + +Question. Have you been brought to your present condition by your +treatment there? + +Answer. Yes, sir; by the want of proper food, and exposure to the cold. + + * * * * * + +John C. Burcham, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Julian: + +Question. Where did you enlist, and in what regiment? + +Answer. I enlisted in Indianapolis, in the 75th Indiana regiment, +Colonel Robinson. + +Question. When were you taken prisoner, and where? + +Answer. I was taken prisoner at Chickamauga, on the 20th of September. + +Question. Where were you carried then? + +Answer. The next day they took us to Atlanta, and then on to Richmond. + +Question. What prison were you put in? + +Answer. I was on Belle Isle five or six days and nights, and then they +put me in a prison over in town. + +Question. How did they treat you there? + +Answer. Rough, rough, rough. + +Question. What did they give you to eat? + +Answer. A small bit of bread and a little piece of meat; black beans +full of worms. Sometimes meat pretty good, sometimes the meat was so +rotten that you could smell it as soon as you got it in the house. We +were used rough, I can tell you. + +Question. Did they leave you your property? + +Answer. They took everything we had before ever we got to Richmond; my +hat, blankets, knife. We did not do very well until we got some blankets +from our government; afterwards we did better. Before that we slept +right on the floor, with nothing over us except a little old blanket one +of us had. + +Question. What was their manner towards you? + +Answer. I call it pretty rough. If a man did not walk just right up to +the mark they were down on him, and not a man of us dared to put his +head out of the window, for he would be shot if he did. Several were +shot just for that. + +Question. What is the cause of your sickness? + +Answer. Nothing but exposure and the kind of food we had there. I was a +tolerably stout man before I got into their hands; after that I was +starved nearly to death. + + * * * * * + +Daniel Gentis, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What State are you from? + +Answer. Indiana. + +Question. When did you enlist, and in what company and regiment? + +Answer. I enlisted on the 6th of August, 1861, in company I, 2d New York +regiment. + +Question. Where were you taken prisoner? + +Answer. I was taken prisoner at Stevensville, Virginia; I was there with +Colonel Dahlgren, on Kilpatrick's expedition. + +Question. Were you taken prisoner at the same time that Colonel Dahlgren +was killed? + +Answer. I was there when he was killed, but I was taken prisoner the +next morning. + +Question. What do you know about the manner of his death and the +treatment his body received? + +Answer. He was shot within a foot and a half or two feet of me. I got +wounded that same night. The next morning I was taken prisoner, and as +we came along we saw his body, with his clothes all off. He was entirely +naked, and he was put into a hole and covered up. + +Question. Buried naked in that way? + +Answer. Yes, sir; no coffin at all. Afterwards his body was taken up and +carried to a slue and washed off, and then sent off to Richmond. A +despatch came from Richmond for his body, and it was sent there. + +Question. It has been said they cut off his finger? + +Answer. Yes, sir; his little finger was cut off, and his ring taken off. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. How do you know there was a ring on his finger? + +Answer. I saw the fellow who had it, and who said he took it off. When +they took his body to a slue and washed it off they put on it a shirt +and drawers, and then put it in a box and sent it to Richmond. + +Question. How far was that from Richmond? + +Answer. It was about 40 miles from Richmond, and about 10 miles from +West Point. + +Question. How were you treated yourself? + +Answer. I fared first-rate. I staid at the house of a Dr. Walker, of +Virginia, and Dr. Walker told me that a private of the 9th Virginia +cavalry took off Colonel Dahlgren's artificial leg, and that General +Ewell, I think it was, or some general in the southern army who had but +one leg, gave the private $2,000 for it, (confederate currency.) I saw +the private who took it, and saw him have the leg. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. How do you know they received a despatch from Richmond to have +the body sent there? + +Answer. All the information I got about the despatch was from Dr. +Walker, who said they were going to take the body to Richmond and bury +it where no one could find it. + +Question. Did Colonel Dahlgren make any speech or read any papers to his +command? + +Answer. No, sir; not that I ever heard of. They questioned me a great +deal about that. The colonel of the 9th Virginia cavalry questioned me +about it. I told him just all I knew about it. I told him I had heard no +papers read, nor anything else. + +Question. Did you ever hear any of your fellow-soldiers say they ever +heard any such thing at all? + +Answer. No, sir; and when I started I had no idea where I was going. + +Question. Were you in prison at Richmond? + +Answer. I was there for four days, but I was at Dr. Walker's pretty +nearly a month and a half. + +Question. During the four days you were in prison did you see any of our +other soldiers in prison there? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How did they fare? + +Answer. We all fared pretty rough on corn-bread and beans. Those who +were in my ward are here now sick in bed. + +Question. How happened it that you fell into the hands of Dr. Walker +particularly? + +Answer. The way it came about was this: In the morning I asked some +officers of the regular regiment for a doctor to dress my wound. One of +the doctors there said he could not do it. I spoke to a lieutenant and +asked him to be kind enough to get some doctor to dress it, and he got +this Dr. Walker. The doctor asked me to go to his house, and stay there +if I would. I told him "certainly I would go." The colonel of the rebel +regiment said that the doctor could take me there, and I staid until +Captain Magruder came up there and told Dr. Walker that I had to be sent +to Richmond. + +Question. Where were you wounded? + +Answer. In the knee. + +[At this point the committee concluded to examine no more of the +patients in the hospital, as most of them were too weak to be examined +without becoming too much exhausted, and because the testimony of all +amounted to about the same thing. They therefore confined the rest of +their investigation to the testimony of the surgeons in charge, and +other persons attending upon the patients.] + + * * * * * + +Surgeon B. A. Van Derkieft, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Are you in the service of the United States; and if so, in +what capacity? + +Answer. I am a surgeon of volunteers in the United States service; in +charge of hospital division No. 1, known as the Naval Hospital, +Annapolis, and have been here since the 1st of June, 1863. + +Question. State what you know in regard to the condition of our +exchanged or paroled prisoners who have been brought here, and also your +opportunities to know that condition? + +Answer. Since I have been here I think that from five to six thousand +paroled prisoners have been treated in this hospital as patients. They +have generally come here in a very destitute and feeble condition; many +of them so low that they die the very day they arrive here. + +Question. What is the character of their complaints generally, and what +does that character indicate as to the cause? + +Answer. Generally they are suffering from debility and chronic +diarrhoea, the result, I have no doubt, of exposure, privations, +hardship, and ill treatment. + +Question. In what respect would hardship and ill treatment superinduce +the complaints most prevalent among these paroled prisoners? + +Answer. These men, having been very much exposed, and not having had +nourishment enough to sustain their strength, are consequently +predisposed to be attacked by such diseases as diarrhoea, fever, scurvy, +and all catarrhal affections, which, perhaps, in the beginning are very +slight, but, on account of want of necessary care, produce, after a +while, a very serious disease. For instance, a man exposed to the cold +may have a little bronchitis, or perhaps a little inflammation of the +lungs, which, under good treatment, would be easily cured--would be +considered of no importance whatever; but being continually exposed, and +not having the necessary food, the complaint is transformed, after a +time, into a very severe disease. + +Question. Is it your opinion, as a physician, that the complaints of our +returned prisoners are superinduced by want of proper food, or food of +sufficient quantity, and from exposure? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. What is the general character of the statements our prisoners +have made to you in regard to their treatment? + +Answer. They complained of want of food, of bad food, and a want of +clothing. Very often, though not always, they are robbed, when taken +prisoners, of all the good clothes they have on. There is no doubt about +that, for men have often arrived here with nothing but their pants and +shirts on; no coat, overcoat, no cap, no shoes or stockings, and some of +them without having had any opportunities to wash themselves for weeks +and months, so that when they arrive here, the scurf on their skin is +one-eighth of an inch thick; and we have had several cases of men who +have been shot for the slightest offence. There is a man now here who at +one time put his hand out of the privy, which was nothing but a window +in the wall, to steady himself and keep himself from falling, and he was +shot, and we have been obliged to amputate his arm since he arrived +here. These men complain that they have had no shelter. We have men here +now who say that for five or six months they have been compelled to lay +on the sand. I have no doubt about the correctness of their statements, +for the condition of their skins shows the statements to be true. Their +joints are calloused, and they have callouses on their backs, and some +have even had the bones break through the skin. There is one instance in +particular that I would mention. One man died in the hospital there one +hour before the transfer of prisoners was made, and as an act of +humanity the surgeon in charge of the hospital allowed the friends of +this man to take him on board the vessel in order to have him buried +among his friends. This man was brought here right from the Richmond +hospital. He was so much covered with vermin and so dirty that we were +not afraid to make the statement that the man had not been washed for +six months. Now, as a material circumstance to prove that these men have +been badly fed, I will state that we must be very careful in feeding +them when they arrive here, for a very light diet is too much for them +at first. + +Question. You have accompanied us as we have examined some of the +patients in the hospital to-day. Do their statements to us, under oath, +correspond with the statements which they made when they first arrived +here? + +Answer. They are quite the same; there is no difference. Every man makes +the same statement, and we therefore believe it to be true. All say the +same in regard to rations, treatment, exposure and privations. Once in a +while I have found a man who pretended to have been treated very well, +but by examining closely I find that such men are not very good Union +men. + +Question. You say that about six thousand paroled prisoners have come +under your supervision and treatment? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State generally what their condition has been. + +Answer. Very bad, indeed. I cannot find terms sufficient to express what +their condition was. I cannot state it properly. + +Question. You have already stated that, as a general thing, they have +been destitute of clothing. + +Answer. Yes, sir; dirty, filthy, covered with vermin, dying. At one time +we received three hundred and sixty patients in one day, and fourteen +died within twelve hours; and there were six bodies of those who had +died on board the transport that brought them up here. + +Question. What appeared to be the complaint of which they died? + +Answer. Very extreme debility, the result of starvation and +exposure--the same as the very weak man you saw here, [L. H. Parham.] + +Question. We have observed some very emaciated men here, perfect +skeletons, nothing but skin and bone. In your opinion, as a physician, +what has reduced these men to that condition? + +Answer. Nothing but starvation and exposure. + +Question. Can you tell the proportion of the men who have died to the +number that have lately arrived from Richmond? + +Answer. If time is allowed me I can send the statement to the committee. + +Question. Do so, if you please. + +Answer. I will do so. I will say that some of these men who have stated +they were well treated, I have found out to have been very bad to the +Union men. + +Question. Are those men you have just mentioned as having been well +treated an exception to the general rule? + +Answer. Yes, sir; a very striking exception. + +Question. Have you ever been in charge of confederate prisoners? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. State the course of treatment of our authorities towards them. + +Answer. We have never made the slightest difference between our own men +and confederate prisoners when their sick and wounded have been in our +hands. + +Question. You have treated both the same? + +Answer. Yes, sir. When any one of their men, wounded or sick, has been a +patient in our hands, we have treated him the same as we do our own men. + + +By Mr. Julian: + +Question. Have their sick and wounded been kept separate from ours, or +have they been kept together? + +Answer. In Washington they were kept separate, but at Antietam, where an +hospital was established, in order to have the patients treated where +they were injured, the Union and confederate patients were treated +together and alike. At Hagerstown almost everybody is secesh. Well, the +most I can say is, that some of the secesh ladies there came to me and +stated that they were very glad to see that we had treated their men the +same as ours. + +Question. It is sometimes said, by the rebel newspapers, at least, that +they have given the same rations to our prisoners that they give to +their own soldiers. Now, I want to ask you, as a medical man, if it is +possible, with the amount of food that our prisoners have had, for men +to retain their health and vigor, and perform active service in the +field? + +Answer. I do not believe that the rebels could fight as well, or make +such marches as they have done, upon such small rations as our prisoners +have received. + +Question. Can the health of men be preserved upon such rations as they +have given our prisoners? + +Answer. No, sir; it cannot, not only on account of quantity, but +quality. I have seen some specimens of their rations brought here by our +paroled prisoners, and I know what they are. + +Question. As a general rule, what is the effect of treating men in that +way? + +Answer. Just what we hear every day--men dying from starvation and +debility. Many of these men--mostly all the wounded men--are suffering +from hospital gangrene, which is the result of not having their wounds +dressed in time, and having too many crowded in the same apartment. We +have had men here whose wounds have been so long neglected that they +have had maggots in them by the hundred. + + * * * * * + +Acting Assistant Surgeon J. H. Longenecker, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. What is your position in the United States service? + +Answer. Acting assistant surgeon. + +Question. How long have you been stationed here? + +Answer. Since the 27th of July, 1863. + +Question. Will you state what has been the condition of our paroled +prisoners, received here from the rebels, during the time you have been +stationed here? + +Answer. As a general thing, they have been very much debilitated, +emaciated, and suffering from disease, such as diarrhoea, scurvy, lung +diseases, &c. + +Question. In your opinion, as a physician, by what have these diseases +been produced? + +Answer. By exposure and want of proper food, I think. + +Question. Are you able to form any opinion, from the condition of these +men, as to the quantity and quality of food which they have received? + +Answer. From their appearance and condition, I judge the quality must +have been very bad, and the quantity very small, not sufficient to +preserve the health. + +Question. We have seen and examined several patients here this morning, +who are but mere skeletons. They have stated to us, as you are aware, +that their suffering arose wholly from the want of proper food and +clothing. In your opinion as a medical man, are these statements true? + +Answer. I believe that these statements are correct. We have had some +men who looked very well. How they managed to preserve their health I am +not able to say; but, as a general thing, the men we receive here are +very much debilitated, apparently from exposure, and want of sufficient +food to keep up life and health. + +Question. Are you acquainted with the case of Howard Laedom? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I am. + +Question. Will you state about that case? + +Answer. I did not see the patient until recently, when he was placed in +my charge. I found him with all his toes gone from one foot in +consequence of exposure. He has suffered from pneumonia, also, produced +by exposure, and there have been very many cases of pneumonia here, +produced by the same cause, many of whom have died; and we have held +post mortem examinations upon many of them, and found ulcers upon their +intestines, some of them being ulcerated the whole length of their +bowels. + +Question. Have you made many post mortem examinations here? + +Answer. We have made quite a number of them. We make them whenever we +have an opportunity; whenever bodies are not called for or are not +likely to be taken away. + +Question. Are you enabled, from these post mortem examinations, to +determine whether or not these prisoners have had sufficient quantities +of proper food? + +Answer. Not from that. Those examinations merely indicate the condition +in which the prisoners are returned to us. + +Question. From all the indications given by the appearance of these men, +are you satisfied that their statements, that they have not had +sufficient food, both in quantity and quality, are true? + +Answer. These statements have been repeated to me very often, and from +their condition I believe their statement to be true. + +Question. How many paroled prisoners were brought here by the last boat? + +Answer. Three hundred and sixty-five, I think. + +Question. In your opinion, how many of these men will recover? + +Answer. Judging from their present condition, I think that at least one +hundred of them will die. + +Question. What, in your opinion, will be the primary cause of the death +of these men? + +Answer. Exposure and want of proper food while prisoners. + + * * * * * + +Assistant Surgeon William S. Ely, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Harding: + +Question. What is your position in the service? + +Answer. Assistant surgeon of the United States volunteers and executive +officer of hospital division No. 1, or Naval Academy hospital. + +Question. Please state the sanitary condition and appearance, &c., of +the paroled prisoners received here, together with their declarations as +to the cause of their sickness, and your opinion as to the truth of +their statements. + +Answer. I have been on duty in this hospital since October 3, 1863. +Since that time I have been present on the arrival of the steamer New +York on five or six different occasions, when bringing altogether some +three or four thousand paroled prisoners. I have assisted in unloading +these prisoners from the boat, and assigning them to quarters in the +hospital. I have found them generally very much reduced physically, and +depressed mentally, the direct result, as I think, of the ill-treatment +which they have received from the hands of their enemies--whether +intentional or not I cannot say. I have frequently seen on the boat +bodies of those who have died while being brought here, and I have +frequently known them to die while being conveyed from the boat to the +hospital ward. Their condition is such (their whole constitution being +undermined) that the best of care and medical treatment, and all the +sanitary and hygeian measures that we can introduce appear to be +useless. Their whole assimilative functions appear to be impaired. +Medicines and food appear, in many cases, to have no effect upon them. +We have made post mortem examinations repeatedly of cases here, and on +all occasions we find the system very much reduced, and in many cases +the muscles almost entirely gone--reduced to nothing literally but skin +and bone; the blood vitiated and depraved, and an anoemic condition of +the entire system apparent. The fact that in many cases of post mortems +we had discovered no organic disease, justifies us in the conclusion +that the fatal result is owing principally, if not entirely, to a +deprivation of food and other articles necessary to support life, and to +improper exposure. On all occasions when arriving here, these men have +been found in the most filthy condition, it being almost impossible, in +many cases, to clean them by repeated washings. The functions of the +skin are entirely impaired, and in many cases they are encrusted with +dirt, owing, as they say, to being compelled to lie on the sand at Belle +island; and the normal function of the skin has not been recovered until +the cuticle has been entirely thrown off. Their bodies are covered with +vermin, so that it has been found necessary to throw away all the +clothing which they had on when they arrived here, and provide them +entirely with new clothing. Their hair has been filled with vermin, so +that we have been obliged to cut their hair all off, and make +applications to kill the vermin in their heads. Many of them state that +they have had no opportunity to wash their bodies for six or eight +months, and have not done so. + +Question. What have been their statements to you in their conversation +with you? + +Answer. Their reply almost invariably has been, that their condition is +the result solely of ill-treatment and starvation; that their rations +have consisted of corn-bread and cobs ground with corn, of a few beans +at times, and now and then a little piece of poor meat. Occasionally one +is heard to say, that in his opinion the rebels are unable to treat them +in any better manner; that they have been treated as well as possible; +and I have found several who stated that their physicians were kind to +them and did all they could, but complained of want of medicines. + +Question. Is it your conclusion, as a physician, that the statements of +these paroled prisoners, in regard to the treatment they have received, +are correct, and that such treatment would produce such conditions of +health as you witness among them upon their arrival here? + +Answer. Yes, sir; and that in many cases their statements fall short of +the truth, as evinced by the results shown in their physical appearance; +and these men are in such a condition that even if they recover, we +consider them almost entirely unfitted for further active field +service--almost as much so, we frequently say, as if they had been shot +on the field. + + * * * * * + +Miss Abbie J. Howe, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. From what State are you, and what position do you occupy in +this hospital? + +Answer. I am from Massachusetts, and am here acting as nurse. + +Question. How long have you been here? + +Answer. Since the 15th of September, 1863. + +Question. Have you had charge of the sick and paroled prisoners who have +come here during that time? + +Answer. Yes, sir; some of them. + +Question. How many of them have you had charge of, should you think? + +Answer. I should think I have had charge of at least 250 who have come +under my own charge. + +Question. Can you describe to us the general condition of those men? + +Answer. Almost all of them have had this dreadful cough. I do not think +I ever heard the like before; and they have had chronic diarrhoea, very +persistent indeed. Many of them have a great craving for things which +they ought not to have. One patient who came in here had the scurvy, and +he said: "I can eat anything that a dog can eat. Oh, do give me +something to eat;" and in their delirium they are crying for "bread, +bread," and "mother, mother." One of them called out for "more James +river water to drink." + +Question. What has been their general complaint in regard to their +treatment while prisoners? + +Answer. Their chief complaint has been want of food and great exposure. +Many of them who had clothes sent them by friends or our government, +were obliged to sell everything until they were left as destitute as at +first, in order to get more food. I have seen some of their rations, and +I would myself rather eat what I have seen given to cattle, than to eat +such food as their specimens brought here. One man had the typhoid +fever, but was in such haste to get away from the hospital in Richmond +in order to get home, that he would not remain there. He had the +ravenous appetite which men with typhus fever have; and other men told +me that they gave him their rations which they could not eat themselves. +This produced a terrible diarrhoea, and he lived but a few days after he +arrived here. + +Question. What has been the physical condition of these, emaciated or +otherwise? + +Answer. Just skin and bone. I have never imagined anything before like +it. + +Question. Have their statements, in relation to their exposure and +deprivation of food, corresponded entirely with each other? + +Answer. Yes, sir, entirely so, except those who were able, by work, to +get extra rations; and those extra rations were not anything like what +our men have here, but it gave them as much and as good as their guards +had; and they have not only been treated in this way, but they have been +ill-used in almost every way. They have told me that when one of them +was sitting down, and was told to get up, and was not moving quickly in +consequence of his sickness, he was wounded by the rebels in charge. +They have often told me that they have been kicked and knocked about +when unable to move quickly. I could give a great many instances of +ill-treatment and hardships which have been stated to me, but it would +take a great deal of time to tell them. + + * * * * * + +Rev. H. C. Henries, sworn and examined. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. What is your position here? + +Answer. Chaplain of the hospital. + +Question. How long have you been here? + +Answer. I have been on duty since December 7, 1861. + +Question. You are familiar with the facts connected with the condition +of paroled prisoners arriving here from the south? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Will you state generally what was their condition? + +Answer. I think it would be impossible for me to give any adequate +description, for I think all language fails to fully express their real +condition as they land here. Their appearance is haggard in the extreme; +ragged, destitute even of shoes, and very frequently without pants or +blouses, or any covering except their drawers and shirts, and perhaps a +half a blanket, or something like that; sometimes without hats, and in +the most filthy condition that it is possible to conceive of either +beast or man being reduced to in any circumstances; unable to give +either their names, their residence, regiments, or any facts, in +consequence of their mental depression, so that I believe the surgeons +have found it quite impossible some times to ascertain their relation to +the army. Their statements agree almost universally in regard to their +treatment at the hands of the rebels. There have been a very few +exceptions, indeed, of those who have stated that perhaps their fare was +as good as, under the circumstances, the rebels were able to give them, +but the almost universal testimony of these men has been, that they were +purposely deprived of the comforts and medical care which could have +been afforded them, in order to render them useless to the army in the +future. That has been the impression which a great many of them have +labored under. They have given their testimony in regard to their +condition on Belle Isle. There were three in one room here not long +since, who told me that some eight of their comrades died during one or +two days, and their bodies were thrown out on the banks that enclosed +the ground and left there for eight days unburied, and they were refused +the privilege of burying their comrades, until the hogs and the dogs had +well-nigh eaten up their bodies. Yesterday, one man told me that he was +so starved, and his hunger had become so intolerable, that his eyes +appeared to swim in his head, and at times to be almost lost to all +consciousness. Others have stated that they have offered to buy dogs at +any price for food, of those who came in there; and one actually said +that when a man came in there with a dog, and went out without the dog +noticing it, they caught him and dressed him and roasted him over the +fire, over a gas-light, as best they could, and then ate it; and, as he +expressed it, "it was a precious mite to them." Their testimony in +regard to the cruelty of the guards and others set over them is to the +effect that in one instance two comrades in the army together, who were +taken prisoners together, and remained in the prison together, were +separated when the prisoners were exchanged. One was returned here and +the other left. The one who was left went to the window and waved his +hand in adieu to his comrade, and the guard deliberately shot him +through the temple, and he fell dead. I mentioned this fact to others of +our prisoners here in the hospital, and they said that they knew it to +be so. Some of them were there at the time the man was shot. + +Question. Do you keep any record of the deaths here? + +Answer. I have not kept a record. I have the official notice of the +deaths; but inasmuch as the records are kept at the office, and we have +had so many other duties crowding upon us--so many deaths here--it has +been almost impossible for us to keep any record. I think it is +impossible for any description to exaggerate the condition of those men. +The condition of those here now is not so bad, as a class, as some we +have received heretofore. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Has the treatment of our prisoners latterly been worse than +before, from their testimony? + +Answer. I think there has been no very material change of late. I think +it has grown worse from the very first; but for a year past, I should +judge it could not be made any worse. + +Question. Just the same thing we now see here? + +Answer. Yes, sir. I would give just another fact in regard to the +statements made here by large numbers of our returned prisoners. On +Belle Isle, their privies were down from the main camp. From 6 o'clock +in the morning until 6 o'clock in the evening they were permitted to go +to these sinks or privies, but from 6 at night until 6 in the morning +they were refused the privilege of going there, and consequently, so +many suffering with diarrhoea, their filth was deposited all through +their camp. The wells from which they drew their water were sunk in the +sand around through their camp, and you can judge what the effect of +that has been. Some of these prisoners, soon after they were put on +Belle Isle, not knowing the regulations there, and suffering from +chronic diarrhoea, when making the attempt to go down to these privies +after 6 o'clock at night, were shot down in cold blood by the guards, +without any warning whatever. Several such instances have been stated to +me by parties who have arrived here. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. You make these statements from the testimony of prisoners +received here? + +Answer. Yes, sir; from testimony that I have the most perfect confidence +in. Men have stated these things to me in the very last hours of their +lives. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Were they conscious of their condition at the time they made +their statements? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I think they were perfectly conscious; yet there is +one thing which is very remarkable, that is, these men retain their hope +of life up to the hour of dying. They do not give up. There is another +thing I would wish to state: all the men, without any exception, among +the thousands that have come to this hospital, have never, in a single +instance, expressed a regret (notwithstanding the privations and +sufferings that they have endured) that they entered their country's +service. They have been the most loyal, devoted, and earnest men. Even +on the last days of their lives they have said that all they hoped for +was just to live and enter the ranks again and meet their foes. It is a +most glorious record in reference to the devotion of our men to their +country. I do not think their patriotism has ever been equalled in the +history of the world. + + * * * * * + +The committee then proceeded, by steamer, from Annapolis to Baltimore, +and visited the "West Hospital," and saw the patients there. As they +presented the same reduced and debilitated appearance as those they had +already seen at Annapolis, and in conversation gave the same account of +their treatment at the hands of the rebels, the committee concluded +their examination by taking merely the testimony of the surgeon and +chaplain of the hospital. + + * * * * * + + "WEST HOSPITAL," _Baltimore, Md., May 6, 1864_. + +Dr. Wm. G. Knowles, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Will you state whether you are in the employment of the +government; and if so, in what capacity? + +Answer. I am, and have been for nearly three years, a contract physician +in the "West Hospital," Baltimore. + +Question. Have you received any of the returned Union prisoners, from +Richmond, in your hospital? + +Answer. We have received those we have here now; no others. + +Question. How many have you received? + +Answer. We have received 105. + +Question. When did you receive them? + +Answer. Two weeks ago last Tuesday. On the 19th of April. + +Question. Will you state the condition those prisoners were in when they +were received here? + +Answer. They were all very emaciated men, as you have seen here to-day, +only more so than they appear to be now. They were very emaciated and +feeble, suffering chiefly from diarrhoea, many of them having, in +connexion with that, bronchial and similar affections. From the +testimony given to me by these men I have no doubt their condition was +the result of exposure and--I was about to say starvation; but it was, +perhaps, hardly starvation, for they had something to eat; but I will +say, a deficient supply of food and of a proper kind of food; and when I +say "exposure," perhaps that would not be sufficiently definite. All +with whom I have conversed have stated that those who were on Belle Isle +were kept there even as late as December with nothing to protect them +but such little clothing as was left them by their captors; with no +blankets, no overcoats, no tents, nothing to cover them, nothing to +protect them; and that their sleeping-place was the ground--the sand. + +Question. What would you, as a physician of experience, aside from the +statements of these returned prisoners, say was the cause of their +condition? + +Answer. I should judge it was as they have stated. Diarrhoea is a very +common form of disease among them, and from all the circumstances I have +every reason to believe that it is owing to exposure and the want of +proper nourishment. Some of them tell me that they received nothing but +two small pieces of corn-bread a day. Some of them suppose (how true +that may be I do not know) that that bread was made of corn ground with +the cobs. I have not seen any of it to examine it. + +Question. How many have died of the number you have received here? + +Answer. Already twenty-nine have died, and you have seen one who is now +dying; and five were received here dead, who died on their way from +Fortress Monroe to Baltimore. + +Question. How many of them were capable of walking into the hospital? + +Answer. Only one; the others were brought here from the boat on +stretchers, put on the dumb-waiter, and lifted right up to their rooms, +and put on their beds. And I would state another thing in regard to +these men: when they were received here they were filthy, dirty, and +lousy in the extreme, and we had considerable trouble to get them clean. +Every man who could possibly stand it we took and placed in a warm bath +and held him up while he was washed, and we threw away all their dirty +clothing, providing them with that which was clean. + +Question. What was the condition of their clothing? + +Answer. Very poor, indeed. I should say the clothing was very much worn, +although I did not examine it closely, as that was not so much a matter +of investigation with us as was their physical condition. Their heads +were filled with vermin, so much so that we had to cut off their hair +and make applications to destroy the vermin. + +Question. What portion of those you have received here do you suppose +are finally curable? + +Answer. We shall certainly lose one-third of them; and we have been +inclined to think that, sooner or later, we should lose one-half of +them. + +Question. Will the constitutions of those who survive be permanently +injured, or will they entirely recover? + +Answer. I think the constitutions of the greater part of them will be +seriously impaired; that they will never become strong and healthy +again. + +Question. What account have these men given you as to the comparative +condition of those left behind? Did the rebels send the best or the +poorest of our prisoners? + +Answer. I could not tell that; I have never inquired. But I should +presume they must have sent the worst they had. + +Question. You have had charge of confederate sick and wounded, have you +not? + +Answer. Yes, sir; a large number of them. This was the receiving +hospital for those from Gettysburg. + +Question. What was the treatment they received from us? + +Answer. We consider that we treated them with the greatest kindness and +humanity; precisely as we treated our own men. That has been our rule of +conduct. We gave them the very best the hospital would afford; and not +only what properly belonged to the hospital, but delicacies and luxuries +of every kind were furnished them by the hospital, and by outside +sympathizers, who were permitted to send delicacies to them. + +Question. It has been stated in many of the rebel newspapers that our +prisoners are treated the same and fed with the same rations as their +soldiers in the field. In your judgment, as a physician would it be +possible for their soldiers to retain their health and energy if fed as +our prisoners have been? + +Answer. No, sir; it would be impossible; multitudes of them would have +died under such treatment. + +Question. I do not know as I desire to question you further. Is there +anything more you desire to state? + +Answer. I do not know that there is; it is all in a nut-shell. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. Is not the disease as evinced among those men clearly defined +as resulting from exposure and privations, and want of proper food and +nourishment? + +Answer. That is our decided opinion as medical men; the opinion of all +of us who have had anything to do with these men. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. The condition of all these men appears to be about the same. +Is there really any difference in their condition except in degree? + +Answer. I think that is all. Some men have naturally stronger +constitutions than others, and can bear more than others. That is the +way I account for the difference. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. Are the minds of any of them affected permanently? + +Answer. We have had two or three whose intellect is very feeble; some of +them are almost like children in that respect. + +Question. Do you think that grows out of the treatment they have +received? + +Answer. I think the same cause produced that as the other. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Is not that one of the symptoms attendant upon starvation, +that men are likely to become deranged or idiotic? + +Answer. Yes, sir; more like derangement than what we call idiocy. + + +By Mr. Gooch: + +Question. Can those men whose arms you bared and held up to us--mere +skeletons, nothing but skin and bone--can those men recover? + +Answer. They may; we think that some of them are in an improving +condition. But we have to be extremely cautious how we feed them. If we +give them a little excess of food under these circumstances they would +be almost certain to be seriously and injuriously affected by it. + +Question. It is your opinion, you have stated, that these men have been +reduced to this condition by want of food? + +Answer. It is; want of food and exposure are the original causes. That +has produced diarrhoea and other diseases as a natural consequence, and +they have aided the original cause and reduced them to their present +condition. I should like the country and the government to know the +facts about these men; I do not think they can realize it until the +facts are made known to them. I think the rebels have determined upon +the policy of starving their prisoners, just as much as the murders at +Fort Pillow were a part of their policy. + + * * * * * + +Rev. J. T. Van Burkalow, sworn and examined. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. What is your connexion with this hospital? + +Answer. I am the chaplain of the hospital. + +Question. How long have you been acting in that capacity? + +Answer. I have been connected with the hospital in that capacity ever +since the 20th of October, 1862. + +Question. What has been your opportunity of knowing the condition of our +returned prisoners? + +Answer. I have mingled with them and administered unto them ever since +they have been here, night and day. I have written, I suppose, something +like a hundred letters for them to their relatives and friends, since +they arrived here. + +Question. Have you attended them when they were dying? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. And conversed with them about their condition, and the manner +in which they have been brought to that condition? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I have. + +Question. Please tell us what you have ascertained from them. + +Answer. The general story I have gotten from them was to the effect that +when captured, and before they got to Richmond, they would generally be +robbed of their clothing, their good United States uniforms, even to +their shoes and hats taken from them, and if anything was given to them +in place of them, they would receive only old worn-out confederate +clothing. Sometimes they were sent to Belle Isle with nothing on but old +pants and shirts. They generally had their money taken from them, often +with the promise of its return, but that promise was never fulfilled. +They were placed on Belle Isle, as I have said, some with nothing on but +pants and shirts, some with blouses, but they were seldom allowed to +have an overcoat or a blanket. There they remained for weeks, some of +them for six or eight weeks, without any tents or any kind of covering. + +Question. What time of the year was this? + +Answer. All along from September down to December, as a general thing, +through the latter part of the fall. There they remained for weeks +without any tents, without blankets, and in many instances without +coats, exposed to the rain and snow, and all kinds of inclement weather. +And where some of them had tents, they were old worn-out army tents, +full of holes and rents, so that they are very poor shelters indeed from +the storms. I have been told by several of them that several times, upon +getting up in the morning, they would find six or eight of their number +frozen to death. There are men here now who have had their toes frozen +off there. They have said that they have been compelled to get up during +the night and walk rapidly back and forth to keep from dying from the +cold. + +Question. What do they say in regard to the food furnished them? + +Answer. They represent that as being very little in quantity, and of the +very poorest quality, being but a small piece of corn-bread, about three +inches square, made of meal ground very coarsely--some of them suppose +made of corn and cobs all ground up together--and that bread was baked +and cut up and sent to them in such a manner that a great deal of it +would be crumbled off and lost. Sometimes they would get a very small +piece of meat, but that meat very poor, and sometimes for days they +would receive no meat at all. And sometimes they would receive a very +small quantity of what they call rice-water--that is, water with a few +grains of rice in it. + +Question. You have heard their statements separately? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. Do they all agree in the same general statement as to their +treatment? + +Answer. Yes, sir; they do. + +Question. How were they clothed when they arrived here? + +Answer. They were clothed very poorly indeed, with old worn-out filthy +garments, full of vermin. + +Question. What was their condition and appearance as to health when they +arrived here? + +Answer. They looked like living skeletons--that is about the best +description I can give of them--very weak and emaciated. + +Question. Have you ever seen men at any time or place so emaciated as +these are--so entirely destitute of flesh? + +Answer. I think I have a few times, but very rarely; I have known men to +become very emaciated by being for weeks affected with chronic +diarrhoea, or something of that kind. But the chronic diarrhoea, and +liver diseases, and lung affections, which those men now have, I +understand to have been superinduced by the treatment to which they have +been subjected; their cruel and merciless treatment and exposure to +inclement weather without any shelter or sufficient clothing or food, +reducing them literally to a state of starvation. + +Question. Could any of them walk when they arrived here? + +Answer. I think there was but one who could make out to walk; the rest +we had to carry into the hospitals on stretchers. + + +By Mr. Odell: + +Question. Did these men make these statements in their dying condition? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + + +By the chairman: + +Question. Were the persons who made these statements conscious of +approaching dissolution? + +Answer. Yes, sir; I know of no particular cases where they spoke of +these things when they were right on the borders of death; but they made +them before, when they were aware of their condition. + +Question. So that you have no reason to doubt that they told the exact +truth, or intended to do so? + +Answer. None whatever. There has been such a unanimity of testimony on +that point, that I cannot entertain the shadow of a doubt. + +Question. And their statements were corroborated by their appearance? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. You have had under your charge and attention confederate sick +and wounded, have you not? + +Answer. Yes, sir. + +Question. How have they been treated? + +Answer. In my judgment they have been treated just as well as any of our +own men ever were treated. In fact, they have got better treatment than +our men did formerly, for the reason that, in addition to what we have +given them--and we have tried to treat them just as we would have them +treat our men--in addition to that, we have allowed the rebel +sympathizers of Baltimore to bring them, everyday, delicacies in +abundance. + +Question. Were these rebel sympathizers bountiful to them in that line? + +Answer. Yes, sir, very. + +Question. What has been the feeling evinced by our returned prisoners, +after having received such treatment, in regard to having entered the +service? Have they ever expressed any regret that they entered our army? + +Answer. As a general thing, they have not. In fact, I have heard but one +express a different sentiment. He was a mere youth, not more than 16 or +17 years of age now. His feet were badly frozen. He remarked that he had +regretted, even long before he got to Richmond, that he entered the +service. But I have heard a number of them declare that if they were so +fortunate as to recover their health and strength, they should be glad +to return to the service, and still fight for their country. + +Question. They then bear their misfortunes bravely and patriotically? + +Answer. Yes, sir, they do. + +Question. And without complaining of their government? + +Answer. Yes, sir, without complaining of their fate, except so far as to +blame their merciless enemies. + + * * * * * + +DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, DISTRICT OF MEMPHIS. + +_Deposition of John Nelson in relation to the capture of Fort Pillow._ + + EVIDENCE DEPARTMENT, + _Provost Marshal's Office_. + +John Nelson, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith: + + +At the time of the attack on and capture of Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, +I kept a hotel within the lines at Fort Pillow, and a short distance +from the works. Soon after the alarm was given that an attack on the +fort was imminent, I entered the works and tendered my services to Major +Booth, commanding. The attack began in the morning at about 5-1/2 +o'clock, and about one o'clock p. m. a flag of truce approached. During +the parley which ensued, and while the firing ceased on both sides, the +rebels kept crowding up to the works on the side near Cold creek, and +also approached nearer on the south side, thereby gaining advantages +pending the conference under the flag of truce. As soon as the flag of +truce was withdrawn the attack began, and about five minutes after it +began the rebels entered the fort. Our troops were soon overpowered, and +broke and fled. A large number of the soldiers, black and white, and +also a few citizens, myself among the number, rushed down the bluff +towards the river. I concealed myself as well as I could in a position +where I could distinctly see all that passed below the bluff, for a +considerable distance up and down the river. + +A large number, at least one hundred, were hemmed in near the river bank +by bodies of the rebels coming from both north and south. Most all of +those thus hemmed in were without arms. I saw many soldiers, both white +and black, throw up their arms in token of surrender, and call out that +they had surrendered. The rebels would reply, "God damn you, why didn't +you surrender before?" and shot them down like dogs. + +The rebels commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. Many colored soldiers +sprang into the river and tried to escape by swimming, but these were +invariably shot dead. + +A short distance from me, and within view, a number of our wounded had +been placed, and near where Major Booth's body lay; and a small red flag +indicated that at that place our wounded were placed. The rebels, +however as they passed these wounded men, fired right into them and +struck them with the buts of their muskets. + +The cries for mercy and groans which arose from the poor fellows were +heartrending. + +Thinking that if I should be discovered, I would be killed, I emerged +from my hiding place, and, approaching the nearest rebel, I told him I +was a citizen. He said, "You are in bad company, G--d d----n you; out +with your greenbacks, or I'll shoot you." I gave him all the money I +had, and under his convoy I went up into the fort again. + +When I re-entered the fort there was still some shooting going on. I +heard a rebel officer tell a soldier not to kill any more of those +negroes. He said that they would all be killed, any way, when they were +tried. + + JOHN NELSON. + +Mr. Nelson further states: + +After I entered the fort, and after the United States flag had been +taken down, the rebels held it up in their hands in the presence of +their officers, and thus gave the rebels outside a chance to still +continue their slaughter, and I did not notice that any rebel officer +forbade the holding of it up. I also further state, to the best of my +knowledge and information, that there were not less than three hundred +and sixty negroes killed and two hundred whites. + +This I give to the best of my knowledge and belief. + + JOHN NELSON. + +Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2d day of May, A. D. 1864. + + J. D. LLOYD, + _Captain 11th Infantry, Mo. Vols., and + Ass'nt Provost Marshal, Dist. of Memphis_. + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Frank Hogan, corporal in company A, 6th United States +heavy artillery, (colored.)_ + +I, Frank Hogan, a corporal in company A, of the 6th United States heavy +artillery, (colored,) would, on oath, state the following: That I was in +the battle fought at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the (12th) twelfth day +of April, A. D. (1864,) one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and +that I was taken prisoner by the enemy, and I saw Captain Carson, and +heard some of the enemy ask him if he belonged to a nigger regiment. He +told them he did. They asked him how he came here. He told them he was +detailed there. Then they told him they would give him a detail, and +immediately shot him dead, after being a prisoner without arms. I also +saw two lieutenants, whose names I did not know, but who belonged to the +(13th) Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, shot down after having been taken +prisoners. I also saw them kill three sick men that were lying helpless +in their tents. + +I saw them make our men (colored) pull the artillery, whipping them at +the same time in the most shameful manner. + +I also saw them bury one of our men alive, being only wounded. I heard +Colonel McCullough, Confederate States army, ask his adjutant how many +men were killed and wounded. The adjutant told him he had a list of +three hundred, and that all the reports were not in yet. Colonel +McCullough was commanding a brigade. I also heard a captain, Confederate +States army, tell Colonel McCullough, Confederate States army, that ten +men were killed out of his own company. + + his + FRANK x HOGAN. + mark. + +Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of April, 1864, at Fort +Pickering, Memphis, Tennessee. + + MALCOM F. SMITH, + _First Lieutenant and Adjutant 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery, (colored.)_ + +A true copy. + + J. H. ODLIN, + _Captain and Assistant Adjutant General_. + + * * * * * + +_Statement of Wilbur H. Gaylord, first sergeant, company B, 6th United +States heavy artillery, (colored.)_ + + FORT PICKERING, TENNESSEE, _April 28, 1864_. + +I was in the battle fought at Fort Pillow on the 12th day of April, A. D. +1864. The engagement commenced about six and a half o'clock a. m. I +was stationed about twenty rods outside the fort with twenty men in a +southeast direction, (this was about six and a half o'clock a. m.,) with +orders from Major S. F. Booth to hold the position as long as possible +without being captured. I staid there with the men about one hour. While +there the rebels came within thirty rods and tried to steal horses. They +got two horses, and at the same time stuck a rebel flag on the +fortifications. While I held this position the white men on my right +(13th Tennessee cavalry) retreated to the fort. About ten minutes after +this I went with my men to the fort. While going into the fort I saw +Lieutenant Barr, 13th Tennessee cavalry, shot down by my side. He was +shot through the head. He fell outside the fortifications, about six +feet. Ten minutes after getting into the fort Major S. F. Booth was shot +at porthole No. 2, while standing directly in the rear of the gun; was +shot directly through the heart; expired instantly. I carried him to the +bank of the river. As soon as I returned Captain Epeneter, company A, +was wounded in the head while standing at porthole No. 4. He immediately +went to the hospital, which was below the river bank--about half way +down, I should think. Ten men were killed before a flag of truce came +in, which was about twelve o'clock m. Five men, who were all dressed +alike, came with the flag from the rebels, and Major Bradford, of 13th +Tennessee cavalry, who had now assumed command, asked one hour to +consider; on the conclusion of which, he returned a decided refusal. The +fire on both sides now commenced, and was kept up about half an hour +with great fury, when the rebels charged over the works. (I should have +said that General Forrest came with the flag.) The enemy was checked and +held for a few minutes. As soon as they were fairly on the works, I was +wounded with a musket ball through the right ankle. I should think that +two hundred rebels passed over the works, and passed by me while I lay +there, when one rebel noticed that I was alive, shot at me again and +missed me. I told him I was wounded, and that I would surrender, when a +Texan ranger stepped up and took me prisoner. Just at this time I saw +them shoot down three black men, who were begging for their life, and +who had surrendered. The rebels now helped me through porthole No. 4. +The ranger who took me captured a colored soldier, whom he sent with me. +He also sent a guard. They took me to picket post No. 2. There I was put +into an ambulance and taken to a farm-house with one of their dead, who +was a chaplain. There I was made to lie out doors all night on account +of the houses being filled with their wounded. I bandaged my own wound +with my drawers, and a colored man brought water and sat by me so that I +could keep my foot wet. Next morning Colonel McCullough came there and +sent a squad of men, having pressed all the conveyances he could find to +take away his own wounded. Not finding sufficient, nor having negroes +enough, they made stretchers from blankets. They could not carry me, and +so left me at the farm-house; the man's name was Stone. He got me into +the house and into bed. He and his wife were very kind to me. While +Colonel McCullough was there he told me Memphis, Tennessee, was probably +in the hands of the rebels. The rear guard of the rebels left there +Wednesday about 5 o'clock p. m. The rebels took a young man whose father +lived near here, and who had been wounded in the fight, to the woods, +and shot three more shots into his back and into his head, and left him +until Friday morning, when the citizens took him in. They brought him to +the house where I was, and then carried us both to Fort Pillow in an old +cart that they fixed up for the occasion, in hopes of getting us on +board of a gunboat. + +Upon our arrival there a gunboat lay on the opposite bank, but we could +not hail her. We laid on the bank. They took the young man back to a +house, three-fourths of a mile, but I would not go back. I laid there +until a gunboat, the Silver Cloud, took me off, about 2 o'clock a. m., +Saturday. They treated me with the utmost kindness on board the boat. + + WILBUR H. GAYLORD, + _1st Sergeant, Co. B, 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery, 1st Battalion, (colored.)_ + +Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of April, 1864, at Fort +Pickering, Memphis, Tennessee. + + MALCOM F. SMITH, + _1st Lieutenant and Adjutant 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery, (colored.)_ + +A true copy. + + J. H. ODLIN, + _Captain and A. A. G._ + + * * * * * + +_Statement of James Lewis, private, company C, 6th United States heavy +artillery, (colored.)_ + +I, James Lewis, private, company C, 6th United States heavy artillery, +(colored,) would, on oath, state the following: I was in the battle +fought at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on the 12th day of April, A. D. 1864. +The engagement commenced early in the morning and lasted until three +o'clock p. m. same day, at which time the enemy carried the fort. The +United States troops took refuge under the bank of the river. The +officers all being killed or wounded, the men raised the white flag and +surrendered, but the rebels kept on firing until most all the men were +shot down. I was wounded and knocked down with the but of a musket and +left for dead, after being robbed, and they cut the buttons off my +jacket. I saw two women shot by the river bank and their bodies thrown +into the river after the place was taken. I saw Frank Meek, company B, +6th United States heavy artillery, (colored,) shot after he had +surrendered. + + his + JAMES + LEWIS. + mark. + +Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of April, 1864, at Fort +Pickering, Memphis, Tennessee. + + MALCOM F. SMITH, + _1st Lieutenant and Adjutant 6th U. S. Heavy Artillery, (colored.)_ + +A true copy. + + J. H. ODLIN, + _Captain and A. A. G._ + +[This evidence was received after the regular edition was printed.] + + * * * * * + +P. S. Since the report of the committee was prepared for the press, the +following letter from the surgeon in charge of the returned prisoners +was received by the chairman of the committee: + + WEST'S BUILDINGS HOSPITAL, + _Baltimore, Md., May 24, 1864_. + +DEAR SIR: I have the honor to enclose the photograph of John Breinig, +with the desired information written upon it. I am very sorry your +committee could not have seen these cases when first received. No one, +from these pictures, can form a true estimate of their condition then. +Not one in ten was able to stand alone; some of them so covered and +eaten by vermin that they nearly resembled cases of small-pox, and so +emaciated that they were _really_ living skeletons, and hardly _that_, +as the result shows, forty out of one hundred and four having died up to +this date. + +If there has been anything so horrible, so fiendish, as this wholesale +starvation, in the history of this satanic rebellion, I have failed to +note it. Better the massacres at Lawrence, Fort Pillow, and Plymouth +than to be thus starved to death by inches, through long and weary +months. I wish I had possessed the power to compel all the northern +sympathizers with this rebellion to come in and look upon the work of +the _chivalrous_ sons of the _hospitable_ and sunny south when these +skeletons were first received here. A rebel colonel, a prisoner here, +who stood with sad face looking on as they were received, finally shook +his head and walked away, apparently ashamed that he held any relations +to men who could be guilty of such deeds. + + Very respectfully, your obedient servant, + + A. CHAPEL. + + Hon. B. F. WADE, + _Chairman of Committee on the Conduct of the War, Senate U. S._ + +[Illustration: U. S. GENERAL +HOSPITAL, DIV. No. 1, ANNAPOLIS, MD. + +=Private FRANCIS W. BEEDLE=, COMPANY M, 8TH MICHIGAN CAVALRY, + +Was admitted per Steamer New York, from Richmond, Va., May 2, 1864. Died +May 3, 1864, from effects of treatment while in the hands of the enemy.] + +[Illustration: WEST'S BUILDING HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE, MD. + +=Private JOHN BREINIG=, COMPANY G, 4TH KENTUCKY CAVALRY, + +Admitted April 18, 1864. Improved a little for two weeks, then gradually +failed and died on the 12th instant.] + +[Illustration: U.S. GENERAL +HOSPITAL, DIV. No. 1, ANNAPOLIS, MD. + +=Private JOHN Q. ROSE=, COMPANY C, 8TH KENTUCKY VOLUNTEERS, + +Admitted per Steamer New York, from Richmond, Va., May 2, 1864. Died May +4, 1864, from effects of treatment while in the hands of the enemy.] + +[Illustration: U. S. GENERAL HOSPITAL, DIV. No. 1, ANNAPOLIS, MD. + +=Private L. H. PARHAM=, COMPANY B, 3D WEST TENNESSEE CAVALRY, + +Admitted per Steamer New York, from Richmond, Va., May 2, 1864. Died May +10, 1864, from effects of treatment while in the hands of the enemy.] + + +[Illustration: WEST'S BUILDING +HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE, MD. + +=Private GEORGE H. WIBLE=, COMPANY F, 9TH MARYLAND VOLUNTEERS, + +Was admitted from Flag-of-truce boat April 18, 1864. Is slowly +improving.] + +[Illustration: WEST'S BUILDING HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE, MD. + +=Private EDWARD CUNNINGHAM=, COMPANY F, 7TH OHIO CAVALRY, + +Was admitted from Flag-of-truce boat April 18, 1864. Very little change +in his condition since received.] + + +[Illustration: WEST'S BUILDING +HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE, MD. + +=Private LEWIS KLEIN=, COMPANY A, 14TH NEW YORK CAVALRY, + +Admitted from Steamer New York, from Richmond, Va. April 18, 1864. Is +improving nicely.] + +[Illustration: WEST'S BUILDING HOSPITAL, BALTIMORE, MD. + +=Private CHARLES R. WOODWORTH=, COMPANY G, 8TH MICHIGAN CAVALRY, + +Was admitted from Flag-of-truce boat April 18, 1864. Has improved very +much since received.] + + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Text uses both hill-side and hillside + +Text uses both Tennessean and Tennesseean + +Text uses both gulley and gully + +Text uses both Paw Paw and Pawpaw + +Pg 109 of "Fort Pillow Massacre" - Original text reads "but would kill +them when evertaken." Changed to "but would kill them whenever taken." + +Pg 9 of "Returned Prisoners" - Missing character in original text +(assumed to be an "l") "... on the floor, without any blankets, until +a [l]ong while about Christmas." + +Obvious spelling and punctuation errors were corrected. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Reports of the Committee on the +Conduct of the War, by United States Senate and B. F. Wade and D. W. Gooch + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41787 *** |