"These devils are not fit to live on God's earth": War Crimes and the Committee on the Conduct of the War, 1864-1865

"These devils are not fit to live on God's earth": War Crimes and the Committee on the Conduct of the War, i 864-1 865 Bruce Tap Immediately after he heard about the massacre of Union soldiers at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, Gen. Augustus L. Chetlain, a recruiter of black troops stationed in Memphis, wrote to Illinois congressman Elihu Washburne: "This is the most infernal outrage that has been committed since the war began." Of the approximately three hundred black troops garrisoned at the fort, Chetlain claimed that only twenty-five had been taken prisoner, while the rest had been brutally slaughtered. "There is a great deal of excitement ... in consequence of this affair—especially among our colored troops," he told Washburne. "If this is to be the game of the enemy they will soon learn that it is one at which two can play."1 Located north of Memphis on the Mississippi River, Fort Pillow was garrisoned by 292 black troops of both the 6th United States Colored Heavy Artillery and the 6th United States Light Artillery along with 285 white troops of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. Major Lionel F. Booth commanded the garrison, with Maj. William Bradford, a Tennessee Unionist, second in command. On the morning of April 12, 1864, the fort was surrounded by 1,500 Confederate troops under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Gen. James R. Chalmers, who were conducting raids in Western Tennessee and Kentucky in an effort to disrupt William Tecumseh Sherman's campaign in Georgia.2 ' Augustus L. Chetlain to Elihu B. Washburne, Apr. 14, 1864, in Ira Berlin, ed., Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation 1861-1867, series 2: The Black Military Experience, (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1982), 539-40. 2 Albert E. Castel, "The Fort Pillow Massacre: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence," Civil War History 4 (Mar. 1958): 37-50; John Cimprich and Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., eds., "Fort Pillow Revisted: New Evidence about an Old Controversy," CiviV War History 24 (Dec. 1982): 293-306; Jack Hurst, Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 165-81; Civil War History, Vol. xlii. No. 2 © 1996 by The Kent State University Press WAR CRIMES REPORTII7 Built on a bluff overlooking the river, the fort consisted of a dirt parapet approximately eight feet high, forming a 125-foot semicircle. In addition, the fort was surrounded by two outside lines of defense. Although Booth had assured district commander Gen. Stephen Hurlbut that the fort could be held for fortyeight hours against any force, trouble began when he was killed by sniper fire and the less experienced Bradford took over. Prematurely abandoning his two outside lines of defense, Bradford allowed Forrest's men to quickly surround the fort, taking special advantage of the protection offered by the area's hilly terrain. Forrest's troops also seized ravines on both the north and south side of the fort that protected them from Union artillery fire and the shelling of the Union gunboat New Era anchored in the nearby river. At 3:30 that afternoon, after waiting for additional ammunition, Forrest sent forward a flag oftruce and demanded unconditional surrender, promising to treat the Federal garrison as prisoners of war if they surrendered but threatening "no quarter" if they refused his offer. Since he anticipated the arrival of additional troops from approaching boats, Bradford, who did not reveal Booth's death to the Confederates, asked for one hour to consider the offer. Forrest, apprised of approaching Union gunboats, gave Bradford twenty minutes to make up his mind. When Bradford rejected the offer, Confederate forces attacked and quickly overwhelmed the garrison. Exactly what happened during the battle probably will never be completely known. Although many Southern historians denied that a "massacre" took place, many contemporary historians agree that, despite exaggeration on the part of Northern witnesses, numerous atrocities were committed. Black troops, which the Confederacy did not officially recognize and whom it would not accord prisoner of war status, were special targets. Once the Confederates gained the parapet, most Union troops simply panicked and retreated down the bluff toward the river. Many threw down their weapons and tried to surrender, while others tried to...