Chapter XX

HOISTING THE BLACK FLAG.--OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS.

GENERAL S. D. LEE TO GENERAL COOPER.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, AND }
EAST LOUISIANA, MERIDIAN, June 30, 1864. }

GENERAL: I have the honor to transmit copies of correspondence
between General Washburn, U. S. A., General Forrest, and myself,
which I consider very important, and should be laid before the
Department. It will be my endeavor to avoid, as far as is
consistent with my idea of the dignity of my position, resorting
to such an extremity as the black flag; and the onus shall be
with the Federal commander.

I would like that the onus be put where it properly belongs,
before the public, should the extremity arise. The correspondence
is not complete yet, and the Department will be informed of the
result at the earliest practicable moment.

I am, General, yours respectfully,
S. D. LEE, _Lieutenant-General_.

General S. COOPER, _A. and I. G., Richmond, Va._

GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

HEADQUARTERS FORREST'S CAVALRY, }
IN THE FIELD, June 14, 1864. }

Major-General Washburn, _Commanding United States Forces,
Memphis_:

GENERAL: I have the honor herewith to enclose copy of letter
received from Brigadier-General Buford, commanding United States
forces at Helena, Arkansas, addressed to Colonel E. W. Rucker,
commanding Sixth Regiment of this command; also a letter from
myself to General Buford, which I respectfully request you will
read and forward to him.

There is a matter also to which I desire to call your attention,
which, until now, I have not thought proper to make the subject
of a communication. Recent events render it necessary,--in fact,
demand it.

It has been reported to me that all the negro troops stationed in
Memphis took an oath on their knees, in the presence of
Major-General Hurlbut and other officers of your army, to avenge
Fort Pillow, and that they would show my troops no quarter.

Again, I have it from indisputable authority that the troops
under Brigadier-General Sturgis, on their recent march from
Memphis, publicly and in various places proclaimed that no
quarter would be shown my men. As his troops were moved into
action on the eleventh, the officers commanding exhorted their
men to remember Fort Pillow, and a large majority of the
prisoners we have captured from that command have voluntarily
stated that they expected us to murder them, otherwise they would
have surrendered in a body rather than taken to the bushes after
being run down and exhausted. The recent battle of Tishemingo
Creek was far more bloody than it otherwise would have been but
for the fact that your men evidently expected to be slaughtered
when captured, and both sides acted as though neither felt safe
in surrendering even when further resistance was useless. The
prisoners captured by us say they felt condemned by the
announcements, etc., of their own commanders, and expected no
quarter. In all my operations since the war began, I have
conducted the war on civilized principles, and desire still to do
so, but it is due to my command that they should know the
position you occupy and the policy you intend to pursue. I
therefore respectfully ask whether my men in your hands are
treated as other Confederate prisoners, also the course intended
to be pursued in regard to those who may hereafter fall into your
hands.

I have in my possession quite a number of wounded officers and
men of General Sturgis's command, all of whom have been treated
as well as we have been able to treat them, and are mostly in
charge of a surgeon left at Ripley by General Sturgis to look
after the wounded. Some of them are too severely wounded to be
removed at present. I am willing to exchange them for any men of
my command you may have, and as soon as they are able to be
removed will give them safe escort through my lines in charge of
the surgeon left with them.

I made such an arrangement with Major-General Hurlbut when he was
in command of Memphis, and am willing to renew it, provided it is
desired, as it would be better than to subject them to the long
and fatiguing delay necessary to a regular exchange at City
Point, Virginia.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
N. B. FORREST, _Major-General_.

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, }
MEMPHIS, TENN., June 17, 1864. }

Major-General S. D. LEE, _Commanding Confederate Forces near
Tupelo, Miss._:

GENERAL: When I heard that the forces of Brigadier-General
Sturgis had been driven back, and a portion of them probably
captured, I felt considerable solicitude for the fate of the two
colored regiments that formed a part of the command, until I was
informed that the Confederate forces were commanded by you. When
I learned that, I became satisfied that no atrocities would be
committed upon those troops, but that they would receive the
treatment which humanity as well as their gallant conduct
demanded.

I regret to say that the hope that I entertained has been
dispelled by facts which have recently come to my knowledge.

From statements that have been made to me by colored soldiers who
were eye-witnesses, it would seem that the massacre at Fort
Pillow had been reproduced at the late affair at Bryce's
Cross-roads. The detail of the atrocities there committed I will
not trouble you with. If true, and not disavowed, they must lead
to consequences too fearful to contemplate. It is best that we
should now have a fair understanding upon this question, of the
treatment of this class of soldiers. If it is contemplated by the
Confederate government to murder all colored troops that may by
chance of war fall into their hands, as was the case at Fort
Pillow, it is but fair that it should be freely and frankly
avowed. Within the last six weeks I have, on two occasions, sent
colored troops into the field from this point. In the expectation
that the Confederate government would disavow the action of their
commanding general at the Fort Pillow massacre, I have forborne
to issue any instructions to the colored troops as to the course
they should pursue toward Confederate soldiers. No disavowal on
the part of the Confederate government having been made, but, on
the contrary, laudations from the entire Southern press of the
perpetrators of the massacre, I may safely presume that
indiscriminate slaughter is to be the fate of colored troops that
fall into your hands. But I am not willing to leave a matter of
such grave import, and involving consequences so fearful, to
inference, and I have therefore thought it proper to address you
this, believing that you would be able to indicate the policy
that the Confederate government intend to pursue hereafter on
this question.

If it is intended to raise the black flag against that
unfortunate race, they will cheerfully accept the issue. Up to
this time no troops have fought more gallantly, and none have
conducted themselves with greater propriety. They have fully
vindicated their right (so long denied) to be treated as men.

I hope that I have been misinformed in regard to the treatment
they have received at the battle of Bryce's Cross-roads, and that
the accounts received result rather from the excited imaginations
of the fugitives than from actual fact.

For the government of the colored troops under my command, I
would thank you to inform me, with as little delay as possible,
if it is your intention, or the intention of the Confederate
government, to murder colored soldiers that may fall into your
hands, or treat them as prisoners of war, and subject to be
exchanged as other prisoners.

I am, General, respectfully, your obedient servant,
C. C. WASHBURN, _Major-General, Commanding_.

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, }
MEMPHIS, TENN., June 19, 1864. }

Major-General N. B. FORREST, _Commanding Confederate Forces:_

GENERAL: Your communication of the fourteenth instant is
received. The letter to Brigadier-General Buford will be
forwarded to him.

In regard to that part of your letter which relates to colored
troops, I beg to say that I have already sent a communication on
the subject to the officer in command of the Confederate forces
at Tupelo.

Having understood that Major-General S. D. Lee was in command
there, I directed my letter to him--a copy of it I enclose. You
say in your letter that it has been reported to you that all the
negro troops stationed in Memphis took an oath on their knees, in
the presence of Major-General Hurlbut, and other officers of our
army, to avenge Fort Pillow, and that they would show your troops
no quarter.

I believe it is true that the colored troops did take such an
oath, but not in the presence of General Hurlbut. From what I can
learn, this act of theirs was not influenced by any white
officer, but was the result of their own sense of what was due to
themselves and their fellows who had been mercilessly
slaughtered.

I have no doubt that they went into the field, as you allege, in
the full belief that they would be murdered in case they fell
into your hands. The affair at Fort Pillow fully justified that
belief. I am not aware as to what they proclaimed on their late
march, and it may be, as you say, that they declared that no
quarter would be given to any of your men that might fall into
their hands.

Your declaration that you have conducted the war, on all
occasions, on civilized principles, cannot be accepted; but I
receive with satisfaction the intimation in your letter that the
recent slaughter of colored troops at the battle of Tishemingo
Creek resulted rather from the desperation with which they fought
than a predetermined intention to give them no quarter.

You must have learned by this time that the attempt to intimidate
the colored troops by indiscriminate slaughter has signally
failed, and that, instead of a feeling of terror, you have
aroused a spirit of courage and desperation that will not down at
your bidding.

I am left in doubt, by your letter, as to the course you and the
Confederate government intend to pursue hereafter in regard to
colored troops, and I beg you to advise me, with as little delay
as possible, as to your intentions.

If you intend to treat such of them as fall into your hands as
prisoners of war, please so state; if you do not so intend, but
contemplate either their slaughter or their return to slavery,
please state _that_, so that we may have no misunderstanding
hereafter. If the former is your intention, I shall receive the
announcement with pleasure, and shall explain the fact to the
colored troops at once, and desire that they recall the oath they
have taken; if the _latter_ is the case, then let the oath stand,
and upon those who have aroused this spirit by their atrocities,
and upon the government and people who sanction it, be the
consequences.

In regard to your inquiry relating to prisoners of your command
in our hands, I have to state that they have always received the
treatment which a great and humane Government extends to its
prisoners. What course will be pursued hereafter toward them
must, of course, depend on circumstances that may arise. If your
command, hereafter, does nothing which should properly exclude
them from being treated as prisoners of war, they will be so
treated.

I thank you for your offer to exchange wounded officers and men
in your hands. If you will send them in, I will exchange man for
man, so far as I have the ability to do so.

Before closing this letter, I wish to call your attention to one
case of unparalleled outrage and murder that has been brought to
my notice, and in regard to which the evidence is overwhelming.

Among the prisoners captured at Fort Pillow was Major Bradford,
who had charge of the defence of the fort after the fall of Major
Booth.

After being taken prisoner, he was started with other prisoners
of war, in charge of Colonel Duckworth, for Jackson. At
Brownsville they rested over night. The following morning two
companies were detailed by Colonel Duckworth to proceed to
Jackson with the prisoners.

After they had started, and proceeded a very short distance, five
soldiers were recalled by Colonel Duckworth, and were conferred
with by him; they then rejoined the column, and after proceeding
about five miles from Brownsville the column was halted, and
Major Bradford taken about fifty yards from the roadside and
deliberately shot by the five men who had been recalled by
Colonel Duckworth, and his body left unburied upon the ground
where he fell.

He now lies buried near the spot, and, if you desire, you can
easily satisfy yourself of the truth of what I assert. I beg
leave to say to you that this transaction hardly justifies your
remark, that your operations have been conducted on civilized
principles, and until you take some steps to bring the
perpetrators of this outrage to justice, the world will not fail
to believe that it had your sanction.

I am, General, your obedient servant,
C. C. WASHBURN, _Major-General Commanding_.

GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

HEADQUARTERS FORREST'S CAVALRY, }
TUPELO, MISS., June 20, 1864.}

Major-General C. C. WASHBURN, _Commanding U. S. Forces, Memphis,
Tenn_.

GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt (per flag of
truce) of your letter of the seventeenth instant, addressed to
Major-General S. D. Lee, or officer commanding Confederate forces
near Tupelo. I have forwarded it to General Lee, with a copy of
this letter.

I regard your letter as discourteous to the commanding officer of
this department, and grossly insulting to myself.

You seek by implied threats to intimidate him, and assume the
privilege of denouncing me as a murderer, and as guilty of the
wholesale slaughter of the garrison at Fort Pillow, and found
your assertion upon the _ex parte_ testimony of (your friends)
the enemies of myself and country. I shall not enter into the
discussion, therefore, of any of the questions involved, nor
undertake any refutation of the charges made by you against
myself; nevertheless, as a matter of personal privilege alone, I
unhesitatingly say that they are unfounded and unwarranted by the
facts. But whether those charges are true or false, they, with
the question you ask, as to whether negro troops, when captured,
will be recognized and treated as prisoners of war, subject to
exchange, etc., are matters which the governments of the United
States and Confederate States are to decide and adjust, not their
subordinate officers. I regard captured negroes as I do other
captured property, and not as captured soldiers; but as to how
regarded by my government, and the disposition which has been and
will hereafter be made of them, I respectfully refer you, through
the proper channel, to the authorities at Richmond. It is not the
policy or the interest of the South to destroy the negro; on the
contrary to preserve and protect him, and all who have
surrendered to us have received kind and humane treatment.

Since the war began I have captured many thousand Federal
prisoners, and they, including the survivors of the "Fort Pillow
Massacre," "black and white," are living witnesses of the fact
that with my knowledge or consent, or by my order, not one of
them has ever been insulted, or in any way maltreated.

You speak of your forbearance in not giving your negro troops
instructions and orders as to the course they should pursue in
regard to Confederate soldiers that might fall into their (your)
hands, which clearly conveys to my mind two very distinct
impressions. The first is, that in not giving them instructions
and orders, you have left the matter entirely to the discretion
of the negroes as to how they should dispose of prisoners.
Second, an implied threat to give such orders as will lead to
"consequences too fearful" for contemplation. In confirmation of
the correctness of the first impression (which your language now
fully develops), refer most respectfully to my letter from the
battle-field, Tishemingo Creek, and forwarded you by flag of
truce on the fourteenth instant. As to the second impression, you
seem disposed to take into your own hands the settlements which
belong to, and can only be settled by, your government; but if
you are prepared to take upon yourself the responsibility of
inaugurating a system of warfare contrary to civilized usages,
the onus as well as the consequences will be chargeable to
yourself.

Deprecating, as I should do, such a state of affairs; determined,
as I am, not to be instrumental in bringing it about; feeling and
knowing, as I do, that I have the approval of my government, my
people, and my conscience as to the past, and with the firm
belief that I will be sustained by them in my future policy, it
is left with you to determine what that policy shall be, whether
in accordance with the laws of civilised nations, or in violation
of them.

I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
N. B. FORREST, _Major-General_.

GENERAL FORREST TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

HEADQUARTERS FORREST'S CAVALRY, }
IN THE FIELD, June 23, 1864. }

Major-General C. C. WASHBURN, _Commanding District of West
Tennessee, Memphis, Tenn._:

Your communication of the nineteenth inst. is received, in which
you say "you are left in doubt as to the course the Confederate
government intends to pursue hereafter in regard to colored
troops."

Allow me to say that this is a subject upon which I did not and
do not propose to enlighten you. It is a matter to be settled by
our governments through their proper officers, and I respectfully
refer you to them for a solution of your doubts.

You ask me to state whether "I contemplate either their slaughter
or their return to slavery." I answer that I slaughter no man
except in open warfare, and that my prisoners, both white and
black, are turned over to my government to be dealt with as it
may direct. My government is in possession of all the facts as
regards my official conduct, and the operations of my command
since I entered the service, and if you desire a proper
discussion and decision, I refer you again to the President of
the Confederate States. I would not have you understand, however,
that in a matter of so much importance I am indisposed to place
at your command and disposal any facts desired, when applied for
in a manner becoming an officer holding your rank and position,
for it is certainly desirable to every one occupying a public
position to be placed right before the world, and there has been
no time since the capture of Fort Pillow, that I would not have
furnished all the facts connected with its capture, had they been
applied for properly, but now the matter rests with the two
governments. I have, however, for your information, enclosed you
copies of the official correspondence between the commanding
officers at Fort Pillow and myself; also copies of a statement of
Captain Young, the senior officer of that garrison, together with
(sufficient) extracts from a report of the affair by my A. D. C.,
Captain Chas. W. Anderson, which I approve and endorse as
correct.

As to the death of Major Bradford, I knew nothing of it until
eight or ten days after it is said to have occurred.

On the thirteenth (the day after the capture of Fort Pillow) I
went to Jackson, and the report I had of the affair was this:
Major Bradford was, with other officers, sent to the headquarters
of Colonel McCulloch, and all the prisoners were in charge of one
of McCulloch's regiments. Bradford requested the privilege of
attending the burial of his brother, which was granted, he giving
his parole of honor to return. Instead of returning, he changed
his clothing and started for Memphis. Some of my men were hunting
deserters, and came on Bradford just as he had landed on the
south bank of the Hatchie, and arrested him. When arrested, he
claimed to be a Confederate soldier belonging to Bragg's army;
that he had been on furlough, and was then on his way to join his
command.

As he could show no papers he was believed to be a deserter, and
was taken to Covington, and not until he was recognized and
spoken to by citizens did the guards know that he was Bradford.

He was sent by Colonel Duckworth, or taken by him, to
Brownsville.

All of Chalmers's command went from Brownsville, _via_ La Grange,
and as all the other prisoners had been gone some time, and there
was no chance for them to catch up and place Bradford with them,
he was ordered by Colonel Duckworth or General Chalmers to be
sent south to me at Jackson.

I knew nothing of the matter until eight or ten days afterwards I
heard that his body was found near Brownsville. I understand that
he attempted to escape and was shot. If he was improperly killed,
nothing would afford me more pleasure than to punish the
perpetrators to the full extent of the law, and to show you how I
regard such transactions.

I can refer you to my demand on Major-General Hurlbut (no doubt
upon file in your office) for the delivery to Confederate
authorities of one Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his
regiment, who deliberately took out and killed seven Confederate
soldiers, one of whom they left to die after cutting off his
tongue, punching out his eyes, splitting his mouth on each side
to his ears, and cutting off his privates. I have mentioned and
given you these facts in order that you may have no further
excuse or apology for referring to these matters in connection
with myself, and to evince to you my determination to do all in
my power to avoid the responsibility of causing the adoption of
the policy which you have determined to press. In your letter you
acknowledge the fact that the negro troops did take an oath on
bended knees to show no quarters to my men, and you say further
"you have no doubt they went to the battle-field expecting to be
slaughtered," and admit, also, the probability of their having
proclaimed on their march that no quarter would be shown us. Such
being the case, why do you ask for the disavowal on the part of
the commanding general of this department of the government, in
regard to the loss of life at Tishemingo Creek? That your troops
expected to be slaughtered, appears to me, after the oath they
took, to be a very reasonable and natural expectation. Yet you
who sent them out, knowing and now admitting that they had sworn
to such a policy, are complaining of atrocities, and demanding
acknowledgments and disavowals on the part of the very men you
sent forth sworn to slay whenever in your power.

I will, in all candor and truth, say to you that I had only heard
these things, but did not believe them; indeed, did not attach to
them the importance they deserved, nor did I know of the
threatened vengeance as proclaimed along the line of march until
the contest was over. Had I and my men known it, as you admit it,
the battle of Tishemingo Creek would have been noted as the
bloodiest battle of the war. That you sanctioned this policy is
plain, for you say now "that if the negro is treated as a
prisoner of war, you will receive with pleasure the announcement,
and will explain the facts to your colored troops, and _desire_
(not _order_) that they recall the oath; but if they are to be
either slaughtered or returned to slavery, let the oath stand."
Your rank forbids a doubt as to the fact that you and every
officer and man of your department are identified with the policy
and responsible for it, and I shall not permit you,
notwithstanding by your studied language in both your
communications you seek to limit the operations of your unholy
scheme, and visit its terrible consequences alone upon that
ignorant, deluded, but unfortunate people, the negroes, whose
destruction you are planning in order to accomplish ours. The
negroes have our sympathy, and, so far as consistent with safety,
we will spare them at the expense of those who are alone
responsible for the inauguration of a worse than savage warfare.

Now, in conclusion, I demand a plain and unqualified answer to
two questions, and then I have done with further correspondence
with you on this subject. This matter must be settled. In battle
and on the battle-field do you intend to slaughter my men who
fall into your hands? If you do not intend so to do, will they be
treated as prisoners of war?

I have over two thousand of Sturgis's command prisoners, and will
hold every officer and private hostage until I receive your
declarations, and am satisfied that you carry out in good faith
the answers you make, and until I am assured that no Confederate
soldier has been foully dealt with from the day of the battle of
Tishemingo Creek to this time. It is not yet too late for you to
retrace your steps and arrest the storm.

Relying, as I do, upon that Divine power which in wisdom disposes
of all things; relying also upon the support and approval of my
government and countrymen, and the unflinching bravery and
endurance of my troops; and with a consciousness that I have done
nothing to produce, but all in my power, consistent with honor
and the personal safety of myself and command, to prevent it, I
leave with you the responsibility of bringing about, to use your
own language, "a state of affairs too fearful to contemplate."

I am, General, yours, very respectfully,
N. B. FORREST, _Major-General_.

OFFICIAL MEMORANDA.

CAHABA HOSPITAL, CAHABA, ALABAMA, }
May 11, 1864. }

Colonel H. C. DAVIS, _Commanding Post Cahaba_:

COLONEL: I herewith transmit you, as near as my memory serves me,
according to promise, the demand made by Major-General Forrest,
C. S. A., for the surrender of Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

Major BOOTH, _Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow, Tennessee_:

I have force sufficient to take your works by assault. I
therefore demand an unconditional surrender of all your forces.
Your heroic defence will entitle you to be treated as prisoners
of war, but the surrender must be unconditional. I await your
answer.

FORREST, _Major-General, Commanding_.

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, )
FORT PILLOW, TENNESSEE, April 12, 1864.)

Major-General FORREST, _Commanding Confederate Forces_:

GENERAL: Your demand for the surrender of United States forces
under my command received. I ask one hour for consultation with
my officers and the commander of gunboat No. 7, at this place. I
have the honor to be

Your obedient servant,
L. F. BOOTH,
_Major, Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow_.

Major L. F. BOOTH, _Commanding United States Forces_:

I do not demand the surrender of the gunboat No. 7. I ask only
for the surrender of Fort Pillow, with men and munitions of war.
You have twenty minutes for consideration. At the expiration of
that time, if you do not capitulate, I will assault your works.

Your obedient servant,
FORREST, _Major-General, Commanding_.

HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, }
FORT PILLOW, TENNESSEE, April 12, 1864.}

Major-General FORREST, _Commanding Confederate Forces_:

GENERAL: Your second demand for the surrender of my forces is
received. Your demand will not be complied with.

Your obedient servant,
L. F. BOOTH, Major,
_Commanding U. S. Forces, Fort Pillow_.

I give you the above for your own satisfaction from memory. I
think it is true in substance. My present condition would
preclude the idea of this being an official statement.

I am, Colonel, your obedient servant,
JOHN T. YOUNG,
_Captain, Company A, Twenty-fourth Mo. Inf. Vols_.

CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO MAJOR-GENERAL FORREST.

CAHABA, ALABAMA, May 19, 1864.

Major-General FORREST, _C. S. A._:

GENERAL: Your request, made through Judge P. T. Scroggs, that I
should make a statement of the treatment of the Federal dead and
wounded at Fort Pillow, has been made known to me. Details from
Federal prisoners were made to collect the dead and wounded. The
dead were buried by their surviving comrades. I saw no ill
treatment of their wounded on the evening of the battle, or next
morning. My friend, Lieutenant Leaming, Adjutant Thirteenth
Tennessee Cavalry, was left wounded in the sutler's store near
the fort, also a lieutenant Sixth U. S. Artillery; both were
alive next morning, and sent on board U. S. transport, among many
other wounded. Among the wounded were some colored troops--I
don't know how many.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JNO. T. YOUNG, _Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers_.

P. S.--I have examined a report said to be made by Captain
Anderson (of) A. D. C. to Major-General Forrest, appendix to
General Forrest's report, in regard to making disposition of
Federal wounded left on the field at Fort Pillow, and think it is
correct. I accompanied Captain Anderson, on the day succeeding
the battle, to Fort Pillow, for the purpose above mentioned.

JOHN T. YOUNG, _Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers_.

A true copy.
SAMUEL DONALSON, Lieutenant and _A. D. C._
Official,
HENRY B. LEE, _A.D.C._

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL FORREST.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, }
MEMPHIS, TENN., July 2, 1864. }

Major-General N. B. FORREST, _Commanding Confederate Forces, near
Tupelo_:

GENERAL: Your communications of the twentieth and twenty-third
ult. are received. Of the tone and temper of both I do not
complain. The desperate fortunes of a bad cause excuse much
irritation of temper, and I pass it by. Indeed, I received it as
a favorable augury, and as evidence that you are not indifferent
to the opinions of the civilized world.

In regard to the Fort Pillow affair, it is useless to prolong the
discussion.

I shall forward your report, which you did me the favor to
enclose, to my government, and you will receive the full benefit
of it.

The record is now made up, and a candid world will judge of it. I
beg leave to send you herewith a copy of the report of the
Investigating Committee from the United States Congress on the
affair. In regard to the treatment of Major Bradford, I refer you
to the testimony contained in that report, from which you will
see that he was not attempting to escape when shot. It will be
easy to bring the perpetrators of the outrage to justice if you
so desire.

I will add to what I have heretofore said, that I have it from
responsible and truthful citizens of Brownsville, that when Major
Bradford was started under an escort from your headquarters at
Jackson, General Chalmers remarked that "he would never reach
there."

You call attention, apparently as an offset to this affair of
Major Bradford, to outrages said to have been committed by
Colonel Fielding Hurst and others of his regiment (Sixth
Tennessee Cavalry). The outrages, if committed as stated by you,
are disgraceful and abhorrent to every brave and sensitive mind.

On receiving your letter I sent at once for Colonel Hurst, and
read him the extract pertaining to him. He indignantly denies the
charge against him, and until you furnish me the names of the
parties murdered, and the time when, and the place where, the
offence was committed, with the names of witnesses, it is
impossible for me to act. When you do that, you may rest assured
that I shall use every effort in my power to have the parties
accused tried, and if found guilty, properly punished.

In regard to the treatment of colored soldiers, it is evidently
useless to discuss the question further.

Your attempt to shift from yourself upon me the responsibility of
the inauguration of a "worse than savage warfare," is too
strained and far-fetched to require any response. The full and
cumulative evidence contained in the Congressional Report I
herewith forward, points to _you_ as the person responsible for
the barbarisms already committed.

It was _your_ soldiers who, at Fort Pillow, raised the black
flag, and while shooting, bayoneting, and otherwise maltreating
the Federal prisoners in their hands, shouted to each other in
the hearing of their victims that it was done by "Forrest's
orders."

Thus far I cannot learn that you have made any disavowal of these
barbarities.

Your letters to me inform me confidently that you have always
treated our prisoners according to the rules of civilized
warfare, but your disavowal of the Fort Pillow barbarities, if
you intend to make any, should be full, clear, explicit, and
published to the world.

The United States Government is, as it always has been, lenient
and forbearing, and it is not yet too late for you to secure for
yourself and your soldiers a continuance of the treatment due to
honorable warriors, by a public disclaimer of barbarities already
committed, and a vigorous effort to punish the wretches who
committed them.

But I say to you now, clearly and unequivocally, that such
measure of treatment as you mete out to Federal soldiers will be
measured to you again.

If you give no quarter, you need expect none. If you observe the
rules of civilized warfare, and treat our prisoners in accordance
with the laws of war, your prisoners will be treated, as they
ever have been, with kindness.

If you depart from these principles, you may expect such
retaliation as the laws of war justify.

That you may know what the laws of war are, as understood by my
Government, I beg leave to enclose a copy of General Orders No.
100 from the War Department Adjutant-General's Office,
Washington, April twenty-four, 1863.

I have the honor to be, sir,
Very respectfully yours,
C. C. WASHBURN, _Major-General_.

GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, AND }
EAST LOUISIANA, MERIDIAN, June 28, 1864. }

Major-General C. C. WASHBURN, _Commanding Federal Forces at
Memphis, Tennessee_:

GENERAL: I am in receipt of your letter of the seventeenth inst.,
and have also before me the reply of Major-General Forrest
thereto. Though that reply is full, and approved by me, yet I
deem it proper to communicate with you upon a subject so
seriously affecting our future conduct and that of the troops
under our respective commands.

Your communication is by no means respectful to me, and is by
implication insulting to Major-General Forrest. This, however, is
overlooked in consideration of the important character of its
contents.

You assume as correct an exaggerated statement of the
circumstances attending the capture of Fort Pillow, relying
solely upon the evidence of those who would naturally give a
distorted history of the affair.

No demand for an explanation has ever been made either by
yourself or your government, a course which would certainly
recommend itself to every one desirous of hearing truth; but, on
the contrary, you seem to have been perfectly willing to allow
your soldiers to labor under false impressions upon a subject
involving such terrible consequences. Even the formality of
parades and oaths have been resorted to for the purpose of
inciting your colored troops to the perpetration of deeds which,
you say, "will lead to consequences too fearful to contemplate."

As commanding officer of this Department I desire to make the
following statement concerning the capture of Fort Pillow--a
statement supported in a great measure by the evidence of one of
your own officers captured at that place.

The version given by you and your government is untrue, and not
sustained by the facts to the extent that you indicate.

The garrison was summoned in the usual manner, and its commanding
officer assumed the responsibility of refusing to surrender after
having been informed by General Forrest of his ability to take
the fort, and of his fears as to what the result would be in case
the demand was not complied with.

The assault was made under a heavy fire, and with considerable
loss to the attacking party.

Your colors were never lowered, but retreated from the fort to
the cover of the gunboats, with arms in their hands, and
constantly using them.

This was true, particularly of your colored troops, who had been
firmly convinced by your teachings of the certainty of their
slaughter in case of capture. Even under these circumstances many
of your men--white and black--were taken prisoners.

I respectfully refer you to history for numerous cases of
indiscriminate slaughter, even under less aggravated
circumstances.

It is generally conceded by all military precedents that where
the issue has been fairly presented, and the ability displayed,
fearful results are expected to follow a refusal to surrender.

The case under consideration is almost an extreme one.

You had a servile race armed against their masters, and in a
country which had been desolated by almost unprecedented
outrages.

I assert that our officers, with all these circumstances against
them, endeavored to prevent the effusion of blood; and, as
evidence of this, I refer you to the fact that both white and
colored prisoners were taken, and are now in our hands.

As regards the battle of Tishemingo Creek, the statements of your
negro witnesses are not to be relied on. In this panic they acted
as might have been expected from their previous impressions. I do
not think many of them were killed--they are yet wandering over
the country, attempting to return to their masters.

With reference to the status of those captured at Tishemingo
Creek and Fort Pillow, I will state that, unless otherwise
ordered by my government, they will not be regarded as prisoners
of war, but will be retained and humanely treated, subject to
such future instructions as may be indicated.

Your letter contains many implied threats; these you can of
course make, and you are fully entitled to any satisfaction that
you may feel from having made them.

It is my intention, and that also of my subordinates, to conduct
this war upon civilized principles, provided you permit us to do
so; and I take this occasion to state that we will not shrink
from any responsibilities that your actions may force upon us.

We are engaged in a struggle for the protection of our homes and
firesides, for the maintenance of our national existence and
liberty; we have counted the cost and are prepared to go to any
extremes; and although it is far from our wish to fight under the
"black flag," still, if you drive us to it, we will accept the
issue.

Your troops virtually fought under it at the battle of Tishemingo
Creek, and the prisoners taken there state that they went into
battle with the impression that they were to receive no quarter,
and I suppose with the determination to give none.

I will further remark that if it is raised, so far as your
soldiers are concerned, there can be no distinction, for the
unfortunate people whom you pretend to be aiding are not
considered entirely responsible for their acts, influenced as
they are by the superior intellect of their white brothers.

I enclose for your consideration certain papers touching the Fort
Pillow affair, which were procured from the writer after the
exaggerated statements of your press were seen.

I am, General, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
S. D. LEE, _Lieutenant-General, Commanding_.

ENCLOSURE IN THE FOREGOING.

CAHABA, ALABAMA, May 16, 1864.

I was one of the bearers of the flag of truce, on the part of the
United States authorities, at Fort Pillow. A majority of the
officers of the garrison doubted whether General Forrest was
present, and had the impression that it was a ruse to induce the
surrender of the fort. At the second meeting of the flag of
truce, General Forrest announced himself as being General
Forrest; but the officers who accompanied the flag, being
unacquainted with the General, doubted his word, and it was the
opinion of the garrison, at the time of the assault, that General
Forrest was not in the vicinity of the fort. The commanding
officer refused to surrender. When the final assault was made, I
was captured at my post, inside the works, and have been treated
as a prisoner of war.

JOHN T. YOUNG,
_Captain, Twenty-fourth Missouri Volunteers_.

F. W. UNDERHILL, _First Lieutenant, Cavalry_.

GENERAL WASHBURN TO GENERAL LEE.

HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, }
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, July 3, 1864. }

Lieutenant-General S. D. LEE, _Commanding Department Alabama,
Mississippi and East Louisiana, C. S. A., Meridian, Miss.:_

GENERAL: Your letter of the twenty-eighth ult., in reply to mine
of the seventeenth ult., is received.

The discourtesy which you profess to discover in my letter I
utterly disclaim. Having already discussed at length, in a
correspondence with Major-General Forrest, the Fort Pillow
massacre, as well as the policy to be pursued in regard to
colored troops, I do not regard it necessary to say more on those
subjects. As you state that you fully approve of the letter sent
by General Forrest to me, in answer to mine of the seventeenth
ult., I am forced to presume that you fully approve of his action
at Fort Pillow.

Your arguments in support of that action confirm such
presumption. You state that the "version given by me and my
government is not true, and not sustained by the facts to the
extent I indicate." You furnish a statement of a certain Captain
Young, who was captured at Fort Pillow, and is now a prisoner in
your hands. How far the statement of a prisoner under duress and
in the position of Captain Young should go to disprove the sworn
testimony of the hundred eye-witnesses who had ample opportunity
of seeing and knowing, I am willing that others shall judge.

In relying, as you do, upon this certificate of Captain Young,
you confess that all better resources are at an end.

You are welcome to all the relief that that certificate is
calculated to give you. Does he say that our soldiers were not
inhumanly treated? No. Does he say that he was in a position to
see in case they had been mistreated? No. He simply says that "he
saw no ill-treatment of their wounded." If he was in a position
to see and know what took place, it was easy for him to say so.

I yesterday sent to Major-General Forrest a copy of the report of
the Congressional Investigating Committee, and I hope it may fall
into your hands. You will find there the record of inhuman
atrocities, to find a parallel for which you will search the page
of history in vain. Men--white men and black men--were crucified
and burned; others were hunted by bloodhounds; while others, in
their anguish, were made the sport of men more cruel than the
dogs by which they were hunted.

I have also sent to my government copies of General Forrest's
reports, together with the certificate of Captain Young.

The record in the case is plainly made up, and I leave it. You
justify and approve it, and appeal to history for precedents.

As I have said, history furnishes no parallel. True, there are
instances where, after a long and protracted resistance,
resulting in heavy loss to the assailing party, the garrison has
been put to the sword, but I know of no such instance that did
not bring dishonor upon the commander that ordered or suffered
it.

There is no Englishman that would not gladly forget Badajos, nor
a Frenchman that exults when Jaffa or the Caves of Dahra and
Shelas are spoken of. The massacre of Glencoe, which the world
has read of with horror, for nearly two hundred years, pales into
insignificance before the truthful recital of Fort Pillow.

The desperate defence of the Alamo was the excuse for the
slaughter of its brave survivors after its surrender, yet that
act was received with just execration, and we are told by the
historian that it led more than anything else to the independence
of Texas.

At the battle of San Jacinto the Texans rushed into action with
the war-cry, "Remember the Alamo," and carried all before them.

You will seek in vain for consultation in history, pursue the
inquiry as far as you may.

Your desire to shift the responsibility of the Fort Pillow
massacre, or to find excuses for it, is not strange. But the
responsibility still remains where it belongs, and there it will
remain.

In my last letter to General Forrest I stated that the treatment
which Federal soldiers received would be their guide hereafter,
and that if you give no quarter you need expect none. If you
observe the rules of civilized warfare I shall rejoice at it, as
no one can regret more than myself a resort to such measures as
the laws of war justify towards an enemy that gives no quarter.

Your remark that our colored soldiers "will not be regarded as
prisoners of war, but will be retained and humanely treated,"
indicating that you consider them as of more worth and importance
than your own soldiers who are now in our hands, is certainly
very complimentary to the colored troops, though but a tardy
acknowledgment of their bravery and devotion as soldiers; but
such fair words can neither do justice to the colored soldiers
who were butchered at Fort Pillow after they had surrendered to
their victors, nor relieve yourself, General Forrest, and the
troops serving under you, from the fearful responsibility now
resting upon you for those wanton and unparalleled barbarities.

I concur in your remarks that if the black flag is once raised,
there can be no distinction so far as our soldiers are concerned.
No distinction in this regard as to color is known to the laws of
war, and you may rest assured that the outrages we complain of
are felt by our white soldiers, no less than by our black ones,
as insults to their common banner, the flag of the United States.

I will close by a reference to your statement that many of our
colored soldiers "are yet wandering over the country attempting
to return to their masters." If this remark is intended for a
joke, it is acknowledged as a good one; but, if stated as a fact,
permit me to correct your misapprehensions by informing you that
most of them have returned to their respective commands, their
search for their late "masters" having proved bootless; and I
think I do not exaggerate in assuring you that there is not a
colored soldier here who does not prefer the fate of his comrades
at Fort Pillow to being returned to his "master."

I remain, General,
Yours, very respectfully,
C. C. WASHBURN, _Major-General_.

CAPTAIN J. T. YOUNG TO GENERAL WASHBURN.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, September 13, 1864.

Major-General C. C. WASHBURN, Commanding District West Tennessee:

GENERAL: I have the honor to address you in regard to certain
papers forwarded you by Major-General Forrest, of the so-called
Confederate army, signed by me under protest, whilst a prisoner
of war at Cahaba, Alabama. I would first call your attention to
the manner by which these papers were procured. About
twenty-seventh April last, all Federal prisoners (except colored
soldiers) were sent to Andersonville and Macon, Georgia, myself
among the number. About ten days after my arrival at Macon
prison, a Confederate captain, with two men as guard, came to
that prison with an order for me to return to Cahaba. I appealed
to the officer in command to know why I was taken from the other
officers, but received no explanation. Many of my friends among
the Federal officers who had been prisoners longer than myself
felt uneasy at the proceedings, and advised me to make my escape
going back, as it was likely a subject of retaliation.
Consequently I felt considerable uneasiness of mind. On returning
to Cahaba, being quite unwell, I was placed in hospital, under
guard, with still no explanation from the military authorities.
On the day following, I was informed by a sick Federal officer,
also in hospital, that he had learned that I had been recognized
by some Confederate as a deserter from the Confederate army, and
that I was to be court-martialed and shot. The colored waiters
about the hospital told me the same thing, and although I knew
that the muster-rolls of my country would show that I had been in
the volunteer service since first May, 1861, I still felt uneasy,
having fresh in my mind Fort Pillow, and the summary manner the
Confederate officers have of disposing of men on some occasions.
With the above impressions on my mind, about three days after my
return to Cahaba I was sent for by the Provost Marshal, and
certain papers handed me, made out by General Forrest for my
signature. Looking over the papers, I found that signing them
would be an endorsement of General Forrest's official report of
the Fort Pillow affair. I of course returned the papers,
positively refusing to have anything to do with them. I was sent
for again the same day, with request to sign other papers of the
same tendency, but modified. I again refused to sign the papers,
but sent General Forrest a statement, that although I considered
some of the versions of the Fort Pillow affair, which I had read
in their own papers, said to be copied from Federal papers,
exaggerated, I also thought that his own official report was
equally so in some particulars.

Here the matter rested about one week, when I was sent for by
Colonel H. C. Davis, commander of post at Cahaba, who informed me
that General Forrest had sent P. T. Scroggs to see me, and have a
talk with me about the Fort Pillow fight; I found the judge very
affable and rather disposed to flatter me; he said that General
Forrest thought that I was a gentleman and a soldier, and that
the General had sent him (the judge) down to see me and talk to
me about the Fort Pillow fight; he then went on to tell over a
great many things that were testified to before the Military
Commission, which I was perfectly ignorant of, never having seen
the testimony. He then produced papers which General Forrest
wished me to sign. Upon examination, I found them about the same
as those previously shown me, and refused again to sign them, but
the Judge was very importunate, and finally prevailed on me to
sign the papers you have in your possession, pledging himself
that if I wished it they should only be seen by General Forrest
himself, that they were not intended to be used by him as
testimony, but merely for his own satisfaction.

I hope, General, that these papers signed by me, or rather
extorted from me while under duress, will not be used by my
government to my disparagement, for my only wish is now, after
three years' service and over, to recruit my health, which has
suffered badly by imprisonment, and _go in for the war_.

I have the honor to be, General,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN T. YOUNG,
_Captain, Company A, Twenty-fourth Mo. Inf._[144]

It should not be forgotten that the material part of Gen. Forrest's defence was extorted from Capt. John T. Young, an officer in the Union forces at Fort Pillow. He was sick and a prisoner in the hands of the rebels; and while in this condition he was compelled to sign the papers given above, which had been made out by Forrest himself. The last letter of the correspondence shows that Capt. Young did not want the papers used by the United States Government, because they were not true. Moreover, the despatches of Forrest to Major Bradford make no mention of retaliation. The despatches above are not true copies. For instance, he demanded the surrender of Paducah on the 25th of March, 1864, just before he took Fort Pillow, and this was his despatch:

H'DQU'RS FORREST'S CAVALRY CORPS, }
PADUCAH, March 23, 1864 }

To Col. HICKS, _Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah_:

Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce
the place, in order to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood, I
demand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all the public
stores. 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, _Maj.-Gen. Com'ding_.

And on the 19th of April, 1864, the next day after the massacre at Fort Pillow, Gen. Abe Buford demanded the surrender of Columbus, Kentucky, in the following despatch:

_To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus. Ky.:_

Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison by force, I
desire to avoid shedding blood. I 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 be compelled to take the place by force, no
quarter will be shown negro troops whatever; white troops will be
treated as prisoners of war.

I am, sir, yours,
A. BUFORD, _Brig.-Gen._

Now, as both Bradford and Booth were dead, it was impossible to learn just what language was used by Forrest in the despatches he sent them. But from the testimony given above, the explanation of Capt. Young and the language of the two despatches just quoted, addressed to the commander of the Union forces at Paducah and Columbus, Kentucky, history has made out a case against Gen. Forrest that no human being would covet.

FOOTNOTES:

[144] Rebellion Records, vol. x. pp. 721-730.