Fort Pillow Attack :: essays papers

stronghold pillow AttackTHE GRAND FABRICATIONIt is almost as difficult to obtain consistent information about the incident at Fort repose as it is to determine the moral significance of its outcome. Scholars disagree about on the nose what transpired on April 12, 1864 at Fort repose, when habitual Nathan Bedford Forrest captured the fort with his 1,500 array and claimed legion(predicate) Union lives in the process (Wyeth 250). It became an issue of propaganda for the Union, and as a progeny the facts were grossly distorted. After close examination it is clear that the Fort Pillow Massacre (as it became known by abolitionists) was nothing of the sort. The 1,500 troops under the assure of General Nathan Bedford Forrest acted as workforce and as soldiers in their capture of Fort Pillow. It is first necessary to understand what happened in the battle before some(prenominal) judgment can be made. A careful study performed by Dr. John Wyeth revealed the following informatio n from April 9-11, 1864, troops under the bid of Ben McCulloch, Tyree Harris Bell, and Brig. General James Chalmers marched non-stop to Fort Pillow to begin their violate under the command of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. confederative sharpshooters claimed the lives of several key Union officers during the morning time assault on the fort. The losses included the commanding officer Major Loinel F. Booth, and his guerilla in command shortly after that. These losses created a pick out breakdown of order and leadership among the Union troops within the fort. (251)During the morning engagement, the gun boat the modernistic Era was continually attempting to shell the confederative forces from the Mississippi, but with minimal success. The Union forces fought back heartily until around atomic number 53 oclock in the afternoon, when both sides slowed down. Around that time the New Era steamed out of range to cool its weapons. It had fired a total of 282 rounds, and its sup plies were almost totally exhausted. During this hiatus in the firing, while Confederate troops waited for supplies that would arrive around three oclock, Forrestwas injured when his horse cavalry fell on him after being mortaily wounded (252). When the supplies arrived, Confederate troops under a flag of truce delivered a message from Forrest that said, My men have received a fresh supply of ammunition, and from their present maculation can easily assault and capture the fort, (253). Forrest demanded the unconditional surrender of the garrison, brilliant