Scotty A Birge
Point in between
Wed Jul 25 10:07:04 2001


Mr Cagle.

I read your post and was surprised that you felt Mr Martin discounted the events of Fort Pillow. I did not read that at all. What I did read is that the truth of the event was somewhere in between "Nothing happened" and "Slaughter". Since last night I have re-read many of the first hand accounts from both sides and looked at the details of the engagement. They support a very violent conflict at Fort Pillow where passion overrode clear thought. Were union soldiers killed after active, orgainized, resistance ended? Most certianly. There are too many first hand accounts to not believe it. However, first hand accounts must also be supported by evidence. Passions of war inflames accounts - this would not be the first account that was 'embellished'. Was this a planned event? The evidence does not support this. Had the confederates meant to kill everyone in the fort, there would have been no prisoners taken - both white and black troops did survive the engagement. If Gen Forrest had ordered the indiscriminate massacre of all black troops, I am sure that would have been completed.

What happened at Fort Pillow was a tragedy. Men died who rightly should have been allowed to surrender and become POWs. Many things contributed to what happened and they do not lessen that fact. However, I must also say that rarely in any 'after action' report are the facts totally correct.

Many in my family fought on both sides of that war (more on the Federal side, although my direct line is on the Confederate side) and it is my interest to find out (as best as can be determined) what actually happened. I neither believe that the South was 100% Correct and blameless in all its glory nor that the Federal government was the shinning example of a free republic (see previous post concerning the causes of the war). Men were fallible men on both sides of the war - with political and professional agenda. And war was killing - ugly, brutal and not always by the rules.