Battle of Fort Pillow

Battle of Fort Pillow
Part of the American Civil War
Caption in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (New York), May 7, 1864, "The war in Tennessee: Confederate massacre of black Union troops after the surrender at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864"
Date April 12, 1864 (1864-04-12) Location Lauderdale County, Tennessee Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States
Commanders and leaders
Lionel F. Booth † William F. Bradford †	Nathan Bedford Forrest James R. Chalmers
Units involved
Fort Pillow garrison Four companies of the 6th U.S. Artillery (C) Bradford's Battalion, Tennessee Cavalry One section of Battery D, 2nd U.S. Artillery (C)	1st Division, Forrest's Cavalry Corps
Strength
600	1,500–2,500
Casualties and losses
221 killed, 130 wounded[1]	100 total 14 killed 86 wounded[2]

The Battle of Fort Pillow, also known as the Fort Pillow massacre was fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. The battle ended with Confederate soldiers commanded by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest massacring U.S. Army soldiers (many of them African Americans) attempting to surrender. Military historian David J. Eicher concluded: "Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history."^[2]