Reports of the Committee on the Conduct of the War

Question. Where was this man you found burned?

Answer. He was inside of a tent.

Question. Do you suppose him to have been burned with the tent?

Answer. Yes, sir. I took him to be a white man, because he was in the quarters where the white men were.

Question. So far as you could observe, was any discrimination made between white and black men, as to giving no quarter?

Answer. I should think not, from all I could see, because they were firing from the top of a hill down the bluff on all who had gone down there to escape.

Question. Did you notice how these men had been buried by the rebels?

Answer. I saw officers and white men and black men thrown into the trenches – pitched in in any way, some across, some lengthways, some on their faces, &c. When I first saw them, I noticed a great many with their hands or feet sticking out.

Question. Have you lately discovered any that are still unburied?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you see the three there to-day that were lying unburied?

Answer. No, sir; I heard about them, but did not go to see them.

Eli A. Bangs, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Do you belong to the navy or the army?

Answer. To the navy.

Question. In what capacity?

Answer. Acting master's mate for the New Era gunboat.

Question. Were you here on the day of the fight at Fort Pillow?

Answer. I was.

Question. Tell us what you observed in regard to the battle, and what followed.

Answer. I did not observe much of the first part of the engagement, because I was stationed below, in a division, with the guns; but after we hauled out into the stream I saw the flag of truce come in, and then I saw our colors come down at the fort, and saw our men running down the bank, the rebels following them and shooting them after they had surrendered.

Question. What number do you suppose the rebels killed after they had surrendered?

Answer. I could not say, only from what I saw the next day when I went ashore.

Question. You were there the next day?

Answer. Yes, sir; we came in under a flag of truce.

Question. What did you see?

Answer. Captain Marshall sent me out with a detail of men to collect the wounded and bury the dead. We buried some 70 or 80 bodies, 11 white men and one white woman.

Question. Did you bury any officers?

Answer. No, sir; I buried none of them. They were buried by the rebels.

Question. Did you observe how the dead had been buried by the rebels?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw those in the trench. Some had just been thrown in the trench at the end of the fort – white and black together – and a little dirt thrown over them; some had their hands or feet or face out. I should judge there were probably 100 bodies there. They had apparently thrown them in miscellaneously, and thrown a little dirt over them, not covering them up completely.

Question. Did you see or hear anything there that led you to believe that any had been buried before they were dead?

Answer. I did not see any myself, but I understand from a number of others that they had seen it, and had dug one out of the trench who was still alive.

Question. Did you see any peculiar marks of barbarity, as inflicted upon the dead?

Answer. I saw none that I noticed, except in the case of one black man that I took up off a tent floor. He lay on his back, with his arms stretched out. Part of his arms were burned off, and his legs were burned nearly to a crisp. His stomach was bare. The clothes had either been torn off, or burned off. In order to take away the remains, I slipped some pieces of board under him, and when we took him up the boards of the tent came up with him; and we then observed that nails had been driven through his clothes and his cartridge-box, so as to fasten him down to the floor. His face was not burned, but was very much distorted, as if he had died in great pain. Several others noticed the nails through his clothes which fastened him down.

Question. Do you think there can be any doubt about his having been nailed to the boards?

Answer. I think not, from the fact that the boards came up with the remains as we raised them up; and we then saw the nails sticking through his clothes, and into the boards.

Question. Did you notice any other bodies that had been burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; I buried four that had been burned.

Question. What was the appearance of them?

Answer. I did not notice any particular appearance about them, except that they had been burned.

Question. How came they to be burned?

Answer. They were in the tents, inside of the fort, which had been burned. I am certain that there were four that lay where the tent had been burned, for there were the remains of the boards under them, which had not been fully burned. Those that were burned in the fort were black men.

Charles Hicks, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you on the ground after the battle of Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir; the day after the battle.

Question. What did you see there?

Answer. A great many dead men.

Question. Did you see any man there that had been nailed down to a board and burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw the nails through his clothes after he was taken up.

Question. In what position did he lie?

Answer. On his back. There were nails through his clothes and through the cartridge-box.

Question. So that it fastened him to the boards in such a way that he could not get up, even if he had been alive?

Answer. Yes, sir, in just that way.

Question. When you tried to take him up you raised the boards with him?

Answer. Yes, sir.

A. H. Hook, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Did you see the man that Charles Hicks has just spoken of?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw him. His body was partly burned, and I saw the nails through his clothes, and into the floor of the tent.

Question. The tent had been burned?

Answer. Yes, sir; there were three or four bodies burned there, but this man in particular was nailed down.

George Mantell, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you on the ground at Fort Pillow at the time that these men, who have just testified, spoke of?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. You have heard their testimony?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you agree with them?

Answer. Yes, sir; I saw the same.

Sergeant Henry F. Weaver, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?

Answer. To company C, 6th United States heavy artillery, colored. I am a sergeant.

Question. You were here at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. State briefly what you saw, particularly after the capture.

Answer. The rebels charged after the flag of truce, the Tennessee cavalry broke, and was followed down the hill by the colored soldiers. They all appeared to go about the same time, as near as I could tell in the excitement of the battle. I came down the hill to the river and jumped into the water, and hid myself between the bank and the coal barge. They were shooting the negroes over my head all the time, and they were falling off into the water. The firing ceased a little, and I began to get out. I saw one of the rebels and told him I would surrender. He said, "We do not shoot white men." I went up to him and he ordered me away; he kept on shooting the negroes. There were six or eight around there, and he and another one shot them all down. I went up about a rod further and met another rebel, who robbed me of watch, money, and everything else, and then he left me. I went on to the quartermaster's building below here, and was taken by another rebel and taken up into the town. He went into a store and I went in with him. He went to pillaging. I slipped on some citizen's clothing, and it was not long before I saw that they did not know who I was. I staid with them until the sun was about an hour high, and then I went away. I walked off just as if I had a right to go.

Question. Where did you go?

Answer. I went down the river, just back of the old river batteries. I then got on board a tug-boat and came down here, and the Sunday afterwards went to Memphis.

Question. Did you have any conversation with these rebels?

Answer. Not anything of any consequence about the fight.

Question. What were they doing when you were with them?

Answer. Just pillaging the store. They commenced going down to the river, and I came down with them. They went into the quartermaster's department and went a carrying off things.

Question. Did they give any quarter to the negroes?

Answer. No sir.

Question. Did the negroes throw away their arms?

Answer. Yes, sir; and some of them went down on their knees begging for their lives. I saw one shot three times before he was killed.

By the chairman:

Question. What number of our troops do you suppose were killed before the fort was captured?

Answer. I could not tell exactly, but I do not think over a dozen of the cavalry were killed, and probably not more than fifteen or twenty of the negroes. There were a great many of the negroes wounded, because they would keep getting up to shoot, and were where they could be hit.

Question. The rebels must have killed a great many of the white men after they had surrendered?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw yesterday afternoon a great number of cavalry taken up, and almost every one was shot in the head. A great many of them looked as if their heads had been beaten in.

Question. That must have been done after the fort had been captured?

Answer. Yes, sir; two-thirds of them must have been killed after the fort was taken.

Question. Do you know why the gunboat did not fire upon the rebels after the fort was captured, while they were shooting down our men?

Answer. They could not do that without killing our own men, too, as they were all mixed up together.

Charles A. Schetky, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your position?

Answer. I am acting ensign of the gunboat New Era.

Question. Were you here at the time of the attack on Fort Pillow?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. State what you saw after the fort was captured.

Answer. After the flag was down I saw the rebels pouring down their bullets on our troops under the hill, although they were unarmed, and held up their hands in token of surrender.

Question. Were they shooting the black men only, or the black and white together?

Answer. The black and white were both together under the hill, and the sick and wounded were there, too.

Question. How many do you think you saw shot in that way?

Answer. I should think I saw not less than fifty shot.

Question. How many white men among those?

Answer. I could not tell. I judge that the number of whites and blacks were nearly equal.

Question. You were here the day after the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir, but I was not ashore at all that day. My duty kept me on board the boat all the time.

Frank Hogan, (colored,) sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. In what company and regiment?

Answer. Company A, 6th United States heavy artillery.

Question. What did you see there that day, especially after the fort was taken?

Answer. I saw them shoot a great many men after the fort was taken, officers and private soldiers, white and black.

Question. After they had given up?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them shoot a captain in our battalion, about a quarter of an hour after he had surrendered. One of the secesh called him up to him, and asked him if he was an officer of a nigger regiment. He said, "Yes," and then they shot him with a revolver.

Question. Did they say anything more at the time they shot him?

Answer. Yes, sir; one of them said, "God damn you, I will give you a nigger officer." They talked with him a little time before they shot him. They asked him how he came to be there, and several other questions, and then asked if he belonged to a nigger regiment, and then they shot him. It was a secesh officer who shot him. I was standing a little behind.

Question. What was the rank of the secesh officer?

Answer. He was a first lieutenant. I do not know his name.

Question. Do you know the name of the officer he shot?

Answer. Yes, sir; Captain Carson, company D.

Question. Why did they not shoot you?

Answer. I do not know why they didn't.

Question. How long did you stay with them?

Answer. I staid with them two nights and one day. They took me on Tuesday evening, and I got away from them Thursday morning, about two hours before daylight. They were going to make an early move that morning, and they sent me back for some water, and I left with another boy in the same company with myself.

Question. Where did you go then?

Answer. Right straight through the woods for about three or four miles, and then we turned to the right and came to a road. We crossed the road, went down about three miles, and crossed it again, and I kept on, backwards and forwards, until I got to a creek about five or six miles from here.

Question. Do you know anything of the rebels burning any of the tents that had wounded men in them?

Answer. I know they set some on fire that had wounded men in them, but I did not see them burn, because they would not let us go around to see.

Question. About what time of the day was that?

Answer. It was when the sun was about an hour or three-quarters on from the day of the battle.

Question. Did you hear the men in there after they set the building on fire?

Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them in there. I knew they were in there. I knew that they were there sick. I saw them shoot one or two men who came out of the hospital, and then they went into the tents, and then shot them right in the tents. I saw them shoot two of them right in the head. When they charged the fort they did not look into the tents, but when they came back afterwards they shot those sick men in the head. I knew the men, because they belonged to the company I did. One of them was named Dennis Gibbs, and the other was named Alfred Flag.

Question. How long had they been sick?

Answer. They had been sick at the hospital in Memphis, and had got better a little, and been brought up here, but they never did any duty here, and went to the hospital. They came out of the hospital and went into these tents, and were killed there. They were in the hospital the morning of the fight. When the fight commenced, they left the hospital and came into the tents inside the fort.

Question. Did you see them bury any of our men?

Answer. I saw them put them in a ditch. I did not see them cover them up.

Question. Were they all really dead or not?

Answer. I saw them bury one man alive, and heard the secesh speak about it as much as twenty times. He was shot in the side, but he was not dead, and was breathing along right good.

Question. Did you see the man?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. How came they to bury him when he was alive?

Answer. They said he would die any how, and they would let him stay. Every once in a while, if they put dirt on him, he would move his hands. I was standing right there, and saw him when they put him in, and saw he was not dead.

Question. Have you seen the three bodies that are now lying over beyond the old hospital?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you know them?

Answer. I knew one of them. I helped to take him to the hospital on the Sunday before the fight. There was another man there. I knew the company he belonged to, (company B,) but I do not know his name. He was a colored man, but he had hair nearly straight, like a white man or an Indian. He had been sick a great while.

Captain James Marshall, recalled.

By the chairman:

Question. Does this witness (Hogan) speak of the same men that you supposed were fleeing from the hospital when they were killed?

Answer. Yes, sir, the same men.

Frank Hogan, resumed.

By the chairman:

Question. What did they do with the prisoners they took away with them?

Answer. I saw several officers of our regiment, and some of the men.

Question. Did you hear anything said about Major Bradford?

Answer. The first night after they had taken the fort, Major Bradford was there without any guard. Colonel McCullough waked us up to make a fire, and Major Bradford walked up and asked the liberty to go out a while. He came back, and I went to sleep, leaving Major Bradford sitting at the fire. When they waked up the next morning, they asked where Major Bradford was, and I told them he was lying there by the fire. They uncovered the head of the man who was lying there, but they said it was not Major Bradford. That was only a short distance from here. I did not see him afterwards.

Alfred Coleman, (colored,) sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?

Answer. Company B, 6th United States heavy artillery.

Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Were you captured here?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. About what time?

Answer. About six o'clock, I should think.

Question. Where did they take you to?

Answer. Out towards Brownsville, between twelve and eighteen miles.

Question. What did you do after you were captured?

Answer. I helped to bury some of the dead; then I came to the commissary store, and helped to carry out some forage.

Question. Did you hear the rebels say anything about a fight?

Answer. Nothing more than it was the hardest fight they had been in, with the force we had here. I was then with the 2d Missouri cavalry.

Question. What did they say about giving quarter?

Answer. They said they would show no quarter to colored troops, nor to any of the officers with them, but would kill them all.

Question. Who said that?

Answer. One of the captains of the 2d Missouri. He shot six himself, but, towards evening, General Forrest issued an order not to kill any more negroes, because they wanted them to help to haul the artillery out.

Question. How do you know that?

Answer. This captain said so.

Question. Were colored men used for that purpose?

Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them pulling the artillery, and I saw the secesh whip them as they were going out, just like they were horses.

Question. How many men did you see that way?

Answer. There were some ten or twelve men hold of a piece that I saw coming out. The secesh said they had been talking about fighting under the black flag, but that they had come as nigh fulfilling that here as if they had a black flag.

Question. How long did you stay with them?

Answer. I was taken on the Tuesday evening after the fight, and remained with them until about an hour before day of Thursday morning. I then took a sack of corn to feed the horses, and got the horses between me and them, and, as it was dark and drizzling rain, I left them and escaped.

Question. Did you see any of the shooting going on?

Answer. Yes, sir. I was lying right under the side of the hill where the most of the men were killed. I saw them take one of the Tennessee cavalry, who was wounded in one leg, so that he could not stand on it. Two men took him, and made him stand up on one leg, and then shot him down. That was about four o'clock in the afternoon.

Question. How many do you think you saw them shoot?

Answer. The captain that carried me off shot six colored men himself, with a revolver. I saw him shoot them. I cannot state about the rest.

Question. Did you see more than one white man shot?

Answer. No, sir. The others that were killed were a little nearer the water than I was. I was lying down under a white-oak log near the fort, and could not see a great way.

Question. Do you know how many of their men were lost?

Answer. I heard some of them say, when they went out towards Brownsville, that they had lost about 300 killed, wounded, and missing.

Question. How many of our men were killed before the fort was taken?

Answer. I do not think there were more than ten or fifteen men killed before the fort was taken.

Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.

Lieutenant Colonel Thomas H. Harris, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank and position in the service?

Answer. I am a lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general of the 16th army corps.

Question. How many troops do your records show to have gone from the 6th United States heavy artillery (colored) to Fort Pillow?

Answer. There were 221 officers and men left Memphis to go to Fort Pillow.

Question. How many whites went there?

Answer. None were sent from here. I understand, unofficially, that the colored troops were recruited, to some extent, after they arrived at Fort Pillow; but I have no official knowledge of that fact. Of the 221 officers and men who went from here, there are thirty here who escaped, and some twenty or more above at Mound City and Cairo.

Question. Do you know what was the character and military experience of Major Bradford?

Answer. To the best of my knowledge and belief, Major Bradford had no military experience. I had known him for about a year. He never claimed to have had any military experience.

Question. What was the character of Major Booth as a military man?

Answer. It was good. He was originally sergeant major of the 1st Missouri light artillery, and was an officer of experience and tried courage, and of irreproachable character.

Question. Do you know whether or not any information was received here that Fort Pillow was threatened before it was actually attacked?

Answer. I know that Major Booth assured General Hurlbut that he stood in no danger, and begged him not to feel any apprehension. General Hurlbut, I believe, answered that report by sending Major Booth two additional guns, with a fresh supply of ammunition.

Question. How long have you been here in this department?

Answer. Since the 1st of August, 1862.

Question. Have you, during that time, been familiar with the condition of the garrison at Fort Pillow?

Answer. I have been familiar with it since the 1st of May, 1863.

Question. Has the garrison been entirely withdrawn from Fort Pillow at any time since then?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Why?

Answer. In order to send troops for the Meridian expedition into Mississippi, under General Sherman.

Question. For how long a period was Fort Pillow without a garrison?

Answer. Fort Pillow was evacuated about the 25th of January, 1864, and remained unoccupied for a short time afterwards.

Question. Why was a garrison again placed there?

Answer. Major Bradford was with his command at and near Columbus and Paducah, Kentucky, in the early part of this year. Finding recruiting very difficult there, he applied for permission to proceed to Fort Pillow and establish his headquarters there, as he believed that he could easily fill his regiment at that point.

Question. It was then occupied rather as a recruiting station than for any other purpose at that time?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you know whether it has been considered a military necessity to keep a garrison at Fort Pillow since the gunboats have been in the river?

Answer. It is one of the most important points on the whole river. It commands a very long stretch of the river, and a single well-manned field-piece there would stop navigation entirely.

Question. When the garrison was removed from Fort Pillow, was it in pursuance of any order from either General Grant or General Sherman?

Answer. I cannot answer that definitely without looking at the records.

Papers forwarded by Lieutenant Colonel Harris to Washington

Headquarters 16th Army Corps,

Memphis, Tennessee, April 26, 1864.

I wish to state that one section of company D, 2d United States light artillery, colored, (1 commissioned officer and 40 men,) were sent to Fort Pillow about February 15, as part of the garrison.