Fort Pillow Massacre Facts
Fort Pillow Massacre Facts
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Interesting Fort Pillow Massacre Facts: |
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The Confederate Army installed forty cannons at the fort facing the Mississippi River. |
Before losing Fort Pillow in 1862, the Confederate forces attempted a river borne counterattack with eight steamboats converted into armed rams, but lost. |
The Union's capture of Fort Pillow in 1862 was part of a larger campaign where they worked their way down the river, taking other strategic points such as Island Number 10. |
Major Lionel F. Booth was the Union commander of Fort Pillow: he was killed by sniper fire during the battle. |
In response to the Union army using black troops, the Confederate States of America passed a law in 1863 that treated captured black Union troops as slave insurrectionists, which was a capital offense |
Fort Pillow was named for Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow, who ordered its construction. |
Most of the black soldiers at Fort Pillow were with the 6th U.S. Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery. |
At least two wounded black soldiers were said to have been buried alive with dead Confederate, but were able to dig themselves out. |
About half of the Union forces died while only fourteen Confederate soldiers lost their lives in the battle. |
After the massacre, President Lincoln and his cabinet considered massacring Confederate prisoners, but ultimately decided against it stating, "blood can not restore blood, and government should not act for revenge." |
"Remember Fort Pillow" was a rallying cry of black soldiers at the Petersburg on June 15, 1864. |
There is a consensus among modern historians that a massacre took place at Fort Pillow, but there is debate over whether it was planned or not. |
Fort Pillow is now a Tennessee State Historic Park and a National Historic Landmark. |
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