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 (160 years ago) (1864-04-12) Location Lauderdale County, Tennessee 35°37′57″N 89°50′55″W / 35.6324°N 89.8487°W / 35.6324; -89.8487 Result Confederate victory
Belligerents
Confederate States	United States (Union)
Commanders and leaders
Nathan Bedford Forrest James R. Chalmers	Lionel F. Booth † William F. Bradford †
Units involved
First Division, Forrest's Cavalry Corps	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)
Strength
1,500–2,500	600
Casualties and losses
100 total 14 killed 86 wounded[1]	221 killed, 130 wounded[2]
Fort Pillow class=notpageimage| Location in Tennessee

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 Union soldiers (many of them U.S. Colored Troops) attempting to surrender. Military historian David J. Eicher concluded: "Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history."^[1]