Fort Pillow Massacre: Confederate Forces Execute Black Union Soldiers

On April 12, 1864, Confederate cavalry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest (later a founder of the Ku Klux Klan) captured Fort Pillow, Tennessee, which was defended by approximately 295 Black and 295 white Union soldiers. After the garrison surrendered, Confederate forces killed approximately 300 soldiers — the majority Black — many of whom were unarmed and trying to surrender. Witnesses described soldiers being shot while begging for mercy, being buried alive, and being burned alive. Surviving Black soldiers were enslaved. The Congressional Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War documented the massacre in a detailed report. 'Remember Fort Pillow' became a rallying cry for Black Union troops.