Nathan Bedford Forrest And The Battle Of Fort Pillow

Nathan Bedford Forrest And The Battle Of Fort Pillow Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle version is available to download in english. Read online anytime anywhere directly from your device. Click on the download button below to get a free pdf file of Nathan Bedford Forrest And The Battle Of Fort Pillow book. This book definitely worth reading, it is an incredibly well-written.

The River Was Dyed with Blood

Author : Brian Steel Wills
Publisher : University of Oklahoma Press
Page : 399 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2014-03-17
Category : History
ISBN : 9780806146041

Get Book

The River Was Dyed with Blood by Brian Steel Wills Pdf

The battlefield reputation of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, long recognized as a formidable warrior, has been shaped by one infamous wartime incident. At Fort Pillow in 1864, the attack by Confederate forces under Forrest’s command left many of the Tennessee Unionists and black soldiers garrisoned there dead in a confrontation widely labeled as a “massacre.” In The River Was Dyed with Blood, best-selling Forrest biographer Brian Steel Wills argues that although atrocities did occur after the fall of the fort, Forrest did not order or intend a systematic execution of its defenders. Rather, the general’s great failing was losing control of his troops. A prewar slave trader and owner, Forrest was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime. Because the attack on Fort Pillow—which, as Forrest wrote, left the nearby waters “dyed with blood”—occurred in an election year, Republicans used him as a convenient Confederate scapegoat to marshal support for the war. After the war he also became closely associated with the spread of the Ku Klux Klan. Consequently, the man himself, and the truth about Fort Pillow, has remained buried beneath myths, legends, popular depictions, and disputes about the events themselves. Wills sets what took place at Fort Pillow in the context of other wartime excesses from the American Revolution to World War II and Vietnam, as well as the cultural transformations brought on by the Civil War. Confederates viewed black Union soldiers as the embodiment of slave rebellion and reacted accordingly. Nevertheless, Wills concludes that the engagement was neither a massacre carried out deliberately by Forrest, as charged by a congressional committee, nor solely a northern fabrication meant to discredit him and the Confederate States of America, as pro-Southern apologists have suggested. The battle-scarred fighter with his homespun aphorisms was neither an infallible warrior nor a heartless butcher, but a product of his time and his heritage.

Fort Pillow Massacre

Author : United States Congress Joint Commit
Publisher : Legare Street Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2022-10-27
Category : History
ISBN : 1016861087

Get Book

Fort Pillow Massacre by United States Congress Joint Commit Pdf

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Battle of Fort Pillow

Author : Lochlainn Seabrook
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 132 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2015-11-16
Category : History
ISBN : 194373710X

Get Book

Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Battle of Fort Pillow by Lochlainn Seabrook Pdf

Yankee historians delight in calling Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest "the Butcher of Fort Pillow," claiming that he instigated a "racist massacre" of surrendering black Union troops during the battle at Henning, Tennessee, on April 12, 1864. But is this true? Of course not. It is merely the North's fabricated version, one based not on reality, but on opinion, nescience, emotion, sciolism, presentism, spite, and an anti-South bias that is still very much alive to this day. For those who are interested in the truth about the conflict, award-winning historian and Forrest scholar Lochlainn Seabrook has written "Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Battle of Fort Pillow: Yankee Myth, Confederate Fact." This brief but comprehensive investigation blows the lid off what pro-North writers like to refer to as a "controversy," but which was in fact nothing more than an ordinary fight in which an overwhelming force (2,500 racially integrated Confederates) assaulted an indefensible fort filled with belligerent drunken soldiers (600 racially segregated Yankees) who refused to surrender in the face of impossible odds. Excerpted from Mr. Seabrook's popular title "A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest," the book contains dozens of pages of new material, along with rare photos and illustrations, maps, details concerning the origins of the battle and the charges against Forrest, official reports, and important eyewitness accounts by those at the scene. Also included: an index, bibliography, and reference notes. This book, which helps restore Forrest's reputation after being unfairly tarnished by 150 years of slander, falsehoods, and anti-South propaganda, is a must-read for all those who are in search of the truth about "Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Battle of Fort Pillow." For the traditional South Mr. Seabrook's work represents the final word on the matter. Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a descendant of the families of Alexander H. Stephens and John S. Mosby, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known as the "new Shelby Foote," he is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and the author of over 45 books. A seventh-generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage and the sixth great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, Mr. Seabrook has a forty-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the runaway bestseller "Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!" Seabrook's other titles include: "Confederate Flag Facts: What Every American Should Know About Dixie's Southern Cross"; "Everything You Were Taught About American Slavery is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!"; "The Great Yankee Coverup: What the North Doesn't Want You to Know About Lincoln's War"; "Give This Book to a Yankee: A Southern Guide to the Civil War for Northerners"; "Confederacy 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America's Oldest Political Tradition"; "Slavery 101: Amazing Facts You Never Knew About America's 'Peculiar Institution'"; "Forrest! 99 Reasons to Love Nathan Bedford Forrest"; "Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children's Guide to the Civil War"; "The Unquotable Abraham Lincoln: The President's Quote They Don't Want You to Know!"; "The Quotable Stonewall Jackson"; "The Alexander H. Stephens Reader"; "The Constitution of the Confederate States of America Explained"; and "The Old Rebel: Robert E. Lee As He Was Seen By His Contemporaries."

River Run Red

Author : Andrew Ward
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2006-10-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9781440649295

Get Book

River Run Red by Andrew Ward Pdf

On April 12, 1864, on the Tennessee banks of the Mississippi River, a force of more than 3,000 Confederate cavalrymen under General Nathan Bedford Forrest stormed Fort Pillow, overwhelming a garrison of some 350 Southern white Unionists and over 300 former slaves turned artillerymen. By the next day, hundreds of Federals were dead, over 60 black soldiers had been captured and re-enslaved, and over 100 white soldiers had been marched off to their doom at Andersonville. Confederates called this bloody battle and its aftermath a hard-won victory. Northerners deemed it premeditated slaughter. To this day, Fort Pillow remains one of the most controversial battles in American history. River Run Red vividly depicts the incompetence and corruption of Union occupation in Tennessee, the horrors of guerrilla warfare, the legacy of slavery, and the pent-up bigotry and rage that found its release at Fort Pillow. Andrew Ward brings to life the garrison’s black soldiers and their ambivalent white comrades, and the former slave trader Nathan Bedford Forrest and his ferocious cavalry, in a fast-paced narrative that hurtles toward that fateful April day and beyond. Destined to become as controversial as the battle itself, River Run Red establishes Fort Pillow’s true significance in the annals of American history.

Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory

Author : John Cimprich
Publisher : LSU Press
Page : 218 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2005-11-01
Category : History
ISBN : 0807131105

Get Book

Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory by John Cimprich Pdf

At the now-peaceful spot of Tennessee's Fort Pillow State Historic Area, a horrific incident in the nation's bloodiest war occurred on April 12, 1864. Just as a high bluff in the park offers visitors a panoramic view of the Mississippi River, John Cimprich's absorbing book affords readers a new vantage on the American Civil War as viewed through the lens of the Confederate massacre of unionist and black Federal soldiers at Fort Pillow. Cimprich covers the entire history of Fort Pillow, including its construction by Confederates, its capture and occupation by federals, the massacre, and ongoing debates surrounding that affair. He sets the scene for the carnage by describing the social conflicts in federally occupied areas between secessionists and unionists as well as between blacks and whites. In a careful reconstruction of the assault itself, Cimprich balances vivid firsthand reports with a judicious narrative and analysis of events. He shows how Major General Nathan B. Forrest attacked the garrison with a force outnumbering the Federals roughly 1,500 to 600, and a breakdown of Confederate discipline resulted. The 65 percent death toll for black unionists was approximately twice that for white unionists, and Cimprich concludes that racism was at the heart of the Fort Pillow massacre. Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory serves as a case study for several major themes of the Civil War: the great impact of military experience on campaigns, the hardships of military life, and the trend toward a more ruthless conduct of war. The first book to treat the fort's history in full, it provides a valuable perspective on the massacre and, through it, on the war and the world in which it occurred.

American Massacre

Author : Tom Quinn
Publisher : Createspace Independent Pub
Page : 330 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2014-07-03
Category : History
ISBN : 149495625X

Get Book

American Massacre by Tom Quinn Pdf

The words of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest send a chilling message through history: “The river was dyed with the blood of the slaughtered for 200 yards…It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that Negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners.” He wrote these words in his official report to describe a battle of the American Civil War which came to be known as the Fort Pillow Massacre. American Massacre chronicles the Fort Pillow Massacre which occurred on April 12, 1864. Fort Pillow was an isolated Union fort in the backwaters of the Civil War on a bluff of the Mississippi River in west Tennessee manned by a force of about 600 black soldiers recently freed from slavery and white Tennessee Unionists. The battle remains a racially charged controversy to this day because of allegations that Confederate General Forrest ordered the massacre of black soldiers after they surrendered in order to terrorize blacks from enlisting in the Union army. This book provides an exciting, fast-paced and suspenseful narrative of the Fort Pillow Massacre and the key events leading up to it including Forrest's raid into west Tennessee and Kentucky and first encounter with black troops in his attack on Paducah, Kentucky. Along the way it describes the struggle of African Americans for the right to serve in the Union Army while painting a vivid portrait of a divided region and its people in turmoil. Additionally, the book contains a strong element of creative nonfiction including dramatic prosecution and defense arguments for a fictional military commission war crimes trial of Nathan Bedford Forrest. A lighting rod of controversy in America to this day, slave trader, brilliant cavalry commander and Ku Klux Klan leader Forrest stands forever on the high bluff of the Mississippi River as a symbol of heroism to some and racial strife to others

That Devil Forrest

Author : John A. Wyeth
Publisher : Ravenio Books
Page : 770 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2016-05-30
Category : History
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

Get Book

That Devil Forrest by John A. Wyeth Pdf

For the last two years of the Civil War I was a private soldier in a regiment of Alabama cavalry which had formerly served under Forrest. Four companies of this regiment had formed a portion of the famous battalion which had distinguished itself in the engagement at Fort Donelson, and, refusing to surrender, had marched out with him through the gap in General Grant’s lines. Although I was at no time directly under General Forrest, I was impressed by the enthusiastic devotion to him of these veterans, who had followed his banner for the first year of the war, and who seemed never to tire in speaking of his kind treatment of them, his sympathetic nature as a man, his great personal daring, and especially of his wonderful achievements as a commander. Of these achievements I was at that time not altogether ignorant. His escape from Fort Donelson; the desperate charge which saved Beauregard’s army from Sherman’s vigorous pursuit after Shiloh, in which he was severely wounded; the capture of Murfreesborough with its entire garrison of infantry and artillery, with his small brigade of cavalry without cannon; the charge on and capture of Coburn’s infantry at Thompson’s station; the capture of the garrison at Brentwood; and the relentless pursuit of Streight’s raiders, which ended in the surrender of these gallant Union soldiers to Forrest with less than one-half of their number, had already attracted wide attention and had made him famous. The knowledge of these facts, together with a personal association with the men who had felt the influence of his immediate leadership, naturally interested me in his career, which I closely followed to the end of the great struggle. When the general government, with wise forethought, began to collect and to place at the disposal of its citizens the official reports and correspondence, and all the reliable literature of the war, I undertook, in the light of these and other authentic papers, a closer analysis of his military record. The further my investigations proceeded, the more I became convinced that while Forrest was justly acknowledged to be one of the most famous fighters and leaders of mounted infantry or cavalry which the war produced on either side, he was more than this, and that a careful and unbiased statement of his achievements would place him in history not only as one of the most remarkable and romantic personalities of the Civil War, but as one of the ablest soldiers of the world. While I had hoped, as year after year slipped by since peace was declared, that some one abler than I would undertake the task of placing in readable shape the story of his life, I had determined if this were not done before I should pass into the “sere and yellow leaf” to pay this tribute to his memory myself. It has been a work of years to gather up from every available source the matter relating to this history—his early days, his civil and private life, and the accurate facts of his military record. In 1894, I wrote a condensed sketch, had it printed in single column upon the margin of wide sheets of paper, leaving a large blank space, and these I mailed to every surviving officer or soldier of his command whose address I could obtain, and to others personally acquainted with Forrest before or after the war. All were requested to return the sheet with corrections, and to add everything of interest, for the accuracy of which the sender could vouch. I also caused the publication of this sketch in various newspapers of wide circulation in the section of the South from which his troops were chiefly drawn, and asked as well for private letters of information. As a result of these efforts a great mass of material came into my possession, and an interest was aroused which encouraged me in the laborious task of sifting the reliable from the unreliable, and of making presentable to the reader the matter which was worthy of credence.

Fort Pillow

Author : Harry Turtledove
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2007-04-01
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781429909747

Get Book

Fort Pillow by Harry Turtledove Pdf

In April 1864, the Union garrison at Fort Pillow was comprised of almost six hundred troops, about half of them black. The Confederacy, incensed by what it saw as a crime against nature, sent its fiercest cavalry commander, Nathan Bedford Forrest, to attack the fort with about 1,500 men. The Confederates overran the fort and drove the Federals into a deadly crossfire. Only sixty-two of the U.S. colored troops survived the fight unwounded. Many accused the Confederates of massacring the black troops after the fort fell and fighting should have ceased. The "Fort Pillow Massacre" became a Union rallying cry and cemented resolve to see the war through to its conclusion. Harry Turtledove has written a dramatic recreation of an astounding battle, telling a bloody story of courage and hope, freedom and hatred. With brilliant characterization of all the main figures, this is a novel that reminds us that Fort Pillow was more than a battle---it was a clash of ideas between men fighting to define what being an American ought to mean.

The Fort Pillow Massacre

Author : Bruce Tap
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2013-10-23
Category : History
ISBN : 9781136173905

Get Book

The Fort Pillow Massacre by Bruce Tap Pdf

On April 12, 1864, a small Union force occupying Fort Pillow, Tennessee, a fortress located on the Mississippi River just north of Memphis, was overwhelmed by a larger Confederate force under the command of Nathan Bedford Forrest. While the battle was insignificant from a strategic standpoint, the indiscriminate massacre of Union soldiers, particularly African-American soldiers, made the Fort Pillow Massacre one of the most gruesome slaughters of the American Civil War, rivaling other instances of Civil War brutality. The Fort Pillow Massacre outlines the events of the massacre while placing them within the racial and social context of the Civil War. Bruce Tap combines a succinct history with a selection of primary documents, including government reports, eyewitness testimony, and newspaper articles, to introduce the topic to undergraduates.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Author : Jack Hurst
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 449 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2011-06-08
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780307789143

Get Book

Nathan Bedford Forrest by Jack Hurst Pdf

Amid the aristocratic ranks of the Confederate cavalry, Nathan Bedford Forrest was untutored, all but unlettered, and regarded as no more than a guerrilla. His tactic was the headlong charge, mounted with such swiftness and ferocity that General Sherman called him a "devil" who should "be hunted down and killed if it costs 10,000 lives and bankrupts the treasury." And in a war in which officers prided themselves on their decorum, Forrest habitually issued surrender-or-die ultimatums to the enemy and often intimidated his own superiors. After being in command at the notorious Fort Pillow Massacre, he went on to haunt the South as the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Now this epic figure is restored to human dimensions in an exemplary biography that puts both Forrest's genius and his savagery into the context of his time, chronicling his rise from frontiersman to slave trader, private to lieutenant general, Klansman to—eventually—New South businessman and racial moderate. Unflinching in its analysis and with extensive new research, Nathan Bedford Forrest is an invaluable and immensely readable addition to the literature of the Civil War.

An Unerring Fire

Author : Richard Fuchs
Publisher : Stackpole Books
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2017-09-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780811766371

Get Book

An Unerring Fire by Richard Fuchs Pdf

What really happened at Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864? The Union called it a massacre. The Confederacy called it necessity. TheTennessee spring came early that year, “awakening regional plants as warmer air and mois soil nurtured new life. Across the landscape could be seen the faint hint of green as sweet gum, hickory, oak cottonwood,…Sweet Williams, and wild dogwood added their hues.” This serene backdrop in hardly the place where one would imagine such a one-sided military atrocity to take place. Although at first glance the numbers are hardly noteworthy, the casualty ratio speaks volumes on the event. Eyewitness accounts relate “vivid recollection” of the numerous and specific nature of the injuries suffered by the survivors.” Controversy and scandal surround the Southern general Nathan Bedford Forrest. Why did it seem that he passively watched his men attack and mutilate more than one hundred apparently unarmed soldiers? Perhaps the biggest controversy involved racial prejudice. Was there a reason that Fort Pillow was singled out for Confederate vengeance, with the knowledge that the majority of the men were African-American? Of the dead, 66 percent were black. An Unerring Fire answers these questions and more in a critical examination of what remains one of the most controversial episodes of the Civil War.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Author : Nathan Bedford Forrest,Daniel Foxx
Publisher : Pelican Publishing
Page : 568 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2007-02-28
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1455609226

Get Book

Nathan Bedford Forrest by Nathan Bedford Forrest,Daniel Foxx Pdf

This Civil War biography sheds new light on the life of the legendary Confederate general before, during, and after the conflict that defined his legacy. Shelby Foote called Nathan Bedford Forrest one of the most authentic geniuses produced by the American Civil War, and Ulysses S. Grant said that Forrest was the only Confederate cavalry leader he feared. Sherman wanted him killed even if doing so broke the broke the Federal treasury and cost ten thousand lives. Arguably the best cavalry leader of the Civil War and undoubtedly one of the greatest in the history of mounted warfare, Nathan Bedford Forrest has been acclaimed and vilified, revered and hated, and still he is a man whose life defies categorization. This in-depth biography goes beyond Forrest’s war exploits. Here, historians Eddy W. Davison and Daniel Foxx depict a man as complex, brilliant, revolutionary, and tragic as the times in which he lived. In addition to revealing details about his childhood, marriage, and life as a businessman and civic leader, this comprehensive biography explains the alleged massacre at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and the reasons for Forrest’s leadership in the Ku Klux Klan.

Fort Pillow Massacre

Author : Congress Us Congress
Publisher : Adena
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2006-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 1933706015

Get Book

Fort Pillow Massacre by Congress Us Congress Pdf

In April 1864 Nathan Bedford Forrest captured Fort Pillow in Tennessee. This is the story of black and white Union troops shot down upon surrender. Vivid eye witness accounts by survivors told directly after the event in actual testimony before the congressional committee.Includes the Returned Prisoners Report detailing treatment of Union prisoners of war by the South. Soldiers describe suffering from want of food, shelter, and medical care.Printed at public expense by Congress at the height of the Civil War. Charges of outrage and atrocity helped the war effort and influenced the elections of 1864.

Nathan Bedford Forrest's Escort and Staff

Author : Bradley, Michael R.
Publisher : Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.
Page : 242 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2010-09-23
Category : History
ISBN : 1455609234

Get Book

Nathan Bedford Forrest's Escort and Staff by Bradley, Michael R. Pdf

Most staff officers and escort members of famous Civil War generals have faded into obscurity. However, the escort company and staff officers of Nathan Bedford Forrest were held in awe by men on both sides of the conflict during the war and long after, and they continue to be held in esteem as figures as legendary as Forrest himself. Not merely guards or couriers, these men were an elite force who rode harder and fought more fiercely than any others. As Bradley writes in his introduction, In him they recognized not only the daring, able, and successful leader, but also the commanding officer who would not hesitate to punish with severity when he deemed punishment necessary. They possessed as an inheritance all the best and most valuable fighting qualities of the irregulars, accustomed as they were from boyhood to horses and the use of arms, and brought up with all the devil-may-care lawless notions of the frontiersman. But the most volcanic spirit among them felt he must bow before the superior iron will of the determined man who led them. There was something about the dark gray eye of Forrest that warned his subordinates he was not to be trifled with and would stand no nonsense from either friend or foe. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Escort and Staff reveals the symbiotic relationship between Forrest and his men, and how their unusual abilities as fighters, thinkers, and leaders made for a team of men who formed a unique brotherhood that lasted long after the war. A testament to their loyalty is the fact that the escort is the only Confederate unit whose numbers were greater when they surrendered than when the unit was organized.

Bust Hell Wide Open

Author : Samuel W. Mitcham
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 352 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2016-10-04
Category : History
ISBN : 9781621576006

Get Book

Bust Hell Wide Open by Samuel W. Mitcham Pdf

A book to challenge the status quo, spark a debate, and get people talking about the issues and questions we face as a country!