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 First 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 first 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 first 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 Has the garrison been entirely withdrawn from Fort Pillow at any time since then?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 twenty-fifth of January, 1864, and remained unoccupied for a short time afterward. 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. I cannot answer that definitely without looking at the records. Papers forwarded by Lieutenant-Colonel Harris to Washington. HEADQUARTERS SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, April 26, 1864. ) I wish to state that one section of company D, Second United States light artillery, colored, (one commissioned officer and forty men,) were sent to Fort Pillow about February fifteenth, as part of the garrison. The garrison of Fort Pillow, by last reports received, consisted of the First battalion Sixth United States heavy artillery, colored, eight commissioned officers and two hundred and thirteen enlisted men; one section company D, Second United States light artillery, colored, one commissioned officer and forty men; First battalion Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, Major H. F. Bradford, ten commissioned officers and two hundred and eighty-five enlisted men. HEADQUARTERS SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS, MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, March 28, 1864. ( SIR: You will proceed with your own battalion to Fort Pillow, and establish your force in garrison of the works there. As you will be, if I am correct in my memory, the senior officer at that post, you will take command, conferring, however, freely and fully with Major Bradford, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, whom you will find a good officer, though not of much experience. There are two points of land fortified at Fort Pillow, one of which only is now held by our troops. You will occupy both, either with your own troops alone, or holding one with yours, and giving the other in charge to Major Bradford. The positions are commanding, and can be held by a small force against almost any odds. I shall send you at this time two twelve-pound howitzers, as I hope it will not be necessary to mount heavy guns. You will, however, immediately examine the ground and the works, and if, in your opinion, twenty-pound Parrotts can be advantageously used, I will order them to you. My own opinion is, that there is not range enough. Major Bradford is well acquainted with the country, and should keep scouts well out and forward; all information received direct to me. I think Forrest's check at Paducah will not dispose him to try the river again, but that he will fall back to Jackson, and thence across the Tennessee; as soon as this is ascertained I shall withdraw your garrison. Nevertheless, act promptly in putting the works into perfect order, and the post in its strongest defence. Allow as little intercourse as possible with the country, and cause all supplies which go out to be examined with great strictness. No man whose loyalty is questionable should be allowed to come in or go out while the enemy is in West-Tennessee. Your obedient servant, I witnessed and learned concerning the treatment of our troops by the rebels at the capture of Fort Pillow by their forces under General Forrest, I have the honor to submit the following report: Our garrison at Fort Pillow, consisting of some three hundred and fifty colored troops and two hundred of the Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, refusing to surrender, the place was carried by asMajor-General.sault about three P.M. of the twelfth instant. S. A. HURLBUT, Major L. F. BOOTH, A true copy. GENERAL: . Every thing seems to be very quiet within a radius of from thirty to forty miles around, and I do not think any apprehensions need be felt or fears entertained in reference to this place being attacked, or even threatened. I think it perfectly safe. I have the honor to be, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, L. F. BOOTH, Major Sixth U. S. Heavy Artillery, Colored, Commanding Fort. Major-General HURLBUT. HEADQUARTERS SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS, A true extract from the last report received from Major L. F. Booth, Sixth United States heavy artillery, commanding Fort Pillow. T. H. HARRIS, Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General. Without application or requisition being made for the guns, General Hurlbut concluded to add two to the four already at the Fort, and made the following order : HEADQUARTERS SIXTEENTH ARMY CORPS, I arrived off the Fort at six A.M. on the morning of the thirteenth instant. Parties of rebel cavalry were picketed on the hills around the Fort, and shelling those away, I made a landing and took on board some twenty of our troops, some of them badly wounded, who had concealed themselves along the bank, and came out when they saw my vessel. Whilst doing so I was fired upon by rebel sharp-shooters posted on the hills, and one wounded man limping down to the vessel was shot. About eight A. M. the enemy sent in a flag of truce, with a proposal from General For rest that he would put me in possession of the Fort and the country around until five P.M., for the purpose of burying our dead and removing our wounded, whom he had no means of attending to. I agreed to the terms proposed, and hailing the steamer Platte Valley, which vessel I had convoyed up from Memphis, I brought her alongside, and had the wounded brought down from the Fort and battle-field and placed on board of her. Details of rebel soldiers assisted us in this duty, and some soldiers and citizens on board the Platte Valley volunteered for the same purpose. We found about seventy wounded men in the Fort and around it, and buried, I should think, one hundred and fifty bodies. All the buildings around the Fort, and the tents and huts in the Fort, had been burned by the rebels, and among the embers the charred remains of numbers of our soldiers, who had suffered a terrible death in the flames, could be seen. All the wounded who had strength enough to speak, agreed that after the Fort was taken an indiscriminate slaughter of our troops was carried on by the enemy, with a furious and vindictive savageness which was never equalled by the most merciless of the Indian tribes. Around on every side horrible testimony to the truth of this statement could be seen. Bodies with gaping wounds, some bayoneted through the eyes, some with skulls beaten through, others with hideous wounds, as if their bowels had been ripped open with Bowie knives, plainly told that but little quarter was shown to our troops, strewn from the Fort to the riverbank, in the ravines and hollows, behind logs and under the brush, where they had crept for protection from the assassins who pursued them. We found bodies bayoneted, beaten, and shot to death, showing how cold-blooded and persistent was the slaughter of our unfortunate troops. Of course, when a work is carried by assault there will always be more or less bloodshed, even when all resistance has ceased; but here there were unmistakable evidences of a massacre car ried on long after any resistance could have been offered, with a cold-blooded barbarity and perseverance which nothing can palliate. As near as I can learn, there were about five hundred men in the Fort when it was stormed. I received about one hunded men, (including the wounded and those I took on board before the flag of truce was sent in.) The rebels, I learned, had few prisoners, so that at least three hundred of our troops must have been killed in this affair. I have the honor to forward a list of the wounded officers and men received from the enemy under flag of truce. I am, General, your obedient servant, Acting Master U. S. N., Commanding U. S. Steamer Silver Cloud. Commanding Sixteenth Army Corps. Question. What did he say? Answer. He simply said he had fought them honorably and as a brave man, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. He was taken prisoner at Fort Pillow, and was then sent to Covington, to the custody of a Colonel Duckworth, commanding the Seventh Tennessee rebel cavalry, and from that place he was sent under guard, with about thirty of us conscripts. We arrived at Brownsville on the thirteenth; we started cut on the evening of the fourteenth instant, about dusk. Previous to our leaving Brownsville, five of the guards were ordered back to Duckworth's headquarters. Those five guards seemed to have received special instructions about something, 1 don't know what. After marching about five miles from Brownsville, we halted, that is, the two companies of the rebels. These five guards then took Major Bradford out about fifty yards from the road. He seemed to understand what they were going to do with him. He asked for mercy, and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. Three of the five guards shot him. shot struck him about in the temple; a second in the left breast, and the third shot went through the thick part of the thigh. He was killed instantly. They left his body lying there. I escaped from the rebels at Jackson. I left on the One Question. Were you at Fort Pillow on the day Friday morning about two o'clock, and Saturday of its capture? Answer. No, sir. Question. Where were you? Answer. About sixteen miles off, at Coving ton. Question. Have you seen that statement ? (showing witness statement appended to this deposition.) Answer. Yes, sir; I made that statement myself. Question. It is correct, then? Answer. Yes, sir. night about twelve o'clock I came back where the murder was committed, and saw his body there, yet unburied. The moon was shining brightly, and it seemed to me that the buzzards had eaten his face considerably. Question. Did you hear them give any reason for shooting Major Bradford ? Answer. Simply that he was a Tennessee traitor, and to them they showed no quarter. They said that he was a Tennesseean, and had joined the Yankee army, and they showed them no quarter. I think myself that the order for shoot Question. Did you yourself see Major Bradford ing Major Bradford was given by Colonel Duckshot? Answer. He represented himself to me as a Major Bradford. Question. Did you have any conversation with him? worth, for the reasons I have stated. Question. What was the officer in command at the time he was shot? Answer. A lieutenant went out with him. He was one of the five guards. Question. Who commanded the two companies of rebels? the companies. Duckworth, who, I think, gave the order for killing Major Bradford, belongs to Chalmers's command. He is a notorious scoundrel. He never had any reputation, either before the war or afterward. Answer. I do not know who ranked in these Answer. Yes, sir; and while we were march-two companies. Russell and Lawler commanded ing from Covington to Brownsville I heard them call him Major Bradford. He told me himself that he was Major Bradford, but he did not wish it to be known, as he had enemies there; and it never would have been known but for a detective in the confederate army from Obion County, Tennessee, named Willis Wright, who recognized him as Major Bradford, and told them of it. Wright is a notorious spy and smuggler in Forrest's command. There is no doubt the man was Major Bradford. Question. Was there any thing said at the time he was shot? Answer. Nothing more than what I said. Question. Did Major Bradford have on his uniform? Answer. No, sir. He had tried to conceal his identity as much as possible, by putting on citizen's clothes, as he said that he had enemies among them who would kill him if they knew him. Question. Did you hear any of their officers say any thing as to the manner in which they treated our soldiers whom they had captured, and the way in which they intended to treat them? Answer. On the evening of the twelfth I was in Colonel Duckworth's headquarters. I had not been conscripted then. I saw a despatch there from Forrest to Duckworth, dated that afternoon. It read something like this: "Colonel W. L. Duckworth, Covington, Tennessee. I have killed three hundred and captured three hundred." Duckworth remarked to me previous to the attack that no quarter would be shown at Fort Pillow at all; that they were a set of damned Yankees and Tennessee traitors there, and they intended to show them no quarter. Question. When did he say this? Answer. On the evening of the eleventh of April, at Covington. Question. How long had you known Duck worth? Answer. I never saw him before I saw him there. Question. Did he say this to you? Answer. I was not in conversation with him, but I heard him say this to a Captain Hill, a retired confederate captain, who formerly belonged to his command. He was within five or six feet of me when he said it. Question. Were they talking at that time about the intended attack on Fort Pillow? Answer. Yes, sir; and five days' rations were ordered then, and Duckworth said they were going to take Fort Pillow, and no quarter would be shown at all. Question. Do you know how Major Bradford got to Covington, and when? jor Bradford and the conscripts, including the affiant, were placed in charge of two companies of the Seventh Tennessee cavalry, Captains Russell and Lawler commanding. They were taken to Brownsville, Tennessee, and started from there to Jackson, Tennessee. When they had proceeded about five miles from Brownsville a halt was made, and Major Bradford was taken about fifty yards from the command by a guard of five confederate soldiers in charge of a lieutenant, and was there deliberately shot, three of the confederate soldiers discharging their fire-arms, all of which took effect, killing him instantly. This was on the fourteenth day of April, 1864, near dusk; that the body of Major Bradford was left unburied in the woods about fifty yards from the road. The affiant, with the other conscripts, were taken on to Jackson, and on the twentysecond day of April the affiant and twenty-five others of the conscripts made their escape from the confederate forces at Jackson. On the way back he saw the body of Major Bradford lying in the same place where he was shot. This was on Saturday night, the twenty-third of April. Major Bradford, before he was shot, fell on his knees and said that he had fought them manfully, and wished to be treated as a prisoner of war. The following papers and affidavits were fur Answer. I think he arrived there on the even-nished the Committee by General Mason Bray ing of the twelfth, just about dusk. Question. Did Major Bradford state to you that he desired to disguise himself? Answer. Yes, sir. He said that he had personal enemies in that command, among whom was this Willis Wright, who recognized him and told them who he was. Major Bradford was a native Tennesseean. Question. Did any of the conscripts who were with you see Major Bradford shot? Answer. Yes, sir; and I understand that one or two others, who escaped when I did, are here in in the city; and I shall try to get their statements. man, at Cairo, and are herewith submitted: CAIRO, ILLINOIs, April 18, 1864. We have the honor of reporting to you, as the only known survivors of the commissioned officers of the Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, that, on the morning of the twelfth day of the present month, at about the hour of daylight, the rebels, numbering from five thousand to seven thousand, attacked our garrison at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, numbering as it did only about five hundred effective men. They at first sent in a flag of truce demanding a surrender, which Major Booth, then commanding the post, (Major Booth, of the Sixth W. R. McLagan, a citizen of the United States, United States heavy artillery, colored,) refused. being first duly sworn, states, upon oath, that Shortly after this Major Booth was shot through for the last two years he has been trading_be- the heart and fell dead. Major William F. Bradtween St. Louis, Missouri, and Covington, Ten- ford, then commanding the Thirteenth Tennessee nessee; that at the time of the attack upon Fort cavalry, assumed command of the Fort, and under Pillow, April twelfth, 1864, he was at Covington, his orders a continual fire was kept up until about Tennessee, and was taken by General Forrest as one o clock P.M., when our cannon and the rifles a conscript on the thirteenth of April, with about of the sharp-shooters were mowing the rebels down thirty other citizens; that on the evening of the in such numbers that they could not make an adtwelfth of April Major Bradford, Thirteenth Ten-vance. nessee cavalry, United States forces, arrived at Covington, under guard, as a prisoner of war, and was reported as such to Colonel Duckworth, commanding Seventh Tennessee cavalry, confederate forces; that on the thirteenth of April MaVOL. VIII.-Doc. 5 The rebels then hoisted a second flag of truce and sent it in, demanding an unconditional surrender. They also threatened that if the place was not surrendered no quarter would be shown. Major Bradford refused to accept any such terms, would not surrender, and sent back word that if such were their intentions they could try it on. were several confederate officers standing near at While this flag of truce was being sent in, the the time. None of them ordered the firing to rebel officers formed their forces in whatever ad- cease; but when they found they could not hit vantageous positions they were able to select. him, they allowed him to give himself up as a They then formed a hollow square around our prisoner, and paroled him to the limits of the garrison, placed their sharp-shooters within our camp. They now claim that he violated his parole deserted barracks, and directed a galling fire upon the same night and escaped. We have heard Our men. They also had one brigade in the from prisoners who got away from the rebels trenches just outside the Fort, which had been that they took Major Bradford out in the Hatchie cut by our men only a few days before, and Bottom and there despatched him. We feel conwhich provided them with as good protection as fident that the story is true. We saw several that held by the garrison in the Fort. Their de- negroes burning up in their quarters on Wednesmand of the flag of truce having been refused, the day morning. We also saw the rebels come order was given by General Forrest in person to back that morning and shoot at the wounded. charge upon the works and show no quarter. We also saw them at a distance running about Half an hour after the issuance of this order a hunting up wounded that they might shoot them. scene of terror and massacre ensued. The rebels There were some whites also burning. The recame pouring in solid masses right over the bels went to the negro hospital, where about breastworks. Their numbers were perfectly over- thirty sick were kept, and butchered them with whelming. The moment they reached the top of their sabres, hacking their heads open in many the walls, and commenced firing as they descend-instances, and then set fire to the buildings. ed, the colored troops were panic-stricken, threw They killed every negro soldier Wednesday morndown their arms, and ran down the bluff, pursued ing upon whom they came. Those who were sharply, begging for life. But escape was imposable they made stand up to be shot. In one case sible. The confederates had apprehended such a white soldier was found wounded. a result, and had placed a regiment of cavalry where it could cut off all effective retreat. This cavalry regiment employed themselves in shooting down the negro troops as fast as they made their appearance. The whites, as soon as they perceived they were also to be butchered inside the Fort, also ran down. They had previously thrown down their arms and submitted. In many instances the men begged for life at the hands of the enemy, even on their knees. They were only made to stand upon their feet and then summarily shot down. Captain Theodore F. Bradford, of company A, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, was signal-officer for the gunboat, and was seen by General Forrest with the signal flags. The General, in person, ordered Captain Bradford to be shot. He was instantly riddled with bullets, nearly a full regiment having fired their pieces upon him. Lieutenant Wilson, of company A, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, was killed after he had surrendered, he having been previously wounded. Lieutenant J. C. Akerstrom, company E, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, and acting regimental quartermaster, was severely wounded after he had surrendered, and then nailed to the side of a house and the house set on fire, burning him to death. Lieutenant Cord. Revelle, company E, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry, was shot and killed after surrender. Major William F. Bradford, commanding our forces, was fired upon after he had surrendered the garrison. The rebels told him he could not surrender. He ran into the river and swam out some fifty yards, they all the time firing at him, but failing to hit him. He was hailed by an officer and told to return to the shore. He did so. But as he neared the shore the riflemen discharged their pieces at him again. Again they missed. He ran up the hillside among the enemy with a white handkerchief in his hand in token of his surrender, but still they continued to fire upon him. He had been lying upon the ground nearly twenty-four hours without food or drink. He asked a rebel. soldier to give him something to drink. The latter turned about upon his heel and fired three deliberate shots at him, saying: Take that, you negro equality." The poor fellow is alive yet and in the hospital. He can tell the tale for himself. They ran a great many into the river, and shot or drowned them there. They immediately killed all the officers who were over the negro troops, excepting one who has since died from his wounds. They took out from Fort Pillow about one hundred and some odd prisoners, (white,) and forty negroes. They hung and shot the negroes as they passed along toward Brownsville until they were rid of them all. Out of the six hundred troops (convalescents included) which were at the Fort they have only about one hundred prisoners, (all whites,) and we have about fifty wounded who are paroled. Major Anderson, Forrest's Assistant AdjutantGeneral, stated that they did not consider colored men as soldiers, but as property, and as such, being used by our people, they had destroyed them. This was concurred in by Forrest, Chalmers, and McCullough, and other officers. We respectfully refer you to the accompanying affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle, lettered "A" and those of Mrs. Rufin, lettered "B," and Mrs. Williams, lettered "C." Respectfully submitted. F. A. SMITH, A true copy. C. B. SMITH, Lieutenant and A. D. C. Affidavit of Hardy N. Revelle. I was in business at Fort Pillow previous to There the fight on Tuesday last. Was engaged as a |