hagleyvault:On this day in 1862, Confederate troops fled their Mississippi River fortifications at F
hagleyvault:On this day in 1862, Confederate troops fled their Mississippi River fortifications at Fort Pillow, built in 1861, making it possible for Union forces to retake the city of Memphis, Tennessee. The Union would continue to hold Fort Pillow until April 12, 1864, when it was retaken in the Battle of Fort Pillow, a conflict best known for the outrages that occurred in its aftermath. Acting on previous statements given by Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest and General Abe Buford, Confederate soldiers declared that no quarter was to be given to the approximately 600 Union soldiers in the recaptured fort. The result was a massacre of Bradford’s Battalion, a west Tennessee regiment, and the 6th U.S. Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery and2nd Colored Light Artillery, two regiments made up of African-American soldiers, many of them former slaves. Keep reading -- source link