The Fort Pillow Massacre: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence

The Battle of Fort Pillow was undisputedly a gruesome battle. However, accounts vary widely whether the Confederate forces went beyond the conventions of war to brutally murder Union soldiers who were attempting to surrender. The varying accounts of what happened in the battle create tensions on either side of the debate and skew much of the attempts at historical evaluation of the "massacre". "The Fort Pillow Massacre: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence" is truly what the title says, a fresh examination of the evidence attempted without bias. The author, Albert Castel, is a few generations removed from the debate and uses comparative testimony to evaluate the claim that the Confederate's overstepped conventional war. Since the debate is so charged with bias, he is forced to confront what his personal views are before he can even begin weighing in on the debate. (Castel, p 38). 

Castel concludes that the South was guilty of breaking the conventions of war by killing those who had attempted to surrender. (Castel, p 50) However, he challenges some of the findings by the Congressional investigation, such as the finding that the Confederates used the period of seize fire to strategically advance their soldiers and gain and advantage of position that they otherwise would have never achieved. (Castel, p 41) This analysis is based on testimony that Commander Forrest of the Confederate Army thought that during the seize fire was a delay by the Union forces to bring in support from the river Fort Pillow was stationed on as a gunship looked like it was moving in to provide men and cover fire for the fort. 

Castel's review of the claims by the Congressional investigation at the time were the paramount historical work on Fort Pillow. His work also fueled more historians to jump in on the analysis. However, Castel's findings are from 1958. It will be important for me to find more recent historical analysis on Fort Pillow. This article was a corner stone of historical evaluation on the Battle of Fort Pillow since Castel was a few generations removed from the event, unlike the author's before him, who lived through the event, or grew up in the more immediate wake of the event. My hope is that I will find more works like Castel's and less sources that are examples of sensational history.

Castel, Albert "The Fort Pillow Massacre: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence" Civil War History 4 (March 1958): 37-50.