Fort Pillow State Historic Park

Fort Pillow State Historic Park is a state park in western Tennessee that preserves the American Civil War site of the Battle of Fort Pillow. The 1,642 acre (6.6 km²) Fort Pillow, located in Lauderdale County on the Chickasaw Bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River, is rich in both historic and archaeological significance. In 1861, the Confederate army built extensive fortifications and named the site for General Gideon Johnson Pillow of Maury County. It was attacked and held by the Union Army for most of the American Civil War period except immediately after the Battle of Fort Pillow, when it was retaken by the Confederate Army. The battle ended with a massacre of African-American Union troops and their white officers attempting to surrender, by soldiers under the command of Confederate Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Fort Pillow State Historic Park
Cannons at Fort Pillow in 2006
TypeTennessee State Park
LocationHenning, Tennessee
Area1,642 acres (6.64 km2)
Created1971
OpenYear round
Websitetnstateparks.com/parks/fort-pillow
Fort Pillow
Fort Pillow State Historic Park is located in Tennessee
Fort Pillow State Historic Park
Fort Pillow State Historic Park is located in the United States
Fort Pillow State Historic Park
LocationTN State Route 87, Lauderdale County, Tennessee
Nearest cityOsceola, Arkansas
Coordinates35°38′10″N 89°50′32″W
Built1861
NRHP reference No.73001806
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1973[1]
Designated NHLMay 30, 1974[2]

Union fort, and Battle of Fort Pillow
Caption in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (New York), May 7, 1864, "The war in Tennessee: Confederate massacre of black Union troops after the surrender at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864"
Main article: Battle of Fort Pillow

Because of its strategic location controlling traffic on the Mississippi River, the fort was attacked and captured by the Union Army, which controlled it during most of the war. On June 4, 1862, Confederate troops evacuated Fort Pillow, enabling Union troops to take Memphis, Tennessee. An exception to Union control of this site took place for less than one day immediately after the Confederate victory in the Battle of Fort Pillow in 1864.

The Confederate States Army defeated the Union troops at the Battle of Fort Pillow (April 1864), resulting in the massacre of 229 of the 262 black Union soldiers engaged in the battle.[3] The white Union soldiers numbered 285. An examination of regimental records showed that "less than 36 percent of the men from white units died in battle or of wounds, while the death toll for black units was 66 percent."[4]

A Confederate wrote in a letter home that "Forrest ordered them [negroes] shot down like dogs, and the carnage continued."[5] In addition to regimental records, contemporary accounts by troops on both sides, as well as journalists, describe it as appalling slaughter.[6] Within about three weeks, as political controversy grew, Confederates began to dispute accounts of a massacre.[7] Subsequent reports after the battle from Union officers to the Department of War countered much that was reported in the popular press and some of the testimony given before Congress.[8] This slaughter by the Confederate troops under Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest has been classified by historians as a massacre.

"Remember Fort Pillow!" became a battle cry among black Union soldiers for the remainder of the Civil War. While the Union casualty count for the battle does not indicate that the Confederate forces took many prisoners, Confederate records show about 200 prisoners were shipped south.

In 1866, the Union Army created a cemetery for both Confederate and Union soldiers south of the battle site. In 1867, they moved about 250 bodies of Confederate and Union soldiers from that cemetery to the Memphis National Cemetery.[9]

Historic site and museum

Interpretive sites are part of the park. In 1973, the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[1][10] It was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974.[11][12] Remains of the fort's earthworks are preserved.

The park has an interpretive center and museum. The park also offers recreational activities, including camping, picnicking and fishing.[13]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Pillow State Park.
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "Fort Pillow". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2008.
  3. Archived 2009-03-10 at the Wayback Machine, National Park Service
  4. John Cimprich and Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., "Fort Pillow Revisited", 1982, in Race and Recruitment, ed. John David Smith, Kent State University Press, 2013, p. 214
  5. Cimprich and Mainfort (1982), "Fort Pillow Revisited", p. 219
  6. Cimprich and Mainfort (1982), "Fort Pillow Revisited", pp. 216–225
  7. Cimprich and Mainfort (1982), "Fort Pillow Revisited", p. 226
  8. Wyeth (1899), “The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest”, pp. 350–369
  9. Cimprich, John (2005). Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory. Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-8071-3110-7.
  10. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com National Register of Historic Places
  11. Marcia M. Greenlee, The Afro-American Bicentennial Corporation (February 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form" (PDF). Washington, DC: National Park Service. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  12. Peter LaPaglia (February 1973). "National Register of Historic Places Property Photograph Form: Site of Fort Pillow, Tenn., facing northwest;Section of inner fort wall, taken from center of fort location" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  13. Thompson, Erin L. "At Fort Pillow, Confederates Massacred Black Soldiers After They Surrendered". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
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