The Fort Pillow Massacre: North, South, and the Status of African Americans in the Civil War Era

by Tap; Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780415808644
• ISBN10: 0415808642
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2013-10-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

On April 12, 1864, a small Union force at Fort Pillow, a Union occupied fortress located on the Mississippi River just north of Memphis, was overwhelmed by a superior 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 African-American soldiers in the American Civil War, rivaling other instances of Civil War brutality, such as the New York City Draft riots. In six concise chapters, The Fort Pillow Massacreoutlines the events of the massacre while contextualizing them within the racial and social context of the civil war. Bolstered by biographical sidebars and illustrative time lines, Tap's book combines a succinct history with government reports, eyewitness testimony, and memoirs to introduce the topic to undergraduates.