But Colonel Hicks, as before, positively refused fort. They took the rest of the men from the to comply with the demand. Firing then ceased | hospital, and under the third flag of truce offered until daylight the next morning. During this cessation of firing I succeeded in getting into the fort with reenforcements and a small supply of ammunition from the gunboats. The supply of ammunition from Cairo did not arrive until the evening. As it was impossible to get any despatches through from Colonel Hicks, the line being cut, we knew nothing when I left Cairo of his being short of ammunition. The un- | standing we had with Colonel Hicks, before any attack was made, was that we had a large supply of ammunition on hand; that there were about thirty-three thousand cartridges, calibre 58, on hand-that being the calibre used by the troops there and a large supply of artillery ammunition in the fort. The next morning, about six o'clock, the enemy again advanced in line of battle toward the fort. There was some firing on both sides, but it did not amount to much. Some of the rebel troops, while their main body was firing at the fort, were engaged in pillaging the town, stealing property from private citizens, horses, and Government stores, burning houses, and committing all sorts of depredations. While the flag of truce was at the fort the first, second, and third times, the rebel troops were taking new positions in line of battle, although they had made a distinct agreement and understanding with Colonel Hicks that while the flag of truce was in there should be no movements of troops on either side; that every thing should remain as it was. While the fight was going on, women, children, and other non-combatants came running down to the river toward the gunboats. The officers in the fort and on the gunboats called to them to run down to the river-bank to the left of our fort. They did so, and under cover of the gunboats they got on a wharf-boat or a little ferryboat, and were ferried across the river as fast as possible. While they were doing this the rebel sharp-shooters got in among them, so that we could not fire upon them without killing the women and children, and fired on our troops in the Fort and on the gunboats, wounding one officer on a gunboat and two men. They also made women stand up in front of their sharp-shooters, where it was impossible for us to return the fire without killing the women. They also fired into houses where there were women, and where there were none of our soldiers. They also went into a hospital, took the surgeon of the hospital prisoner, and took a lady that was there and carried her off and took her clothing from her, leaving her nothing but an old dress to cover herself with. This woman, as well as Dr. Hart, the surgeon of the hospital, were taken away by them as prisoners. All the prisoners taken there by Forrest, with the exception of three or four men, were sick men from the hospital, unable to move or walk from the hospital to the fort without in jury to their health. All the men who were able to walk were brought from the hospital to the to exchange them. This Colonel Hicks and myself refused, because we thought it treachery on their part. We also refused for the reason that we did not think they had a right to take as prisoners of war men in the hospital who were unable to walk without danger to their lives. Yet the rebels took those men and marched them ten miles, and then camped them down in a swampy piece of ground at night, with their clothes nearly all taken from them. Some of them were left bareheaded and barefooted, with nothing on but their pants and shirts, compelled to stay in that swampy ravine all night long, with nothing to eat, and not permitted to have fires. The next morning they were marched off again. I have certain knowledge that for two days and one night those sick men were compelled to march with the rebel troops without any thing to eat, with hardly any clothing, and a number of them without any boots or shoes. Question. Do you know that the rebels placed women and other non-combatants in front of their lines as they advanced toward the fort? Answer. They had women and children between us and their lines, and they stood behind them, the women and children forming a sort of breastwork for the rebels, as we were unable to return their fire for fear of killing the women and children. Colonel Hicks reported to me that they took several women and compelled them to stand in front of their lines during the fight; that there were women and children between our fire and theirs; that as the women moved the rebels moved along with them, keeping behind them. Question. Have you any idea of the number of women and children they had thus placed in front of them? Answer. It varied at different times. Colonel Hicks informed me that at one time the rebels held six women in front of them, refused to let them escape, but compelled them to stand there under the hottest of the fire. Question. Were those women so placed that we could not fire upon the enemy with advantage without endangering the lives of the women? Answer. We could not fire upon them at that particular point without endangering the lives of the women and children. Question. Do you know whether the flag of truce was violated by the rebels at any time? Answer. Yes, sir, it was. While the flag of truce was in, they moved their troops into new positions; they marched their troops around to the back of the fort, and brought them up through the timber, dashed up toward the fort at full speed, then turned off toward the right of the fort, taking up their position between the fort and the town. During the first flag of truce they marched the majority of their forces, if not the whole of them, down into an open common between the fort, the river, and the town, along the river-bank, then obliqued off to the left, and took position in line of battle off to the right of the fort as you faced the town; and at one time, while their troops were taking position between the town and the fort during a flag of truce, they had women placed in front of their lines. Question. While they were making the movement ? Answer. Yes, sir. The rebel General Thompson with his forces took position on the right of the fort between the hospital and the fort while the flag of truce was at the fort. The fact of the rebel movements was reported to Colonel Hicks, and he requested of the flag of truce that they should be stopped, as they had violated their word, it being distinctly understood that there should be no movements during that time, and the officer sent an orderly to stop it, but it was not done; the troops continued to move. After they had placed their troops in position the flag of truce left the fort. As the flag of truce passed from the fort down through the town, the rebel troops escorting the flag shot down in the streets some citizens and some men straggling from the hospital. A charge was then immediately made on the Fort, at which time the rebel General Thompson was killed. The rebels also, while the flag of truce was at the fort, pillaged the town, and robbed citizens on the streets who were on their way down to the river for the purpose of going across. They pillaged the town right in view of our gunboats; and as soon as the flag of truce left the fort our gunboats opened upon the rebels, and drove them out of that part of the town. shell it at the head of Jersey street, our troops having seen squads of rebels in that part of the city. This the gunboats did. After that the town was quiet, the rebels who had remained there having been driven out by the shells. Question. Do you know what was our loss and the loss of the enemy there ? Answer. Our loss altogether was fourteen killed-of which eleven were negroes-and fortysix wounded; I do not know how many of them were negroes. The rebels lost about three hundred killed, and from one thousand to one thousand two hundred wounded. That is what the citizens reported Forrest said, and we believed it to be correct from the number of graves we found, and from other circumstances. Forrest seized the Mayfield and Paducah train and carried all his wounded off to Mayfield, except a few who lay near the fort. Our black troops were very much exposed. The fort was in bad condition, and the negro troops, with the heavy artillery, were compelled to stand up on the platforms to man the guns, their only protection there being a little bank or ridge of earth about knee-high. Our loss in killed resulted from this exposure. The rebel troops got up on the tops of houses, and also in the hospital, and fired down into the fort upon our gunners. But the troops fought bravely, without flinching; as soon as a man fell at the guns, one of his comrades would drag him out of the way and take his place. The black troops, having muskets as well as serving the artillery, would load and fire their muskets while the artillery was being fired. The white troops were better covered and had more protection; but they fought as well as any men could be expect Question. Will you state to us what you know about the operations of the rebels against Columbus? The morning after I arrived there, when the rebel forces advanced on the fort, they sent in a flag of truce asking for an exchange of prisoners, which was refused. It was a writtened to fight. communication from General Forrest, asking, if his request was granted, that Colonel Hicks, with one or two staff-officers, would meet him at a point designated, when they would agree between themselves upon the exchange. Colonel Hicks replied that he had no authority to exchange prisoners; otherwise he would be happy to do so. When this written reply was handed to the rebel officer in charge of the flag of truce, be asked three or four questions for the purpose of gaining time. Colonel Hicks and I both noticed this, and sent him off as soon as possible. While this flag of truce was at the fort the rebels were taking position. They afterward fell back into the timber. The main body of the rebels, Forrest with them, retreated on the Mayfield road, while about three hundred of his men remained in the town making movements and feints on the fort, to prevent our sending out and ascertaining his movements. Forrest, by that time, had found out that we had been reënforced with troops, and that more boats were arriving; also, that the avy had reenforced us with two or three more gunboats. In the afternoon, about five o'clock, by ColoDel Hicks's consent and direction, I sent word to the gunboats to move up opposite the town, and Answer. The first news we received of any operations against Columbus was about twelve o'clock in the day--I do not remember the exact day, but it was just before the attack on Fort Pillow. I received a written communication by despatch-boat from Colonel Lawrence, commanding the post at Columbus, stating that he had received a communication from General Buford demanding an unconditional surrender of the forces under his command, with all government property, with the assurance that the white troops would be treated as prisoners of war, while the black troops, I think, would either be returned to their masters, or made such disposition of as the rebels should see fit. To this Colonel Lawrence replied that he had been placed there by his Government to defend the place and the Government property and stores there, and that he should obey the orders of his superiors; surrender, therefore, was out of the question. The rebel General then offered to give Colonel Lawrence half an hour to remove the women and children out of the town. Colonel Lawrence replied that he should immediately notify the women and children to leave on a boat; that if he (the rebel General) attempted to attack the place, the lives of the women and children would rest on his head, but if he waited half an hour he would have them all out; that he (Colonel Lawrence) would not ask them to wait, for he felt amply prepared to receive their attack. The flag of truce then returned. On their way out, or while the flag of truce was at the fort, the rebel cavalry occupied themselves in stealing horses that had been brought in by Union citizens, and stabled near our picket-lines for protection. The rebels stole something like twenty-five or thirty horses belonging to Union men while this flag of truce was in. That was the last Colonel Lawrence heard of the enemy that day. Colonel Lawrence then gave notice that he should receive no more flags of truce from Forrest; that as Forrest did not respect them, he should not himself respect them. That was all that occurred at Columbus. Question. You have said that you went up to Paducah on a gunboat with Captain Shirk, of the navy did he cooperate cordially with the land forces in repelling the attack upon Paducah? Answer. He did. Captain Shirk and all his officers did every thing in their power to aid us. He was very accommodating, even furnishing us with ammunition, although he himself was getting short of it. He had but a very small amount, yet he divided with us, giving us a share of what he had. He also sent by boat to Metropolis all the despatches that were sent by Colonel Hicks and myself to General Brayman, and he sent a despatch-boat to Cairo. To make sure that the information should get through, and to have supplies forwarded to us, the gunboats did every thing in their power, and rendered great assistance in defending the place. Question. Has Captain Pennock, of the navy, cooperated cordially with the military authorities in their operations in this vicinity, where it has been possible for the navy to coöperate? Answer. Yes, sir; Captain Pennock has always been on hand, always had boats ready; has made such dispositions of his boats that he could at any moment throw from one to three boats, and at one time as many as five boats, on any one point in the district, whenever asked to do so. At the time of the attack upon Paducah he was very prompt in furnishing us with a despatch-boat and supplying us with ammunition. I believe he has done every thing in his power to assist us in carrying out all our move ments and operations. At the same time Captain Pennock has labored under the difficulty of being compelled to send some of his boats up the Tennessee River with despatches for General Veatch. I mention that, to show that he has had to send some of his boats away. Yet he has always been ready to assist us at any time, night or day. The best feeling has always existed, and still exists, between the naval officers and the military authorities at this post, and at all the posts in the district; and they cooperate cordially in carrying out all orders and measures that are deemed for the good of the service. John Penwell, sworn and examined. By the Chairman : Question. Where do you reside? Question. Do you belong to the army? Question. Were you at Fort Pillow when it was attacked? Answer. Yes, sir; this last time. Question. In what capacity were you there? Answer. As a volunteer for the occasion. Question. Will you tell us, in your own way, what you saw there? I Answer. Nothing occurred of much account--only the fighting part of it—until after they sent the last flag of truce there. They kept on fighting, but the Fort was not surrendered. While the flag of truce was outside the Fort, and they were conferring together, I noticed and spoke about seeing men going around behind the Fort. They who were out with the flag of truce came back and said they were not going to surrender, and commenced fighting again. I had just fired my musket off, and heard a shot behind me. saw the rebels come running right up to us. I was just feeling for a cartridge. They were as close as from here to the window, (about ten feet.) I threw my musket down. A fellow who was ahead asked if I surrendered." I said, "Yes." He said, "Die, then, you damned Yankee son of a bitch," and shot me, and I fell. More passed by me, and commenced hallooing, "Shoot him down," and three or four stopped where I was and jumped on me and stripped me, taking my boots and coat and hat, and forty-five or fifty dollars in greenbacks. Question. Where did they shoot you? Answer. In the breast, and the ball passed right through. Question. Did you see other men shot after they had surrendered? Answer. I did not see any after I laid down, but I heard the hallooing around me, and begging them "Not to shoot," and then I heard them say: "Shoot them down, shoot them down!" In fact, when they stripped me, one of them said, "He an't dead," and they jerked me up and took off my coat. It hurt me pretty bad, and I cried out to them: "Kill me, out and out." One of them said: "Hit him a crack on the head," but another said: "Let the poor fellow be, and get well, if he can. He has nothing more left now." I fainted then. After I revived I crawled into a tent near where I was. A captain of artillery was in there very badly wounded. Some one had thrown an overcoat over us after I got in there. In the night they roused us up, and wanted to know: "If we wanted to be burned up." I said: "No." They said, They were going to fire the tent, and we had better get out," and wanted to know if we could walk. I said: "I could not." They helped me out and made me walk some, but carried the officer out. They took us to a house and left us there. They would not give us any water, but told us to get it for ourselves. There were other wounded men there. Some petty officer came in there and looked at us, and wanted to know how badly we were hurt. I said, "Pretty bad," and asked him for water, and he made some of the men fetch us some. We lay there until the gunboat came up and commenced shelling, when they made us get out of that-help ourselves out the best way we could. Three of our own men were helping the wounded out of the houses, when they commenced burning them. As soon as they saw I could walk a little, they started me up to headquarters with a party. When we got to the gully the gunboat threw a shell, which kind of flurried them, and we got out of sight of them. I got alongside of a log, and laid there until a party from the boat came along picking up the wounded. Question. Did they have a hospital there that the wounded were put in? Answer. There were four or five huts there together which they put them in. That was all the hospital I saw. Question. Do you know whether they burned any body in there? Answer. I do not know, but they hallooed to us to "Get out, if we did not want to get burned to death." I told an officer there, who was ordering the houses to be burned, to let some of the men go in there, as there were some eight or nine wounded men in there, and a negro who had his hip broken. He said: "The white men can help themselves out, the damned nigger shan't come out of that." I do not know whether they got the wounded out or not. I got out, because I could manage to walk a little. It was very painful for me to walk, but I could bear the pain better than run the risk of being burned up. Question. Do you know any thing about rebel officers being on the boat, and our officers asking them to drink? Answer. Yes, sir. There were several rebel officers on board the Platte Valley. I went on board the boat, and took my seat right in front of the saloon. I knew the bar-tender, and wanted to get a chance to get some wine, as I was very weak. I was just going to step up to the bar, when one of our officers, a lieutenant or a captain, I don't know which, stepped in front of me and almost shoved me away, and called up one of the rebel officers and took a drink with him; and I saw our officers drinking with the rebel officers several times. COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, April 24, 1864. Colonel William H. Lawrence, sworn and examined. By the Chairman : Question. What is your rank and position in the army? Answer. I am Colonel of the Thirty-fourth New-Jersey volunteers. Question. Where are you stationed now, and how long have you been there stationed? Answer. I am stationed at Columbus, and have been there since the end of January last. Question. What do you know with regard to the attack and capture of Fort Pillow? Answer. All I know about that is, that General Shipley arrived here on the thirteenth of April. He took me one side, and told me that as he passed Fort Pillow he was hailed from a gunboat, and told that there had been severe fighting there; that he saw a flag of truce at Fort Pillow, and that, after passing the Fort a little distance, he saw the American flag hauled down, or the halliards shot away, he did not know which; and he afterward saw a flag, which was not raised higher than a regimental flag, and that he believed Fort Pillow had surrendered. He then offered me two batteries of light artillery, which he said were fully manned and equipped. He repeated this same conversation to General Brayman, as I understand, after arriving at Cairo. Question. Did he give any reason why he did not undertake to assist the garrison at Fort Pillow? Answer, No, sir. Question. From his conversation, did you gather that he was in a condition to render assistance? Answer. (After a pause.) It struck me as the most remarkable thing in the world that he had not found out positively; had not landed his batteries, and gone to the assistance of Fort Pillow. Question. Under what circumstances did you understand he was there? Answer. The steamer on which he was passed by there. I am under the impression that he had also two or three hundred infantry on the steamer. Dr. Chapman Underwood, sworn and examined. By Mr. Gooch: Question. Where do you reside? Answer. I reside in Tennessee. Question. Were you at Fort Pillow, or on board a gunboat, during the attack there? Answer. Yes, sir; I was there. Question. What was your position? Answer: I was sent from there, about ten days before that, on detached service, looking after convalescents, and returned on the Saturday evening before the fight on Tuesday morning. I was Acting Assistant Surgeon. The regiment was not full enough to have a surgeon with the regular rank. Question. Will you state what came within your own observation in connection with the attack and capture? Answer. I roomed with Lieutenant Logan, First Lieutenant of company C, Thirteenth Tennessee cavalry. About sun-up, I got up as usual. About the time I got up and washed, the pickets ran in and said Forrest was coming to attack the Fort. I started up to the Fort. Lieutenant Logan knew the feeling the rebels had toward me, and told me to go on the gunboat. Question. What do you mean by that? Answer. Well, they had been hunting mehad shot at me frequently. Faulkner's regiment, and a part of another, was raised in the country were about five hundred black soldiers in all where I knew all of them. I was a notorious there, and about two hundred whites able for character with them, and always had to leave duty. There were a great many of them sick whenever they came around. The Lieutenant ad- and in the hospital. vised me to go on board the gunboat for safety, and I did so. The attack came on then, and we fired from the gunboat, I think, some two hundred and sixty or two hundred and seventy rounds, and the sharp-shooters on the boat were firing, I among the rest. We fought on, I think, until about one or half-past one. The rebels had not made much progress by that time. They then came in with a flag of truce, and firing ceased from the Fort and gunboat, and all around. They had a conference, I think, of about three quarters of an hour. They returned with the flag of truce; but in a very short time came back again with it to the Fort, and had another interview. During the time the flag of truce was in there, there was no firing done from either side, but we could see from the gunboat up the creek that the rebels were moving up toward the Fort. The boat lay about two hundred yards from the shore, right opposite the Quartermaster's department. By the time the first flag of truce got to the Fort, they commenced stealing the Quartermaster's stores, and began packing them off up the hill. For an hour and a half, I reckon, there seemed to be above one or two hundred men engaged in it. Question. This was before the capture of the Fort? Answer. Yes, sir; while under the protection of the flag of truce. When the last flag of truce started back from the Fort, in three minutes, or less, the firing opened again, and then they just rushed in all around, from every direction, like a swarm of bees, and overwhelmed every thing. The men-white and black-all rushed out of the Fort together, threw down their arms, and ran down the hill; but they shot them down like beeves, in every direction. I think I saw about two hundred run down next to the water, and some of them into the water, and they shot them until I did not see a man standing. Question. How many do you think were shot after the capture of the Fort, and after they threw down their arms? Question. What happened after that? Answer. They then got our cannon in the Fort, and turned them on us, and we had to steam off up the river a little, knowing that they had got a couple of ten or twelve pounder Parrott guns. They threw three shells toward us. We steamed off up the river, anchored, and lay there all night. We returned the next morning. We got down near there, and discovered plenty of rebels on the hill, and a gunboat and another boat lying at the shore. We acted pretty cautiously, and held out a signal, and the gunboat answered it, and then we went in. When we got in there, the rebel General Chalmers was on board, and several other officers-majors, captains, orderlies, etc.-and bragged a great deal about their victory, and said it was a matter of no consequence. They hated to have such a fight as that, when they could take no more men than they had there. One of the gunboat officers got into a squabble with them, and said they did not treat the flag of truce right. An officer-a captain, I thinkwho was going home, came up, and said that, "Damn them, he had eighteen fights with them, but he would not treat them as prisoners of war after that," and that he intended to go home, and would enlist again. Chalmers said that he would treat him as a prisoner of war, but that they would not treat as prisoners of war the “homemade Yankees," meaning the loyal Tennesseeans. There were some sick men in the hospital, but I was afraid to go on shore after the rebels got there. I merely went on shore, but did not pretend to leave the boat. Question. Did you see any person shot there the next morning after you returned? Answer. I heard a gun or a pistol fired up the bank, and soon afterward a negro woman came in, who was shot through the knee, and said it was done about that time. I heard frequent shooting up where the Fort was, but I did not go up to see what was done. FORT PILLOW, Tennessee, April 25, 1864. Captain James Marshall, sworn and exam By the Chairman : Question. What is your rank and position in the naval service? Answer. Well, I think, from all the information I could gather, there were about four hun-ined. dred men killed after the capture, or four hundred and fifty. I think there were about five hundred and odd men killed there. A very great majority of them were killed after the surrender. I do not suppose there were more than twenty men killed before the Fort was captured, and the men threw down their arms and begged for quarter. Question. Was there any resistance on the part of our soldiers after the capture of the Fort? Answer. None in the world. They had no chance to make any resistance. Question. And they did not attempt to make any? Answer. I am an Acting Master, commanding the United States steamer New Era, gunboat Number Seven. Question. Where is your boat? Answer. My boat has been twenty-four hours' run from Fort Pillow. Since the attack here, that has been changed. At the time the Fort was attacked, I was to make my principal headquarters here. Question. Were you present with your gunboat at the time Fort Pillow was attacked and captured? Answer. I was. |