Juneteenth: 5 Civil War battles that black Union soldiers played a key role

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Fort Pillow – April 12, 1864

An 1894 depiction of the 1864 Fort Pillow massacre, a controversial incident during the American Civil War in which Confederates under Major Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest massacred African American Union soldiers who were trying to surrender. | Public Domain

In one of the more controversial incidents of the Civil War, Confederate troops under Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked an outpost in Tennessee named Fort Pillow.

Defended by a force of about 600 Union soldiers, around half of whom were black, Forrest attacked the stronghold with as many as 2,500 soldiers and eventually overran the position.

From there, Confederates proceeded to massacre the defeated Union soldiers, with many African Americans attempting to surrender, only to be cut down by their victorious enemies.

“Union survivors’ accounts, later supported by a federal investigation, concluded that African American troops were massacred by Forrest’s men after surrendering. Southern accounts disputed these findings,” noted History.com.

“Forrest, himself, claimed that he and his troops had done nothing wrong and that the Union men were killed because Bradford had refused to surrender. Controversy over the battle continues today.”

The blatant mistreatment of surrendering black soldiers garnered widespread outrage in the North, and led the Union to halt its participation in prisoner exchanges with the South.