Fort Pillow (Lauderdale County, Tennessee)
Lauderdale County · Tennessee · American Civil War
History & Significance
Fort Pillow occupies a Mississippi River bluff in Lauderdale County, built in late spring 1861 by Confederate troops from Arkansas to control a bend in the river. General Gideon Pillow ordered construction of a thirty-acre enclosure with numerous batteries below, in, and atop the bluff, and the fort took his name.
Union naval advancement along the Mississippi River forced Confederate abandonment by June 1862. Union forces used the vacant fort as a supply depot; though General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered its abandonment in January 1864, Union Major General Stephen Hurlbut reoccupied it in February.
The garrison consisted of the 13th US Cavalry, the 6th US Colored Heavy Artillery, and Battery D of the 2nd US Colored Light Artillery. On April 12, 1864, Confederate forces under Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a determined assault at 11:00 a.m., and when Union Major Bradford refused surrender, the Confederates overran the fort and drove defenders down the bluff into deadly crossfire.
Of approximately 300 United States Colored Troops stationed at the fort, only 58 are believed to have been captured alive. A congressional report labeled the outcome a massacre, and the memory of the incident inspired Union Colored Troops to adopt "Remember Fort Pillow" as a rallying cry for the remainder of the war. In 1971 the state acquired the site to develop what is now the Fort Pillow State Historic Area.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Civil War earthworks and fortifications overlooking the Mississippi River
- Commemorative markers and exhibits documenting the April 1864 battle
- 1,642-acre park with walking trails and period military structures
- Historic site associated with Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Union garrison
- Bluffs provide views of the strategic river location
Sources
- https://tnstateparks.com/parks/history/fort-pillow
- https://tnstateparks.com/parks/fort-pillow/highlights
- https://tnstateparks.com/parks/fort-pillow
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/hard-reality-of-fort-pillow.htm
- https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=TN030
- https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/fort-pillow/
- https://www.britannica.com/event/Fort-Pillow-Massacre