60 



AEMY OPEEATIONS. 



fort and troops, with all the public stores. If you 

 surrender you shall be treated as prisoners of war, 

 but if I have to storm your works you may expect no 

 quarter. N. B. FORREST, Maj.-Gen. Com'ing. 



Col. Hicks replied as follows : 



HEADQUARTERS POST PADTTCAH, ) 

 PADUCAH, KY., March 25, 1864. ( 



Maj.-Gen. N. J3. Forrest, commanding Confederate 



forces : 



I have this moment received yours of this instant, 

 In which you demand an unconditional surrender of 

 forces under my command. I can answer, that I 

 have been placed here by my Government to defend 

 the post. In this, as well as all other orders from 

 my superior officers, I feel it my duty as an honor- 

 able officer to obey, and must therefore respectfully 

 decline surrendering, as you require. Very respect- 

 fully, S. G. HICKS, Commanding Post. 



Two successive attacks upon the fort were 

 .cow made by the enemy and repulsed. They next 

 occupied the houses, and fired from behind them 

 and from the windows, but were steadily held 

 back. At half-past eleven P.M. they retired. 

 During the evening a steamboat on the marine 

 ways was burned, and also some houses. On 

 the next morning Gen. Forrest proposed an 

 exchange for some prisoners in Col. Hicks' 

 hands, but the latter had no power to make 

 the exchange. In the afternoon the enemy re- 

 tired. Gen. Forrest reported that he held the 

 town ten hours, and captured many stores and 

 horses, burned sixty bales of cotton, one steam- 

 boat, and took fifty prisoners. His loss at Union 

 City and Paducah he stated at twenty-five 

 killed and Avounded, and the prisoners captured 

 at five hundred. The loss of Col. Hicks was 

 fourteen killed and forty-six wounded. A large 

 portion of the town was destroyed, partly by 

 the guns fired from the fort upon the enemy, 

 and partly by the enemy. 



On the 12th of April an attack was made on 

 Fort Pillow by Gen. Forrest, with Gen. Chal- 

 mers' division of his forces, of which Gen. 

 Forrest led Bell's brigade, and Chalmers led 

 McCulloch's. Fort Pillow is situated about 

 seventy miles above Memphis, on the Missis- 

 sippi River. Its garrison at the time of the 

 assault consisted of nineteen officers and five 

 hundred and thirty-eight enlisted men, of whom 

 two hundred and sixty-two were colored troops, 

 comprising one battalion of the 6th United 

 States heavy artillery, formerly the 1st Ala- 

 bama artillery of colored troops, under the 

 command of Major L. F. Booth ; one section 

 of the 2d United States light artillery (color-^ 

 ed), and one battalion of the 13th Tennessee 

 cavalry (white), commanded by Major W. F. 

 Bradford. Major Booth was the ranking offi- 

 cer, and was in command of the fort. 



The troops which had served to garrison the 

 fort were withdrawn in January, to accompany 

 Gen. Sherman's expedition to Meridian, and 

 others had been sent from Memphis subse- 

 quently to hold it. 



Just before sunrise in the morning, April 

 12th, the pickets of the garrison were driven 

 in. This was the first intimation which the 

 force then had of an intention of the enemy to 



attack the place. Fighting soon became gen- 

 eral, and about nine o'clock Major Bradford 

 succeeded to the command and withdrew all 

 the forces within the fort. They had previ- 

 ously occupied some intrenchments at some 

 distance from the fort and further from the 

 river. 



This fort was situated on a high bluff, which 

 descended precipitately to the river's edge, the 

 ridge of the bluff on the river side being cover- 

 ed with trees, bushes, and fallen timber. Ex- 

 tending back from the river on either side of 

 the fort was a ravine or hollow, the one be- 

 low the fort containing several private store? 

 and some dwellings, constituting what is called 

 the town. At the mouth of that ravine and on 

 the river bank were some -Government build- 

 ings containing commissary stores. 



The ravine above the fort was known as Cold 

 Bunk Eavine, the ridge being covered with 

 trees and bushes ; to the right or below, and a 

 little to the front of the fort, was a level piece 

 of ground, not quite so elevated as the fort it- 

 self, on which had been erected some log huts 

 or shanties, which were occupied by the white 

 troops, and also used for hospital and other 

 purposes. Within the fort tents had been 

 erected, with board floors, for the use of the 

 colored troops. There were six pieces of artil- 

 lery in the fort, consisting of two 6-pounders ; 

 two 12-pounder howitzers, and two 10-pounder 

 Parrotts. 



The rebels continued their attack, but up to 

 two or three o'clock in the afternoon they had 

 not gained any decisive success. The Federal 

 troops, both white and black, fought bravely, 

 and were in good spirits. The gunboat No. 7 

 New Era, Capt. Marshall took part in the con- 

 flict, shelling the enemy as opportunity offered. 



Signals had been agreed upon by which the 

 officers in the fort could indicate where the 

 guns of the boat could be aimed most effectively. 

 There being but one gunboat no permanent im- 

 pression appears to have been produced upon 

 the enemy, for as they were shelled out of one 

 ravine they would make their appearance in 

 the other. They would thus appear and retire 

 as the gunboat moved from one point to another. 



About one o'clock the fire on both sides 

 slackened somewhat, and the gunboat moved 

 out in the river to cool and clean the guns, hav- 

 ing fired 282 rounds of shell, sharpnel, and can- 

 ister, which nearly exhausted the supply of 

 ammunition. The rebels having thus far failed 

 in their attack, resorted to their customary flags 

 of truce. The first flag conveyed a demand 

 from Gen. Forrest for the unconditional sur- 

 render of the fort. To this Major Bradford 

 replied, asking to be allowed an hour to consult 

 with his officers and the officers of the gunboat. 



In a short time a second flag of truce ap- 

 peared with a communication from Gen. Forrest. 

 He would allow Major Bradford twenty minutes 

 in which to move his troops out of the fort, and 

 if it was not done in that time, an assault would 

 be ordered. To this Major Bradford replied 



