* * * * *
Nathan Hunter, (colored,) private, company D, 6th United States heavy
artillery, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. Were you in Fort Pillow when it was captured?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What did you see done there?
Answer. They went down the hill, and shot all of us they saw; they shot
me for dead, and I lay there until the next morning when the gunboat
came along. They thought I was dead and pulled my boots off. That is all
I know.
Question. Were you shot when they first took the fort?
Answer. I was not shot until we were done fighting.
Question. Had you any arms in your hands when you were shot?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How long did you lie where you were shot?
Answer. I lay there from three o'clock until after night, and then I
went up in the guard-house and staid there until the next morning when
the gunboat came along.
Question. Did you see any others shot?
Answer. Yes, sir; they shot down a whole parcel along with me. Their
bodies were lying there along the river bank the next morning. They
kicked some of them into the river after they were shot dead.
Question. Did you see that?
Answer. Yes, sir; I thought they were going to throw me in too; I
slipped away in the night.
By the chairman:
Question. Did you see any man burned?
Answer. No, sir; I was down under the hill next the river.
Question. They thought you were dead when they pulled your boots off?
Answer. Yes, sir; they pulled my boots off, and rolled me over, and said
they had killed me.
* * * * *
Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, (colored,) company D, 6th United States
heavy artillery, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. Were you at Fort Pillow in the fight there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What did you see there?
Answer. I saw them shoot two white men right by the side of me after
they had laid their guns down. They shot a black man clear over into the
river. Then they hallooed to me to come up the hill, and I came up. They
said, "Give me your money, you damned nigger." I told them I did not
have any. "Give me your money, or I will blow your brains out." Then
they told me to lie down, and I laid down, and they stripped everything
off me.
Question. This was the day of the fight?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Go on. Did they shoot you?
Answer. Yes, sir. After they stripped me and took my money away from me
they dragged me up the hill a little piece, and laid me down flat on my
stomach; I laid there till night, and they took me down to an old house,
and said they would kill me the next morning. I got up and commenced
crawling down the hill; I could not walk.
Question. When were you shot?
Answer. About 3 o'clock.
Question. Before they stripped you?