Question. Did you see anybody else shot?
Answer. Yes, sir; they just called them out like dogs, and shot them
down. I reckon they shot about fifty, white and black, right there. They
nailed some black sergeants to the logs, and set the logs on fire.
Question. When did you see that?
Answer. When I went there in the morning I saw them; they were burning
all together.
Question. Did they kill them before they burned them?
Answer. No, sir, they nailed them to the logs; drove the nails right
through their hands.
Question. How many did you see in that condition?
Answer. Some four or five; I saw two white men burned.
Question. Was there any one else there who saw that?
Answer. I reckon there was; I could not tell who.
Question. When was it that you saw them?
Answer. I saw them in the morning after the fight; some of them were
burned almost in two. I could tell they were white men, because they
were whiter than the colored men.
Question. Did you notice how they were nailed?
Answer. I saw one nailed to the side of a house; he looked like he was
nailed right through his wrist. I was trying then to get to the boat
when I saw it.
Question. Did you see them kill any white men?
Answer. They killed some eight or nine there. I reckon they killed more
than twenty after it was all over; called them out from under the hill,
and shot them down. They would call out a white man and shoot him down,
and call out a colored man and shoot him down; do it just as fast as
they could make their guns go off.
Question. Did you see any rebel officers about there when this was going
on?
Answer. Yes, sir; old Forrest was one.
Question. Did you know Forrest?
Answer. Yes, sir; he was a little bit of a man. I had seen him before at
Jackson.
Question. Are you sure he was there when this was going on?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you see any other officers that you knew?
Answer. I did not know any other but him. There were some two or three
more officers came up there.
Question. Did you see any buried there?
Answer. Yes, sir; they buried right smart of them. They buried a great
many secesh, and a great many of our folks. I think they buried more
secesh than our folks.
Question. How did they bury them?
Answer. They buried the secesh over back of the fort, all except those
on Fort hill; them they buried up on top of the hill where the gunboats
shelled them.
Question. Did they bury any alive?
Answer. I heard the gunboat men say they dug two out who were alive.
Question. You did not see them?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What company did you fight with?
Answer. I went right into the fort and fought there.
Question. Were you a slave or a free man?
Answer. I was a slave.
Question. Where were you raised?
Answer. In old Virginia.
Question. Who was your master?
Answer. Colonel Hardgrove.
Question. Where did you live?
Answer. I lived three miles the other side of Brown's mills.
Question. How long since you lived with him?
Answer. I went home once and staid with him a while, but he got to
cutting up and I came away again.
Question. What did you do before you went into the fight?
Answer. I was cooking for Co. K, of Illinois cavalry; I cooked for that
company nearly two years.
Question. What white officers did you know in our army?
Answer. I knew Captain Meltop and Colonel Ransom; and I cooked at the
hotel at Fort Pillow, and Mr. Nelson kept it. I and Johnny were cooking
together. After they shot me through the hand and head, they beat up all
this part of my head (the side of his head) with the breech of their
guns.
* * * * *
Ransom Anderson, (colored,) Co. B, 6th United States heavy artillery,
sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. Where were you raised?
Answer. In Mississippi.
Question. Were you a slave?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Where did you enlist?
Answer. At Corinth.
Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Describe what you saw done there.
Answer. Most all the men that were killed on our side were killed after
the fight was over. They called them out and shot them down. Then they
put some in the houses and shut them up, and then burned the houses.
Question. Did you see them burn?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were any of them alive?
Answer. Yes, sir; they were wounded, and could not walk. They put them
in the houses, and then burned the houses down.
Question. Do you know they were in there?
Answer. Yes, sir; I went and looked in there.
Question. Do you know they were in there when the house was burned?
Answer. Yes, sir; I heard them hallooing there when the houses were
burning.
Question. Are you sure they were wounded men, and not dead, when they
were put in there?
Answer. Yes, sir; they told them they were going to have the doctor see
them, and then put them in there and shut them up, and burned them.
Question. Who set the house on fire?
Answer. I saw a rebel soldier take some grass and lay it by the door,
and set it on fire. The door was pine plank, and it caught easy.
Question. Was the door fastened up?
Answer. Yes, sir; it was barred with one of those wide bolts.
* * * * *
Sergeant W. P. Walker, (white,) sworn and examined:
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. In what capacity did you serve in the army?
Answer. I was a sergeant in the 13th Tennessee cavalry, company D.
Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Will you state what took place there?
Answer. In the morning the pickets ran in. We were sent out a piece as
skirmishers. They kept us out about a couple of hours, and then we
retreated into the fort. The firing kept up pretty regular until about
two o'clock, when a flag of truce came in. While the flag of truce was
in, the enemy was moving up and taking their positions; they were also
pilfering and searching our quarters.
Question. They finally took the fort?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What happened then?
Answer. They just shot us down without showing us any quarter at all.
They shot me, for one, after I surrendered; they shot me in the arm, and
the shoulder, and the neck, and in the eye.
Question. How many times did they shoot you?
Answer. They shot me in the arm and eye after I surrendered; I do not
know when they shot me in the other places.
Question. Who shot you?
Answer. A private shot me with a pistol; there were a great many of us
shot.
Question. What reason did he give for shooting you after you had
surrendered?
Answer. A man came down the hill and said that General--some one; I
could not understand the name--said that they should shoot every one of
us, and take no prisoners, and then they shot us down.
Question. How did you escape?
Answer. They thought they had killed me. They searched my pockets half a
dozen times, or more, and took my pocket-book from me.
Question. Did you see anybody else shot after they had surrendered?
Answer. Yes, sir; I saw several shot right around me.
Question. Did they shoot all, colored and white?
Answer. They shot all where I was. When they turned in and went to
shooting the white men, they scattered and ran, and then they shot them
down.
Question. Did you see them do anything besides shooting them?
Answer. I saw some knock them over the heads with muskets, and some
stick sabres into them.
Question. Did you see anything of any burning or burying alive?
Answer. No, sir; I did not see that.
Question. Were any of the rebel officers about while this was going on?
Answer. Not where I was; I was down under the hill then. The niggers
first ran out of the fort, and then, when they commenced shooting us, we
ran down under the hill, and they followed us up and shot us. They came
back the next day and shot several wounded negroes.
Question. Did you see that?
Answer. I was lying in a house, but I heard the negroes begging, and
heard the guns fired; but I did not see it.
* * * * *
Jason Loudon, sworn and examined.
By the chairman:
Question. To what company and regiment did you belong?
Answer. To company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were you wounded there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. When?
Answer. In the evening, after I surrendered.
Question. Where were you?
Answer. At the fort.
Question. State what happened when you were wounded.
Answer. Nothing; only they were going around shooting the men down. They
shot a sergeant by the side of me twice after he had surrendered.
Question. Who shot him?
Answer. A secesh private.
Question. How near was that to you?
Answer. About ten steps off.
Question. Did he say anything to him?
Answer. He commenced cursing, and said they were going to kill every one
of us.
Question. How many did you see shot after they had surrendered?
Answer. I saw five or six shot.
* * * * *
James Walls, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. To what company did you belong?
Answer. Company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
Question. Under what officers did you serve?
Answer. I was under Major Bradford and Captain Potter.
Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. State what you saw there of the fight, and what was done after
the place was captured.
Answer. We fought them for some six or eight hours in the fort, and when
they charged our men scattered and ran under the hill; some turned back
and surrendered, and were shot. After the flag of truce came in I went
down to get some water. As I was coming back I turned sick, and laid
down behind a log. The secesh charged, and after they came over I saw
one go a good ways ahead of the others. One of our men made to him and
threw down his arms. The bullets were flying so thick there I thought I
could not live there, so I threw down my arms and surrendered. He did
not shoot me then, but as I turned around he or some other one shot me
in the back.
Question. Did they say anything while they were shooting?
Answer. All I heard was, "Shoot him, shoot him!" "Yonder goes one!"
"Kill him, kill him!" That is about all I heard.
Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they surrendered?
Answer. I did not see but two or three shot around me. One of the boys
of our company, named Taylor, ran up there, and I saw him shot and fall.
Then another was shot just before me, like--shot down after he threw
down his arms.
Question. Those were white men?
Answer. Yes, sir. I saw them make lots of niggers stand up, and then
they shot them down like hogs. The next morning I was lying around there
waiting for the boat to come up. The secesh would be prying around
there, and would come to a nigger and say, "You ain't dead, are you?"
They would not say anything, and then the secesh would get down off
their horses, prick them in their sides, and say, "Damn you, you ain't
dead; get up." Then they would make them get up on their knees, when
they would shoot them down like hogs.
Question. Do you know of their burning any buildings?
Answer. I could hear them tell them to stick torches all around, and
they fired all the buildings.
Question. Do you know whether any of our men were in the buildings when
they were burned?
Answer. Some of our men said some were burned; I did not see it, or know
it to be so myself.
Question. How did they bury them--white and black together?
Answer. I don't know about the burying; I did not see any buried.
Question. How many negroes do you suppose were killed after the
surrender?
Answer. There were hardly any killed before the surrender. I reckon as
many as 200 were killed after the surrender, out of about 300 that were
there.
Question. Did you see any rebel officers about while this shooting was
going on?
Answer. I do not know as I saw any officers about when they were
shooting the negroes. A captain came to me a few minutes after I was
shot; he was close by me when I was shot.
Question. Did he try to stop the shooting?
Answer. I did not hear a word of their trying to stop it. After they
were shot down, he told them not to shoot them any more. I begged him
not to let them shoot me again, and he said they would not. One man,
after he was shot down, was shot again. After I was shot down, the man I
surrendered to went around the tree I was against and shot a man, and
then came around to me again and wanted my pocket-book. I handed it up
to him, and he saw my watch-chain and made a grasp at it, and got the
watch and about half the chain. He took an old Barlow knife I had in my
pocket. It was not worth five cents; was of no account at all, only to
cut tobacco with.
* * * * *
William L. McMichael, sworn and examined.
By the chairman:
Question. To what company and regiment did you belong?
Answer. To Company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
Question. Were you in the fight at Fort Pillow?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were you shot after you had surrendered?
Answer. Yes, sir. They shot the most after they had surrendered. They
sent in a flag of truce for a surrender, and the major would not
surrender. They made a charge and took the fort, and then we threw down
our arms; but they just shot us down.
Question. Were you shot after you surrendered, or before?
Answer. Afterwards.
Question. How many times were you shot?
Answer. I was shot four times.
Question. Did you see any others shot?
Answer. I saw some shot; some negroes.
* * * * *
Isaac J. Leadbetter, sworn and examined.
By Mr. Gooch:
Question. To what company and regiment do you belong?
Answer. To company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry.
Question. How long have you been in the army?
Answer. Only about two mouths.
Question. Were you at Fort Pillow at the time of the fight there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Will you state what took place after the fort was taken?
Answer. They shot me after I surrendered. I saw them shoot down lots
after they surrendered. They would hold up their hands and cry to them
not to shoot, but they shot them just the same.
Question. How many do you suppose you saw shot after they had
surrendered?
Answer. More than twenty, I reckon.
Question. Did you hear of the rebels doing anything else to them beyond
shooting them?
Answer. I heard of their burning some, but I did not see it.
Question. How many times were you shot?
Answer. I was shot twice, and a ball slightly grazed my head.
Question. Were you shot after you had surrendered?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you see the man who shot you?
Answer. I saw the man who shot me the last time in the side with a
revolver.
Question. Did he say anything to you?
Answer. He did not say anything until he shot me. He then came down to
where I was, and finding I was not dead, he cursed me, and said he would
shoot me again. He was fixing to shoot me again, when one of the boys
standing by told him not to shoot me again.
Question. Did they rob you after they had shot you?
Answer. Yes, sir; they took everything I had, even to my pocket-knife.
Question. You say you heard about the burning?
Answer. Yes, sir, I heard about it; but I did not see it.
Question. Did you see any of the rebel officers about while this
shooting was going on?
Answer. None there that I knew. I did not see them until they carried me
up on the bluff.
Question. Did they shoot any after they fell wounded?
Answer. I saw them shoot one man in the head after he fell.
* * * * *