Battle of Fort Pillow

It is an engagement in which Confederate soldiers allegedly murdered defenseless African American troops.

On March 16, 1864, Confederate major general Nathan Bedford Forrest began a raid by some 7 cavalry into Kentucky that reached as far as Paducah in March 25.

From nearby Jackson, Tennessee, the Confederate cavalry General Nathan Forrest detached a division under Gen, James Chalmers, with some 1500 -2000 men, to attack the Fort Pillow, defended by 262 Negro and 295 white soldiers. Fort Pillow was built on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River about 4 miles north of Memphis in 1861.

 Chalmers began an investment of Fort Pillow at dawn on April 12. The Confederates quickly drove the Union pickets in and then occupied hills that allowed sharpshooters to begin engaging the fort’s defenders.

Fort Pillow’s defenders fought bravely but were overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers. The Federal commander, Maj. Lionel Booth was killed by a sniper and replaced by Maj, William Bradford. Many were shot down as they attempted to flee to the river; others were shot in the river or drowned.

In Mid -afternoon Bradford refused a surrender ultimatum from Forrest, who had arrived to take personal charge of the attack. The Confederate then assaulted the fort and captured it with a loss of only 14 killed and 86 wounded. The garrison, however, suffered 231 killed, 100 serious wounded and 226 captured (including 58 Negroes).
Battle of Fort Pillow

Battle of Corinth (October 3 - 4, 1862)

The Battle of Corinth was part of a large scale Confederate counteroffensive in the early autumn of 1862 that included simultaneously invasion of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and western Tennessee.

In the Battle of Corinth, the Confederates hope to size the railroad junction and then undertake an invasion of Tennessee.

On October 3, 1862, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn and Maj. Gen. Sterling Price hurled their combined force of 22,000 men against 21,000 Union troops under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans manning works at Corinth.

The Confederate force marched northward and entered Tennessee. Then the cavalry began to destroy the railroads leading to Corinth, thus preventing the rapid reinforcement of the Union troops there.

The coordinates attack by Confederates turned the Union defenders out of extensive earthworks north of Corinth, then drove the Union troops back some two miles into the city’s inner defenses by late afternoon on October 3.

At 6 pm, Van Dorn calls a halt to the day’s fighting, stating that his men were exhausted. Van Dorn is certain victory can be won the following day.
 
Van Dorn renewed the battle in earnest the next morning, but after initial gains his troops succumbed to exhaustion, thirst and a well times Union counterattack that decisively frustrated the Confederate effort.

Van Dorn is forced to abandon the field. By early afternoon, Union troops were cutting up the Southerners all along the line, and the Confederates withdrew southward to Ripley. Rosecrans however failed to pursue.

In two days bloody battle of Corinth, Union forces suffered some of 2,500 casualties, while the Confederates lost 2460 killed or wounded and another 1763 missing or deserted in the withdrawal to Ripley.

Van Dorn was forced to undergo a court of inquiry, including a charge of being drunk during the battle, but he was ultimately exonerated.

Rosecrans is lauded in the Northern press, and on October 23 U.S President Abraham Lincoln rewards him with command of XIV Corps.
Battle of Corinth (October 3–4, 1862)