It was at this same fort, two years later, that the Rebel General Forrest ordered the massacre of a garrison that had surrendered after a prolonged defense.  His only plea for this cold-blooded slaughter, was that some of his men had been fired upon after the white flag was raised.  The testimony in proof of this barbarity was fully conclusive, and gave General Forrest and his men a reputation that no honorable soldier could desire.

In walking through the fort after its capture, I was struck by its strength and extent.  It occupied the base of a bluff near the water’s edge.  On the summit of the bluff there were breast-works running in a zigzag course for five or six miles, and inclosing a large area.  The works along the river were very strong, and could easily hold a powerful fleet at bay.

From Fort Pillow to Randolph, ten miles lower down, was less than an hour’s steaming.  Randolph was a small, worthless village, partly at the base of a bluff, and partly on its summit.  Here the Rebels had erected a powerful fort, which they abandoned when they abandoned Fort Pillow.  The inhabitants expressed much agreeable astonishment on finding that we did not verify all the statements of the Rebels, concerning the barbarity of the Yankees wherever they set foot on Southern soil.  The town was most bitterly disloyal.  It was afterward burned, in punishment for decoying a steamboat to the landing, and then attempting her capture and destruction.  A series of blackened chimneys now marks the site of Randolph.

Our capture of these points occurred a short time after the Rebels issued the famous “cotton-burning order,” commanding all planters to burn their cotton, rather than allow it to fall into our hands.  The people showed no particular desire to comply with the order, except in a few instances.  Detachments of Rebel cavalry were sent to enforce obedience.  They enforced it by setting fire to the cotton in presence of its owners.  On both banks of the river, as we moved from Randolph to Memphis, we could see the smoke arising from plantations, or from secluded spots in the forest where cotton had been concealed.  In many cases the bales were broken open and rolled into the river, dotting the stream with floating cotton.  Had it then possessed the value that attached to it two years later, I fear there would have been many attempts to save it for transfer to a Northern market.

On the day before the evacuation of Fort Pillow, Memphis determined she would never surrender.  In conjunction with other cities, she fitted up several gun-boats, that were expected to annihilate the Yankee fleet.  In the event of the failure of this means of defense, the inhabitants were pledged to do many dreadful things before submitting to the invaders.  Had we placed any confidence in the resolutions passed by the Memphians, we should have expected all the denizens of the Bluff City to commit hari-kari, after first setting fire to their dwellings.