Confederate Dead / Wounded at Ft. Pillow

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Short of a field trip to Ft. Pillow and the surrounding communities, a limited search on the internet for information on burials and graves of Confederate soldiers killed during the battle revealed nothing. As with other battles during the war, we could say with certainty the dead soldiers were buried near the fort. The wounded survivors who could travel and died along the way, were most likely interred off the roadside. In both cases, quite likely each grave had a temporary marker of some sort.

There is evidence of wounded soldiers being taken to nearby homes and hospitas:
--Wilson, J.C. (Cardwell), Captain of the 2nd Tennessee. "...He was shot through the lungs at Ft. Pillow while charging at the head of his company. He was carried by his men, on stretchers, eighteen miles to Dr. Brodie's, where he died after lingering several days. Two of his men, "Hard" Wilson and Smith Randle were detaled to wait with him." (1) Dr. Brodie was Dr. Brodie Stachan Herndon. (2)
--Sullivan, W. R., Captain of the Willis Battalion, Co. E. National Archives states he was wounded at Ft. Pillow and left in Brownsville, Tennessee. He died there on May 20th, 1864. (1)
--Davis, Marceullis, B., Private of the Willis Battalion, Co. B. National Archives states he was severely wounded at the fight at Ft. Pillow and was left in Brownsville, Tennessee. (1)
--Pyland, R., Co. C. "Wounded at Ft. Pillow April 12th, 1864 and left in west Tennessee. (4)

There are many to look for a soldier's disposition after the battle. Investigative reports are one such source.
In Mound City, Illinois, soldiers were interviewed at bedside by assigned agents for a Congressional investigation into the Ft. Pillow Battle. These soldier's names are in this report. (3)

Locating the final resting place of a soldier often begins and ends with his name. Here is a perfect example:
--Barron, W.R., name that was given at enlistment. Cimprich and Mainfort (5) identify this individual as Reubin Burrow, but the service record microfilm suggests these are two different individuals. The casualty list in the O.R lists him as R.W. Barron, Private, Co. B. (6)

Cemeteries often commemorate the fallen Confederate soldier, enmasse or by name. A stone plaque in Brownsville, Tennessee could offer some insight to the burial of Confederate soldiers who very well could have participated in the Ft. Pillow battle:
"Dedicated to Unknown Confederate Soldiers Who Died in "Make Do" hospitals"
--"Confederate Dead --in the area lie an unknown number of Confederate soldiers. It is thought they died in "Make Do" hospitals from 1862 - 1865. They are known only to God. Let no man forget history. Let no many say that the soldiers of the South are forgotten by all on this day." This stone placed here by Camp No. 1341 Sons of the Confederate Veterans. Haywood County Historical Society 2001

Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville gave graves to those with none. A large sign reads:
"After the War Between the States, the women of Nashville bought land at Mount Olivet and formed the Confederate Circle. The remains of about 1,500 Confederate soldiers were moved here from area battlefields. Seven Confederate Generals - William B. Bate, William N.R. Bealle, Benjamin Franklin Cheatham, William H. Jackson, George E. Maney, James E. Rains, Thomas Benton Smith. Other prominant Nashville Confederates - Colonel Adophus Heiman, Randall McGavock."

I would hazard to guess today most of the soldier's graves around Ft. Pillow or by the roadside became and have remained unmarked for many, many years. The lucky few have been reinterred in cemeteries, and even less have had their names restored.

It is through sites like Civil War Talk that reminds us all of the price paid in hsitory for the future we live in today.

--BBF

Resources
1) Custermen.com
--Confederates Killed At Battle fo Ft. Pillow April 12, 1864 (obtained from a Park Ranger at
Ft. Pillow.
2) Findagrave.com
3) Coax.net
4) Compiled Service Records
5) Wikipedia
--John Cimpich --Professor and Chairperson of the History Department at Thomas
More College.
--Robert C. Mainfort Jr.--Professor of Anthropology at the Univeristy of Arkansas
6) 20th Tennessee Cavalry CSA / Biographical Information
7) City-Data.com

[M E Wolf]

Dear Bonny Blue Flag;

Thank you for your post.

I am sure since then, roads have been widen, paved and gosh knows what. Makes it hard on those loved ones who followed in life.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf

[nlcole]

Thank you M E Wolf for contacting me about this thread.

Two cousins and I have looked for many years, combined (at least 65), for our great-great-grandfather, Richard Cole, who was killed at Fort Pillow serving the 5th Mississippi. We know where every ancestor is buried from the time they stepped foot on American soil in the early 1600's until now, except for him. We now believe that he is buried somewhere between Fort Pillow and Brownsville. We have difficulty believing that he is buried at the Fort. General consensus of everyone we have spoken with is that they buried the dead away from the battlefield. We have traced the steps of the surviving troops, knowing where they stopped for the night and then where they went the next day. But we probably will never find his burial site.

The Doctor Brodie that is mentioned above is not the right one. On the 1860 census, there were two Dr. Brodie's in Fulton, Tennessee. On the 1870 census, there was one Dr. Brodie, in Ripley, Tennessee. The 1870 census for Ripley covers many of the small surrounding towns.

One of my cousins is the owner of the Custermen website. A lot of the research we have shared has gone into that site.

If anyone ever reads anything that mentions the burial site of the Fort Pillow Confederates, please let one of us know.

Thank you so much for starting this thread.....maybe someone will read it and shed some light on our darkness.

Nancy

[John Gross]

Nearly 50% of Union soldiers reside in an unknown grave. The percentage of Confederate dead is likely at least as high if not much higher.

John Gross

Originally Posted by nlcole

Thank you M E Wolf for contacting me about this thread.

Two cousins and I have looked for many years, combined (at least 65), for our great-great-grandfather, Richard Cole, who was killed at Fort Pillow serving the 5th Mississippi. We know where every ancestor is buried from the time they stepped foot on American soil in the early 1600's until now, except for him. We now believe that he is buried somewhere between Fort Pillow and Brownsville. We have difficulty believing that he is buried at the Fort. General consensus of everyone we have spoken with is that they buried the dead away from the battlefield. We have traced the steps of the surviving troops, knowing where they stopped for the night and then where they went the next day. But we probably will never find his burial site.

One of my cousins is the owner of the Custermen website. A lot of the research we have shared has gone into that site.

If anyone ever reads anything that mentions the burial site of the Fort Pillow Confederates, please let one of us know.

Thank you so much for starting this thread.....maybe someone will read it and shed some light on our darkness.

Nancy

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Thank you all for the corrected and new information on this subject.

--BBF

[Bonny Blue Flag]

nlcole:

When a company or individuals locate a historic cemetery, they are to contact:

Tennessee.gov/environment/arch/pdf/historiccemeteries.pdf

You could also contact the Tennessee State Library and Archives at: Reference.TSLA@state.tn.us

This may provide a lead in finding your brave ancestor, Richard Cole.

Hope this helps.

--BBF

[M E Wolf]

Dear Bonny Blue Flag;

Thank you for your continued hard work.

Respectfully submitted,
M. E. Wolf

[nlcole]

Bonny Blue Flag and M E Wolf,

Thank you one more time for contacting me and giving me another place to look. I and the two cousins sometimes think we have exhausted all the resources and then kind people like you open another door for us.

More information about Dr. Brodie. His name is Lucian L. Brodie. On the 1860 census he lived in Fulton, Tenn. J. Cardwell Wilson was wounded at Fort Pillow and taken to Dr. Brodie's. On the 1860 census, Dr. Brodie lived right next door to "Mr. Lea who sold to the army 40,000 sq-ft patch fifty yards southwest of the parapet to serve as a cemetery for the garrison's fallen and contracted to build a picket fence around it." (Andrew Ward, "River Run Red"). Mr. Lea sold this land in 1865 for the second burial of the Union soldiers.

Just some additional info for anyone else that might be looking.

I would also like to reccommend reading "14 Letters from a Friend" by Laurier B. McDonald. The subject of the book, Clinton DeWitt "Clubfoot" Fort, wrote letters in 1866 while in prison. Captain Fort was at the battle of Fort Pillow and gives his account of what happened there. It has not been published except on Google books and has been published there in it's entirety. (I just wish he would have told where the Confederates were buried.)

Thank you all again,
Nancy

[whitworth]

Most soldiers was buried near where they died. It could have been on a large battlefield, a small skirmish, in a farmhouse burial plot, a large unmarked gravesite, or a small site along side a road.
Many who died were buried near a hospital or a camp.

Many grave sites are known; many unknown to this day. Recently I saw a documentary on a preserved battlefield park. It took modern equipment to locate, where some unmarked graves were really located. They were in a growth of pines.

I read of one confederate officer who died on the retreat to Virginia, following Gettysburg. Years later his servant took the widow to the farm, where the officer was buried, and they reburied his remains in his home state.