leftyhunter
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- May 27, 2011
- Location
- los angeles ca
I am surprised you didn't mention p.176 as well.Hurst doesn't make that argument.
"Can the same Forrest have 'ordered them shot down like dogs' and have 'run between our men and the Yanks with his pistol and sabre drawn,' perhaps even shooting one of his own men? Possibly. His temper may have undergone one of its characteristic waxings and wanings. Angered by the taunts of the black soldiers and especially by the Union refusal to surrender, necessitating the paying of more precious Confederate lives for this victory he had to have, he may have ragingly ordered a massacre and even intended to carry it out--until he rode inside the fort and viewed the horrifying result. Then, begged for his protection, he was probably both vain enough to be flattered and sensitive enough to respond. Even if Clark's assertion stemmed from a false assumption and Forrest ordered no massacre, he probably didn't have to; there was enough rancor between his men and the armed former slaves, as well as the Tennessee Unionists, that about all he had to do to produce a massacre was to issue no order against one. This seems particularly true in view of the terms of his habitual demand that the enemy surrender or die." [Jack Hurst, Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography, p. 177]
Confederate Sergeant Clark said " he ordered them shot down like dog's" vs a quote from Confederate Samuel Caldwell who wrote to his wife of Forrest running in between his men with sabre and pistol drawn to protect Union soldiers from being massacred. You forgot to quote " Federal Captain Young of the 24th Missouri Cavalry that Forrest shot one of his own men to stop the massacre .
Even a black Union soldier stated that Forrest told his men to stop fighting.
I would urge others interested in Forrest and the question of Forrest's responsibility of the Ft.Pillow massacre to read Hurst's account in its entirety.
Leftyhunter