HIST 405-03, Collecting Memphis Histories, Spring 2013

Abstract

On April 12, 1864, Fort Pillow, a remote Union fort on the Mississippi River fell to Confederate troops. The Union loss might have been unremarkable, had it not been for disturbing rumors in the days that followed. Survivors claimed the Rebels massacred Union captives after they surrendered, and that African-American troops bore the worst of it. In response, Congress held an investigation, the records of which survive today. Fort Pillow was never fully resolved, perhaps because it raised larger questions about race relations, human rights in wartime, guerilla conflict within border states, and competing ideologies of manhood and nationalism in the American South. Controversies over Fort Pillow further reveal the contested nature of public memory. Using records from the U.S. War Department, the Congressional hearings, soldier letters from both sides, and site visits, we will research Fort Pillow and produce a documentary film exploring these issues.