The Fort Pillow Massacre: The American Civil War in Public Memory

Why did Fort Pillow become the most published racial massacre of the Civil War, and what did it mean for Americans during and after the war? In this paper I examine the development of the memory of the Fort Pillow Massacre as well as its most famous figure, General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Fort Pillow Massacre was the most publicized racial massacre of the Civil War, during which Confederate soldiers attacked and massacred a Union garrison consisting of Black soldiers and White Tennessee Unionists. The massacre was carried out under the command of Confederate general Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, a figure whose legacy and memorialization remains a subject of controversy. I have researched both the wartime and post-war memory of Fort Pillow and Forrest, and I discuss how Fort Pillow and its widespread coverage intensified wartime violence, especially where African American soldiers were involved. I also discuss how Public memory of General Forrest developed alongside Fort Pillow and was shaped to fit the needs of white southerners in the late 19th and early 20th century. This paper provides insight into the process of Post-Civil War period memorialization and provides a sort of case study for the broad topic of Civil War memorialization from 1864 to 1905. Special attention is given to the development of Forrest’s myth in Memphis, which culminated in the construction of a statue in the General’s likeness in 1905.