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River Run Red: The Fort Pillow Massacre in the American Civil War
written by Andrew Ward
Studio : Penguin (Non-Classics)
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
Publisher : Penguin (Non-Classics)
Released : 2006-10-31
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780143037866
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 13 reviews)
List Price : $18.00
Our Price : $0.51
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Product Description |
The fullest account ever written on the Civil War tragedy that stunned a nation
On April 12, 1864, 3,000 Confederate cavalrymen under General Nathan Bedford Forrest stormed the much smaller garrison of Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, slaughtering hundreds of white Unionists and re-enslaving some sixty former slaves in uniform. Andrew Ward vividly recounts, as never before, the horrors of guerrilla warfare and the pent-up bigotry and rage that found release that bloody April day, producing a detailed and complex portrait of an event that continues to spark controversy. |
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Biased against Forrest but required reading nonetheless |
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I would not describe this work as a polemic. The author is sufficiently professional to have done his research and the raw data that he presents is worth the price of the book. Fans of Forrest can read between the lines of the author's bias. The information exculpating Forrest is presented, it's just that the author puts his own spin on it in some far-fetched ways that strain credulity. 500 black people showed up for Forrest's funeral. There is no proof whatsoever that they did so for any other reason than to show their respect. The author spins this into the remarkable explanation that they came to be certain he was dead! Forrest "fathered a black child." How do we know this allegation is true? Because no black person would lie about such a thing, since they would never volunteer for the ignominy of being known as a descendant of Forrest. There is plenty of laughable drivel like that in this book. The good news is that rare historical facts are also presented and winnowing the facts from the spin yields welcome new documentation and in some cases, ammunition on behalf of Forrest, a warrior of fantastic, archetypal prowess who ended his life a sincere Christian and spokesman for racial reconciliation. His conversion should be applauded rather than sneered at, but the vitriol of the victors has not dissipated with time. |
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Great book on a bad event. |
Few Civil War figures inspire as much debate and discussion as Nathan Bedford Forrest. The so-called "Wizard of the Saddle" has been anointed America's greatest natural military genius, and has been the subject of numerous books highlighting both his military achievements and his unsavory business dealings before and after the war.
The April 12, 1864, battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee, and the events that followed it, form the crux of the debate over Forrest's place in our national consciousness. Was Fort Pillow one of the most celebrated of Forrest's victories, or was it an out-and-out massacre of blacks and whites that highlighted the war's essential racial component?
In River Run Red, author and screenwriter Andrew Ward demonstrates conclusively the latter, in what should be the final word on this topic for some time to come.
The seasoned Civil War reader should not be put off by the author's lack of formal academic qualifications. Ward brings a newspaper correspondent's eye for detail and turn of phrase to this familiar story. He makes excellent use of archival and published primary sources; of particular note is his use of the pension questionnaires of many of the Fort Pillow survivors.
One of the unique and valuable features of this book is the author's ability to flesh out the lives and backgrounds of the battle's various participants, both black and white, giving the reader a clear and detailed understanding of the war in western Tennessee.
This was a "civil war" in the truest sense, with Tennesseans, many from communities within a day's ride of the fort, on both sides in the resulting battle. In addition to Confederate cavalrymen, there were white Union officers of black artillery units, all-white Union forces, escaped slaves, and white merchants at Fort Pillow. All of these groups bring unique perspectives to the battle, and Ward tells their stories.
From the Union perspective, Fort Pillow was a blunder of the first magnitude. The fort's garrison was poorly supported and supplied, and Ward places the blame squarely on the shoulders of the district commander, Maj. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut.
After a lengthy approach march during which he captured or defeated other Union forces, Forrest easily surrounded Fort Pillow in the predawn darkness of April 12, and continued the battle long after all resistance had ceased.
The most compelling and disturbing portion of the narrative documents in excruciating detail the depredations of Forrest's command. Any objective reader will be convinced beyond doubt that a deliberate atrocity took place.
After the battle, Forrest's command returned to Mississippi, taking with it a column of prisoners. Some 139 white soldiers made their way to Andersonville, where 107, or 77 percent, died in captivity. Many of those who died at Andersonville were residents of west Tennessee and veterans of the Mexican War, heightening the heartbreak of this story.
Forrest retained 62 black Union soldiers as prisoners, and for the most part they fared better: even though most of them were wounded, three-quarters escaped and returned to their regiments.
News of the massacre reverberated through the North, causing Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, by this time general in chief of Union armies, to relieve Hurlbut, no small feat given the general's Republican Party connections.
West Tennessee Unionists were understandably afraid for their lives, and the massacre caused a groundswell of popular opinion, further encouraged by the Northern press. Senator Benjamin F. Wade's Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War took up the case, holding hearings in Memphis almost as soon as the smoke cleared.
Wade's findings encouraged Radical Republicans to continue to pressure Abraham Lincoln to remove all restraints on the Union war effort. Events in Virginia obscured those at Fort Pillow, however, as Grant's Overland Campaign dominated newspaper coverage and government attention for the next several months.
The book's final chapter, "Deliver Me From Bloodguiltiness," details the rest of Forrest's life. The Wizard was famously active, and unsuccessful, in politics, and had a key role in the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. Enigmatic to the last, late in life he apparently found religion, and died a penitent man in October 1877.
River Run Red is a well-researched, engaging and thoughtful book on an oft-told story.
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Poorly written. |
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River Run Red; The Fort Pillow Massacre in the American civil war is a book which at first promises much.While the book does provide some insight into the darkest chapter of our nations darkest hours it often neglects facts even those presented in it own earlier chapters.Fort Pillow was a riverside fortress garrisoned by African American Soldiers and Confederate deserters. It was occupied against the order of the union high command and was in no way ready for what it was too face. It is well known that it main purpose was too rob and terrorize the local populace. Wars in an attempt to exonerate the forts inhabitant dismisses the literally dozens of reports pertaining to these facts to be "lies". A statement at odds with earlier accounts of the departments well know corruption. It is enough to make you wonder if this fellow read his own book. The Forts antagonists are the Confederate Calvary led by the controversial and vastly successful ( at war ) General Nathan Bedford Forrest.The most devoted and savage fighters in the Confederacy were described by there biggest enemy Union General Sherman as " The Finest cavalry in the world". They are farm boys mostly from 18 to 25. Incensed by attacks against the regions defenseless inhabitants they are in a lather by the time of the battle. The union commander is killed early in the attack and the defense degenerates form there. Ward second guessed the scaling of the forts walls stating had the artillery commander still been living he would have hurled grenades over the wall stopping the attackers. Firstly hundred of trained artillerymen were still alive at this moment if this were feasible it would have happened. Thus is just one of many conjecture ridden incidents in this book. Forrrests cavalry sadly murdered a large number of the forts defenders after they were beaten. However a quarter survived making fort pillow a massacre in name only. The book seems to be the work of a half read amateur bent on defaming Forrest rather than give all involved a fair and honest representation. Do not buy this book. |
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A Northern slant. |
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In depth analysis of the brutality following the battle. Not an easy book to read, especially so I would think if a person had a Southern background. |
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Help Me Mr. Wizard! |
River Run Red The Fort Pillow Massacre in the American Civil War by Andrew Ward, 2005.
531 pages cover to cover. 100 pages of notes. 8 pages of 31 photographs. 2 maps.
I have read and own nine biographies and histories of General N. B. Forrest and his cavalry and I'm pro-Southern. Although this work is described as an examination of the Fort Pillow affair by the author in my estimation it is not. River Run Red is an attempt to reduce General N. B. Forrest popularity and blatantly smear his historic reputation as an outstanding military commander. If one word could describe River Run Red it would be the author's repeated condescending use of the nickname 'Wizard' for General Forrest. I wish now I would have starting counting his term for the General but by the time I noticed he was using it at least once per page and sometimes three times per paragraph I deemed it was not worth the effort.
Another distraction was Mr. Ward's own smug opinions frequently interjected after favorable Confederate quotes necessary for the story. They were either by whole paragraph or found between brackets. I found no such distractions after any of the Union quotes.
References: Mr. Wards includes one hundred pages of valuable notes and references at the back of the book. I had to go to these many times when I questioned something in the main body of interest. I found either mistakes or outright omissions. One famous quote from a Confederate is only half published (the favorable part in reference to Gen. Forrest omitted) and is misrepresented as from "an unknown" when this is false. Another unfavorable quote, said to be from General Forrest and referenced by Ward in Hurst book 'Nathan Bedford Forrest', I did not remember. After an extensive search this quote cannot be found in Hurst's book either at the pages specified or anywhere near them.
Research: Mr. Ward included more material on this one subject than any single work I've read but on new information on the actual fighting at Fort Pillow I find he submits little. The most valued information for me is the great detail about the people surrounding the whole story of Fort Pillow. There is no new detail on exactly how many soldiers were involved, how many were captured, how many were killed in combat, and how many were killed while trying to surrender. There are no detailed diagrams or maps showing the fort layout, the geography and positions of the combatants necessary in understanding a military event. There are no muster rolls, list of the dead, or captured. Most importantly I found his feeble attempt of the chronological order of the events at Fort Pillow contradictory and hard to follow.
Bias: This work is simply biased. Mr. Ward's buildup to April 12, 1864 is very incomplete and misleading. This book is not for the uneducated novice. Mr. Ward does not give General Forrest any credit of his victories and actions before Fort Pillow. Any new reader of this history would wonder why the Union forces were so scared of Forrest's men in the first place. Mr. Ward states that Forrest was jealous of Duckworth's 7th Tennessee's capture of the Union garrison at Union City and was totally humiliated by his defeat at Paducah, Kentucky and suggest this led him to attack Fort Pillow and massacre its garrison. He fails to mention that the 7th Tennessee, one of Forrest favorite regiments, was under his command and performing his orders. Further he does not mention Forrest's raids into Western Tennessee and Kentucky were well over a hundred miles behind enemy lines and just getting to Paducah was considered a success. He states near the beginning of the book that military reports from General Forrest and his lieutenants were not to be trusted but includes Union reports frequently and without comment. At one point in the book Mr. Ward states that the Battle of Parker's Crossroads was a great and shattering defeat for Forrest losing all of his plunder and 500 of his own men there; these details obviously came from Union reports and those of Forrest are not even mentioned. Mr. Ward either does not know or does not appreciate the difficulty Forrest was in, being surrounded by a much larger force, behind enemy lines and was still able to escaped with 1500 prisoners and over thirty wagons of captured supplies.
The Story: For both pro-Union and pro-Confederate the book has a section or chapter for you but Mr. Ward contradicts himself many times. This incompatibility of statements forced me to have to go back and reread sections of the book. I also found his notes in the back of the book, in many cases, more interesting than the main body of Mr. Ward's work.
Dumbest statement from Mr. Ward: "The men who served in the Civil War called going into battle 'meeting the elephant.' No one knows exactly why. Perhaps, from a distance, the smoke roiling up from a battle resembled an elephant, but it seems to me just as likely that they could have been referring to the old saw about the blind men and the elephant, each feeling a small portion and none able to describe the beast as a whole."
Recommendations:
I recommend this book for the serious historians of General Forrest and Fort Pillow. I also recommend this book for Civil War reenactors for the vast amount uniform, horse equipment, and weapons details mentioned. This book has a wealth of quotes and facts. Warning: his references should be verified first, I found omissions and mistakes that question Mr. Ward's accuracy.
For the new readers on who General Forrest was read Jack Hurst book 'Nathan Bedford Forrest'.
For the military operations of General Forrest read 'The Devil Forrest' by John Allan Wyeth.
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