A quote from (Battle From The Start, Brian Steel Wills, Harper Collins, 1992)
"Through painstaking research, two scholars, John Cimprich and Robert C. Mainfort, Jr., have studied the 'Fort Pillow massacre' in great detail. These men found that the garrison of 585 to 605 men suffered deaths or mortal wounds of between 277 and 297, or 47 to 49 percent. They further determined that the black units lost considerably more men, in deaths, than did the white troops--64 percent to 31-34 percent, and concluded that a massacre occurred at Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864." p.(196)
But, here again, there was no surrender. The fighting was sporadic and in places where the flag could not be seen even if it had been lowered. Just because more blacks were killed does not indicate a massacre. It was also reported that alcohol was in abundance in the Fort and on the parapets with a dipper handy, and it is believed it played a major role in the actions of the yankees.
And though Wills quotes this study by Cimprich and Mainfort, he goes on to say, "The final death toll at Fort Pillow was a heavy one for the Federals. There was no wholesale or premediated massacre there, for had Bedfor Forrest wanted to annhilate the garrison, he cuold have easily done so and would certainly have supervised the operation personally. Nevertheless, there was brutal slaughter, beyond what should have occurred." p. (196)
A quote from (First with the Most, Robert Selph Henry, Konecky&Konecky, 1992)
"Instead as Colonel Barteau described the situation in an interview published in 1884, 'they made a wild, crazy, scattering fight. The acted like a crowd of drunken men. They would at one moment yield and throw down their guns, and then would rush again to arms, seize their guns and renew the fire. If one squad was left as prisoner...it was soon discovered that they could not be trusted as having surrendered, for taking the first opportunity they would break loose again and engage in the contest. Some of our men were killed by negroes who had once surrendered." p. (256)
"There is abundant testimony from Confederate sources that widespread and almost general intoxication among the garrison contributed to the frenzy of the scattered resistance offered between the time the parapet was stormed and the time Forrest could restore order below the bluffs. Most of the fifty men who furnished affidavits to lDr. Wyeth mention the presence of whisky in the fort, and the evidences of its too-liberal use by the garrison. Barrels of whisky found along the parapet, with tin dippers attached, were kicked over and spilled by prudent officers of the attacking forces. " p. (265)
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