Fort Pillow Summary

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In the book Fort Pillow, a Civil War Massacre, and Public Memory Cimprich’s goal is to reveal to readers the importance of Fort Pillow. He does this by portraying the lives of the general’s and soldiers living in or near Fort Pillow, Tennessee. He also briefly describes the massacre that occurred, and has allowed one to see how memories of that event interpreted the succeeding generations outlook. The message that Cimprich is trying to convey is that racism was the center cause of the Fort Pillow massacre. This book gives readers a new perspective on the American Civil War, by allowing us to see how the Confederate massacre of unionist and black Federal soldiers at Fort pillow greatly affected how we would perceive the events today.

During the year of Confederate presence and the two years of Federal occupation, military units stayed at or near Fort Pillow for periods ranging from a few days to sixteen months. The federal government provided more for its forces than the Confederacy did. The north was more inclined to have the Federal Government pay for improvements. Nevertheless, newly created confederate, military structures supplied the fort’s garrison with food in 1861. During warmer weather, local farmers either sold produce to them for low prices or gave it away for free. Although, during the campaign against the fort, federals had plenty of rations shipped downriver. They also obtained fresh meat by hunting and foraging. On the other hand, both governments tried to provide clothing for their troops, but the confederacy somehow always came up short. For fear of upcoming shortages, a number of recruits decided to go barefoot during the summer so that when winter came they are covered. This was a typical routine for many federal troops on the fort. The attack by the confederates on Fort Pillow was located about fifty miles north of Memphis on the Mississippi river, April 12,1864. This fort was under the command of Major Lionel F. Booth, with a garrison of 557 men, of whom 262 were African Americans from the 6th United States Heavy Artillery. The Confederates had attacked early in the morning, and with the death of Major Booth, the Union forces left their outer posts to return to the fort. Enraged by the Union garrison, which included white unionist and black runaway slaves, confederate soldiers massacred black slaves, many of whom already surrendered. Furthermore, by
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It also suggests that scholars briefly describe events and allow their opinions of what they feel has happened or what the person believed dictate how they perceive to tell the story. Nevertheless, Cimprich did an amazing job telling this story in an ample amount of time and pages. Overall, this work is a great addition to the growing literature community on civil war.
Both the lectures and book discussed how illegal slaves should be returned back to where they came from. In the Northern versus Southern Society lecture, we also talked about the easiest way to obtain food and whiskey, entertainment, literacy rate which was also mentioned in the book. However, the book gives a vivid and intense look into the brutality of the Civil War. This book gives a better understanding of how religion back then is no different than today. People today still don’t acknowledge may of the religions practiced, or they use those religions against

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