The River Was Dyed with Blood Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow |
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| Author:
| Wills, Brian Steel |
| ISBN: | 978-0-8061-4453-5 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 2014 |
| Publisher: | University of Oklahoma Press
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | USD $32.95 |
Book Description:
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The battlefield reputation of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, long recognized as a formidable warrior, has been shaped by one infamous wartime incident. At Fort Pillow in 1864, the attack by Confederate forces under Forrest?s command left many of the Tennessee Unionists and black soldiers garrisoned there dead in a confrontation widely labeled as a ?massacre.? In The River Was Dyed with Blood, Brian Steel Wills argues that although atrocities did occur after...
More Description
The battlefield reputation of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, long recognized as a formidable warrior, has been shaped by one infamous wartime incident. At Fort Pillow in 1864, the attack by Confederate forces under Forrest?s command left many of the Tennessee Unionists and black soldiers garrisoned there dead in a confrontation widely labeled as a ?massacre.? In The River Was Dyed with Blood, Brian Steel Wills argues that although atrocities did occur after the fall of the fort, Forrest did not order or intend a systematic execution of its defenders. Rather, the general?s great failing was losing control of his troops.