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In early April 1864, the fort was garrisoned by the First Battalion, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery (Colored), with a total strength of 221 officers and men; one section of Company D, Second United States Light Artillery (Colored), with 41 officers and men; and the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, with 295 officers and men. Major Lionel F. Booth was in overall command, with Major William F. Bradford, commander of the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, the next-ranking officer. The total complement for Fort Pillow came to 557 officers and men, and six pieces of artillery. Of the fort's garrison, slightly over half (the Thirteenth Tennessee) were pro-Union white Southerners (often dubbed "Tennessee Tories" by the Confederates); the rest were ex-slaves now serving in the Union Army. Both groups were despised by Confederate soldiers, the former for betraying their countrymen, the latter for having been armed against their former masters, and there were cases before and after Fort Pillow of their being mistreated or even killed when taken prisoner, though this was never official policy of the Confederate government or military leadership.
In early April 1864, the fort was garrisoned by the First Battalion, Sixth United States Heavy Artillery (Colored), with a total strength of 221 officers and men; one section of Company D, Second United States Light Artillery (Colored), with 41 officers and men; and the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, with 295 officers and men. Major Lionel F. Booth was in overall command, with Major William F. Bradford, commander of the First Battalion, Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, the next-ranking officer. The total complement for Fort Pillow came to 557 officers and men, and six pieces of artillery. Of the fort's garrison, slightly over half (the Thirteenth Tennessee) were pro-Union white Southerners (often dubbed "Tennessee Tories" by the Confederates); the rest were ex-slaves now serving in the Union Army. Both groups were despised by Confederate soldiers, the former for betraying their countrymen, the latter for having been armed against their former masters, and there were cases before and after Fort Pillow of their being mistreated or even killed when taken prisoner, though this was never official policy of the Confederate government or military leadership.
==Battle: April 12==
'''Morning Preliminaries'''
On April 11, Chalmers' detachment, consisting of most of the brigades of Colonels Robert McCulloch and Tyree Bell (close to 2,000 effectives in all), moved toward Fort Pillow from the east, guided in the latter stage of their march by a local who had recently been imprisoned in the fort. By dawn on the 12th, the two brigades were approaching its outermost fortifications, McCulloch moving up a road from the south, while Bell advanced westward along Coal Creek.
At daybreak, the 2nd Missouri Cavalry, of McCulloch's brigade, was sent forward to drive in the pickets, rushing them so quickly that the entire outer defense line was soon abandoned. Part of the Thirteenth Tennessee then moved out to contest the Confederate advance, backed by fire from the fort's artillery and from a nearby gunboat, the ''New Era''. However, taking advantage of the thick underbrush that lay between the outer and middle lines, the Rebel soldiers were by mid-morning able to gain the second line of defense, bringing them within 300 yards of the main fortification, within which all the Union troops now withdrew. In the course of this early fighting, Major Booth, the post commander, was shot and killed; Major Bradford, described by a senior officer as "a good officer, though not of much experience," now took command.
At about 11:00 a.m., Forrest himself arrived on the field and took over direction of the operations. He promptly ordered McCulloch's brigade to press forward again and seize several barracks and other outbuildings that lay between the middle line and the fort's thick earthen parapet, which it succeeded in doing despite heavy fire from the fort. At this point, the Confederates were at such close range that the fort's artillery could not be sufficiently depressed in elevation to be of further effect against them; the remaining fighting would be done chiefly via small arms.
{{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}
{{Campaignbox Forrest's Expedition 1864}}