"African Americans at Jamestown". Historic Jamestowne. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
"Fort Pillow". CWSAC Battle Summaries. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
"Fort Pillow". CWSAC Battle Summaries. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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Reducing their pay to only $7 a month after the clothing deduction caused many black soldiers to refuse to accept their pay until it was equal to that of the white soldiers.[11] In the case of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, recruiting posters had advertised $13 a month in pay.[12] The state also promised aid would be paid to their families.[12] When Colonel Shaw discovered they were being paid only $7 he wrote to governor Andrew.[12] In September 1863 the Massachusetts state legislature agreed to make up the difference between the Army pay and the promised $13. But the black soldiers would not accept it until the federal government paid it to all black soldiers.[12] For 18 months they did not receive any pay nor were their families provided for.[12]
On April 12, 1864, the Union Garrison at Fort Pillow in Arkansas was attacked by Confederate cavalry led by Nathan Bedford Forrest.[10] The Union force defending the fort was made up of 295 white Tennessee troops and 262 U.S. Colored Troops.[14] The 2,500 Confederates gained the high ground and began firing into the fort.[14] The Union commander was killed and soon after 11:00 am Forest demanded the unconditional surrender of all Union troops. The acting commander asked for an hour to give a reply; Forrest gave him 20 minutes.[14] When the Union commander refused the Confederates resumed their attack.[14] As the garrison retreated towards the river and the waiting Union gunboats, the Confederates killed as many as they could.[14] Undoubtedly many surrendered but how many is not known. Only 62 of the colored troops survived.[14] The Confederates left the fort that evening so they gained little except the massacre of black troops and the white soldiers with them.[14] Calling it a massacre was in part based on Forrest's reputation towards blacks. Before the war he was a slave trader and after the war a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.[10]
