Although Confederate sources say that Forrest's forces kept firing in self-defense, some historians and official Union reports emphasize that a deliberate massacre took place.
Union survivors claimed that even though all their troops surrendered, Forrest's men massacred some in cold blood.
Surviving members of the garrison said that most of their men surrendered and threw down their arms, only to be shot or bayoneted by the attackers, who repeatedly shouted, "No quarter!
No quarter!"

It was reported that women and children were killed, but this was disputed by Dr. C. Fitch, who was surgeon of the Fort Pillow garrison: "Early in the morning all of the women and all of the noncombatants were ordered on to some barges, and were towed by a gunboat up the river to an island before any one was hurt."
This is supported by the testimony of Captain Marshall.
He stated that all the women, children, and sick soldiers were removed to an island before the battle started.
The strongest evidence that the Confederates did not kill women and children is that no one reported seeing the bodies of women and children among the slain.

The Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War immediately investigated the incident, which was widely publicized in the Union press.
Stories appeared April 16 in The New York Times, New York Herald, New-York Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Gazette, and St. Louis Missouri Democrat, based on telegraph reports from Cairo, Illinois, where the steamer Platte Valley, carrying survivors, had called so that they could be taken to a hospital at nearby Mound City, Illinois, and those that had expired on the ship could be buried.
In their report, from which the previous quotes were taken, they concluded that the Confederates shot most of the garrison after it had surrendered.

A letter from one of Forrest's own sergeants, Achilles V. Clark, writing to his sisters on April 14, reads in part:
Our men were so exasperated by the Yankee's threats of no quarter that they gave but little.
The slaughter was awful.
Words cannot describe the scene.
The poor deluded negros would run up to our men fall on their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down.
The whitte [sic] men fared but little better.
The fort turned out to be a great slaughter pen.
Blood, human blood stood about in pools and brains could have been gathered up in any quantity.
I with several others tried to stop the butchery and at one time had partially succeeded but Gen. Forrest ordered them shot down like dogs and the carnage continued.
Finally our men became sick of blood and the firing ceased.

A 2002 study by Albert Castel concluded that Forrest's troops had killed a large number of the garrison "after they had either ceased resisting or were incapable of resistance".
Historian Andrew Ward in 2005 reached the conclusion that an atrocity in the modern sense occurred at Fort Pillow, but that the event was not premeditated nor officially sanctioned by Confederate commanders.

Recent histories concur that a massacre occurred.
Historian Richard Fuchs, the author of An Unerring Fire, concludes, "The affair at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death, a mass lynching to satisfy the basest of conduct—intentional murder—for the vilest of reasons—racism and personal enmity."
Ward states, "Whether the massacre was premeditated or spontaneous does not address the more fundamental question of whether a massacre took place ... it certainly did, in every dictionary sense of the word."
John Cimprich states, "The new paradigm in social attitudes and the fuller use of available evidence has favored a massacre interpretation.
 ... Debate over the memory of this incident formed a part of sectional and racial conflicts for many years after the war, but the reinterpretation of the event during the last thirty years offers some hope that society can move beyond past intolerance."

Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery (Colored) stated in his official report, "There never was a surrender of the fort, both offi
Although Confederate sources say that Forrest's forces kept firing in self-defense, some historians and official Union reports emphasize that a deliberate massacre took place. Union survivors claimed that even though all their troops surrendered, Forrest's men massacred some in cold blood. Surviving members of the garrison said that most of their men surrendered and threw down their arms, only to be shot or bayoneted by the attackers, who repeatedly shouted, "No quarter! No quarter!"
It was reported that women and children were killed, but this was disputed by Dr. C. Fitch, who was surgeon of the Fort Pillow garrison: "Early in the morning all of the women and all of the noncombatants were ordered on to some barges, and were towed by a gunboat up the river to an island before any one was hurt." This is supported by the testimony of Captain Marshall. He stated that all the women, children, and sick soldiers were removed to an island before the battle started. The strongest evidence that the Confederates did not kill women and children is that no one reported seeing the bodies of women and children among the slain.
The Joint Committee On the Conduct of the War immediately investigated the incident, which was widely publicized in the Union press. Stories appeared April 16 in The New York Times, New York Herald, New-York Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Gazette, and St. Louis Missouri Democrat, based on telegraph reports from Cairo, Illinois, where the steamer Platte Valley, carrying survivors, had called so that they could be taken to a hospital at nearby Mound City, Illinois, and those that had expired on the ship could be buried. In their report, from which the previous quotes were taken, they concluded that the Confederates shot most of the garrison after it had surrendered.
A letter from one of Forrest's own sergeants, Achilles V. Clark, writing to his sisters on April 14, reads in part:
Our men were so exasperated by the Yankee's threats of no quarter that they gave but little. The slaughter was awful. Words cannot describe the scene. The poor deluded negros would run up to our men fall on their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. The whitte [sic] men fared but little better. The fort turned out to be a great slaughter pen. Blood, human blood stood about in pools and brains could have been gathered up in any quantity. I with several others tried to stop the butchery and at one time had partially succeeded but Gen. Forrest ordered them shot down like dogs and the carnage continued. Finally our men became sick of blood and the firing ceased.
A 2002 study by Albert Castel concluded that Forrest's troops had killed a large number of the garrison "after they had either ceased resisting or were incapable of resistance". Historian Andrew Ward in 2005 reached the conclusion that an atrocity in the modern sense occurred at Fort Pillow, but that the event was not premeditated nor officially sanctioned by Confederate commanders.
Recent histories concur that a massacre occurred. Historian Richard Fuchs, the author of An Unerring Fire, concludes, "The affair at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death, a mass lynching to satisfy the basest of conduct—intentional murder—for the vilest of reasons—racism and personal enmity." Ward states, "Whether the massacre was premeditated or spontaneous does not address the more fundamental question of whether a massacre took place ... it certainly did, in every dictionary sense of the word." John Cimprich states, "The new paradigm in social attitudes and the fuller use of available evidence has favored a massacre interpretation. ... Debate over the memory of this incident formed a part of sectional and racial conflicts for many years after the war, but the reinterpretation of the event during the last thirty years offers some hope that society can move beyond past intolerance."
Lieutenant Daniel Van Horn of the 6th U.S. Heavy Artillery (Colored) stated in his official report, "There never was a surrender of the fort, both offi
Battle of Fort Pillow