Part 8

Answer. I think she is at Cairo now. Her husband did not get wounded, but he was sick. I heard an ensign on gunboat 28 invite General Chalmers and some of his aides-de-camp to come on board the gunboat, and I saw Major Anderson and several other confederate officers on the Platte Valley drinking at the bar, and I saw a couple of army officers drinking there with them, and there might have been some naval officers with them too, but I am not certain of that. The clerk of the Platte Valley, General Forrest's adjutant general, Major Anderson, and an ensign of gunboat 28, took the names of the paroles. I did not take the names myself, because I was busily engaged going over the battle-field to find out if any of our men were left alive. I heard a great many rebel soldiers say they did not intend to recognize those black devils as soldiers. They said this to me as I was speaking about the slaughter there. They also expressed the opinion that if we had not been fighting with black troops they would not have hurt us at all; but they did not intend to give any quarter to negroes.

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Dr. Stewart Gordon, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your position?

Answer. Acting assistant surgeon, United States army.

Question. Where are you now stationed?

Answer. I have charge of ward N, Mound City general hospital.

Question. Is that the ward in which are the colored men we first examined yesterday?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Have you prepared a statement of the condition of the men in that ward whose testimony we have taken?

Answer. I have it here; it is a brief history of their cases, where they were wounded, how they were wounded, and the condition they are in.--(Appendix to this deposition.)

Question. Were you here in the hospital when those men were brought in?

Answer. I was.

Question. Had you any conversation with them then?

Answer. Yes, sir; with the greater part of them.

Question. Did you hear their testimony yesterday?

Answer. I did.

Question. Did the statements they made to us correspond with the statements they made to you when they were first brought here?

Answer. They did.

Question. So far as you can judge, from your experience as a medical man, are their statements in relation to their injuries corroborated by the appearance of the injuries themselves?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. How many of those men have died since they have been received here?

Answer. Only one in my ward.

Question. How many are there now who you think will not recover?

Answer. I think there are three who will not recover; perhaps more.

* * * * *

_Ward N._--Private Elias Falls, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in arm while fighting, shot in thigh after being prisoner, flesh wound, condition favorable; Private Duncan Harden, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in arm while fighting, arm broke, shot in thigh after being prisoner, flesh wound, favorable; Private Nathan Hunter, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in side and hip after surrender, flesh wound, condition favorable; Sergeant Benjamin Robinson, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in thigh and right leg after surrender, flesh wound, favorable; Private Daniel Tylor, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot in right shoulder, shot in right eye after surrender, destroying sight, unfavorable; Private John Haskins, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot in left arm after surrender, flesh wound, slight, favorable; Private Thomas Adison, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in nose and right eye after surrender, destroying sight, unfavorable; Private Alfred Flake, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in left hand while lying sick in hospital, flesh wound, unfavorable; Private Manuel Nichols, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in left side before, and right arm after surrender, flesh wound, serious, unfavorable; Private Arthur Edmonds, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in head and right arm after surrender, causing fracture of arm, condition favorable; Private Henry Hanks, company A, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in left side after surrender, wound serious, condition unfavorable; Private Charles Key, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right arm after surrender, fracture of arm, condition favorable; Private Henry Christon, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in back before surrender, wound serious, rather favorable; Private Aaron Fintis, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in both legs after surrender, flesh wound, slight, condition favorable; Private George Shaw, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot in left side of head, shot in right wrist after surrender, not serious, favorable; Private Major William, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot through nose after surrender, not serious, condition favorable; officer's servant William Jerdon, 13th Tennessee cavalry, shot in left ankle, amputation, shot in left arm, fracture of arm after surrender, very unfavorable; Corporal Alexander Naison, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right side of head after surrender, not serious, favorable; Private Thomas Gadis, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right hip after surrender, serious, condition unfavorable; Corporal Eli Cothel, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right leg while fighting, shot in left arm after surrender, flesh wound, favorable; Private Sandy Cole, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right thigh and arm after surrender, flesh wound, condition favorable; Private Nathan Modley, company D, 1st Alabama artillery, shot in right knee after surrender, injury of joint, condition unfavorable; Private John Holland, company B, 1st Tennessee artillery, shot in right thigh after surrender, flesh wound, condition favorable; Private Robert Hall, company C, 1st Alabama artillery, sabre cut of head and left hand while lying sick in hospital, died.

STEWART GORDON, _Charge of Ward N_.

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Dr. William N. McCoy, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. What is your position in the service?

Answer. I am an acting assistant surgeon, now stationed at Mound City general hospital, in charge of wards L, K, I, and H. Wards L, K, and H have wounded in from Fort Pillow.

Question. Have you prepared a statement of the cases of those of your patients whom we examined here?

Answer. Yes, sir; here is the statement.--(See appendix to this deposition.)

Question. Did you have any conversation with those wounded men in relation to their injuries when they first came to the hospital?

Answer. I did to some extent.

Question. Have any of the wounded from Fort Pillow died in your wards?

Answer. One in ward H.

Question. Are there others who you think will not recover?

Answer. There are two whose recovery I think is doubtful.

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_Wounded in wards L, K, and H, United States General Hospital, Mound City, Illinois._--W. P. Walker, sergeant, company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received four wounds at Fort Pillow April 12, 1864. One ball passed through left arm near middle third, fracturing humerus. Second ball struck right side of neck, 1-1/2 inch below mastoid process, and remaining in. Third ball made flesh wound in right shoulder. Fourth ball struck left eye, supposed by himself to be a glancing shot; eye totally destroyed. Done after the surrender.

Milas M. M. Woodside, a discharged soldier from the 7th Tennessee cavalry, also from the 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded by two balls, first (pistol) ball striking just below insertion of deltoid muscle of right arm, and remaining in; second (musket) ball striking centre of right breast over third rib, and passing to the right and downward, emerged at inner border of the scapula, about 6 inches from point of entrance. Done after surrender.

Jason London, private, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received a ball, which struck the dorsal side of right hand about the junction of carpal and metacarpal bones of index finger; emerged at carpal bone of thumb; then struck thigh in front, about 6 inches above knee-joint; passing over the bone, emerged on inner side. After being wounded, he was knocked down by one of the fiends with a musket. Done after the surrender.

David H. Taylor, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received five wounds. First (musket) ball passed in under the angle of right jaw, fracturing the symphysis, where it emerged. Second ball struck front of right shoulder-joint; emerged immediately behind caracoid process. Third ball entered 3 inches below, and a little to the right of entiform cartilage; passing downward, is lost. Fourth ball in left knee, fracturing inner condyle of femur, and passed into popliteal space. Fifth ball, upper part of middle third thigh; lost. Done after the surrender.

David W. Harrison, private, company D, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received three wounds. First (musket) ball passed from behind head of humerus, left side; emerged between clavicle and axilla, producing compound comminuted fracture of head and upper end of shaft of bone. Second ball struck left side 2-1/2 inches above ilium; ball not found. Third ball entered at upper edge of scapula behind, passing under the bone, is lost. Wounds received after surrender.

James Calvin Goeforth, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received wound. Ball passed from right to left across the back, entering at upper part of scapula; emerged at a point a little below and at the opposite side, (flesh wound.) Done after the surrender.

William A. Dickey, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded after the surrender. Ball entered abdomen 4 inches to the right of umbilicus; ball lost.

Thomas J. Cartwright, company A, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received wound in left shoulder, striking pectoral muscle near axilla, fracturing clavicle; was extracted near the vertebral column at upper and outer border of scapula. Done before the surrender.

William L. McMichael, private, company C, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received five wounds. First ball glanced along the upper portion of right parietal bone, making wound (flesh) 2-1/2 inches long. Second ball glanced ulnar side of left forearm at wrist joint. Third ball struck left side of abdomen on a line from anterior superior process of ilium to symphysis pubis; ball not found. Fourth ball struck near the insertion of tensu of right side; passed downwards 4 inches; was extracted. Wounds received after the surrender of the fort.

Isaac J. Leadbetter, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, received wound in left side. Musket ball struck over eighth rib and plunged downward; is lost. Done after surrender.

James Walls, private, company E, 13th Tennessee cavalry, was wounded by musket ball striking over origin of gluteus minemus of left side, and passed upwards and across, emerging 11 inches from point of entrance almost over the last rib of right side, and about 2-1/2 inches from vertebral column. Done after the surrender.

In charge of WILLIAM N. McCOY, _Acting Assistant Surgeon, United States Army_.

* * * * *

Dr. A. H. Kellogg, sworn and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. What is your rank and position in the service?

Answer. I am an acting assistant surgeon, in charge of wards E and F, Mound City general hospital.

Question. Were you present yesterday when the testimony of the wounded men in your wards was taken?

Answer. I have but one under my charge who was wounded at Fort Pillow. I heard his testimony.

Question. Had you previously had any conversation with him in relation to the circumstances attending his being wounded?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did his statements to us yesterday correspond with the statements he made to you?

Answer. Yes, sir; except he gave a few more details yesterday as to what was said to him. He told me that he was wounded after he had surrendered.

Question. Have you prepared a statement of his case?

Answer. Yes, sir; here it is.

Woodford Cooksey, private, company A, 13th regiment Tennessee cavalry, gunshot wound, with comminuted fracture of middle third of left femur, received at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864, _after surrender_.

A. H. KELLOGG, M. D., _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._

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Doctor Charles H. Vail, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. What is your rank and position in the service?

Answer. Acting assistant surgeon in charge of wards A, B, C, and D, Mound City general hospital. The adjutant of the 13th Tennessee cavalry is in ward B.

Question. Have you prepared a statement of his case?

Answer. Yes, sir; and also of Captain Porter, who is in the same ward, and who was too weak to be examined this morning.

First Lieutenant Mack J. Seaming, adjutant 13th Tennessee cavalry, gunshot wound of right side, received at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864. Ball entered right side below inferior angle of scapula, between sixth and seventh rib, ranged downward and was lost in muscles near hip. Wounded after he had surrendered; shot by a man standing thirty feet above him on the bank. Present condition of patient good, with fair prospect of recovery.

Captain John H. Potter, company B, 13th Tennessee cavalry, wounded at Fort Pillow, April 12, 1864. Ball fractured skull, carrying away a portion of left parietal and frontal bones, leaving brain exposed for a distance of an inch and a half; was wounded early in the fight by a sharpshooter before the surrender. Present condition almost hopeless, has remained insensible ever since he was wounded.

CHARLES H. VAIL, M. D., _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A., in charge of officers' ward_.

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Doctor J. A. C. McCoy, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. What is your rank and position?

Answer. Acting assistant surgeon in charge of wards O, P, Q, and R, in Mound City general hospital.

Question. Have you any of the wounded soldiers from Fort Pillow in your wards?

Answer. I have.

Question. Have you prepared a statement of their cases?

Answer. Yes, sir; I have two statements here prepared at different times; I will hand you both of them, as each one contains some particulars not in the other.

_Ward Q._--John F. Ray, private, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot in popliteal space, ball lodged, done after surrender; John W. Shelton, private, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot through left leg, middle third, flesh wound, done after surrender; Joseph M. Green, private, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot in right shoulder, behind, ball escaping at middle of right arm, flesh wound, done after surrender; James H. Stout, private, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot in right leg, producing compound fracture of tibia, done after surrender; Thomas J. Thompson, private, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot between sixth and seventh ribs, ball passing downward is lost, done after surrender; Daniel H. Rankin, private, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot through left leg, flesh wound, done after surrender; Wiley Robinson, private, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot in right arm and right index finger, flesh wounds, shot through left index finger and through inferior lobe left lung, ball lodged, shot through left thigh and through left ankle, flesh wounds, all but one shot done after surrender; Daniel Stamps, private, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot through right thigh, flesh wound, done after surrender; James P. Meador, private, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot through inferior lobe of right lung and superior lobe of left lung, one shot after surrender; William J. Mays, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot through right axilla and side, flesh wounds, done just before surrender; James N. Taylor, private, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot in right hip, ball lodged, done after surrender; Francis A. Alexander, private, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot through right leg, flesh wound, done after surrender; Nathan G. Fowlkes, private, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot in left leg, compound fracture of both bones, done after surrender.

J. A. C. McCOY, _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._

Francis A. Alexander, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Nathan G. Fowlkes, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Wiley Robinson, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot seven times, six times after surrender, dangerous; Daniel Stamps, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, severe; James P. Meador, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot twice, once after surrender, dangerous; James N. Taylor, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; William J. Mays, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot once just before surrender, dangerous; John F. Ray, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; John W. Shelton, company E, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Thomas J. Thompson, company D, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Joseph M. Green, company A, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; James H. Stout, company B, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous; Daniel H. Rankin, company C, 13th Tennessee, shot once after surrender, dangerous.

J. A. C. McCOY, M. D., _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._

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The following is a statement prepared by Dr. M. Black of the cases under his charge:

Horton Casen, private, company A, 1st Alabama infantry, wounded at Fort Pillow after surrender, gunshot wounds in hip and thigh; Jacob Thompson, waiter, company B, 11th Illinois cavalry, wounded at Fort Pillow after surrender, pistol shots through thumb and head and several blows with blunt instrument (says with a gun) on head and neck, dividing skin in several places; Henry Parker, company D, 1st Alabama, wounded at Fort Pillow after surrender, gunshot wound in hip; Ransom Anderson, company B, 1st Alabama artillery, wounded at Fort Pillow after surrender, sabre cuts on head and hand and gunshot wounds in shoulder and chest; Mary Jane Robinson, wife of a soldier at Fort Pillow, wounded by a rebel after the surrender of the fort, at a distance of ten yards, gunshot wound through both knees.

M. BLACK, _Acting Assistant Surgeon, U. S. A._

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Surgeon Horace Wardner, recalled and examined.

By the chairman:

Question. Have you heard our examination of the wounded in this hospital from Fort Pillow?

Answer. I have.

Question. Did you have any conversation with them when they were first brought to the hospital?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did the statements they made to you then correspond with their statements to us?

Answer. They did.

Question. Do the nature and character of their injuries sustain their statements in regard to their injuries?

Answer. The character of the injuries of these men corroborates their statements in regard to the treatment they received from the rebels.

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MOUND CITY, ILLINOIS, _April 23, 1864_.

Captain Alexander M. Pennock, United States navy, sworn and examined.

By Mr. Gooch:

Question. What is your rank and position in the navy?

Answer. I am a captain in the United States navy; fleet captain of the Mississippi squadron, and commandant of the station of Cairo and Mound City.

Question. How long have you been in the naval service?

Answer. Since the first of April, 1828.

Question. Will you please state what services have been rendered by the naval forces here in checking and preventing the recent movements of the rebel Forrest and his command in this vicinity?

Answer. Two gunboats were at Paducah at the time the attack was made upon that place; they rendered efficient service there. On receiving information that Paducah had been attacked, or that there was a probability of its being attacked, I immediately went to Cairo from Mound City, with Captain Shirk, of the navy, and conferred with General Brayman and General Veatch. A regiment was sent by General Veatch up to Paducah. An armed despatch boat was also sent up, with Captain Shirk on board, and Captain Odlin, assistant adjutant general on General Brayman's staff, to ascertain the facts, and render such assistance as might be needed. I was informed by both Captain Shirk and Captain Odlin that the gunboats there, and the fort, had expended a great deal of ammunition and were getting short of it. Ammunition both for the army and navy was immediately sent up; a division of gunboats from the Cumberland river, Captain Fitch commanding, came down after the fight and re-enforced Captain Shirk at Paducah.

Information having reached me that the rebels were crossing over into Illinois in small squads, four gunboats were stationed by the two above-named naval officers between Paducah and Mound City, to prevent their crossing, and orders were given them to destroy all ferries and skiffs, in fact all means of communication across the Ohio river.

A gunboat had been stationed at Columbus, Kentucky. Hearing that the surrender of that place had been demanded, I despatched Captain Fitch with two of the Cumberland river boats, and another gunboat which was here for repairs, to Columbus, with orders if all was quiet there to go down the river a far as Hickman. I instructed him that the Mississippi river must be kept clear at all hazards. After having given this order, which was in writing, the captain of a steamboat came to me and informed me that Fort Pillow had been attacked, and that the captain of the gunboat stationed there sent word that he had expended nearly all his ammunition. I directed Captain Fitch, if he could be spared from Columbus, to go down to Fort Pillow with his three boats, and I immediately had placed on board a despatch boat the ammunition required for the gunboat then at Fort Pillow. And boats have since been cruising up and down the Ohio river, and the Mississippi river as far as Fort Pillow, for the purpose of giving convoy and keeping the river open. On the arrival of Captain Fitch near Fort Pillow, he found the enemy in force on this side of the fort, behind wood piles on the bank of the river; they were burning wood and barges there. They were shelled and driven off. Captain Fitch also prevented a detachment of rebels from crossing over to an island, where a number of transports and other boats had been detained, which the rebels desired to capture or destroy. He convoyed that fleet as far as Fort Pillow, clear of danger. Afterwards three boats were sent down to Hickman, for the purpose of giving protection to such Union men as desired to leave and bring away their goods, and if possible to capture any rebels that might be in the place. A detachment of marines accompanied this expedition. The town was surrounded twice, once by day and once by night; the guerillas had been in there and escaped. The people of Hickman were warned that if even a musket shot was again fired at a transport or other boat the place would be at once destroyed. These boats have been moving constantly day and night, and despatch boats have been furnished by the navy to convey despatches for General Sherman and General Brayman, up the Tennessee river, or wherever they might require. I would add that when Captain Fitch returned from Fort Pillow he brought away with him refugees, women and children, who had been left there, and ten wounded soldiers who had been there for two days.

Question. What, in your opinion, would be the competent military and naval force to protect the public property at Cairo and Mound City?

Answer. Two gunboats and 2,000 men.

Question. State briefly your reason for believing so large a force is required for that purpose.