Fort Pillow State Historic Park

Fort Pillow was a Civil War fort approximately 40 miles north of Memphis. It has a museum, 20 miles of hiking, a group camp site, 30 camp sites, a boat ramp, an overlook, fishing, and a butterfly garden. The crown jewel of this is the restored fort, which is about a two mile hike uphill from behind the visitors' center, something we were not prepared for. The signage wasn't as clear as we'd hoped. It was cool once we got up there, though, and the park is beautiful. The museum is also super interesting as it has a lot of artifacts and archaeological discoveries from the time period. From my understanding, the mostly black Union troop was trying to surrender after the battle, and was horribly massacred by Nathan Bedford Forrest and his Confederate troops, causing a large controversy at the time. We were fascinated as no one in my group had heard that story before.

Lived an hour from here my whole life and never visited. The welcome shop was very clean and has some great information on the history of the area. I learned a lot in the exhibit I didn't know about Fort Pillow. The worker was also helpful with the trail I was going on. The picture is from the Chickasaw Bluff looking over the Mississippi River.

Fort Pillow was built by Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow in early 1862 and was used by both sides during the war. With the fall of New Madrid and Island No. 10 to Union forces, Confederate troops evacuated Fort Pillow on June 4, 1862. Union forces took occupancy on June 6, 1862, and used it to protect the river approach to Memphis.By 1864, the fort was being held by 600 Union troops (half black/white) commanded by Major Lionel Booth.Confederate troops attacked at 6 a.m. on April 12, 1864, by horseback dismounting and attacking like infantry soldiers. The Union troops were no match to Forrest's 1,600 battle-hardened Confederates. Union Major Booth was killed during early fighting and command of the fort fell to Major William Bradford.At 2 p.m., Forrest sent a letter demanding the Union commander to surrender, but Bradford refused. After a cease fire that lasted about half an hour, the fighting resumed, and in a short time Confederate forces began scaling the fort's innermost walls.The Fort Pillow Massacre: According to Northern newspapers, and according to a U.S. Congressional hearing into the events, Confederate troops continued to kill Union soldiers as they attempted to surrender. "The blacks and their officers were shot down, bayoneted and put to the sword in cold blood -- the helpless victims of the perfidy by which they were overpowered," the New York Times reported. "Remember Fort Pillow" became a rallying cry for many in the North, and for black Americans who heard the story.Forrest's men, on the other hand, later maintained that the Union troops kept their weapons and continued to fire as they fled down the embankment in the direction of the Mississippi River and the U.S. Navy gunboat. This "refusal to surrender", they insisted, is what caused so many of them to be killed.People also argue about General Forrest's role in what took place. Some believe that he told and encouraged his men to shoot Union soldiers even after they tried to surrender. Other accounts claim that he screamed at his men to stop firing at surrendered troops.

This park is a good day trip from Memphis with such a beautiful drive through small-town America. The history of Fort Pillow is very interesting, which is the sole reason I decided to make the drive. The trail is an easy to intermediate 2.5 mile hike up to the fort (a few steep climbs with strps). The park is beautiful and the hike up is fun, but a bit creepy. It is so quiet and with few to zero other folks on the trail it can get a bit eerie. The small museum gives the history of the fort with some Civil War artifacts.

Every time I come out here the staff is just as great as the scenery. Fort Pillow is WAY off the beaten path, but always a pleasure to go to!

I love history and this park has tons of it. Sadly no one was even there but me and my girl, on a Saturday nonetheless. I loved everything about the park including the long walk to the fort. I'm sorta a history nerd so all civil war spots are 5 stars in my book. Go see this park and get ready for some hiking. You'll have fun.

This place is remote, and beautiful. You have to drive north from Memphis through small towns. For delta country, it is very hilly and wooded. Once you turn off 51 you are in rural Tennessee with winding narrow roads, and narrow little bridges over rushing streams (TN had soaking rains the night before). To get to the park you have to pass through a Tennessee State Correctional Facility farm. It's quite large with forbidding looking buildings on either side. Apparently if you traverse the property you are subject to search. I suppose this would happen in the event of an escape?? There are houses for the guards along the road, neat white frame houses. This part of the state is quite far from anything. Henning, the nearest town, is 20 miles from the park. The campgrounds are quite far from the museum and fort. I hate it when they do that. I will try to walk it tomorrow, though. All the trails, sights, etc. are elsewhere. Perhaps a mile away? The museum staff lady is not the most forthcoming. I didn't see any trail maps or anything. The campground is new. None of the sites are particularly level. One or two are pull-through. The bathhouse is new, and well designed. Just one toilet and one shower per gender. The ranger was up there when I showed up and invited me to park in any site I wanted. I was the only camper that night. I can hear river traffic from here. The park is on an oxbow--the river course has changed since the fort was here. But I can still hear the river traffic, that deep rumble of large tow boards and barges. I also heard a large tree fall my first night. I'll investigate tomorrow. The next morning, Thursday, the 21st had a foggy dawn. I can definitely hear tows on the river, and I heard gunshots. Hunters? Two tent sites are right at the edge of the bluffs overlooking the big oxbow. They seem to be prime spots. There are lots of beech trees here, with their spiky little seed pods. This is a full regrowth forest.

Great history lesson to be learned there .. beautifully maintained park. The park has well manicured lawns , beautiful playgrounds for children !!

Beautiful park with clean spacious campsites with water and electrical in nearly every site. There are only 2 bathrooms with a single shower/toilet/sink, but there was never a problem with having to wait. Rangers are like a small family, and extremely helpful and friendly. You let them know if you need firewood, pay, and they deliver to your site. We went on a weekend and there were activities planned from Friday night and all day Saturday including guided hikes and crafts for the kids. The yellow trail is a must as it takes you out to the fort and provides a history lesson along the way with the signage. There is a black and white ranger made map at the museum which one should pick up before heading out as there is information on that map which correspond to markers along the trail. The blue trail (Chicksaw trail) is an awesome hike and take you past an old cemetary at the top of the bluff; it is an out and back and the end is a little anti-climactic, but worth it. Only thing to look out for at the campsites, especially if tent camping in the fall are the stink Bugs which will invade every crevice and fly straight into your face. Be very careful not to take any hitchhikers home and be sure to check all your gear when you get home as well. Don't want these invasive species to spread!