material part of Gen. Forrest's
defence was extorted from Capt. John T. Young, an officer in the Union
forces at Fort Pillow. He was sick and a prisoner in the hands of the
rebels; and while in this condition he was compelled to sign the
papers given above, which had been made out by Forrest himself. The
last letter of the correspondence shows that Capt. Young did not want
the papers used by the United States Government, because they were not
true. Moreover, the despatches of Forrest to Major Bradford make no
mention of retaliation. The despatches above are not true copies. For
instance, he demanded the surrender of Paducah on the 25th of March,
1864, just before he took Fort Pillow, and this was his despatch:

H'DQU'RS FORREST'S CAVALRY CORPS, }
PADUCAH, March 23, 1864 }

To Col. HICKS, _Commanding Federal Forces at Paducah_:

Having a force amply sufficient to carry your works and reduce
the place, in order to avoid the unnecessary effusion of blood, I
demand the surrender of the fort and troops, with all the public
stores. If you surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of
war; but, _if I have to storm your works, you may expect no
quarter_.

N. B. FORREST, _Maj.-Gen. Com'ding_.

And on the 19th of April, 1864, the next day after the massacre at
Fort Pillow, Gen. Abe Buford demanded the surrender of Columbus,
Kentucky, in the following despatch:

_To the Commander of the United States Forces, Columbus. Ky.:_

Fully capable of taking Columbus and its garrison by force, I
desire to avoid shedding blood. I therefore demand the
unconditional surrender of the forces under your command. Should
you surrender, the negroes now in arms will be returned to their
masters. Should I be compelled to take the place by force, no
quarter will be shown negro troops whatever; white troops will be
treated as prisoners of war.

I am, sir, yours,
A. BUFORD, _Brig.-Gen._

Now, as both Bradford and Booth were dead, it was impossible to learn
just what language was used by Forrest in the despatches he sent them.
But from the testimony given above, the explanation of Capt. Young and
the language of the two despatches just quoted, addressed to the
commander of the Union