Action, Fort Pillow was a Civil War engagement fought in Tennessee, 1862. It was a Confederate victory.
On May 10, 1862, along the Mississippi River in Tennessee, the Confederate River Defense Fleet clashed with the Union Western Flotilla in what became known as the Battle of Plum Point Bend. This engagement was part of a struggle over the Mississippi that had been playing out since the year before, as Union forces advanced downriver toward Fort Pillow, roughly 50 miles (80 km) above Memphis.
By this point the Union side had settled into a predictable pattern, using mortar boats to pound Fort Pillow day after day. Each morning, a lone mortar boat, escorted by a single ironclad, would move downriver to a forward position and open fire on the fort, while the remainder of the fleet stayed behind upstream. Recognizing this routine, the Confederates launched an assault that morning, aiming to seize the escorting ironclad and then catch the rest of the Union ships off guard.
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