Unidentified Artist, Kurz & Allison Publishers
Fort Pillow Massacre, 1880s-1890s
color lithograph
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Provenance Unknown
A publisher of chromolithographs of the nineteenth century, Kurz and Allison commissioned The Fort Pillow Massacre in a series of Civil War prints established to restore their reputation. The battle of Fort Pillow occurred April 12th, 1864, and remains a black scar on the Civil War. Led by General Forrest, a division of Confederate soldiers attacked the Union held fort and slaughtered every black soldier at the fort. In this hand-colored lithograph, the Confederate soldiers are massacring not only Union soldiers, black and white, but also black women and children, portraying the merciless attitude the Confederates had for blacks.
~Joe Passalugo