I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 926
To conduct a special resource study of Fort Pillow Historic State Park
in Henning, Tennessee, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY4, 2025
Mr. C
OHEN(for himself, Mr. AMO, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTERof Louisiana,
Mr. D
AVISof Illinois, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. GREENof Texas, Mr. JACKSON
of Illinois, Ms. K
ELLYof Illinois, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. NORTON, Mr.
R
ASKIN, and Mr. THOMPSONof Mississippi) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To conduct a special resource study of Fort Pillow Historic
State Park in Henning, Tennessee, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as ‘‘Fort Pillow National Bat-4
tlefield Park Study Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds as follows: 7
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•HR 926 IH
(1) Fort Pillow was originally built by Confed-1
erate troops in 1861 and named after General Gid-2
eon J. Pillow of Maury County, Tennessee. 3
(2) The battle of Fort Pillow was fought on 4
April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow in Henning, Ten-5
nessee, during the American Civil War. 6
(3) At Fort Pillow, Tennessee, Confederate 7
forces never defeated the Union Navy. Instead, they 8
perpetrated a heinous massacre after violating a flag 9
of truce by advantageously repositioning rebel troops 10
and by looting government buildings and private 11
storefronts surrounding the fort. 12
(4) According to the 1864 Report ‘‘Fort Pillow 13
Massacre’’ from the United States Congress Joint 14
Committee on the Conduct of the War, ‘‘The officers 15
and men seem to vie with each other in the devilish 16
work; men, women and even children, wherever 17
found, were deliberately shot down, beaten and 18
hacked with sabers. . . .’’. 19
(5) The Union garrison consisted of 19 officers 20
and 538 troops of whom 262 were United States 21
Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.). 22
(6) Per the report, ‘‘Of the men, from three 23
hundred to four hundred are known to have been 24
killed at Fort Pillow, of whom at least three hundred 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•HR 926 IH
were murdered in cold blood after the fort was in 1
possession of the rebels and our men had thrown 2
down their arms and ceased to offer resistance.’’. 3
(7) The massacre at Fort Pillow demonstrated 4
to all U.S.C.T. that surrender was not an option. 5
The massacre at Fort Pillow became a rallying cry 6
and motivation for the 209,147 U.S.C.T. 7
(8) The 209,147 U.S.C.T. fundamentally con-8
tributed to the Union’s defeat of the Confederacy. 9
(9) In 1971, Fort Pillow became a State park. 10
(10) In 1973, Fort Pillow was added to the Na-11
tional Register of Historic Places. 12
(11) The following year, in 1974, Fort Pillow 13
was designated as a National Historic Landmark. 14
(12) Fort Pillow Historic State Park consists of 15
1,642 acres. 16
(13) The Park contains several attraction areas 17
such as a Civil War museum, hiking trail, camping 18
ground, and picnic area. 19
(14) This site deserves to become a National 20
Battlefield Park due to its profound effect on 21
U.S.C.T. and all Union forces in their fight to pre-22
serve the United States of America. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•HR 926 IH
SEC. 3. FORT PILLOW SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY. 1
The Secretary of the Interior shall conduct a special 2
resource study of Fort Pillow Historic State Park in 3
Henning, Tennessee. Fort Pillow is a State park that fea-4
tures the American Civil War history and the Massacre 5
at Fort Pillow. The Secretary shall— 6
(1) evaluate the site’s national significance; and 7
(2) determine the suitability and feasibility of 8
designating it as a unit of the National Historic 9
Park System. 10
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H926.IH H926
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB