William Bradford

Major William "Bill" Bradford was a soldier during the American Civil War. A Tennessee native, he created the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.), a regiment made up of Unionists (Tennessee had joined the Confederate States). As he and his men were "homemade Yankees", and because Bradford had used the regiment to target his enemies, the Thirteenth were specifically targeted by Confederate forces at the Battle of Fort Pillow.

From January until April, 1864, Bradford had been in overall command of Fort Pillow, until General Stephen A. Hurlbut ordered the Second U.S. Colored Light Artillery and the Sixth U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, both under the overall command of Major Lionel F. Booth to the fort. Booth had been promoted before Bradford, and so took overall command of the fort. Losing command and the presence of black troops rankled Bradford, but he kept his peace. Nonetheless, he worried about the possibility that Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest would attack the fort, and that the defenders, particularly the black troops, would fold in the assault.

When the attack came a few days later on April 12, 1864, Bradford was completely surprised, and showed some lack of resolve. Lionel Booth, however, immediately took control, ordering skirmishers to support the pickets that surrounded the fort. When it became clear that the skirmishers could be overrun, Bradford proposed to Booth that more skirmishers be sent out, or the ones already out be pulled back in. Booth vetoed both, explaining that he hoped to hold back the Confederates until reinforcements arrived. Bradford didn't like the plan, but accepted it.

However, everything changed a matter minutes later when Booth was fatally shot.Bradford now found himself in overall command. He was astonished to learn that within a few minutes of Booth's death, his adjutant John D. Hill was also killed. Bradford informed his own adjutant, Lt. Mack Leaming, that he was now fort adjutant again. Bradford also confirmed his own belief that Forrest led a force of over six thousand men. He also decided to pursue Booth's policy of holding the fort and waiting for reinforcements.

One affirmative step Bradford took early in the battle was to attempt to set fire to the rows of barracks just outside the fort, in order to deny them to the Confederates. While one row was successfuly burned, the second row was not, and Confederate forces were able to drive of Federal troops, much to Bradford's disgust.The Confederates were able to take hold of the barracks. He ordered the New Era, the Union gunboat anchored in the Mississippi River to start shelling the barracks.

By noon of that day, Bradford had regained some confidence as Confederate troops had attacked the fort, and had been repelled each time. Still, Bradford asked his brother, Captain Theodorick Bradford, the signalman for the fort, to confirm that the New Era would be able to support the garrison with cannister should the Confederates break through. He also ordered Captain John Young, the fort's provost marshal, to take cartridges down to the bank fo the Mississippi River. Young didn't necessarily like the idea of suggesting defeat, but complied.

Not long after Confederate Captain Walter Goodman approached the fort under a flag of truce. Bradford sent Leaming, Young, and Second Lt. Daniel van Horn to treat with the Confederates. When Leaming returned, he conveyed Forrest's demand for immedate surrender with assurances that the entire garrison, Negro soldiers included, would be treated as prisoners of war. Leaming also confirmed that the Confederates did not yet know Major Booth had been killed. Bradford, realizing how much the Confederates hated him for being a "Tennessee Tory" decided to leave the in the dark. He stalled for time, sending a request for an hour for the officers to meet in Booth's name, hoping that reinforcements would arrive shortly.