"The Fort Pillow Massacre, 1864" by Kurz and Allison is a highly dramatized chromolithograph depicting the bloody aftermath of the Rebel assault on Fort Pillow, Tennessee, on April 12, 1864. The print shows Rebel soldiers storming into the fort as Union defenders, many of them African American troops of the U.S. Coloured Troops, are overwhelmed amid smoke, cannon fire, and chaotic hand-to-hand combat. Kurz and Allison emphasize the ferocity of the event with vivid detail—bayonets clashing, fallen bodies, and flags whipping in the turmoil—while presenting the scene as a shocking slaughter rather than a conventional battle. The historical event remains infamous as reports spread that large numbers of Union soldiers were killed after surrendering, making Fort Pillow a powerful symbol of Rebel brutality and a rallying cry for the Union cause.
