Pvt. Robert Stevens

Private Robert Stevens was born around 1819 in Franklin County, Virginia. He was likely enslaved in Tennessee and liberated by the Union Army at age of 45. At the time of his enlistment, he is described as 5’ 6” tall, with a black complexion, black eyes, and black hair. His occupation was listed as laborer, and he enlisted for three years.

Stevens enlisted on March 13, 1864, at Fort Pillow, about one month before the Battle of Fort Pillow, about 40 miles north of Memphis. Stevens was dispatched to the 3rd USCT Heavy Artillery at Memphis to serve as the cook in March and April, narrowly avoiding the massacre which occurred at the fort on April 12, 1864. Approximately 580 to 600 soldiers, half USCT, half white Tennesseans, were garrisoned at Fort Pillow when it was attacked by 2,500 troops commanded by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave trader and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. As the fight became chaotic with Union troops fleeing to the river, both Union and Confederate witnesses reported that Union troops were shot by Confederates while trying to surrender. An estimated 300 USCT troops were murdered while attempting to surrender.