Battle of Fort Walker

The Battle of Fort Walker, was fought on June 15, 1864, during the Siege of Petersburg. Originally known as Battery 35, Fort Walker was built for nine guns in Bailey's Woods on high ground east of present-day Willcox Lake. After the Army of Northern Virginia occupied it in June 1864, it was named Fort Walker for 3rd Corps Chief of Artillery Col. (later Gen.) Reuben L. Walker. According to one letter from Captain A. R. Arter, the battle ended with a massacre of all the surrendered rebel troops at Fort Walker by the United States Colored Troops who had been stationed at Fort Pocahontas on the James River. The previous slaughter of all black soldiers by rebel troops at the Battle of Fort Pillow had been a rallying cry of the U.S.C.T. troops, and at Fort Walker they killed all the rebels even when they begged for mercy.
Letters
Two letters describe the battle and its macabre results in great detail. The first is from Captain A. R. Arter, 143 Reg Ohio, who was stationed at Fort Pocahontas, then called Wilson's Landing:
The second letter is from an Ohio newspaper that regularly published letters from the troops:

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