[147][148][149][150][151][152][153], Following the war, the United States Congress began passing the Reconstruction Acts to specify conditions for the readmission of former Confederate States to the United States,[154][155][156] including ratification of the Fourteenth (1868), and Fifteenth (1870) Amendments to the United States Constitution. The infantry, tired, weary, and suffering under the heat, were quickly broken and sent into mass retreat. He was a big, rough man, 6-foot-2-inches, over 200 pounds, during a time when . Afterwards, he admitted to 'gentlemanly lies'. The group was a loose collection of local factions throughout the former Confederacy that used violence and the threat of violence to maintain white control over the newly enfranchised formerly enslaved people. Known as "the Wizard of the Saddle," Nathan Bedford Forrest was a prominent Confederate cavalry officer whose reputation was stained by accusations regarding his role in the "Fort Pillow Massacre" on April 12, 1864. 29.--Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest passed away in the Memphis home of his brother Jesse on October 29, 1877. [115] During Hood's Tennessee Campaign, he fought alongside General John Bell Hood, the newest commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, in the Second Battle of Franklin on November 30. [253], In June 2020, after Black members of the Tennessee House of Representatives unsuccessfully asked it to eliminate a state celebration of Forrest, Representative Cameron Sexton opined: "I dont think anybody here is truly racist. [95][96][97], Following the cessation of hostilities, Forrest transferred the 14 most seriously wounded United States Colored Troops (USCT) to the U.S. steamer Silver Cloud. If you read Eddy W. Davison's "Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma," on page 464 and 474-475, you can see that Forrest not only publicly disavowed the KKK and worked to terminate it, but in August 1874, Forrest "volunteered to help 'exterminate' those men responsible for the continued violence against the blacks." After the murder of four blacks by a lynch mob after they were . On July 13, 1862, led them into the First Battle of Murfreesboro, as a result of which all of the U.S. units surrendered to Forrest. He then mounted a second horse, shot out from under him, forcing him to mount a third horse. [175] The committee also noted, "The natural tendency of all such organizations is to violence and crime; hence it was that General Forrest and other men of influence in the state, by the exercise of their moral power, induced them to disband". Hood ordered Forrest to conduct an independent raid against the Murfreesboro garrison. The poor deluded negroes would run up to our men fall upon their knees and with uplifted hands scream for mercy but they were ordered to their feet and then shot down. Historians have differed in their interpretations of the events at Fort Pillow. The aphorism was addressed and corrected as "Ma'am, I got there first with the most men" by a New York Times story in 1918. It is reported that he had killed seven persons with this sword during the war. Congress and Grant passed the Enforcement Acts from 1870 to 1871 to protect the "registration, voting, officeholding, or jury service" of African Americans. Perhaps the most highly regarded cavalry and partisan ( guerrilla) leader in the war, Forrest is regarded by many military historians as that conflict's most innovative and successful general. Streight's goal changed from dismantling the railroad to escaping the pursuit. At the onset of the war in 1861, Jeffery and Nathan each enlisted as a Private into Captain Josiah White's Tennessee Mounted Rifles, a command that would later be designated the 7th Tennessee Cavalry. [6], Forrest's most decisive victory came on June 10, 1864, when his 3,500-man force clashed with 8,500 men commanded by U.S. Army Brig. [176] George Cantor, a biographer of Confederate generals, wrote, "Forrest ducked and weaved, denying all knowledge, but admitted he knew some of the people involved. He sidestepped some questions and pleaded failure of memory on others. Forrest County, Mississippi is named after him, as is Forrest City, Arkansas. Nathan Bedford Forrest (13 Juli 1821 - 29 Oktober 1877) adalah seorang jenderal Tentara Konfederasi pada Perang Saudara Amerika dan pemimpin Ku Klux Klan berpengaruh pasca-perang. Tippah County, Mississippi native Jeffery Edward Forrest was a younger and purportedly favorite brother of Nathan Bedford Forrest. In honor of Gen. Forrest's unwavering defense of Selma, the great state of Alabama, and the Confederacy, this memorial is dedicated. Nathan Bedford Forrest. As of 2007[update], Tennessee had 32 dedicated historical markers linked to Nathan Bedford Forrest, more than are dedicated to all three former Presidents associated with the state combined: Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson. MEMPHIS, Tenn., Oct. [132], Forrest reportedly died from acute complications of diabetes at the Memphis home of his brother Jesse on October 29, 1877. During . Nathan Bedford Forrest was certainly an extraordinary man, a Herculean hero of the American wilderness who has blotted his copybook amongst the politically correct because of allegations stemming from his capture of Fort Pillow and his part in the original Ku Klux Klan. Forrest spoke in the encouragement of black advancement and endeavored to be a proponent for espousing peace and harmony between black and white Americans. [159], In an 1868 interview by a Cincinnati newspaper, Forrest claimed that the Klan had 40,000 members in Tennessee and 550,000 total members throughout the Southern United States. [81] Forrest's men immediately took over the fort, while U.S. Army soldiers retreated to the lower bluffs of the river, but the USS New Era did not come to their rescue. Forrest carried a model 1840 officer's cavalry sword from Horstmann and Sons of Philadelphia. [188], Forrest was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. 1 Review. 5.] [170] The party advocated the termination of the Freedman's Bureau and any government policy designed to aid blacks in the Southern United States. "War means fighting, and fighting means killing". On May 9, 1865, at Gainesville, Forrest read his farewell address to the men under his command, urging them to "submit to the powers to be, and to aid in restoring peace and establishing law and order throughout the land. His mother, Miriam, then married James Horatio Luxton, of Marshall, Texas, in 1843 and gave birth to four more children.[36]. The bodies of General Nathan Bedford Forrest . Nathan Bedford Forest was a well-known confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan (Tilinghast 1). [132] Aiming to right his past wrongs, Forrest encouraged African-Americans to "work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly", as well as declaring that "when you are oppressed, I'll come to your relief". [109] When Sturgis's Federal army came upon the crossroads, they collided with Forrest's cavalry. [255] Sexton said that he believed the removal of the bust "aligns with the teaching of communism. Tennessee officials voted Thursday to remove the bust of a Ku Klux Klan and Confederate leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the State Capitol and into the Tennessee State Museum. [94] These statements were contradicted by U.S. Army survivors and by the letter of a Confederate soldier who graphically recounted a massacre. [12][13] Forrest was the first son of Mariam (Beck) and William Forrest. Avoiding attack by never staying in one place long, Forrest eventually led his troops during the spring and summer of 1864 on raids into west Tennessee, as far north as the banks of the Ohio River in southwest Kentucky and into north Mississippi. [14] He and his twin sister, Fanny, were the two eldest of 12 children. RebelForrest.com | "Rebel Forrest" is a one-hour documentary on Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) and has been presented at film festivals in Knoxville. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the only soldier to rise from the rank of private to general during the U.S. Civil War. In the hasty retreat, they stripped off commemorative badges that read "Remember Fort Pillow" to avoid goading the Confederate force pursuing them.[111]. The Confederates tried to storm the fort but were repulsed; they rallied and made two more attempts, both of which failed. [190], On July 7, 2015, the Memphis City Council unanimously voted to remove the statue of Forrest from Health Sciences Park, and to return the remains of Forrest and his wife to Elmwood Cemetery. [203] The bust of Forrest was stolen from the cemetery monument in March 2012 and replaced in May 2015. [68] Gould shot Forrest in the hip, and Forrest mortally stabbed Gould. Laying down the body, Forrest spread his handkerchief over his dead brother's face and, calling on a member of his escort to remain with the corpse, he mounted his horse and said to those who were present: "Follow me.". He was particularly famous for his determination to be "first with the most men." He was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, on July 13, 1821. As a result, Grant was forced to revise and delay his Vicksburg campaign strategy. Local lawyer and radio host Rose Sanders said, "Glorifying Nathan B. Forrest here is like glorifying a Nazi in Germany. A common report is that Forrest arrived in Nashville in April 1867 while the Klan was meeting at the Maxwell House Hotel, probably at the encouragement of a state Klan leader, former Confederate general George Gordon. One of the wounded Matlock men survived and served under Forrest during the Civil War. In Room 10 of the Maxwell, Forrest was sworn in as a member by John W. Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. "[126] A memorial to him, the first Civil War memorial in Memphis, was erected in 1905 in a new Nathan Bedford Forrest Park. [218] U.S. Army General William Tecumseh Sherman called him "that devil Forrest" in wartime communications with Ulysses S. Grant and considered him "the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side".[219][220][4]. McCreanor contracted to finish the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, including a right-of-way that passed over the ridge. Forrest sent a full charge after the retreating army and captured 16 artillery pieces, 176 wagons, and 1,500 stands of small arms. . He reported for training at Fort Wright near Randolph, Tennessee,[41] joining Captain Josiah White's cavalry company, the Tennessee Mounted Rifles (Seventh Tennessee Cavalry), as a private along with his youngest brother and 15-year-old son. Birthday: July 13, 1821 ( Cancer) Born In: Bedford County, Tennessee, United States 24 18 Military Leaders #37 Leaders #221 Quick Facts Nick Name: Old Bed, Devil Forrest, Wizard of the Saddle Died At Age: 56 Family: father: William Forrest mother: Miriam Beck siblings: Colonel Jesse Forrest, John Cimprich Military Leaders American Men [90] Forrest's men were alleged to have set fire to a U.S. barracks with wounded U.S. Army soldiers inside[91][92] In defense of their actions, Forrest's men insisted that the U.S. soldiers, although fleeing, kept their weapons and frequently turned to shoot, forcing the Confederates to keep firing in self-defense. [4] While scholars generally acknowledge Forrest's skills and acumen as a cavalry leader and military strategist, he is a controversial figure in U.S. history for his role in the massacre of several hundred U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Pillow, a majority of them black, coupled with his role following the war as a leader of the Klan. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse, and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader. A surgeon removed the musket ball a week later without anesthesia, which was unavailable. When General Nathan Bedford Forrest was born on 13 July 1821, in Chapel Hill, Marshall, Tennessee, United States, his father, William B Forrest, was 20 and his mother, Miriam A Beck, was 19. [98] The 226 U.S. Army troops taken prisoner at Fort Pillow were marched under guard to Holly Springs, Mississippi and then convoyed to Demopolis, Alabama. He married Mary Frances Bassler on 19 November 1930, in Cook, Illinois, United States. [158] Author Andrew Ward, however, writes, "In the spring of 1867, Forrest and his dragoons launched a campaign of midnight parades; 'ghost' masquerades; and 'whipping' and even 'killing Negro voters and white Republicans, to scare blacks off voting and running for office'". [112] Concerned about U.S. Army supply lines, Maj. Gen. Sherman sent a force under the command of Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith to deal with Forrest. [160][161] He said he sympathized with them, but denied any formal connection, although he claimed he could muster thousands of men himself. A successful cavalry commander during the Civil War noted for his tactics of mobile warfare,. Prominent ex-Confederates, including Forrest, the Grand Wizard of the Klan, and South Carolina's Wade Hampton, attended as delegates at the 1868 Democratic Convention, held at Tammany Hall headquarters at 141 East 14th Street in New York City. (Memphis, Tenn.) 18471886, July 06, 1875, Image 1", "Ex-Confederates: Meeting of Cavalry Survivor's Association", "Confederate Veterans on Forrest: 'Unworthy of a Southern gentleman', "Council begins process of removing Nathan Bedford Forrest's remains", "Memphis removes Confederate statues from Downtown parks", "Memphis to Jefferson Davis: 'Na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye', "Bust of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest Is Unveiled", "Arnold Engineering Development Center, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee: An Air Force Materiel Command Test Facility", "Confederate soldiers have their own medal of honor", "Florida High School Keeps KKK Founder's Name", "Confederate general's name removed from Army's road", "Soldier turned down film job to fight, die in Korea", "Forrest Hall: The Evolution of Middle Tennessee's Mascot", "Forrest Hall Name Change Decision Delayed", "Commission denies MTSU's request to change the name of Forrest Hall", "Hank Aaron replaces Confederate general in school name", "May 1, 1863 [No. [129][130][131][132][133][134][135][136], Forrest was an early member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which was formed by six veterans of the Confederate Army in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the spring of 1866[137][138][139] and soon expanded throughout the state and beyond. [19][13][20] In 1858, Forrest was elected a Memphis city alderman as a Democrat and served two consecutive terms. Lieutenant Andrew Wills Gould, an artillery officer in Forrest's command, was being transferred, presumably because cannons under his command[66] were spiked (disabled) by the enemy[67] during the Battle of Day's Gap. Nathan Bedford Forrest War, Ku Klux Klan, League 168 Copy quote I loved the old government in 1861. [169] The Democratic Party platform denounced the Reconstruction Acts as unconstitutional, void, and revolutionary. The Blue Raiders' athletic mascot was changed to an ambiguous swash-buckler character called the "Blue Raider" to avoid association with Forrest or the Confederacy. On May 3, Forrest caught up with Streight's unit east of Cedar Bluff, Alabama. After serving as the president of the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad, he settled on managing a plantation manned by convict labour. He emptied his Colt Army revolvers into the swirling mass of U.S. Army soldiers and pulled out his saber, hacking, and slashing. Nathan Bedford Forrest. "Every moment lost is worth the life of a thousand men". Not realizing that the rest of his men had halted their charge when they reached the full U.S. brigade, Forrest charged the brigade alone and soon found himself surrounded. People. After his bloody defeat at Franklin, Hood continued to Nashville. [157] According to Wills, in the August 1867 state elections the Klan was relatively restrained in its actions. The association voted unanimously to amend its constitution to expressly forbid publicly advocating for or hinting at any association of white women and girls as being in the same classes as "females of the negro race". For other uses, see, Klan prosecution and Congressional testimony (1871), sfn error: no target: CITEREFNewton2014's (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFSelect_CommitteePolandScott1872 (, church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, List of American Civil War generals (Confederate), Nathan Bedford Forrest bust in the Tennessee General Assembly building, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, "Tennessee to remove bust of Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from state Capitol", "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home", "Lieutenant-General N. B. Forrest and His Campaigns", "Civil War Myths, Mistakes and Fabrications", "The Fort Pillow Massacre. nathan bedford forrest statue 85 Nathan Bedford Forrest Premium High Res Photos Browse 85 nathan bedford forrest stock photos and images available or search for nathan bedford forrest statue to find more great stock photos and pictures. 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