The Civil War Legacy of Nathan Bedford Forrest: Past & Present (Illustrated)

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He became interested in the area around Crowley's Ridge during the war and settled in Memphis, Tennessee. In , Forrest and C. The historian Court Carney writes that Forrest was not universally popular in the white Memphis community; he alienated many of the city's businessmen in his commercial dealings, and he was criticized for questionable business practices that caused him to default on debts.

He was not as successful in railroad promoting as in war, and under his direction, the company went bankrupt. Nearly ruined as the result of this failure, Forrest spent his final days running an eight-hundred acre farm on land he leased on President's Island in the Mississippi River, where he and his wife lived in a log cabin. There, with the labor of over a hundred prison convicts, he grew corn, potatoes, vegetables, and cotton profitably, but his health was in steady decline. Sherman and offered his services in case of war with Spain. Sherman, who in the Civil War had recognized what a deadly foe Forrest was, replied after the crisis settled down.

He thanked Forrest for the offer and stated that had war broken out, he would have considered it an honor to have served side-by-side with him. Forrest was an early member of the Ku Klux Klan "KKK" or simply "the Klan" , which was formed by six veterans of the Confederate Army in Pulaski, Tennessee during the spring of , [] [] [] and soon expanded throughout the state and beyond. Forrest became involved sometime in late or early A common report is that Forrest arrived in Nashville in April while the Klan was meeting at the Maxwell House Hotel , probably at the encouragement of a state Klan leader, former Confederate general George Gordon.

Crowe stated, "After the order grew to large numbers we found it necessary to have someone of large experience to command. We chose General Forrest". Forest of Confederate fame was at our head, and was known as the Grand Wizard. I heard him make a speech in one of our Dens". As the Klan's first national leader, he became the Lost Cause 's avenging angel, galvanizing a loose collection of boyish secret social clubs into a reactionary instrument of terror still feared today. Following the war, the United States Congress began passing the Reconstruction Acts to lay out requirements for the former Confederate States to be readmitted to the Union, [] [] [] to include ratification of the Fourteenth , and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.


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The fourteenth addressed citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for former slaves, while the fifteenth specifically secured the voting rights of black men. White Americans who made up the KKK hoped to persuade black voters that a return to their pre-war state of bondage was in their best interest. Forrest assisted in maintaining order. It was after these efforts failed that Klan violence and intimidation escalated and became widespread.

In an interview by a Cincinnati newspaper, Forrest claimed that the Klan had 40, members in Tennessee and , total members throughout the Southern states.

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He claimed he could muster thousands of men himself. He described the Klan as "a protective political military organization The members are sworn to recognize the government of the United States His declaration had little effect, however, and few Klansmen destroyed their robes and hoods. After the lynch mob murder of four blacks, arrested for defending themselves at a barbecue, Forrest wrote to Tennessee Governor John C.

A Daughter Of THE South DefendINg My Confederate FaTHEr ‪Nathan BEdford ForREst‬

The Klan's activity infiltrated the Democrat's campaign for the presidential election of Forrest rode to the convention on a train that stopped in a small Northern town along the way, where he faced down a bully who wanted to fight the "damned butcher" of Fort Pillow. During the presidential election of , the Ku Klux Klan under the leadership of Forrest, and other terrorist groups, used brutal violence and intimidation against blacks and Republican voters.

Forrest probably organized a state wide Klan network in Georgia during these visits. Grant , for the Presidency at their convention held in October. Klansmen took their orders from their former Confederate officers. In Georgia, Republicans and blacks received threats and beatings at a higher rate. In Louisiana, 1, blacks were killed to suppress Republican voting. The Klan's violence was primarily designed to intimidate voters, targeting black and white supporters of the Republican Party.

Many in the north, including President Grant, backed the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, that gave voting rights to Americans regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". Congress and Grant passed the Enforcement Acts from to , to protect "registration, voting, officeholding, or jury service" of African Americans.

Under these laws enforced by Grant and the newly formed Department of Justice , there were over 5, indictments and 1, convictions of Klan members across the South. Forrest testified before the Congressional investigation of Klan activities on June 27, He denied membership, but his individual role in the KKK was beyond the scope of the investigating committee, which wrote, "our design is not to connect General Forrest with this order, the reader may form his own conclusion upon this question He sidestepped some questions and pleaded failure of memory on others.

Afterwards, he admitted to 'gentlemanly lies. On July 5, , Forrest demonstrated that his personal sentiments on the issue of race now differed from those of the Klan when he was invited to give a speech before the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association, a post-war organization of black Southerners advocating to improve the economic condition of blacks and to gain equal rights for all citizens.

At this, his last public appearance, he made what The New York Times described as a "friendly speech" [] during which, when offered a bouquet of flowers by a young black woman, he accepted them, [] thanked her and kissed her on the cheek as a token of reconciliation between the races. Forrest ignored his critics and spoke in encouragement of black advancement and of endeavoring to be a proponent for espousing peace and harmony between black and white Americans. In response to the Pole-Bearers speech, the Cavalry Survivors Association of Augusta , the first Confederate organization formed after the war, called a meeting in which Captain F.

Edgeworth Eve gave a speech expressing unmitigated disapproval of Forrest's remarks promoting inter-ethnic harmony, ridiculing his faculties and judgment and berating the woman who gave Forrest flowers as "a mulatto wench". 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". Forrest reportedly died from acute complications of diabetes at the Memphis home of his brother Jesse on October 29, His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever.

Forrest was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. Many memorials have been erected to Forrest, especially in Tennessee and other Southern states. Forrest was elevated in Memphis in particular—where he lived and died—to the status of folk hero. As of [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 none of whom were born in Tennessee. This monument stands as testament of our perpetual devotion and respect for Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest. CSA —, one of the South's finest heroes. In honor of Gen. Forrest's unwavering defense of Selma, the great state of Alabama, and the Confederacy, this memorial is dedicated. Board of Education decision. At the time the school was all white, but now more than half the student body is black. In August , a road on Fort Bliss named for Forrest decades earlier was renamed for former post commander Richard T.

Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton , who is black, blocked the move. Others have tried to get a bust of Forrest removed from the Tennessee House of Representatives chamber.

The Civil War Legacy of Nathan Bedford Forrest: Past & Present

G Scarlett removed the General's image from the university's official seal. 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. The school unveiled its latest mascot, a winged horse called "Lightning" inspired by the mythological Pegasus , during halftime of a basketball game against rival Tennessee State University on January 17, In , the frieze depicting General Forrest on horseback that had adorned the side of this building was removed amid protests, [] but a major push to change its name failed on February 16, , when the Tennessee Historical Commission denied Middle Tennessee State University's petition to rename Forrest Hall.

By the time German air-sea rescue arrived, only one of the crew was still alive in the water. Forrest is considered one of the Civil War's most brilliant tacticians by the historian Spencer C. Grant and considered him "the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side". Forrest became well known for his early use of maneuver tactics as applied to a mobile horse cavalry deployment. Paramount in his strategy was fast movement, even if it meant pushing his horses at a killing pace, to constantly harass his enemy during raids and disrupt supply trains and enemy communications by destroying railroad tracks and cutting telegraph lines, as he wheeled around his opponent's flank.

Noted Civil War scholar Bruce Catton writes:. He liked horses because he liked fast movement, and his mounted men could get from here to there much faster than any infantry could; but when they reached the field they usually tied their horses to trees and fought on foot, and they were as good as the very best infantry. Forrest is often erroneously quoted as saying his strategy was to "git thar fustest with the mostest".

Now often recast as "Getting there firstest with the mostest", [] this misquote first appeared in a New York Tribune article written to provide colorful comments in reaction to European interest in Civil War generals. The aphorism was addressed and corrected as "Ma'am, I got there first with the most men" by a New York Times story in Do not, under any circumstances whatever, quote Forrest as saying 'fustest' and 'mostest'.

He did not say it that way, and nobody who knows anything about him imagines that he did. Modern historians generally believe that Forrest's attack on Fort Pillow was a massacre, noting high casualty rates, and the rebels targeting black soldiers. It was, however, the South's publicly stated position that slaves firing on whites would be killed on the spot, along with Southern whites that fought for the Union, whom the Confederacy considered traitors.

By his inaction Forrest showed that he felt no compunction to stop the slaughter, and his repeated denials that he knew a massacre was taking place, or even that a massacre had occurred at all, are not credible. Consequently, despite this isolated incident in his otherwise distinguished career as a general, his role in it was a stigmatizing one for him the rest of his life, both professionally and personally, [] [] and contributed to his business problems after the war.

Since the war, Forrest has lived at Memphis, and his principal occupation seems to have been to try and explain away the Fort Pillow affair. He wrote several letters about it, which were published, and always had something to say about it in any public speech he delivered. He seemed as if he were trying always to rub away the blood stains which marked him.

Historians have differed in their interpretations of the events at Fort Pillow. Fuchs, author of An Unerring Fire , concluded:.

Nathan Bedford Forrest - Wikiwand

The affair at Fort Pillow was simply an orgy of death, a mass lynching to satisfy the basest of conduct—intentional murder—for the vilest of reasons—racism and personal enmity. Andrew Ward downplays the controversy:. Whether the massacre was premeditated or spontaneous does not address the more fundamental question of whether a massacre took place The new paradigm in social attitudes and the fuller use of available evidence has favored a massacre interpretation Debate over the memory of this incident formed a part of sectional and racial conflicts for many years after the war, but the reinterpretation of the event during the last thirty years offers some hope that society can move beyond past intolerance.

The site is now a Tennessee State Historic Park. Grant himself described Forrest as "a brave and intrepid cavalry general" while noting that Forrest sent a dispatch on the Fort Pillow Massacre "in which he left out the part which shocks humanity to read. Abraham Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest. When expressing this opinion to one of General Forrest's granddaughters, she replied after a pause, "You know, we never thought much of Mr.

Lincoln in my family". Forrest's legacy as "one of the most controversial — and popular — icons of the war" still draws heated public debate. In , a monument to Forrest in Selma, Alabama , was unveiled. In August, a historical society called Friends of Forrest moved forward with plans for a new, larger monument, which was to be 12 feet high, illuminated by LED lights, surrounded by a wrought-iron fence and protected by hour security cameras.

The plans triggered outrage and a group of around 20 protesters attempted to block construction of the new monument by lying in the path of a concrete truck. Forrest here is like glorifying a Nazi in Germany. For Selma, of all places, to have a big monument to a Klansman is totally unacceptable".

Wharton urged removal of the statue of Forrest in Health Sciences Park and suggested the relocation of Forrest and his wife to their original burial site in nearby Elmwood Cemetery. The Tennessee Historical Commission denied removal on October 21, under its authority granted by the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of , which protects war memorials on public property from cities or counties relocating, removing, renaming, or otherwise disturbing them without permission.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the Confederate general. For other uses, see Nathan Bedford Forrest disambiguation. The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met.

May Learn how and when to remove this template message. Battle of Fort Pillow. Battle of Brice's Crossroads. Interview with Nathan Bedford Forrest. American Civil War portal Tennessee portal Biography portal. Starr 1 September The War in the East: From Gettysburg to Appomattox, Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Louisiana State University Press. Report of the Committee on the Conduct of the War. All Previous Reports Fully Confirmed. The Horrors and Cruelties of the Scene Intensified.

Retrieved March 5, Horrible massacre by the rebels. Four Hundred of the Garrison Brutally Murdered. White and Black Indiscriminately Butchered. Devilish Atrocities of the Insatiate Fiends". Included in Sheehan-Dean, p. Pohanka; Don Troiani Because of his role in the Confederacy, Forrest was stripped of his rights as a U.

In the summer of those rights were restored, and he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson. Jones 17 March Generals in Blue and Gray: The Papers of Andrew Johnson: A Battle From the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest. On July 17, , Forrest finally received a pardon from the president, "for which," he told an audience, "I am truly thankful.

Civil War Generals of Tennessee. Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. The Confederacy's Relentless Warrior. Carpetbaggers, Cavalry, and the Ku Klux Klan: Exposing the Invisible Empire During Reconstruction. Critical Government Documents on Law and Order. Publishing house of the M. Hurst , pp. Confederate Wizards of the Saddle: Chapple Publishing Company, Limited. It is time to publish the truth about Miriam Beck Forrest and her family.

They were of English origin and came from Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home". United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 1, The cabin, which was his mother's home, claimed no more than eighteen by twenty feet of earth to rest upon, with a single room below and half-room or loft overhead. One end of this building was almost entirely given up to the broad fireplace, while near the middle of each side swung, on wooden hinges, a door.

There was no need of a window, for light and air found ready access through the door ways and cracks, and down through the wide chimney. A pane of glass was a luxury as yet unknown to this primitive life. Around and near the house was a cleared patch of land containing several acres enclosed with a straight stake fence of cedar rails, and by short cross fences divided into a yard immediately about the cabin; rearward of this a garden, and a young orchard of peach, apple, pear, and plum trees.

Generals South, Generals North: The Commanders of the Civil War Reconsidered. The River Was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow. University of Oklahoma Press. Medical Histories of Confederate Generals. Kent State University Press. Mitcham 4 October Bust Hell Wide Open: The Myth of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Sons of Confederate Veterans. Forrest and His Campaigns".

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Southern Historical Society Papers. Strategy, Battles and Key Figures. Knight 15 July The Desperate Venture of a Desperate Man. The Numerical Strength of the Confederate Army. The Peace Potential of Lightning War. Reid Ross 13 November Lincoln's Veteran Volunteers Win the War: Long 6 June Civil War Day by Day. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. General Nathan Bedford Forrest: The Boy and the Man.

Jones 1 October Campbell Brown's Civil War: With Ewell in the Army of Northern Virginia. Kentucky's Civil War Battlefields: A Guide to Their History and Preservation. The Campaigns of Lieut. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. The Army of Tennessee.

Nashville, the Occupied City: Jones 12 June Alabama and the Civil War: Grant Expelled the Jews". Retrieved May 17, Miers 1 September The Web of Victory: University of Minnesota Press. Hebert October 30, Archived from the original on July 12, Retrieved 18 March Beck 14 April In Search of the Enigma. The Chickamauga Campaign, Barren Victory: Failure in the Saddle: The story originated with Dr.

Cowan claimed to have followed Forrest into Bragg's tent, making him the only eyewitness, and the only one of the three still alive when his tale was printed. The War of the Rebellion: New Evidence about an Old Controversy". The Fort Pillow Massacre: Confederate Rage, Yankee Wrath: No Quarter in the Civil War. Government Printing Office, p. The Massacre at Fort Pillow. Memoirs of General William T. The massacre at Fort Pillow occurred April 12, , and has been the subject of congressional inquiry.

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No doubt Forrest's men acted like a set of barbarians, shooting down the helpless negro garrison after the fort was in their possession; but I am told that Forrest personally disclaims any active participation in the assault, and that he stopped the firing as soon as he could. I also take it for granted that Forrest did not lead the assault in person, and consequently that he was to the rear, out of sight if not of hearing at the time, and I was told by hundreds of our men, who were at various times prisoners in Forrest's possession, that he was usually very kind to them.

He had a desperate set of fellows under him, and at that very time there is no doubt the feeling of the Southern people was fearfully savage on this very point of our making soldiers out of their late slaves, and Forrest may have shared the feeling. Personal Memoirs of U.

These troops fought bravely, but were overpowered. I will leave Forrest in his dispatches to tell what he did with them. The approximate loss was upward of five hundred killed, but few of the officers escaping. My loss was about twenty killed. It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners.

Allardice; Lawrence Lee Hewitt 13 January University Press of Kentucky. Ballard 27 May The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles. Barney 1 August The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War. Busbee, Jr 28 October June 10, , Washington, DC: A Battle from the Start: The Religion of Ancient Mesopotamia.


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