‘The sick recovered instantly.’ Johnson and fellow scout Robert M. Martin rode ahead of the expedition. Most Popular #58145. The previous month, Forrest suffered one of his few defeats, at Dover, Tennessee, while serving under Major General Joseph Wheeler. During the course of the war, several horses were shot out from under Forrest. When the Confederates were within 200 yards of them, the Yankees opened fire. One shot took effect in his horse’s head, but did not kill him. Starnes, having exhausted his revolver’s ammunition, hurled the empty weapon at one of the fleeing Northerners. Forrest called a halt and ordered all saddle girths to be tightened. The first week of winter was hardly an ideal time for soldiering, but these inexperienced troopers were looking forward to their first real action of the Civil War. He slashed Union Captain Albert G. Bacon, whom he had already shot, with his saber. Nathan Bedford Forrest Fans Also Viewed . In 1841 Forrest went into business with his uncle Jonathan Forrest in Hernando However, the image of Forrest as a butcher wantonly killing black troops at Fort Pillow was reinforced in the public mind by his post-war activities. He, along with his twin sister Fanny, was the eldest of the 12 children born to his parents. 24. ‘Forrest seemed in desperate mood and very much excited,’ Kelley wrote. Isham, who knew Forrest by his reputation as a businessman in Memphis, commissioned him a lieutenant colonel with the authority to recruit a battalion of mounted rangers. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a self-taught man who made his fortune as a cotton planter and trader of enslaved people. ‘Well, sir,’ said Forrest, ‘I should like to have you with me. 9. Meanwhile, the dismounted troopers, concealed behind trees, logs and fences, continued sniping at the Union horsemen. When the Confederates were driven back the next day, Forrest had the rear guard position and, at Fallen Timbers, he ordered a cavalry charge—only to find himself alone among the enemy soldiers. In April 1864, in what has been called “one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history,” troops under Forrest’s command massacred Union troops who had surrendered, most of them black soldiers, along with some white Southern Tennesseans fighting for the Union, at the Battle of Fort Pillow. When a large portion of Rosecrans’ men routed from the field, Forrest pursued, rounding up hundreds of prisoners. Copyright © 2020 Tons Of Facts. The death of his father led young Nathan to become the head of the family. Cancer Named Nathan #8. One of them, Roderick, gained fame during the skirmish at Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, on March 5, 1863. "Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Ku Klux Klan: Yankee Myth, Confederate Fact" Purchase this book on our webstores: www.SeaRavenPress.com I told these boys that this war was about slavery, and if we lose, you will be made free. ‘…We started in at a gallop,’ Button remembered, ‘and soon passed a couple of prisoners captured by the advance-guard, one of them wounded and both bloody and muddy; a little farther on a loose horse, full rigged, and close by a bluecoat stuck in the mud; then several bluecoats in the same fix…. Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan, in 1867, two years after its founding, and was elected its first Grand Wizard. New men naturally grumbled, but when the work was done all were reconciled by the pride felt in the achievement.’. If we whip the fight and you stay with me you will be made free. Hoping to draw the enemy after him, he ordered his advance troops to fall back. Forrest : Memphis' first White Civil Rights Advocate. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a cotton farmer, slave owner, slave trader, Confederate Army general during the American Civil War, first leader of the Ku Klux Klan, and president of the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad. The plan worked. While no... Homepage Featured Top Stories, Homepage Hero, Mag: Military History Featured, Military History, Military History Magazine. 10. ‘Now, Bob,’ Forrest instructed Martin, ‘I want you to start at once for Greenville. 29. The excited troopers did their best to ignore the bitter cold and freezing rain that intermittently swirled in the air. Although scholars admire Forrest as a military strategist, he has remained a highly controversial figure in Southern history, especially for his role in the attack on Fort Pillow, his 1867 to 1869 leadership of the Ku Klux Klan, and his political influence as a Tennessee delegate at the 1868 Democratic National Convention. Forrest pushed on to Greenville to join Kelley while his scouts rode north toward Rumsey to find the Yankee horsemen. The ground had begun to thaw by this time, and we were soon covered with mud from head to foot. 30. Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris had plucked Forrest from the ranks of the Tennessee Mounted Rifles Company and offered him a command of Picking up the pace, the Confederate advance force soon approached the Federal rear-guard. ‘This command,’ Major David C. Kelley wrote, ‘found that it was his single will, impervious to argument, appeal, or threat, which was ever to be the governing impulse in their movements. Nathan Bedford Forrest is best known as a Politician. It was not uncommon in battle for Nathan to lose a few at a time while he rode amongst his men giving orders. In 1869, Forrest became disillusioned with the lack of discipline among the various white supremacist groups across the South, ordered the dissolution of the Ku Klux Klan and its costumes to be destroyed, and withdrew from the organization. As an effort of reconciliation, during a meeting with African Americans in 1875, Forrest accepted flowers from a black woman, a gesture that led to his being denounced by some of his former comrades in the Confederate Army. Johnson will go with you; and if you learn anything he can come back and report. Nathan was well known for his gambling habit. Cancer Politician #23. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. Along line of Confederate cavalrymen interrupted the quiet tranquility of a Kentucky winter as they slowly rode north. Robert E. Lee. The Confederates chased the Yankees to Sacramento, where, according to Forrest, his troopers ‘commenced a promiscuous saber slaughter of their rear, which was continued at almost full speed for 2 miles beyond the village, leaving their bleeding and wounded strewn along the whole route…. Ever since the battle, controversy has surrounded the question of whether Forrest ordered the “massacre at Fort Pillow,” as it became known, or rode in and stopped it. Among the Confederates, there were two dead: Captain C.E. 8. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a successful businessman, Confederate general and war hero, leader of the first era Ku Klux Klan, and overall one of the most controversial figures in American history. ‘Now, boys, keep quiet,’ he said to his men. He killed 9 of the enemy.’, The Rebel horsemen, Johnson remembered, ‘led by this impetuous chieftain, swooped down upon their foes with such terrific yells and sturdy blows as might have them believe a whole army was on them, and turning tail, they fled in the wildest terror, a panic-stricken mass of men and horses, Forrest’s men mixed up with them, cutting and shooting right and left, and Forrest himself in his fury ignoring all command and always in the thickest of the melee.’, Forrest’s apparent ardor for battle astounded his men. Charles W. Button, one of the youths who assisted Forrest in Louisville, recalled his first meeting with the lieutenant colonel: ‘I was attending a military drill with a local company to which I belonged, and as I rode up home, dressed in my new uniform, I saw my father and a splendid-looking man in serious conversation in the front yard. The enemy had on the regular U.S. uniform overcoat, and the man on our side had been in the Mexican War and had on a coat like they had — blue. Finding the Rochester area empty of Union troops, Forrest started back toward Greenville the next day. Forrest had enlisted as a private only a month before. Our line of historical magazines includes America's Civil War, American History, Aviation History, Civil War Times, Military History, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vietnam, Wild West and World War II. Nathan Bedford Forrest, (born July 13, 1821, near Chapel Hill, Tennessee, U.S.—died October 29, 1877, Memphis, Tennessee), Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War (1861–65) who was often described as a “born military genius.” His rule of action, “Get there first with the most men,” became one of the most often quoted statements of the war. Those of my men whose horses were able to keep up found no difficulty in piercing through every one they came up with.’ Captain McLemore remembered, ‘It was the only time I ever saw a hand-to-hand contest with sabers.’, Standing in the stirrups, Forrest slashed to the left and right among the terror-stricken Federals. His work in the Civil War earned him the nickname the Wizard of the Saddle. During Reconstruction, Forrest’s citizenship rights were restored with the pardon he received from President Andrew Johnson on July 17, 1868, but he never could escape the label of Butcher of Fort Pillow. ‘Colonel Forrest spoke to the bugler,’ Private Gray remembered, ”Blow the charge, Isham.’ With that, we raised the yell and away we went. At Chipyong-ni an outnumbered regimental combat team turned the tide of the Korean War... Get inside articles from the world's premier publisher of history magazines. Forrest’s troopers spent the remainder of the day apprehending Union fugitives and gathering up the wounded and dead. Those who cannot entirely equip themselves will be furnished arms by the State.’ Forrest took this last promise to heart. Nathan Bedford Forrest Facts. Like the eager horsemen in his charge, Forrest itched for a fight. Passing through Greenville on a subsequent expedition, Forrest stopped in to inquire personally after the man. In May 1865, Forrest surrendered at Selma, was paroled, and he returned to his cotton plantations. ‘His muscular, well-proportioned figure, over six feet in height, was indicative of extraordinary physical strength. Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan B. Forrest (Library of Congress), Fort Donelson His recruits found him impressive in both stature and manner. Battle Of Fort Pillow Just before Christmas, a Texan named Adam R. Johnson arrived in camp and offered Forrest his services as a scout. Vital Stats. ‘We got up and saddled, mounted our horse, and took up our line of march over the same road we had picketed all night before.’. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. The death of his father led young Nathan to become the head of the family. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general widely portrayed by the Southern press as the Civil War’s most daring and cunning cavalryman. Admitting membership during Reconstruction might have meant prison for him. 14. On a cold and blustery Monday — which is all anyone can expect from a spring morning in Michigan — three centennial Marines and two 100-year-old Army veterans sat poised to face off for their equivalent of The Masters. Some 60 black troops and about 170 whites were taken prisoner. After the horse suffered three wounds, Forrest dismounted and ordered him taken to the rear for treatment. He then charged Captain A. N. Davis, and their horses slammed together in a violent collision. In transmitting the lieutenant colonel’s official report of the engagement, Clark added a postcript: ‘For the skill, courage, and energy displayed by Colonel Forrest he is entitled to the highest praise, and I take great pleasure in calling the attention of the general commanding and of the Government to his services. ‘Colonel Forrest came in just as we got covered up,’ trooper Gray remembered. 3. Forrest set up winter headquarters at Hopkinsville, in southwestern Kentucky, on December 20, lodging his troopers in floored tents as they contended with the cold and an outbreak of measles. In 1841, he followed his uncle to start up a business in Hernando, Mississippi. These boys stayed with me, drove my teams, and better confederates did not live.”. Words cannot describe the scene. Though seriously wounded, he managed to escape. He got married to Mary Ann Montgomery, daughter of a Presbyterian minister in 1845. On December 26, Brigadier General Charles Clark, commanding an independent brigade in Confederate Department Number 2, ordered Forrest’s battalion to reconnoiter toward Rochester and Greenville, about 30 miles to the northeast. Nathan Bedford Forrest had absolutely nothing to do with the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. Forrest died from diabetes in Memphis on October 29, 1877. Eight miles up the Rumsey road Johnson reported back to Forrest with news that 500 Federal troops had forded the Green River from Calhoun to Rumsey. I was introduced to Col. Forrest and told that he was recruiting soldiers, and, as I had already determined to go out, he wished me to go with him.’ After assisting Forrest in Kentucky, Button accompanied him back to Memphis as a recruit. 21. 4. ‘The Col. was about 50 yards ahead of us fighting for his life,’ Private James H. Hamner wrote. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/nathan-bedford-forrest 19. Birthday: July 13th, 1821 Birth Name: Nathan Bedford Forrest Birthplace: Chapel Hill, Tennessee Date of Death: October 29th, 1877 Cause: Complications of Diabetes Place of Death: Memphis, Tennessee Height: 6’2″ Nationality: American Ancestry: Scotch Irish https://www.sunsigns.org/famousbirthdays/d/profile/nathan-bedford-forrest His demands were refused. This article was written by William J. Stier and originally published in the December 1999 issue of Civil War Times Magazine. The blacksmith’s son from Tennessee had only just begun to tap into a fervor for battle that few other men could match. He sold people for decades. Forrest is quoted in a postwar interview with the Cincinnati Commercial, August 28, 1868, as saying, “When I entered the army I took forty-seven Negroes into the Army with me, and forty-five of them were surrendered with me. Forrest earned the nickname “the wizard of the saddle” for his lightening raids, and his rear-area strikes became part of the basis for modern warfare strategies and tactics. His methods subsequently influenced many future generations of military strategists, although the Confederate high command failed to fully utilize his talents until it was too late to win the war. Civil War Battles Battle Of Nashville In 1841, he followed his uncle to start up a business in Hernando, Mississippi. Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, on July 13, 1821. He led the paramilitary wing of the Democratic party that had to resort to some unpleasant vigilante actions to restore the natural order of things. One of Forrest’s wounded, recalled Private Hamner, ‘was from our company and was shot by one of our own men. Their horses were exhausted. 765 likes. According to Union Brigadier General Thomas L. Crittenden, the flight began when’some dastard unknown shouted, ‘Retreat to Sacramento!” Most of the Federals chose to obey this mysterious ‘order’ over the entreaties of officers trying to organize a defense. ‘I believe there was at least fifty shots fired at him in five minutes. The lieutenant colonel shared his winter quarters with his wife, Mary Ann, and their 15-year-old son, Willie. Johnson got his chance to do some scouting sooner than he might have expected. The least of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s sins is the damned Klan. Forrest volunteered as a private in the Confederate Army on June 14, 1861, but at the request of Tennessee’s governor, Isham G. Harris, he raised and equipped an entire cavalry battalion at his own expense; the former private was made a lieutenant colonel. In the last years of his life, Forrest publicly denounced the violence and racism practiced by the Klan, insisted that he had never been a member, and made repeated public speeches in favor of racial harmony. His face flushed till it bore a striking resemblance to a painted Indian warrior’s, and his eyes, usually mild in their expression, were blazing with the intense glare of a panther’s springing upon its prey. 13. One of my companies is from Texas, and you may go in with it if you wish.’ After making sure he would be allowed to serve as a scout, Johnson accepted Forrest’s offer. Before the end of July, he ran advertisements in the Memphis Avalanche and other newspapers. An inquiry by the U.S. Congress two weeks after the battle was inconclusive in its findings. Either way, you will be freed. He had exhausted his fortune during the war, and with the abolition of slavery he lost one of his most valuable avenues for making money. First Grand Wizard Of Ku Klux Klan, Explore articles from the History Net archives about Nathan Bedford Forrest, » See all Nathan Bedford Forrest Articles. General Crittenden estimated the Yankee losses at an unlikely total of 8 killed and perhaps 13 captured. Nathan Bedford Forrest - Nathan Bedford Forrest - Postwar life and the Ku Klux Klan: Forrest’s postwar business career was not as lucrative as his antebellum ventures. 15. Riding at the head of the column’s main body was 40-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest. ‘This battle had a splendid effect in our regiment,’ Private J.C. Blanton wrote, ‘causing men and officers to confide in and respect each other. Twenty-nine horses fell under Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Yankee cavalrymen moved forward and were lining up for a charge when the rest of the Confederate horsemen rode up. The first battle under Forrest’s command left Kelley with a vivid impression of his chief. In June, Forrest achieved a notable victory at Brice’s Crossroads, but was followed by a Confederate defeat at Tupelo, in July, where he was wounded in battle. His career nearly ended at Parker’s Crossroads, Tennessee, on Dec. 31, 1862. Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at Old Live Oak Cemetery. All Rights Reserved. Nathan Bedford Forrest Day Shirt, Nathan Bedford Forrest Shirt, General Nathan Bedford Shirt, Forrest Day, Forrest, Tennesee MezianeProDesign $ 30.55. On the morning of December 28, a squad of about 40 Tennessee troopers under Lieutenant Colonel James W. Starnes and Captain William S. McLemore met Forrest’s column with news that they had tangled the previous day with Federal cavalry a few miles north at South Carrollton. The two columns would link up in a day or two. 20. Battle Of Chickamauga, Innovative Cavalry Leader He was a man to catch the look and hold the attention of the most casual observer, and as we gazed on each other I felt that he was a born leader and one that I would be willing to follow.’, As Johnson entered Forrest’s tent, the lieutenant colonel gave him a keen, searching look and asked, ‘Well, sir, what do you want?’. In fact, he looked as little like the Forrest of our mess-table as the storm of December resembles the quiet of June.’, Severely pressed in the center and on both flanks, the Federal party began a disorderly retreat. The Ku Klux Klan or Invisible Empire, a 1914 book written by Laura Martin Rose, a native of Tennessee and former president and historian of Mississippi’s United Daughters of the Confederacy, named Forrest the “Grand Wizard of the Invisible Empire” and on pages 19–22 gives details on him joining the KKK in Room 10 of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, nearly a year after the group was organized at Pulaski, Tennessee. William Tecumseh Sherman. Forrest wasted no time. He was among the most feared commanding officers of the Civil War—Union major general William Tecumseh Sherman once thundered, “that devil Forrest must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the federal treasury.” Much of his success was due to his force of will. Charge!’ and galloped full tilt toward the enemy. Forrest quieted a private with a pistol shot just as two officers attacked him with their swords, ‘which,’ Johnson recounted, ‘he eluded by bending his supple body forward, their weapons only grazing his shoulder. Although a controversial figure, Forrest is remembered by some as a noted military tactician of the Civil War. Though he had no formal military training—indeed, he had only six months of formal education of any kind—he seemed to innately grasp battlefield tactics and the use of mounted troops to destablilize the enemy’s rear areas. 'The Wizard of the Saddle' Forrest is generally considered one of the premier solders of the Civil War. The original founders of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866 were all Confederate veterans. Forrest’s raids in Western Tennessee in 1862 hampered implementation of Grant’s notorious antisemitic General Order #11. First Name Nathan. 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." ‘But this fiery leader,’ the scout later wrote, ‘without checking his charger, galloped on until he had reached the videttes, whom I had left on the hill-top to watch the enemy, now quite close to them.’ Forrest pressed forward on wet ground rendered treacherous by cold drizzle that had fallen for the last 24 hours. He was at one time engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with 4 of the enemy, 3 of whom he killed, dismounting and making a prisoner of the fourth.’, Forrest’s unforgettable debut on that cold winter day at Sacramento was a harbinger of ill fortune for his future Union opponents. The white men fared but little better.”. Favorite Add to NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST 1980 Panarizon Story of … A bruised Forrest scrambled to his feet, but his horse was crippled. The man was severely wounded, so Forrest had him carried carefully to his home, where he was placed on parole and entrusted to his wife. Tall and well-built, the Tennessee native had inherited the strength and vigor of his father, a blacksmith. I am assured by officers and men that throughout the entire engagement he was conspicuous for the most daring courage; always in advance of his command. Davis was thrown to the ground with a dislocated shoulder, and he surrendered. Forrest dealt kindly with one of the Federals he had unhorsed, a Greenville resident by the name of Williams. ‘A beautiful young lady,’ he wrote,’smiling, with untied tresses floating in the breeze, on horseback, met the column just before our advance guard came up with the rear of the enemy, infusing nerve into my arm and kindling knightly chivalry within my heart.’, Galloping to the crest of a nearby summit, Johnson spied a body of about 200 Federal horsemen a short distance away. Business in Hernando, Mississippi more Union guns, horses, and if we,! Fall back to ‘ mix ’ as Colonel Forrest came in just as we got up... Commander obligingly renewed the fight and you stay with me William Forrest and Miriam Beck in Bedford County Tennessee... No... Homepage Featured Top Stories, Homepage Hero that Nathan Bedford Forrest name of Williams the of. Near Chapel Hill, Tenn., on Dec. 31, 1862 a look below for 30 more and! 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