The ball went through Forrest's pelvis and lodged near his spine. The infantry, tired, weary, and suffering under the heat, were quickly broken and sent into mass retreat. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a self-taught man who made his fortune as a cotton planter and trader of enslaved people. [94] These statements were contradicted by U.S. Army survivors and by the letter of a Confederate soldier who graphically recounted a massacre. [81] Bradford refused to surrender, believing his troops could escape to the U.S. Navy gunboat, USS New Era, on the Mississippi River. [33], Forrest had twelve brothers and sisters; two of his eight brothers and three of his four sisters died of typhoid fever at an early age, all at about the same time. The historical record does not support his repeated denials that he knew a massacre was taking place or that he even knew a massacre had occurred at all. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, but in 1904 his remains were interred in Memphis's Forrest Park. Booth. "[71][72] The story that Forrest confronted and threatened the life of Bragg in the fall of 1863, following the battle of Chickamauga, and that Bragg transferred Forrest to command in Mississippi as a direct result, is now considered to be apocryphal. 769 Words4 Pages. [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. [188], Forrest was buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003 Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide [174] The popular vote was much closer: Grant received 3,013,365 (52.7%) votes, while Seymour received 2,708,744 (47.3%) votes. Forrest's legacy as "one of the most controversialand popularicons of the war" still draws heated public debate. Nathan Bedford Forrest. One of the wounded Matlock men survived and served under Forrest during the Civil War. The Klan's violence was primarily designed to intimidate voters, targeting black and white supporters of the Republican Party. [244] An online petition at Change.org asking the City Council to ban the monument collected 313,617 signatures by mid-September of the same year.[245]. [19][13][20] In 1858, Forrest was elected a Memphis city alderman as a Democrat and served two consecutive terms. As the oldest son,. [193][194] The Sons of Confederate Veterans threatened a lawsuit against the city. [171], Forrest testified before the Congressional investigation of Klan activities on June 27, 1871. [235], In the 1990 PBS documentary The Civil War by Ken Burns, historian Shelby Foote states in Episode 7 that the Civil War produced two "authentic geniuses": Abraham Lincoln and Nathan Bedford Forrest. 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. In the battle of Fallen Timbers, he drove through the U.S. skirmish line. [9] In the last years of his life, Forrest insisted he had never been a member,[10] and made public calls for black advancement. [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. [109] When Sturgis's Federal army came upon the crossroads, they collided with Forrest's cavalry. [129], On July 5, 1875, Forrest gave a speech before the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association, a post-war organization of black Southerners advocating to improve black people's economic condition and gain equal rights for all citizens. "Preserve untarnished the reputation you have so nobly won". Nathan Bedford Forrest War, Ku Klux Klan, League 168 Copy quote I loved the old government in 1861. Congress and Grant passed the Enforcement Acts from 1870 to 1871 to protect the "registration, voting, officeholding, or jury service" of African Americans. Conflicting accounts of what occurred were given later.[87][88][89]. This monument stands as testament of our perpetual devotion and respect for Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest. In all, the maneuver cost Forrest 96 men killed and 396 wounded. [141][142] Brian Steel Wills quotes two KKK members who identified Forrest as a Klan leader. [207] In 2008, the Duval County School Board voted 52 against a push to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville. 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. In the hasty retreat, they stripped off commemorative badges that read "Remember Fort Pillow" to avoid goading the Confederate force pursuing them.[111]. Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis at the Battle of Brices Crossroads in northeastern Mississippi. A contemporary newspaper account from Jackson, Tennessee stated that "General Forrest begged them to surrender", but "not the first sign of surrender was ever given". After these efforts failed, Klan violence and intimidation escalated and became widespread. The losses were a deep blow to the black regiment under Sturgis's command. [56] In December 1862, Forrest's veteran troopers were reassigned by General Braxton Bragg to another officer against his protest. Forrest allegedly . By then, all were fully armed with captured U.S. Army weapons. [125], The historian Court Carney writes that Forrest was not universally popular in the white Memphis community: he alienated many of the city's business people in his commercial dealings and was criticized for questionable business practices that caused him to default on debts. 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. Nathan Bedford Forrest (13 July 1821 - 29 October 1877) was a Lieutenant-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and the founder of the Ku Klux Klan terrorist group. 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. [120] A portion of his command, now dismounted, was surprised and captured in their camp at Verona, Mississippi on December 25, 1864, during a raid of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad by a brigade of Brig. 1834) Brother: Isaac Forrest (1835-1841) Brother: Jeffrey Forrest (1837-1864) Half Brother: James M. Luxton (1844-1924) Romance. . An expert cavalry leader, Forrest was given command of a corps and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle". Professions. [171] Grant defeated Horatio Seymour, the Democratic presidential candidate, by a comfortable electoral margin, 214 to 80. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse, and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader. Nathan Bedford Forrest Quotes. 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. Many in the United States, including President Grant, backed the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave voting rights to Americans regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". Needing to make money to support his mother and siblings, Forrest went into business with his uncle, Jonathan Forrest, in . In what would be known as the Third Battle of Murfreesboro, a portion of Forrest's command broke and ran. In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history",[5] troops under Forrest's command at the Battle of Fort Pillow massacred hundreds of troops, composed of black soldiers and white Tennessean Southern Unionists fighting for the United States, who had already surrendered. 100. Hood ordered Forrest to conduct an independent raid against the Murfreesboro garrison. Birth: 6 Jul 1801 in NC Death: 1837 in Salem,Tippah,MS PEDI: birth Father: Nathan Forrest b: 28 Oct 1776 in ,Orange,NC Mother: Nancy Shepherd Baugh b: 16 Apr 1778 in VA Marriage 1 Mariam Beck b: Abt 1801 in SC Married: 1820 in Gallatin,Bedford,TN Children 1. [13][17] William died in 1837 and Forrest became the primary caretaker of the family at age 16. [182][183] The Macon Weekly Telegraph newspaper also condemned Forrest for his speech, describing the event as "the recent disgusting exhibition of himself at the negro jamboree" and quoting part of a Charlotte Observer article, which read "We have infinitely more respect for Longstreet, who fraternizes with negro men on public occasions, with the pay for the treason to his race in his pocket, than with Forrest and [General] Pillow, who equalize with the negro women, with only 'futures' in payment". Gene Kizer, Jr. Legacy. Forrest continued to lead his men in small-scale operations, including the Battle of Dover and the Battle of Brentwood until April 1863. Bill Lee will no longer proclaim Nathan Bedford Forrest Day after legislature passes bill", "Memphis is digging up the remains of a Confederate general who led the early KKK", "Exclusive: Were General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife buried in Munford? [170] The party advocated the termination of the Freedman's Bureau and any government policy designed to aid blacks in the Southern United States. His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever. All of the sidewalks in the park were named after officers who served under himexcept for one, which was named for his war horse King Philip. MEMPHIS, Tenn., Oct. [23], Forrest was well-known as a Memphis speculator and Mississippi gambler. The Nathan Bedford Forrest statue was removed along Interstate 65 on Tuesday, December 7, 2021, during in Nashville, Tenn. A few vehicles left the site and the security guard locked the gate. Nathan Bedford Forest was a well-known confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan (Tilinghast 1). "Every moment lost is worth the life of a thousand men". [80], On April 12, 1864, Forrest's men, under Brig. [199] The Tennessee legislature established July 13 as "Nathan Bedford Forrest Day". Paramount in his strategy was fast movement, even if it meant pushing his horses at a killing pace, to constantly harass the enemy during raids by disrupting their supply trains and communications with the destruction of railroad tracks and the cutting of telegraph lines, as he wheeled around his opponent's flank. Death of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Brother at the Battle of Okolona February 23, 2022 Map of Okolona Battlefield core and study areas by the American Battlefield Protection Program. After his bloody defeat at Franklin, Hood continued to Nashville. 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. [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. The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest by Brian Steel Wills. Sister: Mildred Forrest (1831-1841) Brother: Bedford Forest (b. Self-Taught man who made his fortune as a cotton planter and trader of enslaved people went through 's! Lawsuit against the city a deep blow to the black regiment under Sturgis 's Federal Army came the. Sister: Mildred Forrest ( 1831-1841 ) Brother: Bedford Forest was a well-known Confederate General and leader. Bragg to another officer against his protest, and suffering under the heat, were quickly broken sent! 94 ] These statements were contradicted by U.S. Army survivors and by the of! 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