Historical Figures Codexery

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Confederate general, cavalry tactician, and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan

He amassed wealth before the war as a slave trader and cotton planter in Memphis.[1] Forrest enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army in June 1861 and was promoted to major general by December 1863, having had no formal military training before the war.[1][2] In the autumn of 1866, Forrest became a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and during the spring of 1867 he was chosen as the organization's initial Grand Wizard.[3]

Quick Facts

Born
13 July 1821
Birthplace
Chapel Hill, Tennessee, U.S.
Died
29 October 1877
Place of death
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Burial place
October 31, 1877 (also 1904), Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Allegiance
Confederate States
Branch
Confederate States Army
Service years
1861–1865

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Forrest was born on July 13, 1821, to a poor settler family in a frontier cabin near Chapel Hill, Tennessee.[4] Forrest worked as a horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and operated a slave jail in Memphis.[1] He enlisted in the Confederate Army in June 1861 and was soon commissioned as a lieutenant colonel.[1][5] Forrest was known as an expert cavalry leader who used mounted infantry and artillery to revolutionize tactics.[1]

In April 1864, his forces killed a large number of Union troops at Fort Pillow after resistance ceased, most of them black soldiers.[6] He issued a letter ordering the dissolution of the Klan in 1869 and withdrew from the organization.[7] Following the death of his father in 1837, Forrest, then 16 years old, assumed the principal responsibility for his family's welfare.[8] During the 1870s, Forrest twice issued public statements endorsing racial harmony and Black dignity, and he later denied any affiliation with the Klan.[9]

What the cited sources add

The Encyclopedia of Alabama account states that Forrest captured Streight and his men near Gadsden with the aid of Emma Sansom.[10] It notes that Forrest's division numbered about 500 men who surrounded Streight's force.[10] The same source says Forrest craftily reinforced Streight's misconception that the Confederates greatly outnumbered his brigade.[10] The "Civil War Myths, Mistakes and Fabrications" article asserts that the dramatic confrontation between Forrest and Bragg is a false story.[11]

It states that the story originated with Dr. James Cowan in Wyeth's 1899 biography of Forrest.[11] The American Battlefield Trust account describes Forrest leading three or four charges at Thompson's Station and losing his favorite mount.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hawkins Pierpaoli Tucker 2014, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=SZHgBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA244 244]; : "...Nathan Bedford Forrest, whom his superiors did not recognize for the military genius he was until it was too late..." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eicher Eicher 2001, p. 240 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rose 1914, p. [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924083530117#page/18/mode/2up/search/nashville 22]; Tabbert 2006, p. [https://archive.org/details/americanfreemaso0000tabb 83] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Young 1914, p. [https://archive.org/details/confederatewizar00youn 126]; Spaulding 1931, p. [https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer06ilamer#page/532/mode/1up 532] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Browning 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XAh7Cdql_UQC&pg=PA9 8] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cimprich 2005, p. [https://archive.org/details/fortpillowcivilw0000cimp 45–74]; "Report of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Fort Pillow", U.S. Government Printing Office, 1864, p. 5–38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parsons 2015, p. 3–11; Trelease 1971, p. [https://archive.org/details/whiteterrorkuklu0000trel 21–30]; : "Although Forrest repudiated the group's activities after less than two years, he transformed the budding terrorist organization into an effective mechanism f (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Spaulding 1931, p. [https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer06ilamer#page/532/mode/1up 532]; Elkins, "HED: Surprisingly scenic", djournal.com, June 4, 2000; Spaulding 1931, p. [https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofamer06ilamer#page/532/mode/1up 532] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Nathan Bedford Forrest" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Quarles 1999, p. [https://archive.org/details/kukluxklanrelate0000quar 28]; "Memphis daily appeal. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847–1886, July 06, 1875, Image 1", Library of Congress, Chronicling America, August 4, 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Streight's Raid", Encyclopedia of Alabama, October 30, 2007. facts only, no text reused. encyclopediaofalabama.org
  11. "Civil War Myths, Mistakes and Fabrications", Haversacks and Saddlebags, March 2014, p. 50–57. facts only, no text reused. civilwarroundtablepalmbeach.org
  12. "The Battle of Thompson's Station", American Battlefield Trust. facts only, no text reused. battlefields.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Nathan Bedford Forrest (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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