Services were held at Court Avenue Presbyterian Church in Memphis before he was buried at Elmwood Cemetery. [24] In 1859, he bought two large cotton plantations in Coahoma County, Mississippi and a half-interest in another plantation in Arkansas;[25] by October 1860, he owned at least 3,345 acres in Mississippi. I think it is the best government in the world, if administered as it was before the war. 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. When he received news of Lee's surrender, Forrest surrendered as well. He emptied his Colt Army revolvers into the swirling mass of U.S. Army soldiers and pulled out his saber, hacking, and slashing. [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 acquired several cotton plantations in the Delta region of West Tennessee,[13] and became a slave trader at a time when demand for enslaved people was booming in the Deep South; his slave-trading business was based on Adams Street in Memphis. For this, he would later be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on March 2, 1865. Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who is black, blocked the move. Though Forrest had no prior formal military training or experience, he had exhibited leadership and soon proved he could successfully employ tactics. Forrest's legacy as "one of the most controversialand popularicons of the war" still draws heated public debate. [190] In light of the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, some Tennessee lawmakers advocated removing a bust of Forrest located in the state's Capitol building. Forrest's responsibility for the massacre continues to be actively debated by historians.[6]. People. Nathan Bedford Forrest. In what would be known as the Third Battle of Murfreesboro, a portion of Forrest's command broke and ran. Nathan Bedford Forrest Escape From Fort Donelson Strain DuncansMarketplace (207) $995.00 Nathan Bedford Forrest American Civil War Double Sided Maple Veneer Wooden Christmas Ornament CivilWarChristmas (73) $16.95 FREE shipping Nathan Bedford Forrest Print Poster American Civil War General FroehlichArtStudio (32) $59.99 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.". [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. Sister: Mildred Forrest (1831-1841) Brother: Bedford Forest (b. [51][52] Forrest arranged for heavy ordnance machinery, including a new cannon rifling machine and fourteen cannons, as well as parts from the Nashville Armory, to be sent to Atlanta for use by the Confederate Army. Words cannot describe the scene. Army. For Selma, of all places, to have a big monument to a Klansman is totally unacceptable". Morton. [126], He later found employment at the Selma-based Marion & Memphis Railroad and eventually became the company president. memorial page for Nathan Bedford Forrest (13 Jul 1821-29 Oct 1877), Find a Grave Memorial ID 355, citing National Confederate Museum at Elm . This unit, which varied in size from 40 to 90 men, constituted the elite of his cavalry. Forrest's Career In an article published in The New-York Times immediately before the close of the war, the characteristic types of the soldiers of the South were sketched. 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. [141][142] Brian Steel Wills quotes two KKK members who identified Forrest as a Klan leader. He married Mary Frances Bassler on 19 November 1930, in Cook, Illinois, United States. [70] Like several others under Bragg's command, he urged an immediate follow-up attack to recapture Chattanooga, which had fallen a few weeks before. [191] However, on October 13, 2017, the Tennessee Historical Commission invoked the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013 and U.S. Public Law 85-425: Sec. The white men fared but little better. We chose General Forrest". [174] The popular vote was much closer: Grant received 3,013,365 (52.7%) votes, while Seymour received 2,708,744 (47.3%) votes. . "Get there first with the most men". Parents and Siblings. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Daniel Foxx. 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. [113] U.S. Army forces drove the Confederates from the field, and Forrest was wounded in the foot, but his forces were not wholly destroyed. After these efforts failed, Klan violence and intimidation escalated and became widespread. On November 4, 1864, during the Battle of Johnsonville, the Confederates shelled the city, sinking three gunboats and nearly thirty other ships and destroying many tons of supplies. [170] These developments worked to the advantage of the Republicans, who focused on the Democratic Party's alleged disloyalty during and after the Civil War. After his bloody defeat at Franklin, Hood continued to Nashville. ", "Sons of Confederate Veterans 'Put to Rest for Eternity' Gen. Nathan Bedford in Columbia, Tennessee", Animated History of The Campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest, General Nathan Bedford Forrest Historical Society, List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials, List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic, Confederate artworks in the United States Capitol, List of Confederate monuments and memorials. 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. Was Nathan a Confederate or Union member . [233], The site is now a Tennessee State Historic Park. Gen. James H. Wilson, defeated Forrest at the Battle of Selma on April 2, 1865. According to Richard L. Fuchs, "records concerning the fate of the black prisoners are either nonexistent or unreliable". 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. The Civil War scholar Bruce Catton writes: Forrest used his horsemen as a modern general would use motorized infantry. 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. Middle Tennessee. When Nathan Bedford Forrest was born on 24 December 1887, in Harrison, Texas, United States, his father, Orren Perry Forrest, was 60 and his mother, Cordelia Ann Murphy, was 29. [9] In the last years of his life, Forrest insisted he had never been a member,[10] and made public calls for black advancement. [199] The Tennessee legislature established July 13 as "Nathan Bedford Forrest Day". 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. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. Confederate States presidential election of 1861, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nathan_Bedford_Forrest&oldid=1138674019, Confederate States Army lieutenant generals, People of Tennessee in the American Civil War, Articles with dead external links from August 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2007, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Raids in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi, early December 1862 early January 1863, Farewell address to his troops, May 9, 1865, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 23:40. Trusted by millions of genealogists since 2003 Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide Forrest, who was a Freemason,[7] joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1867 (two years after its founding) and was elected its first Grand Wizard. But there is more to the story than that. [170] The party advocated the termination of the Freedman's Bureau and any government policy designed to aid blacks in the Southern United States. [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. [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. The Horrors and Cruelties of the Scene Intensified. Confederate States Army general and Ku Klux Klan leader (1821-1877), This article is about the Confederate general. [217] Forrest fought by simple rules; he maintained that "war means fighting and fighting means killing" and the way to win was "to get there first with the most men". On June 13, 1863, Gould confronted Forrest about his transfer, which escalated into a violent exchange. [198] The Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue in Nashville was particularly notable for its idiosyncratic depiction of Forrest on horseback. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the "wizard of the saddle," was one of the finest Confederate cavalry commanders and one of the foremost military figures produced by the state of Tennessee. [214] A significant push to change its name failed on February 16, 2018, when the governor-controlled Tennessee Historical Commission denied Middle Tennessee State University's petition to rename Forrest Hall. In August 2000, a road on Fort Bliss named for Forrest decades earlier was renamed for former post commander Richard T. [80] Booth and his adjutant were killed in the battle, leaving Fort Pillow under the command of Major William Bradford. 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. [169] The Democratic Party platform denounced the Reconstruction Acts as unconstitutional, void, and revolutionary. DEO VINDICE". 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. 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. He played an important part in the civil war and helped with many victories in several battles. "[167] Former Governor of New York Horatio Seymour was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, while Forrest's friend, Frank Blair, Jr. was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Seymour's running mate. [39] A great-grandson, Nathan Bedford Forrest III (19051943), graduated from West Point and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army Air Corps; he was killed during a bombing raid over Nazi Germany in 1943, becoming the first American general to die in combat in the European theater during World War II. 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. 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". Forrest was elevated in Memphiswhere he lived and diedto the status of folk hero. 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. A bust sculpted by Jane Baxendale is on display at the Tennessee State Capitol building in Nashville. [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]. [189] In 1904, the remains of Forrest and his wife Mary were disinterred from Elmwood and moved to a Memphis city park that was originally named Forrest Park in his honor but has since been renamed Health Sciences Park. Beliefs/Organizations. [32] Although he was not formally educated, Forrest was able to read and write in clear and grammatical English. [197] It is now the site of the Arnold Engineering Development Center. Nathan Bedford Forrest Wizard of the Saddle (7222843292).jpg 750 1,050; 290 KB. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [102] The Confederate press steadfastly defended Forrest's reputation. There, with the labor of over a hundred prison convicts, he grew corn, potatoes, vegetables, and cotton profitably, but his health steadily declined. The list included the names of 7 officers and 219 white enlisted soldiers. [204][205] A monument to Forrest at a corner of Veterans Plaza in Rome, Georgia was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909 to honor his bravery for defending Rome from U.S. Army Colonel Abel Streight and his cavalry.[206]. 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. I do not hate it; I am opposing now only the radical revolutionists who are trying to destroy it. Gen. James Chalmers, attacked and recaptured Fort Pillow. [80] The fort was defended by 557 U.S. Army troops, 295 white and 262 black, under U.S. Army Maj. L.F. Obelisks in his memory were placed at his birthplace in Chapel Hill, Tennessee and at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park near Camden.[195]. [110] Sturgis ordered his infantry to advance to the front line to counteract the cavalry. 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. He is remembered both as a self-educated, innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading southern advocate in the postwar years. White Americans who made up the KKK hoped to persuade black voters that returning to their pre-war state of bondage was in their best interest. [212] Leaders in other localities have also tried to remove or eliminate Forrest monuments, with mixed success. "[146] Forrest was the Klan's first and only Grand Wizard, and he was active in recruitment for the Klan from 1867 to 1868. 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. [255] Sexton said that he believed the removal of the bust "aligns with the teaching of communism. Needing to make money to support his mother and siblings, Forrest went into business with his uncle, Jonathan Forrest, in . [193][194] The Sons of Confederate Veterans threatened a lawsuit against the city. Gene Kizer, Jr. Although the KKK appears in several fictions (for example, Absalom! His books include Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography , Men of Fire: Grant, Forrest, and the Campaign That Decided the Civil War, and Born to Battle: Grant and ForrestShiloh, Vicksburg, and. [100], At the time of the massacre, General Grant was no longer in Tennessee but had transferred to the east to command all U.S. troops. [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. [256] After the Forrests' remains were removed from Memphis, they were reportedly buried in Munford, Tennessee[257] until their reburial in Columbia in September 2021 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[258]. . 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. Nathan Bedford Forrest Birth 21 Feb 1938. Nathan Bedford Forrest passed away in the Memphis home of his brother Jesse on October 29, 1877. Forrest allegedly . Legacy. In 1978, Middle Tennessee State University abandoned imagery it had formerly used (in 1951, the school's yearbook, The Midlander, featured the first appearance of Forrest's likeness as MTSU's official mascot) and MTSU president M. G. Scarlett removed the General's image from the university's official seal. 7,500. Bedford Forrest, the great Confederate cavalry officer, died at 7:30 o'clock this evening at the residence of his brother, Col. Jesse Forrest. [62] Forrest chased Streight's men for 16 days, harassing them all the way. 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. [53], A month later, Forrest was back in action at the Battle of Shiloh, fought April 67, 1862. Sherman, who had recognized how formidable an opponent Forrest was in battle during the Civil War, replied after the crisis settled down. [132] According to Forrest biographer Jack Hurst, writers present at the public viewing of Forrest's body and the funeral procession noted many black citizens among them. [117] He eventually attempted, but it was too late. 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