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Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877), called Bedford Forrest in his lifetime, 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, & Memphis Railroad.
Prior to the outbreak of the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton planter, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader. In June 1861, Forrest enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was one of the few officers on either side during the war to enlist as a private and be promoted to general officer and corps commander without any military education or training. An expert cavalry leader, Forrest eventually was given command of a corps and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle".[3] 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.[4]
Forrest's cavalry captured more Union guns, horses, and supplies than any other single Confederate unit. Forrest proved to be a belligerent nemesis for both Union Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Forrest played pivotal roles at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the capture of Murfreesboro, the pursuit and capture of Colonel Abel Streight's Raiders, Brice's Crossroads, and the Nashville Campaign.[5] Forrest's raids in Western Tennessee in 1862 hampered implementation of Grant's notorious antisemitic General Order #11.
In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history,"[6] 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.[7][8] Vilified in the North as a war criminal, Forrest was blamed for the massacre in the Union press, and the news of it strengthened Northern morale. 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. Forrest was in chief command of the cavalry during the Nashville Campaign. In February 1865, Forrest was promoted to Lieutenant General. After Robert E. Lee was defeated and surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, the war came to a conclusion. In May 1865, Forrest surrendered at Selma, was paroled, and he returned to his cotton plantations. During Reconstruction, Forrest's citizenship rights were restored[9][10][11] with the pardon he received from President Andrew Johnson on July 17, 1868,[12][13][14] but he never could escape the Northern label of "Butcher of Fort Pillow".[15]
Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan, apparently in 1867, two years after its founding, and was elected its first Grand Wizard.[16][17] At the time the group was a loose collection of local groups that used violence and the threat of violence to maintain white control over the newly liberated and enfranchised slaves.[18][19] While Forrest was a leader, the Klan, during the Election of 1868, suppressed voting rights of blacks and Republicans in the South through violence and intimidation. 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[20] and its costumes to be destroyed,[21] and withdrew from the organization. Lacking coordinated leadership and facing strong prosecution by President Grant and the newly established Department of Justice, the members of this first incarnation of the Klan absconded, and it gradually disappeared.
In the last years of his life, Forrest publicly denounced the violence and racism practiced by the Klan, insisted he had never been a member, and made repeated public speeches in favor of racial harmony.[22] As an effort of reconciliation, during a meeting with African Americans in 1875, Forrest took flowers from a black woman, something that was considered abhorrent in the South during Reconstruction. 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 1867–1869 leadership of the Ku Klux Klan, and his political influence as a Tennessee delegate at the 1868 Democratic National Convention.
Prior to the outbreak of the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton planter, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader. In June 1861, Forrest enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was one of the few officers on either side during the war to enlist as a private and be promoted to general officer and corps commander without any military education or training. An expert cavalry leader, Forrest eventually was given command of a corps and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle".[3] 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.[4]
Forrest's cavalry captured more Union guns, horses, and supplies than any other single Confederate unit. Forrest proved to be a belligerent nemesis for both Union Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Forrest played pivotal roles at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the capture of Murfreesboro, the pursuit and capture of Colonel Abel Streight's Raiders, Brice's Crossroads, and the Nashville Campaign.[5] Forrest's raids in Western Tennessee in 1862 hampered implementation of Grant's notorious antisemitic General Order #11.
In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history,"[6] 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.[7][8] Vilified in the North as a war criminal, Forrest was blamed for the massacre in the Union press, and the news of it strengthened Northern morale. 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. Forrest was in chief command of the cavalry during the Nashville Campaign. In February 1865, Forrest was promoted to Lieutenant General. After Robert E. Lee was defeated and surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, the war came to a conclusion. In May 1865, Forrest surrendered at Selma, was paroled, and he returned to his cotton plantations. During Reconstruction, Forrest's citizenship rights were restored[9][10][11] with the pardon he received from President Andrew Johnson on July 17, 1868,[12][13][14] but he never could escape the Northern label of "Butcher of Fort Pillow".[15]
Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan, apparently in 1867, two years after its founding, and was elected its first Grand Wizard.[16][17] At the time the group was a loose collection of local groups that used violence and the threat of violence to maintain white control over the newly liberated and enfranchised slaves.[18][19] While Forrest was a leader, the Klan, during the Election of 1868, suppressed voting rights of blacks and Republicans in the South through violence and intimidation. 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[20] and its costumes to be destroyed,[21] and withdrew from the organization. Lacking coordinated leadership and facing strong prosecution by President Grant and the newly established Department of Justice, the members of this first incarnation of the Klan absconded, and it gradually disappeared.
In the last years of his life, Forrest publicly denounced the violence and racism practiced by the Klan, insisted he had never been a member, and made repeated public speeches in favor of racial harmony.[22] As an effort of reconciliation, during a meeting with African Americans in 1875, Forrest took flowers from a black woman, something that was considered abhorrent in the South during Reconstruction. 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 1867–1869 leadership of the Ku Klux Klan, and his political influence as a Tennessee delegate at the 1868 Democratic National Convention.
Nathan Bedford Forrest - Wikipedia
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Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads
Summary of the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, June 10, 1864.
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that July 13 is the anniversary of the birth of cotton farmer, slave owner, slave trader, and Confederate Army general during the American Civil War Nathan Bedford Forrest.
CSA BG Nathan Bedford Forrest and CSA BG John Hunt Morgan were cavalry raiders who operated behind Federal lines in Kentucky and influenced Tennessee to align with the CSA in 1862. Forrest was more honorable than Morgan in leading their respective forces IMHO.
1. Background from minecreek.info/partisan-rangers/cavalry-raiders-morgan-and-forrest-1862.html
"At the start of the war John Hunt Morgan commanded a militia in Lexington, Kentucky, and when that state declared neutrality he moved them south to join the Confederate army. He became a captain in October 1861, and immediately began targeting outposts and bridges behind Federal lines in Kentucky and Tennessee, sometimes dressing his men in Union uniforms. Nathan Bedford Forrest had enlisted in the Confederate army in Tennessee as a private, but soon proved his great ability as a scout, and was given authority to raise a cavalry battalion; collecting men from several states, he too was active by the end of 1861.
In summer 1862 CSA MG Braxton Bragg ordered both these officers on a two-pronged raid in advance of his anticipated invasion of eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. Their aim was to disrupt communications, delay Federal troop movements, and destroy the opposing cavalry. Morgan's 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, along with units from Georgia and Texas, set out on July 4, winning a series of small engagements and destroying almost a million dollars' worth of property. In Tennessee on July 11, Forrest's amalgamated force targeted the railroad center of Murfreesboro, where he destroyed half a million dollars' worth of property including supplies and rolling stock. Later that summer the two commanders harassed the Union Army of Ohio's move towards Chattanooga. Working in groups ranging from ten to 600 men, they wore down BrigGen Don Carlos Buell's advance by targeting his long and poorly guarded supply lines, forcing him to withdraw.
In response to the raids local Union commanders raised Home Guard units. These tended to be poorly trained and led, but did free up regular troops for combat duty. Buell also started raising more cavalry, and built a system of blockhouses to protect key locations, especially on the railroads. The little forts proved effective against guerrillas, bur barely slowed cavalry raiders equipped with artillery. Bragg reorganized his own cavalry, dividing them into "regular" brigades attached to infantry corps, and two "partisan" brigades under Morgan and Forrest to concentrate on raiding. While raids were a part of both Confederate and later Union strategy in all three theaters, only the Confederate army in the Western theater had units specifically dedicated to such missions."
Images: Nathan Bedford Forrest on horseback in winter; Nathan Bedford Forrest; Rebel Raiders by Robert Summers
2. Background from encyclopedia.com/people/history/us-history-biographies/nathan-bedford-forrest
"Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877)
American Eras COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Research Inc.
Confederate cavalry commander
Raider. One of the best cavalry commanders during the Civil War was Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest and his men frustrated Union military leaders with aggressive raids behind Federal lines. Time and again these Southern raiders appeared out of nowhere and thwarted Union advances. At various skirmishes Forrest was successful in overpowering enemy forces by fighting from a dismounted position and using such irregular weapons as shotguns, squirrel rifles, and flintlock muskets. These tactics allowed Forrest to rout Northern cavalry units which fought in a conventional manner and relied on the cavalry saber as a battle weapon. Throughout the war Forrest operated an independent command that wreaked havoc upon Union forces and at times created controversy by stepping outside the traditional lines of nineteenth-century warfare.
Background. Forrest was born in a secluded Tennessee frontier cabin during the summer of 1821. When he turned sixteen his father, a blacksmith, died, leaving Nathan as the sole family provider. Although he did not receive a formal education, Forrest worked as a real estate broker and slave trader and eventually amassed a large fortune, buying several cotton plantations in Arkansas and Mississippi. At the time of the outbreak of war between the North and the South, he was living in Memphis. Since he did not have a college degree or military training, Forrest enlisted as a private in a cavalry regiment that he raised and equipped himself. By October 1861 the new unit elected him as its commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The regiment’s first assignment was at Fort Donelson on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the site of Union general Ulysses S. Grant’s early victory. Informed that the Confederate commander would surrender the stronghold to Grant, Forrest led his cavalrymen through Union lines by fording flooded rivers.
A Clever Opponent. Forrest soon gained a reputation as a military genius. In April 1862 his men fought at Shiloh, Mississippi, where Forrest was seriously wounded. After he recovered, Forrest and his cavalrymen fought at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His surprise attack captured a thousand Union soldiers, destroyed supplies valued at a million dollars, and wrecked a portion of the railroad. For the next year and a half Forrest conducted raids from west Tennessee and moved as far as the Ohio River. He hit Union supply lines and at one point severely impeded Grant’s drive to Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the spring of 1863 Forrest displayed his tactical genius by tricking a Union commander into surrendering his fifteen hundred soldiers to Forrest’s battalion of five hundred.
Fort Pillow. One of the most controversial events of the Civil War involved Forrest and his cavalrymen at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in April 1864. In an attack known as the “Fort Pillow Massacre,” the Southern raiders reportedly murdered black Union troops who were trying to surrender. Forrest denied the charge that his men killed African American soldiers in cold blood. On previous occasions, however, Forrest sought to terrorize Union garrisons and force them to give up by raising the threat of no quarter. At Fort Pillow, his men apparently carried out the threat and were not ordered to stop the carnage. In his report written three days after the event, Forrest seemed to take delight in the death of enemy troops who were shot in the Mississippi River trying to escape. He noted that their blood “dyed” the river red and he hoped that their death “will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners.” Whether he ordered the massacre or not, the event followed Forrest for the rest of the war and, coupled with his leadership role in the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era, clearly showed his belief in white supremacy.
Final Stages. From June to November 1864 Forrest conducted a series of raids against Union general William T. Sherman’s supply lines. On several occasions Forrest beat Union forces nearly twice the size of his unit. On 10 June he captured two thousand Federals along with sixteen guns and 250 wagons at Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi. Later, while operating in west Tennessee in October and November 1864, Forrest destroyed four Union gunboats, fourteen river transports, and $7 million worth of property. After serving with Confederate general John Bell Hood during the latter’s catastrophic Tennessee campaign, Forrest returned to his independent operations in 1865 and received a promotion to lieutenant general in February. However, his command grew ineffective as hunger and Forrest’s aggressive tactics finally took its toll on his men. Failing to stop Union forces from capturing Selma, Alabama, in April 1865, Forrest finally surrendered to Northern troops in May. Following the war, many military historians recognized Forrest as the best tactician to fight for the Confederacy.
Sources
John S. Bowman, ed., Who Was Who in the Civil War (New York: Crescent Books, 1994);
Dudley T. Cornish, The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987)."
Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads
Summary of the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, June 10, 1864.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jovGqw1vZHk
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
CSA BG Nathan Bedford Forrest and CSA BG John Hunt Morgan were cavalry raiders who operated behind Federal lines in Kentucky and influenced Tennessee to align with the CSA in 1862. Forrest was more honorable than Morgan in leading their respective forces IMHO.
1. Background from minecreek.info/partisan-rangers/cavalry-raiders-morgan-and-forrest-1862.html
"At the start of the war John Hunt Morgan commanded a militia in Lexington, Kentucky, and when that state declared neutrality he moved them south to join the Confederate army. He became a captain in October 1861, and immediately began targeting outposts and bridges behind Federal lines in Kentucky and Tennessee, sometimes dressing his men in Union uniforms. Nathan Bedford Forrest had enlisted in the Confederate army in Tennessee as a private, but soon proved his great ability as a scout, and was given authority to raise a cavalry battalion; collecting men from several states, he too was active by the end of 1861.
In summer 1862 CSA MG Braxton Bragg ordered both these officers on a two-pronged raid in advance of his anticipated invasion of eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. Their aim was to disrupt communications, delay Federal troop movements, and destroy the opposing cavalry. Morgan's 2nd Kentucky Cavalry, along with units from Georgia and Texas, set out on July 4, winning a series of small engagements and destroying almost a million dollars' worth of property. In Tennessee on July 11, Forrest's amalgamated force targeted the railroad center of Murfreesboro, where he destroyed half a million dollars' worth of property including supplies and rolling stock. Later that summer the two commanders harassed the Union Army of Ohio's move towards Chattanooga. Working in groups ranging from ten to 600 men, they wore down BrigGen Don Carlos Buell's advance by targeting his long and poorly guarded supply lines, forcing him to withdraw.
In response to the raids local Union commanders raised Home Guard units. These tended to be poorly trained and led, but did free up regular troops for combat duty. Buell also started raising more cavalry, and built a system of blockhouses to protect key locations, especially on the railroads. The little forts proved effective against guerrillas, bur barely slowed cavalry raiders equipped with artillery. Bragg reorganized his own cavalry, dividing them into "regular" brigades attached to infantry corps, and two "partisan" brigades under Morgan and Forrest to concentrate on raiding. While raids were a part of both Confederate and later Union strategy in all three theaters, only the Confederate army in the Western theater had units specifically dedicated to such missions."
Images: Nathan Bedford Forrest on horseback in winter; Nathan Bedford Forrest; Rebel Raiders by Robert Summers
2. Background from encyclopedia.com/people/history/us-history-biographies/nathan-bedford-forrest
"Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877)
American Eras COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Research Inc.
Confederate cavalry commander
Raider. One of the best cavalry commanders during the Civil War was Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest and his men frustrated Union military leaders with aggressive raids behind Federal lines. Time and again these Southern raiders appeared out of nowhere and thwarted Union advances. At various skirmishes Forrest was successful in overpowering enemy forces by fighting from a dismounted position and using such irregular weapons as shotguns, squirrel rifles, and flintlock muskets. These tactics allowed Forrest to rout Northern cavalry units which fought in a conventional manner and relied on the cavalry saber as a battle weapon. Throughout the war Forrest operated an independent command that wreaked havoc upon Union forces and at times created controversy by stepping outside the traditional lines of nineteenth-century warfare.
Background. Forrest was born in a secluded Tennessee frontier cabin during the summer of 1821. When he turned sixteen his father, a blacksmith, died, leaving Nathan as the sole family provider. Although he did not receive a formal education, Forrest worked as a real estate broker and slave trader and eventually amassed a large fortune, buying several cotton plantations in Arkansas and Mississippi. At the time of the outbreak of war between the North and the South, he was living in Memphis. Since he did not have a college degree or military training, Forrest enlisted as a private in a cavalry regiment that he raised and equipped himself. By October 1861 the new unit elected him as its commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The regiment’s first assignment was at Fort Donelson on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, the site of Union general Ulysses S. Grant’s early victory. Informed that the Confederate commander would surrender the stronghold to Grant, Forrest led his cavalrymen through Union lines by fording flooded rivers.
A Clever Opponent. Forrest soon gained a reputation as a military genius. In April 1862 his men fought at Shiloh, Mississippi, where Forrest was seriously wounded. After he recovered, Forrest and his cavalrymen fought at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His surprise attack captured a thousand Union soldiers, destroyed supplies valued at a million dollars, and wrecked a portion of the railroad. For the next year and a half Forrest conducted raids from west Tennessee and moved as far as the Ohio River. He hit Union supply lines and at one point severely impeded Grant’s drive to Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the spring of 1863 Forrest displayed his tactical genius by tricking a Union commander into surrendering his fifteen hundred soldiers to Forrest’s battalion of five hundred.
Fort Pillow. One of the most controversial events of the Civil War involved Forrest and his cavalrymen at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in April 1864. In an attack known as the “Fort Pillow Massacre,” the Southern raiders reportedly murdered black Union troops who were trying to surrender. Forrest denied the charge that his men killed African American soldiers in cold blood. On previous occasions, however, Forrest sought to terrorize Union garrisons and force them to give up by raising the threat of no quarter. At Fort Pillow, his men apparently carried out the threat and were not ordered to stop the carnage. In his report written three days after the event, Forrest seemed to take delight in the death of enemy troops who were shot in the Mississippi River trying to escape. He noted that their blood “dyed” the river red and he hoped that their death “will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with Southerners.” Whether he ordered the massacre or not, the event followed Forrest for the rest of the war and, coupled with his leadership role in the Ku Klux Klan during the Reconstruction era, clearly showed his belief in white supremacy.
Final Stages. From June to November 1864 Forrest conducted a series of raids against Union general William T. Sherman’s supply lines. On several occasions Forrest beat Union forces nearly twice the size of his unit. On 10 June he captured two thousand Federals along with sixteen guns and 250 wagons at Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi. Later, while operating in west Tennessee in October and November 1864, Forrest destroyed four Union gunboats, fourteen river transports, and $7 million worth of property. After serving with Confederate general John Bell Hood during the latter’s catastrophic Tennessee campaign, Forrest returned to his independent operations in 1865 and received a promotion to lieutenant general in February. However, his command grew ineffective as hunger and Forrest’s aggressive tactics finally took its toll on his men. Failing to stop Union forces from capturing Selma, Alabama, in April 1865, Forrest finally surrendered to Northern troops in May. Following the war, many military historians recognized Forrest as the best tactician to fight for the Confederacy.
Sources
John S. Bowman, ed., Who Was Who in the Civil War (New York: Crescent Books, 1994);
Dudley T. Cornish, The Sable Arm: Black Troops in the Union Army, 1861-1865 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987)."
Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads
Summary of the Battle of Brice's Crossroads, June 10, 1864.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jovGqw1vZHk
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen C. LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan SCPO Morris Ramsey SSG John Ross SGT Mark Halmrast Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Gregory Lawritson CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins SrA Christopher Wright Cpl Gabriel F.
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