Forrest Death of Gen. Forrest

Forrest had spent the summer at Hurricane Springs, near where he was born, hoping the mineral springs would help. His health had plummeted from the effects of diabetes and malaria - he may have picked it up at President's Island or it may have been a recurrence of the malaria he'd gotten in Texas years earlier. He had been raising corn and cotton with hired convict labor and his finances were finally looking up. He returned to Memphis in the fall - and his house on the island burned down with everything in it. Nothing was saved. So, he moved in with his brother, Jesse, at his house on Union St. Forrest died there at 7:30pm. Jefferson Davis had been there just a few minutes before and so was present to attend the funeral along with some members of his old cabinet. The funeral procession was miles long and thousands followed the casket to Elmwood Cemetery, where Forrest had wished to be buried. He had spent a lot of time and effort on the cemetery, which contained a large number of his men. He wanted to be with them. Forrest was buried in his Confederate uniform. He was 56.
 
And that's where it all went south, so to speak.

Yes, indeed... Willie goofed. He was pleased that they'd raised the money - which was a right fortune even now - and put up a beautiful equestrian statue of his father and that's where he should have left it. But, he allowed his parents to be moved. Somewhere along the route to Nome Alaska, while Willie was mushing along in the snow storm, his father smacked him alongside the back of the head and said, "What were you thinking, boy!"
 
Forrest had a tough life, which is why he called it 'a battle from the start'. He had several lawsuits in court regarding his business ventures in Memphis, especially when the city dissolved itself in order to get out of debt and so bankrupted him, but he put a stop to all of it even though he was winning. He didn't want to leave his son a legacy of contention. As his health deteriorated with alarming speed - his weight was under 100 lbs when he died - he visited several spas and health spots - Baily Springs, Hurricane Springs and even John Wilder's health spa in the mountains. (He and Wilder got on very well.) When it was clear nothing was going to work, he made peace with God. Shortly before he died, when he'd been about a year 'flat on my back in bed' and was at his brother's place, he talked to a preacher and said he regretted many things he had said and done over the years. However, he smiled and touched his chest and said, "Just there I have an indescribable peace. All is peace within. I want you to know that between me and the face of my heavenly Father not a cloud intervenes. I have put my trust in my Lord and Savior."

Hurst: Nathan Bedford Forrest
 
He was a fascinating character. Was it Shelby Foote I saw in some documentary once who told Forrests' granddaughter that he thought the War had only thrown up only two true geniuses, one was Lincoln and the other was her grandfather but she said she didn't think her family would appreciate their names being mentioned in the same sentence.
 
He was a fascinating character. Was it Shelby Foote I saw in some documentary once who told Forrests' granddaughter that he thought the War had only thrown up only two true geniuses, one was Lincoln and the other was her grandfather but she said she didn't think her family would appreciate their names being mentioned in the same sentence.
I think Foote related that story in the Ken Burns series.
 
After Forrest's death, there was a viewing at Jesse's house - thousands of people came by and about 500 of them were blacks. It was interesting - none of them were angry and many had flowers to leave. The convicts Forrest hired were black - it was pretty easy to get tossed in jail for being black at that time - and their spokesman came to the house just before Forrest passed on to ask the doctor if 'the boss' was getting better. The doctor said no. The spokesman shook his head and said, "When that man in there dies, we will have lost our best friend." In his last years, Forrest had become a moderate and a critic of segregation - there were many whites who had harsh words for him because of that.

Forrest didn't say anything about Lincoln but it was clear he didn't agree with him on much! He had been for union until Tennessee seceded, but he didn't think it was necessary to go to war over the separation. However, once he'd made the decision, he was in it all the way - that was always his way on anything. The assassination was most disturbing to him as he knew it would bring on harshness toward the South, which it did.
 
Forrest didn't say anything about Lincoln but it was clear he didn't agree with him on much! He had been for union until Tennessee seceded, but he didn't think it was necessary to go to war over the separation. However, once he'd made the decision, he was in it all the way - that was always his way on anything. The assassination was most disturbing to him as he knew it would bring on harshness toward the South, which it did.

So if Tennessee had stayed in the Union, Forrest would have fought for the North?
 
So if Tennessee had stayed in the Union, Forrest would have fought for the North?


Forrest supported Breckenridge in the election of 1860 because he said he was a "states rights" man. The first referendum on secession failed in Tennessee as a whole and even failed in Forrest' hometown of Memphis. His name does not appear on a newspaper list of hundreds of leading citizens in favor of separation and he later claimed to be originally opposed to Tennessee's withdrawal. However, there was a second popular vote after Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops. The results in Memphis were overwhelming in favor of joining the Confederacy. Shortly there after Forrest put his affairs in order and joined the Confederate army as a private. He went with his neighbors. If he and his family had remained in Bedford county he might have been a Unionist.
 
So if Tennessee had stayed in the Union, Forrest would have fought for the North?

That is a very interesting question. I believe he would have if he had felt that Lincoln intended to preserve slavery. Forrest fought for his state all right but he was also fighting for his livelihood and way of life - all he had or ever would have was based on slavery. Forrest was one of the few Confederate generals who didn't stress states' rights (one of which he interpreted as a state having the right to decide about slavery) or federal coercion or any other reason than slavery for the whole thing. As he said, "If this d-n war ain't about slavery, I'd sure as hell like to know what it is about!"
 
That is a very interesting question. I believe he would have if he had felt that Lincoln intended to preserve slavery. Forrest fought for his state all right but he was also fighting for his livelihood and way of life - all he had or ever would have was based on slavery. Forrest was one of the few Confederate generals who didn't stress states' rights (one of which he interpreted as a state having the right to decide about slavery) or federal coercion or any other reason than slavery for the whole thing. As he said, "If this d-n war ain't about slavery, I'd sure as hell like to know what it is about!"
He may well have spoken that that question for some on this forum!:whistling:
 
Forrest supported Breckenridge in the election of 1860 because he said he was a "states rights" man. The first referendum on secession failed in Tennessee as a whole and even failed in Forrest' hometown of Memphis. His name does not appear on a newspaper list of hundreds of leading citizens in favor of separation and he later claimed to be originally opposed to Tennessee's withdrawal. However, there was a second popular vote after Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops. The results in Memphis were overwhelming in favor of joining the Confederacy. Shortly there after Forrest put his affairs in order and joined the Confederate army as a private. He went with his neighbors. If he and his family had remained in Bedford county he might have been a Unionist.

This is really interesting. Forrest, at the time of the 1860 election, was in the midst of a court action resulting from shoddy work done on his slave jail - it had collapsed and so put him out of business. He likely didn't have the time or money to take too much note of politics. I'm not sure but think he knew Breckinridge personally.

I think that's true if his family had stayed in the county where he was born - he wouldn't have been a planter and would probably have had only a couple slaves if any. When you have a couple hundred, plus the stock in your business, that makes it a whole different matter. Forrest as a Unionist in that area would have put him in company with Hurst and some others, although I think Forrest would not have been partisan or anything but regular army. In fact, there may have been no Hurst - Forrest would have changed the playing field in a large way.

However, as things came out, Forrest's personal fortune and success was entirely dependent on slavery, and that of his family. His mother was an astute businesswoman who ran her own plantation outside of Memphis in addition to holding several properties for Forrest. All his brothers except the youngest were in the slave trade as well, and also had large plantation holdings, or properties waiting to be cleared. The Forrests were one of the first families into the Tippah county area of Mississippi, coming in directly after the Chickasaws had been removed, and so were able to buy up a good many parcels.
 
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