Forrest The Brothers Forrest

[K Hale]

Who is Lee Millar and what are his sources?

 

[larry_cockerham]

Who is Lee Millar and what are his sources?

Lee is an attorney and commander of the largest SCV camp in Tennessee. More than fifty years study of Forrest. He's seen original documents. The speech, for instance was published in the Memphis Appeal when it occurred. The Escort left records of their membership as they continued to meet until 1909. The last meeting for instance was published in the Shelbyville-Gazette Sept 16, 1909 from an 8 PM meeting in the city auditorium. Nope, we don't make this stuff up. The records are there on Forrest, from muster rolls to OR reports, both Union and CSA, and his own writing as well as that of Jordan and Pryor and Capt. John Morton. One good source of info on Forrest are the records of the Indiana Units US who encountered him on numerous occasions in 1864. Forrest left a good trail, having had the benefit of survival.

 

[bama46]

I stumbled across this summary of N.B. Forrest's relationship to his black soldiers this morning, written by Lee Millar:


"When the Civil War began, Forrest offered freedom to 45 of his slaves if they would serve with him in the Confederate army. All 45 agreed and enlisted. One later deserted; the other 44 served faithfully until the end of the war. Though they had many chances to leave, they chose to remain loyal to the South and to Forrest.

Part of General Forrest's command included his own Escort Company, his "Green Berets", made up of the very best soldiers available. This unit, which varied in size from 40-90 men, was the elite of the cavalry. Eight of these picked men were black soldiers and all served gallantly and bravely throughout the war. All were armed with at least 2 pistols and a rifle. Most also carried two additional pistols in saddle holsters.

At war's end, when Forrest's cavalry surrendered in May 1865, there were 65 black troopers on the muster roll.

Of the soldiers who served under him, Forrest said of the black troops: "Finer Confederates never fought."

Forrest was a brilliant cavalryman and courageous soldier. As author Jack Hurst writes: " a man possessed of physical valor perhaps unprecedented among his countrymen, as well as, ironically, a man whose social attitudes may well have changed ****her in the direction of racial enlightenment over the span of his lifetime than those of most American historical figures. When Forrest died in 1877 it is noteworthy that his funeral in Memphis was attended not only by a throng of thousands of whites but by hundreds of blacks as well." The funeral procession was over two miles long and was attended by over 10,000 area residents, including 3000 black citizens paying their respects."

That's why the Ft. Pillow comments of many just don't make much sense.

Larry, you make an excellent point re: Forrest and Ft. Pillow. Take this post and couple it with the speech he made to the Memphis ladies, and what comes out is a gentleman, not a murderer. I, like you, cannot square these facts with a massacre... people's basic morals do not change

Ed

 

[K Hale]

They don't?

I thought there was some discussion in this thread about how Mrs. Forrest did, in fact, manage to change Forrest's morals over the years.

 

[bama46]

They don't?

I thought there was some discussion in this thread about how Mrs. Forrest did, in fact, manage to change Forrest's morals over the years.

Poor choice of words....
substitute ....Character

 

[ole]

Just a thought: The Forrest Fans are Fond of Finding that Forrest did tend to put on his fierce face when facing a fight. One might take that tale for what it's worth when wondering about Ft. Pillow.

Apparently, he could get savage.

Ole

 

[bama46]

Just a thought: The Forrest Fans are Fond of Finding that Forrest did tend to put on his fierce face when facing a fight. One might take that tale for what it's worth when wondering about Ft. Pillow.

Apparently, he could get savage.

Ole

And he might have had he been there!... I believe he arrived well after the fight had commenced!

 

[K Hale]

It's a shame his men were so poorly disciplined, then.

 

[bama46]

It's a shame his men were so poorly disciplined, then.

Kindly show me where that came from.....
If you discount the yellow press and look at the absolute facts, you are hard pressed to conclude a massacre took place...

 

[K Hale]

What fight were you referring to in post #187 where you suggest that Forrest might have gotten savage if he'd been there before it got started?

That's where it came from.

 

[bama46]

What fight were you referring to in post #187 where you suggest that Forrest might have gotten savage if he'd been there before it got started?

That's where it came from.

Please re read the posts...Ole is the one who suggested that Forrest could get Savage..not me.. and he refrenced Ft. pillow..

The only fight that he has been castigated for is Ft. Pillow... I assumed you were referring to that. If not, ... apologies!

ed

 

[K Hale]

Ole suggested it but in your post #187 you agreed with him. The implication is that Forrest's men behaved savagely while out of his immediate presence, and that he may have joined in if he had arrived earlier. Am I misunderstanding what you said?

And yes, I was referring to Ft. Pillow.

 

[bama46]

Ole suggested it but in your post #187 you agreed with him. The implication is that Forrest's men behaved savagely while out of his immediate presence, and that he may have joined in if he had arrived earlier. Am I misunderstanding what you said?

And yes, I was referring to Ft. Pillow.

I agreed that he could get savage... I have read that his eyes could turn red and his face could be deep red with fury... but that was battle.. no man could go into battle calm collected suckin on a hershey bar... fury was what got him thru it...and a determination to win!
That does not mean however that he behaved as a barbarian at Ft Pillow. It goes against everything known about the man!

Ed

 

[K Hale]

I didn't say he did. I questioned his control over his men when they were out of his immediate presence. This is based on your statement that he did not arrive until after the incident was under way.

 

[ole]

This is based on your statement that he did not arrive until after the incident was under way.

The killing, if there was killing, was while the fort was falling and Forrest was in the vicinity. Conflicting reports have him at differing distances and in varying degrees of control. So far as Forrest's involvement, I have no convictions either way other than that there was some excessive killing going on in the fort and on the bluffs. Sufficeth it to say that no one found enough evidence to convict him.

Now. Might I suggest that we return the original thread? There is much to learn from it besides rehashing Ft. Pillow.

Ole

 

[bama46]

Ole,
Unfortunately, it seems that one can never get very far away from Ft. Pillow when discussing NBF and that is a shame

Ed

 

[larry_cockerham]

If there was ever a unit that could operate in a disciplined manner without constant supervision, it was Forrest's Escort. That opportunity didn't happen very often, because they and the general were inseparable. They were indeed "a band of brothers".

 

[larry_cockerham]

Respectful adversaries

In the final weeks of the war, Union General James Harrison Wilson commanded the largest cavalry force ever assembled. His objective was to occupy Alabama and destroy important ironworks at Tannehill and Brierfield and the great foundry in Selma, a vital producer of the South's cannons and munitions. Generals Richard Taylor and Nathan Bedford Forrest were the sole obstacles to his mission. He would also attack General Forrest's troops and bring the war in Alabama to an end. With no remaining means of creating armament and without manpower to replenish the ranks, the Confederate army in the western theatre was on its last legs.

By February of 1865 Wilson and Forrest had met in the field several times, with Wilson learning much from the Wizard of the Saddle each time. Edward Hatch, under the watchful eye of Wilson had also grown to know and respect the generalship of Forrest. Having first encountered each other in North Alabama during November of 1864, these two men parried and sparred the remainder of the war. It was Hatch who was entrusted with the safekeeping of Farrier James Patterson Cockerham of North Carolina in much the same way that Forrest in the retreat from Tennessee had cared for Private Whitfield Monroe Parker of Virginia. I owe much to these two generals for my existence on this earth. Without Parker and Cockerham, I simply wouldn't be typing these lines.

Wilson's thrust into Alabama left the Confederacy's armories in a shambles and the men under Forrest's command ready to return to the remnants of their homes. Forrest's men were the last troops of the Confederacy to lay down their arms aside from the Cherokee command of Gen. Stand Watie in Oklahoma who were far removed from the thrust of the war.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Gravelly Springs, Alabama was the southern terminus of a stretch of the Tennessee River above Waterloo, Alabama where Wilson assembled his 13,500 man cavalry force from January until March 22, 1865. Little remains in this area to mark the presence of this huge army in 1865.

Waterloo is a pleasant little community at the northern end of the road from Gravelly Springs. There is a beautiful waterfront now on the Pickwick Reservoir of the Tennessee River which is perhaps a quarter mile wide at that point. This small village was settled in 1819 and incorporated in 1832. In its early days the village served as a river port where cargo was downloaded from steamboats to smaller craft better able to navigate the shallow water upstream. Union gunboats shelled the town in July 1862 and General William Sherman paid the town a visit on November 1, 1863 staying at the home of Dr. O.B. Sullivan. His army was on the way to Chattanooga. Next to arrive was Maj. General James Harrison Wilson and his 15,000 cavalrymen from mid-January 1865 until their departure south on March 22, 1865. Wilson's headquarters was at the Houston Plantation between Waterloo and Gravelly Springs.

Waterloo sports a museum which includes a military history room on the second floor. One of their prized possessions is a drawing depicting the route of Union forces who often landed at Waterloo and marched downstream about four or five miles to Gravelly Springs. The village of Eastport, Mississippi is just across river. That town was used as a launching point often by armies moving into Alabama. Gravelly Springs must have drawn its name from the very gravelly soil apparent where any road slopes, banks or drainage areas were exposed. No one near the town of Waterloo except me and Duke, the lady at the museum and the lady with the restaurant, seemed overly excited about anything. Gravelly Springs is nowhere to be found except for a road sign or two and a small Baptist Church.

The fact this area was once headquarters of the largest cavalry in the entire Civil War seemed to be the least of the worries of the half dozen or so folks I saw stirring in the town. As is the case in many southern towns, including Nashville, the Union Army received few accolades and no attempts have been made to mark their passing. There are no public historical markers in Gravelly Springs or Waterloo and little traffic to see them if they existed. With absolutely beautiful weather this late summer afternoon, it was an extremely pleasant place. In the winter of 1864-5 with the Army of Tennessee on the other side of the river and 22,000 thousand Yankees around for a visit, I doubt that would have been the case. The lady at the Waterloo museum (you can't miss it, there are only half a dozen other buildings and the graveyard) said local folks tell the typical stories of Union soldiers commandeering food and shelter, much as they did in other parts of the South

 

[larry_cockerham]

Near Gravelly Springs there is a state historical marker which mentions Wilson's camp, but little more exists to communicate the history of the presence of this huge mounted force. From this place General James Harrison Wilson set his sights and his formidable army on the city of Selma, Alabama, the last supply source for Confederate armament. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the only obstacle left, a man he had encountered many times before and for whom he must have had the utmost respect as a fighting man. This time Wilson held most of the cards with fresh troops, horses and supplies. The outcome of their final conflict was predictable. The time for peace was at hand.

On Saturday August 21, 2004 Duke, the border collie and my trusty travelling companion, and I left Nashville in the rusty red Sonoma in search of any evidence of General Wilson's Cavalry occupation of Gravelly Springs, Alabama. If you think evidence is hard to come by, try finding Gravelly Springs! Using not too detailed maps, I was able to enjoy several large cotton fields and some nice forested areas before stumbling onto a sign that said Gravelly Springs Baptist Church. What is evident near the church? Nothing of note. I turned on one of the paved roads to the south in the general direction of the Tennessee River and kept my eyes open. On the right a couple of miles down the road is a bombed out small former store with the remnant of a plastic sign which reads GRAVELLY SPRINGS at the top. Apparently that is the sole remnant of downtown Gravelly Springs, Alabama. This is an area of relatively steep hills in the vicinity of the river. I ventured on along the river to a small state park and a nearby restaurant where I met the owner, a nice lady, who told me about a cave that the Union soldiers had used for shelter and for drinking water from a nearby spring. It was just a cave, nothing special, though with 15,000 Union soldiers nearby during the winter of 1865, things must have been hopping by comparison. [Duke, the border collie, named, by his friend Darlene, formally as Major Duke Sizemore, served as my friend for more than sixteen good years. He has gone to his rest in 2009to look for more Alabama stream beds and to meet a few soldiers of the Civil War first hand. I wish him well.]