Forrest Forrest in Boston? ... Boston, Massachusetts ??

7th Mississippi Infantry

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Sep 28, 2013
Location
Southwest Mississippi
I found this old article from about four years ago in the Boston Globe, and thought some of you may enjoy it:

The Confederate States of America existed as a real place for four years, and over time it's taken on the mythic quality of a vanquished civilization. In the years since the Civil War, the Boston Athenaeum has put together one of the largest collections of printed material from the Confederacy. The artifacts still seem to echo the Confederacy's fall, and now they're being digitized and placed online.

Thanks to the Boston Athenaeum, an original copy of a broadside printing of a speech by Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest in 1864, in which Forrest references the Confederate victory at Fort Pillow, which may have actually involved a massacre of black Union troops.

Confederacy 1a.jpg


Read the rest at:

http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2013/11/confederate_art.html
 
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It is an odd place to feature a collection from the Confederacy? Please note I am making no editorial comments one way or the other- like a big, fat Sweden out of sheer exhaustion and a lot of curiosity. Either the Mason Dixon line was a whole lot further north than anyone suspected or there's been another tectonic plate shift no one filled us in on. ( There must have been one in Adams county, PA, explaining how the 6th US Cavalry marker got where it is, at Gettysburg, a whole, 'nother story. )

Anytime there's a lot of effort, care, research and dedication given to preserving History it's a Good Thing- location is just a head scratcher. Some of our famous USCT troops were from Mass., no Confederate troops mustered there. I'm not being difficult, insulting the Confederacy by pointing out no troops were mustered in Boston, honest. :giggle: Pretty sure both sides liked it that way.
 
I think it was common to display the spoils of the war. I imagine the further away from the Mason-Dixon line then the more popular these displays were. Ive seen photos of exotic displays of rifles and flags but i didnt know if this exhibit was permanent or temp.

And the article did NOT say General Forrest would make an appearance--cirrect?
 
The Boston Athenaeum is a scholarly institution, and as such doesn't play petty games in its activities. The Confederate Imprints collection began in 1944, when "the Athenæum acquired from Justice Raymond S. Wilkins of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts 1,530 Confederate imprints, if not of the largest, certainly very nearly the largest collection of Confederate items in the country.” While other organizations have also been very successful in building collections of Confederate materials, the Athenæum’s continues to grow both in size and usefulness. Certainly the vision of Francis Parkman has flowered into a resource useful for scholarship and, hopefully, understanding between the divergent philosophies that led to the Civil War.

"Approximately 10,000 books and documents were printed in the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. The Athenæum has one of the largest collections, with over 4000 imprints. 200 items in our collection are not in any published bibliography, and may be unique.

"The Athenæum has conserved and digitized over 4000 bound and unbound paper imprints, including rare books, pamphlets, government documents, manuscripts, serials, broadsides, maps, and sheet music. This single portal features detailed metadata for every item, with a robust searching capability, ensuring easy access to all of these important historical materials.

"A generous donation from Caleb Loring, Junior, a Trustee Emeritus of the Athenæum, enabled the Athenæum to create the largest digital collection of Confederate materials publically available online."

[more at: About the Confederate Collection at the Boston Athenæum]

The Athenaeum collections also include:
 
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Well, Forrest did that speech right after Brice's Crossroads but not in Boston! (Probably for the same reasons Lee didn't pay his taxes in Baltimore...) Forrest always referred to the battle as Tishomingo Creek. After the war he did some traveling to New York City and to Washington DC. Didn't like NYC - gawkers blocked his way as he was trying to get down the sidewalk...he used his battlefield bellow: "GET OUT OF MY D* WAY!" Everybody vaporized - he had both sidewalks and the street clear as a whistle with only crickets chirping...

Forrest frequently gave a pep talk after a battle but this one was a little longer and more flowery (Anderson wrote it). Forrest wanted to make sure the troops knew they had blotted out the previous unsavory battle by winning this stunning victory.
 
Well, Forrest did that speech right after Brice's Crossroads but not in Boston! (Probably for the same reasons Lee didn't pay his taxes in Baltimore...) Forrest always referred to the battle as Tishomingo Creek. After the war he did some traveling to New York City and to Washington DC. Didn't like NYC - gawkers blocked his way as he was trying to get down the sidewalk...he used his battlefield bellow: "GET OUT OF MY D* WAY!" Everybody vaporized - he had both sidewalks and the street clear as a whistle with only crickets chirping...

Forrest frequently gave a pep talk after a battle but this one was a little longer and more flowery (Anderson wrote it). Forrest wanted to make sure the troops knew they had blotted out the previous unsavory battle by winning this stunning victory.
Glad Forrest never came up against the Union Irish Brigade- they would have shouted " Faugh a Ballagh " or " Clear the Way " at him !
 
Didn't like NYC - gawkers blocked his way as he was trying to get down the sidewalk...he used his battlefield bellow: "GET OUT OF MY D* WAY!" Everybody vaporized - he had both sidewalks and the street clear as a whistle with only crickets chirping...
:roflmao:
 
I believe that NBF did make a speech in Boston after the war when he returned a regimental flag to a Mass unit.

Oh, I want to hear more! How did he get a Mass flag? I have heard Forrest went somewhere north to do something like that but thought it was Pennsylvania - but no more about it. One of those maybe did, maybe didn't things. Some writers have suggested Forrest didn't leave the South after the war except for the Dems convention and to do some parole business in Washington - but he got around North quite a bit. Forrest was really more about reconciliation than people think. He stayed a firm supporter of Southern independence but also knew when he'd been licked.
 
Oh, I want to hear more! How did he get a Mass flag? I have heard Forrest went somewhere north to do something like that but thought it was Pennsylvania - but no more about it. One of those maybe did, maybe didn't things. Some writers have suggested Forrest didn't leave the South after the war except for the Dems convention and to do some parole business in Washington - but he got around North quite a bit. Forrest was really more about reconciliation than people think. He stayed a firm supporter of Southern independence but also knew when he'd been licked.

My favorite story concerning Forrest in the North deals with what I'm pretty sure was a visit to New York City: According to the story, Forrest and I believe his son and possibly someone else (who may have been the one telling the story) were walking down the street when word began to spread about the big Rebel general... A crowd of gawkers began to gather and follow them, making Forrest and companions nervous even though so far nothing had happened. Suddenly Forrest turned and strode toward the crowd, calling out loudly "Out of my way, you dam n Yankees!" Surprised, the crowd quickly dispersed, giving the men the opportunity to duck into a convenient store and exit out the back!
 
Caveat the source, but a story on "Mysteries at the Museum" claimed that a Philadelphia engraver made millions of dollars worth of CS money which sold like hot cakes. Soldiers spent them the South to such a great extent that the real CS currency was undermined. Never heard that one before.
 
Caveat the source, but a story on "Mysteries at the Museum" claimed that a Philadelphia engraver made millions of dollars worth of CS money which sold like hot cakes. Soldiers spent them the South to such a great extent that the real CS currency was undermined. Never heard that one before.

That was supposedly a deliberate wartime effort made by the U.S. One way to tell the forgeries was that they were better quality than the originals!
 
That was supposedly a deliberate wartime effort made by the U.S. One way to tell the forgeries was that they were better quality than the originals!
The story said the engraver put his name on the bottom of each bill to show it was fake, but soldiers just cut that part off with scissors.
 
The person who may have been with Forrest in New York City was General Basil Duke. In his "Civil War Reminiscences of General Basil W. Duke, C.S.A."" he writes about Forrest and him riding on same train to New York City. They were delegates at the 1868 Democratic Convention. Duke has many delightful stories about that trip.

I recommend his book.
 
My favorite story concerning Forrest in the North deals with what I'm pretty sure was a visit to New York City: According to the story, Forrest and I believe his son and possibly someone else (who may have been the one telling the story) were walking down the street when word began to spread about the big Rebel general... A crowd of gawkers began to gather and follow them, making Forrest and companions nervous even though so far nothing had happened. Suddenly Forrest turned and strode toward the crowd, calling out loudly "Out of my way, you dam n Yankees!" Surprised, the crowd quickly dispersed, giving the men the opportunity to duck into a convenient store and exit out the back!

Willie and Forrest went to the Democrat Convention in New York and were sharing a room while attending the meetings. It was quite an experience, and as far as I know Forrest never went back there! One disturbing experience after another. One involved Ft Pillow - quite a hot topic at any time but particularly so then. A lady appeared at the Forrests' hotel room very early in the morning. She was middle-aged, wearing all black, carried an umbrella in one hand and a Bible in the other. After banging loudly on the door with her umbrella she succeeded in rousting them out - Willie opened the door and was bowled aside as she charged through. She went straight into the bedroom, where Forrest was sitting in his nightshirt on the edge of his bed, major bedhead, no shave, hairy legs sticking out. "Are you the rebel General Forrest?" the lady demanded. He nodded in the affirmative. "Did you murder those poor colored people at Ft Pillow? Tell the truth! No prevarication!" Forrest drew himself up to his full height, which was impressive, looked her square in the eye and said quietly, "Yes, ma'am. I killed the men and women for my troops' supper and ate the babies myself for breakfast." She shrieked like a banshee and ran screaming out of the room, through the hall, across the lobby, down the street and around the corner. Never stopped screaming!

The train ride there was also adventuresome. In Ohio the conductor warned Forrest there was a pugilist at the next water stop who wished to punch him. He was a gentleman of considerable reputation in the area, big of muscle and short of brain but undefeated. Forrest nodded. Sure enough, there was a crowd waiting to see the rebel general get the stuffing beat out of him by the local tough guy. Forrest and Basil Duke remained in their seats, figuring that was the best option, but the loud mouth was not to be deprived of his battle. He came charging on board, yelling loudly, "Where is Forrest! Where is that butcher Forrest!" Basil Duke recorded that he had never seen a more dramatic change in a person than what then happened. Mild mannered Forrest promptly sprang up, his face turning brick red, his blue eyes blazing, seemed to Duke his body grew two sizes, and he went striding down the aisle toward the bully with a roar of his own, "I am Forrest! What do you want?" Out of there, was what he wanted... The guy took one look at what was coming for him and, as Duke put it, "left the car and ran down the street with race horse speed, losing his hat in the process." Forrest pursued. "You wanted to talk to me! I am ready to talk! Here's your hat - come back and get it!" He was already out of sight. The crowd started laughing and then the funny side of it struck Forrest and he started laughing, too. At least he made some friends in one northern town! On the way back to Memphis he told a companion he didn't think he'd go back to New York again.

Of course, it may have been he couldn't get a decent bowl of grits there. :smoke:
 
diane

those are stories that Basil Duke relates. He really liked Forrest and admired him. You can tell from his writing about Forrest. He said that they were good friends.

Yes, that's where it's from! They were good friends. In fact, Forrest once volunteered Duke to stand as a second for him in a duel only he didn't tell Duke about it! He was worried - seemed like a violation of his parole as well as Forrest's - but he didn't have to worry. Forrest had challenged Kilpatrick, who decided to be elsewhere!
 
Oh, I want to hear more! How did he get a Mass flag? I have heard Forrest went somewhere north to do something like that but thought it was Pennsylvania - but no more about it. One of those maybe did, maybe didn't things. Some writers have suggested Forrest didn't leave the South after the war except for the Dems convention and to do some parole business in Washington - but he got around North quite a bit. Forrest was really more about reconciliation than people think. He stayed a firm supporter of Southern independence but also knew when he'd been licked.

Ran into this in the May 28, 1876 LA Weekly Herald....An editorial talks about the fading of reconstruction and gives examples of reconciliation including this:

"We cannot forget the scene at Lexington and Concord a few months since when General Forrest so gracefully returned to the military authorities the flag that he captured from the Massachusetts regiment...nor the generous benediction given by the people of Boston to General Forrest when he retired from the headquarters of Radicalism."

I have been unable to confirm the event in another source.
 
Ran into this in the May 28, 1876 LA Weekly Herald....An editorial talks about the fading of reconstruction and gives examples of reconciliation including this:

"We cannot forget the scene at Lexington and Concord a few months since when General Forrest so gracefully returned to the military authorities the flag that he captured from the Massachusetts regiment...nor the generous benediction given by the people of Boston to General Forrest when he retired from the headquarters of Radicalism."

I have been unable to confirm the event in another source.

Oooh, a Forrest mystery! Love 'em! I'm trying to figure out where in the war Forrest would have encountered a Massachusetts outfit. Weren't there some down in Louisiana, Baton Rouge maybe? Wondered if he'd come by it from one of his cavalry units down there with Taylor. Wirt Adams went after Grierson but I'm not too sure about others. There's Selma, too - think Wilson might have had some Massachusetts cavalry with him there. Some of his cavalry got their flags taken coming through Forrest's lines - but in that case it wasn't because they lost! They didn't get them back, either, because Forrest had to do a skedaddle - first time for everything... :redface:
 
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