Nathan Bedford Forrest
Nathan Bedford Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader in Tennessee before the war began. In June 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army, one of the few officers during the war to enlist as a private and be promoted to general without any prior military training. As 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". His methods influenced future generations of military strategists, although the Confederate high command is seen by some commentators to have underutilized his talents. In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history", troops under Forrest's command massacred Union troops who had surrendered at the Battle of Fort Pillow.
Born: July 13, 1821
Birthplace: Chapel Hill, Bedford County, Tennessee
Father: William Forrest 1801 – 1837
(Buried: Beck Cemetery, Benton County, Mississippi)
Mother: Miriam Beck Forrest 1802 – 1867(Buried: Camp Family Cemetery, Navasota, Texas)
Wife: Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest 1826 – 1893(Buried: Health Sciences Park, Memphis, Tennessee)
Married: September 23, 1845 in Hernando, MississippiChildren:
William Montgomery Forrest 1846 – 1908
(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee)
Frances “Fannie” Ann Forrest 1849 – 1854
(Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee)
Occupation before War:
Businessman in Hernando, Mississippi
Businessman, Planter and Slaveholder
Owner of Several Cotton Plantations in West Tennessee
Slave Trader in Memphis, Tennessee
Mississippi Speculator and Gambler
Alderman for the City of Memphis, Tennessee
Captain of a Boat that ran from Vicksburg Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee
Civil War Career:
1861: Enlisted as a Private in Josiah White's Tennessee Company
Offered to buy horses and equipment for Confederate Army in Tennessee
1861: Lt. Colonel of Confederate Mounted Rifles in Tennessee
1861 – 1862: Lt. Colonel of 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
1861: Participated in the Battle of Sacramento, Kentucky
1862: Showed Bravery during Battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee
1862: Colonel of 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment
1862: Commander of the City of Nashville, Tennessee
1862: Commander of Confederate rear guard at Battle of Shiloh
1862: Wounded during the Battle of Shiloh
1862: Led Cavalry troops into Middle Tennessee on a Cavalry Raid
1862: Confederate Commander during First Battle of Mufreesboro, Tennessee
1862 – 1863: Brigadier General of Confederate Army Cavalry
1862 – 1863: Leader of Forrest's Expedition in West Tennessee
1863: Confederate Commander during Battle of Day's Gap, Alabama
1863: Participated in the Battle of Chickamauga, Tennessee
1863 – 1865: Major General of Confederate Army Cavalry
1864: Confederate Commander during Battle of Paducah, Kentucky
1864: Led his troops in the Capture of Fort Pillow, Tennessee
1864: Led his troops during the fighting at Battle of Brice's Crossroads
1864: Tactically defeated during the Battle of Tupelo, Mississippi
1864: Successfully won the Second Battle of Memphis, Tennessee
1864: Successful during the Battle of Johnsonville, Tennessee
1864: Participated in Hood's Tennessee Campaign
1864: Led a raid against the Mufreesboro, Tennessee Garrison Successfully
1865: Lt. General of Confederate Army Cavalry
1865: Led the confederate troops in Alabama against Wilson's Raid
1865: Led troops during the Battle of Selma, Alabama unsuccessfully
1865: Surrendered to the Union Army on May 8th at Gainesville, Alabama
Occupation after War:
Contractor to finish Memphis & Little Rock Railroad
Builder of Commissary in Memphis, Tennessee
President of Marion and Memphis Railroad Company
Ran a Prison Work Farm on President's Island on Mississippi River
Early member of the Ku Klux Klan
1868: Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan
1869: Abolished the Ku Klux Klan
1875: Delivered a Speech at Order of Pole Bearers Association
Died: October 29, 1877
Place of Death: At Forrest's brother's home, in Memphis, Tennessee
Age at time of Death: 56 years old
Cause of Death: Diabetes
First Burial Place: Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee
Disinterred: to Forrest Park, Memphis, Tennessee in 1904, renamed Health Sciences Park in 2013
Exhumed: from Health Sciences Park on June 3, 2021 and buried temporarily in Munford, Tennessee
Reinterred: Elm Springs Estate, Columbia, Tennessee on September 18, 2021
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