{⋆★⋆} LG Forrest, Nathan Bedford

Nathan Bedford Forrest

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:CSA1stNat:

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, Mississippi

Children:

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:
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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
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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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STEPHEN LEE! At Harrisburg. That's like blowing the punch line of a joke. There is no proof that Forrest ever said that. I think it means that many officers of both armies learned from the same teachers, from the same books and perhaps they fought the same way. Forrest just had an amazing sense of...........help me out here I can't think of the word. He could almost see a battlefield from a birds eye view. (No that's not it) ......what's the word? He has a big pair of (can't say that on this forum).......

Situational awareness?
 
The only thing I don't like about him is that KKK was founded by him because that still effects our country today. Also Gainesville Alabama was named after one of my Ancestors cousins who arrested Aaron Burr for treason.
 
The only thing I don't like about him is that KKK was founded by him because that still effects our country today. Also Gainesville Alabama was named after one of my Ancestors cousins who arrested Aaron Burr for treason.

There is much more to that oft repeated fable than meets the eye
 
The only thing I don't like about him is that KKK was founded by him because that still effects our country today. Also Gainesville Alabama was named after one of my Ancestors cousins who arrested Aaron Burr for treason.
He may have been an early leader but the KKK was formed by some other individuals before Forrest came into the picture.
 
I wonder what drew his attention to join it? After all he had blacks fight for him in his regiment.
It was recommended to him by John Morton, former commander of his artillery and a warm personal friend. In our current politically correct atmosphere a century-and-a-half after the fact we cannot possibly appreciate the threat the emancipation and manumission of four million former slaves was perceived to be to be to Southern society.
 
This is my great great grandmothers Mary E Winn (Walton), Susan M. "Sue" Winn, sister's her husband Joseph Carr Boggs, brother my great great uncle David Crockett Boggs, he served under Nathan Bedford Forrest. David Crockett Boggs was later adopted by his uncle. Benjamin Franklin Winn who was in the Union army. But was transferred out they issued Order Number 11.

 
Earlier in this thread it was mentioned that NBF's mother, Miriam Beck Forrest Luxton, was buried in Texas. Back in 2008 a friend of mine and I found her grave site. Attached are a few photos. It was almost dark when we got there so I apologize for the quality of the photos, also at that time the grave site was a bit overgrown.

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I really have nothing to add to this biography as most everyone is quite familiar with this gentleman. I just wish to say "Happy Birthday". (It's also the birthday of one of my sisters-in-law so maybe I won't forget)
 
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