Forrest Forrest robbed

[Barrycdog]

Mountain Signal, Dahlonega, Georgia February 2nd, 1867

 

[diane]

View attachment 36235
Mountain Signal, Dahlonega, Georgia February 2nd, 1867

This strikes me as a kind of interesting robbery, doesn't it? Thanks for posting it! What makes me suspicious about it is that they took Forrest's parole papers - and when it happened.

This appears to have taken place in January of 1867? That was a busy year - the Brownlow administration was using the State Guard to enforce black civil rights and the Tennessee Disfranchisment Act. Since Tennessee had been readmitted to the Union in 1866, it missed the federal occupation forces that appeared in 1867. And, it was the height of the KKK - they were all over the place, and getting very violent.

Could be a cigar is just a cigar, but seems to be a red flag with the parole papers! Wonder what the other 'valuable articles' were?

 

[Patrick H]

Pretty interesting.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

The paper should have printed "two burglars" instead of "two robbers"
I doubt anyone would have risked their life by robbing Forrest.

 

[Bob Owen]

The paper should have printed "two burglars" instead of "two robbers"
I doubt anyone would have risked their life by robbing Forrest.

Not many know the difference between a robber and a burglar!

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

True.
I was thinking about how Forrest responded to Lt. Gould.
"No ****ED MAN KILLS ME & LIVES".

 

[diane]

True.
I was thinking about how Forrest responded to Lt. Gould.
"No ****ED MAN KILLS ME & LIVES".

If I were going to rob somebody like Forrest, I'd make sure he wasn't home...and bring my friends...! At this time he was trying to get his plantation at Green Grove in Mississippi up and running - he and his wife spent a lot of time there. Willie was at that time living in Tupelo. Chances are the house in Memphis was vacant.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

If I were going to rob somebody like Forrest, I'd make sure he wasn't home...and bring my friends...! At this time he was trying to get his plantation at Green Grove in Mississippi up and running - he and his wife spent a lot of time there. Willie was at that time living in Tupelo. Chances are the house in Memphis was vacant.

diane,
You never cease to amaze me !
Tell us something . . . when are you going to publish a book on Bedford Forrest ?

 

[diane]

diane,
You never cease to amaze me !
Tell us something . . . when are you going to publish a book on Bedford Forrest ?

Lol! Not me - I don't know much. The servants were probably there, though. They still had Jerry, Catharine and her husband. But they wouldn't be inside the house. Still - wonder if the parole papers were deliberately taken or just happened to be in the same box with the money and watches? Because...Forrest could have been thrown in the hoosegow for not having his parole papers and Parson Brownlow was just the guy to do that little thing. He was already hot on Forrest's trail for being a klansman.

 

[Pat Answer]

The paper should have printed "two burglars" instead of "two robbers"
I doubt anyone would have risked their life by robbing Forrest.

Yup, when I first saw this thread title I was thinking body count...

 

[diane]

Well, Forrest usually had family around. When he killed a black man on his plantation, his house was surrounded by blacks from Memphis and the area around. Probably a couple hundred of them. Forrest was inside and appeared on the porch with a pistol in each hand. He had reason to fear - many of these men were veterans and some were Ft Pillow survivors. He told them he wanted no trouble but would protect his family. Then he disappeared back inside. Inside were his wife, son, brother Bill and possibly another family member. They were well-armed to say the least, but so were the blacks. However, they just sat down in the yard and surrounded the house, making sure nobody left. They weren't half as scared as the Tennessee marshal who eventually loped into the yard. "General," he called. "It's the law. Am I going to have trouble with you?" "You got me," said Forrest, greatly relieved. He was arrested and that was all the blacks wanted to see. They dispersed without any sort of problem at all. He was the first white man in Tennessee arrested and charged with the murder of a black man, and it was very important to them to see if this white man would be arrested.

 

[Pat Answer]

Lol! Not me - I don't know much.

Begging your pardon, but this is the first thing a true expert on something is likely to say...

 

[Nathanb1]

Begging your pardon, but this is the first thing a true expert on something is likely to say...

I have to go get my books to answer anything. She doesn't.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

View attachment 36235
Mountain Signal, Dahlonega, Georgia February 2nd, 1867

Where did you find this??......It's interesting......The article reports the robbery took place "the night of the 15th", but the source is from Feb.2....So, is it safe to assume the robbery took place Jan 15, 1867?....It's also interesting that the story is in a Georgia newspaper, and only given as a brief "mention", given Forrest's notoriety.....

 

[diane]

1867 was also the year Forrest's mother went to Texas and died. One of her Luxton sons was very ill and she went to family friends - Camps - where she stepped on a rusty nail and got lockjaw. Her last words were asking when would Bedford be there to take care of her. Then the South was divided into five military districts and occupied. This meant the states had to give blacks the vote and Forrest was then very opposed to that, at least not when the ex-Confederates remained disfranchised. Then Forrest's business ventures went belly-up - he had to declare bankruptcy the following year. Forrest had close connections in Georgia, by the way, and the klan was really taking off there at this time. Altogether it was not Forrest's year!

 

[Barrycdog]

http://libguides.ung.edu/content.php?pid=69941&sid=3192094

I like old newspapers. This is the Andrew Cain collection in Dahlonega. University of North Georgia. I went to Gainesville State College until it fused into UNG

 

[Carronade]

Well, Forrest usually had family around. When he killed a black man on his plantation, his house was surrounded by blacks from Memphis and the area around. Probably a couple hundred of them. Forrest was inside and appeared on the porch with a pistol in each hand. He had reason to fear - many of these men were veterans and some were Ft Pillow survivors. He told them he wanted no trouble but would protect his family. Then he disappeared back inside. Inside were his wife, son, brother Bill and possibly another family member. They were well-armed to say the least, but so were the blacks. However, they just sat down in the yard and surrounded the house, making sure nobody left. They weren't half as scared as the Tennessee marshal who eventually loped into the yard. "General," he called. "It's the law. Am I going to have trouble with you?" "You got me," said Forrest, greatly relieved. He was arrested and that was all the blacks wanted to see. They dispersed without any sort of problem at all. He was the first white man in Tennessee arrested and charged with the murder of a black man, and it was very important to them to see if this white man would be arrested.

I'm not familiar with that incident, and couldn't find anything with a quick search; could you fill us in a bit?

 

[diane]

I'm not familiar with that incident, and couldn't find anything with a quick search; could you fill us in a bit?

That was related by Jack Hurst in his really good bio of Forrest! That's why his work is really outstanding for such details as that. Probably should mention what led up to black people keeping the Forrests penned up while waiting on the law to arrive. It's another where there are a few versions - never a consistent story with Forrest!

The murdered man was Thomas Edwards and he had been one of Forrest's slaves before the war - so he was a veteran. He was also said to be violent, enough so the other blacks were afraid of him. On the day of the events that got him killed, Forrest was directing the workers on digging a new ditch for drain-off due to an outbreak of cholera. Edwards did his part sloppily and Forrest directed him to re-do it correctly. Edwards then strode off the job and went home, where he commenced to beat his wife because he lost his job. People tried to break it up but their efforts only made him angrier - finally somebody ran to get Forrest.

Things get odd here. Forrest said he simply was passing by, heard a commotion and politely asked Mr Edwards to kindly stop thumping his wife, whereupon he was attacked. Well, I have a problem believing Forrest would arrive at such a situation hat in hand, polite as a church mouse...but he may have tried, things not being as they once were. Well, whatever he did or didn't do, things escalated faster than a speeding locomotive. When Forrest opened the door and told Edwards to knock it off, the man snarled he could do what he wanted with his wife, even beat her to death if he wanted, and resumed pounding her. Forrest then picked up a nearby broom and walloped Edwards, who turned on him and produced a knife. He took a slash or two at Forrest, who was backing toward the door, and somehow Edwards' fifteen year old niece - who was also getting a beating - got between the two men trying to stop it. Edwards made a stab at her, clearly intending to cut her up, and she ended up beside Forrest. Whether or not Forrest was trying to protect her, he was certainly trying to get out the door. Since the girl effectively blocked his escape route, the only other alternative was the kindling axe by the fireplace. Edwards saw it at the same time Forrest did and both men lunged for it - Forrest came up with it and swung. Edwards, seeing the hatchet coming, turned his head and got the back of his skull smashed in. He was dead instantly.

Since it was the back of Edwards' head, it appeared to most witnesses to be deliberate, not self-defense. Forrest wisely went home and proceeded to barricade himself and his family inside - which how they came to have a veritable arsenal inside the house. Blacks began appearing and it became ominous but turned out peacefully in the end with Forrest actually being arrested by the federal marshal.

At the trial, Mrs. Edwards swore up and down her husband never beat her, never laid a hand on her. Other testimony stated she was always being beaten and was, in fact, yanked out of bed for this beating while recovering from the previous one. She insisted otherwise. The niece testified to her uncle's violence and that he had tried to kill her before. She saw Forrest swing the axe in self-defense and stated her uncle had turned his head but had indeed been attacking. Self-defense. Forrest became the first white man acquitted by black testimony.