7th Mississippi Infantry
Brev. Brig. Gen'l
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Location
- Southwest Mississippi
Yep.Controversy is defined as: “a prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; disputation concerning a matter of opinion.” Under the definition it would be Forrest because all the others though labeled by some degree or another with disputation concerning their generalship, no one is more so than Forrest and all are less so.
Forrest is identified by the great Shelby Foote as the single authentic genius on the Confederate side ( Lincoln on the Union side). He raised and funded his own volunteers. He rose the fastest of any commander from the ranks to Generalship. He created attack principles that were studied and even followed in WWII.
He murdered men in cold blood before the war. He was a wicked, brutal slave trader. He helped blacks financially after the war. We don’t know for sure what his personal role was at Ft. Pillow but it most likely was somewhere between tolerance and and full approval. But , again it’s in dispute. He threatened Bragg with murder. Why did Bragg not arrest him? Finally, the stories about his being the grand “Pooh Ba” of the KKK ( for which modernist anti-slavery types despise his guts) are crossed against his resignation thereof and the clear and seemingly very real late life conversion to Protestant Christianity. His late life was passive and compliant. He encouraged black-white reconciliation. Was it real?
What was he? Who was he at his core? Which legends are true about the man? What can be proved from the record and what can not? He evokes a strong reaction—and mostly so on this site.
I'm surprised that General Forrest is not leading this poll.
I thought it would be a very close race between Forrest and Sherman.
Never did I expect McClellan to be on the way to a landslide victory as the most controversial General of the American Civil War.