Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an
American slave trader, active in the lower
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
valley, who served as a
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
general during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. He was a founding member and the first
Grand Wizard
The grand wizard (sometimes called the imperial wizard or national director) is the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad.
The title "Grand Wizard" was used by the first Klan which was fo ...
of the post-Civil War
Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, serving from 1867 to 1869.
Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a horse and cattle trader,
real estate broker
Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...
,
slave jail operator,
interstate slave trader, and cotton plantation owner. In June 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and became one of the few soldiers during the war to enlist as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
and be promoted to
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
without previous military training. An expert cavalry leader, Forrest was given command of a
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...
and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle". He used his cavalry troops as
mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were infantry who rode horses instead of marching. Unlike cavalry, mounted infantry dismounted to fight on foot. The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry. According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Editio ...
and often deployed
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
as the lead in battle, thus helping to "revolutionize cavalry tactics".
His role in the massacre of several hundred U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Pillow remains controversial, as the most infamous application of the
Confederate no-quarter policy toward black enemy combatants. In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history",
troops under Forrest's command at the
Battle of Fort Pillow massacred hundreds of surrendered troops, composed of black soldiers and white Tennessean
Southern Unionist
In the United States, Southern Unionists were white Southerners living in the Confederate States of America and the Southern Border States opposed to secession. Many fought for the Union during the Civil War. These people are also referred t ...
s fighting for the United States. Forrest was blamed for the slaughter in the U.S. press, and this news may have strengthened the United States's resolve to win the war. Forrest's level of responsibility for the massacre is still debated by historians.
Forrest joined the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
in 1867 (two years after its founding) and was elected its first Grand Wizard.
The group was a secretive network of dens, across the
post-war South, where
ex-Confederate reactionaries
In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...
having a good horse and a gun, threatened, assaulted and murdered politically active black people and their allies for political power in a system newly dominated by those whom the unreconstructed termed "
nigger
In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...
s,
carpetbagger
In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were pe ...
s and
scalawag
In United States history, scalawag (sometimes spelled scallawag or scallywag) was a pejorative slur referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War.
As with the t ...
s." The Klan, with Forrest at the lead, suppressed the
voting rights
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in ...
of blacks through violence and intimidation during the
elections of 1868. In 1869, Forrest expressed disillusionment with the terrorist group's lack of discipline,
and issued a letter ordering the dissolution of the Ku Klux Klan as well as the destruction of its costumes; he then withdrew from the organization. Forrest later denied being a Klan member,
and in the 1870s twice made statements in support of racial harmony and black dignity.
During the last years of his life, he served on the board of a railroad and farmed
President's Island
President's Island is a peninsula on the Mississippi River in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The city's major river port and an industrial park are located there.
History
The name ''President'' or ''President's'' Island appeared as early as 1801 ...
using
convict labor. Forrest died of illness in 1877, at the age of 56.
While scholars generally acknowledge Forrest's skills and acumen as a cavalry leader and tactician, due to his pre-war slave trading and his post-war leadership of the Klan, he is now considered a shameful signifier of a bleaker, less-equal United States. Forrest's racism and use of violence were sanctified by the
Lost Cause mythology that was widely promulgated during the
nadir of American race relations
The nadir of American race relations was the period in African-American history and the history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the early 20th century, when racism in the country, and particularly anti-bl ...
era, and he continues to be a favorite figure of
American white supremacists
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
. As such, in the 21st century, several Forrest monuments and memorials have been removed or renamed to better reflect the current state of
race relations in the United States
Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions (including violence) against racial or ethnic groups throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed le ...
.
Early life and career

Nathan Bedford Forrest was born July 13, 1821 to Miriam (Beck) and William Forrest, a poor settler family living in a secluded frontier cabin near the
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
of
Chapel Hill, Tennessee (then part of
Bedford County, but now in
Marshall County).
His father was of English descent, and while most of Nathan's biographers state that his mother was of
Scotch-Irish descent, the Memphis Genealogical Society asserts that she, too, was of English descent.
He and his twin sister, Fanny, were the two eldest of 12 children. Their great-grandfather, Shadrach Forrest, moved between 1730 and 1740 from
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
to
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, where both his son (Bedford's grandfather) and grandson (Bedford's father) were born; they moved to Tennessee in 1806 and he died in
Bedford, Tennessee the year before Nathan Bedford was born. Forrest's family lived in a log house (now preserved as the
Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home) from 1830 to 1833.
John Allan Wyeth, who served in an Alabama regiment under Forrest, described it as a one-room building with a loft and no windows.
William Forrest continued blacksmithing in Tennessee until 1834, when the family moved to
Salem, Mississippi. When his father died in 1837, Nathan became the primary caretaker of the family at age 16. Forrest ventured into a business partnership with his uncle Jonathan Forrest in
Hernando, Mississippi
Hernando is the county seat of DeSoto County, on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 17,138 according to the 2020 census records. It is located on the south side of the Memphis, Tennessee metro area. U.S ...
in 1841. His uncle was subsequently killed at the business in 1845 by the Matlock brothers during an argument. In retaliation, Bedford shot and killed two of them with his two-shot pistol and wounded two others with a borrowed knife thrown to him. One brother later served under Forrest's command, for a time, during the Civil War. Forrest's early business ventures included a
livery stable
A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on wor ...
, a
stagecoach
A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
line, and a
brickyard
A brickyard or brickfield is a place or Yard (land), yard where bricks are made, pottery firing, fired, and stored, or sometimes Commerce, sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed ...
. He became well known as a Memphis speculator and Mississippi gambler.
In 1858, Forrest was elected a Memphis city
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
as a
Southern Democrat and served two consecutive terms.
He purchased two large cotton plantations in
Coahoma County, Mississippi and bought a
one-half property interest in an Arkansas plantation in 1859;
by October 1860, he owned at least 3,345 acres in Mississippi. He acquired several
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
plantations in
the Delta region of
West Tennessee
West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...
. By the time the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
started in 1861, he had become one of the wealthiest men in the Southern United States, having amassed a "personal fortune that he claimed was worth $1.5 million".
Forrest stood in height, weighed about , rarely drank and abstained from tobacco use.
He was known as a tireless rider in the saddle and a skilled
swordsman.
Forrest was noted as having a "striking and commanding presence" by U.S. Army Captain Lewis Hosea, an aide to Gen.
James H. Wilson. He was often described as generally mild-mannered, but according to Hosea and other contemporaries who knew him, his demeanor changed drastically when provoked or angered.
Although he was not formally educated, according to Spaulding, Forrest was able to read and write clear and grammatical English, although he was a poor speller. He was initiated into Freemasonry, but did not progress beyond the Entered Apprentice degree.
Marriage and family
Forrest had twelve brothers and sisters; two of his eight brothers and three of his four sisters died of
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
at an early age, all at about the same time. He also contracted the disease, but survived; his father recovered but died from residual effects of the disease five years later when Bedford was 16. His mother, Miriam, then married James Horatio Luxton, of
Marshall, Texas
Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of ...
, in 1843 and gave birth to four more children. All of Forrest's younger brothersin order,
John N. Forrest,
William H. Forrest,
Aaron H. Forrest,
Jesse A. Forrest, and
Jeffrey E. Forrestworked as slave traders with Bedford before the war.
All but John, who was a disabled veteran of the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
, served as
Confederate military officers in Tennessee and Mississippi during the American Civil War. Forrest's son William M. Forrest served as his
aide-de-camp, and his half-brother
Mat Luxton was a sergeant and scout in his cavalry.
In 1845, Forrest married Mary Ann Montgomery (1826–1893), the niece of a Presbyterian minister who was her legal guardian. They had two children, William Montgomery Bedford Forrest IIII (1846–1908), who enlisted at the age of 15 and served alongside his father in the war, and a daughter, Fanny (1849–1854), who died in childhood. There are also reports dating to 1864 that Forrest had two children, Thomas and Narcissa, with an enslaved woman named
Catharine.
Forrest's grandson,
Nathan Bedford Forrest II (1872–1931), became commander-in-chief of the
Sons of Confederate Veterans and a
Grand Dragon of the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
in Georgia and secretary of the national organization. A great-grandson,
Nathan Bedford Forrest III (1905–1943), graduated from
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...
and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the
U.S. Army Air Corps; he was killed during a bombing raid over
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
in 1943, becoming the first American general to die in combat in the
European theater
The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...
during World War II.
Slave trading
Nathan Bedford Forrestdisparaged by
Parson Brownlow in 1864 as a "sin-hardened negro trader, and livery stable man of Memphis"was a notable
slave trader of the United States from 1851 to 1860. Forrest was considered one of the "big four" "phenomenally large" traders of Memphis, which was the "first-class market" for slave trading in Tennessee. He is believed to have sold thousands of slaves during his career and had profits of hundreds of thousands of dollars in 1850s currency.
Primarily based in Memphis, he was able to open a second storefront in Vicksburg in 1858.
During the American Civil War, Forrest cited his business experience in a written request for an independent command: "I have resided on the Mississippi for over twenty years, was for many years engaged in buying and selling negroes, and know the country perfectly well between Memphis and Vicksburg, and also am well acquainted with all the prominent
planters in that region, as well as above Memphis."
After initially working as an independent slave trader, he was first in partnership with Seaborne S. Jones, second in partnership with
Byrd Hill (a more experienced manager of
negro marts), third in partnership with
Josiah Maples, then again a sole proprietor, and finally reunited with Jones.
Beginning in the Forrest & Maples era, his business was headquartered at
87 Adams Street in Memphis, where several other slave traders had their
slave pens and auction yards, thus making the area an efficient
business cluster
A business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and gl ...
.
After the war, a woman named Nellie Harbold placed a
family reunification ad hoping to find her children, Lydia, Miley A., and Samuel Tirley, all of whom had been sold to separate buyers out of "the yard of Forrest the Trader" in Memphis in 1854. Forrest was traditionally said to have been trained by the principals of
Bolton, Dickens & Co., a multimillion-dollar operation that traded in a dozen Southern cities, but recent research suggests this may be apocryphal.
After the completion of the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad in 1857, Forrest began moving slaves by rail from
South Carolina
South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, including a carpenter named Richard and a man named Bent, both of whom promptly ran away from their new owners in Tennessee. In 1859, media coverage of Forrest's business spotlighted a particular product, an enslaved girl said to be the daughter of
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...
.
Historian
Tim Huebner asserts this was likely Anna Marie Bailey, a niece of Douglass.
In 1859, a federal investigation found that Forrest also sold 37 individuals illegally imported to the United States from Africa on the slave ship ''
Wanderer
Wanderer, Wanderers, or The Wanderer may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theater
* The Wanderer (1913 film), ''The Wanderer'' (1913 film), a silent film
* The Wanderer (1925 film), ''The Wanderer'' (1925 film), a silen ...
''.
Forrest, who advocated for the
reopening of the transatlantic slave trade, later told an interviewer that he had been an initial investor in the ''Wanderer'' shipment.
In January 1860, the ''New York Times'' reported that the Forrest, Jones & Co. negro mart building in Memphis had both collapsed and then caught fire; two people died.
The firm's
bills of sale for people, "amounting in the aggregate to " were salvaged.
Forrest had recently moved from 87 Adams to 89 Adams, which allowed him to increase his holding capacity from a maximum of 300 slaves to a maximum of 500.
Forrest subsequently sold his interest in the business after the building catastrophe and reinvested the profit into
plantations.
A marker was erected at the former site of Forrest's slave mart in downtown Memphis, on land currently owned by
Calvary Episcopal Church, and was dedicated on April 4, 2018.
American Civil War
Early cavalry command
After the Civil War broke out, Forrest returned to Tennessee from his Mississippi ventures and enlisted in the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
(CSA) on June 14, 1861. He reported for training at
Fort Wright near
Randolph, Tennessee,
joining
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Josiah White's cavalry company, the Tennessee Mounted Rifles (Seventh Tennessee Cavalry), as a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...
along with his youngest brother and 15-year-old son. Upon seeing how badly equipped the CSA was, Forrest offered to buy horses and equipment with his own money for a
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...
of Tennessee volunteer soldiers.
His superior officers and
Governor of Tennessee
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...
Isham G. Harris were surprised that someone of Forrest's wealth and prominence had enlisted as a soldier, especially since significant planters were exempted from service. They commissioned him as a
lieutenant colonel and authorized him to recruit and train a battalion of Confederate mounted rangers. In October 1861, Forrest was given command of a regiment, the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry. Though Forrest had no prior formal
military training
Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...
or experience, he had exhibited leadership and soon proved he could successfully employ
military tactics
Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefield. They involve the application of four battlefield functions which are closely related – kinetic or firepower, Mobility (military), mobil ...
.
Forrest gained a reputation for his willingness to maintain discipline through the use of physical force. When the information with which a scout returned proved to be erroneous, Forrest struck the man's head against a tree. After a lieutenant refused to join his troops in a river where they were building a bridge, Forrest pushed him into the water. A soldier who refused to paddle across the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...
was hit with an oar by his general. Two others who fled from a rout were beaten with a branch, and Forrest shot the one who had borne the colors. Along with brutal treatment of his prisoners, this led many soldiers and junior officers to refuse to serve under him.
Public debate surrounded
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
's decision to join the Confederacy, and both the Confederate and
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
armies recruited soldiers from the state. Over 100,000 men from Tennessee served with the Confederacy, and over 31,000 served with the U.S. Army.
Forrest posted advertisements to join his regiment, with the slogan, "Let's have some fun and kill some Yankees!". Forrest's command included his Escort Company (his "Special Forces"), for which he selected the best soldiers available. This unit, which varied in size from 40 to 90 men, constituted the elite of his cavalry.
Sacramento and Fort Donelson
Forrest won praise for his performance under fire during an early victory in the
Battle of Sacramento in
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, the first in which he commanded troops in the field, where he routed a U.S. Army force by personally leading a cavalry charge that Brigadier General
Charles Clark later commended. Forrest distinguished himself further at the
Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862. After his cavalry captured a U.S.
artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...
, he broke out of a
siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
headed by
Major General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
, rallying nearly 4,000 troops and leading them to escape across the
Cumberland River
The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...
.
A few days after the Confederate surrender of Fort Donelson, with the fall of
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
to U.S. forces imminent, Forrest took command of the city. All available carts and wagons were pressed into service to haul 600 boxes of army clothing, 250,000 pounds of bacon, and 40 wagon-loads of ammunition to the railroad depots, to be sent off to Chattanooga and Decatur.
Forrest arranged for heavy
ordnance machinery, including a new cannon rifling machine and 14 cannons, as well as parts from the Nashville Armory, to be sent to Atlanta for use by the Confederate Army.
Shiloh and Murfreesboro
A month later, Forrest was back in action at the
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...
, fought April 6–7, 1862. After the U.S. victory, Forrest commanded a Confederate
rear guard
A rearguard or rear security is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an ...
. In the battle of
Fallen Timbers, he drove through the U.S.
skirmish line. Not realizing that the rest of his men had halted their charge when they reached the full U.S. brigade, Forrest charged the brigade alone and soon found himself surrounded. He emptied his Colt Army revolvers into the swirling mass of U.S. Army soldiers and pulled out his saber, hacking, and slashing. A U.S.
infantryman
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
on the ground beside Forrest fired a musket ball at him with a point-blank shot, nearly knocking him out of the saddle. The ball went through Forrest's pelvis and lodged near his spine. A surgeon removed the musket ball a week later without anesthesia, which was unavailable.
By early summer, Forrest commanded a new brigade of inexperienced cavalry regiments. He led them into Middle Tennessee in July under orders to launch a cavalry raid. On July 13, 1862, he led them into the
First Battle of Murfreesboro, as a result of which all of the U.S. units surrendered to Forrest. The Confederates destroyed much of the U.S. Army's supplies and railroad tracks in the area.
West Tennessee raids

Promoted on July 21, 1862, to
brigadier general, Forrest was given command of a Confederate cavalry brigade. At this time, Forrest’s cavalry operations were directed under Major General
Earl Van Dorn
Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) was an American Major General who started his military career as a United States Army officer and became famous for successfully leading two defenses of a Native American settlement from the Comanch ...
, who commanded Confederate forces in the region. Forrest served as Van Dorn’s cavalry leader during a series of raids designed to disrupt Union advances, including operations leading up to the successful
Holly Springs Raid, a surprise attack orchestrated by Van Dorn that destroyed Union supply lines and forced Grant to temporarily halt his Vicksburg campaign — an outcome that preserved the South’s access to major ports and kept Confederate hopes alive at a critical moment in the war. In March 1863, Forrest and Van Dorn worked together again to deliver another decisive Confederate victory at the
Battle of Thompson's Station
The Battle of Thompson's Station took place during the American Civil War on March 5, 1863, in Williamson County, Tennessee.
In a period of relative inactivity following the Battle of Stones River, a reinforced Union Army, Union infantry brigad ...
, capturing over 1,200 Union troops and halting Federal momentum in central Tennessee. These experiences significantly influenced Forrest’s evolving approach to mobile warfare. In December 1862, Forrest's veteran troopers were reassigned by General
Braxton Bragg
Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army Officer (armed forces), officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate General officers in the Confederate States Army, general in th ...
to another officer despite his protest. Forrest had to recruit a new brigade of about 2,000 inexperienced men, most of whom lacked weapons.
Again, Bragg ordered a series of raids to disrupt the communications of the U.S. Army forces under Grant, which were threatening the city of
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...
. Forrest protested that sending such untrained men behind enemy lines was suicidal, but Bragg insisted, and Forrest obeyed his orders. In the ensuing raids, he was pursued by thousands of U.S. soldiers trying to locate his fast-moving forces. Avoiding attack by never staying in one place long, Forrest eventually led his troops during the spring and summer of 1864 on
raids into west Tennessee, as far north as the banks of the
Ohio River
The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
in southwest Kentucky and into north Mississippi.
Forrest returned to his base in Mississippi with more men than he had started with. By then, all were fully armed with captured U.S. Army weapons. As a result, Grant was forced to revise and delay his
Vicksburg campaign
The Vicksburg campaigns were a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi ...
strategy. Newspaper correspondent Sylvanus Cadwallader, who traveled with Grant for three years during his campaigns, wrote that Forrest "was the only Confederate cavalryman of whom Grant stood in much dread".
Dover, Brentwood, and Chattanooga
The U.S. Army gained military control of Tennessee in 1862 and occupied it for the duration of the war, having taken control of strategic cities and railroads. Forrest continued to lead his men in small-scale operations, including the
Battle of Dover and the
Battle of Brentwood until April 1863. The Confederate army dispatched him with a small force into the
backcountry of northern
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
and western
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
to defend against an attack of 3,000 U.S. Army cavalrymen commanded by Colonel
Abel Streight. Streight had orders to cut the Confederate railroad south of
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
, to seal off Bragg's supply line and force him to retreat into Georgia.
Forrest chased Streight's men for 16 days, harassing them all the way. Streight's goal changed from dismantling the railroad to escaping the pursuit. On May 3, Forrest caught up with Streight's unit east of
Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Forrest had fewer men than the U.S. side but feigned having a larger force by repeatedly parading some around a hilltop until Streight was convinced to surrender his 1,500 or so exhausted troops (historians Kevin Dougherty and Keith S. Hebert say he had about 1,700 men).
Day's Gap, Chickamauga, and Paducah
Not all of Forrest's exploits of individual combat involved enemy troops. Lieutenant Andrew Wills Gould, an artillery officer in Forrest's command, was being transferred, presumably because cannons under his command were
spiked (disabled) by the enemy during the
Battle of Day's Gap
The Battle of Day's Gap, fought on April 30, 1863, was the first in a series of American Civil War skirmishes in Cullman County, Alabama, that lasted until May 2, known as Streight's Raid. Commanding the Union Army, Union forces was Colonel (Un ...
. On June 13, 1863, Gould confronted Forrest about his transfer, which escalated into a violent exchange. Gould shot Forrest in the left side, and Forrest mortally stabbed Gould. Forrest was thought to have been fatally wounded by Gould, but he recovered and was ready to fight in the Chickamauga Campaign.
Forrest served with the main army at the
Battle of Chickamauga on September 18–20, 1863, in which he pursued the retreating U.S. Army and took hundreds of prisoners. Like several others under Bragg's command, he urged an immediate follow-up attack to recapture Chattanooga, which had fallen a few weeks before. Bragg failed to do so, upon which Forrest was quoted as saying, "What does he fight battles for?"
Forrest (along with other subordinates of Bragg) was not blameless for the disorganization that had led Bragg to decide against pursuit after the Chickamauga victory. He and Wheeler had regularly failed throughout the entire Chattanooga campaign to gather intelligence on the disposition of Union forces, in Forrest's case because he often involved himself in the thick of battles where he could not gather this information. Forrest also failed tactically on the first day of battle, moving his troops north up the creek in response to a perceived threat instead of screening the Confederate advance as he had been ordered to. As a result, the time it took the infantry to fight for the crossings at Alexander's and Reed's bridges allowed General
William Rosecrans to shore up his Union defenses in the area. That night, Forrest again declined to screen the army's right flank; if he had he would have found a wide gap in the Union lines, a misstep that has been called "the most significant intelligence oversight of the entire battle" as it left Bragg utterly uninformed about Union dispositions even as he planned a counterattack. The next morning a poorly planned attack Forrest initiated in that area led to heavy casualties and delayed the counterattack.
In an attempt to build a foothold to retake Chattanooga, Bragg ordered Forrest and Wheeler north after the battle in order that they might disrupt Rosecrans's fragile supply line from Nashville. But Forrest diverted to
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
, allowing Rosecrans to consolidate his hold on the city, leading Bragg to describe Forrest as "nothing more than a good raider" as he signed orders to transfer Forrest out of his command, to western Tennessee, a month or so later. This supposedly led to a meeting where Forrest confronted and threatened Bragg's life, calling him a coward and saying "you might as well not give me any orders, for I will not obey them", one of several instances in his career where Forrest was openly insubordinate to his superior officers. It is now considered to be
apocryphal
Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...
,
although it was repeated in biographies published with Forrest's approval, suggesting it reflected his assessment of Bragg.
On December 4, 1863, Forrest was promoted to the rank of
major general. On March 25, 1864, Forrest's cavalry raided the town of
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...
, in the
Battle of Paducah, during which Forrest demanded the surrender of U.S. Colonel
Stephen G. Hicks: "if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." Hicks refused to comply with the ultimatum, and according to his subsequent report, Forrest's troops took a position and set up a battery of guns while a flag of truce was still up. As soon as they received the U.S. reply, they moved forward at the command of a junior officer, and the U.S. forces opened fire. The Confederates tried to storm the fort but were repulsed; they rallied and made two more attempts, both of which failed.
Fort Pillow massacre

Fort Pillow, located upriver from Memphis (near
Henning, Tennessee), was initially constructed by Confederate forces under General
Gideon Johnson Pillow
Gideon Johnson Pillow (June 8, 1806October 8, 1878) was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, having previously served as a general of United States Volunteers during the Mexican–Ame ...
on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, and taken over by U.S. forces in 1862 after the Confederates had abandoned the fort. The fort was defended by 557 U.S. Army troops, 295 white and 262 black, under U.S. Army Maj. L.F. Booth.
On April 12, 1864, Forrest's men, under Brigadier General
James R. Chalmers, attacked and recaptured Fort Pillow. Booth and his adjutant were killed in the battle, leaving Fort Pillow under the command of Major William Bradford. Forrest had reached the fort at 10 a.m. after a hard ride from Mississippi, during which two horses were shot out from under him. By 3:30 p.m., Forrest had concluded that the U.S. troops could not hold the fort; thus, he ordered a flag of truce raised and demanded that the fort be surrendered. As he often did to avoid the high casualties that came with having to storm fortifications, Forrest warned Bradford that he could not be held responsible for what his men might do in the heat of such a battle. Bradford refused to surrender, believing his troops could escape to the U.S. Navy gunboat,
USS ''New Era'', on the Mississippi River. Forrest's men immediately took over the fort, while U.S. Army soldiers retreated to the lower bluffs of the river, but the gunboat did not come to their rescue.
What happened next became known as the Fort Pillow Massacre. As the U.S. Army troops surrendered, Forrest's men opened fire, slaughtering black and white U.S. Army soldiers.
According to historians John Cimprich and Bruce Tap, although their numbers were roughly equal, two-thirds of the black U.S. Army soldiers were killed, while only a third of the whites were killed.
The atrocities at Fort Pillow continued throughout the night. Conflicting accounts of what occurred were given later.
Forrest's Confederate forces were accused of subjecting captured U.S. Army soldiers to extreme brutality, with allegations of back-shooting soldiers who fled into the river, shooting wounded soldiers, burning men alive, nailing men to barrels and igniting them,
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...
, and hacking men to death with sabers. Forrest's men were alleged to have set fire to a U.S.
barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
with wounded U.S. Army soldiers inside.
In defense of their actions, Forrest's men insisted that the U.S. soldiers, although fleeing, kept their weapons and frequently turned to shoot, forcing the Confederates to keep firing in
self-defense
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...
. The rebels said the U.S. flag was still flying over the fort, which indicated that the force had not formally surrendered. A contemporary newspaper account from
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...
, stated that "General Forrest begged them to surrender", but "not the first sign of surrender was ever given". Similar accounts were reported in many Confederate newspapers at the time.
These statements were contradicted by U.S. Army survivors and by the letter of Achilles Clark, a Confederate soldier with the 20th Tennessee Cavalry who graphically recounted a massacre. Clark wrote to his sisters immediately after the battle:
Following the cessation of hostilities, Forrest transferred the 14 most seriously wounded
United States Colored Troops
United States Colored Troops (USCT) were Union Army regiments during the American Civil War that primarily comprised African Americans, with soldiers from other ethnic groups also serving in USCT units. Established in response to a demand fo ...
(USCT) to the U.S. steamer ''Silver Cloud''. The 226 U.S. Army troops taken prisoner at Fort Pillow were marched under guard to
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Holly Springs is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Mississippi, Marshall County, Mississippi, United States, near the border with Tennessee to the north. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,96 ...
, and then convoyed to
Demopolis, Alabama
Demopolis is the largest city in Marengo County, Alabama, Marengo County, in west-central Alabama. The population was 7,162 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.
The city lies at the confluence of the Black Warrior River and Tombigbee ...
. On April 21, Capt. John Goodwin, of Forrest's cavalry command, forwarded a dispatch listing the prisoners captured. The list included the names of 7 officers and 219 white enlisted soldiers. According to Richard L. Fuchs, "records concerning the fate of the black prisoners are either nonexistent or unreliable".
President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
asked his cabinet for opinions as to how the United States should respond to the massacre.

At the time of the massacre, General Grant was no longer in Tennessee but had transferred to the east to command all U.S. troops. Grant wrote in his
memoirs
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...
that Forrest, in his report of the battle, had "left out the part which shocks humanity to read".
Because of the events at Fort Pillow, the U.S. public and press viewed Forrest as a war criminal. A Knoxville correspondent for the ''New York Tribune'' wrote that Forrest and his brothers were "slave drivers and woman whippers", while Forrest himself was described as "mean, vindictive, cruel, and unscrupulous". The Confederate press steadfastly defended Forrest's reputation.
According to a historian studying in the Cumberland River valley during the Civil War, "Fully aware of the significance of the large-scale recruitment of black troops, the Confederates did what they could to disrupt it...Forrest himself, operating in west Tennessee, chose to interpret his stunning victory over a racially mixed garrison at Fort Pillow in April as, in part, a warning about using black troops. He described the battle graphically, recounted exaggerated Union casualty figures, and noted, 'It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that negro soldiers cannot cope with the Southerners.'"
S.C. Gwynne writes, "Forrest's responsibility for the massacre has been actively debated for a century and a half. ... No direct evidence suggests that he ordered the shooting of surrendering or unarmed men, but to fully exonerate him from responsibility is also impossible".
Brices Cross Roads and Tupelo
Forrest's most decisive victory came on June 10, 1864, when his 3,500-man force clashed with 8,500 men commanded by U.S. Army Brig. Gen.
Samuel D. Sturgis
Samuel Davis Sturgis (June 11, 1822 – September 28, 1889) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army. A veteran of the Mexican–American War, Mexican War, American Civil War, Civil War, and American Indian Wars, I ...
at the
Battle of Brices Crossroads in northeastern
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
.
Here, the mobility of the troops under his command and his superior tactics led to victory,
allowing him to continue harassing U.S. forces in southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi throughout the war.
Forrest set up a position for an attack to repulse a pursuing force commanded by Sturgis, who had been sent to impede Forrest from destroying U.S. Army supply lines and fortifications.
When Sturgis's Federal army came upon the crossroads, they collided with Forrest's cavalry. Sturgis ordered his infantry to advance to the front line to counteract the cavalry. The infantry, tired, weary, and suffering under the heat, were quickly broken and sent into mass retreat. Forrest sent a full charge after the retreating army and captured 16 artillery pieces, 176 wagons, and 1,500 stands of small arms. In all, the maneuver cost Forrest 96 men killed and 396 wounded. The day was worse for U.S. troops, who suffered 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 1,623 missing. The losses were a deep blow to the black regiment under Sturgis's command. In the hasty retreat, they stripped off commemorative badges that read "Remember Fort Pillow" to avoid goading the Confederate force pursuing them.
One month later, while serving under General
Stephen D. Lee, Forrest experienced
tactical defeat at the
Battle of Tupelo in 1864.
Concerned about U.S. Army supply lines, Maj. Gen. Sherman
sent a force under the command of Maj. Gen.
Andrew J. Smith to deal with Forrest.
U.S. Army forces drove the Confederates from the field, and Forrest was wounded in the foot, but his forces were not wholly destroyed. He continued to oppose U.S. Army efforts in the West for the remainder of the war.
Tennessee Raids
Forrest led other raids that summer and fall, including a famous one into U.S. Army-held downtown Memphis in August 1864 (the
Second Battle of Memphis) and another on a major U.S. Army supply depot at
Johnsonville, Tennessee. On November 4, 1864, during the
Battle of Johnsonville
The Battle of Johnsonville was fought November 4–5, 1864, in Benton County, Tennessee, Benton and Humphreys County, Tennessee, Humphreys counties, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. Confederate States Army, Confederate cavalry commander ...
, the Confederates shelled the city, sinking three gunboats and nearly thirty other ships and destroying many tons of supplies.
During
Hood's Tennessee Campaign, he fought alongside General
John Bell Hood
John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the decision to replace ...
, the newest commander of the Confederate
Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was a Field army, field army of the Confederate States Army in the Western theater of the American Civil War, Western Theater of the American Civil War. Named for the Confederate States of America, Confederate state of Tenn ...
, in the
Second Battle of Franklin on November 30.
Facing a disastrous defeat, Forrest argued bitterly with Hood (his
superior officer) demanding permission to cross the
Harpeth River
The Harpeth River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 8, 2011 is one of the major streams of north-central Middle Tennessee, United States, and one of the major ...
and cut off the escape route of U.S. Army Maj. Gen.
John M. Schofield's army.
He eventually made the attempt, but it was too late.
Murfreesboro, Nashville, and Selma

After his bloody defeat at Franklin, Hood continued to Nashville. Hood ordered Forrest to conduct an independent raid against the
Murfreesboro garrison
A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters.
A garrison is usually in a city ...
. After success in achieving the objectives specified by Hood, Forrest engaged U.S. forces near Murfreesboro on December 5, 1864. In what would be known as the
Third Battle of Murfreesboro, a portion of Forrest's command broke and ran.
When Hood's battle-hardened Army of Tennessee, consisting of 40,000 men deployed in three infantry corps plus 10,000 to 15,000 cavalry, was all but destroyed on December 15–16, at the
Battle of Nashville,
Forrest distinguished himself by commanding the Confederate rear guard in a series of actions that allowed what was left of the army to escape. For this, he would later be promoted to the rank of
lieutenant general
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
on March 2, 1865.
A portion of his command, now dismounted, was surprised and captured in their camp at
Verona, Mississippi on December 25, 1864, during a raid of the
Mobile and Ohio Railroad
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
by a brigade of Brig. Gen.
Benjamin Grierson's cavalry division.
In the spring of 1865, Forrest led an unsuccessful defense of the state of Alabama against
Wilson's Raid. His opponent, U.S. Army Brig. Gen.
James H. Wilson, defeated Forrest at the
Battle of Selma on April 2, 1865.
A week later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant in Virginia. When he received news of Lee's surrender, Forrest surrendered as well. On May 9, 1865, at
Gainesville, Forrest read his
farewell address to the men under his command, urging them to "submit to the powers to be, and to aid in restoring peace and establishing law and order throughout the land."
War record and promotions
Postwar years and later life
Business ventures

As a former slave owner and slave trader, Forrest experienced the
abolition of slavery
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world.
The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...
at the war's end as a major financial setback. During the war, he became interested in the area around
Crowley's Ridge
Crowley's Ridge (also Crowleys Ridge) is a geological formation that rises 250 to above the alluvial plain of the Mississippi embayment in a line from southeastern Missouri to the Mississippi River near Helena, Arkansas. It is the most p ...
and took up civilian life in 1865 in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1866, Forrest and C.C. McCreanor contracted to finish the
Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, including a
right-of-way that passed over the ridge. The ridgetop
commissary
A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop.
In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...
he built as a provisioning store for the 1,000 Irish laborers hired to lay the rails became the nucleus of a town, which most residents called "Forrest's Town" and which was incorporated as
Forrest City, Arkansas in 1870.
The historian Court Carney writes that Forrest was not universally popular in the white Memphis community: he alienated many of the city's business people in his commercial dealings and was criticized for questionable business practices that caused him to default on debts.
He later found employment at the
Selma-based Marion & Memphis Railroad and eventually became the company president. He was not as successful in railroad promotion as in war, and, under his direction, the company went
bankrupt
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
. Nearly ruined as the result of this failure, Forrest spent his final days running an eight-hundred-acre farm on land he leased on
President's Island
President's Island is a peninsula on the Mississippi River in southwest Memphis, Tennessee. The city's major river port and an industrial park are located there.
History
The name ''President'' or ''President's'' Island appeared as early as 1801 ...
in the Mississippi River, where he and his wife lived in a
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...
. There, with the labor of over a hundred prison convicts, he grew corn, potatoes, vegetables, and cotton profitably, but his health steadily declined. In May 1877, Forrest's use of convict labor was described as indistinguishable from slavery, in its use of bloodhounds, shotgun-wielding guards, and corporal punishment.
Critics also argued it was unjust and exploitative: "The convict farmer has a financial interest in the conviction of as many persons as he may need...and the obsequious and corrupt myrmidons and magistrates of the law can readily supply the demand at a short notice in a country where the unprotected negro is left to steal or starve."
Offers his services to Sherman
During the
''Virginius'' Affair of 1873, some of Forrest's old Confederate friends were
filibusters aboard the vessel; consequently, he wrote a letter to the then General-in-Chief of the United States Army William T. Sherman and offered his services in case a war were to break out between the United States and Spain. Sherman, who had recognized how formidable an opponent Forrest was in battle during the Civil War, replied after the crisis settled down. He thanked Forrest for the offer and stated that had war broken out, he would have considered it an honor to have served side by side with him.
Ku Klux Klan leadership

Forrest was an early member of the
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
(KKK), which was formed by six veterans of the Confederate Army in
Pulaski, Tennessee, during the spring of 1866
and soon expanded throughout the state and beyond. Forrest became involved sometime in late 1866 or early 1867. A common report was that Forrest arrived in Nashville while the Klan was meeting at the
Maxwell House Hotel in April 1867, probably at the encouragement of former fellow CSA general, turned state Klan leader,
George Gordon. The organization had grown to the point that an experienced commander was needed, and Forrest was well-suited to assume the role. In Room 10 of the Maxwell, Forrest was sworn in as a member by
John W. Morton.
Brian Steel Wills quotes two KKK members who identified Forrest as a Klan leader. James R. Crowe stated, "After the order grew to large numbers we found it necessary to have someone of large experience to command. We chose General Forrest".
Another member wrote, "N. B. Forrest of Confederate fame was at our head, and was known as the Grand Wizard. I heard him make a speech in one of our Dens". The title "
Grand Wizard
The grand wizard (sometimes called the imperial wizard or national director) is the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad.
The title "Grand Wizard" was used by the first Klan which was fo ...
" was chosen because Forrest had been known as "The Wizard of the Saddle" during the war. According to Jack Hurst's 1993 biography, "Two years after
Appomattox, Forrest was reincarnated as grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. As the Klan's first national leader, he became the
Lost Cause of the Confederacy
The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, known simply as the Lost Cause, is an American pseudohistory, pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States of America, Confederate States during the America ...
's avenging angel, galvanizing a loose collection of boyish secret social clubs into a reactionary instrument of terror still feared today." Forrest was the Klan's first and only Grand Wizard, and he was active in recruitment for the Klan from 1867 to 1868.
Following the war, the United States Congress began passing the
Reconstruction Acts to specify conditions for the readmission of former Confederate States to the United States,
including ratification of the
Fourteenth (1868), and
Fifteenth (1870) Amendments to the United States Constitution. The Fourteenth addressed citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws for formerly enslaved people, while the Fifteenth specifically secured the voting rights of black men.
According to Wills, in the August 1867 state elections the Klan was relatively restrained in its actions. White Americans who made up the KKK hoped to persuade black voters that returning to their pre-war state of bondage was in their best interest. Forrest assisted in maintaining order. After these efforts failed, Klan violence and intimidation escalated and became widespread. Author Andrew Ward, however, writes, "In the spring of 1867, Forrest and his dragoons launched a campaign of midnight parades; 'ghost' masquerades; and 'whipping' and even 'killing Negro voters and white Republicans, to scare blacks off voting and running for office. In 1868, "Klan organizers circulated printed rituals. Forrest and his business partners were then promoting an insurance venture, and their travels facilitated the movement ."
In an 1868 interview by a
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
newspaper, Forrest claimed that the Ku Klux Klan had 40,000 members in
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
and 550,000 total members throughout the Southern United States.
He said he sympathized with them, but denied any formal connection, although he claimed he could muster thousands of men himself. He described the Klan as "a protective political military organization ... The members are sworn to recognize the government of the United States ... Its objects originally were protection against
Loyal Leagues and the
Grand Army of the Republic
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...
...".
After only a year as Grand Wizard, in January 1869, faced with an ungovernable membership employing methods that seemed increasingly counterproductive, Forrest dissolved the Klan, ordered their costumes destroyed, and withdrew from participation. His declaration had little effect, and few Klansmen destroyed their robes and hoods.
In 1871, the
''U.S. Congressional Committee Report'' stated that "The natural tendency of all such organizations is to violence and crime, hence it was that Gen. Forrest and other men of influence by the exercise of their moral power, induced them to disband".
Democratic convention 1868

The Klan's activity infiltrated the
Democratic Party's campaign for the
presidential election of 1868. Prominent ex-Confederates, including Forrest, the Grand Wizard of the Klan, and South Carolina's
Wade Hampton, attended as delegates at the 1868 Democratic Convention, held at
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...
headquarters at 141 East 14th Street in New York City. Forrest rode to the convention on a train that was stopped just outside of a small town along the way, when he was confronted by a well-known fighter shouting "d
mne butcher" and wanting to "thrash" him. When Forrest rose and approached the bully, his larger challenger's "purpose evaporated." Former governor of New York
Horatio Seymour was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, while Forrest's friend,
Francis Preston Blair Jr., was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Seymour's running mate. The Seymour–Blair Democratic ticket's campaign slogan was: "Our Ticket, Our Motto, This Is a White Man's Country; Let White Men Rule". The Democratic Party platform denounced the Reconstruction Acts as unconstitutional, void, and revolutionary. The party advocated the termination of the Freedman's Bureau and any government policy designed to aid blacks in the Southern United States. These developments worked to the advantage of the Republicans, who focused on the Democratic Party's alleged disloyalty during and after the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Election of 1868 and Grant
During the presidential election of 1868, the Ku Klux Klan, under the leadership of Forrest, and other terrorist groups, used brutal violence and intimidation against blacks and Republican voters.
Forrest played a prominent role in the spread of the Klan in the Southern United States, meeting with racist whites in Atlanta several times between February and March 1868. Forrest probably organized a statewide Klan network in Georgia during these visits. On March 31, the Klan struck, killing prominent Republican organizer
George Ashburn in
Columbus.
The Republicans had nominated one of Forrest's battle adversaries, U.S. war hero
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
, for the presidency at their convention held in October. Klansmen took their orders from their former Confederate officers. In Louisiana, 1,000 blacks were killed to suppress Republican voting. In Georgia, blacks and Republicans also faced a lot of violence. The Klan's violence was primarily designed to intimidate voters, targeting black and white supporters of the Republican Party. The Klan's violent tactics backfired, as Grant, whose slogan was "Let us have peace", won the election and Republicans gained a majority in Congress.
Grant defeated
Horatio Seymour, the Democratic presidential candidate, by a comfortable electoral margin, 214 to 80. The popular vote was much closer: Grant received 3,013,365 (52.7%) votes, while Seymour received 2,708,744 (47.3%) votes. Grant lost Georgia and Louisiana, where the violence and intimidation against blacks were most prominent.
Klan prosecution and Congressional testimony (1871)
Many in the United States, including President Grant, backed the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave voting rights to American men regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". Congress and Grant passed the
Enforcement Acts
The Enforcement Acts were three bills that were passed by the United States Congress between 1870 and 1871. They were criminal codes that protected African Americans’ right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protect ...
from 1870 to 1871 to protect the "registration, voting, officeholding, or jury service" of African Americans. Under these laws enforced by Grant and the newly formed
Department of Justice, there were over 5,000 indictments and 1,000 convictions of Klan members across the Southern United States.
Forrest testified before the Congressional investigation of Klan activities on June 27, 1871. He denied membership, but his role in the KKK was beyond the scope of the investigating committee, which wrote: "Our design is not to connect General Forrest with this order (the reader may form his own conclusion upon this question)".
The committee also noted, "The natural tendency of all such organizations is to violence and crime; hence it was that General Forrest and other men of influence in the state, by the exercise of their moral power, induced them to disband". George Cantor, a biographer of Confederate generals, wrote, "Forrest ducked and weaved, denying all knowledge, but admitted he knew some of the people involved. He sidestepped some questions and pleaded failure of memory on others. Afterwards, he admitted to 'gentlemanly lies'. He wanted nothing more to do with the Klan, but felt honor bound to protect former associates."
Race and politics (1870s)

After the
lynch mob murder of four black people who had been arrested for defending themselves in a brawl at a barbecue, Forrest wrote to Tennessee governor
John C. Brown
John Calvin Brown (January 6, 1827August 17, 1889) was a Confederate Army officer and an American politician and businessman. Although he originally opposed secession, Brown fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, eventually ...
in August 1874 volunteering to personally lead a posse to punish the "white marauders" responsible. Brown politely declined the offer.
In January 1875, Forrest came to Nashville to work against the re-election of Andrew Johnson for Senate; four of the six other candidates being considered by the Tennessee Assembly were fellow former high officers in the Confederate Army, namely generals
John C. Brown
John Calvin Brown (January 6, 1827August 17, 1889) was a Confederate Army officer and an American politician and businessman. Although he originally opposed secession, Brown fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, eventually ...
,
William B. Bate,
W. A. Quarles, and Colonel
John H. Savage. According to historian
Fay W. Brabson, when Forrest arrived Johnson cunningly told him, "When the gods arrive, the half-gods depart; if the people really wanted to bestow honor where honor was due, they should support Forrest for the Senate instead of any one-horse general." Forrest was duly flattered and left town for Memphis that night, leaving the "lesser military contenders" to fight amongst themselves amidst a losing battle with Johnson.
In his last public appearance, Forrest gave a speech on July 5, 1875 before the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association, a post-war organization of black Southerners advocating to both improve black people's economic condition and gain equal rights for all citizens. He made what ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' described as a "friendly speech"
during which, when offered a bouquet by the daughter of a Pole Bearers' officer, he accepted them,
thanked the young black woman and kissed her on the cheek. Forrest spoke in encouragement of black advancement and endeavored to be a proponent for espousing peace and harmony between black and white Americans.
In response to the Pole-Bearers speech, the
Cavalry Survivors Association of Augusta, the first Confederate organization formed after the war, held a meeting on July 30, 1875 in which Captain Francis Edgeworth Eve, a former enlisted cavalry soldier who had been
elected to his rank in the
Georgia Hussars, gave a speech expressing strong disapproval of Forrest's remarks promoting inter-ethnic harmony, ridiculing his faculties and judgment and berating the woman who gave Forrest flowers as "a mulatto wench". The association voted unanimously to amend its constitution to expressly forbid publicly advocating for or hinting at any association of white women and girls as being in the same classes as "females of the negro race". The ''
Macon Weekly Telegraph'' newspaper also condemned Forrest for his speech, describing the event as "the recent disgusting exhibition of himself at the negro jamboree" and quoting part of a ''
Charlotte Observer'' article, which read "We have infinitely more respect for
Longstreet, who fraternizes with negro men on public occasions, with the pay for the treason to his race in his pocket, than with Forrest and
Pillow">eneralPillow, who equalize with the negro women, with only 'futures' in payment".
Death

Forrest reportedly died from acute complications of
diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
at the Memphis home of his brother Jesse on October 29, 1877. His eulogy was delivered by his recent spiritual mentor, former Confederate chaplain
George Tucker Stainback, who declared in his eulogy: "Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest, though dead, yet speaketh. His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever."
Forrest's funeral procession was over two miles long. The crowd of mourners was estimated to include 20,000 people.
According to Forrest biographer Jack Hurst, writers present at the public viewing of Forrest's body and the funeral procession noted many black citizens among them.

Forrest was buried on October 30, 1877 at
Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis with military honors and rites as a member of the
Oddfellows
Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in London. ...
. In 1904, the remains of Forrest and his wife Mary were
disinterred from Elmwood and moved to a Memphis city park that was originally named Forrest Park in his honor but has since been renamed Health Sciences Park.
On July 7, 2015, the Memphis City Council unanimously voted to remove the statue of Forrest from Health Sciences Park, and to return the remains of Forrest and his wife to Elmwood Cemetery.
However, on October 13, 2017, the
Tennessee Historical Commission invoked the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013 and U.S. Public Law 85-425: Sec. 410 to overrule the city.
Consequently, Memphis sold the park land to
Memphis Greenspace, a non-profit entity not subject to the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, which immediately removed the monument as explained below.
Historical reputation and legacy
Specific monuments
Many memorials have been erected to Forrest, especially in Tennessee and adjacent southern states. Forrest was elevated in Memphis—where he lived and died—to the status of folk hero. Historian Court Carney suggested that "embarrassed by their city's early capitulation during the Civil War, white Memphians desperately needed a hero and therefore crafted a distorted depiction of Forrest's role in the war."
Moreover, a "strong Forrest cult exists among fans of the Lost Cause." Forrest's legacy as "one of the most controversial—and popular—icons of the war" still draws heated public debate.
, Tennessee had 32 dedicated
historical markers linked to Nathan Bedford Forrest, more than were dedicated to all three former
Presidents associated with the state combined:
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
,
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...
, and
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
. A Tennessee-based organization, the
Sons of Confederate Veterans, posthumously awarded Forrest their
Confederate Medal of Honor, created in 1977.
Public schools: High schools named for Forrest were built in
Chapel Hill, Tennessee, and
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. The school in Jacksonville was named for Forrest in 1959 at the urging of the
Daughters of the Confederacy because they were upset about the 1954 ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...
'' decision.
In 2008, the
Duval County School Board voted 5–2 against a push to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville.
In 2013, the board voted 7–0 to begin the process to rename the school.
The school was all white until
Duval County schools were ordered to be desegregated in 1971, but now more than half the student body is black.
After several public forums and discussions,
Westside High School was unanimously approved in January 2014 as the school's new name. The Forrest Hill Academy high school in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, which had been named for Forrest, was renamed the
Hank Aaron
Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...
New Beginnings Academy in April 2021 after the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...
baseball star who had died less than three months prior.
Middle Tennessee State University: In 1978,
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...
abandoned imagery it had formerly used (in 1951, the school's yearbook, ''The Midlander'', featured the first appearance of Forrest's likeness as MTSU's official mascot) and MTSU president M. G. Scarlett removed the General's image from the university's official seal. The Blue Raiders' athletic mascot was changed to an ambiguous swash-buckler character called the "Blue Raider" to avoid association with Forrest or the Confederacy. The school unveiled its latest mascot, a winged horse named "Lightning" inspired by the mythological
Pegasus
Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...
, during halftime of a basketball game against rival
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...
on January 17, 1998.
The
ROTC
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
building at MTSU had been named Forrest Hall to honor him in 1958, but the
frieze
In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...
depicting him on horseback that had adorned the side of the building was removed amid protests in 2006.
A significant push to change its name failed on February 16, 2018, when the governor-controlled
Tennessee Historical Commission denied Middle Tennessee State University's petition to rename Forrest Hall.
Mississippi license plate plan: A 2011 proposal by the
Sons of Confederate Veterans to honor Forrest with a
Mississippi license plate revived tensions and raised objections from Mississippi NAACP chapter president Derrick Johnson, who compared Forrest to
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
.
The Mississippi
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
petitioned Governor
Haley Barbour
Haley Reeves Barbour (born October 22, 1947) is an American attorney, politician, and lobbyist who served as the 63rd governor of Mississippi from 2004 to 2012. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously ser ...
to denounce the plates and prevent their distribution. Barbour refused to denounce the honor. Instead, he noted that the state legislature would not likely approve the plate anyway.
Forrest monument in Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama: In 2000, a monument to Forrest was unveiled in
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...
.
[ The monument to Forrest in the Confederate Circle section of Old Live Oak Cemetery in ]Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abou ...
, reads "Defender of Selma, Wizard of the Saddle, Untutored Genius, The first with the most. This monument stands as testament of our perpetual devotion and respect for Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Nathan Bedford Forrest. CSA 1821–1877, one of the South's finest heroes. In honor of Gen. Forrest's unwavering defense of Selma, the great state of Alabama, and the Confederacy, this memorial is dedicated. DEO VINDICE". The bust of Forrest was stolen from the cemetery monument in March 2012 and replaced in May 2015.
Forrest Park, now Health Sciences Park, in Memphis: A memorial to him, the first Civil War memorial in Memphis, was erected in 1905 in a new Nathan Bedford Forrest Park. In 2005, Shelby County Commissioner Walter Bailey started an effort to move the statue over Forrest's grave and rename Forrest Park. Former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, who is black, blocked the move. In 2013, Forrest Park in Memphis was renamed the Health Sciences Park amid substantial controversy. In light of the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, some Tennessee lawmakers advocated removing a bust of Forrest located in the state's Capitol building. Subsequently, then-Mayor A C Wharton urged that the statue of Forrest be removed from the Health Sciences Park and suggested that the remains of Forrest and his wife be relocated to their original burial site in nearby Elmwood Cemetery. In a nearly unanimous vote on July 7, the Memphis City Council passed a resolution in favor of removing the statue and securing the couple's remains for transfer. The Tennessee Historical Commission denied removal on October 21, 2016, under the authority granted it by the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act of 2013, which prevents cities and counties from relocating, removing, renaming, or otherwise disturbing without permission war memorials on public property. The city council then voted on December 20, 2017, to sell Health Sciences Park to Memphis Greenspace, a new non-profit corporation
A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...
not subject to the Heritage Protection Act, which removed the statue and another of Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
that same evening. The Sons of Confederate Veterans threatened a lawsuit against the city. On April 18, 2018, the Tennessee House of Representatives punished Memphis by cutting $250,000 (~$ in ) in appropriations for the city's bicentennial celebration. On June 3, 2021, the remains of Forrest and his wife were exhumed from their burial place in the park, where they had been for over a century, to be reburied in Columbia, Tennessee. The exhumation and reburial were the results of a campaign that began after the Unite the Right Rally
The Unite the Right rally was a White supremacy#United States, white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, whi ...
in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The effort was spearheaded by Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, an educator and Memphis native who founded a group called Take 'Em Down 901 to advocate for the removal of Confederate iconography. After the Forrests' remains were removed from Memphis, they were reportedly buried in Munford, Tennessee until their reburial in Columbia in September 2021 by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Nathan Bedford Forrest Day: The Tennessee legislature established July 13 as "Nathan Bedford Forrest Day". As of 2019, Nathan Bedford Forrest Day was still observed in Tennessee, though some Democrats in the state had attempted to change the law, which required Tennessee's governor to sign a proclamation honoring the holiday. However, since that time, Governor Bill Lee's administration introduced a billpassed by the Tennessee legislature on June 10, 2020which released the governor from the former requirement that he proclaim that observance each year and a spokesperson for Governor Lee confirmed that he would not be signing a Forrest Day proclamation in July 2020. In June 2020, after black members of the Tennessee House of Representatives unsuccessfully asked it to eliminate a state celebration of Forrest, Representative Cameron Sexton opined: "I don't think anybody here is truly racist. I think people may make insensitive comments."
Nathan Bedford Forrest bust: A bust sculpted by Jane Baxendale is on display at the Tennessee State Capitol building in Nashville. Brett Joseph Forrest, a direct descendant of Nathan, spoke in support of the bust's removal. In 2021 Sexton voted against the removal of the bust of Forrest from the Tennessee State Capitol and into the Tennessee State Museum, but only one other legislator agreed with him, and the bust was removed. Sexton said that he believed the removal of the bust "aligns ... with the teaching of communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
."
Other monuments and memorials:
* Forrest County, Mississippi is named after him, as is Forrest City, Arkansas.
* Obelisks
An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' rotisserie, spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called Obelisk (hieroglyph), ...
in his memory were placed at his birthplace in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, and at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park near Camden.
* A monument to Forrest at a corner of Veterans Plaza in Rome, Georgia
Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...
, was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909 to honor his bravery for defending Rome from U.S. Army Colonel Abel Streight and his cavalry.
* The World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Army base Camp Forrest in Tullahoma, Tennessee
Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma microp ...
, was named after him. It is now the site of the Arnold Engineering Development Center
The Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), Arnold Engineering Development Center before July 2012, is an Air Force Materiel Command facility under the control of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC). Named for General Henry "Hap" Arnold ...
.
* The Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue in Nashville was particularly notable for its idiosyncratic depiction of Forrest on horseback.
* In August 2000, a road on Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Established in 1848, the fort was renamed in 1854 to honor William Wallace Smith Bliss, Bvt.Lieut.Colonel William W.S. Bliss (1815–1853 ...
named for Forrest decades earlier was renamed for former post commander Richard T. Cassidy.
* In 2023, Forrest Street in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
, named after Forrest has been proposed by local legislators for renaming.
Military doctrines
Forrest is considered one of the Civil War's most brilliant tacticians by the historian Spencer C. Tucker. Forrest fought by simple rules; he maintained that "war means fighting and fighting means killing" and the way to win was "to get there first with the most men". U.S. Army General William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
called him "that devil Forrest" in wartime communications with Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
and considered him "the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side".
Forrest became well known for his early use of maneuver tactics as applied to a mobile horse cavalry deployment. He grasped the doctrines of mobile warfare that would eventually become prevalent in the 20th century. Paramount in his strategy was fast movement, even if it meant pushing his horses at a killing pace, to constantly harass the enemy during raids by disrupting their supply trains and communications with the destruction of railroad tracks and the cutting of telegraph lines, as he wheeled around his opponent's flank. The Civil War scholar Bruce Catton
Charles Bruce Catton (October 9, 1899 – August 28, 1978) was an American historian and journalist, known best for his books concerning the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular history, featuring in ...
writes:
Forrest is often erroneously quoted as saying his strategy was "to git thar fustest with the mostest". Now often recast as "Getting there firstest with the mostest", this misquote first appeared in a ''New York Tribune'' article written to provide colorful comments in reaction to European interest in Civil War generals. The aphorism was addressed and corrected as "Ma'am, I got there first with the most men" by a ''New York Times'' story in 1918. Though it was a novel and succinct condensation of the military principles of mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
and maneuver, Bruce Catton writes of the spurious quote:
Criticism
Military historian Christopher Rein takes a dim view of Forrest. While agreeing that Forrest was a skilled cavalryman, perhaps the best on the Confederate side, and tactically shrewd, Rein points out that the latter quality was most evident only in smaller engagements such as the First Battle of Murfreesboro, Brice's Crossroads and Parker's Cross Roads, victories that were strategically peripheral to the Confederate cause and often came through bluffery or at the expense of inferior enemy troops. Forrest's celebrated personal bravery, willingness to lead from the front and get "in the mix" may have earned him considerable admiration in his day from both sides in the war, Rein notes. But those virtues, he continues, are useful to armies when they are demonstrated by junior officers and enlisted men, not generals who must consider the larger picture, as Forrest failed to do when he led troops to Ebenezer Church rather than prepare a more robust defense at Selma, a loss that effectively ended the war as the Union destroyed the Confederacy's last manufacturing center.
As part of larger formations, writes Rein, Forrest's tendency to take the initiative and fight without consulting his superiors hurt the Confederacy more than once. His failures at Chickamauga left Bragg with a more ephemeral victory than he might have otherwise gained, at Tupelo he escaped but at the cost of his ability to mount serious raids on Sherman's supply lines, and Johnsonville, despite its overwhelming success, hurt the Confederacy as it led Hood to delay his advance into Tennessee, allowing Thomas to consolidate his defenses for the Battle of Nashville, where Union victory ended the Army of Tennessee
The Army of Tennessee was a Field army, field army of the Confederate States Army in the Western theater of the American Civil War, Western Theater of the American Civil War. Named for the Confederate States of America, Confederate state of Tenn ...
as a force to reckon with, and with it the Confederacy's Western Theater campaign.
In the anthology ''The Worst Military Leaders in History'', Rein further contends that the glorification of Forrest and his tactical brilliance by his many defenders, many like him minimally educated U.S. military cadets from the South who have seen him as also exemplifying the Southern virtues celebrated by the Lost Cause of the Confederacy
The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, known simply as the Lost Cause, is an American pseudohistory, pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States of America, Confederate States during the America ...
myth, has had longterm negative effects on U.S. military performance:
Fort Pillow
Modern historians generally believe that Forrest's attack on Fort Pillow was a massacre, noting high casualty rates and the rebels targeting black soldiers. Forrest's claim that the Fort Pillow massacre was an invention of U.S. reporters is contradicted by letters written by Confederate soldiers to their own families, which described extreme brutality on the part of Confederate troops. It was the Confederacy's publicly stated position that former slaves firing on whites would be killed on the spot, along with Southern whites that fought for the Union, whom the Confederacy considered traitors. According to this analysis, Forrest's troops were carrying out Confederate policy. The historical record does not support his repeated denials that he knew a massacre was taking place or that he even knew a massacre had occurred at all.
Consequently, his role at Fort Pillow was a stigmatizing one for him the rest of his life, both professionally and personally, and contributed to his business problems after the war.
Historians have differed in their interpretations of the events at Fort Pillow. Richard L. Fuchs, author of ''An Unerring Fire'', concluded:
Andrew Ward downplays the controversy:
John Cimprich states:
The site is now a Tennessee State Historic Park.
Grant himself described Forrest as "a brave and intrepid cavalry general" while noting that Forrest sent a dispatch on the Fort Pillow Massacre "in which he left out the part which shocks humanity to read".
In popular culture
In the 1990 PBS documentary '' The Civil War'' by Ken Burns
Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...
, historian Shelby Foote
Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist. Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of ''The Civil War: A Narrative'', a three- ...
states in Episode 7 that the Civil War produced two "authentic geniuses": Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
and Nathan Bedford Forrest. When he expressed his opinion to one of Forrest's granddaughters, she replied after a pause, "You know, we never thought much of Mr. Lincoln in my family". Foote also made Forrest a major character in his novel '' Shiloh'', which used numerous first-person stories to illustrate a detailed timeline and account of the battle.
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
's title character in the film ''Forrest Gump
''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...
'' remarks in one scene that his mother named him after Nathan Bedford Forrest and "we was related to him in some way". The following scene satirically depicts Hanks as Forrest in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, donning a hood and being superimposed into scenes of the Klan from ''The Birth of a Nation
''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...
''.
In 2025, Forrest was portrayed by David Meadows in the historical romance drama film The Legend of Van Dorn, which dramatizes the final chapter of Confederate General Earl Van Dorn
Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820May 7, 1863) was an American Major General who started his military career as a United States Army officer and became famous for successfully leading two defenses of a Native American settlement from the Comanch ...
’s life.
See also
* Cavalry in the American Civil War
The American Civil War saw extensive use of horse-mounted soldiers on both sides of the conflict. They were vital to both the Union Army and Confederate Army for conducting reconnaissance missions to locate the enemy and determine their strengt ...
* Leaders of the Ku Klux Klan
* List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
* Nathan Bedford Forrest bust in the Tennessee General Assembly building
* Emma Sansom
* Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials
* List of Tennessee slave traders
* History of Memphis, Tennessee
References
Notes
Bibliography
::Books
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Further reading
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* Scales, John R. (2017). ''The Battles and Campaigns of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, 1861–1865''. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie. .
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* – on Ft Pillow.
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* Wills, Brian Steel (1992). ''The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest''. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. .
External links
Animated History of The Campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest
at civilwaranimated.com
General Nathan Bedford Forrest Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Nathan Bedford
1821 births
1877 deaths
Nathan Bedford Forrest
American Freemasons
American Ku Klux Klan members
19th-century American planters
American people of English descent
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
American proslavery activists
American slave owners
Cavalry commanders
Confederate States Army lieutenant generals
Confederate war criminals
Deaths from diabetes in the United States
Forrest family
Leaders of the Ku Klux Klan
People from Chapel Hill, Tennessee
People of Tennessee in the American Civil War
Perpetrators of American Civil War prisoner of war massacres
Tennessee Democrats
Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee
19th-century American slave traders
History of slavery in Tennessee
Businesspeople from Memphis, Tennessee
Post-1808 importation of slaves to the United States
Knights of the Golden Circle
Former Ku Klux Klan members
Wanderer (slave ship)