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Nathan Bedford Forrest II (August 1871 – March 11, 1931) was an American businessman who served as the 19th Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans from 1919 to 1921, and as the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan for Georgia.
- Mattie Patton Forrest
- Businessman
- Nathan Bedford Forrest III
- Nathan Bedford Forrest (grandfather)
Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877) was a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and was later the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader.
- 1861–1865
- Lieutenant General
Nathan Bedford Forrest II (August 1871 – March 11, 1931) was an American businessman who served as the 19th Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans from 1919 to 1921, and as the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan for Georgia. Forrest was born in Oxford, Mississippi, in 1871.
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- Overview
- Early life
- Civil War
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate cavalry commander during the American Civil War. He and his troops were responsible for the massacre of Black Union troops stationed at Fort Pillow, Tennessee, in April 1864, and he was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
What was Nathan Bedford Forrest’s role in the Fort Pillow Massacre?
After failing to secure the surrender of Union-controlled Fort Pillow in Tennessee, Confederate Maj. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest ordered his men to take the outnumbered garrison by force. The battle that ensued on April 12, 1864, was characterized by close-quarters combat and an almost total breakdown of command and control. Despite contradictory evidence, it is clear that in many instances Forrest’s men killed African American soldiers who were attempting to surrender. Between 277 and 295 Union troops were killed. Most of them were Black.
What did Nathan Bedford Forrest do after the Civil War?
After the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest served as president of the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad and managed a plantation manned by convict labor. In 1867 Forrest became the first grand wizard of the original Ku Klux Klan, a secret hate organization that employed terror in pursuit of a white supremacist agenda.
How did Nathan Bedford Forrest die?
Forrest was born into a poor family and spent his formative years in rural Tennessee and Mississippi. His hardscrabble background contributed to the development of an aggressive and sometimes violent disposition. With the untimely death of his father, Forrest became his family’s sole provider while still a teenager. Despite his nearly nonexistent f...
Shortly after the start of the war, Forrest enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, but soon thereafter, at the behest of Tennessee’s governor, he raised and supplied a cavalry unit, earning a commission as a lieutenant colonel. In the war’s early months he earned a reputation as a doggedly, if sometimes brutally, determined commander who exercised a natural acumen for battlefield tactics. Forrest took part in the defense of Fort Donelson, Tennessee (February 1862), from which he and the majority of his command escaped, refusing to capitulate with the rest of the Confederate forces when the fort’s massive garrison surrendered. Having been promoted to colonel, Forrest fought with distinction at the Battle of Shiloh (April 6–7, 1862), during the retreat from which he received the first of his multiple wartime wounds. After leading a new command to a dramatic victory over Union forces at Mufreesboro, Tennessee, in July, Forrest was promoted to brigadier general.
After his promotion Forrest began acting as a semi-independent cavalry commander. His command conducted raids against Union supply and communication lines, depots, and garrisons in many states in the war’s Western theatre. Forrest’s campaigns were especially detrimental to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign. Some contemporaries and historians have argued that Forrest forestalled Vicksburg’s fall by several months.
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In May 1863 Forrest foiled Union Col. Abel D. Streight’s attempt to cut the Western and Atlantic Railroad, a vital supply line for the Confederacy’s Army of Tennessee. Later, Forrest joined that army in time to take part in the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19–20, 1863), where his command held the army’s right flank before pursuing the retreating Union forces. Following the battle Gen. Braxton Bragg, the Army of Tennessee’s commander, stripped Forrest of his command because the two had argued—one of numerous such acrimonious encounters Forrest had with superior officers during the war. Although Forrest had threatened Bragg’s life, Bragg, realizing Forrest’s importance to the Confederate war effort, never reported the incident. Forrest, on the other hand, refused to take any further orders from Bragg, but, instead of accepting Forrest’s resignation, Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis promoted him to major general.
Forrest was tasked with raising, equipping, and training a new cavalry command to, again, operate semi-independently. With his fresh—if relatively untried—division, Forrest resumed his raids against Union forces. Soon he found himself embroiled in one of the war’s most controversial, and brutal, episodes. On April 12, 1864, Forrest’s command surrounded Fort Pillow, a small Union installation on the Mississippi River about 40 miles (65 km) north of Memphis. After failing to negotiate the fort’s surrender, Forrest ordered his men to take the outnumbered garrison (which was made up African Americans, southern unionists, and Confederate deserters) by force. The battle that ensued was characterized by close-quarters combat, chaos, and the almost total breakdown of command and control. Despite contradictory evidence regarding Forrest’s orders and response to the actions of his troops, it is clear that in many instances Forrest’s men killed African American soldiers who were attempting to surrender. During the battle and subsequent massacre, between 277 and 295 Union troops—most of whom were Black—were killed. Although it was conducted by two Republicans (one of whom was a leading Radical Republican) and had clear propagandistic purposes, a congressional investigation committee verified the slaughter. Their report enraged the Northern populace, and “Remember Fort Pillow!” became a rallying cry for African American Union troops.
May 19, 2021 · 1821-1877. Who Was Nathan Bedford Forrest? Nathan Bedford Forrest was a self-taught man who made his fortune as a cotton planter and trader of enslaved people. At the outbreak of the...
Title Lieutenant General. War & Affiliation Civil War / Confederate. Date of Birth - Death July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877. Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most polarizing figures of the Civil War era, was born July 13, 1821 in Chapel Hill, Tennessee – a small town on the Duck River.
May 23, 2018 · Nathan Bedford Forrest II (August 1871 – March 11, 1931) was the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan for Georgia. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans from 1919 to 1921.
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