Nathan Bedford Forrest made his living a slave trader prior to the war, and served as the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan afterwards. These two factors contribute to his being one of the most misunderstood figures of the War Between the States. During Forrest’s childhood, he had much of the flamboyance that would later bring him fame as the enlisted man who acheive the highest rank during the War. He entered the Army of Tennessee as a Private, and by the end of the War had reached the rank of Lieutenant General. His father died when Nathan was only 16, leaving him in charge of the family, as the eldest son. Once as his mother returned from a neighbor’s house, she was attacked
by a panther, the horse pulling the wagon was killed, and Mrs. Forrest had suffered scratches and torn clothing. After dressing her wounds, and seeing to it that she was ok, Forrest took his flintlock musket sought vengence. He would live by this doctrine all his life: No one could harm Forrest or anyone he cared for without suffering severe consequenses. Forrest served gallantly and bravely throughout the War, and after the
conflict, in an interview, General Lee called Forrest the greatest man the War produced, on either side. Once, after being shot by a subordinate, Forrest pulled a knife and stabbed
the man, remarking “No damned man kills me and lives.” Forrest survived his wounds, however his attacker was not as fortunate. As for Forrest’s post-war involvement with the KKK, he did participate in the Klan, but not the modern, racist Klan of our day. The Klan was originally a political organization, striving to regain the voting and other rights of former soldiers of the Confederacy. When the Klan’s racist tendencies appeared, Forrest renounced the Klan, and even made the statement “We are born on the same soil, breathe the same air, live on the same land, and why should we not be brothers and sisters?” in a speech addressing the African American community of Memphis, TN. For anyone who feels the Klan began as a racist organization, this statement should make you realize the errors of the history books. Forrest was a great soldier, and the prejudices of others may have actually kept him from his reaching full potential, because trained soldiers were not overly willing to be shown up by an enlisted man.
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