Nathan Bedford Forrest
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA
1821-1877

A slave trader before the war, a participant in the only civil war atrocity ever brought to trial, and a possible founder of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest is certainly not a politically correct figure these days. Yet he was a brash field commander who got the absolute best from his men and was not afraid to rebuke his own commanders. In his biography A Battle from the Start, author Brain Steel Wills states that when Robert E. Lee was asked to name the greatest soldier on either side during the war, he was said to reply "A man I have never seen, sir. His name is Forrest." High praise indeed. Sherman, no stanger to all-out war himself, called Forrest "...that devil Forrest..."

QUOTES

Forrest! Forrest! Here he comes! Get out of the way! -- Granpap, in "Shall Not Perish" by William Faulkner (Faulkner refered to Forrest in nine of his novels and eight of his short stories and essays)

Too often we fail to see the Forrest for the Lees. -- Emory M. Thomas, Forward to "A Battle from the Start" by Brain Steel Wills

Boys, these people are talking about surrendering, and I am going out of this place before they do or bust hell wide open. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Fort Donelson

You have played the part of a damned scoundrel, and are a coward, and if you were any part a man I would slap your jaws and force you to resent it ... I say to you that if you ever again try to interfere with me or cross my path it will be at the peril of your life." -- Nathan Bedford Forrest, to General Braxton Bragg (his commanding general at the time)

I did not come here to make half a job of it. I mean to have them all. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest, at Murfreesboro

War means fighting, and fighting means killing. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest

Men, you may all do as you damn well please, but I'm a-going home. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest

We have already lost all but our honor by the last war, and I must say, that in order to be men we must protect our honor at all hazards and we must protect our wives, our homes, and our families. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest

My life has been a battle from the start. -- Nathan Bedford Forrest

Charge them both ways! -- Nathan Bedford Forrest, during the heat of battle at Parker's Crossroads as a staff officer raced up to inform Forrest that the enemy were attacking from two different directions.

LINKS

Wizard of the Saddle, from the International Headquarters of the Southern Defense Initiative Corporation. A fairly detailed biography.

Battlefield Accomplishments. From the North Georgia history, travel, and adventure site -- listed under North Georgia notables.

Prominent Tennessean, From "About Tennessee", information relating to the state of Tennessee. Includes a short, encyclopedia-like condensed biography, but has a good photo.

Biography of Nathan Bedford Forrest, from a series of American Biographies written by middle-school students. Not too inclusive, but good to see how school students comprehend historical figures.

Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park. Information about the Tennessee state park located where Forrest attacked gunboats on Kentucky Lake and forced the fall of the nearby Union-controlled Johnsonville, the first defeat of a naval force by cavalry in military history.

STUFF
Nathan Bedford Forrest never said "I git thar fustest with the mostest men," as is so often attributed. He was uneducated, but hardly illiterate. The actual quote came in response to a question where he responded "Well, I got there first with the most men."
The only Civil War atrocity ever brought to trial centered around Nathan Bedford Forrest and the taking of Fort Pillow, where surrendering african-american troops were shot down. It became clear later that Forrest had never ordered it, though his "no quarter" threat before the battle certainly contributed to the mind-set of the men and it became clear he had lost control of them during the latter stages of the battle. The actual context of his "no quarter" demand was "If you surrender you will be treated as prisoners of war; but if I have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." The threat was delivered to the Union commander and was obviously said only in order to force the surrender, not with any real knowledge that there were african-american troops involved.
Nathan Bedford Forrest went to his grave vehemently denying any association with the Ku Klux Klan, to which it has been argued he was the first Grand Wizard. While he certainly agreed with their early politics of letting southerners run the south, he was against the ideals that group eventually embraced.

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