The Republicans had nominated one of Forrest's battle adversaries, Union war hero Ulysses S. Grant, for the Presidency at their convention held in October. In early June . (CSA), William Montgomery Forrest, Burial of Capt. Through the KKK, he sought to restore white conservative Democrats to power. You can always change this later in your Account settings. [24] In 1859, he bought two large cotton plantations in Coahoma County, Mississippi and a half-interest in another plantation in Arkansas;[25] by October 1860 he owned at least 3,345 acres in Mississippi. Forrest's legacy as "one of the most controversialand popularicons of the war" still draws heated public debate. [37] They had two children, William Montgomery Bedford Forrest (18461908), who enlisted at the age of 15 and served alongside his father in the war, and a daughter, Fanny (18491854), who died in childhood. McCreanor contracted to finish the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad, including a right-of-way that passed over the ridge. Forrest assisted in maintaining order. It means we have grit. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. There was an error deleting this problem. WILLIAM MONTGOMERY FORREST married Jane Taylor Cook Forrest and had 3 children. Even so, he never completely adjusted to the new realities of the postwar South. Bill suffered a stroke during the screening of "The Klansman" in 1908 and died less than 24 hours later, and was buried in Memphis. Davis transferred Forrest to an independent command in Mississippi. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. [172] 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. Weve updated the security on the site. As a cavalry leader, Forrest displayed spectacular talent. [189] 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. General Forrest would be remembered only as a daring and successful guerrilla cavalry leader, were it not for the one great and indelible stain upon his name. On June 10, 1864, Forrest defeated a much larger Union force at Brices Cross Roads, Mississippi, arguably his finest military feat. One of the wounded Matlock men survived and served under Forrest during the Civil War. [77][78][79], Fort Pillow, located 40 miles (64km) upriver from Memphis (near Henning, Tennessee), was originally constructed by Confederate general Gideon Johnson Pillow on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, and taken over by Union forces in 1862 after the Confederates had abandoned the fort. [235] 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.[236][237]. His uncle was killed there in 1845 during an argument with the Matlock brothers. Family Tree . There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Forrest's grandson, Nathan Bedford Forrest II (18721931), became commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans[38] and a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia and secretary of the national organization. A bust sculpted by Jane Baxendale is on display at the Tennessee State Capitol building in Nashville. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8578580/william-montgomery-forrest. Try again. Geneanet. [175] George Cantor, a biographer of Confederate generals, wrote, "Forrest ducked and weaved, denying all knowledge, but admitted he knew some of the people involved. 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". Now often recast as "Getting there firstest with the mostest",[223] this misquote first appeared in a New York Tribune article written to provide colorful comments in reaction to European interest in Civil War generals. His only son, Nathan Bedford Forrest III, was a senior officer of the United States Army Air Forces killed in action in the European Theater of World War II. Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest died in January 1893 in Memphis. Husband of Jane Taylor Forrest Forrest recovered and began thinking about his future. He reported for training at Fort Wright near Randolph, Tennessee,[41] joining Captain Josiah White's cavalry company, the Tennessee Mounted Rifles (Seventh Tennessee Cavalry), as a private 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 of Tennessee volunteer soldiers. In 1845, Jonathan Forrest was killed in a street fight over a business dispute. In this, he once more took occasion to defend himself and his war record, and to declare that he was a hearty friend of the colored race. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. [206] In 2008, the Duval County School Board voted 52 against a push to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville. [62] Forrest chased Streight's men for 16 days, harassing them all the way. Sherman, who had recognized how formidable an opponent Forrest was in battle during the Civil War, replied after the crisis settled down. Forrest County, Mississippi is named after him, as is Forrest City, Arkansas. Mary Ann Montgomery was born October 2, 1826, daughter of Elizabeth Cowan Montgomery and William Montgomery, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote on April 4, There is a Federal force of 500 or 600 at Fort Pillow, which I shall attend to in a day or two, as they have horses and supplies which we need.. [195] The World War II Army base Camp Forrest in Tullahoma, Tennessee was named after him. Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account. Fort Pillow Massacre Historians still argue over Forrests responsibility for the Fort Pillow Massacre, in which many Union African American troops were killed. 5.] [171] In Louisiana, 1,000 blacks were killed to suppress Republican voting. [101], Because of the events at Fort Pillow, the Northern public and press viewed Forrest as a war criminal. In retaliation, Forrest shot and killed two of them with his two-shot pistol and wounded two others with a knife which had been thrown to him. [238], A 2011 Mississippi license plate proposal to honor him, by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, revived tensions and raised objections from Mississippi chapter of the NAACP president Derrick Johnson, who compared Forrest to Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. His younger sister, Francis "Fannie" Ann was born in 1849 but passed away at age 6 in 1854.After the age of 8, Bill grew up as an only child. Sorry! His tactic was the charge, and he frequently overcame Union forces that vastly outnumbered his own as he personally led his troops. [16] William Forrest worked as a blacksmith in Tennessee until 1834, when he moved with his family to Salem, Mississippi. William Montgomery Forrest (Son of Nathan Bedford Forrest) Buried in the Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. The Confederate army dispatched him with a small force into the backcountry of northern Alabama and western Georgia to defend against an attack of 3,000 Union cavalrymen commanded by Colonel Abel Streight. The Klan's violence was primarily designed to intimidate voters, targeting black and white supporters of the Republican Party. He had exhausted his fortune during the war, and with the abolition of slavery he lost one of his most valuable avenues for making money. Streight had orders to cut the Confederate railroad south of Chattanooga, Tennessee to seal off Bragg's supply line and force him to retreat into Georgia. "[254], 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, in order to be reburied in Columbia, Tennessee. [157] According to Wills, in the August 1867 state elections the Klan was relatively restrained in its actions. Forrest rode up on his horse, and immediately waded across the stream and carried Mary Ann her mother to safety. [243] An online petition at Change.org asking the City Council to ban the monument collected 313,617 signatures by mid-September of the same year.[244]. [85][86] The atrocities at Fort Pillow continued throughout the night. [257], Confederate States Army general and Ku Klux Klan leader (1821-1877), This article is about the Confederate general. A Tennessee town's absurd and tacky monument to General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The list included the names of 7 officers and 219 white enlisted soldiers. On an August Sunday, he met the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Mary Ann Montgomery, and her mother while they were on their way to church. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. Bill joined the Confederate Army June 14, 1861 at age 15, and served under his father, attaining the rank of Captain by the end of the war. One month later, while serving under General Stephen D. Lee, Forrest experienced tactical defeat at the Battle of Tupelo in 1864. [21][22] By the time the American Civil War started in 1861, he had become one of the richest men in the South, having amassed a "personal fortune that he claimed was worth $1.5 million". And so began the lifelong love affair that would become part of the legend of General Nathan Bedford Forrest. [170], Forrest testified before the Congressional investigation of Klan activities on June 27, 1871. By Connor Towne O'Neill The Nathan Bedford Forrest statue located along Interstate 65 in Nashville, Tennessee. For other uses, see, Klan prosecution and Congressional testimony (1871), sfn error: no target: CITEREFSelect_CommitteePolandScott1872 (, church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, List of American Civil War generals (Confederate), Nathan Bedford Forrest bust in the Tennessee General Assembly building, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, "Tennessee to remove bust of Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from state Capitol", "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Home", "Lieutenant-General N. B. Forrest and His Campaigns", "Civil War Myths, Mistakes and Fabrications", "The Fort Pillow Massacre. You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. ", "Sons of Confederate Veterans 'Put to Rest for Eternity' Gen. Nathan Bedford in Columbia, Tennessee", Animated History of The Campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest, General Nathan Bedford Forrest Historical Society, List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials, List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic, Confederate artworks in the United States Capitol, List of Confederate monuments and memorials. Failed to delete memorial. Oops, something didn't work. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. MacDonald's Bn. In 1845, Forrest married Mary Ann Montgomery (1826-1893), the niece of a Presbyterian minister who was her legal guardian. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery. [122] A week later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant in Virginia. 0:54. Congress and Grant passed the Enforcement Acts from 1870 to 1871, to protect "registration, voting, officeholding, or jury service" of African Americans. He was promoted to major general on December 4, 1863. He commanded a Confederate rear guard after the Union victory. Verify and try again. [188] 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. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. [70] Like several others under Bragg's command, he urged an immediate follow-up attack to recapture Chattanooga, which had fallen a few weeks before. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of William Forrest (8578580)? [82] As the Union troops surrendered, Forrest's men opened fire, slaughtering both black and white soldiers. Similar accounts were reported in many Southern newspapers at the time. I hope I am a better man now than then. He worked as a law enforcement officer, magistrate, and was elected alderman for the City of Memphis. Are you sure that you want to delete this photo? The lieutenant colonel shared his winter quarters with his wife Mary and their son Willie. [127][128], During the Virginius Affair of 1873, some of Forrest's old Southern 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. 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. There, with the labor of over a hundred prison convicts, he grew corn, potatoes, vegetables and cotton profitably, but his health was in steady decline. His acts have photographed themselves upon the hearts of thousands, and will speak there forever. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. "[253] 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 politician agreed with him and the bust was removed. If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Forrest had success as a businessman, planter and slaveholder. His opponent, Brig. [81] Bradford refused to surrender, believing his troops could escape to the Union gunboat, USS New Era, on the Mississippi River. Forrest's Confederate forces were accused of subjecting Union captured 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, and hacking men to death with sabers. Gen. James Chalmers, attacked and recaptured Fort Pillow. [145] According to Jack Hurst's 1993 biography, "Two years after Appomattox, Forrest was reincarnated as grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. There is a problem with your email/password. He and his twin sister were the first of their parents' 10 children. Sorry! 1858. He reportedly had 30 horses shot from under him, and personally killed 31 men in hand-to-hand combat, saying I was a horse ahead at the end.. 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". Drag images here or select from your computer for CAPT William Montgomery Forrest memorial. The day was worse for Union troops, who suffered 223 killed, 394 wounded and 1,623 missing. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. He was wounded three times, at Fort Donelson, at Harrisburg and at Spring Hill, Tenn. The exhumation and reburial was the result of a campaign which began after the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. [192][193], Many memorials have been erected to Forrest, especially in Tennessee and adjacent Southern states. [202] The bust of Forrest was stolen from the cemetery monument in March 2012 and replaced in May 2015. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. 3 children his future Montgomery was born October 2, 1826, daughter Elizabeth! Especially in Tennessee and adjacent Southern States accounts were reported in many Southern newspapers at time. Forrest, especially in Tennessee until 1834, when he moved with his family to,... The lifelong love affair that would become part of the war '' still draws heated public debate he his. Confederate rear guard after the Union troops, who suffered 223 william montgomery bedford forrest, wounded... 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