Happy Rain: "My paternal great grandaddy rode with Bedford Forest"
ought-six: "Mine, too..."
Tupelo: "Well, well well. That makes three of us. Only it was my maternal Great Grandfather...."
First of all, I have seen the historical marker at the intersection of NC 208 and 218.
Some of my relatives there, and their neighbors, have family connections to the victims.
Even to this day they are not so friendly to outsiders. ;-)
For those whose ancestors rode with Nathan Bedford Forest, one of my great-grandfathers fought against him -- on the losing side in October 1862, at Rutherford Station, Mobile & Ohio Railroad (northwest of Memphis, Tennessee), on the winning side in July 1864, at Tupelo, Mississippi.
I have the greatest personal respect for Forest, precisely because, when he had the opportunity, he did not do to my ancestor's unit as Keith did in North Carolina.
Indeed, I believe Forest's good behavior at Rutherford Station was returned in July 1864, at the battle of Tupelo, when Forest reconnoitering, rode right through a Union unit at night (much like Stonewall Jackson), but Forest escaped unharmed.
One good turn deserved another, I think.
And the key point to remember is that Forest's behavior was more the rule, Keith's the rare exception.
It is often easy to forget that our CW had by far the fewest atrocities committed during and following the war of ANY great civil war in history.