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KKK Founder Forest Gets Bad Rap
Fredericksburg (Va.) Free-Lance Star ^ | 9.9.07 | Calvin E. Johnson Jr.

Posted on 09/10/2007 7:48:32 AM PDT by meandog

KENNESAW, Ga.--Is the history of our great nation important to you?

Union Gen. William T. Sherman said of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, "After all, I think Forrest as the most remarkable man our 'Civil War' produced on either side." This came from a man who was once a foe of Forrest on the field of battle.

Why do some folks attack America's heritage?

Several years ago, attempts were made to change the name of Forrest Park in Memphis, Tenn. Now, there are people trying to change the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest High School in Jacksonville, Fla.

But was Forrest an early advocate for civil rights?

Forrest's speech during a meeting of the "Jubilee of Pole Bearers" is a story that needs to be told. He was the first white man invited by this group, which was a forerunner of today's civil rights groups. A reporter at the Memphis Avalanche newspaper was sent to cover the event, one that included a Southern barbecue supper

(Excerpt) Read more at fredericksburg.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: apologia; apologist; civilwar; crossburner; crossburning; damnyankee; democrat; deservesbadrap; dixie; dumbyanks; forrest; fortpillow; kkk; murderer; nathanbedfordforrest; reconstruction; republican; revisionism; revisionist; scalawag; scallywag; yankeescum; yankeetrash
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To: 2banana

When the Klan was founded there was good reason for it. The end of the war unleashed a flood of human trash on the South, and the federal government failed to protect against it. I am old enough to remember relatives who lived through reconstruction, and the stories they could tell. It was a terrible period in history.


21 posted on 09/10/2007 8:08:37 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
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To: SWAMPSNIPER

“When the Klan was founded there was good reason for it. The end of the war unleashed a flood of human trash on the South, and the federal government failed to protect against it. I am old enough to remember relatives who lived through reconstruction, and the stories they could tell. It was a terrible period in history.”

Kinda like the private militias in Iraq today? I mean, if someone needs killin....


22 posted on 09/10/2007 8:09:45 AM PDT by TWohlford
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To: mnehrling
"It seems his major negative legacy outweighs the positive things he may have done. I find no reason to celebrate him."

Who are you to pass judgement on Nathan Bedford Forrest? You'll never come close to being even a small fraction of the Man that Forrest was. You're a nothing.......a nobody.....and no doubt won't even merit a footnote in history.

23 posted on 09/10/2007 8:12:21 AM PDT by Godebert
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To: meandog

you mean where people continued to fight after surrendering?


24 posted on 09/10/2007 8:12:47 AM PDT by sticker
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To: Pyro7480

Yes.


25 posted on 09/10/2007 8:14:01 AM PDT by Godebert
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To: meandog
But what about Fort Pillow?

Forrest offered to treat both the Black troops and the scalawag White troops as prisoners of war if they surrendered. The union commander refused, and the fort was never surrendered - it was taken by storm.

If you are looking for goats at Fort Pillow, the defending troops were poorly commanded by Bradford, and the commander of the New Era refused to cover the retreat.

26 posted on 09/10/2007 8:14:47 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: Godebert

LOL! I never knew a person’s standpoint on Gen. Forrest was such a vital conservative issue.


27 posted on 09/10/2007 8:19:46 AM PDT by Pyro7480 ("Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus" -St. Ralph Sherwin's last words at Tyburn)
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To: meandog
Interesting.

From wikipedia:

When Forrest testified before a Congressional investigation in 1871 ("The reports of Committees, House of Representatives, second session, forty-second congress," P. 7-449) the committee concluded that Forrest's involvement with the Klan was to attempt to order it to disband. They found no evidence that he had founded the Klan, that he had led the Klan or that he had acted to advise it other than to make efforts to have it disband.

On July 5, 1875, Forrest became the first white man to speak to the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association, a civil rights group whose members were former slaves. Although his speech was short, he expressed the opinion that blacks had the right to vote for any candidates they wanted and that the role of blacks should be elevated. He ended the speech by kissing the cheek of one of the daughters of one of the Pole-Bearer members.[1][2]

28 posted on 09/10/2007 8:22:07 AM PDT by Luke Skyfreeper
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To: TWohlford
And, allegedly, slaughtered any and all captured Union troops that happened to have a black skin

Then how do you explain the Black prisoners who survived?

29 posted on 09/10/2007 8:24:19 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: meandog; wardaddy; 2banana; Godebert
"...when he [Forrest] died, hundreds of black Memphians reportedly viewed Forrest's body and attended the funeral procession.

One Memphis newspaper emphasized the surprising presence of mourning blacks, who seemed to display "a genuine sorrow in the death of the great soldier."

Rightly assuming that many readers would doubt the sincerity of freed people grieving over the death of a renowned slave trader, the reporter added that the African Americans in attendance had nothing but praise for Forrest. "The negroes," he wrote, "had opportunities to see and know [Forrest's] goodness and to recognize his charity and benevolence."

The Contested Image of Nathan Bedford Forrest Court Carney The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 67, No. 3. (Aug., 2001), pp. 601-630.

30 posted on 09/10/2007 8:25:57 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: wideawake
and committed war crimes.

Prove it....the Federals absolved him as did the Union commanders at Ft Pillow who survived...their drunken at the time commander did not.

as for slavery, we'll let's just toss out everyone in recorded history till the late 1800s who had any hand in it.....it will be a small exclusive club left that you can cheerlead for

31 posted on 09/10/2007 8:36:20 AM PDT by wardaddy (the future of the West is bleak)
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To: TWohlford; meandog

32 posted on 09/10/2007 8:36:47 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: BallyBill

If he was a sore loser, he woulda left for Mexico when asked.

he is on record declaring a guerilla war as dishonorable

that he was bigoted hardly distinguishes him from any white man at the time ...north or south...or any political party


33 posted on 09/10/2007 8:37:57 AM PDT by wardaddy (the future of the West is bleak)
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To: TWohlford

exactly....disenfranchised whites and union occupation and carpetbaggers and illiterates being waltzed into office

what did they expect an army they had fought for 5 years to do

collaborate?

hardly


34 posted on 09/10/2007 8:39:22 AM PDT by wardaddy (the future of the West is bleak)
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To: TWohlford
"And, allegedly, slaughtered any and all captured Union troops that happened to have a black skin (and many w/ a white skin). I know, it’s war..."

That's odd......why then after the battle were there some 226 yankee prisoners marched away under Bell's command to Mississippi? Additionally....Forrest's command negotiated a truce with a Federal steamer to pick up the wounded Yankee prisoners.......among them some 40 negroes.

35 posted on 09/10/2007 8:41:01 AM PDT by Godebert
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To: Godebert
Who are you to pass judgement on Nathan Bedford Forrest? You'll never come close to being even a small fraction of the Man that Forrest was. You're a nothing.......a nobody.....and no doubt won't even merit a footnote in history.

I would rather be a nothing in history than have a legacy as tarnished as his. What other legacy has Forrest given us besides the KKK? One hundred and thirty years after his death, what else is left of his legacy?

36 posted on 09/10/2007 8:43:54 AM PDT by mnehring (Visit the Fredquarters- Fred08.com)
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To: mnehrling
"What other legacy has Forrest given us besides the KKK?"

He is among the greatest military leaders in American history. That is undisputed.

37 posted on 09/10/2007 8:49:58 AM PDT by Godebert
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To: Godebert
True, but what is left of his legacy. That is just history we can study for tactical reference. I won’t argue his military ability, but that is a different point.

What is physically left of his life, however, is one of the worst organizations ever to exist on American soil.

38 posted on 09/10/2007 8:53:05 AM PDT by mnehring (Visit the Fredquarters- Fred08.com)
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To: mnehrling

I don’t believe you have enough knowledge of the period to make any statements regarding Nathan Bedford Forrest or his involvement with the Ku Klux Clan.


39 posted on 09/10/2007 9:09:44 AM PDT by Godebert
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To: stainlessbanner

“War means a-fightin’ an’ fightin’ means a-killin’”?


40 posted on 09/10/2007 9:17:36 AM PDT by meandog ((Romney and Giuliani: Just like Bill Clinton, duplicitous draft-dodgers))
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