And he was probably America’s greatest calvary and light infantry general
He was a slave master/trader who freed all of his slaves before the end of the war.
He also founded the KKK and then ordered it disbanded.
A wide mix to go from.
“A wide mix to go from.”
Indeed.
And, we really do run a grave risk when we ask people of previous times and places to somehow conform to our current moral sensibilities. For his day, under the guidelines he was told to live by, no doubt that Forrest was a moral man as well as a great military leader.
Think of it this way — Abraham (of the Bible) had slaves and a child by his wife’s slave. Such was not uncommon in those days, and Abraham is not criticized for doing those things. If he tried that today, we’d have him in jail.
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.
The first part is incorrect, it was founded by 5 men, none of them Forrest. Regarding the later, that is true.
That's another way of saying:
He was a slave master/trader who only freed his slaves after the war had started.