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To: nathanbedford; jmacusa

I agree with nathanbedford’s post. FWIW, as a history buff with a particular interest in the Civil War, I think Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of the most interesting, intelligent and honest of the Civil War generals. He was a remarkable man. By the end of his life, his views on blacks may have been more enlightened than Lincoln’s.


“On July 5, 1875, Forrest demonstrated that his personal sentiments on the issue of race now differed from those of the Klan when he was invited to give a speech before the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association, a post-war organization of black Southerners advocating to improve the economic condition of blacks and to gain equal rights for all citizens. At this, his last public appearance, he made what The New York Times described as a “friendly speech”[172][173] during which, when offered a bouquet of flowers by a young black woman, he accepted them,[174] thanked her and kissed her on the cheek as a token of reconciliation between the races. Forrest ignored his critics and spoke in encouragement of black advancement and of endeavoring to be a proponent for espousing peace and harmony between black and white Americans.[175]

In response to the Pole-Bearers speech, the Cavalry Survivors Association of Augusta, the first Confederate organization formed after the war, called a meeting in which Captain F. Edgeworth Eve gave a speech expressing unmitigated disapproval of Forrest’s remarks promoting inter-ethnic harmony, ridiculing his faculties and judgment and berating the woman who gave Forrest flowers as “a mulatto wench”...

...The Macon Weekly Telegraph newspaper also condemned Forrest for his speech, describing the event as “the recent disgusting exhibition of himself at the negro [sic] jamboree” and quoting part of a Charlotte Observer article, which read “We have infinitely more respect for Longstreet, who fraternizes with negro men on public occasions, with the pay for the treason to his race in his pocket, than with Forrest and [General] Pillow, who equalize with the negro women, with only ‘futures’ in payment”. - Wiki ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest#Speech_to_black_Southerners_(1875) )


Forrest lived a brutal life. He was a brutal man. He was also open to ideas many of his genteel fellow generals couldn’t even imagine. I’m not suggesting he was a civil rights activist by his death, but he certainly was open to changing his views. I suggest those who think of him with unthinking, visceral hatred might want to read more about him. He was vastly more complex than the caricature presented by the modern media.


63 posted on 03/13/2019 7:20:48 AM PDT by Mr Rogers (Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools)
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To: Mr Rogers

Please. The man fought for a government that sought to preserve slavery. Sorry but that’s his legacy.


67 posted on 03/13/2019 7:28:53 AM PDT by jmacusa ("The more numerous the laws the more corrupt the government''.)
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