Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), American Confederate cavalry general, born near Chapel Hill, Bedford County, Tennessee. After dealing in horses and cattle in Mississippi, Forrest became a slave trader in Memphis, Tennessee. Forrest was known as one of the most effective Confederate generals during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

At the start of the war, Forrest enlisted as a private in the Confederate army, and subsequently raised a battalion of cavalry, of which he was made lieutenant colonel. In 1862 he led his forces in the defense of Fort Donelson and later participated in the Battle of Shiloh. During 1862 and 1863, Forrest executed a series of successful raids behind Union lines in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi. In 1864 Forrest was given command of all the cavalry with the Army of Tennessee. Among his victories in 1864 were the capture of Fort Pillow and the Battle of Brices Cross Roads. At the beginning of 1865, despite a controversy over the massacre of black soldiers by his troops at Fort Pillow, Forrest was placed in charge of the cavalry in Alabama, Mississippi, and eastern Louisiana. In February, Forrest was promoted to lieutenant general. In March Forrest was defeated at Selma, Alabama, by the Union general James H. Wilson, and Forrest and his forces surrendered in May. After the war he settled in Memphis, where he owned two large plantations. Forrest served as the first leader of the original Ku Klux Klan. He attempted to disband the organization in 1869 when its members became increasingly violent.

See Brices Cross Roads, Battle of; Fort Pillow; Shiloh, Battle of.