Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877), was a Confederate general and perhaps the American Civil War's most highly regarded cavalry and partisan ranger (guerrilla leader). He was one of the war's most innovative and successful generals; his tactics of mobile warfare are still studied by modern soldiers. After the war, Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html

Early life

Forrest was born to a poor middle Tennessee family in the Bedford County town of Chapel Hill. He was the son of blacksmith William Forrest and was the first of twelve children. Following his father's death, Forrest became the head of his family at the age of 17, and despite his having no formal education, through hard work and determination, Forrest was able to pull himself and his family up from poverty. In 1841 (aged 20) he went into business with his uncle in Hernando, Mississippi. This uncle was killed during a raid by outlaws and Forrest killed two of these outright with his pistols, and wounded two others with a knife (one of these wounded men surviving to serve under Forrest during the war).http://www.csasilverdollar.com/forrest.html He became a businessman, owner of several plantations, and just prior to hostilities a slave trader based on Adams Street in Memphis and in 1858 he was elected as an alderman.http://www.inmotionaame.org/gallery/detail.cfm;jsessionid=8030570241121831204263?migration=3&topic=5&id=342018&type=image&metadata=show&page=&bhcp=1 Forrest provided financially for his mother, put his younger brothers through college, and by the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, he had become a millionaire, one of the richest men in the South.

Related Topics:
Tennessee - Bedford County - Chapel Hill - Blacksmith - 1841 - Hernando, Mississippi - Outlaws - Business - Plantation - Slave trader - Memphis - Alderman - 1861 - Millionaire - South

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