Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Bedford County, Tennessee near Chapel Hill. On July13, 1821 he and his twin sister were born.  Nathan Forrest was born into a poor middle class family, so as you can see he had it hard from the beginning.  At the age of 17his father died and Nathan became the head of the household.  Forrest only had about 6 months of formal education, but that didn't stop him.  He was determined to pull his family and himself up and out of poverty.  So, with no education to speak of, Forrest became a cotton planter, slave trader, real estate broker, plantation owner, and a businessman.  By around the time of the Civil War, in 1861, he was a millionaire.  In fact he was one of the richest men in the south.  At this time his fortune was about $1,500,000.

         Since Forrest had a great deal of money invested in slaves, slave trading, and they where the ones working the plantation he supported the Confederates.  He decided to enlists with no former military training, and knowing nothing about military operations along with his brother and his fifteen year old son.  They enlisted in June of 1861.  Forrest started out with no intentions of becoming a major factor, he only wanted to support the Confederates.  Forrest started out as a private in Josh H. White's cavalry company on June 14,1861.  Forrest was a hard worker and that didn't go on unnoticed. He worked his way up and had many assignments.  Here are a few of his assignments :

  • lieutenant colonel, Forrest's Tennessee Cavalry (October 1861)
  • commanding cavalry brigade Army of Tennessee (November 20, 1862 to the summer of 1863)
  • major general, CSA (December 4, 1863)

These are only a few of his assignments, there are many more, but as you can see from only these few things that he played a very important part in the Civil War. Nathan is famous for his Civil War accomplishments as a general.  Many consider him the most brilliant cavalry men of the Civil War.

       After the war was over Forrest had lost his fortune because a lot of his money was invested in the slaves and now they were not worth anything.  Nathan also financed a regiment all on his own, and he gave what was left to his men.  This was because they had nothing to go home to.  So Forrest had to start over and he went back to planting and became president of Selma, Marion, and Memphis Railroads.  Nathan Forrest also became the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan known as the "Grand Wizard" in 1866.  The Klan was a group of Confederate veterans  who aided confederate orphans and widows of the Civil War.  Soon after the Klan got started they began using force against blacks and other races.  These people were against reconstruction and were causing many problems.  In 1869 Forrest ordered the Klan to disband and a few groups did but a lot of them stayed active and ignored what Forrest had said.  Then Nathan quit because he did not agree with what was going on and he went back to his own business in Memphis. 
        Forrest served as the head of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869, and even though he didn't agree with what the Klan was doing, his name will always be associated with the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan is still active in some places across the United States to this day.
        Nathan Bedford Forrest died from diabetes in Memphis Tennessee on October 29, 1877.  Forrest had the ability to inspire the people he was leading.  Nathan's formula for success was "Get in there first with the most men."  Even though he made some poor decisions that will overshadow his great military career forever, he was still one of the most successful generals of the Civil War and has developed tactics that are still being studied today.  Nathan entered the world a poor man and ended up being a millionaire without any formal education.  he also entered the army a private and left a general with out any former military training, so he must have known what he was doing or he was just born to lead.
Bibliography

#1    "Nathan Bedford Forrest"  May 9th, 2005 <http://www.virtualology.com/virtualwarmuseum.com/uscivilwarhall/nathanbedfordforrest.net/> 
#2     "New Statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest Raises Old Controversy in Nashville" May 9th, 2005

<http://www.blueshoenashville.com/history.html>
#3    "Who Was Who In the Civil War" May 9th, 2005

<http://www.civilwarhome.com/natbio.htm>
#4      "Nathan Bedford Forrest a North Georgina Notable" May 9th, 2005

<http;//ngeorgia.com/people/forrest.html>
#5       "Nathan Bedford Forrest" May 9th, 2005

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest>
#6     Book   by Muccigrosso, Robert, ed.  Beacham Publishing  <Research Guide to American Historical Biography>     
Kelly Brummer

8th Grade American History

2005 Project