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Revision as of 17:01, 18 April 2002 by Jsc1973 (talk | contribs) (work in progress, just doing a save)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) is today known for two things, one of which is to his credit and the other, greatly to his discredit. He was one of the most innovative and successful generals of the American Civil War, developing tactics that are still studied even today. However, after the war, he became the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan, an act that casts a long shadow over his achievements.
Forrest was born to a poor middle Tennessee family on July 13, 1821 in the Bedford County town of Chapel Hill. Forrest became the head of his family at the age of 17, following his father's death, and despite having no formal education, he determined to pull himself and his family up from the poverty they were mired in. Ultimately, he became a businessman, a plantation owner and a slave trader. He put his younger brothers through college, provided for his mother and by the time the American Civil War broke out in 1861, was a millionaire, one of the richest men in the South.
Given that Forrest earned much of his money in the slave trade, he naturally favored the Confederate side in the war. Using his own money, he raised and equipped a regiment of Tennessee volunteer soldiers to fight in the Confederate army. Forrest himself wanted no more than to fight for the Confederacy as a private, but because of his prominence in society and the fact he had raised the troops himself, he ended up as their commanding officer, with the rank of colonel. He knew almost nothing of military operations, but applied himself diligently to learn, and was soon a competent officer.