Thread by @sawaba

I just found out that Tennessee State Law formerly recognizes tomorrow as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day. The general sentiment on Twitter is negative, as he was apparently the first KKK Grand Wizard.

🤦‍♂️

Lovely.

https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1149681785065869312

But who was Nathan Bedford Forrest? How did he become the first Grand Wizard? Was the KKK always evil, or did it start out as something else entirely?

Instead of tweeting "Nathan Bedford Forrest is trash and my state is cancelled", I decided to do some research first.

Stick with me through this - like most people, he wasn't pure evil - there will be some good and bad about Mr. Forrest in this thread.

My opinions on this man will be based on more than the lead section of the Wikipedia page on him.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate Army General during the Civil war and made significant contributions to his side.

Before the war, however, he became wealthy as a slave trader, plantation owner, real estate broker and through other ventures.

It was his actions as a general in the Civil War that he became both memorialized and demonized for, however. Let's look into those.

He was undeniably a badass on the field, never shying away from putting himself in harm's way.

He decides he needs a good view of the battle and loses his horse as a result. He ends up replacing a second horse as each get shot out from under him.
amazon.com/True-Crime-Civ…

This was at Fort Pillow, however, which hours later, would end up being one of the most controversial battles of the American Civil War.

Union troops were slaughtered after surrendering. A third of white troops and about two thirds of African American troops were killed.

Hospital tents were torched.
Men were burned to death.
Crucified.
Hacked to death.

The New York Times called it, "one of the most atrocious and cold-blooded massacres that ever disgraced civilized warfare"

Whether Forrest ordered this, approved or simply looked the other way was unclear. However, given his fearlessness and tendency to get into the thick of things, I have a hard time believing he wasn't aware of the atrocities being committed.

Union soldiers widely considered these acts a war crime and troops wore badges reading, "Remember Fort Pillow" in battles that followed.

In fact, the behavior of Forrest's troops at Fort Pillow was said to rally the remainder of African American troops against the South.

Even General Grant (later, President Grant) criticized Forrest for leaving the atrocities out of his official reports of the battle.

This looks to be a trend with Forrest. While he has redeemable qualities, he tends to have "trouble remembering" atrocities committed.

Redeemable qualities, what?

I'll get to that, hold on.

After the North won the war, Forrest surrendered peaceably, encouraging his soldiers to "submit to the powers that be".

As a slave trader, the outcome of the war hurt Forrest. However, his financial interests had always been diverse and he seemed a natural with business (as with leading men in battle) and bounced back quickly.

For a while, at least. He ended up running his business into the ground and was generally found to be untrustworthy in business dealings.

He ended up running a farm worked by prison convicts, rather than slaves.

So the KKK. It seems like he saw it mostly as ex-army buddies getting together and bitching about how things were better when slavery was a thing, which he was fine with.

During the war, he was known as the "Wizard of the Saddle", probably because he was fearless and his horses kept taking bullets for him.

He was a popular guy, so other KKK members decided he'd be the first KKK leader, and they pronounced him the first "Grand Wizard".

Back then, their goal was to prevent black voters and sympathetic white voters from reaching polling statements. Generally trying to convince the populace that slavery was a better option.

Forrest generally seemed to lean towards "rule abiding" as a general principle, so after things started getting violent and counterproductive (in his eyes), he dissolved the KKK, ordered Klan outfits destroyed and wiped his hands of them.

At least, he attempted to. It didn't work. The fire was already burning and even though they chose him as their first leader, they ignored his desire to dismantle the KKK.

huffpost.com/entry/general-…

Again, it's hard to forgive Forrest too much here. He was instrumental in lighting that fire. He regularly gave speeches at gatherings and helped recruit members.

A classic case of not realizing folly until the situation was out of control.

How could he have not realized? These were likely some of the same men lighting hospital tents on fire and crucifying Union soldiers after they surrendered.

Klan activities were a nation-level issue and Forrest had to testify before congress. He was generally cooperative, but cagey about his involvement.

"My memory isn't what it used to be...", type stuff, I imagine. He didn't want to sell out his old army buddies.

Later in life (which didn't take long, he died of diabetes-related issues at the age of 56), he actively advocated for tolerance.

He asked ex-Confederate soldiers to join him in decorating the graves of slain Union soldiers.

archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.co…

His last public speech was to a group of black southerners. A young black woman presented him with a bouquet of flowers and he accepted them, kissing her on the cheek.

His speech encouraged peace and harmony between races and he was vilified for it by Southern organizations and media.

In the end, his efforts to reconcile with African Americans and his past mistakes alienated him from the people that once saw him as an ideal leader.

Whether or not his portraits and busts deserve to remain, I'm not sure of. Considering what I've learned, it's not as easy to simply condemn the man and any tributes to him. After all, when we turn enemies into allies, isn't that an achievement worth celebrating?

My cynical side thinks that maybe he was just 'changing with the times'; 'going with the flow', which I'm not quick to celebrate.

Still, he must have known how that last public speech was going to alienate so many of his fellow veterans and followers.

For those making that decision and with strong opinions on the matter, my purpose here is to urge you to do some research before jumping into the fray.

Most of the people we're quick to hate have a human side. It doesn't excuse their behavior or make us hate them less, but in my opinion, it's worth understanding people as a whole, not just a curated, two-dimensional view.