355, citing Health Sciences Park, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave . And they can start by working to have his remains and those of his wife interred in Elmwood Cemetery. Those whose family ties have been a historical curiosity for most of their lives now find themselves witnessing a nationwide argument that pertains to them, yet they have no special influence over. In another sense it’s right now. Enter Full Screen. “I just think it’s really sad that we’re trying to erase history. “I think white people should follow the lead of Black activists and people of color more broadly fighting for equality and rights, and support this struggle in any way we can. Nathan Bedford Forrest, (born July 13, 1821, near Chapel Hill, Tennessee, U.S.—died October 29, 1877, Memphis, Tennessee), Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War (1861–65) who was often described as a “born military genius.” His rule of action, “Get there first with the most men,” became one of the most often quoted statements of the war. But will it work to worsen people's lives? U.S. cities and the U.S. federal government use significant percentages of their budgets to fund police and the military, respectively. It isn’t some noble lost cause that is the reason why these names and symbols have been chosen. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. Upon seeing how badly equipped the CSA was, Forrest offered to buy horses and equipment with his own money for a regi… “I was very close to my grandmother. After the Civil War broke out, Forrest returned to Tennessee from his Mississippi ventures and enlisted in the Confederate States Army (CSA) on June 14, 1861. Hill is more about his leadership, his military success, his sacrifice and his dedication to his cause. … I do think it’s highly appropriate that we look at racism and how we can be better as a country and that we treat our fellow human beings with respect and kindness and admiration and a good heart, but I think to go back and tear down statues and try to rewrite history [is] counterproductive to who we are as a country.”. The group bought Health Sciences Park and Fourth Bluff Park, where a monument to Confederate president Jefferson Davis stood, and on Dec. 20, 2017, it sent machinery into those parks to rip those statues down. In the Confederate Veteran, Nathan Bedford Forrest II claimed that he and Tate Brady were making plans together for an “active campaign throughout Oklahoma" on behalf of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A legal hurdle was cleared this week to possibly bring the remains of Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife, Mary Ann, to Columbia, The Daily Herald has learned. “As to the statues on battlefields, such as Gettysburg, where both Union and Confederate soldiers are represented, it is my opinion that they serve a valid historical purpose in that context, where people can learn about history and the terrible consequences when people refuse to treat all people as equal.”. There isn’t a single one of us who would have a Confederate flag in our house by any means. MEMPHIS, Tenn. (CN) – Descendants of the Ku Klux Klan’s first leader Nathan Bedford Forrest claim in a lawsuit filed Monday that Memphis destroyed the Confederate general’s gravestone when it removed his statue from a city park. As recently as 2015, following a deadly mass shooting in a Black church in South Carolina by a white supremacist, Major General Malcolm Frost, then the Army's chief spokesman, explained that “every Army installation is named for a soldier who holds a place in our military history.”, He stressed that the names “represent individuals, not causes or ideologies,” and the decision to name bases for Confederates was “in the spirit of reconciliation, not division.”, “Confederate generals were not members of the United States Army so I think the army posts should be named for people who served in the United States military.”. We need to understand that changing names of things isn’t going to fix the bigger problem, but if that’s a start, then I’m in favor of it. And traditionalists will appreciate reading about the impeccable reputations, sterling characters, high morals, and strong work ethics of Forrest’s men; old-fashioned American Conservatives who serve as ideal role models for 21-Century adults and children. One of Forrest… That’s where most of the dead Confederates are buried, anyway. The family at the time consisted of: Head Bedford Forrest 29; Wife Mary Ann Forrest 23; Son William M Forrest 4; Daughter Francis A Forrest 2 "Wizard of the Saddle" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest You should talk about … why they made a monument after him and the good things he did and also the bad things.”, “His postwar conduct as an American citizen became a model among ex-Confederates. It is time to rename the Army posts.”, “It’s time to move on. The reality is I'm proud of my history as a family and I have definitely benefited from that in some intangible way. The rest of the family barely survived on the money his father made as a blacksmith. As far as Forrest’s statue and effects go, they can start a GoFundMe to build a museum for that and all the other Confederate monuments in search of a new home. From what I’ve read, the fight for him wasn’t about slavery, it was just about, he referred to [it] as ‘Northern aggression.’”, Others say they are still struggling with how their ancestor's legacy should be remembered. “I served as a political appointee during the Obama administration. The Army bases in question are Fort Rucker in Alabama; Forts Benning and Gordon in Georgia; Fort Polk and Camp Beauregard in Louisiana; Fort Bragg in North Carolina; Fort Hood in Texas; and Forts A.P. President Donald Trump has said he opposes such a move, and several Republican senators have vowed to try to stop it—including one who declared that the effort “smacks of the cancel culture the left wants to impose on the nation.” On Tuesday night, Trump tweeted: “I will Veto the Defense Authorization Bill if the Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren (of all people!) Hill, should be changed. Some of the kin of the notorious Nathan Bedford Forrest, who has a street named in his honor at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, are not on speaking terms over the issue. They should be talking about solutions. Known for his maxim get there first with the most men, Forrest was relentless in harassing Union force… The Dowling Family Tree contains over 10,000 pictures and over3000 GeneaStars. Forrest sought to take the money to a poker game and increase it, but his wife begged him not to stating that it would be immoral and a sin against God. Do we want to celebrate people who were traitors against the United States Army, who fought against this country? This means offering support and solidarity, including by denouncing symbols like Confederate statues or institutions that bear the name of Confederate leaders. Rucker and Benning led soldiers against U.S. troops. Among other things, they want the city to pay to return the bronze statue of Forrest on horseback to a location that they choose — I can only imagine where that would be. In another sense it’s right now.”, “When there was the initial push to take down the statue of Robert E. Lee there in Charlottesville ... that was sort of an awakening for me like, ‘Oh my gosh, I've been living my whole life with this history, with this family history, and I've never really thought about it deeply and considered, you know, what it really means.’, “We’ve gotten to the point where it’s time to first confront this history and the truth of it. Those African-Americans would be the ancestors of the black people who make up 64 percent of Memphis’ population. That's what we’re proud of.’ And he also said—this was a good one—‘his slaves loved him. He was arguably the greatest cavalryman during the War of Northern Aggression (or what is commonly known as America’s Civil War). I have a self-confidence that I might not otherwise have and there are certainly times in my life when people say 'Oh, you're related to a president' and that's maybe made a difference to them and so I guess I probably have benefited more than I think.”, “There’s a lot of us who are very upset about what’s going on and that it’s taking so long to have such a large group of our population be treated with respect as human beings. Three … Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a repudiated slave owner and early Ku Klux Klan leader who fought in the Civil War, as well as his wife, Mary Ann, are buried in … It’s rich because they want to be compensated for hurt feelings caused by the removal of their ancestor’s statue — when their ancestor did far more than hurt people’s feelings. When Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was born on 13 July 1821, in Chapel Hill, Henderson, Tennessee, United States, his father, William B Forrest, was 20 and his mother, Miriam A Beck, was 19. Contact . And now, the latest lawsuit comes from Forrest’s descendants. “My family likes to tout that he was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan but he left the organization when he realized it was not just a social club; they were secretly lynching the Black community. And anyone who bought and sold slaves destroyed lives — and inflicted pain worse than Forrest’s descendants could possibly be enduring now. Our soldiers who are Black, the discomfort that some of them or their families must feel going into a place like Fort Lee. We all have an obligation to understand what life is like for the other in this country. There are no direct MALE descendants of Bedford Forrest, but there my be a few direct descendants of his granddaughter Mary Forrest Bradley (my 2nd cousin, 2x removed). Hill, Pickett and Lee in Virginia. The following story was written by a CA staff reporter. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Nathan Bedford Forrest (13 Jul 1821–29 Oct 1877), Find a Grave Memorial no. In one sense we talked about it like it's a long time ago. But will it work to worsen people's lives? Lives were destroyed when families were sold off, and pain was inflicted through lashings and rapes. - The Publisher. Exit Full Screen. Why the Descendants of Confederate Generals Are Happy to See Their Names Go. That became part of it. I think what everybody’s trying to do now is rewrite history and tear apart our heritage and I’m just not for all that now, especially when it’s going to be a huge cost to the American taxpayer. William Forrest [Nathan, Shadrack, William, James] was born 6 Jul 1801 in Orange County, North Carolina When he was eight years old, the family moved north of the Cumberland River not far from Gallatin and two years later in 1808 settled in Duck River in what was then Bedford, now Marshall County, Tennessee. Nathan Bedford Forrest is among the most controversial figures in American History. But most of the descendants who have shared their views say it is past time to honor only Americans whom everyone can agree are deserving. It was more about him being a military hero, it wasn’t about what they were fighting for. Nathan Bedford Forrest was born to a poor family in Bedford County, Tennessee. Hood’s cousin, Stephen M. “Sam” Hood, who has published two books about the general, maintains it is “instructive to look at the individuals who are honored, not the causes for which they served for a brief period of their lives or careers.”. They are teachers, scientists, journalists, military veterans, financial advisers and a retired yoga and surfing instructor. They still study his tactics to this day. Few if any men in American history have been more praised and pilloried, more defended and demeaned, more magnified and mocked than the general, but none of … MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Descendants of Nathan Bedford Forrest and the Sons of Confederate Veterans have dropped a lawsuit over the removal of confederate monuments from Memphis parks. … It’s a heritage that needs to be disowned.”. Many cheered this time last year when the city finally removed a statue of Forrest from a place of honor at Health Sciences Park and relegated it to a place of obscurity with Memphis Greenspace, Inc. of Fort Bragg, Fort Robert E. Lee, and many other Military Bases from which we won Two World Wars, is in the Bill!”. Most of these relatives have said little if anything publicly about how they view their forebears’ legacy. It's time that their names were removed. I think if you look at it in the proper context, I think what you could say is ‘Look at what these people did,’ whether they were for or against African Americans, and say, ‘Look at where we’ve come and look at that, we just had eight years of the leader of the free world being an African American’ and say, ‘My goodness that’s who we were and look at who we are today, what a great thing we have.’, “I think if you’re going to teach history, you should teach the good and the bad. The oldest son of nine children, Forrest lost five of his brothers and sisters to typhoid fever. ... --1_Nathan Bedford Forrest, Gen. 1821-1877 |3_Miriam Beck 1801-Family Tree owner : Tim DOWLING . And it's been dealt with by the war being won by the Union. The relatives of General John Bell Hood are torn about how to strike the proper balance between righting the wrongs of history and still acknowledging their ancestor's honorable postwar accomplishments. Nathan Bedford Forrest's descendants are hyprocrites after wanting statues returned Weathersbee: Forrest's descendants say removing his statue caused them pain. The Senate is taking up bipartisan legislation to require the Pentagon to erase from every slab of granite and the gates of every garrison the names of Confederate officers, including the names of 10 Army bases that stretch across the South from Virginia to Texas. … Especially since Charlottesville. “I think white people should follow the lead of Black activists and people of color more broadly fighting for equality and rights, and support this struggle in any way we can,” said Mimi Kirk, the great-great-great granddaughter of General John Brown Gordon, who wants Georgia’s Fort Gordon renamed so it is not honoring a leading white supremacist. A Shelby County Court approved the relocation of the remains of Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife, Mary Ann Montgomery, which will be moved to the National Confederate Museum at … I can’t remember at what point my dad got that painting [of Forrest] in his living room, but I remember I was always kind of uncomfortable with it. From the 1850 federal census, Bedford Forrest lived with his wife, son, and daughter at DeSoto County, Mississippi. We’re all pretty liberal in our thinking. … It’s a heritage that needs to be disowned.”, “We name things after people we value and we name things that we value after people who we value even more. Frances Ann Forrest gazes intently at the camera at about age three in 1852. They also need fair representation, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Leonidas Polk valued education and he was the founder of Sewanee: the University of the South. They also sought to recast the Civil War as not about slavery but a defense of states’ rights. “I don’t judge any of the people on either of the sides [of this debate] because they made America who we are today. “At the time, he fought for what he believed in. Just don’t glorify it.”. Sports betting may work on Beale Street. '"I Rode With Forrest!" They also need fair representation. 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