Biography
Forrest was born in Chapel Hill in Bedford County, Tennessee, but the spot is located in what is now Marshall County. Before the Civil War, Forrest was a wealthy slave trader, worth about 1.5 million dollars in 1861. An uneducated, but literate, man, he joined the Confederate cause as a private, and by the end of the war he was a general. On the battlefield, he improvised highly developed strategies without ever having had military training. After the war, Forrest settled back into Bedford County, but died in 1877 in Memphis from complications with his diabetes. Forrest is best known for his association with the original Ku Klux Klan, though much of his involvement has been misrepresented. Contrary to popular belief, he was not the founder of the group, joining in 1866 0r 1867, a year or two after it had been established. Additionally, he grew to disagree with many of the Klan's policies and actions, and in 1868 he began to deny his connections. In 1869, he ordered the group to disband and, when they would not obey, he severed his ties. By the time of his death, Forrest had become a lot more progressive on race relations.
Bibliography
Non-Fiction
Sources and Links