Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1877-11-17
-OEE>T, THE FIGHTER-soME NOTES
About THE ROUGH CoSFEb-
RAT CHIEF.
q. t:acInnsrt Commercial

= $50 -
l. WA. terrible family, tins For
ret r.w.iv. Th're were seven boys
e,i three Girls the eldest of The sons
hriay Natfnr. b 'dfOrd. All the sons
grew 10 tn ht tghting men and sever
NJ verr killed in the ranks OF the con-
f.dprtrv. Tiere was only one OF the
sey-:t, However, who turned out L"
be what He mig I term a de-perado.
and rh4r Wa Il Forrest. the only
nan. G-ueral Forrest used to say, he.
eger felt afraid of. y Il living"
sid tn general. "can tell when
p i rninc 10 get mad" And when
ever Bin got mai he shot. and hr
never missed his man. ~ USED L"
carry y navy about this long, all
nv iu,ormsmr, putting his hands
three feet apart, "Aud wore r long
coat to hide H." Bill Kill ed men al
most at regular intervals, hoih be-
fore and sitter the war. am told
thst lie kilrd many during the war.
but that. | suppose, was legitimate.
Since the war he slew men III Mis-
s~i-siupi, and Alabama, and Georgia,
and had to leave various cities III
,hnsa states because of these things.
When known he WAS ftared, as a
western chron'cler said OF a border
de~-prrudo. ''muCh more than the
A|fmigLty." Yet he had many warm
friends. and might have settled down
into a man OF peace had he not finally
killed himself by dissipation.
Nathan Bedford Forest could not
hav. been justly termed a desperadr
at amy period at his remarkable
career, although. he was always a
dr>Deratr man. He killed a number
of people in personal difficulties, but
| do not believe ever wantOniy. ii"
WAS simply enc of those men who
considered themselves bound to
aycuge an insult on the Instant 1t
was given, and q man so arbitrary
and determined as General Forrest,
was ~crrtiin to provoke insults, OF
teutimc- uuiutentiOUally. Generally,
however, Forrest had no occasion to
use weapons, for few men could
match his physical strength, or III
what the English term bottom. He
was one of those nen who
acquire adipOse tissue, and had a
form as hard as wood he had per-
formed all sorts of manual labor UNI
til he became as tough as hickory,
and his Vitality was of that klnG
which never requires the Stimulus Df
alcohol. They say that he could not
possibly 81; quiet in a clair or on a
carriage seat,
Even a. a soldier, however, For
ret arbitrary ways We're continually
invol ing him in difficulty with the
confederate government. He could 20
brook beng under orders, and chafed
under re-trnint of any kind, and was
always 4u III eiiug with some other
general VINO would rank him. He
ended usually by having things his
" WAY but it is sand that Que of
the officers of his staff " Is, during
the whole later part OF the war,
employed only In eudenvOring to
get things straight" between For
rest aud the lea iers of The cpnfedera-
Cy. There are, OF course, various
opinions as IT, Z ,rrret's military
abilities. some aver that, had hc
been appointed C"mms"drr-i -cuief,
the w: w0ulH have Iast d longer or
ended diif .rrntly 3; OTHERS aIlege that
his lack Of miiliarv education unfit
ted Tim for such a position but the
prop!e of Memphis usually speak OF
lin 4 I ~ grrarr-t southern general
ct the var. Soldiers who served uu-
der Tim never seem tired OF taking
About him : rhey will tel u how he
could ieIi, with a glance along a rank
OF men,, II the least thing was out OF
order in aCruUtrements, weapons,
&c; hOw h. always rode fret into an
engagement how, when Il piece of
artillery was mired and the troops
had valu!y striveu for hours to get
II out until the advent of Forrest re-
suited III IFS removal within q few
minute how he ruled his men SO
that ;hvy feared him more than the
enemy, aud yet contided in him rs
though he were incapable of an error
or 81 fault.
Perhaps his strange luck in all per-
soma encounters was principally due
to the tact that he suffered a
quarrel to grow old or cold, and Al
ways took the initiative III a fighi
whenever that was possible. Still Iii
luck was remarkable. He was blown
ny liz a Steamboat explosion, and shot
at from umbuscades, and shot in bat
tie, aud shot i'll private fights, aud al
ways escaped comparatively unturt.
| think the grimmest story | have
been tol4 about him is that of Gould'-
unsuccessful attempt upon his life ut
Columbia. Tennessee, during III.
war. 1 heard it from the lips of one
of the generals staff officers, who
witnessed the latter portion of the
tragedy.
Gould was a lieutenant of artillery,
l believe, under Forrest, and had sew
eral TIMES refused t. obey orders. 1t
il said he showed cewarGice, and
Forrest abominated cOwardice. The
general sent word to the young officer
that he had better resign TO save him
self from disgrace, as his COW ardice
rendered il necessary t. fill his place
Shortly afterward Forrest was sitting
at the window of his hotel, uuarmed,
twirling a white-handled pen-knife in
his fingers, aud Gould entered IN q
desp rate frame of mind. He had OF
one of those Kentucky coats witt
pleaGed tails, and i'll the right-hanc
side pocket he had q loaded pistol.
General he said, rapidly aud des
perately, you said l was a coward
and it is q lie."