The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1908-11-10
GENERAL FORREST.
One of the Heroic Figures in
the World Famed CIansman
StudyOf the Man Who
Was Grand Wizard of
the ku klux Khan
by the Rev. Thos. B. Gregory.1

Nathan Bedford Forrest was Dor
July Ii, 1921, in what was then tn
wilderness of middle Tennessee.
In the little log cabin in which h
first saw the light of earth there w~r
no tokens of wealth or culture. Hi
father was an uneducated blacksmith
and his mother was a typical frontie
woman, true as steal, but rough a
the bark on the hickory trees a6ou
her hut.
There were no schools heal the For
rest home, and Nathan grew up litter
ate. He never knew much abou
books, and was all his life a stranger
to grammar, but nature rave him q
powerful intellect, and, beginning
with nothing, he had. by 1861, a bust.
ness that gave him an annual income
of $50, 600.
When the war tOcsin sounded For.
rest sprang to arms. Entering as a
a private, he surrendered four years
later, as a lieutenant general. having
worked his way up from the bottom to
the top by sheer force of brain. vaior
and efficiency.
He knew nothing of what had been
written on the art OF war, had never
read a book on Tactics" OF
STRATEGY, was blissfulIy ignorant
OF the way in which the great captains
had conducted heir campaigns; yet
he proved himself to be one of the
mos consummate battle winners OF
whom we have any knowledge.
By a strange coincidence, General
Joseph + Johnston, General William
fisherman and General Wolseley. OF
the British Army, about the same
time declared that Forrest was the
greatest military genius developed on
either side during the war.
IN WAR HE WAS LIKE A DEMON.
In person General Forrest was of
hne appearances, over six feet in
height. broad-shouldered and muscu-
lar. with dark hair, steel-gray eyes
and full beard.
In q battle he was a phenomenon.
His complexion, which was naturally
sallow, changed completely in color,
the face and neck turning t 0 scarlet.
The blood vessels of the eye took on
the same congestion, giving him an
expression of savageness which for
the time being likened him to a demon.
His voice naturally soft, became
harsh, with a terrible metallic ring
that could be heard above the roar of
cannon and the rattle of musketry,
and in the thick of the fight he seemed
. veritable ''angel of DEATH"
Forrest had twenty-nine horses
killed under him in battle, was wound
ed dozens of times and killed more
men in war with his own hand than
any other man eve did, except Rich
ord the lion-hearted. 1t is estimated
that Forrest killed, or mortally
wounded, in single combat during the
war, some forty of his opponents,
mostly officers.
HERE is A SAMPLE OF THE MAN
AS q sample, ut one and the same
time. Of Forests grammar and battle
orders we have his own written state
ment regarding one of his fights: II
thought / could kill a man by striking
him over the head with my sabre, but
/ found that while l could knock him
on his horse he would jump up and
run away. l then tried the pint on
one, and when he fell he lay thar
Forrest died at his home in Memphis,
Tenn, October %, 1877, in the fifty
seventh year of his remarkable life.
He was Is honorable as he was
brave, as generous as he was fearless:
q among the tens of thousands who
conscieatiously fought against the old
Flag, no one possessed q knightlier
soul than Nathan Bedford Forrest.
the nnlettered son OF the backwoods.
who, BY his Unborn genius alone, sue
ceeded in writing his name high
among the immortals.
The close of the war found CARPET
bsggers forcing the negro into civil
life also advocating the intermarriage
OF blacks and whites. The negro. with
his newfound power became a menace.
He encroached on the rights of the
c~ausasian, plundered, murdered. and
teopardized the purity Of the home un-
I'll It was found that harsh methods
would have to be adopted to suppress
him. It was then that the famous Ku
Nux Khan was organized, which is
dealt with SO extensively in The
Clansman. and in 1867 General For
rest became its head, under the title of
"Grand Wizard of the Invisible Em.
pire" and the good the secret orrani-
cation effected in suppressino the
usurping negro is felt even to-day.
forty years after its disbandment.
Mr.. James O. Sanders, who por-
A~~-~ Co.A~l E~~~oo< E.