The Coolidge examiner., 1931-07-31

! scale in favor of the Confederacy But Presi-
dent Davis and his cabinet, their attention con-
centrated upon the Eastern theater Of war and
upon holding Richmond, which was strategically
relatively unimportant failed to see until it was
too late that If they lost the West they lost the
war. And Forrest, even though he won victory
after victory was forced to see his efforts re-
peatedly nullified by the inefficient Gen. Brax-
ton Bragg to whose weaknesses Davis seems to
have been strangely blind even though they were
soon enough recognized by other Confederate
| generals and by the people of the South.
| The story of Forests campaigns would take
volume for the telling He served brilliantly
at Fort Donelson and led his own forces safely
| through the encrcling Union lines to Nashville.
He could have done as much for Buckner's entire
army had that general listened to him. But
Buckner didn't listen and the result was what
Lytle calls "a tragedy Of errors'-the loss not
only of the fort but OF Buckner's entire army.
Forrest captured large Union force at Muir
freesboro and made 1t possible for Bragg to take
the initiative away from Buell. in the Kentucky
campaign.
He served gallanty at Shiloh, at Hog noun
tain, and at Chckamauga and in innumerable
other actions where he was unhampered by the
orders of his "superiors" he proved repeatedly
that here was one Confederate leader who knew
how to win battles But always there was
the hand of BraXton Bragg to minimize or nullify
his success. Finally one day he stamped into
Bragg's tent and declared, You may as we'll not
issue any more orders to me- for will not obey
them. And 1 will hold you personally respon-
sible for any further ndgnities you try to
infict upon me. You have threatened to arrest
me for not obeying your orders promptly I
dare you to do it, and I say to you that If
you ever again try to interfere with me or cross
my path, it will be at the peril of your life
And Bragg did not take the dare.
The closing days Of the wal found Forrest q
lieutenant general Ga recognition which had
come too late) and placed in charge of all the
cavalry in the West-the last organized Con-
federate forces in that section. But by this
time his efforts were futile so far as the out
come of the war was concerned Lee surren-
dered to Grant and Johnston to Sherman and
there no further need for Forrest to lead
his "critter company" on those swift dashes
which had made him the nightmare of more
than one commander in blue. His men begged
him to lead them to Mexico to avoid surrender
! ing. But he knew the game was up and sur
rendered to General Candy
After the war Forrest went to Mississippi to
become planter again-taking as his partner a
Federal officer Later he sold his plantation
and moved to Memphis. He was delegate to
the first postwar Democratic convention and
Wnen ne went TO New York he attracted so
much attention that he could not move about
the streets without drawing crowd"-such
was the fame of "the Wizard of the Saddle" in
the North. When the dark days of the Recon
struction period came upon the South and the
Ku Klux Klan was organized to save 1t from
the Scalawag Carpetbagger regime Forrest was
offered the command Of the new movement and
accepted it. 1t had previously been offered TO
Robert e. Lee but although he refused, he ap-
proved Of the idea, saying that his approval
must be invisible" SO the Ku Klux Klan be-
came the Invisible Empire and when the name
for a commander was brought up some one
suggested Gen Nathan Bedford Forrest the
Wizard Of the Saddle" SO he became "the
Grand Wizard of the Invisible Empire"
By 1870 the work Of the Ku Klux Klan had
saved the South and Forrest disbanded it. There
were only few more years of life left for him.
He died in Memphis October 90 1877, and was
buried in Elmwood cemetery. Later his body
was removed to park set aside to his memory
in Memphis and equestrian statue raised
over it. SO Bedford Forrest still rides in the
South-in material form in this statue and in
spiritual form in the hearts of the people of
Tennessee who still tell their tales of "Old
Bedford, the Wizard of the Saddle"
(G by Western Newspaper Union.)