| Description | Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877) was an American businessman who served as a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War. He was later the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. In April 1864, in what has been called "one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history", troops under Forrest's command at the Battle of Fort Pillow massacred hundreds of surrendered troops, composed of black soldiers and white Tennessean Southern Unionists fighting for the United States. Forrest was blamed for the slaughter in the U.S. press, and this news may have strengthened the United States's resolve to win the war. Forrest's level of responsibility for the massacre is still debated by historians. Wikipedia |
