Forrest was a complex character. On one hand fought for the Confederacy and was accused of a massacre of black prisoners at Fort Pillow. On the other hand after being drafted into the Klan as a figurehead to make it appear respectable, he abolished the organization and ordered all its regalia destroyed within half a year when the violence grew out of control.
Later he volunteered his services to hunt down and punish some yahoos who had lynched some blacks, and was invited by a black civil rights group to its public event where he kissed his black hostess on the cheek, a daring gesture at that time and place.
Wow, I didn't even know all of that.
Most historical reviews of him stop at his Klan thing and then that's it.
VERY complex character. Anyone who's into reading biographies, there's a tip.
Not saying whether he deserves his own day, statues, etc, but certainly a
notable figure in history, especially Memphis, and worthy of far more than a superficial look.
True.
Indeed, all the ‘confederate’ generals were complex characters – Lee, Beauregard, Jackson, Longstreet, Hill…
But however complex and multifaceted, regardless their deeds and accomplishments, the fact remains that they betrayed their country, fought to defend and preserve America’s ‘peculiar institution’ both heinous and inhumane, and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity which render them among the most infamous figures of American history – deserving of no honor, no recognition, no commemoration.
considering there were no set rules for war at the time, war crimes is a hollow charge.
Contemporary context is always essential, so fair point here. As for "crimes against humanity", if we discount the prosecution of war itself, there's little evidence of Forrest taking part in any. There is the accusation of Fort Pillow but it's not well supported. Such crimes could comprise, say, hanging draft evaders, which certainly did happen, but again I'm not aware of Forrest having dabbled in it.
What's more interesting to me about contemporary context is that the American Civil War was the first major war to be fought after the invention of the
Minié Ball (the Crimean War being the first), which dramatically changed the nature of war casualties by changing the nature of the firearm itself, producing more devastating and more copious injuries with more accuracy than the world had previously known, a big reason that war produced so many deaths and so many amputations.