Forrest the murderer
 
It has been widely verified by historians, and not just Yankee historians, that there was in fact a purposeful slaughter of black troops at Fort Pillow by the Confederacy — supervised by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. As for Forrest’s Klan activity, yes, he did disband the organization in 1869 because of the violence, but it doesn’t change the fact that for a long time he condoned much of the violence committed by the KKK and in 1871 defended the organization during his testimony before a Joint Select Committee of Congress. Per the published report, “It (the Klan) is a protective, political, military organization … Its objects originally were protection from the Loyalty League and the Grand Army of the Republic.” The testimony further states that Forrest claimed the South had been bankrupted by the emancipation of slaves, and that it was up to the Klan to “protect the women and children” (read: white).
 
The people who continue to defend Forrest and claim he was a noble man who simply fought for a cause he believed in are either fools or blind. Forrest was a murderer and a defender of the right of the South to enslave other human beings. Nothing more and nothing less.
 
Andrew Smith
Memphis