Roy Exum
There are those who are “a special kind of stupid” who are allowing themselves to get swept up in what is being called today as “the social cleansing of the South.” In a tide of emotions that began with the South Carolina flag, all symbols of the Confederacy and Dixie are being threatened and, since the fuel that burns the hottest in the fire of racism is ignorance, the “Legion of the Miserable” is having a field day amid the liberal media’s hysteria.
In Nashville we have the closet racists – those who hide their bigotry behind the word “justice” -- ranting over a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general from Tennessee who was so brilliant in the Civil War that he rose all the way from the rank of private after enlisting with the Tennessee Company E.
Mounted Rifles alongside his 15-year-old son. He is, without exception, one of Tennessee’s greatest heroes.
You must understand, this was back then. I have no feeling nor imagination for what would compel anyone to fight against their brothers in the Civil War and, indeed, it is the worst wound our nation has ever suffered. Over 620,000 Americans were killed, which is more than were killed in World War I, World War II, and Korea. Only until the end of the Viet Nam debacle did the total casualties catch up.
Much like Nathan Bedford Forrest, I am a son of the South. In my living room is a picture that was taken nearly 60 years ago of my brothers and I dressed as Confederate soldiers. Back then the Cotton Ball was a big deal, with girls from across Dixie making their social debut, and we marched in with some guys wearing Union Blue to present the colors. One of us held a Confederate battle flag as a symbol of our heritage but the only flag that was unfurled was a 48-star rendition of the American flag. There was absolutely nothing racist about it.
Soon after, Alaska, and then Hawaii, joined the Union and stars were added to the flag but from the very beginning, my dad made it clear to all of us boys we were sons of the South and to be proud of our heritage. Our lineage went back long before the Civil War and Southerners have forever embraced our past, relishing the good and learning from the bad. Look at your ancestors – they are who you have become.
I had many ancestors in my family who fought in the Civil War. Some of my kin were killed. Years later my grandfather, on my dad’s side, was at the table, albeit as a junior officer, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending the First War in Western Europe. My dad served in World War II and my brother did two tours in Viet Nam, a very unpopular war. Most recently, my son excelled as an Army Ranger in Iraq, Afghanistan and points beyond. In short, my family has fought under many flags and each will agree: war is hell.
Because of my stance and its view, I believe the Confederate flag is a symbol of my heritage. I am saddened that racism coupled with hate, coming in both black and white colors, has turned it into something akin to a Swastika. I firmly believe if, in its current-day status, that if it offends anyone, it should be furled yet must never forgotten. We must also remember it is just a symbol, not a statement.
Now, “the rest of the story.” During the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest was so brilliant on his war horse he was called “A Wizard in the Saddle” by the men who followed him. It was a nickname that would haunt him for years, especially 150 years later as ignorant Democrats in the State Legislature have no earthly idea that he rather bravely once saved the city of Nashville from great ruin after the fall of Fort Donelson.
Research it and you’ll find that General Forrest, who grew up poor in Bedford County, had his men hide millions of dollars’ worth of Nashville’s industrial equipment – which Union troops would have destroyed -- after General Forrest assumed command of Tennessee’s capital during the Civil War. He also rushed local government leaders and their families to safety. What he did for Tennessee in dozens of battles and campaigns is a magnificent story but that was then … and this is now, right?
At Shiloh he should have won a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery but instead accepted a bottle of whiskey that he needed when a surgeon dug a musket ball out of his spine, this without anesthesia because there was none. A month later General Forrest was back in the saddle and led a victory in the Battle of Murfreesboro by using hastily-sworn-in citizens of Rutherford County and, according to a Union report, “quite a number of negroes … who were armed and equipped.”
What’s there not to admire about Nathan Bedford Forrest? Back then, he was one of Tennessee’s most valiant warriors, as evidenced today by the state park named for him in Camden, obelisks in his memory at his birthplace in Chapel Hill, a statue that was erected in Forrest Park in Memphis (It was renamed Health Sciences Park by ignorant politicians in 2013) and, of course, the bronze bust in the state capitol.
Before you throw your rotten eggs, please remember the statue in Rome, Ga., where he is remembered for saving the town from the Union’s Abel Streight who was determined to burn it down. The same at Selma, Ala., where another statue reads, “Defender of Selma, Wizard of the Saddle, Untutored Genius, The first with the most.”
Face it. The facts are there. Nathan Bedford Forrest saved Nashville, Rome, Selma and a lot more of the South. The Yankees loved to burn things up, aptly witnessed by Sherman’s March to the Sea (watch “Gone With The Wind” sometime), and the fact that there are 32 dedicated historical markers linked to General Forrest in Tennessee – more than anyone else including Andrew Jackson and two other U.S. Presidents -- should confirm the man was, indeed, a genuine and legitimate Tennessee hero.
Now, back to racism, hatred, the “Legion of the Miserable,” and ignorance:
Was he the founder of the Ku Klux Klan? Most certainly not. He became involved much later, as some 40,000 other Tennesseans did because that was “back then,” versus 150 years of hind-sight. Was he the Grand Wizard? Many historians and his bibliographer believe he was not, that the association came from the fact he was a “Wizard in the Saddle” during the war. The actual truth is only a few ever knew who was really the Grand Wizard of the Klan at the time. That’s the way it works and they never gave a name. They hide their identity beneath pointed hoods. It is well known General Forrest always denied it, for what that’s worth.
It is also known that back then Forrester “distanced himself” from the Klan within two years and in an 1868 interview, he told the reporter he sympathized with the Klan but denied being a member.
To further muddle the matter, his grandson, Nathan Bedford Forrest II, who lived from 1872 until 1931, admitted he was a Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan but his great-grandson, Nathan Bedford Forrest III, graduated from West Point, and attained the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army Air Corps before he was killed defending his country in a bombing raid over Berlin in 1943. So much for the family tree, but this is part of knowledge.
The best view came as General Forrest grew older. He was then in a different fight, his 6'2", 230-pound frame racked with diabetes. So, in 1875, the valiant warrior, at age 54, was approached by an organization of blacks who were seeking racial reconciliation. This was 10 years after the Civil War, mind you, but he was as famous as a rock star. A group called the Independent Order of Pole Bearers Association asked him to make a keynote speech at an all-day gathering on the grounds on the Fourth of July in Memphis. It was to be his last public appearance before he died two years later.
As he took the podium, he was offered a bouquet of flowers by a black woman, and before we take the sledge hammer to Nathan Bedford Forrest’s bust at the state capitol, I believe all of us, most especially the “Legion of the Miserable” might well see him in a different light. I believe it should also be read in the state legislature before any bold actions are taken on his memory :
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is any one on God's earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. (Immense applause and laughter.)
“This day is a day that is proud to me, having occupied the position that I did for the past twelve years, and been misunderstood by your race. This is the first opportunity I have had during that time to say that I am your friend. I am here a representative of the southern people, one more slandered and maligned than any man in the nation.
“I will say to you and to the colored race that men who bore arms and followed the flag of the Confederacy are, with very few exceptions, your friends. I have an opportunity of saying what I have always felt - that I am your friend, for my interests are your interests, and your interests are my interests. We were born on the same soil, breathe the same air, and live in the same land. Why, then, can we not live as brothers?
“I will say that when the war broke out I felt it my duty to stand by my people. When the time came I did the best I could, and I don't believe I flickered. I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe that I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to bring about peace. It has always been my motto to elevate every man -- to depress none. (Applause.)
“I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going.
“I have not said anything about politics today. I don't propose to say anything about politics. You have a right to elect whom you please; vote for the man you think best, and I think, when that is done, that you and I are freemen. Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you.
“I am not much of a speaker, and my business prevented me from preparing myself. I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us. When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment. Use your best judgment in selecting men for office and vote as you think right.
“Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. I have been in the heat of battle when colored men asked me to protect them. I have placed myself between them and the bullets of my men, and told them they should be kept unharmed.
“Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I'll come to your relief. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity you have afforded me to be with you, and to assure you that I am with you in heart and in hand." (Prolonged applause.)
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Don’t you wish he could give that talk today in Baltimore, Charleston and around the country? Yet there are those in Nashville who wish to totally obliterate him from history. It is because of today’s racism and hate, not what he actually did 150 years ago as a Tennessee hero.
The chasm between truth and perception is deep and treacherous. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s life was honorable by all measure “back then” but, as it is presented and perceived by our elected officials, it is a shining example of the worst disease we as a human race now face – ignorance.
Royexum@aol.com