Forrest the Klansman

One of the primary claims of the NAACP is that Nathan Bedford Forrest should not be honored because of his role as the first grand wizard of the KKK. the Sons of Confederate Veterans disputes this claim and that Forrest was even part of the Klan. While it is difficult to determine specifics about the early days of the Klan due to its secrecy there is documented evidence of Forrest's involvement in the Klan. "A son of ex-confederate major Minor Meriwether wrote of an evening in 1867 when "several of father's friends" came to the Meriwether home in Memphis "to discuss the Ku Klux Klan and how it might save Memphis and the South from Bankruptcy (Hurst P.290)." Meriwethers son would later write the names of several of his father's friends which "included Forrest Isham G. Harris, "General Gordon of Georgia," and Avalanche editor Matthew Gallaway (Hurst P.290)." While accounts such as this place Forrest at meetings they do not show him as a founding member of the Klan. The reality of the situation is that Forrest was not a founding member of the KKK, the most excepted stories of the birth of the Klan name the Pulaski club as the original name of the organization. In fact one of the actual co-founders James R. Crowe is quoted as stating that the Klan sought Forrest out. "So we chose General N.B. Forrest...He was made a member and took the oath in room No. 10 at Maxwell House...in the fall of 1866. The oath was administered to him by Captain J.W. Morton...(Hurst P.285)." This is important because to this point in time the Ku Klux Klan was little more than a social group. Started in Pulaski, Tennessee in late 1865 early 1866 the original KKK did little more than dress in sheets and scare freedmen after dark by pretending to be the spirits of dead confederate soldiers. By the time of Forrest's induction in the fall of 1866 the KKK had expanded outside of its birth place of Pulaski into numerous groups with little or no affiliation. It was at this point that it was determined that the Klan should be organized into a single national entity. The members of the Ku Klux Klan met one night in their traditional meeting place of Maxwell House Hotel to decide who should lead them. "Nominations were solicited. "The Wizard of the Saddle, General Nathan Bedford Forrest," a voice from the back of the room called out. The nominee was elected quickly, and in keeping with the off-the-cuff impulsiveness of the Early Klan, was designated grand wizard of the Invisible Empire (Hurst P.287)."While the early days of the Klan are shrouded in mystery this account is widely believed to be the most accurate.

While it widely excepted that Forrest Broke Ties with the KKK before the end of the 1860's the reason for their break remains unclear. Supporters of Forrest's legacy claim it because the KKK was becoming unorganized and violent. Forrest Himself claimed that the Ku Klux Klan was nothing more than a political organization. "Although Forrest and others later insisted that the Klan functioned only as a political organization, racial terrorism became the hallmark of Klan activities. Forrest, however lost interest in the Klan once it outgrew his immediate authority (Carney P. 603)." Author Jack Hurst gives some credibility to Forrest's claim as he describes numerous instances in which Forrest becomes part of southern democratic politics after joining the KKK. "On June 1 Forrest and a number of Known or suspected Klansmen and/or personally close to its Grand wizard were included among a total of forty-nine delegates named to go to the Nashville state convention a week later (Hurst P.297)." Subsequently there are numerous documented instances of Klansmen taking part in democratic assemblies as well as petitioning of governors. However these could simply be because many Klansmen were men of prominence seeking to regain their right to vote. But while one function of the Klan may have been political gain another function was that of oppression and terror.

The Civil Rights act of 1871. also known as the Ku Klu Klan act, was the project bill of Benjamin Franklin Butler (pictured above). The KKK act was a direct response to the growing violence against African-Americans in the south by the KKK. While the KKK had become a national organization at this time it is unclear how much control its grand wizard had over chapters outside of Tennessee. However what is clear, and heavily documented, is that the KKK began acting freed blacks and denying them their right to vote. Under the Klan act federal troops rather than local militia were used to enforce the law. And instead of being tried in local courts those known or accused of being Klansmen were tired in federal courts with much higher conviction rates than ever before. The Klan act decimated the Ku Klux Klan fining and imprisoning vast numbers of its members making the Klan non-existent until its resurrection in 1915. However while Butler's bill was the death knell of the early Klan Forrest is reported to have disavowed the Klan years before the implementation of the Klan act. While this is a near certainty what remains unclear is what role Forrest played in the actions that lead to the proposal of the Klan act in the First place. This like many things in Forrest's life is subject to interpretation and uncertainty.