The brothers Forrest

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

The two were certainly very close. Willie was Forrest's only child and they'd been through the war together - Willie got shot up almost as much as his father. So they had an unusually strong bond. Willie accompanied his dad to New York when the Democrats held a convention there. It turned out to be a strange adventure that Forrest said he was glad he made but didn't intend to make again! At one point, when he was walking down the sidewalk outside his hotel, a crowd developed to gawk at him - he could hear them murmuring things like, "There's the Rebel General Forrest!" or "Is that him?" Usually when surrounded by Yankees he ended up dispatching a half dozen but this flustered him. He swung his hat off his head and bellowed in his best battlefield voice, "Get out of my way, G--d--n you!" There was a collective gasp and people fairly tromped one another to clear the path. That was a new take on 'keep the skeer up"!

He certainly knew how to talk to yankees.

 

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

Help! Have you seen this?

While doing a 'net search about Jesse Forrest (whose middle initial is driving me nuts by the way), I ran across a very curious legal bit in a book called "Tennessee Tidbits, 1778-1914, Volume 4 by Marjorie Hood Fischer. On page 155, there is a literal tidbit of information about a lawsuit by one Stephen Rainey against what appears to be most of the Forrest family! (All the brothers are mentioned except Jeffery.) I noticed there were three minor children involved and a dispute about William Forrest's property as well as Nathan Forrest's (grandpa).

Is there a possibility these are the same 3 kids Jonathan Forrest was shot over back in Hernando? The father of those kids was Robert Forrest, so they would all have the surname Forrest. The date of the suit being filed is 11 years after the Matlock affair - the children involved were very young at that time.

There was that fellow Lovins suing Granddad Forrest's widow about property as well - this gets very interesting! (That's posted just above.)



Gee, wonder if the Matlocks thought they had some claim to the old man's property through these kids, whose mother was a Matlock - which would be, by the time of the suit I allude to, his grandsons'. There's never been much said about the shoot-out but it does seem what is known from the bios may be the tip of the iceberg about that matter.

You know, I get intrigued about these tiny details involving Forrest most don't consider too important because these all come together to explain the man - and quite often to explain why certain things happened during the war. It puts Forrest in context more, which I think is important!

I agree with the desire and necessity to put the General in context. After finding the second deed to property in Bedford Co. TN dated 1826 from Nathan Forrest to son William Forrest (father of General Bedford) I theorize that Nathan apparently speculated in land. He left TN for Mississppi (parts unknown by me) in 1827. As you know lawsuits only follow the trail of money (lawyers are funny that way). Jesse Anderson Forrest was by far the most prosperous of the Forrest sibllings after the war and seems to have enjoyed the best health with the larger family. Unfortunately, I don't know much about these folks, so I continue to be very interested. I'll follow your link and think about this a bit more. Thanks for your post!

 

[diane]

Yes, after reading this it appears these are Nathan's heirs still trying to claim a portion of his estate, whatever that might have been. He would have likely had enough money for his sale of land in Bedford, now Marshall County to reinvest in Mississippi. These are just random notes on Nathan and Nancy's family. We know what they did for recreation, if nothing else. Some of the folks mentioned in your Google Book link are on this list:

Nathan Forrest [Shadrack, William, James] was born 28 Oct 1776 in Orange County, North Carolina and died 15 Jan 1827 in Tippah County, Mississippi. He married Nancy Shepherd Baugh b. 16 Apr 1778 in Virginia, of Irish descent, on 14 Jan 1799 in North Carolina. Nancy was the daughter of Josiah Hatchee Baugh and Milly Shepherd.

Nathan Forrest and Nancy Shepherd Baugh were parents of:

John Nicholas Forrest ?
William Forrest b. 6 Jul 1801 d. 1837 m. Miriam Beck (see later)
Jonathan Forrest b. 12 Mar 1803 d. 11 Mar 1845 Hernando, MS m. Susan Read Patterson 26 Oct 1823 (7 kids) He died in a gunfight
with the Matlock family while in the company of nephew N.B. Forrest.
Jane Forrest b. 4 Mar 1805 m. William Silas
James Nelson Forrest b. 6 Nov 1807
Melinda S. Forrest b. 14 Feb 1810 d. 18 Dec 1848 m. Stephen William Rainey b. 29 Mar 1806 d. 13 May 1884
Henderson B. Forrest b. 2 Apr 1812
Shadrack F. Forrest b. 9 Jul 1814
Brittain H. Forrest b. 1815 d. Jul 1848 m. Rhoda E. --
Nancy M. Forrest b. 17 Sep 1816
Eliza G. Forrest b. 15 Nov 1818
Nathan Anderson Forrest Jr. 14 May 1821 d. 28 Feb 1847 m. Barbary H. Sheffield 21 Apr 1842 Marshall Co. TN (Shuffield?)
Alexander Forrest ?
Jeremiah G. Forrest ? [not sure about these three kids]
Nelson Forrest ?
Matilda Forrest m. Thomas B. Faror [Favor?]

 

[diane]

For the next few posts, I'll 'glean' some information from Robert Selph Henry's FIRST WITH THE MOST, facts which have not really been posted previously.

In 1841 Bedford Forrest at age 20, "a tall, black haired, gray eyed, athletic youth" joined a US. Army company at Holly, Springs, MS as per Gen. James R. Chalmers S.H.S.P., Vol 7, p. 405. This adventure to Texas resulted in the company being 'stranded' with no action and causing Forrest to remain about six months earning money to pay for his return by splitting rails.

 

[diane]

Uncle Jonathan Forrest

Jonathan Forrest b. 12 Mar 1803 d. 11 Mar 1845 Hernando, MS m. Susan Read Patterson 26 Oct 1823 (7 kids) He died in a gunfight with the Matlock family while in the company of nephew N.B. Forrest.

The story from Robert Henry is that this event occured on 20 Mar 1845 (obviously a discrepancy with the above date). Three members of the Matlock family and a Mr. Bean attacked Jonathan on the town square in Hernando and killed him. Nephew Nathan Bedford entered the fight and killed one of the Matlocks, wounded and drove the other two away, while capturing Mr. Bean. All were later tried and convicted by the local court. Hernando was the county seat of De Soto County, with a post office, courthouse, a few stores and a population of 400.

 

[diane]

Jeffrey Forrest at Ft. Donelson 1862

This account is from the work of Robert Selph Henry in his Nathan Bedford Forrest, First with the Most as it relates to Jeffery Forrest:

Sat 15 Feb 1862 at Fort Donelson, Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jeffrey E. Forrest were engaged in a charge against a battery of six Union cannon. "in the same charge Bedford Forrest's horse was struck, the first of the more than score of horses to be shot under him while his brother Jeffrey, by then a lieutenant, was painfully injured b the fall when his horse was killed". Legend holds that Bedford had 15 bullet holes in his coat.

 

[diane]

TerryB said:

George Washington had a boatload of bullet holes in his coat at the French-Indian War battle that killed Braddock and all his officers except for George. An Indian chief once shook his hand and told him "I personally fired 13 bullets at you that day. We concluded that the Great Spirit had spared your life."

If you consider the story about Patrick Ferguson having Washington in his sights without firing early in the war and the account of Forrest and some officers sitting around a table down in Alabama with the door open and a light burning when a Union company of soldiers (who had slipped through the pickets) and a young officer recognized Forrest but decided not to fire, plus the other occurences these two gentlemen escaped, it's enough to make a Believer out of a serious scholar.

 

[diane]

Col. Jesse Anderson Forrest, an update

Col. Jesse Anderson Forrest (fifth son) b. 8 Apr 1829 Chapel Hill, TN d. 14 Dec 1890: He married Sarah Mayberry (b. ca 1836 TN) Lt. Colonel of 20th Tennessee CSA Regiment. On March 10, 1862 he took command of Co. D in Huntsville, Alabama. Just prior to Shiloh he reported to his brother Nathan near Iuka, MS as Captain of a newly formed company from Memphis. They rode from there to Shiloh. Lt. Col. Forrest commanded these same men at Brice's Cross Roads in early June 1864. He was reported in Ripley, Mississippi 23 Jun 1864. Jesse, during the mid August raid on Memphis, was ordered to capture Major Gen. Washburn who occupied the Williams residence on Union St. He barely missed, causing great concern to Union command. He was in Florence, AL on 21 Sep 1864 with the 20th TN before being severely wounded in Athens, Alabama siege 23/24 Sep 1864. Jesse had been guarding the road in the direction of Decatur. He was in command of a bold attack on the steamer Belle of Saint Louis near Fort Randolph, Tennessee 27 Oct 1864. He served with the Army of Tennessee during the Tennessee Campaign and helped fight the rear guard on the escape from Nashville. Col. Jesse went into Mississippi in February, 1865 and captured or otherwise rounded up about 600 deserters. This effort was repeated on March 13, 1865. He was paroled with his regiment at Gainesville, Alabama in May 1865. He was running a livery stable in Memphis Oct 2, 1877 as per Jack Hurst. It was to Jesse's home on Union Street that Lt. Gen. N.B. Forrest was taken to die, which event occurred Oct, 29, 1877.

 

[diane]

richard said:

I think that that incident took place at Athens and the young officer was from the 2nd Tenn Cavalry Union.

I believe that's correct. As I recall the 2nd Tenn Regiment CSA was nearby and the two somehow became confused with the Union boys being allowed to march down the street. So much for security!

 

[diane]

I drove by the 'homeplace' yesterday 4335 Pyles Road, Chapel Hill, Tennessee. All is well, the restoration\preservation of the barn of William Forrest is now nearly completed except for the east shed and the interior. (The interior wiill be used for 'secure' storage.) Many improvements continue to be made to the entrance road. There are many parts and projects that need your physical assist and your dollars. Keep us in mind. Fundraiser and "homecoming" coming up June 18. Make plans to enjoy a day in the sunny South! [For you rich or near rich folks, this is totally tax deductable.....] Go to SCV website.

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

Attended the Homecoming Event at the Forrest Home this past year and had a ball! You guys have done an excellent job restoring and preserving the home and grounds. If it just weren't for the surrounding homes!

Thanks for your visit. Hope to see you again. The scene changes daily. Cedars growing in that fine Tennessee limestone will solve much of the view challenge in about five years. The closest neighbor, a Michigan truck driver and a fine man, now flies a Confederate flag most of the time. Strange what a little Southern living will do for you.

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

Larry, you really need to come down to the event we have in Gainesville, Alabama each year, since Gainesville is the place where the General's military career ended. Have battles on Saturday and Sunday, march to the surrender site monument and have a memorial service (Gen. Forrest Farewell Address is read every year), fire salutes then march to the cemetery where about 75 unknown Confederate casuilties from Shiloh are buried (beleive it or not they transported them that far away from the battlefield for treatment). You'd really enjoy the weekend! A local family sponsors the event and feeds everyone stew on Friday night while they're cooking 3-100 pound whole hogs for the "hog picking" on Saturday night. One kind of a meal!

That sounds like a winner! If you'll give me a few details about a month in advance, I'll share the opportunity with my SCV Camp! I'd very much like to see that monument myself. Has anyone ever mentioned Edward Hatch? He should have been around there somewhere.

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

Maybe there is hope for some of "those people" after all.

I donated a fine print my ex-wife had given me for the silent auction, brought $800. Nice print but too big to hang in my house. So I thought that would be a good way to dispose of it and at the same time help the cause.

I remember that print. My bid wasn't quite that high. I'm afraid my first and last wife would have quickly become my ex wife at that price. On behalf of the folks who have grown to love this homeplace, we thank you again!

 

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

Is Jesse's house on Union St still standing or has it gone the way of so much else? If it's gone, that would still be a nice place for a plaque! (I suppose it would raise a yowl from the the usual suspects, though...)

If you mean Jesse Forrest in Memphis, I don't know. I try to leave Memphis in peace as much as possible. Much of that downtown area is now covered in large buildings, so I doubt it. You're correct the yowl would come from city hall in a flash, along with no funding. The Forrest Camp SCV in Memphis might be interested, however. Check their website through SCV.org.

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

It will be held March 11 - 13, 2011 at Gainesville.

I "peeked" at Gainsville through the photos on Goggle Maps, since I haven't been there. They have a photo of the Forrest memorial near highway 39 and Yankee Street. Any idea how that name came to be in a small southern town? That date is getting close!

 

[diane]

I also found your Bear Creek on Google Maps. Looks like a metropolis compared to Gainsville!

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

It is compared to Gainesville! They have one store with little in it and the streets and rolled up at dark. Of course our little town just has 2 stores, one with a deli, but you can get something to eat here. All in all both are nice towns. Since you are a Forrest expert I would strongly suggest a visit to Gainesville for the event but you'll have to stay somewhere else or camp with us!

When I travel alone, I do pretty well. I don't requre 5 stars to spend the night. Many of my fondest memories were down the the 2 star range. Not lately, mind you. My old butt no longer looks kindly at the ground. 25 years in Scouting was enough of that. I would very much like to learn some local history about the surrender. That date is coming up kinda fast for me. My wife has an illness that sometmes interfers with travel plans, so I make decisions somewhat "last minute". She wouldn't make this trip, but I've got to coordinate.

Could you borrow an RV for me from the Mercedes plant? Couldn't be too far away. Just tell 'em I'm a Tennessee redneck interested in 'ol Bedford. That should open some doors. (probably the one to the back dumpster)

 

[diane]

RustyBull said:

No sleeping on the ground at Gainesville, in the Black Belt region and very flat terrain with a high water table. It's always wet (so they tell me) in March so a cot is in order. I would invite you to bunk in with me but my tent is barely big enough for me! There are a couple of larger towns within 20 miles or so with good accomodations.

I was just kidding somewhat before. I'd be able to take care with very little trouble. I've been to M eridian several times (2) but never to Demopolis or Selma. I would like to extend my trip to include those two places. Large portions of the AOT took that root on their sojourne toward North Carolina in 1865. Others, as you know were sent by rail to Mobile and ferried across the river. My long struggling book TWO ARMIES, SAME ROAD is a chronology of that army after the retreat from Nashville. I also track two ancestors CSA and US through that period, plus the last chapter which I may actually publish someday, are detailed notes on the family of Bedford Forrest, much of which is covered in this thread. There was a strong relationship between James Harrison Wilson, Edward Hatch and Forrest that culminated in the surrender at Gainsville and later at Citronelle. Both places interest me for that reason. [I do have a probably rotted by now small wall tent, but last time I slept in a cot, the cool air keep sneaking in through the flap in my long johns.] As a backup, there's the rear of my Jeep Cherokee.