The brothers Forrest

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham, Nathanb1,

Now the Chickasaw cousins are mixed blood from John Overton, one of the founders of Memphis. (Er, ahem, the kind of kin the other kin don't invite to the family picnic...) I'm not familiar with those names, Larry, but these are the names I have for the Choctaw/Chickasaw/Cherokee/Catawba family who were in Kentucky and Tennessee at the time of the war - George, Crowe, Overton, Valentine, McClintock.

QUOTE]

John Overton was a "local" boy. His home Traveller's Rest is about two miles from my home here in Nashville. The house was occupied by John Bell Hood during the seige and battle for Nashville in 1864. The place is still very much in operation as a tourist and meeting facility. There are some folks on staff who may be able to help you. Just do a Google search (or any other kind) for Travellers Rest Nashville. Overton, you may know, was Andrew Jackson's law partner. Memphis was one of their 'projects' that turned out ok, but probably not exactly what they had in mind! My son attended John Overton High School.

 

[diane]

Yes, Diane, if not a book, please put the notes in a library! Have you ever seen the Eastern Cherokee Applications? ECAs.

 

[diane]

1SGDan said:

What I can find out about the tribes in NH they seem to be the Abenaki and Pennacook.

I assume you've seen this:

http://www.native-languages.org/abenaki.htm

 

[diane]

Capt. Aaron Forrest

Capt. Aaron Forrest (fourth son): He was a partner with his brothers in the slave trade. He owned A.H. Forrest and Company in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1858. Sales stopped in 1860. Researcher Stewart Cruickshank in 2006 has found Aaron as a Captain in the 6th Mississippi Battalion of State Troops. He commanded an operation near Paducah, Kentucky in the spring of 1864 when he was taken ill with pneumonia and died in Dresden, Tennessee. Jack Hurst wrote: “Lt. Col. A. H. Forrest “ is on the Yazoo River with one regiment fighting gunboats and transports”. Stewart is still looking for confirmation of the Lt. Col. rank.

I found this reference to A.H. Forrest in 2006:

HARTFORD CITY was a small river steamer built at McKeesport, Pa., in
1856 and first homeported at Cincinnati, Ohio. In May 1862 she was
impressed into Confederate service out of Vicksburg, Miss., to tow rafts
and other craft for obstruction of Union gunboat navigation in the Yazoo
River. She later transported supplies out of that same Confederate base,
but sought refuge in the Yalobusha in July 1863 as the Federal fleet
took over control of the Yazoo. On 18 July 1863 Capt. A. H. Forrest,
CSA, at Carrollton, Miss., was ordered to send a detachment to burn the
steamboats including HARTFORD CITY, said to be located in the
Tallahatchie and Yazoo Rivers.

Forrest’s Battalion State Troops Cavalry, aka 6th Battalion State Troops Cavalry

(from Dunbar Rowland’s "Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898"; company listing courtesy of H. Grady Howell’s "For Dixie Land, I’ll Take My Stand’)

"Sixth Battalion Mississippi State troops, Capt. A.H. Forrest, near Carrollton, 150 men." General Chalmers’ report at the time of the Federal raid to Grenada, August, 1863.
Capt. Forrest was captain of the Sunflower Rangers independent cavalry company. Other companies constituting this battalion have not been identified.

One extract from the Official Records of the War of Northern Aggression:

"HDQRS. FIFTH MIL. DIST., DEPT. MISS. AND E. LA.,
Grenada, July 18, 1863.

Capt. A. H. FORREST, Comdg. Battalion, Carrollton, Miss.:
CAPTAIN: The brigadier-general commanding directs me to say, in reply to your note of yesterday, that you will send a detachment to burn the steamboats Hope, Hartford City, Cotton Plant, and any others <ar38_1017> that may be in the Tallahatchee and Yazoo Rivers. You will also send out detachments southwest and east of you, with orders to burn all cotton, whether belonging to the Government or individuals, leaving the owners only sufficient for the use of their own families. They will commence by burning that nearest the enemy. The enemy are reported to be within 7 miles of Vaughan's Station, and advancing in this direction. You will throw out scouts to observe their movements, and will report them promptly to these headquarters. It is desired that only such cattle as are suitable for beef should be driven out of the bottom.
Your obedient servant, W.A. Goodman , Assistant Adjutant-General."

Stewart Cruickshank in 2006 wrote:

“The story goes that Aaron Forrest died of pneumonia in Dresden
the county seat of Weakley County, TN. The DAR Cemetery books of Weakley county have listings of all the burials in Weakley county that have markers. There are only 3 Forrest's buried in Weakley County thru 1978 and Aaron is not listed.”

The following is a Union report from the Tennessee Civil War
Sourcebook; (supplied by Joe Stout 2006)

(ca. April 13, 1864 - April 15, 1864
Scout from Jackson to Dresden to Columbus, Kentucky

HDQRS. OF THE POST, Columbus, Ky., April 15, 1864.
Capt. J. H. ODLIN, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., Cairo, Ill.:

CAPT.: I have a scout just in from Jackson, Dresden, and that line, and I have every reason to believe his reports reliable. He was employed by Gen.Smith and Col. Waring. He reports as follows: Gen. Forrest has two divisions-First Division, 3,400 strong, which is concentrated at Jackson, Tenn.; Second Division, 2,000 strong, concentrated at Dresden; 1,000 under Duckworth, from Jackson's command. Forrest said that a large force of our troops had landed at Pittsburg Landing, and that he was going to drive them back and across into North Alabama. The Second Division is said to be about to cross at the mouth of the Big Sandy into Middle Tennessee. My scout thinks their object is to get behind Chattanooga, somewhere about Winchester. Col. Aaron Forrest, brother of the general, died at Jackson on Thursday night last. Gen.'s Fitzhugh [Stephan D.?] Lee and Jackson, with 9,000 men, are reported near Memphis. I shall try and rebuild the telegraph between us to-morrow. All the small squads are ordered to join their commands immediately at Dresden, under Gen. Buford, who is on his march there. I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

WM. HUDSON LAWRENCE, Col., Cmdg. Post.
OR, Ser. I, Vol. 32, pt. III, p. 374. )

It may be that he died in Dresden and the body was taken to
Jackson, TN or possibly he may have died in Jackson and not Dresden. This is a Union report so he would probably not have first hand knowledge.

I would appreciate any information you might have on Aaron
Forrest. I do have the Forrest genealogy online on Rootsweb World Connect at; Genealogy Files on World Connect
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=moedini

Joe Stout
Jeffery Forrest Camp #323
Dresden, TN

There is a marker for him in the Forrest section of Elmwood cemetery here in Memphis.

Gene Ingram Chalmers camp 1312

 

[diane]

Aaron would have been an officer who still had a few bucks in the bank and considerable sway in an officer's election. The jump to lt. Col, given his links to his siblings, makes that totally possible and likely. We have a photo that is speculated to be him, showing colonel's insignia, I believe (that's when I usually get in trubble around here). I'll try to post it if possible.

 

[diane]

Aaron Forest MAYBE??

 

[diane]

Nathanb1 said:

Cool!!!! Your folks massacred my folks!!!! (We were neighbors of Mary Rowlandson)

I had four white families at Jamestown during Opechancanough's raids. All survived. I also had two great grandfathers on opposite sides of the same battlefield on at least four occasions here in Tennnessee. I'm lucky to be typing.

 

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

Ooh, yes, I remember that! Now if that's Aaron, he does appear to be a lt. colonel because of the two stars, no oak leaves, double row of single-spaced buttons. Wish I could see his sleeves. Now that's army - is it the same for cavalry except the sash is yellow? I get very confused about uniforms! By the way, did Aaron have a plantation called Green Grange or something similar near the Mississippi/Louisiana border? That's another tidbit I've squirreled and can't find. Must do something about organizing this stuff!

I don't know that much about Aaron, either. I'm hoping you can enlighten me! As in the earlier post, I only know he was heavy into the slave trade with brother Jeffrey. He was well to-do enough to have had a plantation. I know there was a 'branch office' in Vicksburg.

 

[diane]

diane said:

In Forrest's obituary in the New York Times, they mention he was 'nominal owner' of two plantations near Goodrich Landing, above Vicksburg. I'm not sure if they are talking about Forrest's holdings in Coahoma County (which by that time were not two or even all of one) or Aaron's plantations. (That obit is not exactly the Pulitzer prize winner for accuracy, either!) I'm also not entirely certain if his plantation was above Vicksburg or southwest of it in Louisiana - or both! I'd sure like to hunt through some old property deeds around that area. Forrest acquired a lot of land on speculation - a big chunk in Arkansas for example. He planned to clear it for cotton but the war intervened so he made it into a town for his railroad workers. Forrest City - still there today! Aaron certainly acquired property, too, as his slave business was thriving. The Forrest brothers did very well - William H. Forrest was reckoned to be even richer than Bedford. Brother Bedford would partner with someone to start a business and then sell out to Bill - Bill was the silent partner in several slave dealerships but he doesn't appear to have bought much if any property. That's very interesting. (Could be wrong on it, though!) The cycle was usually land-slaves-cotton-more land-more slaves-more cotton and your wealth all tied up in that, but Bill seems to have not gotten caught like that. I wonder if he had money at the end of the war because of that method? I know Forrest was all about family. He would start a business and then let one of his brothers buy him out. Some biographers have suggested this pattern of many partners meant Forrest was temperamental but I think the former explanation is the right one. He had a knack for making connections and was determined his family would prosper.

This is new and most welcome insight for me. All I know about land wise are the Coahoma properties and a lease on President's Island after the war. Forrest had some sort of contract to house or work prisoners on the island. He continued to try to gain support for his railroad venture with little success. Of course the Grim Reaper was on his trail, so his schemes were not overly successful after the war.

 

[diane]

richard said:

It seems that Forrest had a way with people. After the war, Wilder invited Forrest to Chattanooga for a little meeting. Even though the two had knocked heads on the battle field, the two had not met until then. After the meeting, Forrest came away with a loan for one of his railroads. Strange, Forrest was well known for destroying the railroads but he could not build a good one.

Too many battles, his failing health and the 'complications' of reconstruction were more than he could overcome.

 

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

He didn't live all that long after the war, that's for sure. He went flat out the whole way. Some friends came to visit him during an illness. Sitting on his porch with them he commented, "I suppose I have killed myself."

He had some help.

 

[diane]

I noticed a very brief reference to Capt. Jesse Forrest in command of a Mississippi company joining his brother Nathan prior to the battle at Shiloh in March 1862. Does anyone have more information on Jesse's role in the battle? Or a good lead?

 

[diane]

William Hezekiah was probably the General's most trusted scout and was generally (no pun) recognized as such by the AOT. You mention Daily Dispatch in Marshall County. Was that Maury County, as in Columbia? Marshall County would have been Lewisburg?

 

[diane]

William Hezekiah Forrest, what I have to date:

Capt. William Hezekiah Forrest (third son): William ran slave businesses in St. Louis, Missouri and Vicksburg, Mississippi, buying slaves from Aaron. Jack Hurst, in his Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Biography wrote: “The day of the last Forrest and Maples sales recorded in the Register’s office, two younger Forrest brothers, William and Aaron, sold an eighteen-year-old slave named Bob for $1050 to Mary C. Temple.” William had a home in Memphis. He joined the Confederate Army on Jun 14, 1861 as a private along with brothers Nathan and Jeffrey. All were to receive considerably more rank as the war progressed. Capt. John Watson Morton, writing in his 1908 The Artillery of Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry about the scouting capabilities Gen. Forrest's organization said of Capt. Forrest: "Of his successful scouts, no better example can be cited than General Forrest's own brother, William Forrest, or "Bill" as he was affectionately called by all who knew him. Added to a shrewd, quick judgment, ready resources, and excellent intuitive powers, he had a winning nature, which endeared him to all his comrades."

July 10, 1862

Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest's brigade passed here enroute to its junction with additional units, to be followed by a further advance on the Federal garrison and stores at Murfreesboro. Leaving Chattanooga on July 9, the brigade here consisted of the 8th Texas Cavalry (Wharton), 2nd Georgia Cavalry (Lawton), and Woodward's Kentucky Cavalry Battalion, with a headquarters unit of 20 men, commanded by Captain William Forrest. Further accessions to strength were to join at McMinnville.

William served as a cavalry officer and led the charge against Col. Abel D. Streight’s column at the Battle of Sand Mountain in Days Gap, Alabama where he was wounded April 30, 1863. William skirmished for two miles before he received a ball through his thigh, breaking the bone. Several of his men were lost in this battle. Col. Streight’s men rode mules from their departure from steamships at Eastport, Mississippi. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest captured Streight’s entire command on May 3, 1864 at Cedar Bluff, Alabama near the Georgia state line. William died in Hickman County, Tennessee

 

[diane]

diane said:

larry_cockerham,

I botched that! That was from a website about Marshall Co. but they are talking about the Daily Dispatch in Richmond, VA, who was relating news about the western theater. This action was 13 miles west of Holly Springs.

I was a little curious about that. The Daily Herald is the newspaper in Columbia, Tennessee about 40 mile from me which, by coincidence, is the national headquarters of the SCV. Columbia is in Maury County which happens to be adjacent to Marshall County (formerly Bedford County) which is the location of the Forrest Boyhood Home where the general lived 1830-1834. We are currently well into the process of restoring same.

 

[diane]

Nathanb1 said:

I saw that book mentioned online and was curious....I think I'll let one of you REAL experts read it and tell me what you think. That is certainly an area of his life I'd like to better understand.

Dr. Michael R. Bradley often gives programs concerning this topic which is woven through Forrest's history. Dr. Bradley, "retired" from teaching at Motlo State Community College is a Presbyterian minister and 'knows his stuff'. I don't think he has published any of this as yet, though it's an interesting topic. His "Forrest's Escort and Staff" addresses this briefly. Mrs. Forrest was the driving force behing this evolution of a man who wasn't all that bad to begin with. Forrest kept a chaplain close by during the entire war and occasionally looked skyward with a request for luck or a brief expression of thanks. Forrest was never antagonistic toward black folks, he was more of a car dealer, not a man with feelings that caused undue harm.

 

[diane]

khalleron said:

And for those of us puzzled as to how anyone could admire this man, can't you see that that is exactly the problem? He'd have been more human if he'd hated - reducing human beings to objects is vile.

And no, the time frame doesn't exonerate him. Many, many people at the time realized that slavery was an abomination, in the Slave states as well as the Free.

*If* he truly repented later, then I can certainly respect that, but you seem far too interested in excusing and smoothing over the evil parts.

You see him as admirable, but you haven't convinced me yet.

Hopefully there is no question that I unabashedly admire the man, though he was trying to kill my gg grandfather Cockerham during the retreat from Nashville in December 1864. Admittedly Gg grandpa was helping the effort to kill Forrest, so it was a bit of a toss up from my viewpoint. GG grandpa Parker was under Forrest's "wing" and probably owed him his life during that same period. NEVER have I condoned slavery nor the role of the Forrest Brothers in that enterprise, merely pointed out that they did an evil thing with a moderate amount of class. The life of N.B. Forrest, in total, draws most folks to an admiratiion for many reasons having little to do with slavery. This is where some yankees claim that all Confederate efforts contributed to and condoned slavery. Phooey.

 

[diane]

K Hale said:

It's not just Forrest, it's usually any Confederate. Some folks here in Dallas would like to re-name all the schools named after Confederate generals, or probably any slave owner (Travis, Bowie). Albeit, I kind of see the point about Bowie... that's a strange choice for the name of a school... I don't think we have any schools named after Forrest, but if we did, I'm sure he'd be the flash point of the re-naming movement. Just keep educating people like y'all did with me. People will either change their minds on stuff or they won't, but the full truth should be out there.

If we have swayed your image of Forrest and Friends even the slighest bit over time, our salary has been paid in full.

 

[diane]

bama46 said:

Why is it that we who admire General Forrest are constantly having to confirm that we do not and neveer have condoned slavery?

Gets real tiresome

Same reason God made democrats; just to irritate the rest of us.

 

[diane]

K Hale said:

I'm not convinced on all the friends, just Forrest.

That, Madam, is a start. We'll go on from here with your permission.I'm not convinced on all the friends, just Forrest.