Nathan Bedford Forrest

1821 – 1877

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general, slave trader, and the first Grand Wizard of the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the Civil War he amassed substantial wealth as one of the largest enslavers and slave dealers in Memphis, Tennessee. His command at the April 1864 Battle of Fort Pillow oversaw the massacre of more than 200 surrendering Black Union soldiers and white Tennessee Unionists, an atrocity the U.S. Congress documented in detail and that came to symbolize the Confederate war on Black freedom.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM