Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) was a Confederate cavalry general.

Nathan Bedford Forrest in The Guns of the South
Nathan Bedford Forrest staunchly believed that the preservation of slavery had been the most important cause for the Confederacy. When Robert E. Lee announced his intention to end slavery when elected president, Forrest, with the support of the Rivington Men, threw his hat into the ring. However, his campaign was based on soley on the promise to continue slavery, hardly enough to beat the beloved Lee.

When the Rivington Men attempted to assassinate Lee at his swearing-in, Forrest, first and foremost a patriot, broke from his backers and led the country's successful offensive against them.

Nathan Bedford Forrest in Southern Victory
Nathan Bedord Forrest served in the western theater during the War of Secession, and was known for the speed of his march, the suddenness of his attacks, his personal courage, and his ruthlessness to Union forces and blacks. (Before the war he had made his fortune as a slave trader.) He ranked alongside Jeb Stuart as the South's greatest cavalry commander.

He was the great-grandfather of Nathan Bedford Forrest III. (The name skipped a generation; Forrest did not see fit to name his son after himself, making him almost unique among the Confederacy's founding fathers.) The younger Forrest was tapped by President Jake Featherston to be Chief of the Confederate General Staff during the Second Great War. The selection seemed to be an odd choice, as Featherston and the Freedom Party were dedicated to reforming the military and purging it of the blue-blooded descendants of War of Secession heroes. However, Featherston exempted Forrest from his usual disdain, partly because the man had proven himself more than competent in his own right and partly because the original Nathan Bedford Forrest was a man to whom Featherston could relate.