Nathan Bedford Forest was a well-known confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan (Tilinghast 1). He played an important part in the civil war and helped with many victories in several battles. Although he could not change the course for the confederate loss to the union, he did however leave a significant impact on the war. He was born on July 13, 1821, in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. He lived with his father, William Forrest, who was a skilled blacksmith (Bio 1). He was known as a small-town kid who was extremely poor. He had no money to be able to go to school and receive a basic education. Instead he learned skills of hunting, tracking, and survival basics. Unfortunately, Nathans father died when he was only sixteen (bio 1). He later moved to his uncle’s home to work for him at a tailor shop in Mississippi. But as he was working for his uncle, Nathan lost another family member. His uncle was killed in a street fight over a disagreement in business. Nathan then sought after the men who killed his uncle killing two and hurting two more (Tilinghast 3). In 1845 he married a woman named Mary Anne Montgomery. They moved to Memphis, Tennessee and lived their lives raising two of their children, William Montgomery Bedford, Forrest, and Fanny Ann Forest …show more content…
He saw that the confederate forces had surrounded the Unions territory. He sent a letter to the Union Commander telling him to surrender (bio 1). The union commander wanted an hour to think and Nathan made a compromise with him, but then feared back up would come for the Union army. Nathan acted fast and assaulted the fort with his men. As the war went on, he and his men won many battles but also lost many battles. it continued to get more difficult for them to survive and once he got word that Robert E. Lee and his men surrendered, Nathan did too. In May 1865 Nathan completely surrendered to the Union (civil war trust