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I posted this because I heard some people's opinion about him and after I did some research I found that most of his critics are using biased and sometimes incorrect information.
As far as the Ft. Pillow massacre;it wasn't his fault for a couple of reasons
1] He arrived after the butcher of the soldiers, Generals normally stay towards the back to issue orders.
2] The commanding officers of the fort, which included under their command the colored troops, refused to surrender, thus making them still combatants and you can't take people prisoner if they are still shootign at you. This means it is the Union officers fault as Forrest offered unconditional surrender.
As far as racist goes, he was not one. He did not create the KKK, he was just one of the first leaders. The KKK also was not against blacks, that was a 20th century concept but instead to protect the south from carpetbaggers and the Federal troops who raped and pillaged towns and cities [but those atrocities are never reported]. He defended southerners no matter what race they were. He also dispanded the KKK when their job was done [reconstruction was over] He was in fact a pioneer in race relations. On his railroad he tried to highed blacks in an effort to prevent a dependency on the government for welfare.
Do people think Abraham Lincoln was racist? Even though he made comments such as
"I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races -- that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people"
No, because the victors of war write the history, it doesn't make it correct but that is why one must dig deeper for the truth.
stepping off my soapox for now.
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