Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Those words, often attributed to Winston Churchill, were actually written by George Santayana in 1905. But Sir Winston did have a view of the result of forgetting history. He believed that by loosing the past we would descend into “the most thoughtless of ages. Every day headlines and short views.” I am afraid that both of those quotes reflect politician’s and the media’s present feeding frenzy which ignores or alters Southern history.
I have read with outright incredulity the attempts in New Orleans to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee and in Memphis to remove not only a statue of Nathan B. Forrest, but also to drag the bones of he and his wife out of the ground and dump them who knows where. The reason given by the powers that be in both cities is that those two men did not reflect the present day values of those cities. If one looks at primary sources such as accounts written in the 1860s and 1870s rather than modern rewritings of history, you would see that after the Civil War both men preached peace and reconciliation and in fact did reconcile and make peace with those they had oppressed or fought against. Looking at the present conditions in Memphis and New Orleans it does appear that peace and reconciliation are not valued there.
Confederate general N.B. Forrest is a perfect example of a selective view of history.
He is one of the most interesting and least understood Civil War figures. About all that can be agreed on concerning his life is that he was a self-taught military genius. White citizens of Columbus credited him with saving Columbus from the destruction. African Americans view him as an oppressor of black citizens and founder of the Ku Klux Klan. There is some truth and some fiction in each of those views.
Those conflicting views are in keeping with the changing views of both race and Union that occurred over his lifetime. In March 1865, the New York Times described Forrest’s pre-Civil War reputation as, “known to his acquaintances as a man of obscure origin and low associations, a shrewd speculator, negro trader, and duelist, but a man of great energy and brute courage.” Later, the Times commented that by the end of the war “Forrest seems to have been considered by many as the most formidable cavalry commander then in the Armies of the South.” His last public presentation before his death was a “friendly” speech of reconciliation at the 1877 African American 4th of July Celebration in Memphis.
The greatest blemish on his character was the reported massacre of over two hundred Black Union soldiers at Ft. Pillow in 1864. Although reported and described at length by the press, Forrest always denied it was a massacre of surrendering soldiers. The fear and opinion of Forrest in the north was such that it was commonly believed that even after the war ended he would continue to conduct guerrilla warfare across the South. That misconception was not lost on the New York Times which reported, “He spoke at the Union ratification meeting at Memphis in August, 1866; was at the Democratic National convention in June, 1868; spoke several times during the political campaign that year, counseling friendly feeling between the North and South.”
In 1873, there was a threat of war with Spain over Cuba and Forrest offered his services to his old adversary, U.S. General William T Sherman. The international issue was settled peacefully but Sherman had written Forrest informing him that had war erupted he would have been honored to have served with him.
Forrest was an early member and probably a leader of the Ku Klux Klan and his character is still attacked for that but it is little recognized that he disassociated himself and ordered the Klan to disband when it became violent. By the early 1870s he was even quoted in an interview in a Nashville newspaper as calling for more and better educational and economic opportunities for the freed slaves. Before his death, Forrest was becoming increasingly criticized by some white southerners for his efforts at racial reconciliation.
Nathan Bedford Forrest died on Oct 29, 1877. His obituary appeared in the New York Times and highlights the changes in Forrest’s views that are so little known today. “Of late years, his views had undergone a considerable change. The guerrilla chieftain had softened down into the retired veteran, anxious, apparently, only for peace with everybody…his last notable public appearance was on the Fourth of July in Memphis, when he appeared before the colored people at their celebration, was publicly presented with a bouquet by them as a mark of peace and reconciliation, and made a friendly speech in reply.”
There is much we can all learn from an individual once so involved in war and racial injustice yet who came to understand what was right and was able to change and promote peace and racial reconciliation. It is sad, when after former adversaries have reconciled and made peace, some 140 years later there are people intent on undoing that reconciliation. Must we again reopen those wounds that healed 140 years ago? Much water, some of it horrible and evil, has passed under the bridge since Forrest died but Forrest and those whose families were most harmed by him reconciled and promoted unity. Is not that message of peace, unity and reconciliation something to honor?
Besides the intolerance of differing views of history the removal of old monuments reeks of a form of ethnic cleansing. The removing of historic monuments is tantamount to book burning. Will we next go into libraries and purge by fire the books we do not like?
In a 1935 address before the House of Commons, Churchill stated, “When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure.” For several years I have suggested it was time to make a change in the Mississippi flag, not because someone makes us, but because it is the right thing to do.
A large part of our state’s population does not feel that a Confederate battle flag represents them. Much of that feeling comes from the fact that hate groups have staked a claim to the Confederate battle flag with barely a whimper from those who truly view that flag as a legitimate symbol not of hate but of their heritage. When that “situation was manageable it was neglected.” Back on June 28th my column addressed my view on how to change the Mississippi state flag and to actually have a more historic and much prettier state flag. Simply return to the original state flag, the Magnolia flag. As to the Confederate battle flag from northern Virginia, it was not the flag used by most Confederate units in Mississippi. Interestingly, the flag used by the Confederate veterans in Columbus (UCV) after the war was simply a red strip a white stripe and another red strip. I know because I have that flag. It was passed to me having originally belonged to my great great uncle, Maj. John Billups, 43rd Miss. Inf. Regt., and my great-grandfather, Lt. T.C. Billups, 6th Miss. Cav. Regt., Forrest Cavalry.
Just as Confederate battle flags have no place flying from government buildings other than historic sites, the governmental removal of old monuments, banning Confederate flags from historic sites and the dragging of peoples’ long buried bones out of the ground has no place among people seeking unity and reconciliation. Mississippi should change its flag and politicians should worry more about crime, poverty and opportunity for their communities rather than re-fighting battles that ended long ago and whose participants long ago reconciled and made peace.
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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