If you want to cause trouble in a Civil War group

[NoPasaran]

All you need to do is refer to Nathan Bedford Forrest as the Grand Wizard of the Saddle. It will definitely light up a few crosses.

[BigDaddyLove]

1. Why start trouble in a Civil War group?

They seem to have enough to argue about already.

[NoPasaran]

2. Every so often

I have my fill of "Southern chivalry".

And I thought the thread on Chickamauga was getting pretty pointless.

[Faygo Kid]

3. Apparently, just compliment Lincoln - that will do it

Hey, Forrest was a great general, OK? A millionaire slave trader, too, although he was ultimately repelled by the Klan he helped form. You really want to get in trouble, try praising Lincoln. "With malice towards none; with charity for all" will get you in trouble every time. Go ahead and try it; you don't even have to go to Free Republic - you can find the Lincoln haters right here. Abominable.

[NoPasaran]

6. His present day followers

Are still pretty touchy over Ft. Pillow

[TacticalPeek]

4. True, and truly ignoble.

But to be fair, he did change, and ordered the Klan disbanded in 1869.


"In his final years, Forrest's attitudes changed somewhat, and he encouraged his followers to live in peace with the freed slaves who lived among them."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest

[mitchum]

5. Tell the Confederate re-enactors they are way too well-fed...

to portray men who lived off of ground squirrel and tree bark. Apparently this is a point at which authenticity goes out the window.