The Equestrian Statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest
"In
Forrest Park, Memphis, Tennessee, surrounded by fifteen thousand
spectators, at 2:30PM on May 16 [1905] little Miss Kathleen Bradley
pulled the cord that released the veil from the magnificent equestrian
statue of her illustrious great- grandfather, Lieutenant-General
Nathan Bedford Forrest.
There
was momentary silence as the imposing grandeur of this colossal
bronze figure of the great "Wizard of the Saddle" and his steed met the
gaze of the expectant crowd, then a wild cheer broke from hundreds of
his old surviving followers clustered around the base and was
enthusiastically taken up by the vast multitude.
The
idea of erecting a monument to General Forrest was first projected in
1886, but it was not until 1891 that it took definite shape and a
monument association was organized for this purpose. On November 18,
1900, the design was accepted and the order was given to the sculptor,
Charles H. Niehaus. The designer of the base was Mr. B.C. Alsup, and
it is built of Tennessee marble. The statue, which was made in Europe,
arrived in Memphis on April 16, and was placed on its base a day or
two later.
The unveiling of the
monument was attended with elaborate ceremonies. In the big parade
were most of the surviving staff officers of General Forrest, his
general officers, and many of his old veterans who rode with him from
1861 to 1865.
Judge J.P.
Young, who was one of Forrest's old troopers, was master of
ceremonies. In the opening proceedings he said in part:
"No
one who did not ride with Forrest can have so keen an appreciation of
the personal qualities of the man as those who were actually under his
direct command, and who, from daily, hourly observation, witnessed his
fertility of resource, his vehemence in battle, and his soulful
tenderness toward the stricken soldier, whether friend or foe.
But
it was no holiday parade. It cost something to ride with Forrest. It
meant days and nights of sleepless toil and motion. It meant countless
miles under a burning sun in the choking dust. It meant limitless
leagues across icy wastes, with a blanket of snow at night for a
covering. It meant to run down and destroy miles of freighted supply
trains, to burn depots of stores, to scale the parapets of redoubts,
and to plunge, mounted, into the seeming vortex of hell, lighted with
the fires of a myriad rifles and scores of belching guns.
It
meant to meet death face to face like a drillmaster, to look into his
dread eyes, to toy with the horrid trappings of his trade, to scorn the
daily chill of his breath, and to turn away unscathed or sink into
the oblivion of his eternal embrace."
Of
the many eloquent tributes paid to the great soldier that day, one of
the most significant was that spoken by Colonel C.A. Stanton, of the
Third Iowa Cavalry, 1861-1865, who for two years was directly opposed
to General Forrest. He realized Forrest's methods of war at Brice's
Cross Roads, Ripley. Harrisburg, Old Town Creek, Tallahatchie, and
Hurricane Creek.
The spectacle
of an officer who had fought in the Federal army delivering an address
at the unveiling of a Confederate monument was an interesting one,
and when Colonel Stanton was introduced the applause was most generous.
Colonel Stanton said in part:
"General
Forrest possessed the characteristic traits of the successful
soldier; his personal bravery was without limit; his resources seemed
to be endless; and his decisions, like Napoleon's, were instantaneous;
he was aggressive, masterful, resolute, and self-reliant in the most
perilous emergency; he was comprehensive in his grasp of every
situation, supremely confident in himself and his men, and inspired by
his presence and example his soldiers fought as desperately as did
Hannibal's fierce cavalry at Canne or the trained veterans of Caesar's
Tenth Legion at Pharsalia.
I
think the battle at Brice's Cross Roads in June, 1864, was one of the
best illustrations of General Forrest's daring courage, his ability in a
critical moment to decide swiftly, his relentless vigor of action,
and his intuitive perception of the time and place to strike fierce,
stunning blows which fell like thunderbolts upon his enemy and won for
him in this battle an overwhelming victory over an opposing force
which greatly outnumbered his command.
Impartial
history has given General Forrest high rank as one of the greatest
cavalry leaders of modern times. No American, North or South, now seeks
to lessen the measure of his fame, and no one can speak of him without
remembrance of the men who served with him and whose soldierly
qualities made it possible for him to win his wonderful victories.
This
monument is history in bronze; it illustrates an eventful era in our
national history; it commemorates General Forrest's fame and it
represents all the gallant soldiers of his command; it attests the
splendid courage which won triumphant victories and did not fail when
reverses came; it stands for heroic deeds which are now the proud
heritage of all American citizens.
It
is eminently fitting that this figure should stand here within the
borders of the Volunteer States, whose soldiers have marched and fought
"from valley's depth to mountain height and from inland rivers to the
sea," in every war in the history of our republic, with a valor which
has helped to make the name and fame of the American soldier
immortal."
(Historic Southern
Monuments: Representative Memorials of the Heroic Dead of the Southern
Confederacy, B. A.C. Emerson, The Neale Publishing Company, 1911, pp.
313-318)
