The Testimony of
Nathan Bedford Forrest
Before the Joint Select Committee of the United States Congress on the Ku-Klux, etc., June 27, 1871
Part 4
Conclusion
[Publisher's Note, by Gene Kizer, Jr. - Forrest's testimony concludes with Part 4. The previous parts were approximately 10 pages each. This part is around 30.
To bring you up to date:
On June 27, 1871, in Washington, D.C., Nathan Bedford Forrest testified before the Joint Select Committee of the United States Congress on the Ku-Klux.i Forrest was called to testify because the Committee thought that he and Gen. John B. Gordon knew more about the KKK than anybody else.
Ever since the end of the War Between the States, Forrest has been falsely accused of being the grand wizard and founder of the KKK. However, John Allan Wyeth in his famous biography Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest writes about Forrest's testimony:
Forrest testified that while he did not take an active part in the organization of the Ku-Klux, he knew that it was an association of citizens in his state (Tennessee) for self-protection. There was a great, widespread, and deep feeling of insecurity felt by those who had sympathized with the South in the war, as a result of Governor Brownlow's calling out the militia and his proclamation, which they had interpreted as a license for the state troops, without fear of punishment, to commit any kind of depredation against those lately in arms against the Union. Forrest stated that he had advised against all manner of violence on the part of the Southern people, and when the Loyal Leagues, for fear of the Ku-Klux, began to disband, he urged the disbanding of the other society.ii
The Committee believed Forrest and concluded in their final report:
The statements of these gentlemen (Forrest and Gordon) are full and explicit. . . . The evidence fully sustains them, and it is only necessary to turn to the official documents of Tennessee to show that all Forrest said about the alarm which prevailed during the administration of Governor Brownlow was strictly true. No State was ever reduced to such humiliation and degradation as that unhappy commonwealth during the years Brownlow ruled over her.iii
Here is Part 4 - Conclusion.]
Question. You understood that Brownlow by his proclamation had outlawed what he called rebels?
Answer. That is the way the Southern people looked upon it.
Question. Was not there danger of collision about that time?
Answer. Yes, sir, imminent danger; and we came very near having it in many places between the troops and the citizens. I think they did have it at Jackson, and probably one man was killed.
Question. Did you say anything to Mr. Woodward about your regard for the old Government in 1861?
Answer. I do not recollect now what was said. I have said, and have always said, that there was no time during the war that I would not have been willing to have taken up the old flag with the Northern people and fought any other nation, and given the last drop of blood I had. I have said that, and I say it yet.
Question. Did you not tell of your love to the old Government of 1861, and your love to the Constitution?
Answer. I cannot tell.
Question. Those were your sentiments?
Answer. They were, and are yet.
Question. Did you not talk about negro suffrage?
Answer. Well, I do not know whether we did or not.
Question. You were opposed to negro suffrage then, were you not?
Answer. No, sir. My views in regard to this war are probably different from those of most men. I looked upon it was a war upon slavery when it broke out; I so considered it. I said to forty-five colored fellows on my plantation that it was a war upon slavery, and that I was going into the army; that if they would go with me, if we got whipped they would be free anyhow, and that if we succeeded and slavery was perpetuated, if they would act faithfully with me to the end of the war, I would set them free. Eighteen months before the war closed I was satisfied that we were going to be defeated, and I gave these forty-five men, or forty-four men of them, their free papers, for fear I might be killed.
Question. When was that?
Answer. In 1863. When the war closed I looked upon it as an act of Providence, and felt that we ought to submit to it quietly; and I have never done or said anything that was contrary to the laws that have been enacted.
Question. Did you not talk with Woodward about the fact that they were then voting in Tennessee upon the question of enfranchising the whites, removing all disabilities from them?
Answer. I do not think we talked upon that subject; I do not think we had time.
Question. That is the reason you did not talk upon it?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was not that on your mind at the time?
Answer. Of course; that and everything else connected with the political condition of the country was on my mind at that time.
Question. That was the great question in Tennessee, whether the whites should be enfranchised again?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You were trying to get the negroes to vote for that: I do not mean you individually, but your people.
Answer. I think the object was to get them to vote for it,.
Question. You carried it?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you not say to Mr. Woodward that if the negroes would vote in favor of enfranchising the white people you would not be in favor of disfranchising them?
Answer. I advocated the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments before the people, and told our people that they were inevitable and should be accepted.
Question. Do you not remember saying to Mr. Woodward that if the negroes would vote to enfranchise the whites you would not be in favor of disfranchising them?
Answer. I do not remember saying it, though I might have said it.
Question. Was not that your feeling?
Answer. Of course it was.
Question. Did you talk with Mr. Woodward about General Grant?
Answer. I think something was said about General Grant, in regard to some abuse heaped upon him at the time, in reference to his taking pianos from Holly Springs. I said I did not believe it; that I had talked with parties in Holly Springs who denied it; that I did not believe General grant, or any other officer occupying his high position, would be guilty of such conduct.
Question. Did you investigate that matter?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you say so to Mr. Woodward?
Answer. I did not investigate it thoroughly, but I asked parties who lived in Holly Springs in regard to it, and they contradicted it?
Question. You inquired into it?
Answer. Yes, sir; afterward.
Question. Before you had this conversation with Woodward?
Answer. I reckon it was before that, because I had heard the charges made and did not believe them, and could not believe them.
Question. When this letter of Woodward was published, did it not create some talk and excitement among your friends there?
Answer. Yes, sir; a great deal; not among my friends particularly, but among those of both parties.
Question. I notice that it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial of the 1st of September, 1868.
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. That was pending the presidential election?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. The excitement was running pretty high there?
Answer. Probably not so high there as in other parts of the State.
Question. You had a State question in addition?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. It created some talk, did it not, that a man in your position should make such statements, and you conferred with your friends about it?
Answer. Very little.
Question. Did they not come to you and talk about it?
Answer. No, sir; very few people talked with me about it.
Question. How many?
Answer. I cannot tell; I do not think I have had a half a dozen men come to me and talk upon that subject exclusively.
Question. I mean this subject and others.
Answer. I was consulting about political affairs as well as other affairs.
Question. And incidentally they would mention this letter?
Answer. I do not recollect of but very few men who mentioned that letter to me.
Question. You say this letter of explanation is the only one you have made with regard to the charges made against you in newspapers or speeches, making charges against you?
Answer. No, sir; I did not say that.
Question. I understood you so.
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How many have you written in answer to newspaper articles?
Answer. I cannot tell you. I think I wrote one other letter, probably two, making some explanations in regard to Fort Pillow.
Question. You said awhile ago that you did not have twenty words talk with Mr. Woodward; did you mean to be understood in that way?
Answer. I should have said twenty minutes, I reckon; because I sat down on my doorsteps, as I said while ago, and sat there a little while, a part of the time vomiting; then I got up and walked to my house, which was about eighty or ninety yards from my office, and he walked with me to the gate. I said that I was too unwell to talk with him, and went upstairs and went to bed. He said he would come there again that evening, but I never saw him.
Question. When you wrote this letter of the 3d of September you were in good health?
Answer. No, sir; I have not been in good health since the war; but I was in my usual health.
Question. You were not then suffering from any headache or pain?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you say that you believed the Ku-Klux was organized only in Middle Tennessee?
Answer. No, sir; I did not say that, I do not think.
Question. When did you believe it was organized?
Answer. I have no idea where it was organized.
Question. I want your opinion about it, not your knowledge, your impression about it?
Answer. I remarked that I thought it originated in Middle Tennessee.
Question. Where did this thing spring up?
Answer. I do not know.
Question. What is your impression, what place?
Answer. I have no knowledge.
Question. Do you say in Middle Tennessee?
Answer. I think in Middle Tennessee. I have no idea what place, or who started it.
Question. Have you never heard?
Answer. It has been said I organized it; that I started it.
Question. Is that so?
Answer. No, sir; it is not.
Question. You do not know who did?
Answer. I do not know who did it. It was afterward said that it was gotten up at Johnson's Island when there were prisoners there.
Question. Among the rebel prisoners?
Answer. Yes, sir; but nobody knows, I reckon, where it was started. I never heard a man say that he knew who started it; I do not know myself.
Question. You were then living in Memphis?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you not know that an organization of it was talked of there and exposed in the papers?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you never hear of that?
Answer. Yes, sir; I heard of it, but it was not an organization.
Question. What was it?
Answer. I understood it was a lot of twelve and fourteen-year old boys who had got it up.
Question. Something like the Ku-Klux organization?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. From whom did you understand that?
Answer. From rumor; I was not in Memphis at the time that was talked of, but it was always my impression that it was a farce; that it was a lot of boys.
Question. They seemed to have a constitution?
Answer. I do not think they had; I never heard they did. I knew a part of the boys; they were twelve or fourteen or fifteen years old; that is, I knew boys who, it was said, were caught there that night.
Question. Did not the Ku-Klux admit young boys?
Answer. I think not.
Question. How old did they require them to be?
Answer. I do not know; but I do not think they admitted boys, though.
Question. What is your knowledge of that subject?
Answer. My information was that they admitted no man who was not a gentleman, and a man who could be relied upon to act discreetly; not men who were in the habit of drinking, boisterous men, or men liable to commit error or wrong, or anything of that sort; that is what I understood.
Question. Into what States did you understand that the organization extended?
Answer. It was reported that there was an organization in Mississippi; that was the rumor.
Question. In what other State?
Answer. And it was reported that there was one in North Alabama.
Question. Where else?
Answer. Probably it was reported that it was in North Carolina, about where this man Saunders died, about Asheville; those are the only States I recollect of.
Question. Did you not hear of it in Louisiana?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you hear of the Knights of the White Camelia there?
Answer. Yes; they were reported to be there.
Question. Were you ever a member of that order?
Answer. I was.
Question. You were a member of the Knights of the White Camelia?
Answer. No, sir; I never was a member of the Knights of the White Camelia.
Question. What order was it that you were a member of?
Answer. An order they called the Pale Faces; a different order from that.
Question. Where was that organized?
Answer. I do not know.
Question. Where did you join it?
Answer. In Memphis.
Question. When?
Answer. It was 1867; but that was a different order from this.
Question. What was that?
Answer. Something like Odd Fellowship, Masonry, orders of that sort, for the purpose of protecting the weak and defenseless, &c.
Question. Something on the same principles that the Ku-Klux afterward had?
Answer. Something similar to that, only it was a different order, for the purpose of preventing crime, and for the purpose of protecting each other in case of sickness, or anything--preventing disorder.
Question. By whom?
Answer. By anybody.
Question. From whom did you apprehend disorder?
Answer. We apprehended disorder at that time from nearly everybody. There was a great deal of disorder from all political parties.
Question. Particularly from what class?
Answer. From both classes. There was the greatest bitterness there betwixt the soldiers of the two armies--not particularly so in my neighborhood, but in East Tennessee, and in portions of Middle Tennessee. About Memphis we had no trouble at all; we never had any trouble at Memphis.
Question. You had this order there?
Answer. It existed there.
Question. Did it extend over Tennessee?
Answer. I do not know whether it did or not.
Question. Had that order any constitution?
Answer. I never saw any, if it had one.
Question. Had it any sort of ritual?
Answer. No, sir; I think not.
Question. Had it any limitations as to membership?
Answer. I cannot tell you that, for I was never in the organization but once or twice. I went there more to see what was going on than anything else, and paid very little attention to it.
Question. Did they admit boys into the order?
Answer. I do not think they did.
Question. Did they admit negroes?
Answer. I do not think they did.
Question. Did they admit women?
Answer. I do not think they did.
Question. It was an organization of white men?
Answer. I think so.
Question. And from that they called it Pale Faces?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Had it any signs?
Answer. I do not recollect any of them.
Question. They had them?
Answer. I suppose they had.
Question. Did it have any pass-words?
Answer. I do not recollect whether it did or not; I never was in it but twice.
Question. Did it have any grips?
Answer. I do not think so.
Question. Did you take any oath?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Was it a secret organization?
Answer. I suppose it was. I was invited around there once or twice, and they supposed I was all right and would not divulge anything.
Question. Who invited you?
Answer. Some of the members.
Question. Who were they?
Answer. I cannot tell you know.
Question. Why not?
Answer. I do not recollect.
Question. How many were there?
Answer. I do not think there were more than one or two.
Question. How many were present?
Answer. I do not recollect.
Question. How many were there?
Answer. I do not think there were more than one or two.
Question. How many were present?
Answer. I do not recollect.
Question. About how many?
Answer. I have no idea.
Question. Were there forty or fifty?
Answer. I do not think there were more than a dozen when I was there.
Question. Where did they meet?
Answer. In a hall or a room.
Question. In Memphis?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Where in Memphis?
Answer. I believe it was on Second street.
Question. In whose building?
Answer. Well, I do not recollect that now.
Question. Do you remember who were present?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. You do not remember any of them?
Answer. I do not remember.
Question. You do not remember the name of one of them?
Answer. No, sir; I might if I had time to think the matter over, recollect these things. In the last two years I have been very busily engaged. I came out of the war pretty well wrecked. I was in the army four years; was on the front all the time, and was in the saddle more than half my time; and when I came out of the army I was completely used up--shot all to pieces, crippled up, and found myself and my family entirely dependent. I went into the army worth a million and a half of dollars, and came out a beggar. I have given all my time since then, so far as was in my power, to try to recover.
Question. About this order of Pale Faces; you understand that to be a secret order?
Answer. Yes, sir; just as Odd Fellowship and Masonry would be, and I presume the Loyal League was.
Question. So when I asked you if you belonged to the Knights of the White Camelia, and you said you did, you at first thought I was referring to the Pale Faces?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. The principles were about the same?
Answer. I do not know what the White Camelia's were.
Question. It professed to be an order for the protection of white people against disorders, particularly by the blacks.
Answer. The great fear of the people at that time was that they would be dragged into a revolution something like San Domingo.
Question. A war of races?
Answer. Yes; a war of races. The object of the people was not to disobey the laws of the country, but to see them enforced and to fortify themselves against anything of the sort. That was my understanding of all these things.
Question. Of all these orders, Ku-Klux, Pale Faces, Knights of the White Camelia?
Answer. No, sir; I do not know anything about the Knights of the White Camelia; I never heard of them before. The object of the organization was to prevent a general slaughter of women and children, and to prepare themselves to resist anything of the kind.
Question. Was not that same apprehension broadcast all over the South, so far as your being in fear of a negro insurrection or a war of races?
Answer. I think it was; During the war our servants remained with us, and behaved very well. When the war was over our servants began to mix with the republicans, and they broke off from the Southern people, and were sulky and insolent. There was a general fear throughout the country that there would be an uprising, and that with those men who had stopped among us--those men who came in among us, came there and went to our kitchens and consulted with the negroes--many of them never came about the houses at all. It was different with me. I carried seven Federal officers home with me, after the war was over, and I rented them plantations, some of my own lands, and some of my neighbors'. In 1866 those seven officers made a crop in my neighborhood. I assisted those men, and found great relief from them. They got me my hands, and they kept my hands engaged for me.
Question. The negroes had confidence in them because they were Northern men?
Answer. Yes, sir. I persuaded our people to pursue the same course. These men were all young men, and they made my house their home on Sundays.
Question. It seems you had more confidence in Northern men than others down there had?
Answer. I think I had.
Question. You say there was a general feeling all through the South, at least there was in Tennessee, of apprehension of general trouble with the negroes, out of which grew this organization?
Answer. That was the cause of it.
Question. Is it not your impression that this organization and that same feeling extended generally through the South?
Answer. I cannot say; I never heard of that.
Question. What is your impression?
Answer. My impression is that it did not.
Question. Would not the same cause produce like effects?
Answer. I think it would; but I do not think they existed throughout the South.
Question. Simply because you have not heard of them?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you hear of them in Arkansas?
Answer. I cannot say I did. They had a terrible difficulty in Arkansas there; the militia was brought out and hung a great many men.
Question. I am not speaking of those troubles. But did you not hear of the existence of Ku-Klux, or something of that kind, in Arkansas?
Answer. It was reported that they were on White River; that is the only place I heard of them.
Question. On the Upper White River?
Answer. I do not know whether it was the Upper or the Lower White River; I think it was about the middle; I think about Circe, Arkansas.
Question. Did you not hear of troubles in Louisiana--massacres, bloodshed there, conflicts of the races?
Answer. We frequently heard of them in different places.
Question. Was there nothing said about Ku-Klux, or Knights of the White Camelia, in connection with that?
Answer. I never heard anything of it.
Question. Your business led you East?
Answer. Immediately after the war, in 1866, I planted.
Question. I am speaking more particularly of 1868.
Answer. In 1867 I was in the insurance business, as president of a fire-insurance company, and I organized a life-insurance company. My business was principally in Tennessee and Alabama, but my health became so bad that I could not travel, and remained at home. In 1868 I went into this railroad business, and since the fall of 1868 my whole time has been occupied in that.
Question. And your railroad business leads you East?
Answer. Southeast, in the direction of Selma, Alabama.
Question. So that you would not be so likely to hear of what took place west of the Mississippi?
Answer. Of course I would have heard; I suppose it is published in the papers.
Question. Have you heard of anything of this sort in Texas?
Answer. I do not think I have; I have heard of some difficulties there among the republicans, radicals as we call them, and scalawags, what we called renegades, Southern men to joined the federal army; they had difficulty all over the country.
Question. Do you call everybody who was in the rebel army and afterwards joined the republicans--do you call them scalawags?
Answer. Yes, sir, generally.
Question. And the people from the North who do down there are called carpet-baggers?
Answer. They are distinguished in that way; they are not all called carpet-baggers.
Question. Why not?
Answer. There is a difference betwixt them. Some men go down there and go to planting, and do not have anything to do with politics; behave themselves, and do not mix with the negroes more than white people. They are looked upon as a different class of people.
Question. They are not called carpet-baggers.
Answer. I do not know that they are called anything except Southern citizens. I know some men who stand as fair in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama as anybody we have there.
Question. Men who go there, spend money, attend to business, and keep out of politics.
Answer. I suppose they vote; but then they are not running all over the country holding Loyal Leagues and negro meetings.
Question. Making stump speeches?
Answer. Yes, sir; but they are quiet people, attending to their business as most other people do.
Question. What do you call Southern gentlemen who go about the country making democratic speeches, organizing the democratic party, and getting it into line?
Answer. They are called democrats, I reckon. (This had to be funny as hell to the Committee!)
By the Chairman:
Question. Suppose one of that class of whom you have been speaking who has gone down there and attended to planting, but has been quiet politically, although he is a republican, suppose he should take the stump and go to making political speeches, would that change the current of opinion against him?
Answer. Very much. I do not mean if he was a gentleman, and took the stump and made a canvass like other gentlemen did; he would not be looked upon just as those who go around with the negroes, and board and sleep with the negroes.
Question. Suppose he asserts publicly on the stump the political opinions he entertains, in a proper manner, would he be visited with any reprobation or ostracism for taking that position?
Answer. I think not; I never heard of one that was.
Question. Take General Warner, of Alabama; I understand that he went down there and went to planting.
Answer. I do not know him; I never saw him but once in my life; he was introduced to me in Montgomery. I would supposed that if General Warner was to behave himself and act as I have said, I am satisfied he would be treated as I have indicated.
By Mr. Stevenson:
Question. Now to go back to this talk with Mr. Woodward; did you not tell him that you believed there were forty thousand Ku-Klux in Tennessee?
Answer. I did not, most emphatically; I told him no such thing, because I did not know how many there were.
Question. Did you not tell him that it was reported and that you believed there were forty thousand of them in Tennessee?
Answer. I told him it was reported so.
Question. And did you not tell him that you believed so?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you not believe it?
Answer. I did not, for I had no more idea than you had how many there were there.
Question. Did you tell him that it was reported that there were forty thousand in Tennessee, and you believed it, and that they were stronger in other Southern States?
Answer. I did not. I told him it was reported--I may probably have said that to him--that there were forty thousand in Tennessee. It was reported so, and your papers stated it.
Question. And you thought it was false?
Answer. No; I did not say I thought so.
Question. Did you think so?
Answer. I did not know; I did not form any opinion about it, because I had no way of forming an opinion. I had no accurate knowledge about the fact.
Question. Before you wrote this letter of yours did you ascertain that fact?
Answer. No, sir, I did not.
Question. Did you change your belief?
Answer. No, sir; I did not; that communication did not change me at all.
Question. Between the time you talked to Mr. Woodward and the time you wrote this letter you did not change your belief?
Answer. No, sir; so far as numbers, position, conduct, and condition of the country was concerned, I made no change, because it was only a few days, and I had no opportunity to do so. I have a copy of a letter here, one of hundreds that I wrote. When I started away, my secretary, who was then the secretary of my company, brought it to me, with his affidavit that it was a true copy. I wrote a great many letters; my right shoulder was shot all to pieces and I write very badly, and he does all the copying. I have that letter with me; it was written in 1868, and the committee can have the use of it if they wish.
By the Chairman:
Question. Do you desire to have it incorporated into your testimony?
Answer. I certainly do, as showing my feelings at that time. The affidavit and letter are as follows:
"State of Tennessee, City of Memphis:
"Before me, J. P. Boughner, a notary public for Shelby County, this day
personally appeared Walter A. Goodman, to me well known, who being first duly sworn deposeth and says: On the 28th of August, 1868, General N. B. Forrest wrote a letter to J. T. Brown in reply to a letter received from him. At General Forrest's request I made a copy of his letter and now file that copy as part of this affidavit. To identify the copy I have marked it "Exhibit A" and have written my name upon it. The copy hereto attached is a literal copy of the original letter, which was mailed on the day of its date. During the greater part of the year 1868 and a part of 1869, I occupied the same office with General Forrest and was on intimate terms with him. During that time I saw many letters received and written by him, and heard many conversations held by him with different persons, in regard to matters of public and political interest, and on all occasions he uniformly opposed and discountenanced all acts of violence or disorder, and counseled moderation, quiet and obedience to the laws.
"W. A. GOODMAN.
"Sworn and subscribed to before me this 17th day of June, 1871.
[Seal.]
"J. P. Boughner.
"Notary Public."
"Memphis, August 28, 1868.
"Dear Sir: Your favor of the 26th instant has been received. While I sympathize with your desire to bring those who were guilty of murdering your brother to justice, and would willingly do anything in my power to aid you in this, I cannot consent to become a party, either directly or indirectly, to any act of violence, or to the infringement of any law. On the contrary, all my efforts have been, and shall be, exerted to preserve peace and order, and to maintain the law as far as possible.
"It is especially incumbent upon all good men at this time to keep the peace. Every act of violence, no matter by whom or for what cause committed, works an injury not only to the persons engaged it, but to the community in which it occurs, and through it to the whole South. Our enemies gladly seize upon such acts as the pretexts for further oppressions, and hence it becomes, more that ever before, the duty of every man to refrain from them, no matter how great the provocation he may have received. I beg, and insist therefore, that you abandon the purpose you indicate, and hope that no one will be so unwise as to aid you in carrying it out.
"You will excuse me, I hope, for saying that it was very imprudent to send your letter by mail. If it had fallen into the hands of others it might, without some explanations, have caused some trouble to both of us.
"Hoping that you may receive what I have said in the same spirit in which it is written, I am, your obedient servant,
"N. B. FORREST.
"J. T. Brown, Esq., Humboldt, Tennessee.
"Original of above mailed August 29, 1868.
"W. A. GOODMAN.
By the Chairman:
Question. What was the proposition made in this letter?
Answer. His brother had been killed by some Union men, and he wanted to try and get revenge, and he wrote to me to assist him.
Question. Did he propose to do it by organizing a party for that purpose?
Answer. I do not know that he did. He was an old soldier, and his brother had been murdered, and he wrote to me.
Question. Have you the letter in answer to which this letter of yours was written?
Answer. No, sir. I burned his letter.
By Mr. Coburn:
Question. You have said that you were at that time receiving from fifty to a hundred letters a day relating to matters in the South. Have you any of those letters now?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Who was your secretary at that time?
Answer. A young man by the name of Lindsay.
Question. What is his given name?
Answer. I am not able to tell you now.
Question. Is he in Memphis?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Where is he?
Answer. I do not know where he is. He was a telegraph operator. I have not seen him in eighteen months; perhaps I can ascertain his name.
Question. You say you suppressed the Ku-Klux Klan. How did you do it? By writing letters?
Answer. I wrote a great many letters to people, and counseled them to abstain from all violence, and to be quiet and behave themselves, and let these things take their course.
Question. Did you get any answers to your letters?
Answer. To some of them I did.
Question. What did you do with them?
Answer. Perhaps I have some of those; but most of the other letters I burned up, for I did not want to get them into trouble; I supposed they were excited at the time; there was a great deal of excitement in 1866 and 1867, immediately after the war.
By the Chairman:
Question. Were all of these people personal acquaintances who wrote to you?
Answer. A great many of them I never saw.
Question. How came they to write to you?
Answer. I do not know; I suppose they thought I was a man who would do to counsel with.
By Mr. Van Trump:
Question. They of course knew your history, as having been a prominent man in the confederate army?
Answer. Yes, sir; I was rather a prominent man in the confederate army; I probably fought more battles than any other man in it; I was before the people probably more than any other man that was in it.
By Mr. Stevenson:
Question. Look at this [handing witness a printed document] and say if it is a copy of the prescript that you received.
Answer. [After looking at the document.] I cannot say to you whether it is or not.
Question. Is it like it in general terms?
Answer. It looks something like it.
Question. To the best of your belief is that or not a copy of the prescript you received?
Answer. It looks very much like it; I would not say from memory that it is a true copy of it.
Question. This is proved to have come from Tennessee, and purports to be a prescript of a secret order there; and to the best of your belief this is a copy of the one you received?
Answer. I see there are some things in it, while I cannot say it is verbatim; it looks a great deal like it. I have not seen one of them since 1868.
Question. If you want to examine it further you can do so.
Answer. I do not think that is necessary; I would not be able to say positively that it is or is not.
Question. It looks like it?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you think this differs from the other in any respect?
Answer. I think there are several things if I could recollect them; but I do not know that I can explain them now.
Question. If you see any important difference you can state it.
Answer. [After examining the document again.] This is not what I saw.
Question. It has a general resemblance to it?
Answer. Something similar, but this is not what I saw.
Question. You think you saw something additional to this?
Answer. Something different; I do not know that it was additional, because I do not think I ever saw this before.
Question. Did you ever see anything like it?
Answer. It was gotten up something on this plan, but I do not think it was this; I could not say this was the same.
Question. Something on this general plan?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were the same terms used?
Answer. No, sir, I do not think they were.
Question. None of them?
Answer. There may have been some of them used; but I do not think the other used all these terms.
Question. What were the terms used in the other differing from those used in this?
Answer. As I said to you to-day, I could not tell; it was two or three years ago; I have been very busily engaged; it was a matter that gave me but very little thought at the time, and of course I did not charge my memory with it, for I was engaged in other matters.
Question. Do you think you would know the prescript now if you saw it?
Answer. I doubt it; I doubt whether I would know it if I should see it.
Mr. Stevenson. I ask that this document be attached to the testimony of this witness. It will be found in Miscellaneous Document No. 53, second session Forty-first Congress, House of Representatives; being one of the papers in the contested election case of Sheafe vs. Tillman, from the fourth congressional district of Tennessee. (See page 35 of this testimony.)
By Mr. Coburn:
Question. You have said something about a war of races being apprehended. Had you any more reason to apprehend a war of races after the rebellion was over than during the rebellion?
Answer. A great deal more.
Question. Why was that?
Answer. For the reason that during the war the negroes remained at home working and were quiet, and were not organized. After the war, they left their homes, traveled all over the country, killed all the stock there was in the country to eat, were holding these night meetings, were carrying arms, and were making threats.
Question. Is not the negro naturally submissive and quiet?
Answer. Generally so.
Question. Were they suffering from the hands of the white men as many wrongs after the war as before and during the war?
Answer. I think more; I do not think they were suffering any during the war.
Question. What wrongs?
Answer. They were dissatisfied and disposed to fight and be abusive. They would kill stock, and when arrested large crowds of them would gather around the magistrates' offices, and threaten to take them away, and they did in several instances; and they had fights.
Question. You say there was a general apprehension throughout the whole country that there would be a war of races?
Answer. I think so; there was great fear.
Question. What class of men organized to prevent this war of races; were they rowdies and rough men?
Answer. No, sir; worthy men who belonged to the southern army; the others were not to be trusted; they would not fight when the war was on them, and of course they would not do anything when it was over.
Question. Do you think that had any effect throughout the South to prevent a war or races?
Answer. I think the organizing of these men, and showing a disposition that we were prepared to resist it, prevented it.
Question. You think the negroes understood that to be the fact, that there was an organization throughout the South of that kind?
Answer. I think so.
Question. And hence they behaved themselves better?
Answer. I think so; I know one man in Maury County told me that he had lost nearly everything that he had; that the pike that passed his house used to be lined from dark till daylight with negroes traveling forward; that these men traveled up the road one night about twenty of them, in disguise; that it had been a month since those men had passed up the road, and he had not seen a negro there at night since then.
Question. Were there no lawless white men who went around robbing?
Answer. I think so, and on the negroes' credit too.
Question. By what means did these "Pale Faces" expect to prevent these disorders?
Answer. By organizing themselves and holding themselves in readiness to resist anything of that sort that did occur.
Question. By what means?
Answer. Of course they had but one way to resist; they did not expect any assistance from the government of the State of Tennessee.
Question. Prevent it by punishing the offenders?
Answer. And defending themselves.
Question. Suppose an outrage was committed and they caught the offender, what would they do?
Answer. There was more or less mob law about that time through the Southern States.
Question. The object was to resist outlawry and punish offenders?
Answer. Yes, sir; I do not think the people intended to go and violate or wrong any one; but it was to punish those men who were guilty, and who the law would not touch; and to defend themselves in case of an attack.
Question. What reason have you to believe that they have disbanded?
Answer. From the fact that I do not hear anything of them, and it was generally understood that they were to be disbanded; it was generally understood throughout the country I have been in that they have disbanded, that there was no organization, and nothing in that line, except amongst lawless men--men who were trying to do something they ought not to do, to violate the law.
By the Chairman:
Question. You desired time to consider whether you would give us the names of those persons whose names were asked of you?
Answer. I cannot give you the names of those people; I do not recollect them.
Question. You gave the name of one man who was dead; another who was also dead you did not give the name of?
Answer. Two of these men have gone out of the country; they are not in the country now.
Question. Who are they?
Answer. One was named Jones.
Question. What was his first name?
Answer. He has gone to Brazil, and has been there for two or three years.
Question. What was the name of the other?
Answer. I am trying to think who he was; I cannot call his name to mind now.
Question. Are those all the names you wish to give or can give?
Answer. I might give you more names if I had time to think about the thing. Of course I have not had time to think this thing over since we spoke about it a while ago, for I have been interrogated all the time busily.
Mr. Stevenson. I should like to have it understood that this witness will give us these names as soon as he can remember them. If he cannot remember them in time to appear before the committee and give them, then that he will send in writing to the chairman a list of such names as he may hereafter remember.
The Chairman. That will be very desirable.
The Witness. I am disposed to do all I can to try and fetch these troubles to an end. I went into the army was a private, and fought my way up to the rank of lieutenant general. I tried to do my duty as a soldier, and since I have been out of the war I have tried to do my duty as a citizen. I have done more probably than any other man in the South to suppress these difficulties and keep them down. While I have been vilified and abused in the papers, and accused of things I never did while in the army and since, I have no desire to hide anything from you at all. I want this matter settled; I want our country quiet once more; and I want to see our people united and working together harmoniously.
By the Chairman:
Question. So far as this secret organization is concerned, the purpose of this committee is not merely to ascertain who are members of it for the purpose of prosecuting them for crime, but to ascertain whether it continues to exist, and who are responsible for the present commission of crimes of this character, wherever they occur in the Southern States.
Answer. I am satisfied, from my knowledge of the affair, that no such organization does exist; that it was broke up in 1868, and never has existed since that time as an organization.
Question. Do you mean that to apply to all the late insurrectionary States?
Answer. I mean that to apply to this organization of the Ku-Klux Klan.
Question. In Tennessee?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And Alabama and Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina?
Answer. So far as I know; that was the understanding, that it was to be broken up wherever it existed, and to be no longer countenanced.
Question. Can you say that other men who were in the organization, and who felt differently from you, have not kept it alive for political purposes?
Answer. I do not think it has been done as an organization; I think all this that has been done in the course of eighteen months has been done by parties who are not responsible to anybody.
Question. Were those who were in the organization, which you say you believe has been disbanded, principally men who had been soldiers in the confederate army?
Answer. I think they were.
Question. Almost entirely?
Answer. Yes, sir.
By Mr. Stevenson:
Question. You say they were men of character and position?
Answer. Well, they were men who it was thought would behave themselves, and act friendly, and do discreetly.
Question. Not rash, wild men?
Answer. No, sir. The object of the organization was to keep out everything of that sort, and to prevent difficulty as far as it could.
Question. So far as you know, it was composed of the best class of southern citizens?
Answer. I do not know whether you might term them the best class or not.
Question. Let us have your understanding of it; were they men of substance and property?
Answer. My understanding is that those men who were in the organization were young men mostly; men who had been in the southern army, and men who could be relied upon in case of a difficulty--of an attack from the negroes--who could be relied upon to defend the women and children of the country.
Question. Were they men of sufficient substance and means to go about from one place to another?
Answer. Well, they were in the habit, about the close of the war, of going almost everywhere and anywhere without much assistance. We traveled about very freely sometimes during the war; this was immediately after the war.
Question. Let me understand; suppose that, when the organization was in full working order, a conflict should have occurred, for instance, at Memphis, between the whites and blacks. The blacks outnumbered you there, did they not?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And in all that river valley?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Suppose a conflict had occurred there, was the organization composed of such men that they could have come from other parts to assist the whites in that region?
Answer. In a case like that they would have come, from the fact that they would have gathered up everything available in the way of transportation.
Question. From where would they have come?
Answer. From the country wherever they heard of it.
Question. As many as were needed?
Answer. Yes, sir. I will mention one case that occurred in 1868. At Crawfordsville, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, the citizens and negroes had a difficulty, and the negroes threatened to burn the town. It was telegraphed up to West Point, forty miles above there, and to Columbus also. I was then on my way to Memphis. When I got to the Mobile road I found these men had got all the trains they could and started down, and I went with them. The negroes were about eight hundred strong, and were out at the edge of the town; the people of the town had fortified themselves; the negroes had burned one house. When I got there I got the white people together, organized them, and made speeches to them. I told them to be quiet, and we would see if this could be settled. I then got on a horse and rode over to the negroes and made a speech to them. The negroes dispersed and went home, and nothing was done; there was nobody hurt, nobody molested. But they were just on the point where it was liable that fifty or five hundred men would be killed. Those negroes had fallen out with a young man who was going down the road; his horse had got scared when they came along, had kicked out a little, and run against their trumpeter and knocked him down. They followed him into town to beat him, and then they gathered together. I am satisfied I prevented bloodshed there by getting those men together and talking to them, and by talking to the negroes and getting them to go home.
Question. What do you suppose would have happened if you had not taken the course you did?
Answer. There would have been a general fight.
Question. Suppose the negroes had succeeded and whipped the whites?
Answer. The whites would have called in more help. You would have gone I reckon, if you had been there. I do not suppose there is a white man that would not take sides against the blacks, and with his own race.
Question. Men at a great distance would not know which side was to blame, would they?
Answer. But in the case of a fight like that----
By Mr. Van Trump:
Question. In the event of a war of races down there, do you not think the excitement would reach North?
Answer. I think it would. I think we would find a great many people up here who would go down there and help us if we had the worst of it.
By Mr. Stevenson:
Question. Might they not stop to inquire who was right and who was wrong?
Answer. I think they might.
Question. Those people did not, in that case?
Answer. They had not done anything; we were going there to protect the people. They did not fire a gun.
Question. Had they organized?
Answer. Both had organized; the negroes had organized, and the white people had organized. They went there with their arms, but they went there after these people at Crawfordsville had telegraphed that they were about to be attacked by an overwhelming force of armed negroes.
Question. You say you think the people North would join with you in such a war as that?
Answer. I did not say that.
Question. Do you or not think that the people of the North would join in it?
Answer. I do not know whether they would or not; but I think their sympathies would be with their own people.
Question. Suppose the whites of the South were getting the worst of it?
Answer. I think if the people of the North have the same feelings that the people of the South have, they would assist them. That is all owing to what is the feeling here; whether they have the same sympathy with the white people, one with another, that they do in the Southern States.
Question. You think they have?
Answer. I have no reason to believe that they have not.
Question. What is your belief as to whether any of these orders extended into the Northern States; those "Pale Faces," or anything of that sort?
Answer. I never knew anything of that sort. I understood you had similar orders here in the North; that is, you had the Grand Army of the Republic and other organizations here similar to that.
Question. Similar to such as you had down there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. From whom did you understand that?
Answer. From rumor; nothing else.
Question. Did you get any letters from the North in your correspondence?
Answer. I got letters from northern citizens urging me to try and keep things quiet, and let it work itself off.
Question. All seemed to look to you?
Answer. No, sir; not particularly so. I suppose they looked to other men as well as to me.
Question. Did you ever hear of anybody else having such correspondence?
Answer. I understood that a great many of our southern men corresponded with their friends in the North, and that was the advice of the northern people generally, to try and keep this thing down.
Question. I did not understand you to say whether you would send us those names by mail or not.
Answer. I did not say whether I would or not.
By the Chairman:
Question. Did you say you got advice from northern people in 1868 to have the Ku-Klux society suppressed?
Answer. No, not the Ku-Klux; I do not want to be understood that way. I got letters from persons in the Northern States whom I knew, giving it as their opinion that we should try and restrain everybody there from difficulty and violence, to let this thing blow over, work itself off in that way.
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(Special correspondence, Cincinnati Commercial.)
Memphis, Tenn., August 28, 1868
To-day I have enjoyed "big talks" enough to have gratified any of the famous Indian chiefs who have been treating with General Sherman for the past two years. First I met General N. B. Forrest, then General Gideon A. Pillow, and Governor Isham G. Harris. My first visit was to General Forrest, whom I found at his office, at 8 o'clock this morning, hard at work, although complaining of an illness contracted at the New York convention. The New Yorkers must be a bad set indeed, for I have not met a single delegate from the Southern States who has not been ill ever since he went there. But to General Forrest. Now that the southern people have elevated him to the position of their great leader and oracle, it may not be amiss to preface my conversation with him with a brief sketch of the gentleman.
I cannot better personally describe him than by borrowing the language of one of his biographers. "In person he is six meet one inch and a half in height, with broad shoulders, a full chest, and symmetrical, muscular limbs; erect in carriage, and weighs one hundred and eighty-give pounds; dark-gray eyes, dark hair, mustache, and beard worn upon the chin; a set of regular white teeth, and clearly cut features;" which, altogether, make him rather a handsome man for one forty-seven years of age.
Previous to the war--in 1852--he left the business of planter, and came to this city and engaged in the business of "negro-trader," in which traffic he seems to have been quite successful, for, by 1861, he had become the owner of two plantations a few miles below here, in Mississippi, on which he produced about a thousand bales of cotton each year, in the mean time carrying on the negro-trading. In June, 1861, he was authorized by Governor Harris to recruit a regiment of cavalry for the war, which he did, and which was the nucleus around which he gathered the army which he commanded as a lieutenant general at the end of the war.
After being seated in his office, I said:
"General Forrest, I came especially to learn your views in regard to the condition of your civil and political affairs in the State of Tennessee, and the South generally. I desire them for publication in the Cincinnati Commercial. I do not wish to misinterpret you in the slightest degree, and therefore only ask for such views as you are willing I should publish."
"I have not now," he replied, " and never have had, any opinion on any public or political subject which I would object to having published. I mean what I say, honestly and earnestly, and only object to being misrepresented. I dislike to be placed before the country in a false position, especially as I have not sought the reputation which I have gained."
I replied: "Sir, I will publish only what you say, and then you cannot possibly be misrepresented. Our people desire to know your feelings toward the General Government, the State government of Tennessee, the radical party, both in and out of the State, and upon the question of negro suffrage."
"Well, sir," said he, "when I surrendered my seven thousand men in 1865, I accepted a parole honestly, and have observed it faithfully up to to-day. I have counseled peace in all the speeches I have made. I have advised my people to submit to the laws of the State, oppressive as they are, and unconstitutional as I believe them to be. I was paroled and not pardoned until the issuance of the last proclamation of general amnesty; and, therefore, did not think it prudent for me to take any active part until the oppression of my people became so great that they could not endure it, and then I would be with them. My friends thought differently, and sent me to New York, and I am glad I went there."
"Then, I suppose, general, that you think the oppression has become so great that your people should not longer bear it."
"No," he answered, "It is growing worse hourly, yet I have said to the people, 'Stand fast, let us try to right the wrong by legislation.' A few weeks ago I was called to Nashville to counsel with other gentlemen who had been prominently identified with the cause of the confederacy, and we then offered pledges which we thought would be satisfactory to Mr. Brownlow and his legislature, and we told them that, if they would not call out the militia, we would agree to preserve order and see that the laws were enforced. The legislative committee certainly led me to believe that your proposition would be accepted and no militia organized. Believing this, I came home, and advised all my people to remain peaceful, and to offer no resistance to any reasonable law. It is true that I never have recognized the present government in Tennessee as having any legal existence, yet I was willing to submit to it for a time, with the hope that the wrongs might be righted peaceably."
"What are your feelings toward the Federal Government, general?"
"I loved the old Government in 1861; I love the old Constitution yet. I think it the best government in the world if administered as it was before the war. I do not hate it; I am opposing now only the radical revolutionists who are trying to destroy it. I believe that party to be composed, as I know it is in Tennessee, of the worst men on God's earth--men who would hesitate at no crime, and who have only one object in view, to enrich themselves."
"In the event of Governor Brownlow's calling out the militia, do you think there will be any resistance offered to their acts?" I asked.
"That will depend upon circumstances. If the militia are simply called out, and do not interfere with or molest any one, I do not think there will be any fight. If, on the contrary, they do what I believe they will do, commit outrages, or even one outrage, upon the people, they and Mr. Brownlow's government will be swept out of existence; not a radical will be left alive. If the militia are called out, we cannot but look upon it as a declaration of war, because Mr. Brownlow has already issued his proclamation directing them to shoot down the Ku-Klux wherever they find them; and he calls all southern men Ku-Klux."
"Why, general, we people up north have regarded the Ku-Klux Klan as an organization which existed only in the frightened imaginations of a few politicians?
"Well, sir, there is such an organization, not only in Tennessee but all over the South, and its numbers have not been exaggerated."
"What are its numbers, general?"
"In Tennessee there are over forty thousand; in all the Southern States about five hundred and fifty thousand men."
"What is the character of the organization, may I inquire?"
"Yes, sir. It is a protective, political, military organization. I am willing to show any man the constitution of the society. The members are sworn to recognize the Government of the United States. It does not say anything at all about the government of the State of Tennessee. Its objects originally were protection against Loyal Leagues and the Grand Army of the Republic; but after it became general it was found that political matters and interests could best be promoted within it, and it was then made a political organization, giving its support, of course, to the democratic party."
"But is the organization connected through the State?"
"Yes; it is. In each voting precinct there is a captain, who, in addition to his other duties, is required to make out a list of names of men in his precinct, giving all the radicals and all the democrats who are positively known, and showing also the doubtful on both sides and of both colors. This list of names if forwarded to the grand commander of the State, who is thus enabled to know who are our friends and who are not."
"Can you, or are you at liberty, to give me the name of the commanding officer of this State?"
"No; it would be impolitic."
"Then I suppose that there can be no doubt of a conflict if the militia interfere with the people; is that your view?"
"Yes, sir; if they attempt to carry out Governor Brownlow's proclamation, by shooting down Ku-Klux--for he calls all southern men Ku-Klux--if they go to hunting down and shooting these men, there will be war, and a bloodier one than we have ever witnessed. I have told these radicals here what they might expect in such an event. I have no powder to burn killing negroes. I intend to kill the radicals. I have told them this and more. There is not a radical leader in this town but is a marked man; and if a trouble should break out, not one of them would be left alive., I have told them that they were trying to create a disturbance and then slip out and leave the consequences to fall upon the negro; but they can't do it. Their houses are picketed, and when the fight comes not one of them would ever get out of this town alive. We don't intend they shall ever get out of the country. But I want it distinctly understood that I am opposed to any war, and will only fight in self-defense. If the militia attack us, we will resist to the last; and, if necessary, I think I could raise 40,000 men in five days ready for the field."
"Do you think, general, that the Ku-Klux have been of any benefit to the State?"
"No doubt of it. Since its organization the leagues have quit killing and murdering our people. There were some foolish young men who put masks on their faces and rode over the country frightening negroes; but orders have been issued to stop that, and it has ceased. You may say further that three members of the Ku-Klux have been court-martialed and shot for violations of the orders not to disturb or molest people."
Question. "Are you a member of the Ku-Klux, general?"
Answer. "I am not; but am in sympathy and will cooperate with them. I know they are charged with many crimes that they are not guilty of. A case in point is the killing of Bierfield at Franklin, a few days ago. I sent a man up there especially to investigate the case, and report to me, and I have his letter here now, in which he states that they had nothing to do with it as an organization."
Question. "What do you think of negro suffrage?"
Answer. "I am opposed to it under any and all circumstances, and in our convention urged our party not to commit themselves at all upon the subject. If the negroes vote to enfranchise us, I do not think I would favor their disfranchisement. We will stand by those who help us. And here I want you to understand distinctly I am not an enemy to the negro. We want him here among us. He is the only laboring class we have; and, more than that, I would sooner trust him than the white scalawag or carpet-bagger. When I entered the army I took forty-seven negroes into the army with me, and forty-five of them were surrendered with me. I said to them at the start: 'This fight is against slavery; if we lose it, you will be made free; if we whip the fight, and you stay with me and be good boys, I will set you free; in either case you will be free.' These boys staid with me, drove my teams, and better confederates did not live."
"Do you think the Ku-Klux will try to intimidate the negroes at the election?"
"I do not think they will. Why, I made a speech at Brownsville the other day, and while there a lieutenant who served with me came to me and informed me that a band of radicals had been going through the country claiming to be Ku-Klux, and disarming the negroes, and then selling their arms. I told him to have the matter investigated, and, if true, to have the parties arrested."
"What do you think is the effect of the amnesty granted to your people?"
"I believe that the amnesty restored all the rights to the people, full and complete. I do not think the Federal Government has the right to disfranchise any man, but I believe that the legislatures of the States have. The objection I have to the disfranchisement in Tennessee is, that the legislature which enacted the law had no constitutional existence, and the law in itself is a nullity. Still I would respect it until changed by law. But there is a limit beyond which men cannot be driven, and I am ready to die sooner than sacrifice my honor. This thing must have an end, and it is now about time for that end to come."
"What do you think of General Grant?" I asked.
"I regard him as a great military commander, a good man, honest and liberal, and if elected will I hope and believe, execute the laws honestly and faithfully. And by the way, a report has been published in some of the newspapers, stating that while General Grant and lady were at Corinth, in 1862, they took and carried off furniture and other property. I here brand the author as a liar. I was at Corinth only a short time ago, and I personally investigated the whole matter, talked with the people with whom he and his lady lived while there, and they say that their conduct was everything that could have been expected of a gentleman and lady, and deserving the highest praise. I am opposed to General Grant in everything, but I would do him justice."
The foregoing is the principal part of my conversation with the general. I give the conversation, and leave the reader to form his own opinion as to what General Forrest means to do. I think he has been so plain in his talk that it cannot be misunderstood.
Memphis, September 3, 1868.
Dear Sir: I have just read your letter in the Commercial, giving a report of our conversation on Friday last. I do not think you would intentionally misrepresent me, but you have done so, and, I suppose, because you mistook my meaning. The portions of your letter to which I object are corrected in the following paragraphs:
I promise the legislature my personal influence and aid in maintaining order and enforcing the laws. I have never advised the people to resist any law, but to submit to the laws, until they can be corrected by lawful legislation.
I said the militia bill would occasion no trouble, unless they violated the law by carrying out the governor's proclamation, which I believe to be unconstitutional and in violence of law, in shooting men down without trial, as recommended by that proclamation.
I said it was reported, and I believed the report, that there are forty thousand Ku-Klux in Tennessee; and I believe the organization stronger in other States. I meant to imply, when I said that the Ku-Klux recognize the Federal Government, that they would obey all State laws. They recognize all laws, and will obey them, so I have been informed, in protecting peaceable citizens form oppression from any quarter.
I did not say that any man's house was picketed. I did not mean to convey the idea that I would raise any troops; and, more than that, no man could do it in five days, even if they were organized.
I said that General Grant was at Holly Springs, and not at Corinth; I said the charge against him was false, but did not use the word "liar."
I cannot consent to remain silent in this matter; for, if I did so, under an incorrect impression of my personal views, I might be looked upon as one desiring a conflict, when, in truth, I am so adverse to anything of the kind that I will make any honorable sacrifice to avoid it.
Hoping that I many have this explanation placed before your readers, I remain, very respectfully,
N. B. FORREST.
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