‘Friends of Forrest’ Wants to Restore Monument of Nathan Bedford Forrest, First Grand Wizard of KKK
By Michael Allen
Thu, August 23, 2012A monument built in honor of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, may soon be repaired in Selma, Alabama.
An organization called ‘Friends of Forrest’ wants to replace the head of a monument that was built in honor of Forrest, who killed two hundred union black soldiers at the Battle of Fort Pillow, while allowing white union soldiers to surrender.
Earlier this year, a person, or persons unknown, stole the head off the statue in the Live Oak Cemetery in Selma.
The Daily Mail reports that the Friends of Forrest offered a $20,000 reward, but no one has come forward, so now the group has raised $50,000 for a new head.
Todd Kiscaden, of the Friends of Forrest, told WSFA-TV: "I’d recommend this man for any young people to model their life after. He always led from the front. He did what he said he was going to do. He took care of his people, and his people included both races."
However, Alabama State Sen Hank Sanders told WSFA-TV: "Here’s a man who killed African-Americans who had surrendered, who were not a threat to anybody, formed the Ku Klux Klan, and yet we are talking about a monument to him."
While the city government is in charge of the Live Oak Cemetery, the United Daughters of the Confederacy owns the land where the memorial actually sits.
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