Commemorative Forrest's Cavalry silk ribbon. White silk with "Forrest Cavalry" stamped. N.p., n.d. Approx. 3 x 37 in., matted and framed to 11 x 40 1/2 in. With red and white silk rosette with a button including a photo of Nathan Bedford Forrest. 

An incredibly large commemorative ribbon for Forrest's Cavalry, led by Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877). Forrest's Cavalry was part of the Army of Tennessee, forming in 1862 but not facing battle until 1863. Once it was active, the cavalry most notably participated in the Battle of Fort Pillow in 1864, where Forrest commanded his troops to continue shooting at Union soldiers, many of them from the U.S. Colored Infantry, even after they were attempting to surrender. 

Before the Civil War, Forrest was one of the wealthiest men in the South, having made hundreds of thousands of dollars through the slave trade. Forrest enlisted as a private in Company E of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry once the war began. He was one of only a few men to have enlisted as a private and be promoted to a general without any prior military experience. While Forrest was known as a highly successful Confederate leader, the Fort Pillow Massacre changed the public's view of him as a war criminal. Despite this, Forrest continued to lead and fight in the Civil War until its end. 

After the war, Forrest joined the Ku Klux Klan shortly after it formed in 1866 and was elected its Grand Wizard in 1867, making him the Klan's first national leader. Forrest commanded thousands of Klan members to intimidate and incite violence against Black Americans and Republicans to prevent Reconstruction-era acts, such as the Fifteenth Amendment, from passing, advocating for the U.S. to revert to pre-war ways. By the mid-1870s, however, Forrest denied his KKK membership and now advocated for peace and improvements to Black Americans' civil rights. 

As one of the most controversial characters from the Civil War, this commemorative ribbon of Forrest is a one-of-a-kind piece found nowhere else. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Relics, Militaria] [African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation]

Small hole in ribbon. Some unraveling in rosette.