This episode of History's Devils delves into the life of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Joined by the incomparable Edd Mair, James explores Forrest's early life, his rise in the Confederate army, the controversial Battle of Fort Pillow, and his post-war activities, including his leadership in the KKK. The discussion highlights the complexities of Forrest's character, his motivations, and the lasting impact of his actions on American history, particularly in relation to race and the legacy of the Civil War.

Further Reading
John Allen Wyeth, That Devil Forrest: The Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest (Quatarro, 2016)
Court Carney, Reckoning with the Devil: Nathan Bedford Forrest in Myth and Memory (Louisianna State Press, 2024)
Susan Campbell Bartoletti, They Call Themselves the KKK: Birth of an American Terrorist Group (Clarion, 2014)

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Nathan Bedford Forrest
02:58 Early Life and Character of Forrest
05:55 Forrest's Rise in the Confederate Army
09:06 The Civil War and Economic Motivations
11:51 Forrest's Military Tactics and Leadership
14:36 The Battle of Fort Pillow: A Controversial Legacy
17:34 The Aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction
20:13 Forrest's Involvement with the Ku Klux Klan
35:11 The Origins of the Ku Klux Klan
36:04 The Evolution of the Klan: From Pranks to Terrorism
37:50 The Klan's Structure and Governance
39:15 Psychological Fractures
41:59 The Klan's Political Aspirations and Violence
44:42 The Klan's Influence in the 1868 Election
47:46 Ulysses S. Grant and the Suppression of the Klan
54:02 The Decline of the First Klan and Its Legacy
58:31 Nathan Bedford Forrest's Later Life and Controversies
01:00:47 The Legacy of Confederate Statues and Memorialization

Music by SOULFULJAMTRACKS

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In this inaugural episode of HISTORY’S DEVILS, James Crossland and Jayne Friend answer the question of where British Fascism came from, by dialling the clock back a hundred years to the 1920s. In doing so, they delve into the life of Rotha Lintorn Orman – the little-known upper-class alcoholic tomboy who became Britain’s first fascist – and her gang of military has-beens, street-fighters and conspiracy theorists who in 1923 dubbed themselves the British Fascisti. In doing so, Lintorn Orman created a movement that has persist for over a hundred years, rising to prominence in our own times via a new generation of racists, grifters and ambitious politicians.

Just try and get through this first episode without feeling the weight of Britain's past on the back of the present.

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Further Reading

Robert Benewick, A Study of British Fascism: Political Violence & Public Order (London: Allen Lane, 1969)

Julie Gottlieb, Feminine Fascism: Women in Britain’s Fascist Movement, 1923-1945 (London: I.B. Taurus, 2000)

Martin Pugh, Hurrah for the Blackshirts!: Fascists and Fascism in Britain Between the Wars (London: Pimlico, 2006)

Music by SOULFULJAMTRACKS

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