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Nathan Bedford Forrest III

Historical Figure
Nationality:	United States
Date of Birth:	1905
Date of Death:	1943
Cause of Death:	Shot down while flying over Europe
Occupation:	Pilot, Soldier
Relatives:	Nathan Bedford Forrest (great-grandfather)
Affiliations:	United States Army
Turtledove Appearances:

Southern Victory _{POD: September 10, 1862}
Appearance(s):	The Victorious Opposition through In at the Death
Type of Appearance:	Direct
Nationality:	Confederate States
Date of Death:	1944
Cause of Death:	Execution

Nathan Bedford Forrest III (1905-1943) was a Brigadier General of the United States Army Air Forces, and a great-grandson of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was killed in 1943, while flying a mission over Germany during World War II.

Nathan Bedford Forrest III in Southern VictoryEdit

Nathan Bedford Forrest III (1905-1944) was a C.S. Army officer during the Second Great War. He was one of the best generals on the General Staff and he earned the position of Chief of Staff despite his aristocratic origins (he was the great-grandson of Nathan Bedford Forrest) and President Jake Featherston's commitment to purging the Army's high command of undeserving aristocrats. Featherston valued Forrest for his willingness to speak his mind, and for his visions of how to use barrels.^[1]

Before the war Forrest helped plan Operation Blackbeard and made sure it was carried out correctly.^[2] The operation was a huge success, with no small credit to the man who devised it. Forrest then began to think of the plan to defend northern Virginia against the coming attack, which he prepared in cooperation with General Hank Coomer of the Army of Northern Virginia.^[3]

Forrest helped Confederate spymaster Brigadier General Clarence Potter root out U.S. spies in the General Staff. Both of these assignments were successful as Forrest was able to hold the United States attack back and several spies were caught by Potter with Forrest's help.^[4]

Forrest next planned Operation Coalscuttle, an operation that was initially as successful as Blackbeard had been. However the plan began to unravel when C.S. troops bogged down during the Battle of Pittsburgh. Forrest protested to Featherston, arguing that, because of the heavy casualties, and destruction inflicted on the city, the C.S. should be pulled out.^[5] Featherston so vehemently opposed the decision that Forrest began to doubt Featherston's sanity, a doubt he shared with Potter.^[6] Potter, ever the pragmatist, reminded Forrest that he hadn't worried so much about Featherston's sanity when the C.S. was winning, and pointed out that Featherston would never simply step down, and that Forrest would have to remove Featherston from office.^[7] They let it go at that for the time being, although both men weight the option of removal for some time afterward.

However, those tentative plans were put on hold as U.S. General Irving Morrell, flush from the success of Operation Rosebud, began his drive to the heart of the C.S., and Potter was shipped to the front. Forrest spent most of 1943 attempting to develop a strategy to slow the U.S. advance. Each successive failure led to more meetings with Featherston.^[8]

Following the fall of Atlanta in 1944, Forrest lost all confidence in Featherston. Clarence Potter was not willing to join him in his coup,^[9] so Forrest initiated his own plan with the support of a number of regular army personnel who worked in the presidential compound. The plan was haphazard at best. Forrest's soldiers lost a gunfight with Freedom Party Guards, who arrested, tortured, and executed Forrest on the President's orders.^[10]