J. M. Luxton, age 18 at enlistment, was a younger half-brother of
Nathan Bedford Forrest by their mother's second marriage. Luxton was described as "notorious" in at least two histories. Further to the point, another historian writes, "Given the fact that, North and South, the vast majority of the combatants were civilians in uniform, such a point may seem a distinction without a difference. As the noted military historian
J. F. C. Fuller, observed, 'The Federal soldier was semi-regular and Confederate semi-guerrilla.'" Whether Mat Luxton was a cavalry raider or a guerrilla—defined as "small bands of unorganized
bushwhackers" In May 1865,
Gen. Washburn ordered that he be "disposed of by
drumhead court-martial" if he was captured. A typically "colorful" Forrest story was reported in July 1865, after the Confederate surrender: "A few days before Gen. Forrest left
Grenada a messenger brought him a note from Mat Luxton, asking some favor, Forrest declined to accede to it, when the messenger reproached him for neglect, Forrest caught the messenger by the collar, dragged him to a tree, pulled a limb off, and with it thrashed the messenger finely. The incident is noteworthy as indicating the state of feeling existing between Forrest and Luxton. It is understood that Forrest strongly reprobated Luxton's course in
West Tennessee, and sent several times to have him and his men arrested. He thinks mercy in this case would not be Justice." But wait there's more: "Mat. Luxton was paroled at Grenada with Forrest's command. Afterward he went up the railroad toward
Panola. Luxton got into a dispute with a Jew, and drew a knife to stab him, when Forrest drew a pistol on Luxton and threatened to shoot him, and thus saved the Jew's life. When the latter went to Grenada he reported that Mat. Luxton was in town, and a guard was sent to arrest him. Col. Funk took his parole from him, and sent him to Memphis in irons, to be tried tor his numerous acts while operating as a guerrilla —Luxton reached Memphis on the steamer
Pocahontas, in heavy irons, with ball and chain, under heavy guard, and is now in
Irving Block." According to the regimental history of the
7th Indiana Cavalry, "On the 7th of June, 1865, Lieutenant Blackford was detailed to serve on a military commission at Memphis, Tennessee, of which Colonel George W. McKeaig was president. Before that commission, Mat Luxton, a notorious guerrilla, and a half-brother of the rebel General N. B. Forrest, was brought for trial for his crimes. Owing to the difficulty the Government had in getting witnesses, the trial dragged along for eighty days...His friends offered thousands of dollars for his release. His mother, and Col. Forrest, his half brother, attended his trial almost daily. He was ably defended by Captain Henry Lee, a Union officer." On September 13, 1865, a letter was sent on his behalf, requesting removal of
irons during trial, along with solemn promises that Luxton would not attempt to escape. Luxton was convicted of murder and "being a guerrilla" and was sentenced to death. The guards may have been bribed. In February 1866, "two Germans" who had testified at Mat Luxton's trial were reportedly murdered at Grenada. == Wilcox ==