Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue

The monument was designed by Jack Kershaw, a Vanderbilt University alumnus and co-founder of the League of the South (a white nationalist and white supremacist organization). Kershaw was a member of The General Joseph E. Johnston Camp 28 Sons of Confederate Veterans, and a former attorney who represented convicted assassin James Earl Ray. Kershaw defended the statue against criticism famously stating, "Somebody needs to say a good word for slavery." Bill Dorris, a friend of Kershaw and owner of the statue, told NPR in 2011, describing Kershaw: "As an artist, mediocre. As a thinker, he was way ahead of a lot of people in his time." He also described Kershaw's process of sculpting: "Jack got some materials that I use to make bathtubs with. And he started with a butcher knife. That's the end result that you see out there right now." Kershaw told an interviewer that he envisioned the figure of Forrest as "crying 'Follow me!'" The character representing Forrest on the molded polyurethane sculpture was displayed on a rearing horse while pointing a pistol in his left hand in a direction behind him, and a sword held aloft in the right hand. The horse section of the statue was covered in gold leaf, while the section of the statue representing Forrest is covered in silver leaf. The statue itself was tall. ==Location and dedication==

The statue was installed in 1998, surrounded by two cellphone transmission towers and thirteen flag poles (flying the Confederate battle flag and various other Confederate and state flags) on of land then privately owned by Nashville businessman Bill Dorris. The property at 701D Hogan Rd is long and narrow, with Interstate 65 on one side and railway tracks on the other. The statue was controversial since before it was installed. The SCV camp called it one of its most ambitious projects and noted the additional sponsorship of The Southern League and the Mary Noel Kershaw Foundation. ==Criticism==

Shortly after the unveiling in 1998, BlueShoe Nashville noted that newspaper coverage showed that support for and dismay against the statue generally followed racial lines. It also critiqued the statue's quality, remarking that "Anyone seeing the crazed, pop-eyed look on the statue's face might wonder if the memorial is a homage, or a savage put-down." In 2006, local blogger Brent K. Moore wrote that Forrest "has an expression that one makes after sitting on a thumb tack." A November 2015 Vibe.com article entitled 7 Controversial & Offensive Tourist Attractions In The U.S. described the installation as the "ugliest" statue of Forrest and noted it is "surrounded by an overwhelmingly large display of numerous Confederate flags" Comedian Stephen Colbert first quoted President Trump's tweets about "preserving the beautiful monuments" in the wake of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, then immediately mocked this statue by saying "apparently the Confederacy was founded by skirt-wearing nutcrackers riding wet lizards" and by mimicking the pose, shooting invisible soldiers following Forrest and riding an imaginary horse around the stage. Similarly, comedian John Oliver referred to the statue as being "objectively terrifying regardless of context", describing the statue's face as looking "like if a nickel did cocaine". In 2017 Slate called the statue the "Confederacy's Dumbest Monument." Atlas Obscura called it "One Confederate statue that accurately reflects the ugliness of its subject." In an article titled The 10 Most Terrifying Public Statues Artnet news wrote the "statue (is) alarmingly racist, to say that it is also poorly done is a gross understatement", while Shareart led The 10 Most Bizarre Public Sculptures with this effort. Salon described the statue as something "fashioned by someone who's had a human described to him but has never actually seen one in real life." The Independent went with a simple "stupid, racist statue" and called for its removal. Canada's National Post called the monument a "towering eyesore" and described it as "one of the most vile Confederate monuments in the great state of Tennessee." In late December 2017, the statue was vandalized with pink paint. In October, 2020, it was vandalized by spray painting "Monster" along its side. ==Removal==

In a joint statement issued on December 7, 2021, by the Trust along with the Executor and attorney for the Dorris Estate, the Trust specified the reasons for removal of the statue, noting that "each reason sets aside the contentious debate about Forrest as a person or as a Confederate general: 1. Forrest was not present at The Battle of Nashville. 2. The statue is ugly and a blight on Nashville. 3. It has been vandalized, is in disrepair, and is dangerous. 4. Because of its divisive nature, having the statue in a prominent location distracts from the mission of the Battle of Nashville Trust". In a separate statement, the Battle of Nashville Trust also noted that "even Forrest himself would think it was ugly," adding that the Dorris property and statue were not on core battlefield ground. The Trust stressed in its statements that the Forrest statue was not consistent with the historical significance of the Battle of Nashville, which was one of the most decisive of the Civil War and ended the Confederacy's western campaign, nor was it consistent with Battle of Nashville Trust's efforts to protect the remaining historic sites of the battlefield, which currently exist within residential and commercial properties of South Nashville. Protestors once tried to pull it down by tying it to a train. It was protected by a padlocked gate. At the time of its removal, it had been splattered with pink paint and spray-painted with the word "monster." In July 2015 the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County sought permission to plant landscape screening in front of the monument to obscure its view from the Interstate, but the request was denied by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. On August 15, 2017, the mayor of nearby Oak Hill, Heidi Campbell, wrote an open letter to Governor Haslam urging the statue be obscured with landscaping. The statue was removed on December 7, 2021, but the Confederate flags surrounding the statue remained in place until their removal in 2024. The statue was damaged during its removal, and was later disassembled and moved from the site. According to the BONT, the statue will not be remounted or displayed. ==Bill Dorris==

The owner of the statue and the land it sat on, Bill Dorris, was a Nashville lawyer and businessman. He regularly gave media interviews defending his right to display the Forrest statue and his flags. Although Dorris denied being a racist, he called slavery a form of "social security" for African Americans. Dorris also argued that removing the statue would be detrimental to Nashville's tourism industry, and compared it to historic sites in the Nashville area such as the Travellers Rest, The Hermitage, and the Belle Meade Plantation. and again called slavery a form of "social security" for African Americans, "a cradle-to-the-grave proposition." His will left the statue and its site to the Battle of Nashville Trust, which opted to remove it. In addition, Dorris left approximately $5,000,000 in a trust for his dog, LuLu. The statue was removed on December 7, 2021. ==Aftermath==

After removal of the statue, legal squabbles developed between two nonprofit organizations in regard to which flags should be displayed on the property. At issue were 13 flags honoring the Confederacy and the Battle of Nashville. A ruling was made that the original display failed to represent both sides of the 1864 battle. As a result, the multitude of Confederate flags, commonly referred to as the "Stars and Bars", were removed in 2024. Replacing them are current state flags representing both Union and Confederate states that participated in the 1864 Battle of Nashville. ==See also==