Hi Tim,

That's so interesting. I'd not heard that story about Forrest and some of his men "smuggling" arms and equipment. I'm not sure if I put in that long post from last January that my James Robert Hodges also named his first born son Forrest (Hayward Hodges). Forrest is not a family name for us either, but apparently (per Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind!) it was tradition at the time to name sons after the father's commanding officer. And who am I to doubt Margaret Mitchell?? . To be honest, my Revolutionary War Patriots did the same thing - we're lousy with George's, etc. What's interesting about our Forrest is that his nickname was "Woody", so I'm not sure if that was a nod to Lt. Col. Woodward or just a take on the word "forest"? Thank you for that link to the smuggling story. I will definitely read that. I took a break from researching this line while I was writing a book about the other side of my family, but now I'm back on this one so I'll be looking into JR Hodges' service again soon. I have heard of the Rock Island Prison but I can't remember if any of my people were sent there. Ironically, my great-grandparents on the other side of my family lived for awhile in that small town - and didn't like it! I'll let you know if I find out more about this story. Thanks for reaching out.

Best,
Tiffany