heck I haven't had time to read Grants memoirs either because I am to busy defending

In 1871 William Tecumseh Sherman chaired a Congressional investigation into the KKK and its activities. Among the former Confederate officers investigated and interviewed was N.B. Forrest since his name was used in forming and recruiting the original Klan.

Sherman was never a friend or ally of Forrest (whom he termed "a devil") and was noted to have stated before the investigation convened that, "We are here to investigate Forrest, charge Forrest, try Forrest, convict Forrest and hang Forrest."

The Congressional committee completed its investigation - including a revisiting of the alleged "Ft. Pillow Massacre" - and concluded that while Forrest's name had been used in forming the Klan that it was likely done without his permission and that his only activities related to the Klan were his persistent and public efforts to compel it to disband. They concluded he was not "...someone who founded the Ku Klux Klan" nor was he the Grand Dragon.

GP