This is a pewter figurine from Chilmark of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest sculpted by Francis J. Barnum in 1993. The pewter figure of General Forrest comes on an attractive rectangular wooden base that measures 5 5/8" x 4" across and is approximately 10 1/4" tall. A limited number of 950 of the Forrest figurines were made, this one is number 458. Barnum went into great detail, showing Forrest standing, looking out over the battlefield. He is holding his saber with his gloved right hand, his left hand grasping the throat of his empty scabbard. Forrest wears an open double breasted frock coat with a vest underneath. He also has a cape over his shoulders. He is wearing his sword belt rig with a Model 1851 sword plate buckle over a sash. His sword has been repositioned from the original sculpting, it is now being grasped in his hand held horizontally instead of the original position with the point resting on the ground. He wears over the knee boots with spurs. The quatrafoil on his sleeve, belt buckle, sash, buttons and scabbard mounts are all gilted. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Tennessee business man with little education and no military education at the outbreak of the Civil War. He answered the call to fight and enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private in June of 1861. By February of 1862 he commanded a Cavalry unit at Fort Donelson and broke out of the encircled fort rather than surrender. Three years later he wore the rank of a Lieutenant General. Many amateurs led troops through political appointments, but Forrest became a soldier of true military genius. This pewter figurine of the General would make a great desk ornament or a decorator piece in your war room, perhaps the perfect birthday or Christmas gift!

Item # AA1972