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In our efforts to preserve this flag, we feel it important to bring forward the stories and lives of the men who fought, bled and died with this regiment. With that in mind, as we move forward with this project, we will be profiling some of the soldiers of the 14th Tennessee Infantry.
We begin our profile with the man probably most beloved by his fellow soldiers, William Archibald Forbes. Forbes had been born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1824, and was a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, as well as a professor of mathematics there in the 1840s. He followed his profession to Tennessee in the role of teacher, and later became president of Stewart College in Clarksville, Tennessee.
As war clouds gathered and the government of Tennessee made preparations toward secession, he organized “Forbes’ Volunteer Rifle Company”, and Camp Forbes at the fair grounds became his unit’s training site. At this time the senior class at Stewart College was composed of 32 students. With the exception of three Kentucky boys whose parents refused consent, the class joined their favorite teacher and enlisted in his company. Of the 29 who volunteered at the time, 16 were killed in battle, 7 died in hospitals from wounds or disease, and 6 returned home at the war's end. Forbes later was appointed a Captain of Engineers in the Tennessee State Army, and in only a short time he became Captain of Company “A” of the 14th Tennessee. His background at military school, his formal education, and his deportment made him an attractive leader, and he was elected to be Colonel of the 14th Tennessee in June of 1861.
While the history of the unit is related elsewhere, it should be noted that Colonel Forbes must have maintained his status as an effective leader, and he held his command throughout the reorganization of the regiment.
One episode of interest occurred in the winter of 1861–62, in which the 14th was present during the bombardment of Hancock, Maryland. His regiment had been subjected to several hours of heavy artillery fire, and Colonel Forbes put to use his engineering skills and began constructing a bridge across the Potomac River. Fortunately for the Confederates, the enemy evacuated the town and, before the bridge was completed, the 14th was able to move forward.
At the end of August 1862, the war ended for Colonel W. A. Forbes. At the Battle of Second Manassas (also called Second Bull Run), Colonel Forbes was leading his regiment directly into cannon fire, and was mortally wounded. He was buried on the battlefield, and in 1866 his body was reburied in Richmond’s Shockoe Cemetery.
After the war, as the South recovered, Confederate veterans began to organize themselves into groups. These groups had multiple duties, including helping their less fortunate comrades, venerating those who had fallen, and sometimes acting as social clubs for the old soldiers. The largest group of men to form in the Clarksville area had never forgotten their former leader, and they named themselves the Forbes Bivouac, and affiliated with the United Confederate Veterans. While the members of the Forbes Bivouac came from a variety of wartime units, the men of the 14th Tennessee were prominent. Through their efforts, the memory of the first commander of the 14th Tennessee remained alive.
