Memphis attempt to drop name of Nathan Bedford Forrest runs into state law
Officials from Elmwood Cemetery, which boasts approximately 1,200 Confederate bodies, have stated that Elmwood is open to the possibility of transferring the remains of both Forrest and his wife back to their grounds, though they have no interest in the statue.
Elmwood isn’t new to moving bones around. During the Civil War, Union soldiers were buried at Elmwood. However, almost all were exhumed in 1866 and reburied at Memphis National Cemetery. Today, only two Union soldiers remain on the plot.
Mulroy says that reinterring Forrest and his wife would be “undoing the damage that was done” in 1904, when his will was disobeyed.