Col. William A. Forbes and the 14th Tennessee Infantry

William Archibald Forbes was just one of hundreds of men from Montgomery County, Tennessee who left home and family, occupation and dreams, to fight for a cause in which he believed. A defender of state's rights, Forbes was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia among the very people who forged our nation. Having lost his father at age 10, he supported his mother and sisters until the time of his death. Overcoming adversity, Forbes became a member of the first graduating class of VMI. A...
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William Archibald Forbes was just one of hundreds of men from Montgomery County, Tennessee who left home and family, occupation and dreams, to fight for a cause in which he believed. A defender of state's rights, Forbes was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia among the very people who forged our nation. Having lost his father at age 10, he supported his mother and sisters until the time of his death. Overcoming adversity, Forbes became a member of the first graduating class of VMI. A teaching position at the local college brought Forbes to Clarksville where he put down deep roots only to have the impending war threaten everything and everyone he loved. Now with a wife and children in Clarksville and his mother and sisters still residing in Richmond, Forbes was torn between protecting his two families. As a VMI graduate, Forbes received the very preparation that put him at the forefront of leading troops in the Civil War. He personally trained, drilled, and led the 14th TN Infantry Regiment, many of whom were his students from the college, to the mountains and valleys of Virginia to fight under generals S.R. Anderson, James J. Archer, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. In the final moments of the Second Battle of Manassas in August of 1862, Forbes lost his life during a final charge against retreating Union batteries. His grave, like so many others who perished in the war, was left unmarked until nearly 150 years later when a headstone was installed at his resting place next to his mother at Richmond's Shockoe Cemetery. It is hoped the reader will come to appreciate the challenges faced by Forbes from his earliest years until his death and get to know the man, the soldier, and the unselfish individual who put his family and principles first.