The Forrest-Gould Affair

The Forrest-Gould Affair. . General Nathan Bedford Forrest was known for his hot temper and he met its match in young Lt. Andrew Gould. At the Mason's hall, (7th and Garden Street) Forrest blamed Gould for the capture of two cannons by the Union troops in an ambush, which later proved not to be Gould's fault. Gould exclaimed "no man can accuse me of cowardice and both live!" With that Gould tried pulling a pistol from beneath his coat when Forrest opened a penknife with his teeth and grabbed Gould. Unable to free his pistol, Gould shot anyway, hitting the general in the abdominal area, a sure sign of death in days before antibiotics. With this Forrest stabbed Gould, who stumbled down the square and into the Oakes and Engles tailor shop, located where you are now., Forrest went in search for his presumed killer swearing, "I'm mortally wounded and I'm going to kill the man who has shot me!” (censored!) The firing of Forrest's pistol, which wounded a gawking soldier, sent Gould stumbling out the back of the shop where he collapsed. Forrest stood over him knowing Gould was done for., Finally, when the dust had settled, a local doctor pronounced Forrest suffering from little more than a flesh wound. With this prognosis, Forrest had a drastic change of demeanor and ordered the doctor to spare no expense in saving Gould's life. Gould was taken to the Nelson House hotel (still standing across from city hall) where he died two weeks later on June 26, 1863. Forrest would spend several days at the Galloway house (401 W. 9th Street) recovering. He would ride out of Columbia within a month, not to return till 1864 with Hood's invasion of Tennessee., Taken from excerpts from Bob Duncan's Forrest Gould Affair