 Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest boasted that the Klan was a nationwide organization of 550,000 men and that he could muster 40,000 Klansmen within five days notice.However, the Klan had no membership rosters, no chapters, and no local officers, so it was difficult for observers to judge its membership.It had created a sensation by the dramatic nature of its masked forays and because of its many murders.