Presented to CCWRT by W. R. Northlich in April 1959. Donated by

.-
A paper for
Civil War Round Table
i\pril 16~ 1959
Presented to CCWRT by W. R. Northlich
in April 1959. Donated by charter member
Roger Parry.
-Ever since
:r: y
first encounter 1'lith g re c: t men of historyy
I have felt that one of the most inportant measures of
their greatness is how the y might fit
into
present-~ay
life.
-While such
view may be
~
so ~ ewhat
unrealistic, it is
nev e rtheless the way I do it -- anrt so I reserve the right
to do just that on Nathan Bedford Forrest, my subj e ct
this evening.
-In spite of 011r respect for
educ ~ ti o ny
today considered
so essential to success y thi s country was built by many
men who
ha~
none, but wh o cared;
~ en
who were dedic 2 ted.
An d I thin k its future will b e assured by those who want
what they believe in.
Educ a tion will h elpy but unless
the drive is there to b eRin
be an elusive thing.
~itb,
success is likeJ.y to
Forrest had everythin g but education.
He ma de it then -- he'd
~ ~k e
it today!
-Forrest wanted -- F0rrest believed -- Forrest got!
-2-
In today's economy -- in any economy -- Forrest would
have succeeded.
He was a driver; he was intelligent;
he proved himself an able merchant,
arbitrator,
politician, farmer -- all this before he was 40 -- and
before the War began.
in 1861
Actually he was a wealthy man
and when he entered service, he rose from
Private to Colonel in 27 days -- so his organizational
and executive ability contributed much to his success
as a soldier.
Historians make considerable out of the fact that
Forrest did what military text books said to do -without ever having read those books or ever having
heard of many of the world's great military leaders.
And, in addition,
they admit that usually -- he improved
on established military "rules".
There are few men, in-
deed, who receive this kind of accolade from later
generations.
There are many other reasons why I
think Forrest
would have done well had he lived today, but let me
lay to rest this, my own opinion, with this sage remark
of our "present" generation -- "Satchell" said,
.
-3-
"Don't look back - Something might
be gaining
011
you!"
This could well have been a doctrine of Bedford Forrests'.
Forrest is credited ,dth a famous remark -"The firstest with the mostest n
It meant that it was best to be there first with more
men.
But Forrest's campaigns belied his remark -- he was
often there first,
but rarely with the most!
When a friend of mine from New England was a salesman,
he was sent to Memphis for his first assignment.
Shortly after his arrival,
a local helpful graybeard
took him to Forrest Park and showed him the statue,
saying during his explanation of Southern attitudes
"This statue is here because he killed so many Dam'
Yankees!"
Forrest trained his men to make war, but he drilled
them very little because he knew nothing of drill
himself.
He applied his own common sense to carry out
the war instinct that was in him.
His mind was not
narrowed by military apothegms learned by rote,
and his
actions were unhampered by military regulations of any
sort.
He knew what he wanted to accomplish and he
-4-
went for that object with all the cunning of an Indian.
Forrest knew nothing of "grand strategy", but he was at
once both a shrewd,
able man of business, and at the
same time he vlas thoroughly acquainted with the commonsense tactics of the hunter and the Western pioneer.
But if his operations are carefully examined by the
most severe military critic,
they will seem as if
designed by a military professor.
tactics are thorough.
to him.
The principles of
The art of war was an instinct
He was a General by intuition.
His favorite
maxim was, "War means fighting and fighting means
killing".
It may be asserted, without contradiction,
that no man on either side -- certainly no senior
officer -- killen so many adversaries with his own hand.
He had no knowledge of military science or of military
history.
He was entirely ignorant of what
other
Generals in previous wars had done under similar circumstances.
This was certainly a great misfortune for him
and a serious drawback to his public usefulness.
But
what he lacked in book-lore was compensated for by the
soundness of his judgment upon all occasions; by his
power of thinking and reasoning with great rapidity
under fire.
•
-5-
His force was largely composed of wild and reckless men.
He possessed that rare tact which enabled him not only
to effectively control those fiery,
turbulant spirits,
but to attach them to him personally.
In him they
recognized not only the daring, able successful leader,
but also the commanding officer who would not hesitate
to punish with severity when he deemed punishment
necessary.
They were essentially Irregulars by nature,
and he
never attempted to rob them of that character.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was born on 13 July, 1821, near
Duck River in what was then Bedford County, Tennessee.
His g reat-grandfather, Shadrach Forrest,
descent,
of English
emigrated from Virginia about 1730,
County in the then Colony of North Carolina.
second son, Nathan, was the grandfather of
to Orange
His
the General.
In 1816, Grandfather Forrest moved to Tennessee in
Bedford County with his large family including William,
father of Nathan Bedford Forrest.
William Forrest moved with his large family of young
children from Tennessee to the vicinity of Salem,
in
-6-
Tippah County, North Mississippi in 1834.
This area
had just opened to emigration by purchase from the
Chickasaw Indians by the Federal Government.
here the father of Bedford Forrest died,
It was
early in 1837,
leaving his son, as yet not sixteen years of age, as
the head of the family -- his mother, six brothers, and
three sisters -- and to these was added, four months
later, his brother Jeffrey -- a posthumus child.
All his schooling work took place during the winter
months of 1836 and 1837, between the harvest and planting
seasons.
During the next two years,
typhoid fever
killed two of his brothers, including his
twin, and
his three sisters.
In 1841, he joined a company of Mississippi voulunteers
to help Texas fight its War of Independence from Mexico.
At New Orleans the company broke up and many returned
to their homes; but Bedford Forrest, and others, went
on to Houston, Texas.
There the band entirely diso1ved
as there was no apparent need for
their services.
Bedford returned to Mississippi after an absence of
four months and a half.
venture.
This was his first llmilitary"
-7-
In 1842 he went into business with an uncle in countytown of Hernando, Mississippi,
south of Memphis.
about twenty-five miles
For some nine years, he was a business
man -- making money.
On the twenty-fifth of September, 1845, when he was 25,
he married Mary Ann Montgomery, a descendant of the
Irish General who fell in December, 1775, in Quebec.
In the Spring of 1852, he left Hernando and established
himself in Memphis as a broker in real estate and a
dealer in slaves.
In 1858 Forrest was put up, without his own effort, for
the office of Alderman of his ward, and easily elected.
In June, 1859 he was reelected.
By 1859 Forrest had accumulated a considerable fortune.
In 1861 Forrest was one of the prosperous business men
of the largest city of his State,
well-stocked plantations,
bales of cotton a year.
the owner of large,
the grower of one thousand
In addition he had an estate
in stocks and other personal property.
He was six feet,
shoulders.
one inch and a half tall, with broad
He weighed one hundred and eighty-five pounds.
-8-
He had dark gray eyes, bright and searching,
dark hair,
mustache, and beard.
Much of his business was destroyed by the Emancipation
Proclamation of President Lincoln -- 15 April, 1861.
He saw that a war was inevitable and prepared his
large
private affairs for the emergency.
Early in June, 1861, he went to Memphis to join the
Confederate force then fortifying Randolph,
Tennessee.
But instead he enlisted as a private in the "Tennessee
i'lounted Rifles" in Hemphis on June 14, 1861.
On the 19th of July, 1861, Private Forrest was asked by
the Governor of Tennessee, Isham G. Harris, and by
Major-General "Bishop" Polk, Commander-in-Chief of the
Confederate Forces in that area,
to raise a regiment of
volunteer cavalry and was warranted a Colonel.
Colonel Forrest recruited his regiment in Kentucky
because most of the young men of the West Tennessee
area had already enlisted.
Colonel Forrest went to Louisville -- 20 July,
1861 --
and there purchased, with his own money, five hundred
Colt Navy .36 caliber pistols, and one hundred saddles
and other equipment.
-9-
At Brandenburg, Meade County, Kentucky,
the "Boone Rangers",
about 90 men.
raised 8 companies, 650 men.
he mustered in
By August 1, he had
The regiment was ready for
duty late in October and reported to Fort Donelson.
Forrest's liking for the
he began his career.
'51 Navy Colt started when
He armed each of his men with
two of these weapons, whenever possible, and it is
said by prisoners that the first question Forrest's men
asked them after capture was, "Any Navy?"
they asked about watches, money and food.
After that,
-10 HIGHLIGHTS OF [I'ORF.ESTS'
CA:' Ff.IGNS
FT. DONELSON, Tennessee -- February, 1862.
This was Forrest's first real assignment.
As you kno""
from the Confederate standpoint, the battle was lost by
bad leadership although the troops actually defeated
the Federals and had their advantages been follo",ed-up,
Donelson would not have fallen.
Forrest saw the opportunity; begged Fillow, Floyd and
Buckner to take it.
Instead they tlgoofed".
These three
men -- Floyd, a one-time U. S. Secretary of War;
Pi llow,
a Mexican War Veteran; Buckner, a professional soldier
gave Forrest his first disillusionment about the class
of leader he termed loosely as !lIvest Pinter".
and Floyd left Donelson with
~loyd's
only two steamboats available.
command.
Pillow
brigade on the
Buckner was left in
But, Buckner's scout said land retreat from
Donelson was impossible because the only road out was
guarded by a Yankee Division.
believe or surrender.
on that very same road.
sco l ~ ted
Forrest refused to
li e pulled ou t wi th 1500 men
He and his brother, Jeffrey,
the "Yankee Divisior.".
It was a long "solid"
line of picket fencing and as Forrest's column passed
this nYankee battle array", the y heard the bugle sound
-11-
off at Donelson opening the negotiations to surrender
10,271 men.
AT SHILOH -- 1862
Forrest discovered Buell's arrival and urged a night
attack but Hardee couldn't or wouldn't understand the
significance of this opportunity.
His rear guarr1 action
convinced Sherman and Grant that pursuit of Beauregard
after Shiloh would be inadvisable.
MURFHkEYSBORO -- 1862
Forrest had 1400 recruits.
Federals were in two camps.
He took one camp by surprise -- the
other by bluff.
(Art Hayes - 3rd Minnesota) captured 1200 men;
150
horses; new equipment for every man in Forrest's command;
destroyed $500,000 worth of property,
150,000 rations for Buell's army.
including
(Army of Ohio went
on half rations.)
After Murphreysboro,
it was Brigadier General Forrest.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE -- 1862
Bragg - another poor Confederate "Boss".
Bragg missed
every opportunity in the summer and fall of 1862 -Forrest was critical -- ordered back to Middle Tennessee
to recruit -- promised command there, but Bragg put in
-12-
Breckenridge -- Bragg, man of iron heart,
iron hand,
wooden head.
VICKSBUkG -- winter December, 1862 - January, 1863
Forrest ordered to West Tennessee line of communications.
a~ant's
December 11, Forrest left
Columbia, Tennessee, with 2400 men.
munition,
to Hbreak"
Very little am-
few caps, poor horses, inadequate provisions.
He crossed Tennessee River at Clifton.
By this time
wires were hot to Union Commands allover Western
Kentucky, Western Tennessee, and Y-ississippi -- as far
south as Oxford, where Grant was trying to start his
campaign against Vicksburg.
Using bluff,
gambling, being brilliant, here's what
he did -• destroyed a large part of Mobile and Ohio Railroad
north of Jackson, Miss.
• had his 2400 estimated by as many as 10,000
• captured Lexington - 150 officers and men;
Carbines;
ammo;
70 horses;
300 Sharps
captures outposts north
and south of Jackson with more p risoners,
arms,
ammo and horses;
captured Humboldt - 100 prisoners;
500 rounds ammo;
300,000 small arms and ammo;
captured Trenton -- 250 prisoners;
13 wagons;
etc.;
20,000
-13-
rounds artillery
a~mo;
more horses;
provisions.
By this time Sullivan reported to Grant thai! there were
20,000
Confe~erates
in West Tennessee!
Then Forrest went north,
hitting four Federal garrisons,
including Moscow, Kentucky.
Kentucky, Davies,
The Union Commander at Columbus,
He was sitting on 13
got worried.
million dollars worth of stores with 5,000 men.
So he
informed Halleck in Washington that 40,000 Confederates
were marchin g toward Columbus.
Halleck rushed rein-
forcements from St. Louis and Cairo.
It was December 24 -
two weeks after leaving Columbia.
But the blue coats were coming from every direction.
Forrest rebuilt a rotten bridge ecross the O'Bion River
getting between 2 enemy forces.
force at Parkers Cross roads,
He attacked Denham's
defeated it.
As surrender
was being negotiated, Sullivan came up and forrest was
between two Federal battle lines.
II e
C
h a r g e c1 bot h way s ,
getting out of the surprise with minor losses, prisoners
and a well-equipped force, which had been a crowd of
raw recruits with poor equipment when he left Columbia
only three weeks before.
It is said
that these 6dventures by Forrest in December,
1862, caused Grant to abandon the railroad as a source
-14-
of supply for his Vicksburg Campaign.
Vrom then on, he
relied on the Mississippi River.
STREIGHT -- 1863
The Yankee co mmander in P iddle Tennessee that spring of
'63 was Rosecrans.
Cavalry.
He had had his
troubles with Rebel
So when Colonel Abel D. Strei g ht proposed to
rlestroy Confederate lines of
co~munication,
plus the
centers of arms ann ammo manufacture in North Georgia
by means of a "Confederate-type " raid, Rosecrans was
eager to agre e .
On April 11, Colonel Abel D. Streight
and 2,000 men (infantry to be mounted on mules) assembled
at Palmyra, Tennessee.
idea.
The mules had been Rosecrans'
On April 23, Streight started for North Georgia.
On the same day,
Forrest left Columbia, 100 miles away,
with the 11th Tennessee, 600 men.
The chase began, which
was to end near Rome, Georgia On Ma y 3 when Streight
surrendered 1600/1700 men to Forrest's 420 men.
This campaign shows Forrest at his best -- in determination,
skill, endurance and leadership.
Colonel Streight was
bluffed into surrender and was very u n happy when he
learned that Forrest had only 1/4 his number.
In fact,
he wanted to start over, but Bedford wouldn't agree.
-15-
MIrtLE T]'<;NNESSEE AND
Forrest was there!
CHICKA~~C'~; GA
-- 1863
Before Chickamonga he played a vital
part in preserving Confederate communications and protected
the rear of Brigg's army as Rosecrans
out-maneu~ered
Bragg
to cause him to cross the river and go into camp around
Chattanooga.
Forrest's principle contribution at Chickamonga was his
realization, first among Confederate Brass, that Rosecrans
had managerl to separate his units and make them exceedingly
vulnerable.
Second, and after Rosecrans discovered his
danger and relined his divisions, Forrest was the first
senior officer to see the danger to the Confederate
flank.
With one small brigade, he held up the Union
advance on the Confederate right flank.
The Union
Commander, Brannon, reported he was opposed by 2 divisions.
On September 21, after the Federals had begun their
retreat, Forrest begged Bragg to follow up the advantage.
11
Noll •
Longstreet wrote Davis about the shameful conduct
of Bragg in the whole affair.
On September 28, Bragg ordered Forrest to turn over his
command to Wheeler.
Forrest went to Bragg's headquarters
on September 29 and callen Bragg the coward that he was.
This was the end of the line for Forrest, for by this
-16-
action he did the Southern cause a great injury.
Bragg
was ambitious and designing
Forrest just a dedicated
military genius.
as such men do so often.
At this time,
Bragg won
President Davis took no notice of the
complaints of many of Bragg's lieutenants about Bragg's
poor generalship.
In fact,
him at Montgomery, Alabama.
he asked Forrest to meet
At that time Davis put
Forrest under the command of Joe Johnston and gave him
permission to raise an independent command in North
Mississippi and West Tennessee.
In Atlanta he gathered
the force he was to be allowed to take with him -- 279
men.
His old brigade petitioned to go with him, but
Bragg refused.
So in l a te November,
F c rrest and his 279 men were in
Okolona, ¥ississippi.
At this time, West Kentucky,
Tennessee between the
Mississippi River and the Tennessee River,
and North
Mississippi, either had not been in Confederate hands
since Donelson,
or was disputed territory.
area Forrest proposed to occupy for
This was the
the Confederacy.
There were about 20,000 Federals in the area;
between Corinth and Memphis.
10,000
-17-
Johnston ordered a brigade of West Tennesseeans to report
to Forrest -- 2,000 men. 240 reported;
"home" without leave.
the rest being
But Forrest started recruiting
and soon had over 4,000 men,
plenty of provisions,
but
little equipment as usual, by raiding Federal garrisons.
SMITH -- WEST TENNESSEE,
BRICI~S
CROSSROADS -- HARRISBURG
In November, 1863, Union Commander Hurlburt was complacent
about the news of Forrest's return to his 16th Army Corp
area.
But, by January, 1864, Hurlburt,
Grierson, and
their subordinates, were on the defensive.
Sherman ordered Ger:era1 IISookey" Smith, with 7,000 of
the finest Yankee cavalry,
to join him at Meridian.
Smith
was to leave Colliersville on February 1.
At Okolona, in three days (February 20, 21 and 22) Forrest
"whipped" Smith, who never reached his boss at Meridian.
Smith retreated to Memphis and Sherman learned again
that Forrest was not One of the "small" ones.
In March and April,
April,
Forrest continued his raids.
In
Sherman, disgusted, replaced Hurlburt with
Washburn and put General Sturgis over Grierson in Command
of Cavalry.
Bedford.
Then the Federals were ready to get old
Sturgis had 8400 men,
22 guns,
and a wagon
-18-
train of 250 with 25 ambulances.
Supplies were provided
for 20 days.
On June 1 this fine
organization took to
the field"
to get Forrest's hair".
Brice's Crossroads was a little battle sufficient
~en
involved for it to be so rated.
Remember Forrest had less
It "las rout.
there were
than half of Sturgis' 8500.
Sturgis got back
to Colliersville in 64
it took him ten days to get to Brices Crossroads.
hours.
But going back he had no artillery or wagon train.
Confederates lost 492 killed and wounded.
Stur gis los t
2612, plus 1612 prisoners; all wagons and ambulances;
all baggage, artillery,
5,000 small arms, 500,000 rounds
of ammo.
Sherman couldn't understand "ho,,, Forrest could defeat
Sturgis's 8500 men - with only cavalry".
That was before
he learned that Forrest fought his men chiefly as
infantry.
Marshall Foch used this battle a s a subject of a lecture.
No other battle in the Civil War shows evidence of harder
fighting or a more crushing defeat.
Forrest used no
sabres -- only Navy 36's and sawed-off Enfield's.
Sherman sZlid "There "ril l
unti I
forrest is dead ll
•
And
never be peace in Tennessee
-19-
If, at this ti:ne, Davis had "discovered" Forrest, as he
once discovered Lee, there's no telling what results might
have been.
But, Bra g g,
II how a s
no", Da vis's "a d vis 0 r " in
Richmond, chose this time to aim further criticism at
Forrest.
In late June, Johnston appealed to Davis, through Bragg,
four times to give Forrest 10,000 men and throw them into
Tennessee to relieve the pressure on Atlanta.
In July,
Governor Brown of Georgia and General Cobb, who was a
personal friend of navis, added their petitions.
usual Bragg said
II
As
No" •
Grant and Sherman took it for granted that Forrest would
be reinforced and sent into Middle Tennessee.
.A force
of 16,000 men and under General "Baldy" Smith was '1'\21de
up to get him -- leaving La Grange on July 5.
Confederate General Stephen D. Lee was put in command
of the Confederate forces and F0rrest was not the
superior officer.
9460 Confederates opposed "Baldy"
Smith at Harrisburg, Mississippi.
engagement.
The Confederates were beaten because they
were mishan0.1ed.
in the fight.
It was a badly directed
5000 of the 9400 were never even used
-20-
Lee was replaced by General Dabney Maury,
the first
Confederate area commander who really understood
Forrest and who did not propose to interfere with his
defense of Northern Mississippi.
Instead he furnished
supplies to Forrest's 5,000 men.
UBaldy" Smith assembled now at LaGrange and in early
August invaded Mississippi.
Grierson, 10,000
infantry,
He had
4~000
cavalry under
3,000 Negroes and 3
Minnesota regiments sent from St.
Louis.
(Hayes)
By the 17th, Smith had repaired the railroad,
collected
supplies and laid a pontoon across the Ta11ahatchie and
was ready to advance south in earnest.
Everybody knew
that the Confederates couldn't cope with the superior
forces,
so on the 18th,
Forrest (with 1500 men and
four guns) rode west out of Oxford.
Sunday
morning,
of Mel1phis.
(Washburn,
At 3:00 p.m.
on
the corn'nand stopped four miles sou th
He knew exactly where three Generals
Hurlbut and Buckland) with their 5,OQO troops
were located in the city of Memphis.
Forrest gave his
orders and the command advanced into the city.
The
three Generals escaped but most of their staffs were
captured~
-2l~
By 9:00 a.m. that morning, the resistance was we11organized, but Forrest withdrew with 600 prisoners,
horses, mules and lots of private plunder.
During the
raids on the hotels, General Washburn had escaped without
taking time to dress.
Forrest sent him his clothes under
a flag of truce -- and Washburn had a tailor make a
handsome uniform for old Bedford, to show his appreciation
for thi s little courtesy.
While all this was going on,
Chalmers (one of Forrest's Lieutenants) had made such
a show of defending Oxford that Smith never suspected
that of Forrest himself, and all his command, were not
in front of him.
After this episode, lfBa1c1yll Smith llas recalled to the
Trans-Mississippi area and Forrest was asked to help out
in the Mobile area.
Atlanta fell on
;1 au r y a t
y
0
Septe~ber
2, 1861.
General Taylor replaced
b i 1 e and c (l n s L1 1 tat ion b e hT e en For res tan d Ta IT lor
in the decision that the only ';Jay to relieve Hood's army,
then west of Atlanta, was to worry Sherman's communications
north of the Tennessee River.
On September l6th 9 the raid began iwth about 3400 men
in two columns.
The first target was the garrison at
Athens, Georgia, which was soon captured -- 1900 prisoners,
-22-
artillery, wagons,
stores,
etc.
ambulances,
horses,
ordnance,
commissary
Then they knocked down Sulphur Trestle,
eleven miles from Athens -- and then nn into Alabama.
~orrest
made a feint at Columbia,
at Florence, Alabama,
Tennessee,
on the fifth
when Forrest was on a raid,
and arrived
of October.
As usual,
there was considerable
embarrassment and consternation on the part of the Union
command.
Now General
Stead~an,
with 12,000 men,
was
rapidly approaching Florence but Forrest got away by
crossing the
arrived.
Tennessee a couple of hours before the Federals
The command then moved to Corinth, Mississippi,
and the raid was at an end.
Forrest had marched and fought his men 500 miles in 23
days.
Finally,
the Confederacy,
and Davis in particular,
began to understand what Federal commanders had known
for two years -- that Forrest was one of the most
powerful and successful commanders in the entire
Confederacy and that he always won his
always at a small price.
campaign~
In this last raid,
and
he put
out of combat over 3500 men against a total killed and
wounded in his own command of 340 men.
He had captured
eight pieces of artillery and ammllnition,
and medical supplies.
commissary
He had destroyed six railroad
bridges, 100 miles of road,
two locomotives, fifty freight
-23 -
cars and ten block houses.
But this success came too late.
to Savannah!
Sherman was on his way
There was one final raid in November.
time at Jacksonville,
This
Tennessee, where a number of gun
boats were destroyed along with other supplies to a
total of 2 1/2 million dollars.
This act interfered
with river traffic and supported Forrest's long-time
contention
made first to Jefferson Davis before
Chickamonga -- that he could successfully close the
river to the enemy provided he was given a free hand.
Even at this late date it appears that there was one man
in the Southern Confederacy around wh om the people
(especially the palin people and army) would have rallied.
If Davis had ha d the vision anrl c01lrage to appoint
Forrest to a command in the West he wo u ld have revived
an enthusiasm for
the War.
It has been the
judgment of
most historians that the overwhelming resources of the
North doomed the South froM the very beginning.
at this point, and even before this,
the S o uth was breaking because Davis
lead his people.
But,
the spirit of
could no lo n ger
And there has been plenty of evidence
in history that people are conquered until their spirit
is broken.
-24-
Forrest's capacity to
com~and
seems to have improved
under almost every condition.
tunity; he got recruits when
He never wasted an oppor~11
others had failed;
he
equipped his troops in barren lands; his strategy was
confusing; his tactics Napoleonic; and his morals to
the end was stiff with cQvrage.
At Appomattox, when asked who was the greatest soldier
under his command, Lee answered, "A man I have never
seen -- his name is Forrest".
Davis' last flight to
the west was because he hoped to raise an army under
Forrest and carryon the struggle.
But all this was
wasted -- too late -- even Hood in his final campaign in
the Nashville area weakened Forrest by dividing his
cavalry and putting it on two flanks.
In the retreat
frooo Nashville, Hood followed the pattern of al.1 his
predecessors by recognizing the ability of this wild man
by selecting his to carryon the rear guard action.
performance in this affair is a story in itself.
His
At one
particular difficult point, a courier dashed up and said,
'tGeneral,
the enemy is on our right flank".
Fifteen
minutes later another ccurier said "The enemy is on our
left flank".
A few minutes later, a third report
enemy is at cpr rear ll
•
"the
Forrest said, "Well ain't \'/e in
thern" -- and I always carry my rear 'l'li th me".
-25-
hOW
was made a Lt. General and placed in charge
~orrest
of all cavalry in Mississippi, East Louisiana and West
Tennessee.
His was the lust body of men in the west.
There were 75,000 Union troops available now to make
the invasion of Forrest's department and several
columns threatened him at once.
Forrest had 10,000 men,
reusonably well-equipped, the largest force ever to be
under his command.
But then Lee surrendered to Grant
and Johnston to Sherman and great gloom settled over
the lines of the last force East of the Mississippi.
General Taylor informed Forrest that he was making
arrangements to parole the men in Forrest's department.
On the morning the paroles were to be signed, Ferrest
called Major Anderson from his tent.
saddled.
lIe had two horses
Anderson said, 1l1Thich 1"ay, General?"
Forrest replied, "It makes no difference.
And
If' one led
to Hell and the other to Mexico, I wouldn't care which
one I took't.
prepared
~
But he sbared the fate of his men and
farewell address.
When he told them good-
bye, he said (in part) "1 have never, on the field of
battle, sent you where I was unwilling to go myself nor
would I nOw advise you a cause which I felt myself
-26-
unwilling to pursue.
Obey the laws, preserve your
honor, and the Government to which you have surrendered can afford to be, and will be, generous".
-27-
After the war, iorrest returned to Mississippi.
ITe took
a partner, a Federal Officer, and together they ran his
plantation in Cohofla County.
In 1868 Forrest was a
delegate to the first presidential election after the
~'T
ar •
When he arrived in New York, he attracted so much
attention that he couldn't move without
cro'l',d.
attr~cting
a
Now there had been, as ynu know, many stories
in the northern papers abo'..lt flForrest the Butcher".
Whi Ie
in Ne"T York <:,n angular spinster presented herself at his
hotel room -- a Bible in one hand and an ul1brella in the
other -- prepared for any emergency.
you the rehel Ceneral Forre s t?
She sairl, "Are
Is it trl1e you l'wrdered
those poor Coloren people at r,'ort Fillo\.. ?"
The General
rose fro:n his bed in his night shirt and said, "Yes,
Madam, I
killed those men
an~
Domen for ny soldiers'
dinner and ate the babies :c"yself for breakfast".
Forrest became Grand Uizard of the Invisable Empire
the Ku Klux Klan -- and in this way he was the last
ruler of the South.
His activities from July of 1867
through 1870 is a story in itself but it broke the
power of the reconstruction.
Forrest issued an order
-28-
disbanding the Klan in 1870.
By then there was nothing
He trjed promoting a
left for Bedford Forrest to do.
railroad; he tried farming;
he spent what 0 0ney he had
left t o aia his o ld troopers
of a sudden? his
~ighty
l'ltO
'!-lere
suffering and, ,,11
constitution gave way.
At a
reunion of the Seventh Tennessee Cavalry in September
of 1 3 76, he Illane his l a st public app e arance and died
At his funer a l in Memphis, Davis
October 29, 1877.
said the trouble was that the Generals commanding the
southwest never appreciated Forrest, until it was too
late.
He said he wa s nis1ead by these Generals and he
never knew how to
him ex c e p t
t h (\ S e
Forrest.
~easure
1" h 0
f
0
Nobody understood
ugh tun d e r him!
And the enemy!
And nay '..)e are back in F orrest Park in Eemphis, many
An auto mobile passed the Park.
years 1() ter.
seat sat an old co1 o rerl
~~ m my,
I r: the back
nurse to a small boy!
1\s her "1istress 0rove by the statue she grunted,
De Gin r aI' s h 0 s s s hoi s g: itt i nip 0 e".
1t;1 hat d 0
Georgianna'?
That h o rse c a n!t lose weight.
of Bronze".
If
n_a r,
ii e 11
I in 1
a 11 d I s e e n him n 0 -u
regan de Ginral
1l1U.St
you
m e en
It's made
see n 'e m v; hen dey put him up
I
~
-
(:] n (1 h e s hoi S
the ,·rorld could that D21:ppen,
I
llHlHnph!
Georgianna?1!
poe II
II
•
I
"How in
non' t Ie n 01'1 ' m •
ride hi m of a nightH.
Prepared by
W. R. Northlich