Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest 1821-77, Confederate general, b. Bedford co., Tenn. (his birthplace is now in Marshall co.). At the beginning of the Civil War, Forrest, a wealthy citizen of Memphis, organized a cavalry force, which he led at Fort Donelson (Feb., 1862) and Shiloh (April). He assumed command of a cavalry brigade in the Army of Tennessee (June) and in July captured a large Union garrison at Murfreesboro. He was made a brigadier general. With a newly recruited command he effectively cut Grant's communications in a raid through W Tennessee (Dec., 1862). After foiling a Union attempt to cut the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta (May, 1863), Forrest participated in the Chattanooga campaign until trouble with Braxton Bragg led him to accept a command in N Mississippi. He was promoted to major general (Dec., 1863); captured Fort Pillow (Apr., 1864); defeated a superior force at Brices Cross Roads, Miss. (June); and held Gen. Andrew Jackson Smith to a drawn battle at Tupelo, Miss. (July). These Union failures against Forrest caused Sherman, then advancing on Atlanta, much concern for his communications. Forrest commanded all the cavalry under John Bell Hood in that general's Tennessee campaign (Nov.-Dec., 1864) and was promoted to lieutenant general (Feb., 1865). He surrendered shortly after his defeat at Selma, Ala., in April. After the war he engaged for a time in railroading and also was important in the activities of the Ku Klux Klan . Forrest, probably the greatest Confederate cavalryman, is one of the most interesting figures of the war.

Bibliography: See biographies by J. A. Wyeth (1899, repr. 1959), E. W. Sheppard (1930), R. S. Henry (1944), and A. N. Lytle (rev. ed. 1960).

Forrest, Nathan Bedford (1821–77) Confederate general, born in Marshall County, Texas. Forrest was considered the most brilliant cavalry officer of the war but was known for being bloodthirsty and ruthless. Forrest had extensive battle experience, mainly in Tennessee, including Fort Donelson and Shiloh (both 1862); Stones River (1862–63), at which he captured an entire garrison of infantry and cavalry as well as four cannon; and Fort Pillow (1864), where he was seen as responsible for the massacre of many African-American defenders, giving rise to his being a symbol of the violence and racism of the war. He took Memphis (1863) and successfully eluded Federal capture, specifically ordered by William T. Sherman. Forrest had no military training but was considered a natural military genius. Before the war, he had earned a fortune as a plantation owner and dealer in slaves and real estate. Following it, he was active in politics and was one of the organizers and early leaders of the Ku Klux Klan.

Forrest, Nathan Bedford (1821–1877), Civil War general, slave trader, planter.Born in Bedford Country, Tennessee, Forrest received little formal education but learned to hold his own—and then some—in a violent frontier society. By ruthless drive and intelligence he made himself a planter and slave trader.

At the outset of the Civil War, Forrest raised a cavalry battalion in the Confederate army. He led his men out of Fort Donelson just before its 16 February 1862 surrender, and at the 6–7 April Battle of Shiloh was conspicuously aggressive, being severely wounded covering the Confederate retreat. That summer he led a cavalry brigade in a spectacular raid through middle Tennessee. Promoted to brigadier general 21 July, he again raided behind Federal lines in December, helping to defeat Ulysses S. Grant's first drive on Vicksburg.

In Alabama, in April 1863, he captured Col. Abel D. Streight's superior Union raiding force by bluff. At the Battle of Chickamauga, 19–20 September, Forrest's troops opened the fighting. Afterward, he fell out with his army commander, Braxton Bragg, was transferred to Mississippi, and promoted to major general on 4 December 1863.

In April 1864 his troops at the Battle of Fort Pillow, Tennessee, stormed the fort, killing black Union soldiers as they attempted to surrender. In June, he routed a superior force under Samuel D. Sturgis at Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi, but suffered defeat at Tupelo the following month. In November and December, Forrest commanded all the cavalry accompanying Gen. John Bell Hood's ill‐fated offensive into Tennessee, and skillfully covered the Confederate retreat.

On 28 February 1865, Forrest was promoted to lieutenant general, but he and his command were worn out, and they faced a powerful Federal mounted force under James H. Wilson driving into Alabama. Wilson defeated Forrest at Selma in April. After the war, Forrest returned to planting and served as the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

His military usefulness in the Civil War was marred by his hot temper; he virtually required autonomy. Nevertheless, as the leader of a semi‐independent mobile striking force, he has had few equals. He is also remembered for his alleged advice to commanders to “get there ‘firstest’ with the ‘mostest.’”
[See also Civil War: Military and Diplomatic Course; Confederate Army.]

Bibliography

Brian Steel Wills , A Battle from the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest, 1992.

Steven E. Woodworth