FORREST, NATHANBEDFORD
Forrest, Nathan Bedford
(July 13, 1821–October 29, 1877)
Confederate General
A
self-taught military
genius, “that Devil”
Forrest rose from
private to lieutenant-gen-
eral and in the process
sustained four wounds,
killed more than 30 men,
and lost 29 horses shot
from beneath him. He
was the best and most au-
dacious cavalry raider of
the Civil War, and his fa-
mous maxim—“Get there
first with the most
men”—reflected estab-
lished military principles.
Nathan Bedford For-
rest was born in Chapel
Hill, Tennessee, on July
13, 1821, the son of a
poor frontier blacksmith.
The family moved to the
wilderness of Mississippi,
and when his father died in 1837, Forrest be-
came responsible for feeding a large family.
He endured a hardscrabble existence for
many years but displayed the singular deter-
mination that characterized his whole life. De-
prived of an education, Forrest taught himself
how to read and write; traded in cattle, cot-
ton, and slaves; and made a fortune.
Forrest was a millionaire by the time the
Civil War began in April 1861, and he joined the
Seventh Tennessee Cavalry as a private. How-
ever, when Forrest used his personal wealth to
raise and equip a cavalry regiment on his own,
he became its lieutenant colonel in August
- He fought several skirmishes along Ten-
nessee’s Cumberland River and in February
1862 escaped from Fort Donelson rather than
surrender. Promoted colonel, Forrest next
fought at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, cov-
ered the rear guard with distinction, and was
severely wounded. He
subsequently advanced to
brigadier general in July
1862 and joined the army
of Gen. Braxton Braggin
Tennessee.
As Bragg’s army com-
menced its invasion of
Kentucky, Forrest was
dispatched on several
raids, which established
his reputation as a bril-
liant cavalry commander.
In July 1862, his brigade
stormed Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, where it out-
fought and bluffed a
1,200-man Union garrison
into surrendering. Bragg,
however, viewed Forrest
as little more than a parti-
san, removed him from
command, and ordered
him to raise a new force. Forrest readily com-
plied, and from December 1862 to January
1863, he raided Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s supply
lines with such effect that Grant’s assault on
Vicksburg, Mississippi, was postponed for
weeks. Between April and May 1863, Forrest
then operated in northern Georgia, where he
blunted a cavalry raid by Union Col. Abel
Streight, relentlessly pursued him for three
days, and captured his entire command. Mean-
while, Bragg evacuated Tennessee in the fall of
1863 but turned and won an important victory
at Chickamauga in September. Forrest again
distinguished himself in the fighting but argued
bitterly with Bragg when the latter failed to
mount an effective pursuit. When Bragg then
stripped him of his command once again, For-
rest angrily resigned from the army. Finding
his services to the Confederacy indispensable,
President Jefferson Davisarranged an inde-Nathan Bedford Forrest
Library of Congress