Nathan Bedford Forrest

Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821 – October 29, 1877), was a Confederate general and perhaps the American Civil War's most highly regarded cavalry and partisan ranger (guerrilla leader). He was one of the war's most innovative and successful generals; his tactics of mobile warfare are still studied by modern soldiers. After the war, Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html

War record and promotions

• Enlisted as private July, 1861. (Company "E", Tennessee Mounted Rifles)
• Commissioned Lt. Colonel October, 1861. (Raised 7th Tennessee Cavalry)
• Promoted, Colonel February 1862, Fort Donelson.
• Wounded, Battle of Shiloh, April 1862.
• Promoted, Brig. General July 1862, 3rd Tennessee Cavalry.
• First Battle of Murfreesboro, July 1862.
• Raids in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi, Fall 1862 – Spring 1863.
• Battle of Day's Gap, April – May 1863.
• Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863.
• Battle of Paducah, March 1864.
• Battle of Fort Pillow, April 1864.
• Battle of Brice's Crossroads, June 1864.
• Raids in Tennessee, August–October 1864.
• Battle of Spring Hill, November 1864.
• Battle of Franklin, November 1864.
• Battle of Nashville, December 1864.
• Promoted Lt. General, and given independent command, December 1864.
• Final Address to his troops, May 1865.

Impact of Forrest's doctrines

Forrest was one of the first men to grasp the doctrines of "mobile warfare" that became prevalent in the 20th century. Paramount in his strategy was to "get there fustest with the mostest", even if it meant pushing his horses at a killing pace, which he did more than once. (The "fustest ... mostest" quote may be apocryphal, as it first appeared in print in a New York Times story in 1917, written to provide colorful comments in reaction to European interest in Civil War generals.) A report on the Battle of Paducah stated that Forrest led a mounted cavalry of 2,500 troopers 100 miles in only 50 hours.

Related Topics:
Mobile warfare - 20th century - New York Times - 1917 - Battle of Paducah

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Forrest became well known for his early use of "guerrilla" tactics as applied to a mobile horse cavalry deployment. He sought to constantly harass the enemy in fast moving raids, and to disrupt supply trains and enemy communications by dynamiting railroad track and cutting telegraph lines, as he wheeled around the Union Army's flank. His success in doing so is reported to have driven Ulysses S. Grant to fits of anger.

Related Topics:
Guerrilla - Telegraph - Ulysses S. Grant

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Many students of warfare have come to appreciate Forrest's somewhat novel approach to cavalry deployment and quick hit-and-run tactics, and how this may have affected mobile tactics in the modern mechanized era.

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