|
The goal of Forrest Station is to generate revenue for heritage defense and other Like the namesake, Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, we aspire to do the MOST possible! We hope you like our merchandise offerings, including some exclusive items, -, Proprietor Forrest Station is an authorized dealer for Dixie Outfitters Apparel
|
ABOUT GEN. FORREST Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Bedford Co., Tennessee on July 13, 1821. A self-made man with little formal education, he had acquired a substantial fortune as a planter and slave dealer by 1861. He enlisted as a private in the Tennessee Cavalry and raised and equipped at his own expense a battalion of mounted troops, of which he was elected Lt. Col. on Oct. 1861. Taking part in the defense of Fort Donelson, he asked and received permission to lend out his men before the surrender. He was elected Col. of the 3rd Tennessee just before Shiloh, and two months later, in June, assumed command of a cavalry brigade in the Army of Tennessee. The next month he captured the Union garrison with its stores at Murfeesboro, and on July 21, 1882, he was promoted brigadier. With a fresh command he succeeded in severing Grant's communications in West Tennessee in December, and in May 1863, saved the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta. He took part in the Chattanooga campaign, until a quarrel with Gen. Bragg led him to ask for and receive from Pres. Davis an independent command in N. Mississippi and West Tennessee. He was promoted major general on Dec. 4, 1863. By this time his fame as a leader of cavalry had become almost legendary, and his exploits went unabated until the end of the war. IN April 1864, he captured Fort Pillow, in June he brilliantly routed a superior force at Brices Cross Roads and the following month, he stood off General A.J. Smiith at Tupelo. These lightning blows from Forrest caused Sherman alarm for the safety of his communications. In November and December 1864, he served under Hood in the Tennessee campaign and was in command of all cavalry. He was promoted Lt. General February 28, 1865. Gen. Forrest was finally overwhelmed by greatly superior forces at Selma, Alabama in April 1865. After the close of hostilities, he was again a planter and was for some years presidents of the Selma, Marion & Memphis Railroad. He died, probably of diabetes, at Memphis on October 29, 1877, and is buried there. Many military critics pronounce him the foremost cavalry officer produces in America. Taken from "Generals in Gray" |