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For the last two years of the Civil War I was a private soldier in a regiment of Alabama cavalry which had formerly served under Forrest. Four companies of this regiment had formed a portion of the famous battalion which had distinguished itself in the engagement at Fort Donelson, and, refusing to surrender, had marched out with him through the gap in General Grant’s lines. Although I was at no time directly under General Forrest, I was impressed by the enthusiastic devotion to him of these veterans, who had followed his banner for the first year of the war, and who seemed never to tire in speaking of his kind treatment of them, his sympathetic nature as a man, his great personal daring, and especially of his wonderful achievements as a commander. Of these achievements I was at that time not altogether ignorant. His escape from Fort Donelson; the desperate charge which saved Beauregard’s army from Sherman’s vigorous pursuit after Shiloh, in which he was severely wounded; the capture of Murfreesborough with its entire garrison of infantry and artillery, with his small brigade of cavalry without cannon; the charge on and capture of Coburn’s infantry at Thompson’s station; the capture of the garrison at Brentwood; and the relentless pursuit of Streight’s raiders, which ended in the surrender of these gallant Union soldiers to Forrest with less than one-half of their number, had already attracted wide attention and had made him famous. The knowledge of these facts, together with a personal association with the men who had felt the influence of his immediate leadership, naturally interested me in his career, which I closely followed to the end of the great struggle. When the general government, with wise forethought, began to collect and to place at the disposal of its citizens the official reports and correspondence, and all the reliable literature of the war, I undertook, in the light of these and other authentic papers, a closer analysis of his military record. The further my investigations proceeded, the more I became convinced that while Forrest was justly acknowledged to be one of the most famous fighters and leaders of mounted infantry or cavalry which the war produced on either side, he was more than this, and that a careful and unbiased statement of his achievements would place him in history not only as one of the most remarkable and romantic personalities of the Civil War, but as one of the ablest soldiers of the world. While I had hoped, as year after year slipped by since peace was declared, that some one abler than I would undertake the task of placing in readable shape the story of his life, I had determined if this were not done before I should pass into the “sere and yellow leaf” to pay this tribute to his memory myself. It has been a work of years to gather up from every available source the matter relating to this history—his early days, his civil and private life, and the accurate facts of his military record. In 1894, I wrote a condensed sketch, had it printed in single column upon the margin of wide sheets of paper, leaving a large blank space, and these I mailed to every surviving officer or soldier of his command whose address I could obtain, and to others personally acquainted with Forrest before or after the war. All were requested to return the sheet with corrections, and to add everything of interest, for the accuracy of which the sender could vouch. I also caused the publication of this sketch in various newspapers of wide circulation in the section of the South from which his troops were chiefly drawn, and asked as well for private letters of information. As a result of these efforts a great mass of material came into my possession, and an interest was aroused which encouraged me in the laborious task of sifting the reliable from the unreliable, and of making presentable to the reader the matter which was worthy of credence.

"Revered by some, loathed by others, Nathan Bedford Forrest has long been considered one of the greatest soldiers of the American Civil War. Responsible for his family at a young age, he quickly developed traits - self-reliance, decisiveness, and assertiveness - that would later make him famous. In business, the uneducated Forrest quickly made a fortune in various endeavors, including the slave trade. When the Civil War began, Forrest became an adept recruiter and leader, despite his lack of training in military science. His cavalrymen became famous for the forced marches, deception, and audacious battlefield maneuvers they used to defeat forces that often outnumbered them. In 1864, Forrest gained notoriety for his participation in the battle for Fort Pillow, Tennessee. In a controversy that persists today, the high casualty rate among African-American troops who surrendered there led to charges that Forrest's men had perpetrated a racially motivated massacre. After the war, Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan while promoting reconciliation between North and South amid the chaos of Reconstruction."--Jacket

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), called Bedford Forrest in his lifetime, was a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered as a self-educated, brutal, and innovative cavalry leader during the war and as a leading Southern advocate in the postwar years. He was a pledged delegate from Tennessee to the New York Democratic national convention of 4 July 1868. He served as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, but later distanced himself from the organization.A cavalry and military commander in the war, Forrest is one of the war's most unusual figures. Although less educated than many of his fellow officers, before the war Forrest had already amassed a fortune as a planter, real estate investor, and slave trader. He was one of the few officers in either army to enlist as a private and be promoted to general officer and corps commander during the war. Although Forrest lacked formal military education, he had a gift for leadership, strategy and tactics. He created and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname The Wizard of the Saddle.Forrest was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow for allowing forces under his command to massacre hundreds of black Union Army and white Southern Unionist prisoners. Union Major General William T. Sherman investigated the allegations and did not charge Forrest with any improprieties.In their postwar writings, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee both expressed their belief that the Confederate high command had failed to fully use Forrest's talents.

Relive the final days of the Civil War with this compelling account of Wilson's Raid told by memoirs of those who witnessed it. In the closing months of the Civil War, General James Wilson led a Union cavalry raid through Alabama and parts of Georgia. Wilson, the young, brash "boy general" of the Union, matched wits against Nathan Bedford Forrest, the South's legendary "wizard of the saddle." Wilson's Raiders swept through cities like Selma, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, destroying the last remaining industrial production centers of the Confederacy along with any hopes of its survival. Forrest and his desperately outnumbered cavalry had no option but to try to stop the Union's advance. Join Russell Blount as he examines the eyewitness accounts and diaries chronicling this defining moment in America's bloodiest war.

In February 1864, General William Sooy Smith led a force of over seven thousand cavalry on a raid into the Mississippi Prairie, bringing fire and destruction to one of the very few breadbaskets remaining in the Confederacy. Smith's raid was part of General William T. Sherman's campaign to march across Mississippi from Vicksburg to destroy the railroad junction at Meridian. Both Smith and Sherman intended to burn everything in their path that could aid in the Southern war effort. It was a harbinger of things to come in Georgia, South Carolina and the Shenandoah Valley. But neither reckoned with General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest's small Confederate cavalry force defeated Smith in a running battle that stretched from West Point to Okolona and beyond. Forrest's victory prevented Smith from joining Sherman and saved the Prairie from total destruction. Join Civil War historian Brandon Beck as he narrates this exciting story, with all the realities and color of cavalry warfare in the Deep South. Also included is a brief guided tour of the extant sites, preserved for future generations by the Friends of the Battle of Okolona, Inc.

Every leader needs a trusted confidant. For Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the Civil Wars greatest military minds, that man was David Campbell Kelley. Kelley began adulthood in the clergy, serving for two years as a missionary in China and returning home just a year before the Civil War. He then raised a company of cavalry from his familys large congregation that became part of Forrests original regiment. Kelley quickly became Forrests second in command, assisting in some of his most daring engagements, offering support in key decisions and serving as his unofficial chaplain. Following the war, Kelley returned to preaching, helped establish Vanderbilt University and launched a campaign for governor of Tennessee. Now, for the first time, author Michael R. Bradley brings Kelleys dynamic life to the fore.

On April 12, 1864, on the Tennessee banks of the Mississippi River, a force of more than 3,000 Confederate cavalrymen under General Nathan Bedford Forrest stormed Fort Pillow, overwhelming a garrison of some 350 Southern white Unionists and over 300 former slaves turned artillerymen. By the next day, hundreds of Federals were dead, over 60 black soldiers had been captured and re-enslaved, and over 100 white soldiers had been marched off to their doom at Andersonville. Confederates called this bloody battle and its aftermath a hard-won victory. Northerners deemed it premeditated slaughter. To this day, Fort Pillow remains one of the most controversial battles in American history. River Run Red vividly depicts the incompetence and corruption of Union occupation in Tennessee, the horrors of guerrilla warfare, the legacy of slavery, and the pent-up bigotry and rage that found its release at Fort Pillow. Andrew Ward brings to life the garrison’s black soldiers and their ambivalent white comrades, and the former slave trader Nathan Bedford Forrest and his ferocious cavalry, in a fast-paced narrative that hurtles toward that fateful April day and beyond. Destined to become as controversial as the battle itself, River Run Red establishes Fort Pillow’s true significance in the annals of American history.

This book depicts the true story of Frederick William Miller and John Armstrong Robison who served the Union in the 96th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. It follows the time they spent from training at Camp Fuller to being wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. Through their letters and memoirs the two men vividly described the everyday events of a soldier's life, the horrors of battle, the pain and suffering of being wounded, the journey from the battlefield to the hospitals in Nashville, the experience of amputation, and the effects of gangrene on both men. At the Battle of Chickamauga, the 96th, in the front line of Whitaker's Brigade, marched double quick to the aid of General George Thomas. John, as a member of the color guard, was in the very front of their Regiment. Granger's Reserves arrived at Snodgrass Hill just in the nick of time. The "Rock of Chickamauga" was nearly out of ammunition and in desperate need of reinforcements. Whitaker's green troops fought bravely that afternoon and by the end of the battle, no one doubted that they earned the name "Iron Brigade of Chickamauga." The story explodes when both are wounded. The novel, through John's memoirs, tells the story of how the Federal wounded soldiers of Chickamauga traveled from the battlefield in Georgia to the hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee. John told in his own words, the pain and suffering that he and others endured during the week they traveled, many on foot, to Nashville after the battle. Four days after walking over sixty miles to Bridgeport he wrote, "Finally the train was loaded and we started and oh, the jar of that old box car was so great, I had to sit squatted down on my toeslike, and then the pain was so great in my arm that the tears would run from my eyes." The novel also tells the fate of the slightly wounded. These soldiers stayed with their regiments for a week or more before they received proper treatment, which by then, for many was too late. Exemplary of the state of their medical care are Charles E. Belknap's remarks: "In the confusion of the retreat, primary operations could not be performed to the extent desired; thus, many cases of injuries of the knee and ankle joints subsequently proved fatal that might have been saved by timely amputations." Many of these soldiers, like Frederick, died. 213 pages, 8.5 X 11, soft cover, 17 B&W Photos, 40 Drawings, 1Maps, 11Other