Military officer; born in
Bedford county, Tenn., July 13, 1821; joined the Tennessee Mounted Rifles in June, 1861; and, in July following, raised and equipped a regiment of cavalry.
By 1863 he had become a famous Confederate chief; and early in 1864 the sphere of his duties was enlarged, and their importance increased.
He was acknowledged to be the most skilful and daring Confederate leader in the
West.
He made an extensive raid in
Tennessee and
Kentucky, with about 5,000 mounted men, in March and April, 1864.
He had been skirmishing with
Gen. W. S. Smith in
northern Mississippi, and, sweeping rapidly across the
Tennessee River into
western Tennessee, rested a while at
Jackson, and then (March 23) pushed on towards
Kentucky.
A part of his force captured
Union City the next day, with the
National garrison of 450 men.
Forrest then pushed on to
Paducah, on the
Ohio River, with 3,000 men, and demanded the surrender of
Fort Anderson
[
406]
there, in which the little garrison of 700 men, under
Colonel Hicks, had taken refuge.
It was refused; and, after assailing the works furiously, and plundering and burning the town until midnight, he ceased the assault.
Hearing of reinforcements for
Hicks approaching, he retreated (March 27), with a loss of 300 men killed and wounded.
The National loss was sixty killed and wounded.
Forrest was chagrined by this failure, and proceeded to attack
Fort Pillow, on the
Mississippi, which he captured in April.
Hearing of the march of
General Sturgis from
Memphis to intercept him,
Forrest escaped from
Tennessee into
Mississippi.
A few weeks later, troops sent out from
Memphis to hunt up and capture him were defeated by him in a severe engagement at Gun Town (June 10), on the Mobile and Ohio Railway, and were driven back with great loss.
On the 14th he was defeated near
Tupelo, Miss.
Not long afterwards, when
Smith was in
Mississippi with 10,000 men, the bold raider flanked him, and dashed into
Memphis in broad daylight, at the head of 3,000 cavalry, in search of National officers, and escaped again into
Mississippi.
He died in
Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 29, 1877.
His invasion of
Tennessee, in 1864, was a remarkable performance.
For several weeks he had been in
northern Alabama, to prevent troops from the
Mississippi joining
Sherman.
He crossed the
Tennessee River, near
Waterloo (Sept. 25, 1864), with a force of light cavalry, about 7,000 strong, and invested
Athens.
The post was surrendered about half an hour before sufficient reinforcements arrived to hold it. These, with the garrison, after a sharp conflict, became prisoners.
Forrest then pushed on northward to
Pulaski, in Tennessee, destroying the railway; but
General Rousseau, at
Pulaski, repulsed
Forrest after brisk skirmishing several hours, when the raider made eastward, and struck the railway between
Tullahoma and
Decherd.
He was confronted and menaced by National forces under
Rousseau,
Steedman, and
Morgan, and withdrew before he had done much damage.
At
Fayetteville he divided his forces, giving 4,000 to
Buford, his second in command.
Buford attacked
Athens (Oct. 2-3), which
General Granger had regarrisoned with the 73d Indiana Regiment, and was repulsed.
Forrest had pushed on to
Columbia, on the
Duck River, with 3,000 men, but did not attack, for he met
Rousseau, with 4,000 men, coming down from
Nashville.
At the same time,
Gen. C. C. Washburne was moving up the
Tennessee on steamers, with 4,000 troops, 3,000 of them cavalry, to assist in capturing the invaders.
Several other leaders of the
National troops, under the command of
General Thomas, who had then arrived at
Nashville, joined in the hunt for
Forrest.
He saw his peril,
 |
|
Map of scene of some of Forrest's operations. |
[
407]
and, paroling his prisoners (1,000), he destroyed 5 miles of the railway south from the
Duck River, and escaped over the
Tennessee (Oct. 6), at
Bainbridge, with very little loss.
