Forrest was treated in a criminal manner by many of his commanders. In the case of Bragg, Forrests’ unit, which he had raisedband equipped atnhis own expensevwas taken away from him not only once but twice, after he had formed a second.

Forrest was an excellent cavalry officer in every role and mission assigned him. See his performance at Fallen Timbers conducting rearguard and similarly after Chattanooga. His performance conducting recon and screen at chickamauga demonstrates his excellence in that role.

Forrest not only defeated all opponents except Wilson but defeated combined infantry and cavalry forces with cavalry which is rare for any cavalry force.

The statement that Forrests operations made no difference in the war is farthest from the mark of all. According to US Grant himself Forrests raid cutting his lines of communications to Tennessee, (combined with Van Dorns destruction of his supply base) ended Grants first offensive to take Vicksburg extending the war in the West by at least a year

Darrell L. Combs
USMC (Infantry) Ret.

Forrest defeated an army twice his size at Brice’s Crossroads, captured all their cannons and chased them back to Memphis. He used a few good men, boys too young to serve at the beginning of the war, deserters and old men. He rolled his artillery out in front of his skirmish line, had them unlimber and open fire. He later told his artillery commander that artillery was meant to be taken “and I wanted to see them capture yours.”

When Sherman marched to the sea through Georgia, he sent another army under A J Smith to keep Forrest of his supply line. Forrest fought than larger arm to a standstill and was wonded again.

He was wounded a third time by one of his own men with a knife.

He was wounded yet again in Alabama by a saber near the end of the war while defending the arsenal at Selma.

He killed 23 men and had 22 horses shot out from under him. I do not know it that qualifies him to be a cavalry officer or not but it sure seems to me that you have to know how to get on a horse before you can have it shot out from under you!

At Chickamauga Forrest urged Bragg to take Chatanooga. Bragg did not. The capture of Chatanooga could have easily turned the tide for the army in the West. Forrest never had a commander over him of the quality of the Army of Northern Virginia.

There is at least one biography on Forrest written during his lifetime with interviews of him. Several more were written before 1940. I could write a biography about Joe Shelby including elephants and dragons but that does not mean it is accurate.

Check with them or check on ebay to locate a copy. A must read for anyone who admires the man.

It tells many little know n tales that sheds greater light on Hampton.

A couple of brief ones I found interesting:

At Gettysburg, the day prior to the battle at East Calvary Field, Hampton was off alone reconnoitering when he came across a lone Union trooper who fired at him. Hampton pulled his revolver and fired back. Oddly, they had a duel in which they allowed the other to take alternating shots. When the trooper’s rifle jammed, Hampton held his fire, allowed the Union man to clear it and resume his fire. Hampton managed to slightly wound the man, who then retreated.

Earlier in the war, Hampton was again out scouting alone when he came across a Union soldier in the middle of a creek, bathing buck naked, as one would expect. The man convinced Hampton he was a noncombatant and about to go on leave back home to marry. Hampton allow the man to go back to his lines, minus his clothes. In return, the soldier promised to name his first born son Wade Hampton…which he eventually did.

There are two very recent bios of Hampton. They have different strengths. Ed Longacre’s recent bio, Gentleman and Soldier: A Biography of Wade Hampton is pretty good on his military career, while Walter Brian Cisco’s Wade Hampton: Confederate Warrior, Conservative Statesman is a superb treatment of Hampton’s remarkable political career after the war. If you combine both, you will get a really good overview of his life and accomplishments.

Eric