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The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman

The Confederacy's Greatest Cavalryman
Author: Brian Steel Wills
Publisher: Modern War Studies
Total Pages: 514
Release: 1998
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

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This is the best biography of one of the most exciting, colorful, and controversial figures of the Civil War. A renowned cavalryman, Nathan Bedford Forrest perfected a ruthless hit-and-run guerrilla warfare that terrified Union soldiers and garnered the respect of warriors like William Sherman, who described his adversary as "that Devil, Forrest . . . the most remarkable man our Civil War produced on either side." Historian Bruce Catton rated Forrest "one of the authentic military geniuses of the whole war," but Brian Steel Wills covers much more than the cavalryman's incredible feats on the field of battle. He also provides the most thoughtful and complete analysis of Forrest's hardscrabble childhood in backwater Mississippi; his rise to wealth in the Memphis slave trade; his role in the infamous Fort Pillow massacre of black Union soldiers; his role as early leader and Grand Wizard of the first Ku Klux Klan; and his declining health and premature death in a reconstructing America.


The River Was Dyed with Blood

The River Was Dyed with Blood
Author: Brian Steel Wills
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2014-03-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 0806146044

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The battlefield reputation of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, long recognized as a formidable warrior, has been shaped by one infamous wartime incident. At Fort Pillow in 1864, the attack by Confederate forces under Forrest’s command left many of the Tennessee Unionists and black soldiers garrisoned there dead in a confrontation widely labeled as a “massacre.” In The River Was Dyed with Blood, best-selling Forrest biographer Brian Steel Wills argues that although atrocities did occur after the fall of the fort, Forrest did not order or intend a systematic execution of its defenders. Rather, the general’s great failing was losing control of his troops. A prewar slave trader and owner, Forrest was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime. Because the attack on Fort Pillow—which, as Forrest wrote, left the nearby waters “dyed with blood”—occurred in an election year, Republicans used him as a convenient Confederate scapegoat to marshal support for the war. After the war he also became closely associated with the spread of the Ku Klux Klan. Consequently, the man himself, and the truth about Fort Pillow, has remained buried beneath myths, legends, popular depictions, and disputes about the events themselves. Wills sets what took place at Fort Pillow in the context of other wartime excesses from the American Revolution to World War II and Vietnam, as well as the cultural transformations brought on by the Civil War. Confederates viewed black Union soldiers as the embodiment of slave rebellion and reacted accordingly. Nevertheless, Wills concludes that the engagement was neither a massacre carried out deliberately by Forrest, as charged by a congressional committee, nor solely a northern fabrication meant to discredit him and the Confederate States of America, as pro-Southern apologists have suggested. The battle-scarred fighter with his homespun aphorisms was neither an infallible warrior nor a heartless butcher, but a product of his time and his heritage.


The Quotable Nathan Bedford Forrest

The Quotable Nathan Bedford Forrest
Author: Lochlainn Seabrook
Publisher:
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2016-01-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781943737246

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Though Nathan Bedford Forrest was not a writer, had little formal education, never authored a book, and was not a professional speaker, he did leave us with a number of witty comments, profound words, and sublime statements. Award-winning author, Southern historian, and Forrest scholar Lochlainn Seabrook has gathered together some of the more memorable and impressive of these and forged them into a small but fascinating work: "The Quotable Nathan Bedford Forrest." Among the nearly 140 footnoted quotes included here are Forrest's thoughts on warfare, military rules, West Point graduates, education, friendship, and even drinking, gambling, cussing, and morality. Seabrook, author of the popular bestseller, "A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest," has also included excerpts from newspaper interviews, Forrest's postwar appearance before the U.S. Joint Select Committee, and numerous examples of the General's personal notes and letters and, of course, his military dispatches and reports. Much of what Forrest said was never written down but was recorded from the memory of those who associated with him. Particularly poignant is the inclusion of Forrest's black equal rights speech to the Independent Order of Pole Bearers, the forerunner of the modern NAACP, chronicled by a local reporter. From the General's own words we learn that he was not an "illiterate inbred hillbilly," a "monstrous racist," or a "cruel and violent slave owner," as the North and New South disingenuously continue to portray him. Quite the opposite. He was not only, as Confederate General Richard Taylor said of him, a "tender-hearted, kindly man," he was also a true Southern gentleman, a fair and compassionate Rebel officer, a successful businessman, and a faithful husband who loved children, protected women, and gave charitably to war veterans, orphans, and widows. A staunch supporter of both states' rights and black civil rights, one who freed his slaves years before liberal Abraham Lincoln issued his fraudulent Emancipation Proclamation, unlike the North, conservative Southerner Forrest stood firmly behind our country's most sacred document, the Constitution-before, during, and after Lincoln's War. "The Quotable Nathan Bedford Forrest" is a brief but important work that, like Seabrook's many other books on the General, will introduce him to new readers, help destroy the numerous absurd and slanderous Northern myths surrounding him, and bring him out of the shadows and into the mainstream of American history where he justly belongs. Obscured for the past 150 years, now discover the real man for yourself-in his own words. Civil War scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a descendant of the families of Alexander H. Stephens and John S. Mosby, is the most prolific and popular pro-South writer in the world today. Known as the "new Shelby Foote," he is a recipient of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal and the author of over 45 books that have introduced thousands to the truth about the War for Southern Independence. A seventh-generation Kentuckian of Appalachian heritage and the sixth great-grandson of the Earl of Oxford, Mr. Seabrook has a forty-year background in American and Southern history, and is the author of the runaway bestsellers "Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!" and "Confederate Flag Facts: What Every American Should Know About Dixie's Southern Cross."


A Battle from the Start

A Battle from the Start
Author: Brian Steel Wills
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Total Pages: 516
Release: 1993
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

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A balanced perspective that contains previously unknown information. Includes unsavory aspects, such as the Fort Pillow Massacre of Black federal troops, & his post war founding of the KKK.


Failure in the Saddle

Failure in the Saddle
Author: David A. Powell
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2010-12-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611210569

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An award–winning, “deeply researched and thoroughly analyzed” account of the Confederate cavalry’s mistakes that turned Chickamauga into a Pyrrhic victory (Eric J. Wittenberg, award-winning author of The Battle of Brandy Station). Tales of the Confederate cavalry’s raids and daring exploits create a whiff of lingering romance about the horse soldiers of the Lost Cause. Sometimes, however, romance obscures history. In August 1863 William Rosecrans’ Union Army of the Cumberland embarked on a campaign of maneuver to turn Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee out of Chattanooga, one of the most important industrial and logistical centers of the Confederacy. Despite the presence of two Southern cavalry corps—nearly 14,000 horsemen—under legendary commanders Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joe Wheeler, Union troops crossed the Tennessee River unopposed and unseen, slipped through the passes cutting across the knife-ridged mountains, moved into the narrow valleys, and turned Bragg’s left flank. Threatened with the loss of the railroad that fed his army, Bragg had no choice but to retreat. He lost Chattanooga without a fight. After two more weeks of maneuvering, skirmishing, and botched attacks, Bragg struck back at Chickamauga, where he was once again surprised by the position of the Union army and the manner in which the fighting unfolded. Although the combat ended with a stunning Southern victory, Federal counterblows that November reversed all that had been so dearly purchased. David A. Powell’s Failure in the Saddle is the first in-depth attempt to determine what role the Confederate cavalry played in both the loss of Chattanooga and the staggering number of miscues that followed up to, through, and beyond Chickamauga. Powell draws upon an array of primary accounts and his intimate knowledge of the battlefield to reach several startling conclusions: Bragg’s experienced cavalry generals routinely fed him misleading information, failed to screen important passes and river crossings, allowed petty command politics to routinely influence their decision-making, and on more than one occasion disobeyed specific and repeated orders that may have changed the course of the campaign. Richly detailed, Failure in the Saddle offers new perspectives on the role of the Rebel horsemen in every combat large and small waged during this long and bloody campaign and, by default, a fresh assessment of the generalship of Braxton Bragg. This judiciously reasoned account includes a guided tour of the cavalry operations, several appendices of important information, and original cartography. Winner of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta’s Richard Harwell Award


Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest

Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest
Author: John Allan Wyeth
Publisher:
Total Pages: 782
Release: 1899
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

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Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, renowned military genius, is accurately portrayed in this comprehensive volume. A brilliant, fearless military commander, Forrest was best known for his daring battlefield exploits, quick temper and keen intellect.


The Worst Military Leaders in History

The Worst Military Leaders in History
Author: John M. Jennings
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2023-06-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1789145848

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Spanning countries and centuries, a “how-not-to” guide to leadership that reveals the most maladroit military commanders in history—now in paperback. For this book, fifteen distinguished historians were given a deceptively simple task: identify their choice for the worst military leader in history and then explain why theirs is the worst. From the clueless Conrad von Hötzendorf and George A. Custer to the criminal Baron Roman F. von Ungern-Sternberg and the bungling Garnet Wolseley, this book presents a rogues’ gallery of military incompetents. Rather than merely rehashing biographical details, the contributors take an original and unconventional look at military leadership in a way that appeals to both specialists and general readers alike. While there are plenty of books that analyze the keys to success, The Worst Military Leaders in History offers lessons of failure to avoid. In other words, this book is a “how-not-to” guide to leadership.


The Wizard of the Saddle

The Wizard of the Saddle
Author: Jeffrey Smith
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2015-03-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781511528764

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His admirers call him a military genius, while his detractors label him a cold-blooded killer. Regardless of the characterization, Nathan Bedford Forrest entered the American Civil War as a virtual unknown, but emerged as a Rebel hero and a Yankee villain. As a young adult, the Tennessean worked his way up the economic ladder, operating a livery business and brick yard, and serving as the town constable and coroner. With fierce determination to improve his financial standing, he eventually became a successful slave trader, real estate broker, and cotton planter. By the time the Civil War broke out in April of 1861, Forrest was a millionaire. Joining the Rebel cavalry with no previous military training, he became the only man in either the Confederate or Union Armies to rise from the rank of Private to Lieutenant General. He soon became the Confederacy's most accomplished cavalryman. His daring troopers repeatedly disrupted Union Army communication and supply lines. Lacking a West Point resume, and having benefited from a year of formal education, at most, Forrest developed his own battlefield strategies, which have since been studied at military academies throughout the world. A master at mobile warfare, the intrepid Forrest readily transformed his cavalrymen into foot soldiers when battlefield conditions were favorable. Forrest was also devastatingly adept at using artillery to pound the enemy into submission. At the same time, he was a master at the bluff, often inducing much larger Union Army forces to surrender to his troopers. When asked to summarize his military strategy, he offered a simple, but often-quoted maxim: "Get there first with the most men." Unlike many contemporary military leaders, Forrest led the charge into battle. Wounded 4 times, his courage under fire inspired his troopers and fortified their resolve. During the course of the Civil War, Forrest killed 31 enemy soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and had 30 horses shot out from under him. At the end of the war, his troopers were credited with having taken 31,000 prisoners of war. Forrest emerged from the Civil War physically battered and financially ruined. He was never able to replicate his pre-war financial successes, and ultimately was employed as the supervisor of convict labor camp. Rebelling against the sociopolitical culture of freedmen, carpetbaggers, and scalawags, Forrest joined the newly-formed Ku Klux Klan and was purportedly elected as the secret organization's first Grand Wizard. While endeavoring to maintain white supremacy in his native South, Forrest eventually grew disillusioned with KKK's violent reprisals against former slaves, and unsuccessfully attempted to disband the racist organization. "The Wizard of the Saddle: Nathan Bedford Forrest" is a concise biography of an enigmatic, yet unlikely warrior, who occupied an unforgettable role in the tragic and compelling lore of the American Civil War.