Forrest, Nathan Bedford (1821-1877), was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was a brilliant cavalry leader. He enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army in June 1861 and became a lieutenant colonel in command of a battalion of cavalry by October. Forrest had no military education. However, he achieved amazing success as a strategist and tactician. When asked the secret of his military victories, Forrest is said to have replied, “To get there first with the most men.”
Forrest escaped with his troops from the Battle of Fort Donelson and fought at Shiloh in 1862 (see Civil War, American (Raids) ). General Forrest then developed raiding tactics that made his cavalry a fearsome striking force. At Brice’s Cross Roads, Mississippi, in June 1864, Forrest won a battle that was a model for cavalry warfare.
Forrest became a lieutenant general in February 1865. He was beaten by the Union Army at Selma, Alabama, in April 1865. After the war, Forrest served as the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan, a white-supremacist organization that attempted to deny blacks their civil rights. Forrest was born on July 13, 1821, in Bedford County, Tennessee. He died on Oct. 29, 1877.
