The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1891-06-25

the Union raider Streight lncAprll, Forrest
was placed in command of the cavalry d.
vision of the Confederate army of the west,
and. soon afterward became chief of the
cavalry in East Tennessee. Later he was
assigned to a command under Maj. Gen.
Joseph Wheeler, the chief of cavalry OF
Gen. Bragg's army, and feeling this to be
humiliating order he resigned his COM
mission as brigadier general and asked for
duties in another sphere. The Confederate
president, who happened to be at Bragg's
headquarters when the resignation reached
there, sent for Forrest and prevailed on
him to withdraw it. In a short time he
was formally assigned by special order Of
jefferson Davis to "the command of west
Tennessee" With a remnant of 80 men,
chiefly his personal escort, and a battery OF
four guns he reached Okolona, Miss, on
Nov 10, en- route to his new field. That
new field, lying between the Tennessee and
Mississippi rivers, was wholly included in
the Union department commanded by Gen.
S. A Hurlburt, whose forces constituted
the Fourteenth army corps, with head
quarters at Memphis. Hurlburt's troops
were posted in strong numbers along the
line between Tennessee and Mississippi, to
guard the railroad from Memphis to Cor
NTH. He also had troops on the Mississip-
pi above Memphis, on the western border
of Tennessee and across the northern Dor
der in Kentucky.
Nashville east of the Tennessee, was the
headquarters of another Union force hav-
ing in observation the line of the Tennessee
river Practically, therefore, Forests new
command lay wholly within the strong en-
vironment of the Union lines. What was
he to do with it under the circumstances?
Even the men he was expected to lead were
hemmed in ut their homes in West Tennes-
see, and were unwilling conscripts, skulk
ing deserters, and furloughed men. absent
from their commands, ostensibly to get
clothing and remounts. The Confederate
cavalry in northern Mississippi consisted
of three small brigades, under Gen. S. D.
Lee and they were fully occupied in hold
ing that country as a Confederate store
house. and Forrest could look for no ma
terial help from that quarter to break down
the armed barriers between solid southern
ground in Mississippi and the coveted ter
ritory across the Tennessee border A
brigade of West Tennessee partiSanS led by
Gen. r. Y. Richardson was added to For
rests remnant giving him little over 500
armed fighting men.
Under cover of an attack by Gen. S. D.
Lees cavalry, on the Union posts along
the railroad between Corinth and Mem
phis, Forrest slipped through the lines on
Dec. 9 and proceeded to the heart of West
Tennessee. On the 9Th he was at Bolivar,
and promptly sent out scouts in all direc-
tons to warn him of any hostile move
ment to thwart his plans. On the 9th he
was at Jackson and there established head
quarters. In letter to his superiors he at
once reported progress in the work Of
raising men, and added parenthetically
that the Union authorities were increasing
their forces long the Mississippi west and
north of him, but if Gen. S. D. Lee would
hold the attention Of those south, on the
railroad between Memphis and Corinth,
he, Forrest, could whip any force sent
from above He had been promised arms
from the Confederate government to equip
his recruits, and if Gen. Lee would move
up to Jackson with them, escorted by a
small cavalry guard, the newly armed
levies would return with him and effect
ually destroy the railroad between Corinth
and Memphis, and run off several thousand
head Of cattle to the Confederate camps in
northern Mississippi. On the 9Th he wrote
again urging that force be sent along the
Tennessee river east of him to cooperate
with the movement from the south under
S. D. Lee. and in this way the Union line
on the southern border could be cut away
with the exception of the fortified posts at
Memphis and Corinth, and with open
communications between Tennessee and
Mississippi he could take out an army Of
6,OO0 to 5000 men and unlimited supplies.
Strange to say, this bold planner was
more favored by his enemies than by his
own government. Nothing was accom-
plished by the Confederates outside in the
way of getting arms to him for his re-
cruits. who soon numbered 5000, but the
Union authorities, with more than 1000
soldiers, several thousand of them mount