Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-10

lSSd
with what he had already achieved, and
begged him to fall back at once with the
stores and prisoners he had taken before his
retreat could be interfered with. They
little realized the fiery temper or the mill
tary genius of their new commander, upon
whom they pressed this advice. This was
the first time his new force, demoralized by
They were not yet infected with the fire
which burned within him, and he had not
yet had time or opportunity to catch hold
of their Imagination or their spirit They
had no enthusiasm for this stranger, nor
any great. confidence in his ability as a
General.
Forced Them to Believe In Him.
He was, how ever, determined they should
believe in him before the day was out, as
his own regiment had long done. His fur
ther operations that day showed rare mix
ture OF military skill and of what is known
by our American cousins as "bluff," and led
to the surrender of the camps attacked.
The General in command and 200 infantry
were made prisoners vast amount of stores
were burned, and four field guns. 900 horses,
many wagons and large quantity of arms,
ammunition, clothing and food were taken.
1t was brilliant success, and as it was his
first great foray it at once established his
reputation as partisan and as daring
cavalry leader to be dreaded by all COM
manders of Federal posts and stations
within his sphere Of action.
His raids upon the enemy's lines of COM
munication were frequent and most success
full. No rivers stopped him, and any de-
tailed accounts of the railways and valu-
able military stores he destroyed and the
fortified posts he captured would alone fill
volume. His pursuit of Colonel
Streight's cavalry column for four days and
nights in 1868 reads like an exciting novel
1t ended in his saving the great arsenal and
workshops of Selma, and in the capture of
Streight and loo Of his men by the 600
troopers he then had with him.
He took part in General Bragg's retreat
from Tennessee, and one sday, being with
the tail of the rear guard, an excited old
lady rushed from her house and, upbraiding
him, urged him to turn round and fight.
As he took no notice of her entreaties, she
shook her fist at him and cried out: ooh,
you big, cowardly rascal, only wish old
Forrest was here; he'd make you fght!'
Such was then the public estimation in
which he was held.
What He Did With a Now Force.
But, as.we sometimes find in all armies,
his commander in chief did not agree with
this popular opinion of his merits and abil-
ity as a soldier; for, later in the autumn, he
was superseded by very inferior man as
cavalry leader He forthwith resigned his
commission; but, instead of accepting his
resignation, the Central Government pro-
NOTED him to the rank of Major General,
assigned him to the command OF North
Mississippi and West Tennessee.
There he had to raise, organize, arm and
equip an entirely new force. With it he
bers of well-armed and splendidly-equipped
Federal cavalry The cavalry force of
about 1000 men under General Sooy Smith,
and belonging to Sherman's army, he COM
pletely defeated in fairly open and prairie
country suited for the action of regular cav
airy, had either side possessed any. General
Sherman officially described Smith division
as composed of "the best and most expert
enced troops in the service" This part of the
campaign had been expressly designed by
that General with q view to the capture or
destruction of Forests force. But Smith
was no match tor his opponent, who out
generated him, and the result was the
reverse of what Sherman had intended and
anticipated. Forests force during these
operations numbered about 5000 men, one
half of whom were raw and badly armed
recruits. General Grant says: ''Smith's
command was nearly double that of Forrest,
but not equal man to man, for lack of a
successful experience such as Forests men
had had" And vet they were, as soldiers
went in this war, we'll drilled and COM
manded by a regular officer, whereas
Forests men knew little more of drill
than their General, who, his friends alleged,
could not at any time have drilled a COM
pany.
Sherman's Efforts to Destroy Him.
A small brigade of about 700 Kentucky
infantry was now handed over to him. but
having found horses for these foot soldiers
they were thenceforward reckoned as ''cav-
airy" His little army now consisted of two
weak divisions, with which, in 1864, he
took Union City, attacked Paducah, had
most successful engagement at Bolivar, and
finally captured Fort Pillow. In these
operations he inflicted great loss in men,
arms, horses and stores upon his enemy,
largely reinforced his own command, and
reftted it with captured equipments Re-
peated efforts were subsequently made by
General Sherman to capture or destroy
Forests apparently ubiquitous force. He
several times drew great Gordon of bri-
gades and divisions around him. but all to
no purpose; he defeated some and escaped
from others. His hairbreadth escapes from
capture when thus closely surrounded by
numerous bodies of troops, each larger in
itself than his whole command read more
like the pages of romance than the history
of military events. All through his
success was his intimate knowledge
of the enemy's movements and in
tentions His campaigns were made in dis
tricts where the Inhabitants were heart and
soul with him, and it was therefore much
easier for him than for the Federal Generals
to obtain useful information. His system
of reconnaissance was admirable, and, for
the reason just given, he could venture to
push his SCOUTS out in twos and threes to
very great distances from headquarters.
One Federal General was removed from
his command at Memphis for having failed
to do anything against this now redoubtable
Shortly afterward Forrest
himself marched into Memphis and took
possession Of the newly-appointed Federal
Generals uniform which was found in his
room. The disgraced General, in vindica-
tion of his own conduct, wittily said: |
"Thev removed me because couldn't keep |
Forrest out of West Tennessee, but my sue |
cessor couldn't keep him out of his bed |
room" Forrest sent this uniform back to |
it's owner, who, in his turn, sent Forrest |
some gray cloth and gold lace to make into |
a Confederate uniform.
He.CouId Make q Good Citizen.
The war over, Forrest at once recognized |
The necessity of patriotically accepting the |
fact that the North had won, and that the
South must accept whatever terms the
humane MI. Lincoln might dictate. He
published an address to the gallant men
who had so long followed his plume in