The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-23
THE WIZARD OF THE SADDLE.
Gen. Forrest, in Some Respects, the
Nest Remarkable Leader in the
Civil War.

From the Memphis Scimitar.
The campaign of Lieut.. Gen. N. B.
Forrest, issued by Gen. Thomas Jor-
dan and J. P. Pryor only three years after
the closing scenes Of this brilliant cavalry
leader, was unavodably full of errors and
very incomplete. 1t will no doubt be graf
flying news to all who rode with For
rest" to learn that DR.. John A Wyeth,
the distinguished surgeon, close student,
scholarly man, and ardent admirer of
Forrest, is now writing a history of the
wizard of the saddle" DR.. Wyeth is
an Albanian by birth, and when in his
teens served as private in the Fourth
Alabama cavalry attached to Forests
command. During his recent visit to Ten
nessee the doctor was enthusiastic in his
admiration of Forrest. He has prepared
skeleton sheets of his proposed work and
sent them out to a number of officers and
men who were close to this born leader
from the beginning TO the close of his re-
markable career, with requests to append
such observations and facts of their SER
vice as would be of material use In the
compilation of such a work
The first skeleton sheet contains the fol-
Lowing description of Forrest
IN the light of history there stands out
Nathan Bedford Forrest, the most re-
markable man our civil war developed
and the greatest fighter of which the
world has an authentic record Endowed
tigue and exposure, muscular organZa-
ton developed into athletic proportions
by reason of the hard manual labor ne
ceSsity compelled him to perform from the
the earliest years of boyhood until he was
a man, he possessed that quality of mind
which never entertained the fear of per-
sonal disaster, nor in the furry of hand
to-hand combat, nor in the excitement
or confusion of battle lost for an instant
the calm appreciation of what was trans
piring. Quick to perceive in the rapidly
shifting battle the
for a fatal blow, he struck as the light
ming flashes, binding and whitening. Be
fore his sudden onslaught, to waive was
rout; and In his tireless and unrelenting
pursuit, rout became panic. Without ed
ucation and absolutely without any
knowledge of war cleaned from the study
evolved and put into execution the tactics
and the strategy of the most famous gen.
erals of history"
In his terse phraseology: "The way to
whip 'em is to get there first with the
most men," C'Destruction and Recon-
structlon," Gen; Richard Taylor, p. 200).
and although his greatest victories were
won with forces numerically inferior, he
so fought his men that where he struck
he was equal to or stronger than his adj
versary. He realized the value of bold
ness, even when akin to rashness and
when possible he attacked notwithstand-
ing the disparity =. OF nS numbers Once
uate of West Point, the question of how
to fight cavalry to greatest advantage,
L
teen minutes of bulge than for three days
to tactics" CLife of Thomas Plat and
Boynton," p. 599.) When the enemy was
about to charge or was charging his rule
was to go at them at once. He knew that
the excitement of a forward movement
inspired even the timid with courage,
while to stand in the open to receive the
was severe test Of the courage of the
bravest and demoralizing to the timid.
The offensive was to him an intuition; he
M nnnnFtnnitiPg %
them. Moreover, he fought his artillery
as if they were shotguns, charging right
up to the opposing lines their double
decentralization, death, and destruction.
Although his soldiers were called mount,
they were neither infantry nor cavalry
There was not a bayonet in his command
and early in the war the saber was dis
carded for the repeating pistol and car
bine. They fought on horse or foot to suit
the conditions.
1t is probable that not a regiment he
commanded could have a correct tactical
vancouver on foot in action, and beyond
the formation by tours and the evolution
into line for the charge, the cavalry man
ual was practically obsolete. With the
men he led strict discipline was impossi-
BILE, and yet they fought with the stead
mess of trained veterans under the Won
derful influence of one who inspired the
timid with courage and the brave with
the spirit of emulation.
He said: War means fighting, and fight
means kllllnS COulH6Ill I1iSlO1N
Papers," vol vii. p, 45D and when the
enemy were not hunting him he was
hunting them. Ever in the thickest of the
fray, it is a marvel that he lived to see
the war ended. If ever man had a charm
ed life such was his. The missile of the as
sassin, the gun and saber of the open and
honorable foe, turned from their mortal
purpose He was under fire on more than
a hundred different occasions, and these
include the bloody holly contested battles
of Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Chickamau-
ga, Brice's Cross Roads, Franklin and
Nashville. 'Twenty-seven horses were
shot under him. states Gen. James r.
Chalmers, his able second in command
C'Southern Historical Papers," vol. iii,
p. 454), and a famous writer, himself a
soldier Qieut. Gen. Richard Taylor, says:
Il doubt if any commander since the days
of ion-Hearted Richard has killed so
many of his enemy as Forrest" Ode
struction and Reconstruction His word
of command as he led the charge, was:
Forward men, and mix with them
C'DeStruction and Reconstruction >
Though torn with bullets and hacked in
countless places with the saber, or hurled
from his horse in the death struggle OF
the melee. his life was spared to serve
TO the end of the cause, which no man
better served than he. He cut his way
from the ranks to a lieutenant general
ship, from obscurity to fame.