The sun., 1904-05-15
THE rLLIrERArE GENERAL.
DR.. wyeth's Sketch Of Ono cf the MoN
Remark able Figures Of the Civil War.

Dr. Wyeth's sketch Of Ono OF the Most
Remarkable Figures Of the Civil war.
To THE EpIToR or THE Sun SIR: In the
discussions on the subject OF The Training
OF Generals which have appeared from time
to time In recent issues OF The Sun. there nave
been male number Of erroneous statements
concerning the illiteracy OF Iieut.-Gen. N.
B. Forrest.
That Forrest never attended school, and that
he grew into manhood extremely illlternte
s true: but his career emphasizes the fact
that lie MAS a man of extrpordinary inteili-
gence, close observation and quick percep-
tion He was fine conversationalist. ana
1t is absurd to attribute to him the expression
quoted In THE Sun, and often printed else
where, to the effect that his remarkable sue
cesses in war were due to the fact that ne
got thar fustest with the mostest men" In
the first place. no such terms as here given
were ever used in the South or elsewhere.
The writer was born and grew UP to manhood
In that section, and had every opportunity
to familiarze himself with the langua &c and
expressions of the uneducated Whites the
poor white trash"--and with the plantation
negro dialects. and has yet to hear the words
"mostest" and "fustest" spoken.
Notwithstanding this lack Of school educa-
tion, contact with business men and constant
reading Of newspapers tfor he kept himself
thoroughly versed In the records OF the day.
gave him an excellent idea Of the use Of words
and the construction Of phrases. He would
instantly detect 4 grammatical error or the
awkward construction OF phrase In des-
patch read to him after his dictation and
would correct IL. aging to his adjutants. who
were educated gentlemen: That won't do.
1t hasn't the right pitch" He would suggest
the change and always shaped 1t into forci-
BILE expression. There we're. however,
few words learned In his boyhood days of
which he could not rid himself. He said
"betwi1t' for between. and fetch for bring.
1t was at Brices crossroads. where he won,
considering the forces enga ged. the most
decisive victory Of the civil war. that he
wrote the famous note: Tell Bell to move
zip and fetch all he's got" He used the word
"mout" for might. and "ft" for fought After
Forrest became famous these idiosyn crasies
were repeated and exaggerated until the idea
prevailed In the minds Of many that he was more
awkward apd boorish in speech and manner
than he really was His spelling was. how
ever. bad. as you can infer from the following
copy, verbatim ct h'erntim. Of letter before
me.
DEAR SIR; Yours Making Enquiry As to the
Bondes In the handles of Mai NJ. j. wickes is to hand
i way to Cite the Bondes until I receive the
Mony SO As 10 redeam the Bondes they ma float
as collateral and canot consistently call for them
until am able to redesm them which hop TO soon
Oe dOlc 70 10 you no my COnuitiOu COlQ SCI tuo
Bookes II cold only git them but so fair Belock
has not bin able to supply the demandes void like
for you 10 write to Jordan and what he is doing
have written to him several letters but so fair hav
hin unable to cit a reply am Respectfully
N. r. FORREST
In spelling he seemed to be governed by
sound, and this like his lighting was the
shortest way to the end. In spelling head
quarters he did not appreciate the necessity
~ l~IA l., I. tl~ls
with an IL" and I have In my possession q
note written in lead pencil TO Emma SAMSON.
the girl of sixteen who mounted behind For.
rest in the battle at Black Creek and piloted
him to the unknown ford through which he
crossed to the overthrow and capture OF
streight's entire command. The dot over the
Il" in this note is exactly in the right place
and Is still distinct.
Probably no man developed by our civil
war was more misunderstood than Forrest.
A college graduate. and personal friend. who
was on his staff and lived and slept in his
tent and messed with him the last three years
of the war. vouches to me personally that
the General was an excellent reader, had a
large fund OF general information, and a re-
markable knowledge Of men. The real devel-
opment Of his mental powers was far in ad
vance of the world about him."
Another friend. a we'll known minister OF
the gospel. who served under and with him
for two years and was very intimate with the
General. says that "he was a fine conversa-
tonalist; his voice was soft and pleasant
He seemed 10 know men intuitively. He
would have been great in any department
Of life. As in war he would have met every
emergency with daring skill and every OBJ
stacle with dauntless energy. He was an i'm
prcssive speaker and on several occasions
have heard him deliver an address IN the
most effective manner"
As the years 60 by and as men become ac-
uuainted with his career. his fame a soldier
will grow more and more until all men will
approve the verdict given by the greatest
commander on the Federal side. Gen. william
Tecnmseh Sherman. who said: After all. I
think Forrest was the most remarkable man
our civil war produced on either side. To
my mind he was the most remarkable in many
ways. In the first place he was uneducated.
while Jackson and Sheridan and other bril-
liant leaders were soldiers by profession.
He had never read military book In his life,
knew nothing about tactics. could not even
drill company: but he had genius for
strategy which was original. and 70 me in
comprehensive There was no theory or
art Of war ny which ! could calculate with
any degree of certainty what Forrest was
up to. He seemed always TO know what
was doing or intended to do, while am free to
confess could never tell or form any salts
factory idea OF what he was trying to accom-
plish."
Gen. Joseph f. Johnston. deemed by many
the greatest strategis aud the ahlest General
on the Confederate side. said that Forrest
was the greatest soldier OF the war and had
he had the advantages OF a thorough military
education and training. he would have been
the great central figure OF the civil war"
Gen. Beauregard said that Ibis capacity
for war seemed only to be limited by the
opportunities for it's display" And Gen
Wolseley, Commander in Chief of the British
army. said of him: His military career
teaches us that the genius which makes men
great soldiers Is not to be measured by any
competitive examination in the science or
art Of war. Tn war; said Napoleon, men are
nothing; a man Is everything It will be
difficult TO find a stron ger corroboration Of
this ma Iim than Is to be found in the history
Of Gen. Forests operations
New York, May IL. JoaN A. WYETH
Partnership in . Decoration Day Address.