The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-18

two persons to whom Forrest always de
feTred, his wife and his mother A word
from either would calm him in the time
Of his most violent RACES.
This mother of Forrest was q very
4 forceful character. There is story told
Of her illustrative of her masterful con-
troll of her children. She had been
reared in the backwoods and even IN
the days Of her ease retained many of
the backwOods customs. She always
arose before daylight, always made her
own bread and always got corn meal
from the mill once a week for the
bread In the early days of the wa.
her youngest son, then IS or 10. was
commissioned lieutenant and came
home the first time he got his uniform.
gay with sword and gold lace When
he was retiring for the night his
mother told him to so, first thing in the
morning, to the mill, two miles away,
Tor two bushels of meal The proud Of
ncer looked at her disdainfully, but said
nothing. At breakfast the mother, while
pouring the coffee, remarked that the
son was late in getting back from the
mill. 4 member of the household said
that the young soldier had not gone 10
the mill; in fact. had remained in bed.
and was there at that moment. The
mother sent q message to the laggard
to go at once after the corn meal. The
lieutenant sent back word that he was
a confederate officer and did not pro-
pose TO go on such an errand, and for
his mother to send one of the negroes.
The coffee pot the mother was pour
Ing from wObbled. but she filled the cup.
She was past so. Leaving the room she
went out to a willow tree and cut some
stout switches. Then she went to the
room of the young confederate officer.
Tho
cries from the room. and then the lieu
tenant dashed down stairs, took up the
meal sack, vaulted onto a horse and
raced TO the mill When he returned
he had two bushels Of corn meal His
uniform was soiled, but he was much
chastened.
The father Of Forrest had died when
Nathan, the eldest son. was about 16.
and the boy became the head of the
household. That accounts for his lack
Of education. Although he enlisted as a
private and some of his brothers got
commissions at the beginning of the
war, Nathan Forrest did not remain
private many days. As a man of wealth
and influence he was called on to raise
a battalion. This he did, and when il
was raised he got a commission as lieu
tenant colonel AS major of his bat
TALON, he had the Rev. David c.. Kelley.
who served with him throughout the
war. and who always said grace at the
generals table. The clergyman had lit
tie idea that Forrest would survive the
war. So fierce was the passionate con-
duct of Forrest from the beginning to
the end of battle that Kelley at first
considered him little short of mad, but
soon the clergyman discovered that this
wild excitement did not affect Forests
Judgment. and that in success or defeat
he never failed to meet any emergency
promptly and well.
The Raider.
In the first few years of the war For
rest was looked upon as little more than
a raider, and il was not until 1864 that
his genius began to be appreciated by
Jefferson Davis and other officials in
Richmond. Long before that Grant
Sherman and other northern command
eTs knew Forrest for his true worth. At
Fort DOnelsOn, where, in the engage
ment of Feb. Is. 1852, Grants right wing
was driven back by Forrest, the man of
AppomattOX formed his opinion of the
slave trader No one was more sur
| prised than was Forrest when he
/ learned that Floyd and Buckner pro-
| posed to surrender the fort. Pillow at
| first was reluctant to surrender, but
| Floyd and Bucl1ner prevailed. Forrest
I III ucFu ID uItI uAE1IE- IlD UiLtlG4 u TAKE
{ the whole army out and, when Pillow
! refused, Forrest took his own command
and escaped, together with about as
many other men who followed his ex-
ample. The fail of Fort DonelsOn was
/ the first great disaster the confederacy
suffered.
Forrest played prominent part in
/ the battle of Shiloh, and at Monterey
| he was desperately wounded. II was
] l. Z
from this wound that ne swept down on
/ Murfreesb orO, Tenn, with ], 400 men and
/ captured the whole force of General
/ Crittenden, taking 1900 prisoners, four
/ pieces of artillery and a large amount
I Of supplies. General WOlseIey, COM
mander-in-chief of the British army,
1 considered this one of the most remark
able achievements Of Forests career
1 for the strategy he employed was of the
/ highest order. Wolseley. who studied
/ Forests campaigns with great care
/ considered the unlettered general as one
of the most brilliant soldiers America
/ has produced, but other students do not
agree with him in CHASING MurfTeesbOrC
as Forests most remarkable achieve
uoent. The pursuit and capture OF
Streight's raiders and the battle OF
! Brice's Cross Roads are ranked higher
by them.
1t perhaps was unfortunate LOT OF
rest that he served under various gen
erals who were not competent to han
de 10 the best advantage the big forces
committed to their care, and who never
seemed to realize that in Forrest they
had a soldier fitted for much more i'm
portant work and a larger field thar
thai to which he was assigned. They
used him principally to relieve pressure
unon themselves. TO create diversion.
that would draw OF sections OF tn
Union forces OF TO destroy the UnloI
r-e-,sra1s' lines of communication; bu
T,-be1 Forrest did everything he was eX
peeted to do. and more, too, they wer'
Unable to take advantage of the situa
ton NOT only that, but they withdrew