The Coolidge examiner., 1931-07-31
BY ELMO SCOTT WATSON

0 MOST Americans the name of
Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest,
Confederate cavalry leader means
\ the synonym for the author Of a
- famous epigram on how to win
ICrn~NTE0 battles. His method was to git
NNsW il / thar fust with the mostest men"
lS3T3 But what they do not realize is
k TN II | that Forrest was more than just
(S.:-Ass"o the maker of historic phrase, a
picturesque character personally
and an unusually successful
cavalry leader. If the estimation Of a
recent bographer is correct, Forrest takes
his place among the greatest of all Amer
lean military leaders, master strategist
as well as master tactician and the man who,
had 1t not been for the jealousy Of a superior
officer, might easily have saved the Lost Cause"
The bographer is Andrew Nelson Lyte and his
viewpoint is presented in the book, Bedford
Forrest and His Critter Company" published
recently by Minton, Bach and company
Mr.. Lytle has ample justification for his esti-
mate of Forrest. Gen. Robert E. Lee had a
great cavalry leader with his forces-the dash
ing "Jeb" Stuart But at Appomattox, when
somebody asked Lee who was the greatest SOL
dier in his command, he answered instantly,
"a man have never seen, sir His name is
Forrest" similar tribute was paid to Forrest
by Jefferson Davis twelve years later The
former president of the Confederacy and Gov
ernor Porter of Tennessee were riding in the
funeral procession which was carrying "Old
Bedford" to his grave. Turning to Davis Por-
ter said History has accorded to General For
rest the first place as a cavalry leader in the
war between the states and has named him as
one of the half dozen great soldiers Of the
country" To which Davis, graduate of West
Point and a professional soldier before he was
called to head a American republic replied
The trouble was that the generals commanding
IN the southwest never appreciated Forrest until
1t was too late Their judgment was that he
was a bold and enterprsing partisan raider
and rider. l was msled by them, and never
knew how to measure him until I read his re-
ports of his campaign across the Tennessee
river in 1864. This induced a study of his
earlier reports, and after that l was prepared
to adopt what you are pleased to name as the
judgment of history"
But to realize to the full the greatness of
Forrest one should turn to the words not of his
friends, but of his enemies Gen. William
Tecumseh Sherman who campagned against
him in the Western campaigns never made the
mistake of Understanding his ability and Sher-
man once exclaimed Il am going to get Forrest
If it costs 10000 lives and breaks the treasury
There will never be peace in Tennessee until
Forrest is dead!" But he never did get him.
Southerners called him, went through four years
of spectacular leadership in without a
defeat, record almost unparalleled in history
AS for "critter company it is the Tennes-
seean's name for Forests cavalry. Early in
the war, while Union troops were occupying
Tennessee Forrest became overnight their par
ticular ideal of what a soldier could be- They
could not understand strategic gains but they
could understand his particular kind of fighting
1t was as plain and as heartening as sow-belly
and corn bread The women now felt that they
had defender. They began to threaten tyran-
nical Union officers with Forrest will get you
for this and I'll tell or Forrest on you They
soon learned that he was a bogey man they all
believed in
The same alteration given him by the people
given by the men who followed him. They
referred to him as "the old man" just as Jack
sons foot cavalry did to that leader They
also called him "Old Bedford" in the same
sense that Jackson's men referred to "Old jack
In return he looked after them as a father
looks after his children. Nothing made Forrest
more furious than a useless waste of lives in a