page_title: Nathan Bedford Forrest
section_title: Tennessee Raids
hierarchical_section_title: Nathan Bedford Forrest / American Civil War / Tennessee Raids
caption_attribution_description: English: Forrest's raid into Memphis -- Rebel attack on the Irving prison. From Harper's weekly: a journal of civilization. Sept. 10, 1864
context_page_description: Nathan Bedford Forrest was prominent as a Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and also as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867–1869. Although scholars generally acknowledge Forrest's skills and acumen as a cavalry leader and military strategist, he has remained a controversial figure in Southern racial history, especially for his main role in the massacre of over 300 black soldiers at Fort Pillow coupled with his post-war role in leading the Klan.
  Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealth as a cotton plantation owner, horse and cattle trader, real estate broker, and slave trader. In June 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and became one of the few soldiers during the war to enlist as a private and be promoted to general without any prior military training. An expert cavalry leader, Forrest was given command of a corps and established new doctrines for mobile forces, earning the nickname "The Wizard of the Saddle". His methods influenced future generations of military strategists, although the Confederate high command is seen by some commentators to have underappreciated his talents.
context_section_description: Forrest led other raids that summer and fall, including a famous one into Union-held downtown Memphis in August 1864 (the Second Battle of Memphis) and another on a major Union supply depot at Johnsonville, Tennessee. On November 4, 1864, during the Battle of Johnsonville, the Confederates shelled the city, sinking three gunboats and nearly thirty other ships and destroying many tons of supplies. During Hood's Tennessee Campaign, he fought alongside General John Bell Hood, the newest commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee, in the Second Battle of Franklin on November 30. Facing a disastrous defeat, Forrest argued bitterly with Hood (his superior officer) demanding permission to cross the Harpeth River and cut off the escape route of Union Maj. Gen. John M. Schofield's army. He eventually made the attempt, but it was too late.
caption: Forrest's raid into Memphis
exif: {}