Forrest ' s Cavalry Corps Forrest ' s Cavalry Corps was part of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and commanded by Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest . Formed during the summer of 1862 , it took part in the various battles in the Western Theater during the second half of the war . At first serving as part of the Army of Tennessee , both Forrest and the corps were then transferred to northern Mississippi and often launched independent raids into Union occupied western and central Tennessee . History . In May 1863 , Nathan Bedford Forrest was given the cavalry command of Earl Van Dorn , who had recently been murdered ; the corps initially consisted of the divisions of William H . Jackson and Frank C . Armstrong but Jackson ' s division was soon sent to Mississippi , leaving Forrest with only Armstrong ' s division . On September 3 , Braxton Bragg , commander of the Army of Tennessee , gave Forrest the division of John Pegram and placed him in command of all the cavalry north of Chattanooga . During the early stages of the Chickamauga Campaign , Forrest ' s corps served on the army ' s right as a rear guard during the retreat from Chattanooga , while Forrest himself was wounded during the fighting . The corps covered the right flank of D . H . Hill ' s corps during the Battle of Chickamauga , earning praise from Hill . On the morning of September 21 , following the Confederate victory in the battle , Forrest rode towards Chattanooga with four hundred men and found that the Union army was still in chaos ; he urged Bragg to attack the city immediately but Bragg instead settled in for a siege of the Union garrison . During the early stages of the Chattanooga Campaign , Bragg ordered Forrest to transfer the majority of his corps to Joseph Wheeler ' s cavalry corps , which was about to raid the Union supply lines into Chattanooga . In response Forrest threatened to kill Bragg if he attempted to give him any further orders . This dispute compelled Confederate President Jefferson Davis to transfer Forrest to Mississippi to raise a new corps from western Tennessee ; this transfer placed him under the command of Stephen D . Lee ' s Department of Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana . Forrest set up a headquarters in Jackson , Tennessee , and recruited men for the next two weeks . The local Union commanders attempted to surround the Confederates in Jackson but Forrest managed to retreat back to Mississippi at the end of December . Once in Holly Springs , he organized his recruits into two divisions commanded by James R . Chalmers and Abraham Buford . Chalmers was relieved of command in March 1864 due to a dispute with Forrest and was replaced by Robert M . McCulloch . Starting on March 24 , Forrest launched another raid into western Tennessee both to recruit additional men and to damage Union installations ; he reached as far north as Paducah , Kentucky , before starting south again , returning to Confederate lines in mid - April . In June Union general Samuel D . Sturgis led an expedition into northern Mississippi to keep Forrest from raiding Union supply lines during the Atlanta Campaign . On June 10 , Forrest attacked Sturgis in the Battle of Brice ' s Crossroads and routed the Union force . Despite losing nearly 500 men , he inflicted over 2 , 200 casualties and captured 16 cannons , 176 wagons , and 1 , 500 small arms . Following Forrest ' s victory , several in the Western Theater , including Joseph E . Johnston and Georgia Governor Joseph E . Brown , urged that Forrest ' s corps be used to raid William T . Sherman ' s supply lines ; Davis turned down the requests . In late June , Union Major General Andrew J . Smith launched another expedition into Mississippi to tie down the Confederate forces in the region . Forrest united with an infantry force commanded by Stephen Lee and attacked the Union forces near Harrisburg , Mississippi , on July 14 ; uncoordinated Confederate attacks on the Union right wing resulted in a Union victory . Only 3 , 500 of Forrest ' s and Lee ' s 7 , 000 men joined in the attack and 1 , 300 became casualties ; Smith lost only 674 men . Despite his victory , Smith retreated from the field towards Tupolu , where Forrest attacked again the next day and was again defeated . During the battle , Forrest was wounded in the right thigh and was forced to turn command over to Chalmers . In mid - September , Forrest launched a raid into northern Alabama and central Tennessee to disrupt Sherman ' s supply lines , returning to northern Mississippi in early October . Although he was able to capture nearly 2 , 400 Union soldiers and many supplies , Sherman captured Atlanta in early September , before Forrest had started his raid . Despite this failure , Forrest launched another raid in mid - October , in another attempt to cut the Union supply lines to Atlanta and force Sherman to abandon the city . After arriving in western Tennessee , he was forced to disperse many of his men so they could obtain fresh mounts . With less than 3 , 000 men , Forrest set up artillery positions along the Tennessee River which forced the surrender of several supply ships and the gunboat " Undine " . Forrest had some of his men crew the " Undine " and attempted an attack on Johnsonville on November 4 ; the " Undine " was destroyed and the Union fortifications were judged too strong for the attack to succeed . At this time , Forrest was ordered to move into northern Alabama to unite with the Army of Tennessee , now commanded by John B . Hood . Hood was launching an invasion of central Tennessee and wanted Forrest ' s corps to replace the cavalry corps of Joseph Wheeler , who was on detached duty in Georgia . Due to poor roads and swollen rivers , Forrest was unable to reach Hood ' s army until November 18 ; many of his men were still in western Tennessee trying to find mounts and Forrest had only 6 , 000 men at that point . Once united with the army , the division of William H . Jackson was attached to Forrest ' s corps . At Spring Hill , Forrest was ordered to seize the town and cut off the Union line of retreat but the Union garrison was stronger than Hood had anticipated . By the time the Confederate infantry had arrived , the rest of the Union army had also arrived and stalled the Confederate attacks . During the night , Forrest attempted to cut the Columbia - to - Franklin turnpike but the Union army repulsed that attack as well , while Forrest was unable to counterattack due to a shortage of ammunition . The next morning , Forrest served as the advance guard during the march to Franklin , where his corps was deployed on the Confederate flanks during the following battle ( Chalmer ' s division on the far left flank , Buford ' s division on the right flank along the western bank of the Harpeth River , and Jackson ' s division on the eastern bank of the river ) . During the Confederate attack , Buford ' s division failed to reach the Union line due to heavy defensive artillery and rifle fire ; Chalmer ' s division attacked at about 5 p . m . but Chalmers felt that the Union position was too strong for a full scale attack . Following the Union retreat to Nashville , Hood detached Forrest ' s corps to make raids on the Union posts in central Tennessee ; Forrest was able to capture several blockhouses and destroyed several miles of tracks . Convinced that the town of Murfreesboro was the key to the capture of Nashville , Hood ordered Forrest to take two of his cavalry divisions and William Bate ' s infantry division and capture the Union post there . Forrest ' s attack on December 7 failed , with a loss of over 200 prisoners and several cannons . Bate ' s divisions was returned to Nashville the next day and Forrest was ordered to patrol the area between Nashville and Murfreesboro . After the Confederate defeat in the Battle of Nashville , Forrest commanded the rear guard composed of his cavalry and eight infantry brigades of his own choosing . Forrest ' s men fought several skirmishes which helped slow down the Union pursuit . After the campaign ended , Forrest regrouped his corps in northern Mississippi , where he attempted to replenish his equipment and recruit additional men , even offering a twenty day furlough to any man who brought in a new recruit . In January , Richard Taylor named Forrest commander of all cavalry units in the Department of Alabama , Mississippi , and East Louisiana ; Forrest reorganized his forces into four divisions split along state lines , commanded by Chalmers , Buford , Jackson , and Tyree Bell . Union diversions staged throughout the early months of 1865 forced Forrest to disperse his men across a wide region . In late March , Union Major General James H . Wilson started a massive raid through Alabama , with the intention of destroying Confederate industrial centers , especially the factories located at Selma , Alabama . Forrest attempted to delay Wilson near Plantersville on April 1 in order to gain time for his scattered force to concentrate but Wilson overran the Confederate positions , taking 300 prisoners and forcing Forrest to retreat into the defenses of Selma . Once in Selma , Forrest attempted to gather every man capable of fighting , including the local home guard and militia , into the city ' s defenses works but he had too few troops to adequately man the works . Wilson launched an attack in the late afternoon of April 2 and quickly overran the defenses , capturing 2 , 700 men and thirty cannons while losing only 350 men himself . Over the next few weeks , Forrest attempted to gather and reorganize his corps ; when he received word that Taylor had surrendered his department , Forrest formally surrendered his command on May 9 .