Forrest Forrest's Most Brilliant Victory

[Stryker65]

What was Nathan B. Forrest's biggest tactical victory? I would suppose these to mean actions in which he should have lost, numerically speaking, but won.

Some initial thoughts:
- First Murfreesboro: With only two cavalry regiments, defeated two infantry and one cavalry units, and captured those plus an artillery battery.
- Okolona: Effectively demolished William Sooy Smith's cavalry corps, with his own cavalry force barely half-formed of Mississippi militia, partisan rangers, and Tennessee recruits.
- Brice's Crossroads: With a force smaller than the Union's cavalry component, he defeated that PLUS an infantry division.
- Streight's Raid: This, I think, needs no explanation. With less than a thousand men, he defeated what could have been a very dangerous Union cavalry expedition across northern Alabama.

In this discussion, I think we can exclude smaller battles/raids in which a Confederate victory was all but assured (Sulphur Creek Trestle, Fort Pillow, Memphis, etc.) and his defeats (Tupelo, Selma, Third Murfreesboro, etc.)

What are your thoughts?

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

What are your thoughts?

I would suggest the most popular would be Brice's Crossroads.
After all, that engagement is probably his most famous tactical victory.

Personally ... I've always been somewhat partial to Forrest's performance at Okolona.

 

[J. Stanley]

I think Brice's Crossroads is the only answer here.

Okolona seems to be weirdly glorified to me. Forrest was absolutely brave in that battle and the death of his brother makes for a tragic element for an epic... but the context of the battle is pretty eh. Reading Brian Steel Wills' biography on Forrest, Sooy Smith was already in retreat and had set up a rearguard to cover the retreat. This is what Forrest engaged, not the main body but a rearguard - the rearguard was driven back repeatedly, but it did its job without a very terrible loss of men. It seems to me that Okolona is a bit overblown.

Brice's Crossroads, on the other hand, is an indisputable victory. With a force of 3,500 to face off against a Federal force of 3,300 cavalrymen and 5,000 infantrymen, Forrest suffered 96 KIA and 396 WIA to inflict 223 KIA, 394 WIA and 1,623 MIA + capturing 16 cannon, 176 wagons, 1,500 stands of arms and vast quantities of ammunition. He did it all with creative tactics and not just brave frontal attacks as seen in Okolona.

 

[Drew]

Another vote for Brice's Crossroads here. My friend @UCVRelics took me there a couple years ago.

Forrest, without formal military training, did not know he wasn't supposed to use artillery pieces in an assault against his adversary. He ordered the canons forward anyway. The rest is history.

Streight's Raid is also fun, but BC wins the cake for me. YMMV.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Streight's Raid is also fun,

It really is!

Those multiple paintings of young Emma Sanson riding behind Forrest and "pointing the way" didn't hurt.

 

[DixieRifles]

Quoted & paraphased from Wikipedia

The Battle of Johnsonville was fought November 4–5, 1864, in Benton and Humphreys counties, Tennessee. Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest culminated a 23-day raid through western Tennessee by attacking the Union supply base at Johnsonville. Forrest's attack destroyed a total of 28 Union boats and barges in the Tennessee River and millions of dollars of supplies, disrupting the logistical operations of Union Major General George H. Thomas in Nashville.

On October 29 and October 30, his artillery fire resulted in the capture of the steamers Mazeppa, Anna, and Venus, as well as the gunboat Undine. Forrest repaired two of the boats, Undine and Venus, to use as a small flotilla to aid in his attack on Johnsonville.

In other words, Forrest captured two Union steamers and commanded a navy.

 

[Stryker65]

Quoted & paraphased from Wikipedia

The Battle of Johnsonville was fought November 4–5, 1864, in Benton and Humphreys counties, Tennessee. Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest culminated a 23-day raid through western Tennessee by attacking the Union supply base at Johnsonville. Forrest's attack destroyed a total of 28 Union boats and barges in the Tennessee River and millions of dollars of supplies, disrupting the logistical operations of Union Major General George H. Thomas in Nashville.

On October 29 and October 30, his artillery fire resulted in the capture of the steamers Mazeppa, Anna, and Venus, as well as the gunboat Undine. Forrest repaired two of the boats, Undine and Venus, to use as a small flotilla to aid in his attack on Johnsonville.

In other words, Forrest captured two Union steamers and commanded a navy.

Another victorious result, but I wouldn't include it within this prompt simply because the numerical/tactical/geographical/artillery disparities were too great. The effects of field artillery firing on passing gunboats/fixed targets had already been demonstrated, from Stuart on the Peninsula to Faries on the Mississippi. Additionally, the Union land forces consisted of just 2.5 USCT regiments.

I would place it on par with Sulphur Creek Trestle, just because of the lack of real "danger" to Forrest's command.

 

[bankerpapaw]

What was Nathan B. Forrest's biggest tactical victory? I would suppose these to mean actions in which he should have lost, numerically speaking, but won.

Some initial thoughts:
- First Murfreesboro: With only two cavalry regiments, defeated two infantry and one cavalry units, and captured those plus an artillery battery.
- Okolona: Effectively demolished William Sooy Smith's cavalry corps, with his own cavalry force barely half-formed of Mississippi militia, partisan rangers, and Tennessee recruits.
- Brice's Crossroads: With a force smaller than the Union's cavalry component, he defeated that PLUS an infantry division.
- Streight's Raid: This, I think, needs no explanation. With less than a thousand men, he defeated what could have been a very dangerous Union cavalry expedition across northern Alabama.

In this discussion, I think we can exclude smaller battles/raids in which a Confederate victory was all but assured (Sulphur Creek Trestle, Fort Pillow, Memphis, etc.) and his defeats (Tupelo, Selma, Third Murfreesboro, etc.)

What are your thoughts?

I think chasing Streight was the best!

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I would suggest the most popular would be Brice's Crossroads.
After all, that engagement is probably his most famous tactical victory.

Personally ... I've always been somewhat partial to Forrest's performance at Okolona.

I agree - Brice's Crossroads.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I agree - Brice's Crossroads.

Yeah, Brice's is the obvious answer.

My partiality to Okolona is personal.
I had a cousin that didn't survive that battle.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

Yeah, Brice's is the obvious answer.

My partiality to Okolona is personal.
I had a cousin that didn't survive that battle.

Understood. Good reason.

 

[Will Carry]

While Fallen Timbers was not a victory, not even honorable mention, but I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes. To see the look on Forrest's face when he turned around and found out he was the lone attacker. Priceless!

 

[tony_gunter]

I'm not familiar with the historiography of Okolona, but Forrest commanded around 4,600 men total, and elements of Red Jackson's division were about a day away from reinforcing him. The fact that he was only able to bring about half that to the battle is because Smith successfully analyzed the situation, feigned an attack, and used it as cover to put distance between his wagon train laden with escaped slaves and goods and Forrest. Okolona was merely a rearguard action to delay Forrest and it worked. Smith was able to withdraw back to Memphis mostly unmolested afterward.

Not one of Forrest's great victories, arguably not even a victory.

 

[G Low]

I think chasing Streight was the best!

Yes and Emma became a heroine too. She was born in my hometown. It's interesting that both battles (Brice crossroads and Streight raid) that Forrest was greatly outnumbered.