Forrest Forrest's 2nd West Tennessee Raid - "Cattle Raid"

I wish I could attend your presentation.

Well you can: just invite me down to give a talk.

Last month, I traveled to Indianola to speak at the only SCV camp in the Delta. I thought they met in Greenwood, so I told them I would talk about the Battle of Collierville as I figured they would be interested in the 5 Miss Cavalry & Col J Z George. (I learned that J Z Geoge is NOT in Greenwood.)
I spoke on Buckner Battery and Lt Henry C. Holt and their role at Collierville. I included my 1/6-scale model of the Williams Gun.
When I retire, I will have more time to travel for this.
 
Well you can: just invite me down to give a talk.

I would love to invite you down here !
Although I'm now on the opposite end of the state, I might take ya up on that offer one day.

I'm about 7 miles over the Louisiana State line these days. About an hour and a half north of New Orleans.
The closest WBTS site is Camp Moore at Tangipahoa, LA , a mile or two south of Kentwood, Louisiana . . . off I-55.

Although I'm not a member of the SCV, I'm quite sure that I could arrange a presentation with them or with one of the many local history/genealogical groups in the area.
 
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The closest WBTS site is Camp Moore at Tangipahoa, LA , a mile or two south of Kentwood, Louisiana . . . off I-55.

Oh great! I want to visit Camp Moore. That is where Lt Holt git his first assignment after leaving the Navy and joining the Army. He was a drill instructor and later Post Adjutant.
I have a theory that Camp Moore was where Buckner Battery was formed and trained on the Williams Gun. I can see relics shown on their website and i would like to know if they have any solid shot in 1.56 inch diameter.

I may visit Camp Shelby on Veterans Day ---hope to display my WW2 collection on the Italian Campaign.

Im not an SCV member either. Give me a contact name & number and I can call them. They would be interested in my talk on Buckner Battery.
 
Steve...I'd like to print the content so I have it handy the next time I'm in the area. Do you have it in a format suitable for printing?

Great job again! You ought to put together something for the CWT Chickamauga event next fall!!
 
Do you have it in a format suitable for printing?

Yes. I saved most of the first few posts to a Word doc, complete with text formatting.

While preparing for my next talk, I learned more about the recruiting.
Col Bell moved to W Tenn in Oct --before battke of Moscow. Then he returned to Chattanooga to be relieved of his command. He was 2d highest ranking colonel in his brigade.
Then Gen Pillow assigned him the job with a support Staff.
Later Forrest and Bell returned to there or maybe Atlanta and got 500 okd muskets. Traveled to Montgomery to meet Prez Davis. Im forgetting the time line but Forrest learned he had been promoted to Maj Gen.
They returned thru Gadsden, picked up more rifles and crossed back into W Tenn at Saulsbury while Lee was tying Hatch down at Moscow.
 
I reviewed the entries over three months to trace their progress. Here are the dates and the places he records. When some dates are omitted, it was when they were in camp or making preparations for their next movement. The entry begins with the 6th Texas Cavalry near Jackson, MS.

While researching the units that were present at the Battle of Moscow, Colonel Ross's Texas Cavalry Brigade appears---almost from nowhere. Ross is not "seen" anywhere in Northern Mississippi in the previous battles or the subsequent battles. So where did he come from? Was he really there?
When I found the journal of Pvt. Thomas Lovelady of 6th Texas Cavalry, it answered these questions. So I traced the route of the 6th Texas Cavalry to see how much area they covered in 7 weeks. This is a crude map. I really wanted to show his camp sites and rivers he crossed but this is the best that I could do for now. I'm trying to get a map that will fit on a PowerPoint slide.

Ya gotta admire those Texans.

Map- Ross Brgd-01c.jpg

Note: I just connected the dots and did not try to represent actual roads and river crossings.
 
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I will be giving a talk on Forrest's "Cattle Raid" at the local Collierville SCV meeting on Tuesday nite, 10 October. I plan to talk a little more about Col. Tyree Bell's activities to recruit men and arm them.

I gave my talk. There was less that 12 members (& 1 guest) at the meeting. They had some techical difficulties setting up the projector ---which went to sleep mode half way into my talk.
I tried to upgrade my talk for the SCV guys who would want to see more info. The problem is there are a lot details of units and their movements. I stumbled on some slides as I tried to fill in for the unknown info. I was a littled surprised most if the audience had little knowledge of the 2 battles and the recruiting efforts of Colonel Bell.
Mission accomplished.

On Thursday this week, I speak at the local museum during their Lunch & Learn. Subject will be Fort Pillow State Historical Park with photos of the park and a history of the Fort and the 12 April Battle.
 
Oh great! I want to visit Camp Moore. That is where Lt Holt git his first assignment after leaving the Navy and joining the Army. He was a drill instructor and later Post Adjutant.
I have a theory that Camp Moore was where Buckner Battery was formed and trained on the Williams Gun. I can see relics shown on their website and i would like to know if they have any solid shot in 1.56 inch diameter.

I may visit Camp Shelby on Veterans Day ---hope to display my WW2 collection on the Italian Campaign.

Im not an SCV member either. Give me a contact name & number and I can call them. They would be interested in my talk on Buckner Battery.
I may have spoken too soon.
I'm not getting any feedback from the powers that be at Camp Moore.

However, Camp Moore is well worth a visit.
The area (grounds) are virtually unchanged since the 1860's.

Regarding Camp Shelby, I have not been to the new Mississippi Armed Forces Museum, but I understand it's first rate.
 
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This one needs to pop to the top--Wade Hampton and the Beefsteak Raid of September 1864 kept popping up this week, so I thought THAT GUY should get some recognition, too!
If you haven't read the thread and this all seems familiar, you may have fallen asleep while watching Alvarez Kelly...

 
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