Forrest The Brothers Forrest

[larry_cockerham]

Maj. Charles Anderson and Willie Forrest

Serving under Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Major Anderson served as his communications secretary, or in other words (so Bama and I can understand), he wrote many of Forrest's letters. One document that remains, I would like to share. This was published in NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST'S ESCORT AND STAFF, Michael R. Bradley, Pelican Publishing 2006.

Forrest surrendered his command May 9, 1865 at Gainesville, Alabama.
Prior to that the following letter was written:

Gainesville, Alabama

Lieut. W.M. Forrest Gainesville, Alabama

Lieut. W.M. Forrest
My Dear Son,

Loving you with all the affection which a fond father can bestoe upon a dutiful son, I deem it my duty to give you a few words of advice. Life is you know at best uncertain, and occupying the position I do it is exceedingly hazardous. I may fall at any time, or I may at no distant day be an exile in a foreign land, and I desire to address you a few words which I trust you will remember through life. You have heretofore been an obedient dutiful son, you have given your parents but little pain or trouble and I hope you will strive to profit by using suggestions I may make.

I have had a full understanding with your mother as to our future operations in the event the enemy overuns this country. She will acquaint you with plans and will look to you in the hour of trouble. Be to her a prop and support. She is worthy of all the love you bestow upon her. I know how devoted your are to her, but study here happiness above and beyond all things, give her no cause for unhappiness. Try to [emulate] her noble virtues and to practice here blameless life. If I have been wicked or sinful myself, it would rejoice my heart to see you leading the Christian life which has adorned your Mother's.

I have heard with pain and astonishment of your matrimonial engagement. My dear son, let me beg you to dismiss all such thoughts for the present. You are entirely too young to form an alliance of this sort and the young lady upon whom you seem disposed to lavish your affections is unworthy of you. There are insuperable objections to her, which I would name if I thought it necessary to induce you to change your mind. Take the advice of a father and abandon all thought of marrying. You must wait until your character is formed and your are able to take a proper position in society. You will then be the better prepared to select a suitable partner. At the proper time you will have my consent to marry and my blessing on the union.

What I must desire of you my son is never to gamble or swear. There are baneful vices and I trust you will never practice either. As I grow older I see the folly of these two vices and beg you will never engage in them. Your life has heretofore been elevated and characterized by a high-toned morality and I trust your name will never be stained by the practice of these vices which blighted the prospects of some of the most promising youth of our country. Be honest, be truthful, in all your dealings with the world. Be cautious in the selection of your friends. Shun the society of the low and vulgar. Strive to elevate your character and to take a high and honorable position in society. You are my only child, the pride and hope of my life. You have fine intellect, talent of the highest order. I have watched your entrance on the threshold of manhood and life with al the admiration of a proud father, and I trust your future career will be an honor to yourself and a solace to my declining years. If we meet no more on earth I hope you will keep this letter prominently before you and remember it is coming from

Your Affectionate Father
N.B. Forrest

[I ask if this letter depicts the emotions of the horrible individual many continue to attempt to attach with N.B. Forrest? I think not.]

 

[larry_cockerham]

Forrest's eyes for Bobbie

He was easy on the eyes (*sigh*)

But... did he really have blue eyes? I've read in various accounts about his eyes being gray, black, or blue... So what was their color?

I'm reading Capt. John Morton's ARTILLERY OF FORREST'S CAVALRY in which he wrote:

"The author has never forgotten General Forrest's peculiarly penetrating gaze under the bushy black brows, the dark gray eyes seeming to read the mind before him."

That's from a guy who actually looked at the General up close many times, so I'll take his word for it....... dark gray

 

[footeghost]

Larry,
I am very happy to have suggested this book to you it is great. My question regards Dr. Bradley and the book you mention which I have read. He states in the aknowledgements that he feels Dr. Lonnie Manness who wrote one of Forrests difinitive bio's I have read, knows more about Gen Forrest than anyone (people here excluded of course ha) do you agree with this? There is a dvd about Ft. Pillow that is surprisingly fair (by even other people interviewed who you would think not) where he(Manness) is interviewed as is Dr. Bradley. High praise from someone Like Bradley. I also enjoy Ed Barress telling stories which I also have video of again very fair to the General.Both have African American Interviews including Congressman Harold Ford Jr. It just tells me that when one really does the reasearch and puts Forrest in perspective of his times etc that this really was a truly great American Figure. Ben

 

[Bobbie]

I'm reading Capt. John Morton's ARTILLERY OF FORREST'S CAVALRY in which he wrote:

"The author has never forgotten General Forrest's peculiarly penetrating gaze under the bushy black brows, the dark gray eyes seeming to read the mind before him."

That's from a guy who actually looked at the General up close many times, so I'll take his word for it....... dark gray

Thank you so much, Larry. That's great "news"

 

[larry_cockerham]

Thank you so much, Larry. That's great "news"

Later Capt. Morton wrote:

" There was something about the dark gray eye of Forrest which warned his subordinates he was not to be trifled with and would stand no nonsense from neither friend or foe. He was essentially a practical man of action, with a dauntless fiery soul and a heart that knew no fear."

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry,
I am very happy to have suggested this book to you it is great. My question regards Dr. Bradley and the book you mention which I have read. He states in the aknowledgements that he feels Dr. Lonnie Manness who wrote one of Forrests difinitive bio's I have read, knows more about Gen Forrest than anyone (people here excluded of course ha) do you agree with this? There is a dvd about Ft. Pillow that is surprisingly fair (by even other people interviewed who you would think not) where he(Manness) is interviewed as is Dr. Bradley. High praise from someone Like Bradley. I also enjoy Ed Barress telling stories which I also have video of again very fair to the General.Both have African American Interviews including Congressman Harold Ford Jr. It just tells me that when one really does the reasearch and puts Forrest in perspective of his times etc that this really was a truly great American Figure. Ben

I don't know much about Manness, but I know Michael R. Bradley well enough to believe him. Dr. Bradley must have met Forrest in an earlier life, for he knows details by the hundreds. I trust his statements, for he has likely forgotten far more than I'll ever know. Harold Ford Jr. is one of the few of his family that I have some respect for. He is, at least, a reasonable man. There are still a few of those in Memphis. You are quite right about Forrest in my opinion. I knew nothing about him 15 years ago, but became interested in a man who received so much praise and derision at the same time. After considerable research, and hundreds of folks giving me input, both pro and con, I, for one, am a believer.

 

[larry_cockerham]

A testimony by a man who knew the general

Writing in his book THE ARTILLERY OF NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST'S CAVALRY, Capt. John Watson Morton wrote the following concerning his former commander:


"The best of discipline now prevailed in the army, and preparations for a new expedition moved on apace. Although a man of strong and determined nature, General Forrest had the knack of inspiring the best principles in his men, as he himself was so earnestly and thoroughly sincere. He did not use tobacco or liquor in any form, and he always had prayers in his tent and grace at meals, as well as divine services every Sunday, issuing formal orders for the attendance of the troopers. On one occasion, Dr. D.C. Kelly related, he sent for a captured chaplain to come to his tent; and arriving at the supper hour, he was invited to sit at the table. The man had supposed General Forrest to be a creature of scarcely civilized training or instinct, and when asked by his captor to say grace could not conceal his astonishment."

 

[larry_cockerham]

Nashville-Decatur Railroad Sept. 1864

While reading Captain Morton's book in 2009, I discovered the following letter which leads me to suspect that Farrier James Patterson Cockerham with the 10th Tennessee US Cavalry may have in fact been close-by this action. This letter was written by Col. George Spaulding, Commanding the Fourth Division, U.S. Cavalry:

Headquarters Fourth Division Cavalry
Army of the Cumberland
Pulaski, Tennessee Sept. 29, 1864

I have the honor to submit the following report in regard to the operations of the troops under my command in opposition to those of General Forrest.

When I reached Pulaski, which was a 9 o'clock at night, on the 24th instant, Athens, Alabama and the troops at that place had been surrendered to General Forrest.

In accordance with orders from General Starkweather, I moved about 3 a.m. on the 25th inst. for Elk River Bridge. I was ordered to assume command of all the forces between Sulphur Branch and Elk River. I arrived at Elk River about 8 a.m. on the 25th , and as soon as the horses of the command were fed I moved to the support of Sulphur Branch, the troops at that place being very hard pressed. I had 800 men, composed of one battalion of the Tenth Indiana Cavalry, Company I, Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and the effective force of the Tenth and Twelfth Tennessee Regiments, Cavalry Volunteers. [Farrier James Patterson Cockerham with the 10th Tennessee was very likely at this place, having had plenty of time to recover from his broken ribs at Tullahoma on or about June 1.] I arrived in the vicinity of Sulphur Branch trestle at 11 a.m. on the 25th inst. and found the enemy in strong force. I engaged them immediately with my small but gallant force, and after fighting about twenty minutes I learned that the fort near the trestle had surrendered. I, therefore, deemed it prudent to withdraw to Elk River. I camped at Elk River on the night of the 25th inst., intending to hold the bridge until reinforcements should arrive, which were furnished that night. (See copy of telegram No. 1.) In order to do this I withdrew the garrison of the stockade south of Elk River, and placed them in stockade at Elk River blockhouses, making the garrison at these two houses about one hundred strong. At 3 a.m. on the 26th inst. reinforcements not having arrived and the enemy having driven in my pickets on my right, left, and (center) front, I deemed it necessary to move my cavalry out of such a position as soon as possible. Before morning I sent for the officers commanding the colored troops garrisoned in Elk river bridge, and moved them to hold the blockhouses at all hazards; also exhibited the dispatches (see copies Nos. 1 and 2) in regard to reinforcements. I told them also I would be obliged to withdraw my cavalry, or Forrest would have me surrounded before daylight. They promised to hold the blockhouses until they were knocked to pieces. Accordingly I moved off gently in the direction of Pulaski until daybreak when I halted to learn the location of the country. To my great surprise I found that the negro soldiers and their officers that I had left to hold the bridge had abandoned the stockade and had been in advance of my cavalry all the morning, having evacuated the stockades with firing a shot. I arrested all of my colored soldiers and sent them under guard to Richland Creek bridge, that being the nearest blockhouse. At Richland Creek I found that the officer in charge of blockhouses had ordered the colored soldiers to pack their knapsacks preparatory to a move to Pulaski. I immediately sent directions to the captain in command that I would support him and shoot every officer and soldier that I found deserting his post. Having received information that the enemy had moved to Elkton. I proceeded south on the Elkton Pike for the purpose of intercepting them, at the same time sending Captain Donahue, with fifty men, back, with instructions to go to Elk River bridge if possible. I had proceeded about five miles when a courier from Captain Donahue informed me that he had been driven back, and that the enemy was advancing in strong force along the railroad. I then moved toward Pulaski and took position at the junctions of the Elkton Pike and road running parallel to the railroad, where I fought them until dark on the evening of September 26, when I was relieved by Colonel Jones, commanding a brigade of cavalry. I was allowed to camp at Pulaski during the night of the 26th. September 27 I was ordered by General Johnson, Chief of Cavalry, Military Division of the Mississippi, to report to General Croxton. I moved from Pulaski at daylight and reported to General Croxton, four miles south on the Elkton Pike. I was ordered to form on the right of the line, and hold it if possible, which order I carried out until ordered to fall back on Pulaski. This movement I accomplished, moving back at the right of a battalion, covering my rear with a heavy line of skirmishers which inflicted heavy loss on the enemy. On my arrival at Pulaski, I took position on the right of General Croxton's brigade on College Hill, where we skirmished with the enemy until dark, repulsing a charge of the Rebel Brigade commanded by General Lyon. [It was on this hill that Farrier James Patterson Cockerham had been brought just a few weeks earlier to recuperate from his injuries and on which Sam Davis had been hung a bit earlier.] On the morning of the 28th inst. the enemy having retreated during the night, I was ordered by Major General Rousseau to ascertain the direction the Rebels had taken. Accordingly I moved out on the Elkton Pike, from there across to the Fayetteville Pike, then toward Fayetteville to Bradshaw Creek, and, having ascertained positively that Forrest, with his command, had taken the Fayetteville Pike, I was ordered to return to Pulaski, which I did on the mourning of the 29th inst.

Thus ended the part taken by my troops in the Forrest raid. My command was in the saddle eight days and nights, and marched 230 miles, with frequent skirmishes with the enemy, with a loss of one private killed, two captains, three lieutenants, eight sergeants, one corporal, thirty-four privates wounded and three privates missing ; also demonstrating to the world that there are no braver of better soldiers than Tennesseans.

I feel compelled to called the attention of the authorities to the disgraceful surrender of all the blockhouses between Elk River and Pulaski. Everyone of those houses with one exception, surrendered without the firing of one piece of artillery by the enemy. At Richland Creek the blockhouse was surrendered to the enemy's skirmishers. I drove the enemy's skirmish line back and held the bridge over Richland Creek three hours and a half, after the negro troops had surrendered the blockhouse.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
George Spalding, Colonel Commanding

To Lieut. J.D. Hazzard,
acting Assistant Adjutant General.

 

[richard]

Larry, the letter that you found in the book reveals the fact that farriers would follow the cavalry on missions. More than likely there were several on that mission. At least one from the 9th Indiana was captured at Sulphur Trestle that Sunday morning in September.

On that mission, the 9th Indiana had just fewer than 200 men. Col. Spaulding, later promoted to General, also stated in his letter, that only one fort gave Forrest any contest in the whole raid.

One other thing that this letter shows is this: Forrest was a master of trickery on the battlefield. Major Lilly, who was in temporally command of the fort at Sulphur Trestle, said that he heard the firing north of the fort at around 11 AM and then heard the firing fade away. This firing was going on and stopped before the fort surrender. Some how Col. Spaulding was told that the fort had been taken before it had happened.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Larry, the letter that you found in the book reveals the fact that farriers would follow the cavalry on missions. More than likely there were several on that mission. At least one from the 9th Indiana was captured at Sulphur Trestle that Sunday morning in September.

On that mission, the 9th Indiana had just fewer than 200 men. Col. Spaulding, later promoted to General, also stated in his letter, that only one fort gave Forrest any contest in the whole raid.

One other thing that this letter shows is this: Forrest was a master of trickery on the battlefield. Major Lilly, who was in temporally command of the fort at Sulphur Trestle, said that he heard the firing north of the fort at around 11 AM and then heard the firing fade away. This firing was going on and stopped before the fort surrender. Some how Col. Spaulding was told that the fort had been taken before it had happened.

My friend, I had hoped you would read this and respond as you did. Now that I've discovered that gg Grandpa was likely there, my interest has peeked. Any more data you can share with me will be greatly appreciated. I think you will great enjoy the detail in Morton's book. I'll post a little bit of the effort that went into the approach to the blockhouses. Yes, Forrest could have been a talk show host, a referee, or an army commander. He was that good.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Late September 1864

Backing up a bit from Sulphur Trestle:

September 21, 1864

Nathan Bedford Forrest spent the night at the home of Hugh Riah Reynolds in Lauderdale County, Alabama on Butler Creek Road. The remnant of this road is still shown on Mapquest at a location just upstream from the site of the Lauderdale Mill in northeastern Florence. Forrest would certainly have known and frequented this area.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Forrest and his helpers

September 23, 1864

Forrest and his command reached Athens, Alabama this day in preparation of attacking the fort. Capt. John Morton listed the command as including CHALMER'S DIVISION, consisting of McCulloch's Brigade, Col. Robert McCulloch; 2nd Missouri Cavalry, Lt. Col. R.A. McCulloch; 12th TN, Lt. Col. J.V. Green; 15th TN, Col. F.M. Stewart; Willis's Texas Battalion, Lt. Col. Leo Willis; 7th MS Cavalry, Lt. Col. S.M. Hyams; 5th TN, Col. J.J. Neely; 7th TN, Col. W. L. Duckworth; 8th MS Cav, Col. W.L. Duff; 18th MS Cav, Col. Alex H. Chalmers; Rucker's Brigade, Col. Edward W. Rucker; Forrest's (old) Regiment Lt. Col. David C. Kelley. BUFORD'S DIVISION, consisting of 3rd KY Cav, Co. G.A.C. Holt; 7th KY, Col. E. Crosland; 8th KY, Lt. Col. A.R. Shacklett; 12th KY, Col. W.C. Faulkner; Bell's Brigade, Col. Tyree H. Bell; Lyon's Brigade, Brig. Gen. H. B. Lyon; 2nd TN, Col. C.R. Barteau; 19th TN, Col. J.F. Newsom; 20th TN, Col. R.M. Russell; 21st TN Col. A.N. Wilson. Morton's and Hudson's Batteries commanded by Capt. J.W. Morton. That afternoon and before 10 p.m. Col. Jesse Forrest began tearing up railroad track and various regiments were spread around Athens in preparation for attacking the fort.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Time to raid

September 24, 1864

Morton began the attack on the fort which brought a response from commanding Col. Campbell. He and Forrest discussed the possibility of surrender during which Forrest skillfully displayed his forces, constantly moving, in such manner as to convince Col. Campbell that he was surrounded by a far superior force. A large force of Federal cavalry were only a mile away, a fact of which Col. Campbell was unaware. Col. Campbell was forced to resign soon afterwards upon review of his actions by Union command. Such was the power of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a man able to bluff and if need be, back them up with mobile firepower. Moving north from Athens, Forrest and his men began moving north along the Nashville-Decatur railroad attacking blockhouses.

 

[larry_cockerham]

A little humor, no disrespect to the Dutch!

Capt. Morton, in his 1908 book, Artillery of Forrest's Cavalry, wrote an account of a Dutch officer who commanded the first blockhouse to be attacked.

Capt. Morton sent in a demand for surrender before firing any shots. The old Dutchman replied: "Shoost tell Sheneral Forrest dot I will nefer surrender. I haf but vun debt to pay to mein Gott, and I pay heem in mein blockhouse. And do you git away from here, ****ed qvick, or I'll haf mein gunners shoot your ****ed head from your shoulders off!"

Capt. Morton wrote: This message seemed to anger General Forrest extremely, and he made the atmosphere blue for a while. "Does the ****ed fool want to be blown up?", he asked Capt. Pleas Smith who had borne the flag of truce and the reply. "Well, I'll blow him up, then. Give him hell, Captain Morton - as hot as you've got it too."

Morton continued: The first shot did very little damage, merely tearing away a large log on top, but the second plowed between two logs, raised a shower of logs, planks, shingles, and dust that looked like a first-class cyclone had struck the building. Five were killed and nine were wounded. Instantly a white cloth floated from a porthole, and Captain Morton ordered the firing to cease.

"Go on, John, go on. That was bully. Keep it up!", shouted the General jubilantly.

"Why, General, I see a white cloth, from a porthole," replied Captain Morton; "look yonder!" "Well, I don't see any," said General Forrest, glowering at his Chief of Artillery. "Keep on firing. It'll take a sheet to attract my eye at this distance."

Morton continued: A few more volleys brought a much larger flag, and when the Confederate officers advanced to receive the blockhouse, its commander "was the gladdest person", says Capt. Pleas Smith, "to get out alive that I ever saw. He seemed to think more of his life just then than of his debt to God or anything else."

 

[larry_cockerham]

Between Athens and Sulphur Branch Trestle (at present-day Elkmont, Alabama) Forrest reported the capture of near 2,000 prisoners, two locomotives, 38 wagons and 4 ambulances, two 12-pound howitzers, 1,000 stands of small arms, lots of ammo and rations, 500 horses all with a loss of 5 killed and 25 wounded.

September 25, 1864
This was the day that the Sulphur Branch Trestle was captured, largely with the use of Capt. Morton's artillery. The trestle was about 400 feet long and spanned a 70- ft ravine. Morton claimed about 800 rounds of ammo were used by his artillery in the attack and that about 200 federal soldiers were slain.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Fall without football?

September 27, 1864

Sharp fighting around Pulaski between Forrest, Rousseau and Croxton's brigade and during the night Forrest drew off. Forrest was very much astonished and perplexed to find such a large force in his front. Forrest divided his force and one section reached the Nashville & Chattanooga Road near Tullahoma where they destroyed a short section of track. Forrest with the other section moved in the direction of Columbia and at Spring Hill he destroyed the railroad track, but being pursued by four columns he was unable to proceed North any further.

A federal increase in manpower under the command of George H. Thomas was underway. James Harrison Wilson was about to assemble his cavalry with the help of Hatch and Croxton. Forrest continued to probe Tennessee hoping to disrupt railroad traffic between Nashville and Sherman's troops in Georgia as much as possible. Hood's decision to invade Tennessee and his movement in that direction with the AOT quickly brought the attention of federal cavalry. This was the beginning of one of the classic relationships of the war: Wilson and Hatch matched against Forrest and Wheeler. During their roughly six-month roles as antagonists, these men were to learn much from each other.

Certainly their respect for each other's skills grew with each passing day. Wilson and Hatch were promoted for continued US Army service after the war. Wheeler and Forrest simply became Southern heroes, both riding into legend.

 

[footeghost]

A great book with great detail few if any at end were closer to the General and the OR's stand the test. Required for any Forrest fan OR otherwise, better for them even. Ben

 

[richard]

For reasons unknown, Forrest opened up on the fort at Sulphur Trestle with out his usual notification of his intent to offer a change for surrender. In side the fort were the 200 men of the 9th Indiana, about 300 men of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry and the remander were men from the 111th USCT. In total about 900 men, some 600 horses, two cannons, and of course ammo for the small arms.

It must be said that Forrest's force was about 4500 men. As usual, scouts reported his force to be much larger than it was. When he camped for the night on the 24th, he set a lot of camp fires to appear there were more men in camp than what he actually had.

The fort was located on the southern apporach to the trestle with the north end of the fort almost looking in the valley below. Forrest approached the fort from the south on level ground with the railroad to his left.

The battle lasted about 5 hours. With the artillery placed about 800 yrds front of the fort and two batterys on each flank, Forrest thought that it would be a cake walk taking this fort.

The officers inside the fort had more resolve than other commanders had had. After 5 hours of being pounded with over 800 rounds of artilley and running out of ammo for their rifles, and the commander of the fort being killed shortly after the battle started, Col. John B. Minnis, he himself was wounded by an artilley shell, displayed the white flag.

By the way, Cambell was not the only office to loose standing on this raid. General John Starkweather, the commander at Pulaski was accused by Col. Pace of the 10th Indiana Cav. and Col. George Jackson of the 9th Indiana Cav. of being drink the night before raid. General Starkweather was removed from command and never again commanded men in the field.

 

[larry_cockerham]

Something to ponder

John Trotwood Moore, for whom a middle school is named in Nashville, published a newspaper series "Historic Highways of the South" in his Taylor-Trotwood Magazine about 1908, which read partly referring to the damage Forrest caused at New Johnsonville:

The flames lit up the country for miles. The futile guns in the fort rained harmlessly; burning boats floated around with bursting flame from ignited powder cases, and three million dollars' worth of property went up in smoke.

No wonder Sherman wrote Grant on November 6; "That devil Forrest went about Johnsonville making havoc among the gunboats and transports."

And Forrest, grinning like Mephisto, waving his fiery, forked tail, pulled away unharmed, swinging to the Federal right, and led Hood away to Tennessee. And if Hood had not been in command of that fiery army of ragged patriots, who could go up against the breastworks through death with a zeal that swept up to the gates of Nashville, Nashville would have fallen.

 

[larry_cockerham]

The Klan

The day to day record of General Forrest has been recorded in the official record of the war and in numerous histories and biographies written in the century and a half since this event. An element that receives little attention is his affiliation with an organization known as the Klu Klux Klan. General Forrest served as the Grand Wizard for a couple of years. He was recruited into the klan by former artillery Captain John Morton in 1867. After two years of attempting to provide a service to his community, there is much reason to believe he ordered the end of this activity as legitimate control was being restored during the first real steps of reconstruction in the south. Many folks and writers (perhaps consciously so] confuse General Nathan Bedford Forrest 1821—1877 with his grandson Nathan Bedford Forrest II 1872-1931, the imperial wizard of the Klan in Georgia in the 1920s. Nathan II is apparently far more deserving of the abuse that writers have deservedly given the Klan than his grandfather, a man of considerable talent and social responsibility.