The Artillery Of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry, “The Wizard Of The Saddle,” [Illustrated Edition]

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Text originally published in 1909 under the same title.

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The Artillery of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry

The Wizard of the Saddle

BY JOHN WATSON MORTON

Chief of Artillery

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

DEDICATION 5

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 6

INTRODUCTORY. 7

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE CHARACTER OF GEN. NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST. 10

CHAPTER I. — THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON. 14

THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON. 15

CHAPTER II. — LIFE IN PRISON. 24

MAJOR PIERSON (COMMANDER OF THE PRISON). 25

SOUTHERN RENDITION OF DIXIE. 27

CHAPTER III. — LIEUTENANT MORTON JOINS GENERAL FORREST ON HIS FIRST EXPEDITION INTO WEST TENNESSEE. 29

CHAPTER IV. — BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. 33

CHAPTER V. — BATTLE OF PARKER’S CROSSROADS. 40

CHAPTER VI. — BATTLE OF DOVER. 44

CHAPTER VII. — BATTLE OF THOMPSON’S STATION. 49

CHAPTER VIII. — IN PURSUIT OF STREIGHT. 55

CHAPTER IX. — FROM SPRING HILL TO CHICKAMAUGA. 64

CHAPTER X. — BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. 69

CHAPTER XI. — SECOND EXPEDITION INTO WEST TENNESSEE. 80

CHAPTER XII. — DEFEAT OF GEN. WILLIAM SOOY SMITH. 84

CHAPTER XIII. — CAMP LIFE IN MISSISSIPPI. 95

CHAPTER XIV. — MORTON’S ARTILLERY AT THE BATTLE OF BRICE’S CROSSROADS. 105

CHAPTER XV. — BATTLE OF HARRISBURG. 127

CHAPTER XVI. — WHY GEN. A. J. SMITH ABANDONED MISSISSIPPI. 136

CHAPTER XVII. — MORTON’S ARTILLERY AT ATHENS, ALA. 139

CHAPTER XVIII. — CAPTURE OF SULPHUR SPRINGS TRESTLE, ELK RIVER, RICHLAND CREEK, AND INTERVENING BLOCKHOUSES. 146

CHAPTER XIX. — MORTON’S ARTILLERY AT FORT HEIMAN. 153

CHAPTER XX. — FEDERAL FLEET AND STORES AT JOHNSONVILLE DESTROYED BY MORTON’S ARTILLERY. 157

CHAPTER XXI. — GENERAL FORREST’S CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY JOIN  GENERAL HOOD. 166

CHAPTER XXII. — THE BATTLE OF FRANKLIN. 171

CHAPTER XXIII. — OPERATIONS AROUND NASHVILLE. 174

CHAPTER XXIV. — GENERAL HOOD’S RETREAT. 179

CHAPTER XXV. — ANTHONY’S HILL AND SUGAR CREEK. 184

CHAPTER XXVI. — PREPARING FOR A NEW FIELD. 187

CHAPTER XXVII. — THE FALL OF SELMA. 193

CHAPTER XXVIII. — SURRENDER AT GAINESVILLE. 197

APPENDIX 205

LIST OF CONFEDERATE PRISONERS AT JOHNSON’S ISLAND, 1862. TAKEN FROM CAPTAIN MORTON’S NOTEBOOK. 240

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 258

MAPS 259

I – CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE MAPS - 1861 259

Charleston Harbor, Bombardment of Fort Sumter – 12th & 13th April 1861 259

1st Bull Run Campaign – Theatre Overview July 1861 260

Bull Run – 21st July 1861 261

1st Bull Run Campaign – Situation 18th July 1861 262

1st Bull Run Campaign – Situation 21st July 1861 (Morning) 263

1st Bull Run Campaign - 21st July 1861 Actions 1-3 p.m. 264

1st Bull Run Campaign - 21st July 1861 Union Retreat 4 P.M. to Dusk 265

II – CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE MAPS - 1862 266

Battle of Mill Springs – 19th January 1862 (6-8.30 A.M.) Confederate Attacks 266

Battle of Mill Springs – 19th January 1862 (9 A.M.) Union Attacks 267

Forts Henry and Donelson – 6th to 16th February 1862 268

Battle of Fort Donelson – 14th February 1862 269

Battle of Fort Donelson – 15th February 1862 Morning 270

Battle of Fort Donelson – 15th February 1862 Morning 271

New Madrid and Island No. 10 – March 1862 272

Pea Ridge – 5th to 8th March 1862 273

First Battle of Kernstown – 23rd March 1862, 11 – 16:45 274

Shiloh (or Pittsburg Landing) - 6th & 7th April 1862 275

Battle of Shiloh – 6th April 1862 - Morning 276

Battle of Shiloh – 6th April 1862 – P.M. 277

Battle of Yorktown – 5th to 16th April 1862 278

Jackson’s Valley Campaign – 24th to 25th May 1862 - Actions 279

Williamsburg – 5th May 1862 280

Fair Oaks – 31st May to 1st June 1862 281

Battle of Seven Pines – 31st May 1862 282

Seven Days – 26th June to 2nd July 1862 283

Seven Days Battles – 25th June to 1st July 1862 - Overview 284

Seven Days Battles – 26th & 27th June 1862 285

Seven Days Battles – 30th June 1862 286

Seven Days Battles – 1st July 1862 287

Battle of Gaines Mill – 27th June 1862 2.30 P.M. Hill’s Attacks 288

Battle of Gaines Mill – 27th June 1862 3.30 P.M. Ewell’s Attacks 289

Battle of Gaines Mill – 27th June 1862 7 P.M. General Confederate Attacks 290

Pope’s Campaign - 24th August 1862 291

Pope’s Campaign - 28th August 1862 A.M. 292

Pope’s Campaign - 28th August 1862 6 P.M. 293

Second Battle of Bull Run – 28th August 1862 294

Second Battle of Bull Run – 29th August 1862 10 A.M. 295

Second Battle of Bull Run – 29th August 1862 12 P.M. 296

Second Battle of Bull Run – 29th August 1862 5 P.M. 297

Pope’s Campaign – 29th August 1862 Noon. 298

Second Battle of Bull Run – 30th August 1862 3 P.M. 299

Second Battle of Bull Run – 30th August 1862 4.30 P.M. 300

Second Battle of Bull Run – 30th August 1862 5 P.M. 301

Battle of Harpers Ferry – 15th September 1862 302

Antietam – 16th & 17th September 1862 303

Battle of Antietam – 17th September 1862 Overview 304

Battle of Antietam – 17th September 1862 6 A.M. 305

Battle of Antietam – 17th September 1862 7.30 A.M. 306

Battle of Antietam – 17th September 1862 9 A.M. 307

Battle of Antietam – 17th September 1862 10 A.M. 308

Iuka – 19th September 1862 309

Battle of Iuka – 19th September 1862 310

Corinth – 3rd & 4th October 1862 311

Second Battle of Corinth – 3rd October 1862 312

Second Battle of Corinth – 4th October 1862 313

Perryville – 8th October 1862 314

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 2 P.M. 315

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 3 P.M. 316

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 3.45 P.M. 317

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 4 P.M. 318

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 4.15 P.M. 319

Battle of Perryville – 8th October 1862 – 5.45 P.M. 320

Fredericksburg – 13th December 1862 321

Battle of Fredericksburg – 13th December 1862 Overview 322

Battle of Fredericksburg – 13th December 1862 Sumner’s Assault 323

Battle of Fredericksburg – 13th December 1862 Hooker’s Assault 324

Battle of Chickasaw Bayou – 26th to 29th December 1862 325

Stone’s River – 31st December 1862 326

Battle of Stones River – 30th December 1862 327

Battle of Stones River – 31st December 1862 – 8.00 A.M. 328

Battle of Stones River – 31st December 1862 – 9.45 A.M. 329

Battle of Stones River – 31st December 1862 – 11.00 A.M. 330

III – CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE MAPS - 1863 331

Battle of Stones River – 2nd January 1863 – 4 P.M. 331

Battle of Stones River – 2nd January 1863 – 4 P.M. 332

Battle of Stones River – 2nd January 1863 – 4.45 P.M. 333

Chancellorsville Campaign (Hooker’s Plan) – April 1863 334

Battle of Chancellorsville – 1st May 1863 Actions 335

Battle of Chancellorsville – 2nd May 1863 Actions 336

Chancellorsville – 2nd May 1863 337

Chancellorsville – 3rd to 5th May 1863 338

Battle of Chancellorsville – 3rd May 1863 Actions 6 A.M. 339

Battle of Chancellorsville – 3rd May 1863 Actions 10 A.M. – 5 P.M. 340

Battle of Chancellorsville – 4th to 6th May 1863. 341

Battle of Brandy Station – 8th June 1863 342

Siege of Vicksburg – 25th May to 4th July 1863 343

Siege of Vicksburg – 19th May 1863 - Assaults 344

Siege of Vicksburg – 22nd May 1863 - Assaults 345

Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 346

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 Overview 347

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 7 A.M. 348

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 10 A.M. 349

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 10.45 A.M. 350

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 11 A.M. 351

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 12.30 P.M. 352

Battle of Gettysburg – 1st July 1863 2 P.M. 353

Gettysburg – 2nd to 4th July 1863 354

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Lee’s Plan 355

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Overview 356

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Cemetary Ridge A.M. 357

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Culp’s Hill – Initial Defence 358

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Culp’s Hill – Evening attacks 359

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Hood’s Assaults 360

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Peach Orchard Initial Assaults 361

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Peach Orchard and Cemetary Ridge 362

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Wheatfield – Initial Assaults 363

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Wheatfield – Second Phase 364

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Cemetery Hill Evening 365

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Little Round Top (1) 366

Battle of Gettysburg – 2nd July 1863 Little Round Top (2) 367

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 Overview 368

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 – Pickett’s Charge 369

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 – Pickett’s Charge Detail 370

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 Culp’s Hill – Johnson’s Third Attack 371

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 East Cavalry Field – Opening Positions 372

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 East Cavalry Field – First Phase 373

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 East Cavalry Field – Second Phase 374

Battle of Gettysburg – 3rd July 1863 South Cavalry Field 375

Battle of Gettysburg – Battlefield Overview 376

Fight at Monterey Pass – 4th to 5th July 1863 377

Chickamauga – 19th & 20th September 1863 378

Chickamauga Campaign – Davis’s Crossroads – 11th September 1863 379

Chickamauga Campaign – 18th September 1863 After Dark 380

Battle of Chickamauga – 19th September 1863 Morning 381

Battle of Chickamauga – 19th September 1863 Early Afternoon 382

Battle of Chickamauga – 19th September 1863 Early Afternoon 383

Battle of Chickamauga – 20th September 1863 9 A.M. to 11 A.M. 384

Battle of Chickamauga – 20th September 1863 11 A.M. to Mid-Afternoon 385

Battle of Chickamauga – 20th September 1863 Mid-Afternoon to Dark 386

Battle of Chickamauga – 20th September 1863 Brigade Details 387

Chattanooga – 23rd to 25th November 1863 388

Chattanooga Campaign – 24th & 25th November 1863 389

Chattanooga Campaign – Federal Supply Lines and Wheeler’s Raid 390

Battle of Missionary Ridge – 25th November 1863 391

Mine Run – 26th to 30th November 1863 392

IV – CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE MAPS - 1864 393

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 29th to 31st March 1864 393

Wilderness – 5th & 6th May 1864 394

Battle of the Wilderness – 5th May 1864 – Positions 7 A.M. 395

Battle of the Wilderness – 5th May 1864 - Actions 396

Battle of the Wilderness – 6th May 1864 – Actions 5 A.M. 397

Battle of the Wilderness – 6th May 1864 – Actions 6 A.M. 398

Battle of the Wilderness – 6th May 1864 – Actions 11 A.M. 399

Battle of the Wilderness – 6th May 1864 – Actions 2 P.M. 400

Spotsylvania – 8th to 21st May 1864 401

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 7th & 8th May 1864 - Movements 402

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 8th May 1864 - Actions 403

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 9th May 1864 - Actions 404

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 10th May 1864 - Actions 405

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 12th May 1864 - Actions 406

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 13th May 1864 - Actions 407

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House – 17th May 1864 - Actions 408

North Anna – 23rd to 26th May 1864 409

Battle of North Anna – 23rd May 1864 410

Battle of North Anna – 24th May 1864 411

Battle of North Anna – 25th May 1864 412

Battle of Haw’s Shop – 28th May 1864 413

Battle of Bethseda Church (1) – 30th May 1864 414

Battle of Bethseda Church (2) – 30th May 1864 415

Cold Harbor – 31st May to 12th June 1864 416

Battle of Cold Harbor – 1st June 1864 417

Battle of Cold Harbor – 3rd June 1864 418

Pickett’s Mills and New Hope Church – 25th to 27th May 1864 419

Battle of Kennesaw Mountain – 27th June 1864 420

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 15th to 18th June 1864 421

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 21st to 22nd June 1864 422

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 30th July 1864 423

Wilson-Kautz Raid – 22nd June to 1st July 1864 424

First Battle of Deep Bottom – 27th to 29th July 1864 425

Second Battle of Deep Bottom – 14th to 20th August 1864 426

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 18th to 19th August 1864 427

Opequon, or Winchester, Va. – 19th September 1864 428

Fisher’s Hill – 22nd September 1864 429

Siege of Petersburg – Actions 27th October 1864 430

Cedar Creek – 19th October 1864 431

Battle of Cedar Creek – 19th October 1864 5-9 A.M. Confederate Attacks 432

Battle of Spring Hill – 29th November 1864 – Afternoon 433

Battle of Spring Hill – 29th November 1864 – Evening 434

Battle of Cedar Creek – 19th October 1864 4-5 P.M. Union Counterattack 435

Franklin – 30th November 1864 436

Battle of Franklin – Hood’s Approach 30th November 1864 437

Battle of Franklin – 30th November 1864 Actions after 4.30 P.M. 438

Nashville – 15th & 16th December 1864 439

V – OVERVIEWS 440

1 – Map of the States that Succeeded – 1860-1861 440

Fort Henry Campaign – February 1862 441

Forts Henry and Donelson – February 1862 442

Jackson’s Valley Campaign – 23rd March to 8th May 1862 443

Peninsula Campaign – 17th March to 31st May 1862 444

Jackson’s Valley Campaign – 21st May to 9th June 1862 445

Northern Virginia Campaign – 7th to 28th August 1862 446

Maryland Campaign – September 1862 447

Iuka-Corinth Campaign – First Phase – 10th to 19th September 1862 448

Iuka-Corinth Campaign – Second Phase – 20th September – 3rd October 1862 449

Fredericksburg Campaign – Movements mid-November to 10th December 1862 450

Memphis to Vicksburg – 1862-1863 451

Operations Against Vicksburg and Grant’s Bayou Operations – November 1862 to April 1863 452

Campaign Against Vicksburg – 1863 453

Grant’s Operations Against Vicksburg – April to July 1863 454

Knoxville Campaign - 1863 455

Tullahoma Campaign – 24th June – 3rd July 1863 456

Gettysburg Campaign – Retreat 5th to 14th July 1863 457

Rosecrans’ Manoeuvre – 20th August to 17th September 1963 458

Bristoe Campaign – 9th October to 9th November 1863 459

Mine Run Campaign – 27th November 1863 – 2nd December 1863 460

Grant’s Overland Campaign – Wilderness to North Anna - 1864 461

Grant’s Overland Campaign – May to June 1864 462

Overland Campaign – 4th  May 1864 463

Overland Campaign – 27th to 29th May 1864 464

Overland Campaign –29th to 30th May 1864 465

Overland Campaign – 1st June 1864 – Afternoon 466

Sheridan’s Richmond Raid – 9th to 14th May 1864 467

Sheridan’s Trevilian Station Raid – 7th to 10th June 1864 468

Sheridan’s Trevilian Station Raid – 7th to 10th June 1864 469

Battle of Trevilian Station Raid – 11th June 1864 470

Battle of Trevilian Station Raid – 12th June 1864 471

Shenandoah Valley Campaign – May to July 1864 472

Operations about Marietta – 14th to 28th June 1864 473

Atlanta Campaign – 7th May to 2nd July 1864 474

Operations about Atlanta – 17th July to 2nd September 1864 475

Richmond-Petersburg Campaign – Position Fall 1864 476

Shenandoah Valley Campaign – 20th August – October 1864 477

Sherman’s March to the Sea 478

Franklin-Nashville Campaign – 21st to 28th November 1864 479

Operations about Petersburg – June 1864 to April 1865 480

Carolinas Campaign – February to April 1865 481

Appomattox Campaign - 1865 482

DEDICATION

To his Comrades living, and to the memory of those who have crossed the Great Divide, who together followed the gonfalon of the incomparable leader, Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, this record is affectionately dedicated by

THE AUTHOR.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The War of the Rebellion. Official Records.

Campaigns of Lieut. Gen. N. B. Forrest and Forrest’s Cavalry.

Memoirs of Gen. U. S. Grant.

Life of Gen. George H. Thomas.

General Forrest (Great Commanders Series).

Whip and Spur.

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.

Privations of a Private.

Destruction and Reconstruction.

Military Annals of Tennessee.

Advance and Retreat.

Memoirs of Gen. W. T. Sherman.

Life of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.

De Bow’s Review.

Century Magazine.

McClure’s Magazine.

Taylor-Trotwood Magazine.

Metropolitan Magazine.

Leslie’s Weekly.

Publications of Mississippi Historical Society.

The Battle of Tishomingo Creek as I Saw It.

Men of Tennessee.

INTRODUCTORY.

The history of General Forrest’s artillery companies as an organization into a battalion, which the writer had the honor to command, has never been preserved, and for this reason it is the writer’s desire to embody in this account the movements of this branch of General Forrest’s cavalry service during his connection with it.

The difficulties of writing a history which shall treat fully of each of the myriad factors which make up the multiple of fate will be readily seen to be almost insuperable, and in this narrative no effort has been made to study, to weigh, the innumerable actions and influences which contributed to events; but rather has it been chosen to give a simple recital of those occurrences in which the writer, a young officer in his teens, under this incomparable commander was himself engaged. A close association with the remarkable being whose natural genius for the art of war astonished the world even in that period which has never been surpassed for the development of genius, and oft-exchanged reminiscences with old comrades around the bivouac fires and at reunions, have resulted in the jotting down of the author’s experience in the heroic companionship of the Wizard of the Saddle.

Memory, however, treacherous at best, and doubly so after absorption in other affairs for over forty years, has not been depended upon further than to suggest episodes which have been carefully corroborated by reference to published contemporaneous accounts. Among these are Dr. J. A. Wyeth’s admirable Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Jordan and Pryor’s The Campaigns of Lieutenant Colonel Forrest and Forrest’s Cavalry, which, in addition to having been written shortly after the close of the war, has the further merit of having been revised by General Forrest; the Records of the War of the Rebellion, published by the United States government; the memoirs of numerous Union officers; Captain J. Harvey Mathes’s condensed story in the Great Commanders series; Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley’s Military Annals of Tennessee; and, finally, access has been had to a number of contemporaneous publications and private papers. Thanks are also due for valuable assistance rendered by John Trotwood Moore, Dr. J. B. Cowan, Chief Surgeon of General Forrest’s Cavalry, and Rev. D. C. Kelley, Chaplain of General Forrest’s Cavalry.

JOHN W. MORTON,

Chief of Artillery, Forrest’s Cavalry.

Nashville, Tenn.

JOHN WATSON MORTON.

NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST.

Born at Chapel Hill, Tenn, July 13, 1821.

Captain Company of Tennessee Cavalry, May, 1861.

Colonel Forrest’s Regiment Cavalry, 1861-62.

Brigadier-General, July 21, 1861.

Major-General P.A.C.S., December 14, 1863.

Lieutenant General, February 28, 1865.

Died in Memphis, Tenn., October 29, 1877.

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE CHARACTER OF GEN. NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST.

For nearly three years preceding the close of the Civil War, as a member of General Forrest’s military family and an officer of his staff, I had unlimited opportunities for observing and studying him as a man and as a commander, and that too under all the varying conditions of the camp, the march, and the battlefield.

Every structure in nature and in art necessarily rests upon a base, a foundation, and it has been said that man himself is in no wise exempt from this primal necessity; that for him, as a living temple, heredity lays a foundation, while environment becomes the dominant factor in shaping and developing the superstructure. If this be true, my association with and daily observation of the man warrants the assertion that a massive brain, an inflexible purpose, unflinching courage, tireless energy, and a will that could brook no opposition were the bed rocks of the foundation upon which General Forrest built—truly a combination of characteristics and attributes rarely found in any one man.

Early in life General Forrest fell upon hard times. The death of his father left him, when only sixteen years of age, the sole dependence for support and protection of a widowed mother and eight young brothers and sisters. It was then he began building on that foundation upon which all his subsequent career rested.

Deprived at this early age of every advantage of fortune, save a resolute soul and a robust constitution, he faced his duties and responsibilities with all that force of character displayed by him twenty years later as a cavalry commander. With no one to look to or lean upon, and so many dependent upon him, he was forced to think and act for himself, and thus, amid toil, privations, and hardships, he began the development of that complete self-reliance which characterized his whole military career.

As a soldier, by his intelligence, energy, and bravery, he carved his way unaided from obscurity to fame—from the ranks to a Lieutenant-Generalship.

General Forrest, as a commander, was, in many respects, the negative of a West Pointer. He regarded evolution, maneuvers, and exhaustive cavalry drill an unnecessary tax upon men and horses. He cared nothing for tactics further than the movement by twos or fours in column, and from column right or left into line, dismounting, charging, and fighting. As attested by his unparalleled successes, these simple movements proved sufficient.

Except for officers, as an insignia of rank, General Forrest banished the saber from his command. In the hands of troopers he regarded them as a dangling, clattering appendage—of no value as offensive weapons. He armed his men with a Sharp’s rifle, or short carbine, and two navy sixes, better in every way for either attack or defense. By his captures the Federal Government supplied him with guns and artillery and more ordnance, commissary, and quartermaster’s stores than he could use.

With vastly inferior numbers he met on different fields and defeated Generals Hatch, Grierson, William Sooy Smith, and Sturgis, all of whom were veteran soldiers and graduates of West Point. The two last named were specially selected by Generals Grant and Sherman, and sent out with splendidly equipped commands for no other purpose than to whip or kill that devil Forrest. In the light of such events General Forrest can be excused for holding in contempt the idea that only West Pointers were fitted to command, and also for saying on one occasion: Whenever I met one of them fellers that fit by note, I generally whipped h-ll out of him before he got his tune pitched.

By nature General Forrest was aggressive, consequently he was always an offensive fighter. He believed the moral effect was with the attacking party, and never failed, when it was possible to do so, to take the initiative and deliver the first blow. He believed that one man advancing in attack was equal to two men standing in line of battle and awaiting attack. When charged by the enemy, no matter in what numbers, it was his invariable rule to meet a charge with a countercharge.

His restless nature would not allow him to remain in camp any longer than was necessary to rest his men and shoe his horses. Unlike some generals, who seemed content with holding their ground and keeping from being whipped, General Forrest was ever on the move, and never content unless he was whipping somebody. He cared little for army regulations or tactics; disobeyed or went outside of them whenever the good of the service or surrounding circumstances demanded it. Nor was he free from inconsistencies common to us all. While he could not tolerate insubordination in his own command, he was himself at times the most insubordinate of men. However contrary to his own judgment a movement might be, an order from his superior officer on the battlefield was always obeyed, except in matters affecting himself or his command unwisely or unjustly. An instance of this kind I well remember. When General Hood crossed his army over the Tennessee to Florence, Ala., General Forrest was in command of all the cavalry of his army. We had our headquarters at a church a few miles out in the country. An officer came out with an order reducing the number of mules in wagons and ordering all surplus mules to be turned over to the quartermaster of transportation. General Forrest happened to be out, and the officer left after giving specific directions to have the mules sent in the next morning. It was read to the General when he came in, and he said very quietly: None of my mules will be sent in on that order. The next evening Maj. A. L. Landis came out and asked the General if he had received the order, and wanted to know why the mules had not been sent in as ordered. If the good people accustomed to sit in the amen corner had dropped in just at that time, they would have concluded that the good Lord had been ousted and old Nick had taken full possession of the sanctuary. The atmosphere was blue for a while. Stripped of General Forrest’s bad words, he said to Major Landis: Go back to your quarters and don’t you come here again or send anybody here about mules. The order will not be obeyed; and, moreover, if Major Ewing bothers me any further about this matter, I’ll come down to his office, tie his long legs into a double bowknot around his neck, and choke him to death with his own shins. It’s a fool order anyway. General Hood had better send his inspectors to overhaul your wagons, rid them of all surplus baggage, tents, adjutant desks, and everything that can be spared. Reduce the number of his wagons instead of reducing the strength of his teams. Besides, I know what is before me; and if he knew the road from here to Pulaski, this order would be countermanded. I whipped the enemy and captured every mule wagon and ambulance in my command; have not made a requisition on the government for anything of the kind for two years, and now that they are indispensable my teams will go as they are or not at all.

Insubordination may be justified, but it cannot be defended. General Forrest’s insubordination in this case was a Godsend and a saving clause to General Hood’s retreating army. From Richland Creek to the Tennessee River the road was strewn with his abandoned wagons, and but for the help afforded the pontoon train by General Forrest’s fine six-mule teams great delay and probable disaster to the army would have occurred before a passage of the river was effected.

Long after the gray-haired veterans of the Confederate armies shall have passed away, and when, as far as possible, all error shall have been expunged from the pages of history, which should be illuminated by truth alone, a glorious constellation will shine undimmed in the sky of the Confederate States of America. It will be an empyrean of exalted memories in which these fixed stars, differing from one another in their own peculiar glory, will beam in their appropriate places, an enduring revelation to the world of the virtues and genius of our greatest commanders. In the zenith of the grand constellation will be a trinity of stars. The greatest and central luminary will send forth earth-wide rays, sustained and brilliant beyond all others, but beaming everywhere with softened radiance. The other two, different of element, but alike calling forth our admiration, will shine with their own brightness and effulgence to the right and left of the noble central star; one, Sirius-like, with far-flashing radiance of a light divine, from a Christian warrior’s armor; the other with a rich, dazzling splendor that seems to fling lightnings of defiance to the sun’s fiercest rays from the burnished shield of a dauntless heart. These stars are Robert E. Lee, T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The first was preeminent by reason of a superlatively noble nature and exalted purity of character, combined with world-wide fame as the commander of incomparable armies that loved him with a love as near adoration as ever blessed a mortal; the other two startled the solitudes of space and made the chasms of time to ring with the echoes of their matchlessly adroit and marvelously swift achievements. General Jackson prayed and marched, and prayed and fought. General Forrest, like a ruthless besom of destruction, charged the air with electric energy as he hurled himself upon the foe. He was indeed the Wizard of the Saddle, self-reliant and aggressive, with the consciousness of one who seemed to know intuitively when, where, and how to strike. Without military training he forced his way from the ranks of the company in which he enlisted to a commander’s fame as complete and brilliant as ever reflected honor upon any school of arms. We can picture him one spring morning at reveille, taking his place with comrades who barely knew his name, and four years later a lieutenant general, the resplendent and fiery star of whose glory still sheds a light that makes his deeds and his genius the theme of eager discussion in every camp and school where military science and skill enlist a thought.

He had absolutely no knowledge or experience of war gleaned from the study of what others had wrought. General Forrest grasped intuitively and instantaneously the strategic possibilities of every situation which confronted him, and with inspired native genius and complete confidence put into practice the tactics of the most famous generals in all history. His knowledge of men was in most cases unerring; and his ability to inspire and bring out the greatest power and endurance of his men was unsurpassed even by the great Napoleon himself. His eye for position was almost infallible, and his knowledge of the effect of a given movement on the enemy was intuitive and seemed to come rather from an inner than an outer source of information. His plans of battle were not chalked out on blackboards nor drawn on charts; they were conceived on the instant and as instantaneously carried out. He struck as the lightning strikes, and his tactics were as incalculable as those of the electric fluid and as mysterious to the enemy, for his movements were so rapid and his endurance and daring so remarkable that they could not be computed by any known rules of warfare.

ARTILLERY OF FORREST’S CAVALRY

CHAPTER I. — THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON.

THE author of this book joined General Forrest’s command the first week of November, 1862. Previous to that time his service had been in Capt. Thomas K. Porter’s battery, although this was not the first company he had joined.

John W. Morton, Jr., was, when President Lincoln called for troops, a student at the Western Military Institute, of Nashville, Tenn. In common with other lads of seventeen, he burned with impatience for his State to secede and afford him an opportunity, if possible, to distinguish himself on the field. Discussions of questions of State and public policy inevitably, and promptly, resulted in favor of secession and glorious combat.

When Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession, the students waited for no formal announcement of it, no dismissal from the schoolroom. With one accord, the two hundred and fifty-nine cadets left the Institute and hastened to their respective homes, eager to join the first companies being formed. Some eight or nine of the students were from Indiana and Illinois, and these likewise returned home.

The Dunlap Zouaves, composed of boys, and the company being named for Hon. James Dunlap, Secretary of State, was formed in Nashville in a few days, and young Morton joined this company, was elected a lieutenant, and passed some time in drilling. He endeavored to get the cadets to join the Confederate army as a company, but this failed.

During the latter part of April, 1861, he joined the Rock City Guards, Company C, Col. George Maney’s Regiment, First Tennessee Infantry. His captain was a fellow-physician and intimate friend of young Morton’s father, Dr. John Watson Morton. Doctor-Captain Robert C. Foster, the kindest and most genial of men, took his company to Camp Cheatham, where he drilled them daily for about a month. Young Morton drilled faithfully, and performed every duty incident to camp life. but upon one pretext or another Captain Foster deferred swearing him into service. Suddenly the news got abroad that the regiment had been ordered to West Virginia; and, feeling that the time for decisive action had come, the ambitious military student made a firm demand to be mustered into service like the other boys. Captain Foster, looking earnestly at the enthusiastic youth, said to him kindly: John, West Virginia is a very rugged country, and you are too young and frail to stand the long marches over the rough mountains and the hardships of camp life. Go home to your mother.

In high dudgeon the disappointed would-be soldier packed his grip and returned home. His mother wept tears of joy on hearing the Captain-Doctor’s verdict, but John was not one whit moved from his determination. Hearing the same afternoon that a company of artillery was being mustered into service at Camp Weakley, just across the bridge, where artillery companies were being organized in Northeast Nashville, he reported there. Capt. Jesse Taylor, commander of a battery, was busy inspecting camp, and when requested to muster in young Morton as a member of his company, he replied: All right, John. I’ll send for the mustering officer. This he did, and somehow the awkward question relating to the age of the applicant was overlooked. Jubilantly returning home, the youth’s enthusiasm was somewhat discouraged by his mother’s grief, but this was as quickly removed by his father’s act in ordering a new uniform from John Browne, the noted tailor, whose shop stood at the corner of the Public Square and Deaderick Street. When the natty suit was finished, it was young Morton’s confident belief that Browne had never executed a more important commission.

THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON.

The record of young Morton’s first battle and his life in prison cannot better be told than in a résumé of a sketch prepared by him for Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley’s very useful Military Annals of Tennessee, on Porter’s Battery.{1}

"The political history of Tennessee in 1861 is familiar