diane
that gal
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Nathan Bedford Forrest escaped from Ft Donelson with 1700 men. When that fort fell, the backwash was felt completely across Tennessee. Braxton Bragg was preparing to defend Chattanooga but the Union victory at Ft Donelson caused a tremendous shift in the Union forces throughout the northwestern theater. Buell and Thomas were ordered to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, but ahead of them went the only large, organized body of cavalry the CSA had - Bedford Forrest's combined units. His force was green but had a core of veterans, and they were all states - Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee. Altogether he had the largest force he ever commanded - about 5 to 8,000 troops.
Buell's army alone was 50,000 strong, Rosecrans had George Thomas and Ormsby Mitchell recalled to stop the rebel movements at Nashville. This was a tremendous surge of Union troops toward the center of Tennessee, and right in the middle of it was one cavalryman.
Forrest arrived in Nashville ahead of Union forces and just before the mayor surrendered the city to the Union. He emptied the city of supplies, destroyed anything of use and cleared the roadways enough for transport. There were riots in Nashville - Forrest turned the fire hoses on the rioters when they became more numerous than his men. Put a damper on things! The main warehouse was being looted so he put himself before the doors. He may have seemed a lonesome figure, and a small mob soon formed as there was liquor in the warehouse they wanted. Forrest ordered them away but one huge man stepped up quickly behind Forrest and grabbed him by the collar to fling him aside. He not only didn't fling, he whacked the guy's melon with his navy Colt - and it was no love tap. The man was stretched out on the ground for some time and proved to be an excellent example of why one did not touch the officer standing in front of the liquor!
Don Carlos Buell was headquartered in Columbia and Gen Ormsby Mitchell was headquartered in Murfreesboro. Buell ordered him to move his division to Shelbyville, leaving Murfreesboro protected by only a small number of Union forces. No one expected Confederate forces to be anywhere near...but this opened the Murfreesboro Turnpike between that city and Nashville. Forrest made the famous raid that began his 1862 West Tennessee Raid, which made him a major general.
What else did Forrest accomplish with Nashville? He burned all the bridges the brilliant Mitchell (Old Stars - a genuine genius) had built, retrieved or destroyed all the stores and materiel usable by the enemy, and caused a great disturbance in the force! This is not much known, but Forrest did indeed with his few thousand troops stymie Buell's army of over 50,000. (Later, this was something Sherman took note of with his march. Forrest had stopped him once with Meridian as he had stopped Buell.) Forrest kept them moving as he kept moving - he, Van Dorn and Morgan created chaos while Bragg moved toward eastern Kentucky - his plan was to take that area and Bowling Green. (This was a 'bread basket' area and also a major salt manufacturing site.)
Grant, finding his threat against Vicksburg stymied by the cavalry raids of Van Dorn and Forrest, moved toward Nashville with surprising speed but was stopped cold by Henry Halleck. It would have been interesting if Grant had been able to act in Nashville.
Many times people have understated what Forrest actually did as cavalry and how effective he was. He was organized, calculating and deadly efficient with great intelligence gathering skills. This is demonstrated by how he rode into Murfreesboro right under the noses of three Union generals who were nobody's fools. Impeding an army the size of Buell's with a fraction of the manpower was surprising audacity even Lee would have gasped at but it worked. Buell backed off like a bull meeting a feisty mouse for the first time! It bought Bragg time he needed. That is another thing not often mentioned about Forrest's operations around Nashville in 1862.
Inadvertently there was another curious outcome of Forrest's rear guard cover of the Confederate army's shift from Corinth. The failure of the quixotic and vastly interesting Andrew's Raid. Stealing the General was, surprisingly enough, foiled by Forrest!
Buell's army alone was 50,000 strong, Rosecrans had George Thomas and Ormsby Mitchell recalled to stop the rebel movements at Nashville. This was a tremendous surge of Union troops toward the center of Tennessee, and right in the middle of it was one cavalryman.
Forrest arrived in Nashville ahead of Union forces and just before the mayor surrendered the city to the Union. He emptied the city of supplies, destroyed anything of use and cleared the roadways enough for transport. There were riots in Nashville - Forrest turned the fire hoses on the rioters when they became more numerous than his men. Put a damper on things! The main warehouse was being looted so he put himself before the doors. He may have seemed a lonesome figure, and a small mob soon formed as there was liquor in the warehouse they wanted. Forrest ordered them away but one huge man stepped up quickly behind Forrest and grabbed him by the collar to fling him aside. He not only didn't fling, he whacked the guy's melon with his navy Colt - and it was no love tap. The man was stretched out on the ground for some time and proved to be an excellent example of why one did not touch the officer standing in front of the liquor!
Don Carlos Buell was headquartered in Columbia and Gen Ormsby Mitchell was headquartered in Murfreesboro. Buell ordered him to move his division to Shelbyville, leaving Murfreesboro protected by only a small number of Union forces. No one expected Confederate forces to be anywhere near...but this opened the Murfreesboro Turnpike between that city and Nashville. Forrest made the famous raid that began his 1862 West Tennessee Raid, which made him a major general.
What else did Forrest accomplish with Nashville? He burned all the bridges the brilliant Mitchell (Old Stars - a genuine genius) had built, retrieved or destroyed all the stores and materiel usable by the enemy, and caused a great disturbance in the force! This is not much known, but Forrest did indeed with his few thousand troops stymie Buell's army of over 50,000. (Later, this was something Sherman took note of with his march. Forrest had stopped him once with Meridian as he had stopped Buell.) Forrest kept them moving as he kept moving - he, Van Dorn and Morgan created chaos while Bragg moved toward eastern Kentucky - his plan was to take that area and Bowling Green. (This was a 'bread basket' area and also a major salt manufacturing site.)
Grant, finding his threat against Vicksburg stymied by the cavalry raids of Van Dorn and Forrest, moved toward Nashville with surprising speed but was stopped cold by Henry Halleck. It would have been interesting if Grant had been able to act in Nashville.
Many times people have understated what Forrest actually did as cavalry and how effective he was. He was organized, calculating and deadly efficient with great intelligence gathering skills. This is demonstrated by how he rode into Murfreesboro right under the noses of three Union generals who were nobody's fools. Impeding an army the size of Buell's with a fraction of the manpower was surprising audacity even Lee would have gasped at but it worked. Buell backed off like a bull meeting a feisty mouse for the first time! It bought Bragg time he needed. That is another thing not often mentioned about Forrest's operations around Nashville in 1862.
Inadvertently there was another curious outcome of Forrest's rear guard cover of the Confederate army's shift from Corinth. The failure of the quixotic and vastly interesting Andrew's Raid. Stealing the General was, surprisingly enough, foiled by Forrest!
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Let's make 1864 Nashville a second thread and this one about 1862. All about talking Nashville 64 - but this thread's Nashville 62. You know, the first two years of the war just don't get no love - like the Trans-Mississippi!
