Nathan Bedford Forrest Essay -- Nathan Bedford Forrest Hero Bio Essays

Nathan Bedford Forrest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The United States Army, in its doctrine, lists nine basic principles. As stated in Field Manual 100-5 these include objective, offensive, mass, economy of force, maneuver, unity of command, security, surprise, and simplicity. 1 Napoleon had 115 maxims, Sun Tzu had 13 principles, but Nathan Bedford Forrest’s advice was the utmost of simplicity, â€Å"Git thar firstest with the mostest men.†2 As we look at the challenge facing our nation’s military today, our leaders would do well to look at Forrest’s campaigns and strategies as a guide.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  . Forrest won respect for risking his life while trying to save his aging uncle. Subsequently, Forrest won the affection of Mary Montgomery who, in 1845, became his wife.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1851 Bedford moved to Memphis. He won several elections as an elderman and prospered as a businessman. When he closed out his business in late1859 war was eminent. He was involved in his own cotton business and was busy putting his family affairs in order. His net worth was 11/2 million dollars and he was netting $30 thousand a year for his cotton. While he was a slave trader during this period, Colonel Adair described his actions as â€Å"Forrest was kind, humane, and extremely considerate of his slaves. He seemed to exercise the same influence over them that in a greater degree he exercised over the soldiers who served him as devotedly as if there was between them a strong personal attachment.5 On 14 June 1861, he enlisted in Memphis as a soldier in Captain White’s Tennessee Mounted Rifles Company.6 This unit would become a subordinate unit of the Seventh Tennessee Calvary Regiment. Forrest was the unit’s commander when the war ended. Friends of Forrest’s approached Governor Harris and General Polk, which subsequently resulted in an authorization allowing Forrest to raise a battalion of mounted rangers. By October of 1861 he had eight companies of men comprising a total of 650. Most arrived with pistols and shotguns, as well as horses, which resulted in Forrest still attempting to obtain rifles for them when the unit was ordered to Dover as reinforcement for what was to be Fort Donelson. As Colonel Tate described then to General Johnston, â€Å"Colonel Forrest’s regiment of cavalry, as fine a body of men as ever went... ... York: Simon & Schuster), Volume 2, 607. 9. Wyeth, 27. 10. Robert E Corlew, Tennessee, A Short History. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press,1989), 307 11. Wyeth. 61. 12. Ibid., 100-101. 13. Ibid., 184. 14. Edwin C. Bearss, Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1979), 28 15. Thomas Jordan & J.P.Pryor, The Campaigns of Lieutenant General N.B.Forrest. (New Orleans, 1868), 16. Wyeth, 241. Bibliography Bearss, Erwin C. Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1979 Brasher, Justin â€Å"Forrest’s Headquarters† and â€Å"NBFHQ† 2001 (a website) Corlew, Robert E. Tennessee: A Short History. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1989 Current, Richard N. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1985. Jordan, Thomas and Pryor, J.P. The Campaigns of Lieutenant General N.B. Forrest .New Orleans, 1868. Matloff, Maurice, General Editor, American Military History. Washington D.C.: Office of the Chief of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Military History. United States Army, 1969. Wyeth, John A. MD, Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest. Dayton, Ohio: Morningside Bookshop, 1975 reprint   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  of 1898 ed.