Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma

By Eddy W. Davison and Daniel Foxx
Maps, endnotes, bibliography, index 528 pp., 2007. Pelican Publishing, 1000 Burmaster St., Gretna, LA 70053, $35 plus shipping.

Reviewer: John S. Benson
John S. Benson is a past president of the Bucks County Civil War Round Table. He is a partner in a Doylestown, Pa., law firm, an adjunct professor of law at Widener University, and an adjunct professor at Delaware Valley College.

Review:
Nathan Bedford Forrest has always been a favorite personality among Civil War buffs. A bold tactician, fierce fighter and staunch Rebel, he rose from a lowly private to a lieutenant general who was feared by even the bravest Union soldier. Much has been written of Forrest's skill in the saddle, yet his motivations and beliefs remain to some degree a mystery.

In this new work the authors believe they have come to understand what they describe as the "enigma" that is Forrest. With a foreword offered by Edwin C. Bearss, the reader starts what is sure to be an enlightening and enjoyable read. The truth, however, is that while it is an enjoyable read, Forrest remains the enigma he has become. Forrest came from humble beginnings. With only a few months of formal education, he assumed responsibility for his family at the age of 16 upon his father's death. In 1842 Forrest moved from Tennessee to Mississippi where he went into business with his uncle. In 1851 he moved back to Tennessee where he prospered in the slave trade and acquired substantial property.

With the secession of Tennessee, Forrest enlisted as a private in the 7th Tennessee Cavalry and was later summoned by the governor to assist in recruitment. Forrest recruited the soldiers who would make up the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry, which Forrest funded and equipped at his own expense. After fighting in Kentucky, Forrest found himself at Fort Donelson where he successfully escaped with his command before the fort's surrender.

Later, in Nashville, Forrest helped evacuate supplies after the mayor decided to leave everything to the Union invaders. Not one to like idleness, Forrest scouted enemy positions at Shiloh while his fellow soldiers slept. During the battle, we come to see Forrest's tender side as he went back out onto the battlefield at night to search for his missing son. Forrest was later wounded near the end of the battle.

Following Shiloh, he took a new command of what would be known simply as Forrest's Cavalry Brigade. Forrest would later organize another unit, Forrest's Cavalry Corps.

Forrest would spend the war leading daring raids to disrupt Union activities. In December 1862, Forrest used bluff and bluster to disrupt Grant's supply lines in Tennessee; in February 1863 he used deception to capture a numerically superior force; he used daring force to assist with the evacuation of Chattanooga and at Chickamauga.

He spent much of 1864 blunting Union raids in Mississippi and going on the attack in Tennessee and Alabama. By the time of his surrender in May 1865 he had been promoted to lieutenant general.

Forrest spent the years after the war unsuccessfully trying to recoup he prewar fortune. He was involved with several business failures and served for some time as president of the Selma, Marion and Memphis Railroad. He continued to embrace white supremacy and not only sided with the budding Ku Klux Klan, but became its first Grand Wizard. He died in Memphis on Oct. 29, 1877.

The title to a book should always set the stage for the coming story. As such, one would expect a work entitled Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma to be an in-depth look into a man who has long been cloaked in a veil of fear, created by his fighting skills, and later by his association with a radical supremacy group. Yet by the conclusion of this book the reader finds himself with very little additional insight to Forrest's life. The enigma remains.

The only view of him is during raids and battle. There are few non-battle glimpses of the famed cavalry leader. We know nothing of his thoughts and little of his communications or interaction with his troops or superior officers. We rarely even see what others in the chain of command thought of Forrest or his tactics. As in life, Forrest appears during each raid only to disappear at its conclusion and remain hidden until the next attack. When Forrest's troops disappear, so too does the story.

The authors frequently gloss over events without providing much analysis. For example, they inform us the Forrest often found himself in trouble for giving out the spoils of war. However, they never take the time to tell us exactly why this got Forrest into trouble or even if the complaints were justified. In another example the authors tell us that Forrest at one time declined promotion, recommending Gideon Pillow instead.

While the authors mention postwar books that have given conflicting accounts of Forrest's actions, they do not examine how these faulty works have skewed the view of Forrest over time. The possibility that the enigma was created by various historians is never discussed or explored; this is a key factor that would have added greatly to the work.

No pictures of either Forrest, his men, or the places of interest accompany the story. Maps, while detailed, are clustered in the middle of the book and are not placed near the corresponding text for ease in reference. Endnotes merely contain citations and are not used to point out additional information of analysis.

Eddy Davison and Daniel Foxx write a good story. The information is not boring nor does the book suffer from poor style or grammar. They are correct; Forrest has and remains a mystery.

Some of this will never change as records were rarely kept for these cavalry soldiers. Forrest did not become a prolific writer and defender of his actions after the war, as did some Confederate officers. As such, we cannot look to his own detailed thoughts. Raids were lightning fast and not easily analyzed.

Yet more could have been done to shed light on this cavalry leader. In this case, a smaller book that dealt with Forrest the man versus Forrest the myth would have been more interesting and helpful. The overriding problem with this book is that it cannot be distinguished from any others about the man.