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Lt. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest

 

 

 

Born: July 13, 1821

Chapel Hill, Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 

Died: October 29, 1877

Memphis, Tennessee

 

 

Private: July 1861

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Lt. Col.: October 1861

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Colonel: February 1862

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Brig. Gen: July 21, 1862

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Maj. Gen: December 4, 1863

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Lt. Gen: February 28, 1865

Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest

July 1861: Enlisted as Private

October 1861: Commissioned as Lt. Colonel - Recruited and Trained a battalion of Confederate Mounted Rangers

Forrest had an Escort Company which were the elite cavalrymen of his Mounted Rangers. Eight of them were enslaved Blacks at his plantation before the war.

February 14-16, 1862: Battle of Fort Donelson - Captured a Union Battery - Escaped with 4,000 men on the 16th

With the fall of Nashville near, Forrest arranged for transport of heavy ordnance machinery

April 6-7, 1862: Battle of Shiloh

July 21, 1862: Promoted to Brigadier General

Summer - November 20, 1862: Commanding Cavalry Brigade, Army of the Mississippi

July 13, 1862: First Battle of Murfreesboro

Fall 1862 - Spring 1863: Raids in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi

November 20, 1862 - Summer 1863: Commander Cavalry Brigade, Army of Tennessee

April 30 - May 1, 1863: Battle of Day's Gap

Summer 1863: Commander Cavalry Division, Army of Tennessee

 

August - September 29, 1863: Commander Cavalry Corps, Army of Tennessee

September 18-20, 1863: Battle of Chickamauga

November 14, 1863 - January 11, 1864: Commander West Tennessee, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana

December 4, 1863: Promoted to Major General

January 11 - 28, 1864: Commander Cavalry Corps, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana

March 26, 1864: Battle of Paducah

April 12, 1864: Battle of Fort Pillow

June 10, 1864: Battle of Brice's Crossroads

July 14-15, 1864: Battle of Tupelo

August - October 1864: Raids in Tennessee

November 29, 1864: Battle of Spring Hill

November 30, 1864: Battle of Franklin

December 5-7, 1864: Third Battle of Murfreesboro

December 15-16, 1864: Battle of Nashville

January 27 - May 4, 1865: Commander District of Mississippi and East Louisiana, Department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana

February 28, 1865: Promoted to Lt. General

May 1865: Final Address to his troops 

Boatner, Mark M. III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York: David McKary, 1967. p 288-289

Warner, Exra. J. "Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders." Baton Rouge: Louisiana State, 1992. 92-93

Wyeth, John Allan. "That Devil Forrest Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest." New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959. rpt.

          Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. 

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