Nathan Forest essays

Nathan Forest essays Nathan Forrest was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, on 13th July, 1821. He was born into a poor family of William and Merriam Beck Forrestand was the third child of eleven, but he and eventually became the owner the owner of a large cotton plantation. He was also a slave-trader and the buyer and seller of land. His plantation and slaves led him to become a very wealthy man even though, he was uneducated. On the outbreak of the American Civil War Forrest enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private in Josiah H. White's cavalry company on June 14, 1861. Under the Governor of Tennessees idea of using Forrests wealth by having him a battalion at his own expense. Because of this, in October 1861 he was a lieutenant colonel, and in March 1862 he was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry. His promotion was earned because he had escaped from Grant at Fort Donelson, which was the only success for the Confederacy at that battle. The Confederates met in northern Mississippi and headed for the Union army at Pittsburgh Landing. He organized the cover for the retreat at Shiloh. Forrest was badly wounded but after he recovered he conducted raids on the Union Army. He took part in the evacuation of Corinth, then was promoted to Brigadier General in July of 1862 and raised the troops needed to have a full brigade. He took them on his first raid to Murfreesboro, and captured the garrison, and destroying track and supplies. The important thing their raid did was throw off the Union advance on Chattanooga ,which allowed Bragg to move into Kentucky. He fought in the battle in Kentucky, but his next independent operation was in west Tennessee. In April, 1864, Forrest and his men captured Fort Pillow in Jackson, Tennessee. The fort contained many blacks and white soldiers.After the war it was said that the soldiers were killed after they had surrended. An investigation discovered that they had killed the garrison after surre...