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Military Background

Portrait of General N.B. Forrest,
February 18, 1865,  page 109

February 18, 1865, page 109 (3-4)

We give above a portrait of Major-General N. B. Forrest, the great cavalry leader of the confederates in the West. He has been connected with the war from the first, and the most daring of the Confederate raids have been accomplished by his command. He had a brigade of cavalry at Fort Donelson, and to prevent being captured with the garrison he cut his way out with a portion of his command. In our advance southward he had been a most formidable enemy, falling upon our communications, capturing our supply trains, or swooping down upon some feebly-defended town as he did upon Memphis last summer. It was General Forrest, without doubt, that saved General Hood’s army from utter destruction, by covering his retreat across the Tennessee.