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Best cavalry comander: General Phillip Sheridan, Chief of Cavalry, Army of the Potomac, fought more classic mounted cavalry battles, won them all. He destroyed JEB Stuart's command, killing Stuart. He also captured Missionary Ridge and large amounts of prisoners and supplies. He gutted the Shenandoah Valley, routed Early, forced Lee out of Petersburg, and cut off Lee's escape from Appomattox, forcing Lee to surrender.

Forrest was very capable but the Army of Virginia and the Shenandoah valley were the heart of the Confederacy and that's where the Civil War was fought and lost by them.

My other candidate would be Gregg who ran JEB Stuart out of Gettysburg.

Forrest was very capable but the Army of Virginia and the Shenandoah valley were the heart of the Confederacy and that's where the Civil War was fought and lost by them.

The War Between the States was lost in the Western theater.
Forrest was an unprecedented cavalryman and commander - much better than Sheridan.

My last point here is that Forrest did not see himself as a classic cavalryman, didn't believe in it. He modeled his tactics more along the concept of dragoons, mounted foot soldiers. He believed that the horse was most useful in delivering troops quickly to and away from a battlefield.

He didn't agree that a horse was a weapons platform, his troops rarely carried sabres, but better a method of troop transport.

This distinction and difference from other classic cavalrymen such as Stuart, Gregg, Sheridan is what interested Rommel.

Best cavalry comander: General Phillip Sheridan, Chief of Cavalry, Army of the Potomac, fought more classic mounted cavalry battles, won them all.

His men were armed with that damn Yankee rifle you load in the morning and shoot all day.

Best cavalry comander: General Phillip Sheridan, Chief of Cavalry, Army of the Potomac, fought more classic mounted cavalry battles, won them all. He destroyed JEB Stuart’s command, killing Stuart. He also captured Missionary Ridge and large amounts of prisoners and supplies. He gutted the Shenandoah Valley, routed Early, forced Lee out of Petersburg, and cut off Lee’s escape from Appomattox, forcing Lee to surrender.
Forrest was very capable but the Army of Virginia and the Shenandoah valley were the heart of the Confederacy and that’s where the Civil War was fought and lost by them.

My other candidate would be Gregg who ran JEB Stuart out of Gettysburg.

Buford, had he lived, might have earned a spot right alongside of them.

As for Stuart and Gregg at Gettysburg (I was just there this past weekend, and a tour guide we used is writting a book about the Hanover cavalry battle just east of Gettysburg) given Stuart’s horses were completely blown from his ill advised ‘glory ride’ I don’t think thats a fair way to evaluate what took place there.