Jackson, you are right, was a true believer and had such great determination that, it would seem, when God ordained that the Confederacy should not succeed, it was necessary to remove him from the scene. The only time he was not brilliant was during the Seven Days Campaign, when some historians found him to be lethargic. A few speculate that he was not enthusiastic about the frontal assaults Lee was undertaking and the high casualties. Jackson was concerned about his men's lives. Someone once asked him why he drove his men so hard (sometimes 35-40 miles a day). He replied,"I sacrifice their legs to spare their lives."
Forrest is an interesting character. He is not the impeccable individual that Lee was nor was he fervently religious, as Jackson was. He had little formal education. Many historians say that it was a pity for the South that Forrest never attended West Point. Not that it would have made him a better commander, but that it would have opened up opportunities for high command early in the war. In spite of Non Sequitur's protestations, Forrest would have been an incredible corps or army commander. He had almost an instinctive grasp of topography. He could survey ground once and immediately perceive its weak spots (in the case of attack) or its strong points (in the case of defense). Had Forrest been in command at Shiloh instead of Beauregard, the Union Army (along with U.S. Grant and W.T. Sherman) would have been driven into the river the first day, and Buell's army would have been destroyed in detail the next. Similarly, Chickamauga would have been not just an empty vitory on the way to the defeats of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge,but would have resulted in the recapture of Chattanooga and, at least, a delay in the taking of Atlanta until 1865, with the possible consequence that Lincoln would have lost the 1864 election.
Forrest was a fierce fighter who killed 31 men in hand to hand combat and had 30 horses shot out from under him. He was far from the normal conception of a general. It's also noteworthy that Forrest rose further in rank than any other soldier in either army. He enlisted as a private in 1861 and finished the war as a Lieutenant General in 1865. He was finally defeated by the Yankees at Selma in the spring of 1865. Reason: They had repeating rifles.
All true, and I suppose you're aware that as a young man, Forrest made his way to Texas during the fight for Texas independence, arriving there late for the party, but having undoubtedly met some of the leaders of the Texian forces and having learned of their actions under fire, pieced that together in his mind with the places in front of him where some of those events had earlier taken place. That may have been nearly as good a firsthand education into at least small-unit tactics and movement as anything he'd have learned as one of West Point's young gentlemen.
It's interesting too to wonder if Forrest heard former Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett's farewell address to his home state when he left for Texas from Memphis, but almost certainly he heard of it.
And where were you, sir, when we gathered at Forrest's gravesite on his birthday last month to recall his life and memory? There were a good many there I did not know, but it was a swell occasion both to meet new friends and recall a great man.
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