Forrest Stories: Humor of Bedford Forrest and His Cavalry

By G. Lee Millar

Bedford Forrest was not a jester or joker, but he did have a good sense of humor. When a difficult, combative situation was under control, which with him it inevitably would be, his demeanor would lighten up, and Forrest’s humorous side would come out. He was also a master of the poker bluff and psychological warfare, and he played these to great advantage during the war. One of the best episodes of this was the 1863 week-long pursuit and surrender of an entire Federal brigade—over 1,700 men—to fewer than 600 of his own. The Union commander had seen the Confederates’ three cannons, but a Forrest ruse and bluff made it appear as fifteen cannons, to which the astonished Union man asked Forrest how many he had. Forrest replied, “I reckon that’s all that’s kept up.”

This book is a trove of those factual and almost-factual happenings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 29, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546235552

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© 2018 Lee Millar. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/18/2022

ISBN: 978-1-5462-3557-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-3556-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-3555-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903839

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover art by Jess Erskine

Back cover by Marion H. McClintock

CONTENTS

Dedication

Epigraph

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Catch General Forrest?

Introduction

Yankee Jokes

Chapter 1 Wartime Stories

Country Refreshment

Lincoln Country

Hell

Aunt Lizzy, And The Moral Of The Story

Severe Whippin’

Outnumbered 3 To 1

On The Union Side

Making Faces

The Pharmacy

FORREST’S 30,000

The Magic Tea Pot

Wounded Trooper

Living Longer

The Red Battle Shirt

One Reb Equals Ten Yankees

Chapter 2 True Stories

Mary Ann

Women Fighting Too

Confederate Girls

All’s Fair In War – Streight’s Raid

Forrest Chastised

Can’t Hold My Horse

Gettin’ Out

Drinking

Jackson, Tenn. Recruiting

Discouraging An Admirer

The Yankee Chaplain

When General Forrest Says, It’s God, I Dare A Man To Say Differently….

All In The Line Of Duty

When General Forrest Ran

General Forrest and the Hawg

Mistaken Identity

The Joke Is On Them

King Philip And The Yankees

Go Where We Pleased

Forrest Wisdom

How The Yankees Feared Forrest

Casualties

The New York Visit

Chapter 3 Post War

Bragging

Cow Manure

Jonah

The Train Kiss

The Dead Mule

Southern Belle And Two Veterans

The Rat Sculpture

The Scarecrow

Requesting Help

Yankee Bear Hunter

The Indian Raid

Mexican Bandit Gold

Reunion Gold Piece

Yankee Suicide

Yankee Veterans’ Home

Deer Hunting

The Stage Driver

The Young Attorney And Southern Philosophy

The Barbershop

The Saloon

Circle Flies

Yankee Fisherman

Hunting And Fishing

The Parrott And The Burglar

Chapter 4 Famous Quotes

Quotes Of Friend And Foe

Quotes From Fellow Southerners

Chapter 5 Forrest Historical Society

General Nathan Bedford Forrest Historical Society

The Forrest Recommended Reading List

About the Author

About the Artist

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of my dad, Glenn L. Millar Jr., who possessed a superb dry wit, and dedicated to the memory of my mother, Betty Ann Millar, who, though having absolutely no knack of actually telling a joke, nevertheless always loved to hear a good joke or story. Both were great people.

This is also dedicated to my family for their collective continued support and encouragement to press on with this work, especially to these five: my brother, Richard Holmes Millar, and my sister, Mindy Millar Ferran, who keep humor and faith in their families; just as my son Casey and daughter Meg have known in ours, and to my cousin Carol Ezell, herself an author.

EPIGRAPH

Much has been written about the bravery and daring of the Confederate soldier, and yet history will never do full justice to his genius. He will stand confessed as the grandest soldier of the past, but even this will not do him the credit he deserves. There were other features in his character fully as remarkable as his courage. In every company I ever knew, there were one or more men or boys who everlastingly had some surprise for you. They were the comedians who furnished life and fun for the balance of the crowd. These fellows invariably made good soldiers; and by their pranks and jokes made the other men forget their troubles and dangers, too. They were meat and bread when we were hungry; and they gave us new life on the march when we were worn out. Proper notice has never been accorded these fellows. Every old soldier will recall, when he reads this, the names of the men of his company who furnished the fun, and who always had some poor fellow on the rack [as the subject of some good-natured chiding].

Captain James Dinkins, 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Forrest’s Cavalry Corps

Memphis Scimitar newspaper

Quoted in the Confederate Veteran magazine, Nov 1895

FOREWORD

Forrest and his men were feared and respected by Union generals in the Western theater of operations. General William T. Sherman referred to Forrest as that devil Forrest. He had good reason for apprehension of this untutored military genius. Forrest fought well at Fort Donelson and Shiloh and captured an entire Union infantry brigade at Murfreesboro. His West Tennessee Campaign of December 1862 saved Vicksburg for another six months by destroying General U. S. Grant’s supply line – the Mobile & Ohio Railroad. Look at his capture of Colonel Abel D. Straight and his 1700 men with an inferior force, his victory at Fort Pillow, and finally his most magnificent victory in the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads against General Samuel D. Sturgis where Forrest was outnumbered three to one. Forrest was a great military genius and was feared greatly be Union commanders in the West.

Most Forrest books, including An Untutored Genius: The Military Career of General Nathan Bedford Forrest by Lonnie E. Maness, cover his military career but do not cover most of the Forrest stories that you will find in Lee Millar’s book, Forrest Stories: Humor of Bedford Forrest and his Cavalry. Millar’s book covers Forrest before the War for Southern Independence, the war itself, and the years following this most terrible war.

One of my favorite stories is about King Phillip, one of the horses Forrest rode during the war. Even after the war was over this horse had not given up its hatred for the blue-coats. King Phillip attacked some Union cavalry that came by Forrest’s home in Mississippi. Another of my favorite stories is Outnumbered 3 to 1. Just before the Battle of Brice’s Crossroads Forrest addressed his troops. He told them they were outnumbered three to one and that they should shoot straight, do your duty, and follow our flag towards the enemy. During the battle the next day he saw a private standing behind a tree and whittling on a stick. Forrest stated to the soldier: We’re outnumbered three to one and you should be fighting. Why aren’t you shooting? The private responded: General, I already got my three. And so it goes with dozens of humorous stories in Forrest Stories.

You can’t read Forrest Stories: Humor of Bedford Forrest and his Cavalry without a feeling of satisfaction and a great deal of laughter. It brings forth a different side of Forrest and his men. This book should be on the reading list of every Forrest enthusiast as well as those who want to know more about the Wizard of the Saddle.

Lonnie E. Maness, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus of History

The University of Tennessee at Martin

PREFACE

The late renowned Civil War historical author Shelby Foote was prone to say that Northerners tell jokes, like one-liners, while Southerners tell stories – long anecdotes about funny things that could likely have happened. Southerners’ stories, because they are usually somewhat based on a real person or occurrence, always have some semblance of believability, no matter how far-fetched and humorous the tale.

I and the other members of the 52nd Regimental String Band in Memphis had the good fortune to be acquaintances of Shelby Foote. We, as a period-style Civil War band, were frequently the warm-up act for some of his lectures. We would perform prior to his presentation, playing 1860’s military, folk, and minstrel songs and jokes to get the crowd in the Civil War frame of mind. And