Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company

While Bedford Forrest was a fascinating caracter and natural leader the author must also be commended for bringing him to life so well. Lytle is obviously a fan and fortunately is able to write well. The story is almost like a good novel it is so readable. There is little doubt that the South lost the war in the west, largely through incompetent leadership. Had Bedford Forrest been commander of the Confederate armies in the west it is easy to believe that the war might have been over in 1862 with the South victorious. The entire history of the world might have been very different then. Such minor points can have world changing pivotal historical consequences. Had Oggodai not died in 1240 just before the Mongols were about to ravage western Europe we might never have had a Renaissance or Industrial Revolution and therefore no modern civilization. Unfortunately, Bedford Forrest was not in a position to make a significant difference and the war dragged on to its bloody conclusion and resulted in the death of the ideals of the American Republic. He was of a type which was not uncommon on the early American frontier and was epitomised by the likes of Andrew Jackson, Jim Bowie, Davy Crocket and a contempory of his, John Moseby. Men of great physical strength and courage and personal honour. Larger than life individuals, the absolute anthithesis of the types who rule America today. War is a nasty business as people like Grant and Sherman demonstrated, but characters like Bedford Forrest did put some glamour into the whole sordid affair. This book is a valuable addition to the history of the Civil War.

Andrew Lytle was the dean of Southern writers, and in this work -- one of his earliest -- he not only brought to life America's greatest military figure, but an age and a people as well. It was Lytle's aim to make the times of Nathan Bedford Forrest come alive for the reader. He devoted himself to intensive research of the Tennessee where Forrest was born and the Mississippi where he lived. In reading this book we not only learn about the marvellous -- indeed, often incredible -- feats of a military genius, but we learn at the same time about the people, the places, the morals, the values, and the way of life of a people long gone now. (Lytle's subsequent book, A Wake for the Living, deals more pointedly with how much of the good of those days we have lost.) This book, although a worthy history, reads like a novel. It truly is one that is hard to put down once you get started.

In terms of his impact on modern warfare, no general of the Civil War had more than Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Not Grant, not Lee, not Longstreet or Sherman. This is the man. No less a general than Erwin Rommel studied Forrest's tactics and implemented them with modern weaponry when his Afrika Korps marched all over Libya and Egypt in World War II.The reason I say this book isn't for the "politically correct" is that it was written some 70 years ago, by a man of the old South who obviously idolized Forrest and everything he stood for. As you know already, not everything Forrest stood for was good. He was 100 years ahead of his time as a soldier, but stuck in 1860 in his personal beliefs.But...getting into the book. He was a brilliant commander who never had enough men under his command to turn the war in the South's favor. Still, he was a hero to the people of the Tennessee river valley where he won most of his victories, with good reason. When the Union troops overran these areas and placed them under military rule, Forrest made sure they treated the citizens decently. Once he even saved a group of innocent men from a flaming death at the hands of vengeful Union soldiers whom he was defeating in battle. Reading these and other stories makes you understand why he was such a hero to the author, who would have heard first-hand accounts of Forrest's exploits.Lytle believes that the South would have won the war if Forrest had been placed in command of the main Confederate army in the west, and he's probably right. Forrest was an extraordinary individual who had more impact on the 20th century than any other Civil War general.

I never fully appreciated the intellect of Forrest until I finished this book. It peels away the myths about the man, and tells about what he was really like. I loved it, and often flip around in it from time to time. A must for Civil War buffs!

Great book and a fast read with lots of information. After reading this book I was left with the feeling that bragg was working for the yanks! If only we had a little extra money a couple thousand more men, supplies and had listened to the likes of Longstreet and Forrest . How things would be different in todays politics. Let's hope that one day movies depicting true southern patriots and the real causes concerning the war for southern independence will light up the screens. END