In May 1863, Nathan Bedford Forrest was given the cavalry command of Earl Van Dorn, who had recently been murdered.

[2] "General Forrest, I wish to congratulate you and those brave men moving across that field like veteran infantry upon their magnificent behavior .

The original source was James Cowan, a surgeon in the Confederate army and Forrest’s cousin who was the only actual eyewitness.

Forrest had asked to be transferred back to West TN in late August, with a battery, his escort and a battalion of Cavalry, which is exactly what Bragg did, so no reason to even confront him.

The local Union commanders attempted to surround the Confederates in Jackson but Forrest managed to retreat back to Mississippi at the end of December.

Once in Holly Springs, he organized his recruits into a cavalry corps with two divisions commanded by James R. Chalmers and Abraham Buford.

While Sherman moved 20,000 infantry from Vicksburg, General William Sooy Smith was to lead a large force of Union cavalry from Collierville, TN, and meet him at Meridian while destroying the railroad and the crops in the rich prairie.

In late June, Union Major General Andrew J. Smith launched another expedition into Mississippi to tie down the Confederate forces in the region.

Despite this failure, Forrest launched another raid in mid-October, in another attempt to cut the Union supply lines to Atlanta and force Sherman to abandon the city.

With less than 3,000 men, Forrest set up artillery positions along the Tennessee River which forced the surrender of several supply ships and the gunboat Undine.

Frank M. Gracey (a former steamboat captain now serving as a Confederate cavalryman) abandoned Undine, setting her on fire, which caused her ammunition magazine to explode, ending Forrest's brief career as a naval commander.

Fitch was reluctant to take his Paducah gunboats through the narrow channel between Reynoldsburg Island and the western bank, so limited himself to long-range fire.

Forrest observed, "By night the wharf for nearly one mile up and down the river presented one solid sheet of flame.

... Having completed the work designed for the expedition, I moved my command six miles during the night by the light of the enemy's burning property.

[7] At this time, Forrest was ordered to move into northern Alabama to unite with the Army of Tennessee, now commanded by John B.

After the Confederate defeat in the Battle of Nashville, Forrest commanded the rear guard composed of his cavalry and eight infantry brigades of his own choosing.

In January, Richard Taylor named Forrest commander of all cavalry units in the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana; Forrest reorganized his forces into four divisions split along state lines, commanded by Chalmers, Buford, Jackson, and Tyree Bell.

Union diversions staged throughout the early months of 1865 forced Forrest to disperse his men across a wide region.