Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company

by Andrew Lytle, Walter Sullivan (Designed by)

This biography of the Confederacy's greatest cavalry leaders is considered by many to be the best. Southern Classics Series.

Genres: Civil War, History, Biography, Nonfiction, American Civil War

434 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Andrew Nelson Lytle (December 26, 1902 – December 12, 1995) was an American novelist, dramatist, essayist and professor of literature. He was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and early in his life planned to be an actor and playwright. He studied acting at Yale University and performed on Broadway when he was in his 20s.
Unlike other Southern intellectuals who left the region never to return, Lytle went home after the death of a kinsman. Except for brief sojourns elsewhere, he remained in the South for the rest of his life.
(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Alan Tomkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is hagiography rather than biography. It contains exciting, rollicking, highly detailed accounts of cavalry raids and battles. This makes it a gripping read. But the potential reader should be warned: the author is more than a Confederate sympathizer; he is an ardent fan of the racist feudalism of the Old South and of the rebel cause. This narrative of Forrest's life and Civil War career exploits as a legendary general of Confederate cavalry is biased and tends toward hero worship. The whitewashing of the Fort Pillow massacre and of the original reconstruction era Ku Klux Klan are offensive to modern sensibilities. Despite all that, this book is frequently regarded as historically significant, and even as a classic of Civil War history. I therefore think it is also fair to point out that it suffers from a lack of decent maps, and that the author's tendency to refer to any and all officers of both sides only by their last names with no previous introductions of said officers or even mentions of which side they were on, was at times irritating and muddled the narratives of the various battles. I got the impression that in his fanboy excitement, he just assumed the reader would already know the names of any and all officers on both sides of the conflict. I've read enough Civil War history to know the names and roles of most of the generals commanding armies, corps, and divisions; but I sometimes had trouble following the action here. Nonetheless, the author's enthusiasm and colorful commentary do make for an intense and often fascinating reading experience. I am told that after writing this book as a young man, this author went on to write other acclaimed works of literature and became a respected university professor. I am glad I have read and familiarized myself with this "southern classic," but I can't count myself as an admirer of either Bedford Forrest or the author, Andrew Lytle. I can respect their talents and abilities, but I find them both personally distasteful. We'll leave it at that.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written over 70 years ago and it creaks in many ways, but anything reasonably done on Bedford Forrest still makes for lively reading, and this is no exception. There just aren't that many commanding generals who personally lead from the front, charging headfirst into hand to hand combat, often ahead of his own troops, surrounded time after time and personally cutting his way out and through the Yankee forces. and, of course it wasn't just a matter of his courage or skill with pistol and sword, he was clearly the true self-taught military genius of the war. This is a peculiar sort of historical work, with nary a footnote to bless yourself with, so one must take a lot of what the author says on faith, or not. It's a very preachy work in the first half, as Forrest represents the ideal yeoman farmer for the author and he goes to considerable length early on to promote this thought while denigrating the wealthy cotton plantation owners who solely pursue financial profit from the land. For those of you who are William Faulkner fans, you may find this fascinating, but the rest of humanity in the 21st century will likely find this portion dreadfully dull. And, to counterbalance Bedford Forrest as the ultimate ideal of the Southern farmer, the author feels compelled to present the devil himself for Forrest to wrestle with over and over again in the war, not Sherman or Grant, but Braxton Bragg. The author is so obsessed with the archdemon Bragg that for a considerable amount of the first half of the book it deals so much with Bragg that Forrest himself tends to disappear and we learn next to nothing about his pre-war life, aside from a few stories of his youth, when he kilt a bar when he was only three. Jefferson Davis and John Bell Hood also come in for a number of deserved lumps, but no one else gets the Bragg treatment.

The book really gathers steam though when the author decides to concentrate on Forrest and his depictions of the various campaigns and battles are stirringly told. Some of the campaigns will be difficult for anyone unfamiliar with the geography to follow though as almost no maps appear anywhere in the book. But, the battles are the thing here and no other figure of the Civil War comes close to Bedford Forrest in raising and arming his own troops, often behind enemy lines, overcoming long odds against a wide variety of foes in highly original fashion, while constantly exposing himself to every conceivable danger from the very beginning of the war to its very end. Frequently wounded in personal combat and once by one of his own officers, with numerous horses shot out from under him, often more than one of the same day, the main wonder of his story is that he actually survived the war. It's also clear that he received a lot more respect and recognition from his foes than he did his own commanders.

It should be noted though that this book is more than simply non- PC. It was written more that 70 years ago, by a man who was very much a product of his time and place. The N word repeatedly appears throughout, but it's not simply that. He likes to add comic and unnecessary asides from time to time to provide a little "color" to his prose. It's clear he bears no respect whatever for the black Union troops who served in the war, and can never bring himself to actually refer to them as soldiers. Usually, when they are referenced, it's along the lines of some battle had 3,000 Union forces and 500 negroes, as if they were some sort of mob. The final chapter of the book deals largely with Forrest's role as the first Imperial Wizard of the KKK, an organization the author openly regards as heroic and praiseworthy in its efforts. The interesting thing for me was to read the forward, published by the author himself some 50 years later without apology or even acknowledgement of these things. It's clear enough that as brave and heroic and relentless as Forrest was during the war, he remains a figure of considerable controversy to this day even within his home state of Mississippi, given the very recent flap over the proposed state license tag bearing his name and image.

[Colby Denton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book truly gave me a better understanding of the controversial figure that is Nathan Bedford Forrest. In today's culture, anything that has to do with race is instantly a contested subject. Forrest himself is a man of extreme controversy due to the few facts that people know about him. Yes, he was in the Ku Klux Klan and yes he was a slave trader. Once you look beneath the surface of these facts, however, you discover his reasoning behind each and the decisions that this man made to receive redemption. I sincerely respect this man after reading this novel.

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a very Pro-Southern biography of Nathan Bedford Forrest, Wizard of the Saddle. The author was able to interview a few of Forrest's veterans, which lend the book some great anecdotes. They author seems a little too willing to cover up the flaws of the general, and much of the language and attitudes displayed by him are sure to offend modern readers.

Having said that, he gives some great accounts of the exploits of Forrest and his men and perhaps has a clearer picture of the personalities and opinions of these men than other biographers. I had a lot of fun reading it. This is not a good biography for those unfamiliar with Forrest, but those who have read other biographies will glean new things from this book.

Also, the author's introduction/preface has to be one of the greatest essays ever written.

[D Franklin Pack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regardless of which side of the current debate people are on, if they want to base their opinion on history instead of myths and hearsay, this is a good book to learn more about Nathan Bedford Forrest the General and the man. Civil War enthusiasts will enjoy the author's description of the behind-the-scenes decision making by the leaders of both armies, and the tremendous logistics of trying to outmaneuver each other.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!

[Xenophon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biography leaning hagiography on Nathan Bedford Forrest. I really enjoyed this book for three reasons:

1. Lytle's writing style is so fun. He writes like deep Southern men talk. There is a cultural memory to it. Makes you feel like you're sitting next to a very talented storyteller at a campfire.

2. The anecdotes about General Forrest are consistent with the other literature I've read. People will complain about it being too favorable, but I really enjoyed how Lytle celebrates Forrest's heroic, larger-than-life qualities. The man was a raw military genius who consistently bested military academy grads. I close the book admiring his personal courage most of all- he never sent men where he wouldn't go himself. He's like an Alexander the Great, charging out at the head of his formation.

3. Lytle's description of the battles and movements. So many books will build up to the battle and the writer fails in the dramatic falling action for various reasons- they don't want to get into the gory details, they don't find what actually happened as important, or they are just stuffy academics.

Lytle, being a story-teller, paints a picture of what happened. Battles I have read about came alive like they never have before. Note, you will need to come armed with background knowledge of your own. Lytle will assume you know some names and not really give an explanation on who they are or what side they are on. I don't think I would've enjoyed the book without having read other books on the Civil War.

I'll close by sharing my favorite part of the book- Union Col. Streight's 1863 raid and Forrest's subsequent chase of his mule-riding raiders through Tennessee, North Alabama, and Georgia. Here, Forrest finds an able adversary who had to work with a number of disadvantages himself. Both of these men and the men below them showed grit, intelligence, and a lot of starch. I've rarely gotten so much joy out of a Civil War story.

[Skip Unger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is considered by many the first classic account of Gen Forrest's military career so I picked it up to learn more about him and the Western theater in the Civil War. I agree with many of the other reviews that this is not modern objective biography or history - more of an ode to a perceived hero. And certainly non-PC and tone deaf to the views of black people. However, the author does a lively job of describing Forrest's early life and maturing into a capable military leader. The author's thesis blaming every Confederate setback on Davis and Bragg got a big tiresome. As well as his whitewashing of the KKK and unsupported smear of Lee's approval of the same. But worth it for a detailed, one-sided read on Forrest's Tennessee and Alabama campaigns and particularly of his greatest victory at Brice's Crossroads. I'm looking forward to reading more objective works on Forrest, who undoubtedly was a very controversial figure, even in his own time, but also perhaps the b best cavalry commander of the conflict.

[Ray Savarda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow - such a biased "history". The author was clearly in love with Bedford Forrest, obviously he was the only confederate general of any skill, all others were hacks and idiots.
Such lavish praise for him, and scorn for all others.
It was written in 1931, maybe the rules for "history" were different then, or the depression-era Tennesseans he was writing for needed some glimmer of hope to get them thru.
Whatever, it was hard to read form that perspective, but did cover Bedford's complete Civil war escapades, thru to being the first head of the Klu Klux Clan, which was in interesting section, it seemed a "safe place" for all the former confederate soldiers, where they can feel powerful again, and march in order, and act like an army. A evil army, but hey, they fought to preserve slavery to start with, what would one expect?
Still, it was an interesting read in spite of the bias, so I gave it 3 stars.

[Ted Haussman · Rating 3 out of 5]

In detailing the accounts of Forrest during the Civil War, the book does an admirable job. But the author was clearly a Southern sympathizer employing such terms as Black Republicans, quoting in slang the diction of blacks, and fawning over Forrest's involvement in the nascent Ku Klux Klan. The author was clearly stuck in the times he published the book (1931).

That aside, my main complaint was that the author poorly developed some of the other key players and parts of the action are so jumbled that you don't know who is speaking or whom is taking the action.

It definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the indomitable tactician and fighter that Forrest was.

[Dan Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction is excellent and explains why Lytle writes favorably of Forrest and the Confederacy. Some have referred to it as a hagiography; I wouldn’t go that far. However, it’s a difficult read at times because Lytle goes into such detail about battles and campaigns without the needed context. Worthy of recommendation so long as one is willing to slog through the periodic rough terrain.

[SamT]

By some, including Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest was thought to be the greatest soldier in the Confederacy.
Forrest entered the war as a private and although he had no military training he advanced to the rank of Lieutenant General. His skill in leading cavalrymen disrupted the plans of the Union and postponed many of the victories which the Union would eventually achieve.
Because of his lack of military training, and particularly because others were trained at West Point, he was often placed under the command of other leaders of lesser skill. His value to the Confederacy was not appreciated even by Jefferson Davis until perhaps at the very end of the war when it was too late.
A quote from one of his veterans stated, "Day or night, winter or summer alike his indominitable energy never slackened or tired. He was everywhere, and fell upon his enemy like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. He was more than a born soldier-he was a born god of battle."

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

After hearing Frederick Douglass’s autobiography and reading Andrew Lytle’s book about Bedford Forrest, I conclude that it was not the industrial powered democracy of the North, headed by a humbled melancholic lawyer, but the slaved supported aristocracy of the South, headed by a bragging and treacherous West-Pointer, that ruined the south’s spiritual state and crippled its Forrest god of war. I shall absorb Carl Sandburg’s biography of Lincoln to know how melancholic he really was.

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

In truth I read this because my academic dean loaned it to me. Several years ago I read Lytle's The Velvet Horn and The Fathers and enjoyed them a great deal. This current title, however, read more like his Agrarian I'll Take My Stand pieces. Not one of his better moments.

[Brendan Babish · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's extremely interesting to read a work by a Southern apologist, but I think the text is burdened in the minutae of the civil war battles and digressions into Southern living.

[Tracy Temples · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very readable from a Literary point of view; and my first book that I have read from Adrew Lyltle. He defintely has his Southern Views revealed in the narrative.

[Andy Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book but hard to follow. Sometimes would be helpful to know who was who. Lots of names you may not know and who is fighting who. The later part of the book is the best.