|
The War for Southern Independence in Memphis,
Tennessee |
 Painting by Harold G. Stratton |
The First Battle of Memphis was a naval battle fought
on the Mississippi River on June 6, 1862, during the American Civil War. It
resulted in the Union fleet capturing the city of Memphis, Tennessee. Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Memphis
"The Total
Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet by the Federal Fleet under Commodore Davis. "On
the Morning of June 6th 1862, off Memphis, Ten."
Lithograph by
Middleton, Strobridge & Co. In the foreground, the print depicts the
Confederate ships (from left to right): General M. Jeff Thompson (shown
sinking); Little Rebel (shown burning); General Sterling Price ; General
Beauregard (shown being rammed by the Ellet Ram Monarch ); General Bragg (shown
aground) and Colonel Lovell (shown sinking).
In the background are the
Federal warships (from left to right): Queen of the West ; Cairo ; Carondelet ;
Louisville ; Saint Louis ; a tug; and Benton . The city of Memphis is in the
right distance, with a wharf boat by the shore.
Courtesy of the Naval
Historical Foundation.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Photo #:
NH 42367
Source:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-us-cs/csa-sh/csash-ag/gn-beaug.htm
 The Total Annihilation of the Rebel Fleet |
 Memphis Flotilla - June, 1862 |
After defeating the Confederates at the Battle of
Island Number Ten, the Union fleet was able to steam downriver to threaten
Memphis. Opposing them was a small flotilla of makeshift crafts. Confederate
gunboats, some of them converted paddleboats armored with cotton bales
(colloquially known as "cottonclads"), were pitted against Union ironclads and
rams. The battle lasted one and a half hours and was watched by the civilian
population from the Chickasaw Bluffs. The Union fleet quickly captured or sunk
most of the Rebel forces, with the survivors retreating southwards down the
river towards Vicksburg, Mississippi. Casualties were extremely lopsided with
180 Southerners killed or injured and only one casualty for the North. The
battle ended with Union commanders landing at the city docks and taking control
of Memphis, giving the Union army a port for moving supplies down the river.
Another Civil War military engagement also took place in Memphis, the
Second Battle of Memphis in April 1864, when Confederate General Nathan Bedford
Forrest led a nighttime cavalry raid on his hometown of Memphis with the intent
of freeing Confederate prisoners and capturing Union generals encamped in
Memphis. The raid failed in both goals, but forced the Union Army to guard the
area more dilligently.
I am Native Mississippian. Be it known, I hold
no admiration for Nathan Bedford Forrest.
He is, however, a part of
the History of the South, and in particular, Memphis.
CWSAC Battle Summaries -- The American
Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP)
Memphis
Principal Commanders:
Maj. Gen. C.C. Washburn [US]; Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest [CS]
Forces
Engaged: Troops stationed at Memphis [US]; Forrest’s Cavalry (approx. 400) [CS]
Description: At 4:00 am on the morning of August 21, 1864, Maj. Gen. Nathan
Bedford Forrest made a daring raid on Union-held Memphis, Tennessee, but it was
not an attempt to capture the city, occupied by 6,000 Federal troops. The raid
had three objectives: to capture three Union generals posted there; to release
Southern prisoners from Irving Block Prison; and to cause the recall of Union
forces from Northern Mississippi. Striking northwestward for Memphis with 2,000
cavalry, Forrest lost about a quarter of his strength because of exhausted
horses. Surprise was essential.
Taking advantage of a thick dawn fog and
claiming to be a Union patrol returning with prisoners, the Confederates
eliminated the sentries. Galloping through the streets and exchanging shots with
other Union troops, the raiders split to pursue separate missions. One Union
general was not at his quarters and another escaped to Fort Pickering dressed in
his night-shirt. The attack on Irving Block Prison also failed when Union troops
stalled the main body at the State Female College.
After two hours,
Forrest decided to withdraw, cutting telegraph wires, taking 500 prisoners and
large quantities of supplies, including many horses. Although Forrest failed in
Memphis, his raid influenced Union forces to return there, from northern
Mississippi, and provide protection.
Source:
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn031.htm
and
eHistory --
http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/BattleView.Cfm?BID=681
HARPER'S WEEKLY. [SEPTEMBER 10, 1864.]
FORREST'S
RAID.
Nathan Bedford Forrest Tennessee Raid
ON Monday, August 22, the
rebel General FORREST made a daring raid into Memphis, Tennessee, which is
illustrated in the accompanying sketches. The expedition was commanded by
FORREST in person, and consisted of portions of eight or nine cavalry regiments,
mostly from Tennessee, and numbering from 1500 to 2000 strong. Arriving at Beal
Street, the rebels divided off in several squads and struck for the Gayoso
House, Hospitals, Irving Block, and General WASHBURNE's head-quarters on Union
Street. The latter was first visited by a force of about two hundred, under
Lieutenant- Colonel JESSE FORREST, who entered and found it deserted, the
General and his staff having but a moment before escaped. JESSE captured the
General's over-coat, and started for the Gayoso House with his valiant horsemen,
who rode right into the office of the hotel in search of General HURLBURT, who
had also escaped. A portion of the rebel force then proceeded to break open
Irving Prison, in order to release the prisoners there confined.—But the guard
resisted them, and was assisted by the fortunate arrival at the right moment of
the Eighth Iowa regiment. about 6 A.M. the rebels left the town, finding it
growing too hot for them, having accomplished the capture of 200 citizens and
about 100 horses, and having butchered all the negroes they could find in the
streets. There was little plundering; indeed the rebels had orders not to
dismount under penalty of being shot. The rebels suffered heavily. Their object
appears to have been the capture of Generals WASHBURNE and HURLBURT.
 FORREST'S RAID INTO MEMPHIS—THE REBELS AT THE GAYOSO HOUSE. [SKETCHED BY GEORGE H. ELLSBURY] |
 FORREST'S RAID INTO MEMPHIS—ESCAPE OF GENERAL WASHBURNE. [SKETCHED BY GEORGE H. ELLSBURY.] |
 FORREST'S RAID INTO MEMPHIS—REBEL ATTACK ON THE IRVING PRISON. [SKETCHED BY GEORGE H. ELLSBURY] |
 |
Forrest Park (in Memphis) is a large, well-shaded
square enclosing a statue of the most controversial figure from the Civil War.
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a fierce warrior for the Confederate cause, a
private-turned-general who slew 30 Yankees while having 29 horses shot from
under him. But the brilliant cavalryman also became infamous for his exploits
off the battlefield, first as a slave trader and then as the founder of the Ku
Klux Klan. During the War, he was accused of sanctioning the slaughter of
surrendering black troops at a Tennessee redoubt called Fort Pillow.
The
bronze Forrest still seems ready for battle, sitting erect in the saddle, tall
and imperious, with a saber by his left hand and a pistol by his right. The
statue was sculpted by a Parisian and etched with overwrought Victorian
verse:
"Those hoofbeats die not upon fame's crimsoned sod,
But will
ring through her song and her story:
He fought like a titan and struck like a
god,
And his dust is our ashes of glory."
Forrest and his wife lie
buried beneath the monument. But the memory of the man does not rest in peace.
His monument has been frequently defaced by Memphians who abhor Forrest and what
he represents; there remain what look like paint splatters on the horse's flank.
Forrest must endure one further indignity. His unyielding gaze is
directed out towards swirling traffic on a boulevard named for the cause Forrest
fought so hard to defeat: Union Avenue.
Source:
http://www.randomhouse.com/vintage/confederates/horwitz5.html
Interesting note:
Nathan Bedford Forrest III
Brigadier
General, United States Army Air Force
Born at Memphis, Tennessee, April 7,
1905, the son of Nathan Bedford and Mattie Patterson (Patton) Forrest. He was a
student at Georgia Tech, 1923-24, and graduated from West Point in 1928. He
married Frances Brassler, November 22, 1930.
He was commissioned a Second
Lieutenant, 1928, and advanced through the ranks to Brigadier General in
November 1942. He was serving as Chief of Staff of the Second Air Force when
reported missing-in-action on a bombing mission over Kiel, Germany, on June 13 ,
1943. He had lived at 115 West 9th Street, Spokane, Washington. He is buried in
Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery.
Thanks to Russell P. Dodge II
and historian-author Shelby Foote, he was the only son of the only son of the
only son (grand grandson) of Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford
Forrest. According to Mr. Foote, he had no children and his sister had two
daughters. Therefore the line came to an end with his death in the skies over
Germany! Source:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/forrest.htm
 Jefferson Davis Memorial |
 Confederate Soldier's Grave-Memphis, TN |
 Memphis Headquarters - 1865 |
 Memphis Confederate Park |
[ HOME
| View Memphis | Memphis.com | Memphis
Chamber of Commerce ]