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Was Nathan Bedford Forrest the Best Confederate Cavalry Leader in the West?
Posted on 09/29/2012 4:43:22 PM PDT by Kolath
I have a few questions about Civil War Cavalry
1. What makes a cavalry sword different from a regular sword?
2. How big was a typical cavalry regiment?
3. What was the preferred horse rifle?
4. Did any units use lances?
5. What were the differences between light and heavy cavalry?
6. Most notable cavalry officers (North and South)?
There are but I can’t recall names at present. I believe one goes by a variation of the moniker “Stonewall Jackson” (could be mistaken on that).
Mexican cavalry used lances effectively against American troops at the Battle of San Pascual in 1847, but I am unaware that Americans ever used these weapons.
There are plenty of civil war fans, not mere buffs. You'll find them in the Civil War threads on this board, where the smoke never clears.
South--Errol Flynn (as Jeb Stuart in Santa Fe Trail)
***5. No American units of which I am aware ever used lances.***
I have read somewhere that lances were used by one unit. They were practically laughed off the field of combat.
According to PBS the Civil War was sponsored by Exxxonn.
Did John Wayne ever play a Confederate?
James Ewell Brown
Soldiers: The old campaign is ended, and your Commanding General deems this an appropriate occasion to speak of the steadiness, self-denial and patriotism with which you have borne the hardships of the past year. The marches and labors you have performed during that period will find no parallel in the history of this war.
On the 24th day of December, there were three thousand of you, unorganized and undisciplined, at Jackson, Tennessee, only four hundred of whom were armed. You were surrounded by fifteen thousand of the enemy, who were congratulating themselves on your certain capture. You started out with your artillery, wagon trains, and a large number of cattle, which you succeeded in bringing through, since which time you have fought and won the following battles -- battles which will enshrine your names in the hearts of your countrymen, and live in history, an imperishable monument to your prowess:
Jack's Creek, Estinaula, Summerville, Okalona, Union City, Paducah, Fort Pillow, Bolivar, Tishomingo Creek, Harrisburg, Hurricane Creek, Memphis, Athens, Sulphur Creek, Pulaski, Carter's Creek, Columbia, and Jacksonville are the fields on which you won fadeless immortality.
For twenty-six days from the time you left Florence, on the twenty-first of November, to the twenty-sixth of December, you were constantly engaged with the enemy, and endured the hunger, cold and labor incident to that arduous campaign without a murmur.
To sum up, in brief, your triumphs during the past year, you have fought fifty battles, killed and captured sixteen thousand of the enemy, captured two thousand horses and mules, sixty-seven pieces of artillery, four gunboats, fourteen transports, twenty barges, three hundred wagons, fifty ambulances, ten thousand stand of small arms, forty blockhouses, destroyed thirty-six railroad bridges, two hundred miles of railroad, six engines, one hundred cars, and fifteen millions dollars worth of property.
In the accomplishment of this great work, you were occasionally sustained by other troops, who joined you in the fight, but your regular number never exceeded five thousand, two thousand of whom have been killed or wounded, while in prisoners you have lost about two hundred.
Source: The Galveston Daily News, March 15, 1865
Yes, in "The Searchers." He was a Confederate officer coming home after the war. My favorite John Wayne movie.
They're used by cavalrymen.
2. How big was a typical cavalry regiment?
They'd average around 5'6" or so. Little guys, don't hurt the horses' backs as much, and weigh less so they can ride faster.
3. What was the preferred horse rifle?
The horses were only for riding, they did not actually use rifles.
4. Did any units use lances?
No, but a few used sutures.
5. What were the differences between light and heavy cavalry?
Mainly whether they were within riding distance of a donut shop or not.
6. Most notable cavalry officers (North and South)?
For the North, Col. Jebediah Pinprick, who was able to split an apple from 200 feet with a thrown sabre, during a thunderstorm, from a galloping horse, with his eyes closed, while bound hand and foot with rope.
For the South, Maj. Wallaby Hudson, who singlehandedly captured a Northern ironclad by wading out on his horse and tricking the crew into popping the hatch by claiming to be a travelling steam engine repairman.
North - Phil Sheridan
South - Nathan Bedford Forrest
Try this link:
http://www.cincinnaticwrt.org/data/ccwrt_history/talks_text/starr_cavalry_tactics.html
I was thinking of “The Searchers.”
An excellent article. Thanks for posting!
straight long swords are stupid on a horse I would think
No, though the southern cavalry was superior during the first few years, at Gettysburg Stuart’s cavalry was driven back by Custer.
Like many other areas, the southern cavalry was initially superior because of materiel stolen from the US at the start of the war. Southern logistics was bad, and they could rarely repair that which they had initially stolen, and could not raise additional horses to replace those lost.
The Cavalry sabre was the preferred weapon at the start of the war, but at the end it was recognized that a large caliber pistol was much superior to either sabre or lance.
Sheridan’s insight was that a cavalryman was merely an infantryman with 4 detachable legs. At 5 forks, Custer’s brigade of Union cavalry was positioned on the flank of a Confederate breakthrough, and with rapid fire from their Spencer carbines, caused the key loss of confidence that forced the confederates back. That wasn’t overwhelming numbers, that was overwhelming superiority in weapons, tactics, and concept.
That isn’t what G.S Patton Jr. thought. He designed a straight pointed sword, and demanded that soldiers use the point, as that created wounds that were deeper, more serious, and would strike the enemy first, preventing the enemy from striking.
Of course Bedford Forrest emphasized the large caliber revolver, .36 or .44 caliber. Stuart was famous for his Lemat pistols, which had a 20 gauge shotgun in the center and 9 each .44 inch rounds wrapped around. Starting an engagement by launching the shotgun’s ‘blue whistlers’ at the enemy was likely to cause a moral check.
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