[TonyInOhio]

Forrest was indeed a military genius, easily ranking with Grant, Lee, and Jackson as outstanding General Officers of the Civil War.

He is remembered in the North for the massacre at Fort Pillow.

[Kenny Bunk]

IMNSVHO, The best general officer of the Civil War on either side was General George H. Thomas.

Grant finally said so, even in his self-serving memoirs. Lee said so. Lincoln said so. And the historical record says so.

He prevailed in every engagement with which he was involved. He masterminded the "perfect battle:" The Battle of Nashville, the resounding Union victory that led directly to Appomattox. It is studied to this day, unlike the life-wasting blunderings of the drunken Grant.

He was a master of Training, Logistics, Signals, and Mobility. Under his command, Wilson's cavalry achieved the peak of civil war efficiency and fire power and Thomas integrated it closely with Infantry and Artillery better than any other commander. He cared little about was PR and intrigue, at which Sherman, Schofield, and their buddy Grant were masters.

[prof.h.mandingo]

You need to put “massacre” in quotes. If you know anything about Forrest it was not a massacre. There were quite a number of survivors. If N.B. wanted to kill them all rest assured he would have. Casualties were high but much of the real slaughter happened as the Yanks fled from the fort to the bottoms near the river. There was lots of bad blood between the combatants as this was truly a case where west Tennessee men fought on both sides. Old scores were settled. The Union jumped on the battle and called it a massacre. IF I ever finish my book on the battle I'll send you a copy.
I am working on one theory of the battle and it is panning out but I need a lot of time to travel to pull the research together. My health has sucked and it is hard to find the money to get to the places I need to get to.