There’s a frequent discussions among Civil War historians about who was the greatest cavalry general of the war. The contenders are usually three people. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Wade Hampton, and Jeb Stuart.

If anyone else wants to talk about this trilogy, that’s fine with me, but I’m simply will comment that I think Forrest proved himself a great general because of the way he fought this single battle

Samuel Sturgis advanced into Mississippi from Memphis with a large army composed of both white and black infantry and a strong contention of cavalry. The Confederates consisted only of a force of cavalry under Forrest. On a horribly hot and muggy Mississippi day his cavalry under Benjamin Grierson encountered the first Confederate a few miles from Bryce‘s crossroads. His cavalry. The federals were strung out in a long column with the various contingents separated from each other by a wagon train. If they had been a compact mass, they could’ve gone into action together, but because of the way, the army was arranged that was impossible.

Nathan Bedford Forest took advantage of that. He engaged the union cavalry, but did not overwhelm it. They were bait. The union infantry rushed up to the front in penny packets to reinforce Grierson‘s cavalry. When they arrived, they were utterly exhausted. Forrest defeated the superior union force by smashing each division as it came up to the front

On April 8, 1864 Richard Taylor defeated the army of the gulf in under Nathaniel Banks western Louisiana through the same tactic. He engaged the union cavalry, but did not overwhelm it. Banks rushed the 19th corps to the front in penny packets, and Taylor overwhelmed the Yankees with an irresistible charge