Organization of Forrest's Cavalry Corps

This is a list of military units that were part of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's Cavalry Corps during the American Civil War.

1863

After serving as a brigade commander, in 1863 Forrest was assigned command of the Cavalry Corps in General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee. Organization of Forrest's Cavalry Corps, September 19-20, 1863, at the time of the Battle of Chickamauga.^[1]

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
Armstrong's Division BG Frank C. Armstrong	Armstrong's Brigade Col. James T. Wheeler	3rd Arkansas, Col. A. W. Hobson 2nd Kentucky, Lt. Col. Thomas G. Woodward 6th Tennessee, Lt. Col. James H. Lewis 18th Tennessee Battalion, Maj. Charles McDonald
Armstrong's Division BG Frank C. Armstrong	Forrest's Brigade Col. George G. Dibrell	4th Tennessee, Col. William S. McLemore 8th Tennessee, Cpt. Hamilton McGinnis 9th Tennessee, Col. Jacob B. Biffle 10th Tennessee, Colonel Nicholas N. Cox 11th Tennessee. Col. Daniel Wilson Holman Shaw's, Hamilton's, and Allison's consolidated Tennessee battalions, Maj. Joseph Shaw Huggins' Tennessee Battery, Cpt. A. L. Huggins Morton's Tennessee Battery, Cpt. John W. Morton
Pegram's Division BG John Pegram	Davidson's Brigade B.G. Henry Brevard Davidson	1st Georgia, Col. J. J. Morrison 6th Georgia, Col. John R. Hart 6th North Carolina, Col. George N. Folk Rucker's (1st Tennessee) Legion, Col. E. W. Rucker 12th Tennessee Battalion Huwald's Tennessee Battery, Cpt. Gustave A. Huwald
Pegram's Division BG John Pegram	Scott's Brigade Col. John S. Scott	10th Confederate, Col. C. T. Goode Detachment of BG John H. Morgan's command, Lt. Col. R. M. Martin 1st Louisiana, Lt. Col. James O. Nixon 2nd Tennessee, Col. H. M. Ashby 5th Tennessee, Col. George W. McKenzie N. T. N. Robinson's Louisiana Battery (one section), Lt. Winslow Robinson

After Chickamauga, most of these units were transferred to General Joseph Wheeler's command by order of General Braxton Bragg, which famously led to a heated confrontation between Forrest and Bragg. Forrest was left with only his escort company, Charles McDonald's 18th Tennessee Battalion, and John Morton's Tennessee Artillery under his command, and had to recruit an entirely new Cavalry Corps from his base at Okolona, Mississippi.^[2]

1864

New units were recruited in West Tennessee and North Mississippi, along with consolidated units formed from other scattered cavalry companies that had suffered losses in 1863, adding to the strength of the Corps. A major reorganization took place on January 25, 1864, following Forrest's promotion to Major General, with 4 brigades divided into 2 divisions.^[3]^[4]

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
First Division MG James Ronald Chalmers
	Second Brigade Col. Robert McCulloch	2nd Missouri, Lt. Col. Robert A. McCulloch. Willis' Texas Battalion, Lt. Col. Leo Willis 12th Kentucky Regiment, Col. W.W. Faulkner Keizer's/Franklin's Tennessee Battalion A.H. Chalmer's Mississippi Battalion 2nd Arkansas, Cpt. F.M. Cochran
	Fourth Brigade Col. Jeffrey E. Forrest	McDonald's Tennessee Battalion 3rd Mississippi , Col. John McGuirk 5th Mississippi, Lt. Col. Barksdale Duff's (19th) Mississippi Battalion, Col. William L. Duff 7th Tennessee Regiment, Col. William L. Duckworth

	First Brigade BG Robert V. Richardson	12th Tennessee, Lt. Col. John U. Green 14th Tennessee, Col. J.J. Neely 15th Tennessee, Col. Francis M. Stewart 16th Tennessee, Col. Thomas H. Logwood 17th Tennessee, Maj. Marshall Street's Mississippi Battalion Bennet's Tennessee (7th) Battalion
	Third Brigade Col. Tyree H. Bell	22nd Tennessee, Col. Clark R. Barteau 21st Tennessee Col. Andrew N. Wilson 20th Tennessee, Col. Robert M. Russell Greer's Tennessee Regiment

Later in 1864, additional commands from Mississippi temporarily joined the Corps:

Brigade	Regiments and Others
Mabry's Brigade (attached August 16, 1864 - March 3, 1865)^[5] ^[6] Col. H.P. Mabry	14th Confederate, Col. F. Dumonteil 4th Mississippi, Col. C. C. Wilbourn 6th Mississippi, Col. Isham Harrison 38th Mississippi, Col. Preston Brent
Gholson's Independent Brigade, Mississippi State Troops^[7] (Attached May 1864 - February 1865) ^[8] Col. John McGuirk	2nd Mississippi State Cavalry, Col. William L. Lowry 3rd Mississippi, Lt.Col. H. H. Barksdale Ham's Mississippi Battalion, Col. T. W. Ham Ashcraft's Mississippi Battalion, Lt. Col. Thomas C. Ashcraft Harris's Mississippi Battalion, Maj. Thomas W. Harris

In March 1864, General Abraham Buford was assigned to command the Corps' 2nd division, consisting of two brigades. By September, the organization of the Corps was as follows:^[9]

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
Chalmers's Division BG James Ronald Chalmers	First Brigade Col. Edmund W. Rucker	7th Tennessee, Lt. Col. William F. Taylor 12th Tennessee, Col. John U. Green 14th Tennessee, Lt. Col. Raleigh R. White 15th Tennessee, Col. Francis M. Stewart 26th Tennessee Battalion, Lt. Col. David C. Kelley
Chalmers's Division BG James Ronald Chalmers	Second Brigade Col. Robert McCulloch	7th Mississippi 8th Mississippi 18th Mississippi Battalion 2nd Missouri Willis' Texas Battalion Hudson's Mississippi Battery (one section)
Bufords's Division BG Abraham Buford	Lyon's Brigade BG Hylan B. Lyon	3rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Lt. Col. Gustavus A. C. Holt 7th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Col. Edward Crossland 8th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, Lt. Col. Absalom R. Shacklett 12th Kentucky, Col. W. W. Faulkner
	Fourth Brigade Col. Tyree H. Bell	2nd Tennessee, Col. Clark R. Barteau 16th Tennessee, Col. Andrew N. Wilson 18th Tennessee, Colonel John F. Newsom 20th Tennessee, Col. Robert M. Russell
	Artillery Battalion ^[10] Capt. J.W. Morton	Four field-batteries: Morton's, Thrall's, Rice's, and Walton's, 16 guns.

1865

Following costly defeats at the Battle of Tupelo and in the Franklin–Nashville campaign, Forrest retreated to Corinth, Mississippi in the final days of 1864. The final reorganization of the Cavalry Corps took place in February-March, 1865,^[11] following Forrest's promotion to Lieutenant General, when he was given command of all remaining Confederate cavalry forces in Alabama, Mississippi, & East Louisiana.^[12] New units were thus added to Forrest's command, but at this stage many of the cavalry brigades were only at regimental strength, having been decimated by battles in the previous year. Forrest's Cavalry Corps surrendered at Gainesville, Alabama on May 9, 1865.

Division	Brigade	Regiments and Others
Chalmers's Division^[13] BG James Ronald Chalmers	Armstrong's Mississippi Brigade BG Frank C. Armstrong	1st Mississippi, Col. R.A. Pinson 2nd Mississippi, Col. E. Dillon Ashcraft's Mississippi Battalion, Col. Ashcraft Ballentine's Mississippi Regiment, Col. J.G. Ballentine 12th Mississippi (detachment) 5th Mississippi (detachment)
	Adams' Mississippi Brigade BG Wirt Adams	Wood's Mississippi Regiment, Col. R. C. Wood 38th Mississippi, Col. P. Brent 9th Mississippi, Col. H. H. Miller 3rd Mississippi, Col. J. McGuirk 14th Confederate, Col. Dumonteil Moorman's Mississippi Battalion 23rd Mississippi Battalion Various Mississippi companies
	Starke's Mississippi Brigade BG Peter Burwell Starke	4th Mississippi, Col. Wilbourn 6th Mississippi & 8th Confederate, Col. W. B. Wade 8th & 7th Mississippi, Col. T. W. White 28th & 7th Mississippi, Maj. McBee 18th Mississippi Battalion & 5th Mississippi, Lt. Col. A. H. Chalmers
	Hudson Battery Lt. E.S. Walton^[14]
Jackson's Division^[15] BG William Hicks Jackson	1st Tennessee Brigade Col. Tyree H. Bell	2nd Tennessee 12th Tennessee^[16] 16th Tennessee 18th Tennessee 20th Tennessee^[17]
	2nd Tennessee Brigade BG A.W. Campbell	7th Tennessee 14th Tennessee 15th Tennessee 26th Tennessee Battalion
	Texas Brigade BG Lawrence Sullivan Ross	3rd, 6th, and 9th Texas, Col. Griffith 11th and 17th Arkansas (consolidated) Willis' Texas Battalion Cobb's Texas Scouts
	Morton's Battery Col. J.W. Morton
Burford's Division^[18] BG Abraham Buford	Consolidated Alabama Brigade^[19] consisting of the commands of BG Phillip Roddey BG James H. Clanton & Col. Charles G. Armistead (each on detached service)	4th Alabama, Lt. Col. F. M. Windes 5th Alabama, Lt. Col. James M. Warren 6th Alabama, Col. Charles H. Colvin 8th Alabama, Lt. Col. Henry J. Livingston 10th Alabama, Col. Richard O. Pickett 11th Alabama, Col. John R. B. Burtwell 16th Confederate (12th Mississippi), Col. Charles G. Armistead Stuart's Alabama Battalion, Maj. James H. Stuart Clanton's Alabama Battery, Cpt. N. H. Clanton Ferrell's Georgia Battery, Cpt. Coleman B. Ferrell Merrin's Mississippi Battery, Cpt. F. W. Merrin Various companies of Alabama Reserves
Burford's Division^[18] BG Abraham Buford	Kentucky Brigade Col. Edward Crossland^[20]	Consolidated remnants of the 3rd, 7th, & 8th Kentucky
Unattached Brigade - BG Dan Adams	Alabama Reserves & Militia^[21]

References

^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 30, Serial 51. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 20.
^ Hurst, Jack. Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 175–176.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 32, Serial 58. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 614.
^ Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 383.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 779.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 1026.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 593.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 980.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.
^ Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 3459.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.
^ Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. pp. 656–657.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 992.
^ Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 77.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.
^ Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 103.
^ Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 107.
^ Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 657.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 992.
^ United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 104. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 1151.
^ Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 665.

[1] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 30, Serial 51. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 20.

[2] Hurst, Jack. Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 175–176.

[3] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 32, Serial 58. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 614.

[4] Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 383.

[5] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 779.

[6] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 1026.

[7] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 593.

[8] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 980.

[9] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 39, Serial 78. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.

[10] Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 3459.

[11] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.

[12] Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. pp. 656–657.

[13] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 992.

[14] Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 77.

[15] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 888.

[16] Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 103.

[17] Bradley, Michael R. (2012). They Rode With Forrest. Gretna LA: Pelican Publishing Company. p. 107.

[18] Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 657.

[19] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 103. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 992.

[20] United States War Department (1895). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 49, Serial 104. Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 1151.

[21] Jordan, Thomas (1868). The Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen. N.B. Forrest, and of Forrest's Cavalry. New Orleans: Blelock & Company. p. 665.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]