Order Out of Chaos by Mort Kunstler ~ Nathan Bedford Forrest, Nashville, Tenn., February 22, 1862

Nashville was in a panic. The Tennessee capital was a key Confederate rail link, supply depot and industrial center for the war’s Western theater. Despite Nashville’s importance, the Southern army defending it was withdrawn when Northern forces advanced on the city in February of 1862. The army’s commander, Brigadier General John B. Floyd, a hapless political officer who had already abandoned nearby Fort Donelson, hastily retreated from Nashville - leaving behind vast stores of desperately needed military equipment and supplies.

Left behind too, however, was a bold and decisive Confederate officer and his troops - Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest and his brigade of cavalry. The retreating commander had left Forrest to tidy up the evacuation and he took his orders seriously. Soon, Forrest restored order out of the chaos.

Forrest then commandeered wagons, and put his troops to work saving military supplies, equipment and ammunition - including more than 700 wagonloads of army rations. Not until Northern troops were entering Nashville in full strength on the evening of February 23, did Forrest suspend his disciplined salvage operation and retire from the city. By then, order had been restored, and Nashville’s mayor was able to surrender the capital - which was spared the fiery destruction that awaited other Southern cities. Forrest’s salvage operation had provided the stores necessary for Southern forces to fight again. The same daring and determination would soon make General Nathan Bedford Forrest famous - as the “Wizard of the Saddle.”