Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company [Paperback]

Andrew Nelson Lytle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 1993

This biography of the Confederacy’s greatest cavalry leaders is considered by many to be the best. Southern Classics Series.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For those whose taste is for rugged heroes, for tales that reveal the length to which human endurance can go, this book is to be highly recommended. -- New York Herald Tribune, 1931

From the Back Cover

"Andrew Lytle's biography of Forrest, away back in the early Thirties, was the first I read, and it has retained its place in my affections ever since."--Shelby Foote

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Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: J.S. Sanders Books (November 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879941090
• ISBN-13: 978-1879941090
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading, but definitely not for the "P.C." crowd., May 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company (Paperback)

In terms of his impact on modern warfare, no general of the Civil War had more than Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Not Grant, not Lee, not Longstreet or Sherman. This is the man. No less a general than Erwin Rommel studied Forrest's tactics and implemented them with modern weaponry when his Afrika Korps marched all over Libya and Egypt in World War II.

The reason I say this book isn't for the "politically correct" is that it was written some 70 years ago, by a man of the old South who obviously idolized Forrest and everything he stood for. As you know already, not everything Forrest stood for was good. He was 100 years ahead of his time as a soldier, but stuck in 1860 in his personal beliefs.

But...getting into the book. He was a brilliant commander who never had enough men under his command to turn the war in the South's favor. Still, he was a hero to the people of the Tennessee river valley where he won most of his victories, with good reason. When the Union troops overran these areas and placed them under military rule, Forrest made sure they treated the citizens decently. Once he even saved a group of innocent men from a flaming death at the hands of vengeful Union soldiers whom he was defeating in battle. Reading these and other stories makes you understand why he was such a hero to the author, who would have heard first-hand accounts of Forrest's exploits.

Lytle believes that the South would have won the war if Forrest had been placed in command of the main Confederate army in the west, and he's probably right. Forrest was an extraordinary individual who had more impact on the 20th century than any other Civil War general.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHOULD HAVE GIVEN BEDFORD FULL REIN ., June 9, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (ATLANTA GA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company (Paperback)

Great book and a fast read with lots of information. After reading this book I was left with the feeling that bragg was working for the yanks! If only we had a little extra money a couple thousand more men, supplies and had listened to the likes of Longstreet and Forrest . How things would be different in todays politics. Let's hope that one day movies depicting true southern patriots and the real causes concerning the war for southern independence will light up the screens. END

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, April 4, 2000

By 

White Crow (Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedford Forrest: and His Critter Company (Paperback)

I never fully appreciated the intellect of Forrest until I finished this book. It peels away the myths about the man, and tells about what he was really like. I loved it, and often flip around in it from time to time. A must for Civil War buffs!