when Dodge's command was reached. On their march with him they added to their supply of animals, but part of them were still on foot when they were ready to break off and start on their journey east. Dodge meanwhile kept on southward and swept around into Mississippi, destroying public property as he went and finally returning to Corinth.

Colonel Streight was a proved and stalwart cavalry leader, well adapted for the task before him, and he might have succeeded but for "that devil, Forrest," as he called his keen pursuer. The route to be traversed was a barren, mountainous region, chosen because most of its sparse population were Union sympathizers. The road was so steep and rocky and forage so scarce, that mules were taken instead of horses, as being more sure-footed and needing less food.

Carefully as this affair had been managed, the gathering of mules gave rise to a suspicion that some mysterious movement was on foot, and Forrest brought his corps of hard riders at top speed from Tennessee to be on hand if needed. He aided General Rodney in giving Dodge what trouble he could until the evening of the 28th, two days after Streight had set out, when word was brought him that a large body of Union troopers had been seen riding towards Moulton.

The quick-witted raider guessed in a moment what this meant and without a second's delay he began preparations for a sharp pursuit. A suitable body of his best men was hastily selected, several days' rations were cooked, corn was gathered for the horses, and shortly after midnight Forrest and his men were off on one of the hardest rides of their lives. There were twelve hundred in his band, reckless and hardy "irreg

ulars," veterans of the saddle whose prowess had been tried on many a hard-fought field and in many a bold foray.

So swift was their ride that at dawn of the 30th, when Streight was toiling onward through the ugly mountain country before him, the boom of cannon in the rear gave him the startling news that an enemy was already in pursuit. Forrest's men had rested during the night, and now with wild yells charged up the narrow mountain road. They were severely punished for their haste, their wary antagonist having formed an ambuscade by the roadside, by which many of their saddles were emptied before they got out of the trap.

Forrest's whole force now joined in the attack, but they met with a similar reception, being driven back by a murderous fire and a fierce charge, while two of their guns were captured with their caissons and ammunition. Forrest now dismounted his men and charged as infantry, only to find that no foe confronted him, the Federals being well on the road again, taking their captured guns.

From this time on the chase was largely a running fight. Forrest kept hotly on the track, giving his foes no rest, while a fight took place whenever the two forces came within reach. Do what he could, Streight could not shake off his persistent foe, who clung to him as close as a chestnut burr.

Streight having used up his ammunition, soon abandoned the guns, after spiking them. Further on he was pressed so sharply that he was obliged to leave his wagons. They were fired, but Forrest's men reached them in time to put out the fire and gain their much-needed contents. Pursued and pursuers

had now left the mountains and were in the open country. For four days and nights the chase continued. On the morning of May 2 Colonel Streight threw off his persistent pursuers for a brief time by crossing the deep and rock-walled Black Creek and burning the bridge.

The stream was said to be too deep to ford and the nearest bridge was several miles away. The weary Federals now thought they could get an interval of rest. What was their surprise and dismay, by the time they had gone four miles on their way, to hear the shouts of the indefatigable foes once more behind them. A girl in the vicinity had shown Forrest a difficult but fordable spot in the stream and he had quickly gained the other side.

When May 3 dawned the hot chase was nearing its end. Forrest had given his men ten hours' sleep, while Streight and his worn-out men had plodded on. This all-night ride was a fatal error. While the men were at breakfast Forrest's troopers, fresh from their slumber, rode briskly up and the old teasing rattle of small arms called the worn fugitives into line again. So exhausted were they that many of them fell asleep as they lay behind a ridge, gun in hand and finger on trigger.

The game was evidently up. Streight proposed to fight on, but his officers were all against it, and after a brief parley surrender was decided upon. Forrest had won after the hardest ride of his life. Colonel Streight's raid to the South had ended like General Morgan's raid in Ohio. The two were alike in another way. Morgan escaped from the prison in which he was confined and Streight did the same. He and four of his officers, who were confined in Libby Prison, took

part in the memorable escape from that place, by an excavated tunnel, in February, 1864.

During the remainder of 1863 and the following year Forrest was exceptionally active. He was acknowledged to be one of the most daring and skilful of the Confederate leaders and was given very much of a roving commission, his service being more in the nature of guerilla than regular warfare. In October, 1863, he made a bold raid into Tennessee, collected supplies, and was away again before his pursuers could overtake him. But his greatest and most successful raid was in the spring of 1864, when, at the head of about five thousand veteran horsemen, he swept up into west Tennessee and after a short rest at Jackson pushed on towards Kentucky.

Here he despatched Colonel Faulkner to capture Union City, a fortified railroad centre with a garrison of four hundred and fifty men. This was surrendered after a brief resistance. Hickman was occupied, and the daring raider rode north as far as the Ohio River, where an attack was made on the town of Paducah. The garrison here was about seven hundred strong, but it was aided by gunboats on the river, and though Forrest had three thousand men, they failed to take Fort Anderson, which the garrison had occupied. The approach of reinforcements caused him to decamp after having lost over three hundred men.

He was more successful in an attack on Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi above Memphis, his capture of which was followed by a massacre which has blackened his fame. The fort was garrisoned by about five hundred and fifty men, half of them colored troops, and was taken by storm after futile negotiations for a surrender. Forrest's men, many of whom had concealed them

selves close up to the fort under cover of the flag of truce, sprang up and in a trice were over the parapets with a cry of "No quarter!"

The garrison threw down their arms and many of them attempted to escape, but a frightful massacre began, the defenceless fugitives being cut down mercilessly on all sides. The fact of many of them being negro soldiers was the incitement to this murderous onslaught, which, however, was not confined to the blacks, the slaughter being indiscriminate. Of those within the fort only one hundred were taken prisoners, the remainder being cut down until the fort ran red with blood.

This act of cruelty, which stands alone in the annals of the war, has covered the name of Nathan Forrest with a pall of infamy which was perhaps deserved, perhaps not. There is conflicting testimony as to how far he was personally responsible, how far it was the spontaneous act of his men, infuriated at being confronted by negro soldiers. However this be, it was a most unhappy occurrence, unmatched in America since the blood-thirsty acts of Santa Anna in Texas. It fitted best with the savage acts of earlier times, when the cold-blooded slaughter of prisoners of war was a

common occurrence.

General Sturgis, with a force of about twelve thousand men, was by this time on the march to intercept the daring raider, but failed to do so, Forrest easily evading him. Sturgis some weeks later marched into Mississippi with instructions to hunt up and beat the bold cavalry leader. The result was disastrous. Forrest awaited his pursuers in a strong position and defeated them so thoroughly that their wagon train was abandoned, and when Sturgis reached Memphis on