‘Admiral’ Forrest and his Horsemen

By Joan Wenner, J.D. · Originally published September 2017 · p. 15

‘Admiral’ Forrest and his Horsemen By Joan Wenner, J.D. Some years ago a dedicated group of preservationists in Tennessee, “Raise the Gunboats, Inc.”, retrieved a collection of artifacts from the Tennessee River 30 miles above Paducah, Ky. Found by a dredging operator who alerted state archaeologists, they came from remains of the Union gunboat Undine 55, a Union vessel significant for its capture by Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest then turned the boat around and engaged in a naval battle with a small convoy from which it had been separated by a bend in the river. The daring maneuver earned Forrest the rank of ‘Admiral’ by his cavalry “crew.” A court of inquiry followed for the vessel’s Acting Master who spoke more candidly than would be likely today.

Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest and cavalry commander Joe Wheeler had been wreaking mayhem in the region for a couple of years in their attempts to disrupt Union supply lines. On Oct. 30, 1864, about 30 miles above Paducah, Ky., Forrest and his gunners spied a lone enemy gunboat and saw an opportunity in the making though he would modify his plan from destruction to one of disabling, repairing, and launching the gunboat into Confederate service unbeknownst to the other Federal transports. Artillery quickly got the

Undine 55 drawing by artist Aryeh Wetherhorn.

Undine in its sights and, after an hour of sparring, a cannonball shattered the exhaust pipe, another smashed the furnace, and four more blasted through the casemate. Another round cracked a steam pipe, the scalding mist forcing the engineer from the engine room. Acting Master John L. Bryant attempted to surrender his boat now “entirely unmanageable” and, after hastily spiking the guns, headed toward the river’s east bank where he and surviving crewmen scrambled into the woods and trekked to Union held Fort Donelson. Meanwhile two transports that “jumped into the tempest” were so battered by Southern shellfire from Forrest’s judicious placement of artillery they were beyond being of assistance. Summarizing a long story that involved a previous calamity to the stricken ship in a previous life that nearly sunk her, now Forrest would took the 180-ton warship to Paris Landing for quick repairs to turn his new “flagship” against its previous operators or lure them within range of sharpshooters. He also planned on using Undine to carry detachments of cavalry to raid the Union Johnsonville supply base and then haul supplies to Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s army at Tuscumbia, Ala. The vessel with her eight 24-pounder howitzers disabled was rearmed with two 20-pounder Parrott rifles captured from one of the transports. Soon more Federal ships would descend upon the Undine as it lay at anchor, under Cobb’s Ky. Btry. officer and an old experienced steamboat captain, who thus relieved Forrest of his naval commission. Undine met its demise after a barrel of oil was poured over some shredded mattresses and set ablaze. But not before, supposedly, a cargo of fine brandy for a general and more importantly, the captain’s signal code book were confiscated. Forrest then proceeded onward on Nov. 4, 1864, to the destruction of the Johnsonville supply depot. On Nov. 6, Sherman telegraphed

Grant, “That devil Forrest was down about Johnsonville making havoc among the gunboats and transports.” Sherman was correct, By Nov. 10, it was said Forrest had destroyed or captured 4 gunboats, 14 transports, 20 barges, and a large quantity of stores. Some six to eight million dollars was the estimated tab for Johnsonville alone.

Gunboat Captain Explains Capture at Military Inquiry On Nov. 7, 1864, a military court of inquiry was convened at Mound City, Ill., “to ascertain and report all the facts connected with the loss of the U.S.S. Undine, in Tennessee River.” The embarrassing loss of the signal codes to Forrest’s troopers-turned watermen was conceded although Bryant was absolved of fault and justified in his decision to abandon his gunboat when “opened on by rebel artillery and infantry fire” and “again opened on by a battery of four or five field pieces crossing their fire from different points.” The tribunal held the vessel well-fought and creditable discipline maintained throughout with proper actions taken that had been “occasioned by the attack of a superior force.” Perhaps it could be added also by a bolder force? Acting Master Bryant recounted, most candidly it appears, what happened Oct. 30, 1864: “When abreast of Paris Landing I was hailed by a man on the bank, ‘Halloo there gunboat’ or some such words. I immediately stopped my engines. At that instant was opened on from the west bank by a heavy artillery and infantry fire about 50 yards from shore. I returned their fire and immediately headed the ship for the batteries and fought them for 55 minutes up to 700 yards distance, where I had my escape pipe shot off. A shot passed in through my furnace and knocked the fire out. “I then got out of range of the upper battery, under the west point of the river, in order to repair my damages and to warn the transports that might come down from Johnsonville. I had not been anchored over 10 minutes when I was again opened upon by a heavy fire of musketry from the west bank which was immediately returned from our broadside guns.” “At 3:10 the enemy opened with a crossfire of artillery and musketry…and I used at that time canister, the range not being over 100 yards, which apparently had good effect among the enemy concealed in the bushes on the banks. At 3:45 the main steam pipe in the doctor room was cracked and filled the place with steam, and drove the engineer from his station. I headed her for the east bank to save as many of the crew as possible. At 4 o’clock, knowing that I could not get off from the enemy, I struck my flag, which the enemy did not respect, but kept up an incessant fire upon me. I fired my broadside guns, ordered all the guns spiked and the ship fired, knowing I had fought as long as I could. I ordered the men to save themselves. At this moment I was knocked senseless and when I came to I got on shore and followed after the crew.”

Forrest Too Late While another brilliant move by Forrest, the sacking the Johnsonville depot came too late to have a larger impact on war in the Western theater. By November 1864, Sherman had already amassed enough stores and ammunition in the Atlanta area that Johnsonville no longer of crucial importance. Joan Wenner, J.D. is a longtime contributor to CWN, The Artilleryman and other historical publications, and member of CWN Editorial and book review staff. Comments are welcomed at [email protected]

In Sept. 1864 a grand jury of the United States Circuit Court sitting in Memphis, declared that Nathan Bedford Forrest was a traitor against the United States, “wickedly devising and intending the peace and tranquility of the United states of America… engaged in a warlike manner, that is to say with guns, swords, pistols and other warlike weapons.” A year later the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Salmon P. Chase, directed the marshal of the District of West Tennessee to “take the body of Nathan B. Forrest…[and] have him before the Judge of the Circuit Court of the United States…to answer the United States on a Bill of Presentment against him for Treason.” Forrest was never arrested and tried for treason. The marshal of the United states District Court simply wrote that “Defendant not to be found in my district.”