Editing Nathan Bedford Forrest (section)

===Brices Cross Roads and Tupelo===
{{Main|Battle of Brices Cross Roads}}
[[Image:Brices Crossroads.svg|right|thumb|Battle of Brices Cross Roads]]
Forrest's most decisive victory came on June 10, 1864, when his 3,500-man force clashed with 8,500 men commanded by U.S. Army Brig. Gen. [[Samuel D. Sturgis]] at the [[Battle of Brices Crossroads]] in northeastern [[Mississippi in the American Civil War|Mississippi]].<ref name="AllardiceHewitt2015">{{cite book|author1=Bruce S. Allardice|author2=Lawrence Lee Hewitt|title=Kentuckians in Gray: Confederate Generals and Field Officers of the Bluegrass State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lq8fBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53|year=2015|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-5987-4|page=53|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173103/https://books.google.com/books?id=lq8fBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Here, the mobility of the troops under his command and his superior tactics led to victory,<ref name="Dougherty2010">{{cite book|author=Kevin Dougherty |title=Weapons of Mississippi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2pMqE2E63XgC&pg=PA86|year=2010|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-452-2|page=86|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173105/https://books.google.com/books?id=2pMqE2E63XgC&pg=PA86#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ballard2011">{{cite book|author=Michael B. Ballard|title=The Civil War in Mississippi: Major Campaigns and Battles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgkbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT245|year=2011|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-62674-417-2|page=245 |access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173111/https://books.google.com/books?id=VgkbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT245#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> allowing him to continue harassing U.S. forces in southwestern Tennessee and northern Mississippi throughout the war.<ref name="Barney2011">{{cite book|author=William L. Barney|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5b4qd_NKXicC&pg=PT188|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-989024-8|page=188 |access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173157/https://books.google.com/books?id=5b4qd_NKXicC&pg=PT188#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Forrest set up a position for an attack to repulse a pursuing force commanded by Sturgis, who had been sent to impede Forrest from destroying U.S. Army supply lines and fortifications.<ref name="Busbee2014">{{cite book|author=Westley F. Busbee, Jr|title=Mississippi: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sG0gBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA144 |year=2014|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-118-75592-1|page=144|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173122/https://books.google.com/books?id=sG0gBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA144#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> When Sturgis's Federal army came upon the crossroads, they collided with Forrest's cavalry.<ref>{{citation|first=Colonel Howard Lee|last=Landers|title=Battle of Brice's Cross Roads, Mississippi. June 10, 1864|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Historical Section, Army War College|year=1928}}</ref> Sturgis ordered his infantry to advance to the front line to counteract the cavalry. The infantry, tired, weary, and suffering under the heat, were quickly broken and sent into mass retreat. Forrest sent a full charge after the retreating army and captured 16 artillery pieces, 176 wagons, and 1,500 stands of small arms. In all, the maneuver cost Forrest 96 men killed and 396 wounded. The day was worse for U.S. troops, who suffered 223 killed, 394 wounded, and 1,623 missing. The losses were a deep blow to the black regiment under Sturgis's command. In the hasty retreat, they stripped off commemorative badges that read "Remember Fort Pillow" to avoid goading the Confederate force pursuing them.{{sfn|Wills|1993|p=215}}

One month later, while serving under General [[Stephen D. Lee]], Forrest experienced [[tactical defeat]] at the [[Battle of Tupelo]] in 1864.<ref name="Jones2009">{{cite book|author=Terry L. Jones|title=The American Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DUPSqK11f8gC&q=%22tactical%20defeat%22|year=2009|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-302204-8|page=565|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509173132/https://books.google.com/books?id=DUPSqK11f8gC&q=%22tactical%20defeat%22 |url-status=live}}</ref> Concerned about U.S. Army supply lines, Maj. Gen. Sherman [[Smith's Expedition to Tupelo|sent a force]] under the command of Maj. Gen. [[Andrew J. Smith]] to deal with Forrest.<ref name="CozzensGirardi2004">{{cite book|author=William S. Burns|editor=Peter Cozzens|editor2=Robert I. Girardi|title=The New Annals of the Civil War|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZ0GZqxayG8C&pg=PT387 |year=2004|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-4645-8|page=387|chapter=The Battle of Tupelo|access-date=March 26, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509174148/https://books.google.com/books?id=XZ0GZqxayG8C&pg=PT387#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> U.S. Army forces drove the Confederates from the field, and Forrest was wounded in the foot, but his forces were not wholly destroyed. He continued to oppose U.S. Army efforts in the West for the remainder of the war.