Editing Nathan Bedford Forrest (section)

===Murfreesboro, Nashville, and Selma===
[[File:Franklin-Nashville campaign.svg|thumb|left|Map of the Franklin–Nashville campaign including troops commanded by Forrest]]
After his bloody defeat at Franklin, Hood continued to Nashville. Hood ordered Forrest to conduct an independent raid against the [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee|Murfreesboro]] [[garrison]]. After success in achieving the objectives specified by Hood, Forrest engaged U.S. forces near Murfreesboro on December 5, 1864. In what would be known as the [[Third Battle of Murfreesboro]], a portion of Forrest's command broke and ran.<ref name="Lardas2017">{{cite book|author=Mark Lardas|title=Nashville 1864: From the Tennessee to the Cumberland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfwyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|year=2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-1983-3|page=74|access-date=March 27, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509174354/https://books.google.com/books?id=JfwyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA74#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> When Hood's battle-hardened Army of Tennessee, consisting of 40,000 men deployed in three infantry corps plus 10,000 to 15,000 cavalry, was all but destroyed on December 15–16, at the [[Battle of Nashville]],<ref name="Bobrick2010">{{cite book|author=Benson Bobrick|title=The Battle of Nashville|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZJ0BI6VLRwC&pg=PA81|year=2010|publisher=Random House Children's Books|isbn=978-0-375-84887-2|pages=81, 100|access-date=March 27, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509174354/https://books.google.com/books?id=dZJ0BI6VLRwC&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Forrest distinguished himself by commanding the Confederate rear guard in a series of actions that allowed what was left of the army to escape. For this, he would later be promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant General (CSA)|lieutenant general]] on March 2, 1865.<ref name="Head1885">{{cite book|author=Thomas A. Head|title=Campaigns and Battles of the Sixteenth Regiment, Tennessee Volunteers, in the War Between the States: With Incidental Sketches of the Part Performed by Other Tennessee Troops in the Same War. 1861–1865|url=https://archive.org/details/campaignsandbatt00headiala|year=1885|publisher=Cumberland Presbyterian publishing house|page=[https://archive.org/details/campaignsandbatt00headiala/page/453 453]}}</ref> A portion of his command, now dismounted, was surprised and captured in their camp at [[Verona, Mississippi]] on December 25, 1864, during a raid of the [[Mobile and Ohio Railroad]] by a brigade of Brig. Gen. [[Benjamin Grierson]]'s cavalry division.<ref name="Moore1881">{{cite book|author=James Moore|title=A Complete History of the Great Rebellion: Or, The Civil War in the United States, 1861–1865. Comprising a Full and Impartial Account of the Various Battles, Bombardments, Skirmishes, Etc., which Took Place on Land and Water; the Whole Embracing a Complete History of the War for the Union{{snd}}also Biographical Sketches of the Principal Actors in the Great Drama|url=https://archive.org/details/completehistoryo00mooriala|year=1881|publisher=W.S. Burlock|page=[https://archive.org/details/completehistoryo00mooriala/page/473 473]}}</ref>

In the spring of 1865, Forrest led an unsuccessful defense of the state of Alabama against [[Wilson's Raid]]. His opponent, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. [[James H. Wilson]], defeated Forrest at the [[Battle of Selma]] on April 2, 1865.<ref name="Eicher2002">{{cite book|author=David J Eicher |title=The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1p94XzYASDAC&pg=PA837|year=2002|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-1846-7|page=837|access-date=April 3, 2018|archive-date=May 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509174434/https://books.google.com/books?id=1p94XzYASDAC&pg=PA837#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> A week later, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant in Virginia. When he received news of Lee's surrender, Forrest surrendered as well. On May 9, 1865, at [[Gainesville, Alabama|Gainesville]], Forrest read his [[farewell address]] to the men under his command, urging them to "submit to the powers to be, and to aid in restoring peace and establishing law and order throughout the land."{{sfn|Davison|Foxx|2007|p=405}}