The author of "Soldiers and their Science" says of Tamerlane; "Born to comparatively humble fortunes, irresistible obstacles seemed to lie across the path of his ambition, and yet one by one he overcame them. . . . His plans were deeply meditated; before embarking in an enterprise he examined the avenues of retreat, and he himself tells us that the principles of his tactics were uniform. It was his maxim that success came not from the greatness of armies, but from skillful and judicious measures. Shepherds and hunters, mounted on light hardy horses, and wielding the javelin and the bow, followed the standard of Timour; he covered them neither with defensive armor nor unfamiliar weapons. He respected and even drew advantage from that untamed and adventurous spirit, which, regarding close restraint as insupportable, gave so large a scope to daring intelligence and prowess. . . . He relied much on rapidity of movement, and often disconcerted his enemies by falling on them unawares, and cutting them up in detail—in his own words, he charged quick and hot on the foe, and never let the plain of battle cool. He at least had made, if not announced, the discovery, since attributed to Marshall Saxe, 'that the secret of an army's success is in its legs.' . . . On all occasions his march was preceded by clouds of flying scouts, who, piercing the country in every direction, kept him constantly informed as to its varied resources and the dispositions of the enemy." With change of name a better description of Forrest could scarce be written.
HOOD'S NASHVILLE CAMPAIGN.
The day after Johnsonville was destroyed, Forrest received orders to join General Hood in his march on Nashville. His movements in this campaign were marked by his usual energy, judgment and success, but were mostly of that ordinary character that marks cavalry acting as a part of an army of mixed forces.
SCHOFIELD HALTED AT SPRING HILL.
There were two movements, however, that deserve especial notice. When Hood was ready to advance from Columbia, Forrest crossed Duck river about night in three places, and early the next morning whipped the Federal cavalry at Hurt's cross-roads and drove the most of it towards Nashville, and then turned on the infantry and held them in check at Spring Hill until Hood's infantry came up. The head of the column reached Spring Hill some time before night and our army went into camp, while the enemy marched along by them and, as General French expressed it, "lit their pipes by our camp fires." This movement marks a new era in the use of cavalry to arrest and capture retreating infantry, which deserves the especial study of military men. It was subsequently copied by Sheridan in the capture of General Lee; and if it had been practiced by Wilson on Hood as he retreated from Nashville, the Confederate army would have been captured.
