Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/534

following he raised and equipped, at the request of Gov. Harris, a regiment of cavalry, and was made lieutenant-colonel. In October he moved with his men to Fort Donelson, where he remained until the approach of Gen. Grant, and whence he was allowed to escape with his men before the flag of truce was sent. After a raiding excursion, dur- ing which he visited Nashville, Huntsville, and luka, he took part in the battle of Shiloh. He was assigned to the command of the cavalry at Chatta- nooga in the following June, participated in the attack on Murfreesboro on 13 July, 1862, and on 21 July was made brigadier-general. In September he was in command at Murfreesboro, and on 81 Dec. was engaged at Parker's Cross-Roads. He fought at Chickamaviga on 19 and 20 Sept., 1863, and in November was transferred to northern Mississippi. In the following month he was made major-general and assigned to the command of F'orrest's cavalry department. He was in com- mand of the Con- federate forces that attacked Fort Pil- low in April, 1864, and, while negotia- tions for the sur- render of the fort were in j^rogress under a flag of truce, moved troops into favorable po- sitions that they could not have gained at any other time. Maj. Brad- ford, the command- er of the fort, re- fused to surren- der, whereupon the works were taken

by assault, and the

garrison, consisting mainly of colored troops, were given no quarter. The excuse given by Forrest's men was, that the flag of the fort had not been hauled down in token of surrender. During the operations of Hood and Thomas in Tennessee he proved a great source of annoyance to the National commanders, and in February, 1865, he was pro- moted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He was finally routed, and surrendered at Gainesville. After the war he was president of the Selma, Ma- rion and Memphis railroad, but resigned in 1874. An English authority says of Forrest: "His mili- tary career teaches us that the genius which makes men great soldiers is not to be measured by any com- petitive examination in the science or art of war, much less in the ordinary subjects comprised in the education of a gentleman. The reputation of a schoolboy depends greatly upon his knowledge of books, but that of a general upon what he has done when holding independent command in the field ; and it is thus we must judge Forrest's claim to military fame. ' In war.' said Napoleon. ' men are nothi>ng, a man is everything.' And would it be difficult to find a stronger corroboration of this maxim than is to be found in the history of Gen. Forrest's operations?" See "Campaigns of N. B. Forrest." bv Jordan and Prvor (New York, 1868).

FORREST, Uriah, soldier, b. in St. Mary's county, Md., in 1756; d. near Georgetown, D. C., in April, 1805. He attained the rank of colonel in the Maryland line during the Revolution, and lost a leg at the Brandywine. He was a delegate to the Continental congress from 1786 till 1787, and from 1793 till 1795, when he resigned. He was then appointed general of militia, and was fi-equently a member of the Maryland legislature. From 1800 till 1805 he was clerk of the circuit court of the District of Columbiu.

FORRY, Samuel, physician, b. in Berlin, Pa., 23 June, 1811; d. 8 Nov., 1844. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, and was ten years in the U. S. army as assistant surgeon and surgeon. He afterward practised his profession in New York city. He contributed many articles to medi- cal journals, originated and conducted for two years the New York '• Journal of Medicine," and in 1844 received from Harvard the Boylston prize for an essay on vaccine. He is the author of "The Climate of the United States and its Endemic Influ- ences " (New Y^ork, 1842) and " .Aid im )1-( )l(igv " (1843).

FORSHEY, Caleb Goldsmith, engineer, b. in Somerset county. Pa., 18 July, 1812 ; d. in Carroll- ton, La., 25 July, 1881. He was educated at Ken- yon college, Ohio, and at the U. S. military academy, where he entered in 1833, but was not graduated. He was professor of mathematics and civil engineer- ^ ing at Jefferson college. Miss., in 1836-'8, and was from that time engaged for many years in engineer- ing works in Mississippi. Louisiana, and Texas. He was in charge of the U. S. survey of the Mississippi delta in 1851-'3, was chief engineer of the Galves- ton, Houston, and Henderson railway in 1853-5, and designed the bridge across Galveston West bay. In 1855 he established the Texas military in- stitute and conducted it till 1861, when, though opposed to secession, he entered the Confederate service as a lieutenant-colonel of engineers. He was employed on the James river and as chief en- gineer on the staff of Gen. Magruder, and planned the defences of the Texas frontier and the opera- tions for the recapture of Galveston and the Texas coast. Since the war he has been engaged in rail- way construction in Texas, on the improvements at the mouth of the Mississippi, and during 1874-'5 was in the U. S. engineer service on the Red river and Galveston bay. He was the first vice-presi- dent and one of the founders of the New Orleans academy of sciences, and has contributed largely to scientific journals. He assisted in the preparation of " The Physics of the Mississippi River " (Wash- ington, 1861 ; 2d ed., enlarged, 1870).

FORSTER, Archibald McDonald, Canadian inventor, 1j. in Markham, Ont., 11 May, 1843. He was educated in the Markham and Uxbridge gram- mar-schools, and after leaving school went to work in his father's foundry and machine-shop. In 1866 he invented a preparation for cleaning scale from steam boilers, and in 1868 a self-oiling cup for ma- chinery. In 1877 he established a brass foundry in Hamilton, in which, in addition to other arti- cles, he manufactures several of his own inventions.

FORSTER, William, missionary, b. in Tottenham, England, in 1784 ; d. in Knox county, Tenn., in 1854. In 1803 he became a minister of the society of Friends, and thenceforth his life was devoted to missionary and benevolent labors throughout the British Isles, the continent of Europe, and the United States. He first visited the latter country in 1820, again about 1840, and for the last time in 1853, when he had interviews with the president and several governors of southern states about the condition of the slaves. He was wealthy, noted for his benevolence, and was the intiinate friend of Elizabeth Fry, Sir Fowell Buxton, and Joseph John Gurney. He was the father of the British statesman, William Edward Forster. He published " A Christian Exhortation to Sailors, etc." (London, 1856). See " Memoirs of William Forster" (London, 1865).