My 74th Birthday Celebration & the creation of THE WOLF-PAC On the 1865 Trail of FORREST.
page 520 and 521 of THAT DEVIL FORREST by John Allan Wyeth:
Leaving as many troops as could be spared from the command to meet the expedition which was threatening from Memphis, and to protect the country in the direction of the Mississippi River toward Vicksburg, Forrest moved in person toward Selma, reaching the bridge over the Sipsey, in Alabama, on March 29th, from which point he sent the following dispatch to General W.H. Jackson: "The lieutenant-general directs that you leave one commissioned officer with twenty men here for the purpose of guarding the three crossings-this bridge, and Carter's and Colter's ferries, one above and one below. They will remain here until day after tomorrow morning, when they will bury the two men who have been shot here at the bridge today, then follow on and report to their commands at Marion, Alabama, or wherever they may be. Should the officer left behind catch other deserters, he will take them to the bridge and execute them."
When it became known that General Forrest was ordered by General Taylor to lead his troops to Selma, a number of men, fearing this movement would ultimately carry them into Johnston's army in North Caroline, left the command without permission and made for their homes within the enemy's lines, The commander was greatly exasperated at these desertions, and left guards at the various crossings of this stream, with stringent orders to arrest any soldiers moving through the country on detached duty without proper written authority.
At Sipsey bridge two men were brought in as deserters. They acknowledged that they had been in the service and were then on their way to their homes in Kentucky. A drumhead court-martial was called and they were put on trial. They had no furloughs or passes or official papers showing to what command they belonged or why they were quitting the army. One of the prisoners claimed that he was over age, while the other asserted that he was too young to be liable to military duty. They were condemned and executed. The bodies were exposed by the side of the road in plain view of where the troops should pass, and upon a tree was nailed a placard in large letters:
SHOT FOR DESERTION
The execution of these men was extremely unfortunate. Their statement turned out to be true in every particular, but they were not credited by the court-martial which pronounced sentence. Forrest was entirely justified, not only by military law, but by the desperate dilemma in which he found himself placed, in having the sentence of the court executed. Moreover, he had been directed by General Hood, just before this officer was relieved from command, to make an example of the first deserters he should catch.
