Forrest at Parker's Crossroads
The Dawn of Lightning War

 Signed by author Dan Kennerly
Seventh Edition
$12.00

Soft-cover ~ 54 pages
ISBN 0-9632009-0-9

Maps, photographs, footnotes and bibliography. 2001.

Originally published in 1982, this book is now in its 7^th edition. Author and historian
Dan Kennerly wrote the book based on extensive research –especially of Northern
archives; on investigation of the actual battleground; and on interviews with
descendants of those living in the area at the time of the battle, who told stories
 passed down through generations in family tradition. Kennerly commissioned
artist Elizabeth Bishop to draw original maps based on USGPS topographical
maps (before Interstate 40 was built), on Kennerly’s historical research, and on
 his personal investigation of the battleground sites.

Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s West Tennessee actions culminating
in the battle at Parker’s Crossroads on December 31, 1862—coupled with the results
of confederate General Earl Van Dorn’s successful raid on Union General Ulysses S.
Grant’s supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi, at about the same time—brought
a halt to the Mississippi campaign of Generals Grant and Sherman. The Union Army
had to retreat back to Memphis.

The battle at Parker’s Crossroads has become known for a famous Forrest command:
when told that his forces had enemy in the front and enemy in the rear, Forrest
responded, “Charge them both ways!”  National Park Service Historian Emeritus Ed
Bearss has stated that Forrest showed more of his incredible talents and military
genius in the battle at Parker’s Crossroads than in any of his other battles, including
the “perfect” battle of Brice’s Crossroads.

Forrest’s battle at Parker’s Crossroads is an important demonstration of the evolution
of his use of artillery as an offensive weapon, employing envelopment of enemy forces
as a tactic to then force the enemy to surrender or fall attempting to break out. These
tactics would become a basic element in “blitzkrieg” (or “lightning war”) during World
War II, as most-notably practiced by Germany’s famous Panzer generals, Erwin Rommel
and Heinz Guderian.