Lack of formal schooling does not signify lack of education. The vaunted Abraham Lincoln is often cited as an example, doing his lessons in charcoal on wooden planks by the firelight in his log cabin. You mention Forrest as lacking education but being a brilliant succss. He became the head of his family when his father died, at the age of seventeen. However he gained his knowledge, he became a successful businessman, sending his younger siblings to college. He was a millionaire before the war. When he found how poorly equipped the unit he enlisted in was, he offered to arm a regiment, at his own expense. He went to Ohio and arranged to purchase arms and equipment for an entire regiment. He was appointed Colonel and began his rise to fame. He would not have said, "...git thar fustest with the mostest." This was attested to by those who knew him, and by Mr Bearss, renowned NPS historian. He wrote, and read to his troops, his farewell speech upon his surrender. You can read it at this site:
http://www.reference.com/browse/Nathan+Bedford+Forrest
Forrest was not an uneducated man, in any sense of the word. Stan