Folks,

Please keep in mind one thing - mounted infantry were used as cavalry for a time long before the Civil War. Dragoon units were invented in the late 1600's in Europe and they had uses both as pure cavalry AND mounted infantry. They could fight on horseback or dismounted.

The finest cavalry of the 19th Century was the French cavalry of Napoleon. One of the primary components of that arm of service were the dragoon regiments who were trained to fight mounted (they had sabers) or dismounted (they had infantry long arms). Thus they served as mobile infantry or cavalry.

So calling Forrest's men simply mounted infantry is far too simplistic in terms of what they actually did in the war - they were definitely used as both infantry when needed and cavalry when needed.

Greg Biggs