Your note about Forrest's cavalry being "higher up the supply chain" illustrates an important point about Confederate ordnance. Far from being centralized and being distributed by actual need, as you and I might have arranged things, units like the 5th Tennessee Cavalry in the "backwater of eastern Tennessee" apparently received first-rate sidearms while Confederate cavalry units in Mississippi and Virginia went begging.

To return to Brice's Crossroads, the regiment you meant to cite was the 81st Illinois. Lt. Col. Andrew W. Rogers reported, "My command, long out of ammunition, I ordered to fix bayonets, and thus held the enemy in check for some time...." The suggestion is that Federal soldiers fixed bayonets not to charge, but to defend their position if attacked. O.R., Vol. XXXIX/1, p. 122. Rogers mentions a bayonet charge the following morning to clear his front.

As mentioned earlier, far from being flush with ordnance, a report dated May 27, 1864, shows Forrest's cavalry command short 3,000 arms --

MERIDIAN, May 27, 1864.

General S. COOPER, Adjt. and Insp. Gen., Richmond, Va.:
GENERAL: I have the honor to inform the Department that I have completed, as far as in my power, the inspection of this department with the examination of Major-General Forrest's cavalry force, amounting to 9,220 effective men, stationed, at the time of my examination, at Verona, Tupelo, and Corinth. This force is principally of new recruits, and consequently undisciplined and undrilled; the material is good, the horses in tolerable condition, but the arms and equipments very deficient. It needs quite 3,000 guns and accouterments.

If my arithmetic is correct, the inventory of arms reported with the inspection of Forrest's command dated May 16, 1864 (see O.R., Vol. XXXIX/2, p. 604) shows only 5,423 carbines, muskets and rifles on hand. Gholson's Brigade, one of the recently raised commands, has only 38 pistols and revolvers and no carbines on hand out of an aggregate present of 1,469. The primary arms available for this brigade are 265 Mississippi rifles (cal. 54) and 33 Asheville rifles (cal. 58).

On the other hand we have Forrest's escort, armed to the teeth. For an aggregate present of 65, there are 31 cal. 44 and 32 cal. 36 revolvers, 63 cal. 52 Sharps carbines, 5 cal. 56 Burnsides and 5 cal. 51 Maynards.

The report shows Buford's Division (Bell's and Lyons' Brigades, aggregate present of 3,908) with 1,809 muskets and rifles of various types and 400 Sharps carbines. Also reported are 163 French revolvers, 150 cal. 36 and 337 cal. 44 revolvers, a total of 650 handguns.

The division including units subsequently assigned to Rucker's Brigade was better armed. The report lists 1,984 muskets and rifles plus 859 carbines, including 725 Sharps. Numbering 4401 aggregate present, this division also reported 1,206 handguns. 701 of the appear to have been Colt Navys, which may explain Rucker's instructions which you cited.

The arms used by most of Forrest's command may explain Col. Waring's statement --

Question. What was the amount of the attacking force of the enemy as far as you could judge?
Answer. I think my line was attacked when it was driven back by at least 4,000 infantry with muskets and bayonets.

Forrest's cavalry was probably the best-armed cavalry command the Confederacy could put in the field, yet three out of four men he sent onto battle had not firearms. If anything, these facts underscore Forrest's ability as a leader of mounted troops.