Thanks to Mollie Morehead, Forrest
was able to realize his cavalry ‘first’

It’s the largest Civil War cavalry battle in Kentucky, but more importantly, the Battle of Sacramento is best known as Forrest’s First.

It not only was the first battle of Nathan Bedford Forrest, but also was the scene of the first battlefield maneuver that would become the hallmark of the fabled Confederate officer – the Cavalry Charge.

It all began with a visit just outside the village of Sacramento, eight miles north of Greenville, on Dec. 28, 1861. Forrest, then a lieutenant colonel, was approached by Mollie Morehead, a young Confederate sympathizer. She informed Forrest that just over the hill Federal troops were dismounted and watering their horses at a place called Garst’s Pond.

Mollie, in Forrest's own words, “with untied tresses floating in the breeze, on horseback, infusing nerve into my arm and kindling knightly chivalry within my heart,” ignited the furry of “Forrest's First” fight. Eighteen-year-old Union Major Eli H. Murray of the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry was in command of a scouting mission of about 400 men that had been dispatched from Camp Calhoun that morning. Major Murray was soon to be face-to-face with “that Devil Forrest.” The teen-aged Miss Mollie had given Forrest the opportunity of surprise. He pulled up his mount, grabbed a Maynard rifle from one of his men and ordered the charge. Major Kelly and Lt. Col. Starnes were ordered to flank left, flank right, while dismounted sharpshooters took aim at the confused Federal troops. Forrest himself rode headlong toward Major Murray’s advancing cavalry, standing up in his stirrups with saber raised, and sounding that dreaded Rebel Yell.

The fight that began south of Sacramento became a running battle through the town for another two miles and climaxed near the little church at Union Station. Forrest, in a mass of horses and men, had just demonstrated the success of his relentless cavalry maneuver which he first used a few miles down the road and this cavalry strategy would become his trademark throughout his military career.

In his official report of the battle, Forrest described Miss Mollie as “an unexpected volunteer in the person of a Kentucky belle” and “a beautiful young lady.”

The young lady was the 18-year-old daughter of Hugh N. Morehead, a farmer who lived a mile-and-a-half north of Sacramento. Mollie and her sister, Betsy, had been on an errand near Sacramento Hill and, on their way home, passed a column of Federal soldiers. Betsy had gone to warn her father of the troops’ presence while Mollie sought out the Confederates in the direction of Greenville.

Mollie rode with Forrest’s men for a short distance until Forrest asked her to abandon the group for the sake of her safety.

The battlefield report stated that Miss Morehead, “Deeply sympathizing with the cause … and excited by the scene, waving her hat in the air … urged the Confederates to “hurry up” and rode back at a gallop for several hundred yards at the side of Col. Forrest before she was persuaded to return.