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This was supposed to have happened at the last action of the Battle of Shiloh April 8th 1862.

The skirmish took place at Fallen Timbers as Forrest's rearguard were approached by 77th Ohio skirmishers under the direct command of Billy Sherman. The skirmishers fired too quickly, formed 'Guard Against Cavalry' in a battle line and were shotgunned at close range by Forrest's mounted men.

Sherman was close to being killed in the ensuing chaos. Forrest chased the Bluecoats back to their main line but got ahead of his men in his eagerness. Once he realised he was alone, he turned tail, but was hit in the side by a bullet from a Lorenz rifle.

Having checked both Wiley Sword's 'Shiloh Bloody April' and Larry Daniel's 'Shiloh', neither author mentions Forrest hauling a Fed soldier up as cover, though I have heard the tale and indeed, read it somewhere.

Forrest's horse died the next day from wounds.

Nobby

From Wikipedia:

'A month later, Forrest was back in action at the Battle of Shiloh (April 6 to April 7, 1862). Once again he found himself in command of the Confederate rear guard after a lost battle, and again he distinguished himself.

Late in the battle, in an incident itself called Fallen Timbers, he charged and drove through the Union skirmish line. Finding himself in the midst of the enemy without any of his own troops around him, he first emptied his pistols and then pulled out his saber. A Union infantryman on the ground beside him fired at Forrest, hitting him in the side with a rifle shot that lifted him out of his saddle. The ball went through his pelvis and lodged near his spine.

Steadying himself and his mount, he used one arm to lift the Union soldier by the shirt collar and then wielded him as a human shield before casting his body aside. Forrest is acknowledged to have been the last man wounded at the Battle of Shiloh.'

But more interestingly, check this bit about his early life:

'Nathan Bedford Forrest was born to a poor family in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. He was the first of blacksmith William Forrest's twelve children with Miriam "Maddie" Beck. After his father's death, Forrest became the head of the family at the age of 17, and, through hard work and determination, was able to pull himself and his family up from poverty.

In 1841 (age 20), he went into business with his uncle in Hernando, Mississippi. His uncle was killed there during an argument with the Matlock brothers, but Forrest shot and killed two of them with his two shot pistol and wounded the two others with a knife someone threw to him. Ironically, one of the wounded men survived and served under Forrest during the Civil War.'

Nathan_Bedford_Forrest

And also this snippet about him Post War from his NY Times Obituary:

'Since the war, Forrest has lived at Memphis, and his principal occupation seems to have been to try and explain away the Fort Pillow affair. He wrote several letters about it, which were published, and always had something to say about it in any public speech he delivered. He seemed as if he were trying always to rub away the blood stains which marked him.

He spoke at the Union ratification meeting at Memphis in August, 1866; wrote a letter approving President Johnson's reconstruction policy in October of the same year; was at the Democratic National convention in June, 1868; spoke several times during the political campaign that year, counseling friendly feeling between the North and South; made several written and spoken defenses of his war record at that time, and distinguished himself again by challenging Gen. Kilpatrick to a duel.

The latter, who was also on the stump, had attacked Forrest with great severity, denouncing him as a butcher and a murderer. Forrest felt these reproaches so keenly that he sent a challenge. Kilpatrick replied that he would not fight a duel, but if he ever met Forrest, and the latter desired to do anything, he [Kilpatrick] would be ready.

The outcome of this was that Forrest and Kilpatrick did meet somewhere in North Carolina, the latter going into the bar-room of the hotel where he was told Forrest was. Forrest was leaning against the bar. Kilpatrick brushed against him. Forrest looked up, recognized his enemy, turned and left the room, and that was the end of the matter.'

NY Times Obituary

Nobby

From the same Wiki article:

Forrest was also physically imposing six-foot, two-inches tall (1.88 m), 210 pounds (95 kg) very large for the day, and as such could be very intimidating. He also used to great effect his skills as a hard rider and fierce swordsman. (He was known to sharpen both the top and bottom edges of his heavy saber.)

It has been surmised from contemporaneous records that Forrest may have personally killed more than thirty men with saber, pistol and shotgun.

I wouldn't put it past him Irish, but as yet it must remain hearsay. Did Billy Sherman ever mention the incident I wonder?

Nobby