... raised and equipped a mounted battalion at his own expense. Just before the war ended, he was promoted to Lieutenant General. Forrest was the most feared cavalry commander of the Civil War. He was wounded four times in battle, killed 30 Union Soldiers hand to hand, and had 29 Horses shot out from under him. His famous saying was, "War means fightin,' and fightin' means killin'." Forrest led the Battle of Chickamauga and forced the Federals to retreat. He did not follow the orders of his commander, Colonel Bragg. Bragg demanded that Forrest turn his troops over, but Forrest threatened him with bodily harm. ...

... sense of line working with Andrea del Verrocchio. By 1470 he had his own workshop, where he spent most of his time producing pieces for the Medici family. It was through the Medici family that Botticelli was influenced by Christian Neoplatonism, which exemplified Christian views. From this point Botticelli developed such works as the Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap. The painting, which is quite simple in nature, depicts nothing more than the bust of a teenage boy with a red hat on. The boy is uniquely outlined on each side with the right side of his body gently fading into a black backdrop and the left havi ...

... only 17. His mother worked as a sewing machine operator while his father was farm hand. When Elvis was 3 years old, his father was convicted of forgery, along with two other men, for a hog they had sold. Vernon was sent to Parchman Prison where he served 9 months. Due to family hardships, Elvis and his family had to move to Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis was raised in a religious home. He grew up surrounded by gospel music. As a boy he sang with his local Assembly of God church choir, which emulated the style of African-American psalm singing. At age ten Elvis placed first in a school singing contest. He then beg ...

... on a plantation or in the South, Truth experienced first-hand the brutality of slavery. As she related in her autobiography, Narrative of , first published in 1850, one master scarred her for life when she was only nine years old. Like many enslaved African Americans, Isabella was sold several times, as were her siblings and children, a reminder that slave masters in Northern states were no less cruel and profit-minded than those of the South. Throughout her own life story, Truth documents her double bondage as an African American and a woman in a society dominated by whites and men. Female slaves, for example, o ...

... household chores. Mary proves to be a kind girl who gets along well with Mrs. Proctor. Although Mary has become a court official in Salem, she still gets up early in the morning to clean the Proctors’ house. While in court, Mary passes the time by making Goody Proctor a present of a small rag doll called a poppet. Upset by the court proceedings, Mary tells Mr. Proctor that she is "all shuddery inside" because Goody Osburn will hang. When the poppet becomes false proof of witchcraft against Elizabeth, Mary willingly explains that the poppet is hers. She also makes a vain attempt to comfort John Proctor as ...

... She left her husband and went to live in Versailles as Louis's mistress. Madame de Pompadour managed to entertain a bored Louis XV by organizing suppers, festivities, and shows, and by stimulating his interest in buildings and gardens, notably the Petit Trianon. The king raised Jeanne-Antoinette to the title of and installed her in lavish apartments in Versailles as his "official" mistress. She remained there until her death in 1764, although she had long since ceased performing sexual favors for the king. played an important part in the politics of Louis's reign. She kept her influence long after the king's l ...

... and Boston. He was a pimp, a hustler, drug user, and a drug dealer. He worked in the Harlem underworld and was almost killed by his boss after he betrayed him. Malcom turned to robbery and was caught by the police and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor. While in jail, he was introduced to the Nation of Islam, a Black Muslim group, and changed his name to . The X replaced the slave name that was given by the white masters and stands for the his real name that he never knew. After his release from prison he started preaching for the Nation of Islam (NOI). His preaching was known for its hatred overtone. He describes ...

... his most famous work, The Prince, a piece about political power. Growing up, and through his time in political office, Machiavelli studied the men and/or groups in power, specifically noting their successes and failures. Using this information from his observations, Machiavelli wrote The Prince in order to try to re-enter politics by “assisting” the man whom had exiled him, Lorenzo de Medici, in his ruling. Though this was more of a plot to try to gain the favor of Lorenzo, he does note in his book that in order to gain the favor of a prince, you must present him with a gift; that was the purpose ...

... singer and musician. Shaw’s father, George Carr Shaw, on the other hand, was quite different. He was a heavy drinker who excelled in doing nothing (Kunitz 1268). The fact that his father was an alcoholic led Shaw to despise drinking and also tobacco. He tried his hardest to be the opposite of his father in many ways. During his early childhood, his mother grew tired of her husband's poor qualities so she left him and headed to London with her three children. In addition to the impact his father had on him, Shaw was also influenced in other ways. When he was young, a servant took him to the slums. From that experien ...

... Predictions that appeared in their high school yearbook saw Dwight becoming a history professor and Edgar, interestingly, President of the United States (146, Richardson). After high school, Dwight worked full-time at the creamery and helped pay for some of Edgar’s college expenses (12, Ambrose). Dwight never thought about a higher education until a friend persuaded him to apply to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He received an appointment to the academy by Senator Joseph Bristow of Kansas where later he played for the academy’s football team (16, Ambrose). A knee injury forced him to ...