Michael R. Bradley is a
well-known Civil War expert and author of many books on the Civil War and
Tennessee. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Escort and Staff is his first
book with Pelican Publishing Company.
Mr. Bradley was inspired to write a book about General
Forrest's staff when he stumbled upon a copy of the unpublished minutes of the
meetings of the Escort Veterans Association in his hometown of Tullahoma,
Tennessee. Once he began his research, he received input and assistance from
local historians and members of Sons of Confederate Veterans and United
Daughters of the Confederacy camps, who shared their information about family
members who were escort veterans.
Since 1970, Mr. Bradley has taught history at Motlow
State Community College in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He received his bachelor of
arts degree from Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, his bachelor of
divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and both his
master's degree and Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University.
He has been a fellow with the National Endowment for the
Humanities, has received a U.S. Airforce Legacy Grant for Historical Research,
and was also a National Science Foundation Fellow. In 1994, he was awarded the
Jefferson Davis Medal in Southern History. He is a member of the Southern
Historical Association, the American Society of Church History, the American
Association of University Professors, the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History
Association, and the Society for Military History.
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, Mr. Bradley now lives in
Tullahoma, Tennessee, with his wife, Martha, who is director of Christian
Education at First Presbyterian Church.