"Get there first with the most"
About this Quote
Blunt to the point of brutality, "Get there first with the most" is Forrest stripping war down to an ugly spreadsheet: speed plus mass equals advantage. The line works because it rejects romance. No talk of honor, no noble sacrifice, just a gambler's maxim for violence in motion. It reads like folk wisdom, but its folkiness is the camouflage; underneath is a theory of war that treats surprise and concentration as moral substitutes.
The intent is practical and predatory. "First" signals tempo: seize the initiative before the enemy can organize, before politics can interfere, before doubt can set in. "The most" signals overwhelming force at the decisive point, not evenly spread fairness. It's an argument for asymmetry - for making your opponent feel outnumbered even when the larger war may not favor you. Forrest, a cavalry commander with a reputation for rapid, hard strikes, is basically describing operational shock as a weapon.
The subtext is darker when you remember who Forrest was: a Confederate general later associated with the early Ku Klux Klan, and a figure tied to the Fort Pillow massacre. In that light, the quote isn't just about battlefield efficiency; it hints at a worldview where outcomes justify methods, where domination is the ethic. Its cultural afterlife - often repeated as "get there fustest with the mostest" - turns it into a cute aphorism, sanding off the blood and ideology. That's how lines like this survive: they sound like strategy while smuggling in a temperament.
The intent is practical and predatory. "First" signals tempo: seize the initiative before the enemy can organize, before politics can interfere, before doubt can set in. "The most" signals overwhelming force at the decisive point, not evenly spread fairness. It's an argument for asymmetry - for making your opponent feel outnumbered even when the larger war may not favor you. Forrest, a cavalry commander with a reputation for rapid, hard strikes, is basically describing operational shock as a weapon.
The subtext is darker when you remember who Forrest was: a Confederate general later associated with the early Ku Klux Klan, and a figure tied to the Fort Pillow massacre. In that light, the quote isn't just about battlefield efficiency; it hints at a worldview where outcomes justify methods, where domination is the ethic. Its cultural afterlife - often repeated as "get there fustest with the mostest" - turns it into a cute aphorism, sanding off the blood and ideology. That's how lines like this survive: they sound like strategy while smuggling in a temperament.
Quote Details
| Topic | War |
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