On an August Sunday, Nathan Bedford Forrest met the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, Mary Ann Montgomery, and her mother while they were on their way to church. The Montgomery’s buggy had broken down while crossing a stream. A couple of the local young men were on the river bank laughing and teasing Mary Ann and her mother. Bedford rode up on his horse, saw what had happened, and dismounted. Immediately he waded across the stream and carried Mary Ann to safety and then rescued her mother. Deciding that the boisterous jokesters needed to be taught a lesson, Bedford crossed the stream again and proceeded to thrash the young men.