 Portions of three infantry regiments from Bragg's army had requested to reorganize as a mounted infantry under Abraham Buford, but the Confederacy had no horses to supply them.In response, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who had been operating in Mississippi, began to organize a raid on western Tennessee and Kentucky.Besides obtaining mounts for the mounted-infantry-to-be, Forrest intended to disrupt Union supply lines, obtain general provisions for Confederate forces, and discourage enlistment of blacks in Kentucky into the Union army.