About four o'clock in the afternoon
he exclaimed . `` I 'm gwine in right behime you ! '' He reflected a moment , and then uttered an exclamation of `` Well , suh ! '' About four o'clock in the afternoon the troopers under General Forrest came in contact with Federals . This was in the nature of a surprise to the Union commander , for there were persistent reports that Forrest had passed on the other road , with the evident intention of harrying the Federals at a point where they had no intention of crossing . So well assured was he that these reports were trustworthy that he was seriously considering the advisability of detaching a force sufficiently large to capture the Confederate . He therefore paid small attention to the attacks on his rear-guard .