Just before noon on July 18, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate raiders approached the road to Pomeroy and faced a major challenge. Colonel Adam Johnson's detachment, sent south to investigate a river crossing at Middleport, was briefly engaged in a skirmish with Union forces at Bradbury Hill. Morgan assisted Johnson, consolidated his forces, and turned north, only to encounter a five-mile-long natural valley whose walls were manned by local militia and men of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, whose members included future presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley Jr. The valley formed a natural gauntlet that forced Morgan and his men to ride through it under almost constant fire. They shot while galloping and at times dismounted and returned fire to drive off the attackers, but many were wounded or killed during the ride. Confederate Colonel Basil Duke later called it "one continual fight," while Brigadier General Eliakim P. Scammon skillfully directed the Union militia and regular army troops defending Pomeroy and Gallipolis during Morgan's Raid.