In June 1864, to deny Gen. Robert E. Lee the use of the South Side R.R. and the Richmond and Danville R.R., Gen. Ulysses S. Grant sent Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz south of Petersburg on a cavalry raid to destroy track and rolling stock. After their repulse at Staunton River Bridge on June 25, Wilson’s raiders camped here while retreating toward the Union lines at Petersburg. Participant recollections indicate that pursuing Confederates struck the Federals morning, noon, and night on June 27, and the retreat soon became a race for safety as the column, hindered by wounded men, many vehicles, and several thousand contrabands, moved on after crossing the Meherrin River. An ordinary that stood one-quarter mile north had served travelers on the north-south stage road as early as 1750, and during the Civil War its inn and post office were spared when a Union officer recognized the owner, Dr. George M. Raney, as a former classmate at the University of Pennsylvania. In July 1781, during the Revolutionary War, British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton burned local warehouses while leading a cavalry foray through southside Virginia, and legend holds that this incident gave the ordinary its name.