In June 1864, Confederate cavalrymen watched Gen. David Hunter’s Union army advance on the Lynchburg-Salem Turnpike after Hunter left Lexington on June 14 and crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains near Peaks of Otter. Liberty (Bedford) fell the next day, but Gen. John McCausland’s cavalry delayed Hunter so effectively that the army did not reach the ridge in the distance until the afternoon of June 17. Gen. John D. Imboden’s cavalry then joined McCausland to hold the high ground until Gen. Jubal A. Early’s command arrived. The dismounted troopers dug trenches for protection and used the cemetery wall to shelter the artillery. Late that afternoon, Gen. William W. Averell’s Union cavalry attacked and was repulsed. Gen. George Crook’s Federal infantry then made a successful assault, but by that time Early’s corps had arrived and the Battle of Lynchburg began in earnest.