During the Civil War, retaliation for alleged atrocities against civilians escalated as Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early, during his 1864 Maryland invasion, demanded ransoms from several towns to avenge Union Gen. David Hunter's destruction of houses in the Shenandoah Valley. After returning to Virginia, Early sent Gen. John McCausland north to demand a ransom from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and when its residents refused, McCausland burned the town on July 31. Union troops then prevented him from burning Hancock, Maryland, and he retreated toward Virginia. Late that afternoon, after leaving Chambersburg, McCausland entered Hancock and again tried to force a ransom, but Confederate Gen. Bradley T. Johnson objected because many Hancock residents had Southern sympathies and ordered Maj. Harry Gilmor to post guards from the 1st and 2nd Maryland Cavalry to protect homes and businesses. As Johnson argued with McCausland and Union Gen. William W. Averell's command approached, McCausland withdrew west from Hancock roughly along present-day U.S. Route 40 toward Cumberland, ordering Johnson as rear guard to destroy bridges and block roads to slow the Federals. Early on August 1, 1864, about 3 a.m., McCausland and part of his cavalry command stopped at Bevansville to rest, eat, and care for their horses after a hard ride from Hancock with Federal cavalry in pursuit. After McCausland passed Bellegrove, about 11 miles west of Hancock, and reached Bevansville while Johnson carried out his orders, the Confederates resumed moving west toward Cumberland at dawn, with Johnson following and Averell steadily pressing the Confederate rear.