On May 21, 1864, Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside’s Ninth Corps left Spotsylvania and pursued the retreating Confederate army southward. When Rebel cavalry blocked Burnside’s passage of the Po River at Stanard’s Mill, he turned east and followed the Second and Fifth Corps to Guinea Station. He rested his corps there for two hours on May 22 before crossing the Mattaponi River at Downer’s Bridge and proceeding to Bethel Church. Grant and Meade met Burnside at the church that afternoon before establishing their headquarters at the nearby Tyler House, and Burnside joined them there later in the day. Encountering Mrs. Tyler, Burnside pleasantly remarked, “I don’t suppose madam you ever saw so many Yankee soldiers before?” Grant’s staff roared in laughter as she replied, “Oh, yes, as prisoners. I have just come from Richmond.”