In late June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia were engaged in a desperate defense of Petersburg, and Lee's hopes for victory depended on a steady flow of supplies brought in by rail. To force Lee from Petersburg, Union Gen. U.S. Grant planned to cut Southern supply lines and ordered a cavalry raid to tear up track and destroy railroad stations and bridges. On June 22, 1864, Union Gens. James H. Wilson and August V. Kautz left Petersburg with more than 5,000 cavalry troops to destroy track on the Richmond & Danville R.R. and the South Side R.R.