On July 18, 1863, Union Gen. Edward E. Potter led infantry and cavalry from New Bern to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge at Rocky Mount. The infantry feinted toward Kinston and returned to New Bern, while Potter raided Greenville, sent part of his cavalry to Rocky Mount, and occupied Tarboro. His raiders damaged or destroyed bridges, trains, munitions, and mills before returning to New Bern on July 23, although Confederate rail service was restored by Aug. 1. On July 20, 1863, Potter led his cavalry through Pitt County from Tarboro on the return march to New Bern. After fording Otter Creek and an encounter with Col. Newton, Potter, guided by local blacks, took back roads through woods and farms instead of the main roads to avoid Confederate troops, then reached the Plank Rd. about 5 miles west, turned east toward Greenville, and then south at Marlboro toward Snow Hill. Potter’s men most likely passed the James May House through this area. The next morning, from Otter Creek, Confederate Col. William C. Claiborne sent Capt. Lycurgus J. Barrett and Co. G, 7th Confederate Cavalry, in pursuit. Barrett, a member of the May family, knew the area well. Claiborne cut quickly from Otter Creek to Ballards Crossroads, six miles east, hoping to intercept Potter, but after learning Potter was near Snow Hill, he moved to Scuffleton intending to destroy the bridge there and force Potter into a trap waiting at Edwards Bridge in Lenoir County while Potter’s force rested at Grimsley’s Church in Greene County. James May, whose family was influential in the early development of this part of Pitt County, built the nearby house about 1854, and his descendant Tabitha Marie De Visconti later left the house and its contents, including a photographic history of Farmville, to the town.