On July 25, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate raiders moved north after the skirmish at Two Ridges Church outside Wintersville, with Union pursuers under Brigadier General James M. Shackelford close behind as the Confederates entered the small town of Richmond. They obtained only a few fresh mounts there before continuing to East Springfield, where they arrived around 7 pm, found a handful of fresh horses, and interrupted a church choir practice. In the village, Bill Huscroft offered Morgan $360 not to take his best horses, but Morgan asked to see the money and then took both the money and the horses. Morgan left the village in a black buggy pulled by a pair of white horses, while Union forces under General Shackelford camped at the mining community known as The Eastern.