In late June 1864, as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia struggled to defend Petersburg, Union Gen. U.S. Grant sought to force Lee from the city by cutting Southern supply lines that depended on a steady flow of rail-borne supplies. On June 22, 1864, Union Gens. James H. Wilson and August V. Kautz led more than 5,000 cavalry troops out from Petersburg to destroy track on the Richmond & Danville R.R. and the South Side R.R., targeting railroad stations and bridges as part of the effort to sever those lines.