On the morning of July 11, 1864, as rumors spread that Confederate raiders were moving through this part of Maryland, storekeeper David Lee had reason to worry. A detachment of cavalry under Maj. Harry Gilmor, largely composed of Marylanders, had been sent north and east of Baltimore to cut communication lines to cities farther north. In carrying out that mission, Gilmor and his men burned houses and bridges, seized supplies, and on July 11 captured Union Gen. William B. Franklin aboard a train, though he escaped the next day while home on medical leave. When the raiders reached Jerusalem Mill, they gathered at David Lee's store and requisitioned supplies, including Lee's horses and boots, shoes, and other wearing apparel. After the Confederate victory at the Battle of Monocacy on July 11, 1864, Gen. Jubal Early had sent cavalry commanded by Gen. Bradley T. Johnson into eastern Maryland; Johnson turned south toward Point Lookout in hopes of freeing prisoners there and detached Gilmor's 135 men of the 1st and 2nd Maryland Cavalry to move north of Baltimore. Gilmor, then 26 years old, had been born in Baltimore County at Glen Ellen and knew the region well enough to visit his home during the raid. Johnson's and Gilmor's horsemen sought to create confusion that would draw attention and troops away from Early's march on Washington, D.C., but although they caused destruction and great excitement in eastern Maryland, they failed to free prisoners, help Early capture the U.S. Capitol, or weaken the Union siege at Petersburg, Va.