Military
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On May 7, 1864, Union Gen. George Meade ordered Gen. Philip Sheridan to clear the road to Spotsylvania, but a Confederate cavalry division under Gen. Fitzhugh Lee blocked the way at Todd’s Tavern. Sheridan attacked with two divisions, as Wesley Merritt engaged the Confederates on the Brock Road while David M. Gregg struck by way of the Catharpin Road. Outflanked, Fitz Lee withdrew to the Piney Branch Road junction, but for the next eighteen hours his troops continued to obstruct the Union march by felling trees across the Brock Road and firing on Union cavalrymen trying to remove them. This determined resistance slowed the Union army’s advance and helped the Confederates win the race to Spotsylvania.
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