After a skirmish with Union forces on July 26, 1863, Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan regrouped the several hundred Confederate raiders who remained with him and turned east through this valley, aiming for East Liverpool on the Ohio River, where a ford would allow passage into western Virginia. Meanwhile, citizens of New Lisbon, now Lisbon, organized several groups of volunteer mounted militia and, with a single antique cannon, marched to the vicinity of Gavers to block his passage. Charles D. Maus, sent out as a scout, was captured by Morgan's men and was delegated to communicate with the remaining militia. The Confederates offered to leave Columbiana County without harming persons or property if they were not fired on, and militia commander Captain James Burbick and Maus then joined Morgan as he continued east toward West Point. When Morgan noticed clouds of dust to the rear and south, he proposed surrendering his sick and wounded men to Burbick, and shortly afterward offered to surrender his entire command if Burbick paroled everyone, allowed them to keep their horses and weapons, and escorted them out of Ohio. Burbick, not an authorized officer and largely a prisoner himself, reluctantly agreed to Morgan's dictated terms.
