In June 1864, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Gen. Jubal A. Early's corps from the Richmond battlefields to the Shenandoah Valley to counter Union Gen. David Hunter's army. After driving Hunter into West Virginia, Early invaded Maryland to attack Washington, D.C., draw Union troops from Richmond, and release Confederate prisoners held at Point Lookout. On July 9, Early ordered Gen. Bradley T. Johnson's cavalry brigade eastward to free the prisoners, and the next day Johnson sent Maj. Harry Gilmor's regiment to raid the Baltimore area. Union Gen. Lew Wallace delayed Early at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, and Federal reinforcements soon strengthened the capital's defenses. Early attacked near Fort Stevens on July 11-12 and then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley with Federal forces in pursuit, stopping them at Cool Spring on July 17-18. Although he failed to take Washington or free prisoners, Early succeeded in diverting Federal resources. On Saturday, July 16, 1864, Early's army passed through Purcellville as it marched west to the Shenandoah Valley after the attack on Washington's northwestern defenses. Union forces pursued through Leesburg that morning, and in midafternoon Col. William B. Tibbetts's 21st New York Cavalry, riding from Harpers Ferry, found Early's wagon train passing through the crossroads. Tibbetts divided his regiment and attacked along the train, and the Federals captured 200 wagons and 150 prisoners within minutes. Confederate Gens. Robert E. Rodes and Stephen D. Ramseur, whose infantry had already marched past, returned quickly when they heard the firefight and counterattacked with cavalry and artillery support. The Confederates reclaimed 118 wagons and all but 54 of the prisoners, but the Federals still sent 37 wagons of booty taken by Early in Maryland to Harpers Ferry. After Early's forces passed, Purcellville residents came to see the damaged train. Capt. Elisha Hunt Rhodes of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry wrote two days later that the road held many broken down and burned wagons abandoned in the retreat when pressed by Federal cavalry. At the time, the north-south Berlin Grade Road, now Hatcher Avenue, intersected with the Leesburg and Snicker's Gap Turnpike, now Main Street, at Purcellville, then a stagecoach stop. Buildings there included Rodney Purcell's store and post office, Purcell's Hotel, a livery stable, and Asa Janney's blacksmith and wheelwright shops. At the store on May 23, 1861, local residents voted 82-31 in favor, and Janney's son had just enlisted in the Blue Mountain Boys, Co. F, 8th Virginia's Volunteer Infantry. Joe Janney lost a leg in his first battle at Manassas on July 21.