After the Union victory at Antietam, Maryland, in September 1862, President Abraham Lincoln ordered General George McClellan and the Army of the Potomac to cross into Virginia and get between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Richmond. Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart and a small number of cavalrymen delayed McClellan's advance along this road from November 1 to 3, allowing Lee time to march from the western side of the Blue Ridge and escape the trap. After this failure, Lincoln removed McClellan from command. The Unison Battlefield Historic District is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.