With fighting at the Bloody Angle at an impasse, Grant and Lee both turned to Heth’s Salient on the eastern face of the Muleshoe as a possible opening. Grant sought a weak point in the Confederate defenses, while Lee hoped an attack there might relieve pressure on Confederate troops at the Bloody Angle. The two sides unexpectedly collided in the woods, and a wild close-quarters struggle followed as men threw one another to the ground, struck each other with rifle butts, and fired at point-blank range. In 30 minutes the fight was over. The Confederates straggled back to their line with 800 prisoners, while the Federals recovered and dug in, building the earthworks that line the road. Heth’s Salient was a sharp turn in the Confederate works defended by General Henry Heth’s division.