Shortly before 5 A.M. on Wednesday, 24 August 1864, Lt. Col. John Singleton Mosby, with about 300 Confederate Rangers and two field artillery pieces, opened fire from the west side of the Accotink Creek valley on a Union stockade in Annandale. The bombardment lasted more than an hour, and three demands to surrender were refused by Capt. Joseph Schneider of Company C, 16th New York Cavalry, who commanded about 170 men. Mosby then suddenly broke off the attack and withdrew west on Little River Turnpike, probably to avoid Federal reinforcements.