Stuart's Ride Around McClellan

Confederate Brig. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart and about 1,200 cavalrymen arrived here after dark on 13 June 1862 during their four-day ride around Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Having engaged in skirmishes and burned Union supplies while moving southward from Hanover Court House, they rested here for three and a half hours and reformed their column. At midnight they began moving south toward the Chickahominy River, reaching it at dawn. Stuart’s ride gathered intelligence about the position of McClellan’s army, which had advanced from Hampton Roads to threaten Richmond. This information allowed Gen. Robert E. Lee to plan an attack, leading to the Seven Days’ Battles.