We've been discussing the fierce battles waged between Lee & Grant in Spring of 1864, but the Overland Campaign was merely the keystone of a much wider offensive.
Amongst the multiple union armies advancing into confederate territory was the Department of West Virginia, who aimed to finally capture the Shenandoah Valley.
But on May 15th, 1864, those plans would meet setback by resistance from form US Vice President John C Breckinridge and a confederate defense that included over 200 cadets from the Virginia Military Instittue.
What followed would be a comparatively small battle yet one of the American Civil War's more tragic events would transpire here.