Immediately following the Overland Campaign, Union Army commander Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant proposed to encircle both the Confederate capitol at Richmond and its strategic supply center ten miles south at Petersburg. While infantry began the entrenchment activities of investment, Grant determined to take advantage of new positions to launch light operations with the objective of disrupting rail activity.
On June 22, 5,000 Union cavalry and 16 artillery pieces were pulled from the siege of Petersburg and sent, under the command of Brig. Gens. James H. Wilson and August V. Kautz, to destroy the lines of supply.
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After more than a week of continuous operation in enemy-held territory, Wilson's and Kautz's brigades crossed the Nottoway River, reached the Stony Creek Depot on the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and were within ten miles of friendly lines. Before they reached Stony Creek, they met an attack from Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton's cavalry division astride their path. Lee's cavalry brigade again caught the Union force in the rear, and the Federals were forced northward toward the crossing at Ream's Station.
The exhausted Union raiders had moved toward Ream's Station expecting it to be in friendly hands, but finding themselves almost surrounded and under attack by Confederate infantry under Brig. Gen. William Mahone and Lee's relentless pursuit, brigade commanders Wilson and Kautz were forced to abandon their artillery, burn their remaining supply wagons and, separated, attempt breakouts eastward toward Union forces under Maj. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler. Kautz's brigade moved cross country toward the southeast, where it met friendly lines after sundown. After suffering heavy casualties, Wilson's brigade withdrew to the southwest, circling eastward again to recross the Nottoway River and finally northward to safety at Light House Point on July 2.
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