In addition to logistics of moving the lead to bullet manufacturing facilities, this rail line also connected an important salt works of an adjacent county with the wider Confederacy.

A small headquarters for the Confederate army was located about 44 mi (70.8 km) west of Wytheville at the western edge the adjacent Smyth County.

About 25 mi (40.2 km) east of Wytheville in Pulaski County is the Dublin railroad depot, which was a regional headquarters for the Confederate Army.

[16] On the afternoon of July 13, 1863, a brigade of 870 Union soldiers departed their base camp located a few miles upriver (east) of Charleston, West Virginia.

[25] Regiments that dressed as zouaves during the Civil War were copying the look (and hopefully the discipline) of elite French troops that fought successfully during the 1850s in northern Africa.

[Note 4] If the rebel cavalry had not been removed from its position, the entire Union army in the Kanawha River Valley would have been surrounded and prevented from retreating to safety.

On the evening of July 14, the advance guard (the cavalry's Company C) was about 4 mi (6.4 km) east of Raleigh Court House (also known as Beckley, West Virginia) when it was ambushed while crossing Piney Creek.

[34] After the incident, the men were ordered to fall back to the pike that was located between the West Virginia communities of Raleigh Court House and Oceana.

The brigade became separated into two groups during this time (early morning before sunrise on July 15) because the portion led by Lieutenant Colonel Franklin had not received the order to fall back.

[30] At the foot of Walker Mountain, about 8 mi (12.9 km) from Wytheville, the brigade's rear guard was attacked by Major Andrew Jackson May's cavalry of about 150 men.

[Note 10] About 5 mi (8.0 km) outside of Wytheville, Colonel Toland sent two companies (D and F) of cavalry west to strike the Mount Airy railroad depot.

[42] After its successful clash with the rear guard, May's cavalry had pressed forward until it came upon the main body of Toland's men, about 3 mi (4.8 km) from Wytheville.

[50] After a small rebel skirmish line was discovered in front of the brigade near the entrance to the town, Colonel Powell and the cavalry were called forward from the rear.

[1] The Confederate Army became aware of the Union horsemen on July 17, after one man from the 45th Virginia Infantry escaped Toland's brigade near Tug Mountain.

[Note 11] Confederate General John S. "Cerro Gordo" Williams, headquartered in Saltville, Virginia, was notified of the invading Union Army at 11:00 am (July 17) while he was visiting outposts in Tazewell County.

[52] The information was passed by couriers and telegraph, and Confederate military posts throughout the region became aware of a Union army force near Tazewell Court House that was estimated to be 1,300 men.

The young woman, Molly Tynes, rode 41 mi (66.0 km) through mountain ranges and a forest to warn the small town.

[54] Bowyer and his men arrived at the train station south of Wytheville at 5:10 pm, when the Union brigade was about 1 mi (1.6 km) north of town.

Kent moved his citizen volunteers into houses and buildings, while most of Bowyer's men stayed near the courthouse or at the south end of town.

[61] As the Union soldiers approached Wytheville in the early evening of July 18, the rear portion of the command was having small skirmishes with Confederate cavalry following them.

Private Joseph Sutton, a member of the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry and participant in the raid, described the street that led into Wytheville as "an avenue of death".

[1] As the Union cavalry approached, about half of the 120 local civilians fled south toward the railroad depot, and took positions closer to the men from the Confederate army.

One local, recalling this volley many years later, said "The colonel commanding the raiding party was killed, and the head of the column went down, men and horses in a confused mass.

[68] Major Bowyer, leader of the Confederate force, said "Owing to the great advantage we secured in fighting from houses and other shelter against mounted men in the streets, we were enabled to inflict far greater loss upon the enemy than we sustained ..."[69] Although the original shooters from the town's buildings were citizens and home guard, they were eventually joined by some of the soldiers from the Confederate army.

[72] A combined force of cavalry and infantry, led by Lieutenant Abraham from Gillmore's Company, charged through Bozang's men while the artillery crew hurriedly tried to load their weapons.

After consulting with Colonel Powell and regimental commanders, he determined that a return to the safety of base camp was the best alternative—especially without good intelligence on the strength of the enemy forces assumed to be moving toward Wytheville.

[Note 19] Because of the difficult situation, the Union brigade paroled its prisoners, and continued its retreat north by obscure and winding mountain paths.

Confederate General Jones reported "The information I have is that the expedition started from Kanawha 1,200 or 1,300 strong, and that when it reached Fayetteville, on the return, it numbered but 500, only 300 of whom were mounted.

[15] Powell unexpectedly healed, and was eventually moved to Richmond's Libby Prison where he survived for a portion of that time in a dungeon on a bread and water diet.

[96] Years after the fighting, the 2nd West Virginia Cavalry's Captain Fortescue (Company I), wrote "... though I was afterwards on many hotly contested fields, I was never upon any that was more so than Wytheville.