At about ten o’clock on the morning of June 18, 1864, the men under General Rodes’ command, boarded rail cars and were taken to within two miles of Lynchburg. General Early had confronted Union General Hunter, who had been sacking the Shenandoah Valley, just north of the town. It was about 4:00 P.M. when General Rodes pulled into the depot. The train cars were literally covered with troops hanging to sides and roofs. Quickly they detrained and formed their ranks, then began marching quickly up the steep Fifth Street Hill amid cheering crowds. Major Eugene Blackford recognized his sister-in-law in the crowd and soon after, found himself on line in a cemetery beside his father’s grave. On they raced past the fairgrounds, turning west onto the Forest Road. Once he had several brigades on line, General Rodes advanced these units to the crest of the hill and opened a heavy artillery fire. The Federal troops quickly fell back.
All the Confederate Division commanders were anxious to attack before sunlight faded, and they urged General Early to throw caution to the wind. But Jubal Early decided to wait for morning, believing that Union General Hunter would renew his attack at daybreak. Very early the next morning, the men were moved to a position of attack on the Forest Road and awaited daylight. By the time the night had faded away, it was discovered that the Yankees had fled. The men were sent in pursuit, marching rapidly all day. Along the way, the wanton destruction of private property by the enemy was very evident. Livestock was killed, barns burned and homes were plundered. The Confederates reached Liberty late in the day, and had a skirmish in the mountain pass. That night they camped near Liberty.
June 20, 1864, was another day of early rising and pursuit of the Federals, who were still retreating. The commissary wagons were well behind the rest of the army and consequently, the men had little or nothing to eat. They caught up with the Yankees yet again late in the day and had a skirmished at Buford’s Gap, another mountain pass. General Early deployed Ramseur’s men in the centre, Gordon to the left, and Rodes on the right. Rodes men drove the Federal skirmishers and moved in close, feeling out the enemy line and exchanging heavy volleys with Union General Crook’s Division. Early was not anxious to make a direct assault on the fortified pass, so he dispatched Gordon left and Rodes right, each to search for a route around the pass. However, there was neither road nor trail and the divisions were forced to climb over the precipitous slopes. All formation was lost and the movement of Rodes Division was hampered by darkness, when the men experienced real difficulty in descending the steep passages. Meanwhile, Hunter departed with half of his army, leaving Crook and Averell to hold the pass.
The next day, the Confederate attempted to cut the Yankees off by moving off early in the morning and pursuing very hard. Many of the men were overcome by heat and hunger, having had no rations issued for three days. Their only food was that handed out by Lynchburg citizens as they detrained. Once near Salem, when Rodes and Early rode by the marchers a cry of “Bread. Bread” was raised to the embarrassment of both officers. Although the Confederate troops arrived at the mountain gap late, the Yankees were forced to abandon several wagons and eleven pieces of artillery. The Federals set fire to some of their ordinance wagons that had barrels of powder in them, which exploded while some of their own men were passing, killing six or eight of them. Their mangled forms were left lying at the roadside. Some of them had their arms and legs torn off and thrown fifty yards from their bodies. The Confederates moved back a mile or two and made camp. The pursuit was called off the next day and the men received some rations and were allowed to rest.