let them cool. As Davies's first attack ground to a halt, and the attack of Irvin Gregg's brigade failed to dislodge the Confederates, David Gregg sent for reinforcements from Sheridan, who released two brigades from Torbert's division. Torbert's reserve brigade under Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt extended Gregg's line to the right, thwarting a flanking maneuver attempted by Hampton with Chambliss's newly arrived brigade. There was plenty of infantry nearby that could have been called for reinforcements, with Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps dug in about one mile to the north. There is no documentary evidence that Sheridan requested such assistance, although he claimed years later in his memoirs that he asked for two brigades from Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, who supposedly refused the request, claiming that Hancock's men were too "weary." Torbert's other brigade, under Brig. Gen. George A. Custer, arrived about 4 p.m. Custer's men dismounted and deployed in a long, double-ranked line of battle, as if they were infantrymen. However, Custer inspired his men by staying mounted as he led them forward, waving his hat in full view of the enemy, while his brigade band played Yankee Doodle. Receiving heavy rifle and artillery fire, 41 of the Union cavalrymen fell in the attack, as did Custer's horse—the seventh time the flamboyant general lost a horse during the war. Custer later claimed that his brigade's loss at Haw's Shop was "greater than in any other engagement of the campaign." Meanwhile, on the northern end of the battle, a Confederate mistakenly identified some dismounted Union cavalrymen as infantry and reported this to Hampton. Concerned that his cavalry command would be isolated and overwhelmed by an infantry attack, Hampton gave the order to begin withdrawing. (Hampton had also just received intelligence from prisoners on the location of two Union corps that had crossed the Pamunkey, which meant that his reconnaissance mission had been successfully completed.) The Confederate brigades withdrew from north to south. Once Chambliss, Rosser, and Wickham had departed, Rutledge and the 20th Georgia Battalion were uncovered. Custer took advantage of the situation by charging forward, overrunning the Georgians, killing their commander, Lt. Col. John M. Millen, and capturing many of his men. Davies's brigade joined the attack and the remaining Confederate line fell apart into a rout, but by nightfall Hampton's cavalry was safely west of Totopotomoy Creek. Aftermath The Battle