the supervision of army commander Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. It accompanied the army on its march to Petersburg. Sheridan left behind with Wilson the men from his other two divisions who did not have mounts. Confederate The Cavalry Corps of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was without a formal commander, following the death of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart in May. The senior cavalry commander opposing Sheridan's force was Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton. (Hampton was named the formal commander of the Cavalry Corps on August 11, 1864.) Hampton's command consisted of 6,762 men, organized as follows: Hampton's Division, commanded by Wade Hampton, consisted of the brigades commanded by Brig. Gens. Thomas L. Rosser and Matthew C. Butler, and Col. Gilbert J. Wright. (Rosser's brigade was also known as the Laurel Brigade. Wright commanded Young's Brigade, named for its former commander, Brig. Gen. M. B. Young.) Butlers Brigade also included Cadet Rangers from the South Carolina Military Academy, (now The Citadel), who were part of the 4th Regiment South Carolina Cavalry. Fitzhugh Lee's Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee (General Robert E. Lee's nephew), consisted of the brigades of Brig. Gens. Williams C. Wickham and Lunsford L. Lomax, and an independent command with the 1st Maryland Cavalry Battalion, commanded by Col. Bradley T. Johnson, and the Baltimore Light Artillery. Horse Artillery Battalion, commanded by Maj. James Breathed, included four artillery batteries. Hampton's overall artillery strength was 14 guns. The rest of the Cavalry Corps—Rooney Lee's Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. W.H.F. "Rooney" Lee (Robert E. Lee's son), an independent cavalry command under Brig. Gen. Martin Gary, and the bulk of the horse artillery—remained with the army during Sheridan's raid. Start of Sheridan's raid Sheridan and his two cavalry divisions left their camps north of Cold Harbor at 5 a.m. on June 7. They crossed a pontoon bridge at New Castle over the Pamunkey River and headed northwest, with Gregg's division in the lead, Torbert's following. The weather was hot and enormous clouds of dust billowed over the march. On the first day, the column was able to march only about 15 miles. Numerous horses collapsed under the strain, and following the convention Sheridan used in his May raid to Yellow Tavern and Richmond, they were shot and left at the side of the road. Although there were 125 wagons following Sheridan's column, the men were issued only three days'