move as early as May 2, and moved Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan with two brigades to Saltville from East Tennessee. His First Brigade was commanded by Colonel Henry Giltner, and consisted of the 4th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, the 10th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, and the 10th Battalion Kentucky Mounted Rifles. The Second Brigade was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert A. Alston, and consisted of the 1st and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry battalions, and the 6th and 7th Confederate States Cavalry battalions. A few days later, Morgan used the railroad to send his cavalry men who did not have mounts, totaling about 400, east to the Dublin Depot to assist Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins against Crook. Morgan focused the remaining portion of his command on Averell. Most of Morgan's men were from Kentucky or Tennessee, but Giltner's brigade was familiar with the area because it had spent two years serving there previously. Confederate troops that were not part of Morgan's command also fought at Cove Mountain, although there is a lack of clarity for all the participants. A detachment known as Jones' Brigade arrived before Morgan. The brigade was commanded by Colonel George B. Crittenden, and included regiments commanded by Colonel A.F. Cook (8th Virginia Cavalry Regiment) and possibly Colonel Henry Bowen (22nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment). The 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William L. Graham, also arrived in Wytheville to assist Morgan. Although some sources credit Brigadier General William E. "Grumble" Jones with being at the battle, two major newspaper accounts do not mention him, and a report by Colonel John McCausland mentions Morgan but not Jones. Saltville to Wytheville Averell's men departed from near the Logan County, West Virginia, courthouse on May 5, 1864. They moved south to Oceana in West Virginia's Wyoming County on May 6, and crossed the state border near Abb's Valley in Virginia's Tazewell County on May 7. Here, they skirmished with enemy scouts and captured one company from the 8th Virginia Cavalry. On the next day, they moved to Jeffersonville (a.k.a. Tazewell Courthouse) in Tazewell County—skirmishing with Confederate troops from Kentucky on the way. From deserters and prisoners, Averell learned that the Confederate Army was aware of his Saltville objective and the size of his force. He also learned that 4,500 Confederate troops led by John Hunt Morgan and William "Grumble" Jones were waiting for his force at Saltville. Given that information,