Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart understood the importance of securing the mountain passes and he assigned the primary responsibility to the cavalry brigades of Brig. Gens. Beverly H. Robertson and William E. Grumble Jones. Recognizing the vulnerability of Ewell's immense wagon train in the narrow Monterey Pass, Jones asked permission from Stuart to use his entire brigade to defend it. Stuart allowed the 6th and 7th Virginia Cavalry regiments and a battery of horse artillery under Capt. Roger Preston Chew to be assigned. The 7th Virginia was soon recalled, replaced by the 4th North Carolina Cavalry of Robertson's Brigade.