During 1864, while under the command of Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, the Valley District operated its own independent army, the Army of the Valley, which was essentially composed of the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. The Second Corps was detached from Lee's main army to invade, threaten and assault Washington, D.C., on the hopes of drawing forces away from Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant's forces, and thereby relieving pressure on his siege around Richmond, and Petersburg, Virginia.