In late 1864, General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign came to a close. He had laid siege to Petersburg. Captain Blazer's Scouts, a Union company, had already raided the city of Lynchburg, Virginia in the campaign against Richmond. Captain John S. Mosby of the Confederates decided to stop these raids against Virginia by bringing them to battle. On November 18, 1864, the forces met at Kabletown, West Virginia.