As part of a strategy to secure Bull’s Gap, on October 28, 1864 Union cavalry commanded by Brig. Gen. Alvan Gillem pushed a Confederate skirmish line back into Morristown where it encountered the main forces of Brig. Gen. John Vaughn. Gillem attacked Vaughn’s center and right before sending cavalry against the Confederate left flank. After a successful charge that scattered the right flank of Vaughn’s first line, the federal infantry regrouped before charging the second line about 800 yards behind the first position. Here, Gillem’s cavalry assaulted the Confederate left routing Vaughn’s troopers in every direction. Vaughn retreated to Carter’s Depot and later reported, “I regret to say that my command was stampeded at Morristown this morning.”