The winter had been relatively quiet, albeit filled with bad news from the war front, but Richmonders felt reasonably safe until the first of March, when the alarm bells rang and the government clerks were herded from their offices to man the fortifications. That alarm turned out to be unfounded, but just three days later came the news that Major-General Benjamin “Beast” Butler was bringing yet another Union force up the Peninsula.

General Philip Sheridan and the Union cavalry were also much more aggressive than in the past. In the spring of 1864, Sheridan conducted several raids in Virginia. All told, the people of Richmond felt much less safe than before. They knew, however, that the really big test still had not arrived.