Stanard's Mill

Unable to defeat the Confederates at Spotsylvania Court House, on 21 May 1864 Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ordered the Army of the Potomac to march toward Bowling Green. Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's Ninth Corps brought up the rear. Grant ordered Burnside to pursue the Confederates down Telegraph Road (present day U.S. Rte. 1), while the rest of the army struck at Robert E. Lee's troops from the east. Burnside encountered a small entrenched Confederate force at the Po River here at Stanard's Mill. Uncertain of the enemy's strength, he did not attempt to force a crossing, but instead reversed course, following the rest of the army to Guinea Station.