At noon, Cabell drew first blood when Cloud's advance guard blundered into the concealed cavalry regiment's ambush. The advance guard's survivors fell back in confusion as the Confederate battery began firing on the rest of Cloud's arriving command. The Union troops deployed their artillery across the road; it went into action as Cloud's cavalrymen dismounted, formed to either side of the road, advanced to the base of the ridge, and began to ascend the slope. The concealed Confederate cavalry regiment retired before this advance even though Cloud's troops had not yet opened fire.