Wallace’s objectives for the battle were simple: keep the road to Washington secure as long as possible and maintain a line of retreat for his men. On July 9, between 9 and 10 a.m., Confederate Maj. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur's division encountered about 3,500 of Rickett's men along the bluffs overlooking the bridge, where the Georgetown Pike crossed the river, while Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's division clashed with Tyler's brigade, who was guarding the Baltimore Pike and its stone bridge across the river. Clendenin's Union cavalry was downstream, watching the river. Prisoners taken during this phase told the Confederates that the entire VI Corps was present, which seemed to have heightened the Confederates' caution and they did not initially press their numerical advantage.