On June 23, 1863, Rosecrans deployed forces to feign an attack on Shelbyville while massing forces against Bragg's right. His troops struck out toward the gaps. On June 24, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas's men, spearheaded by Colonel John T. Wilder's "Lightning Brigade", attacked Hoover's Gap. Wilder's mounted infantry pushed ahead and reached the gap nearly 9 miles ahead of Thomas's main body. Wilder's men were armed with new Spencer repeating rifles and when they attacked the Confederate 1st (3rd) Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, under Colonel J. Russell Butler, was easily pushed aside. As Butler's unit fell back the entire 7 mile length of Hoover's Gap, it ran into Brig. Gen. William B. Bate's brigade of Maj. Gen. Alexander P. Stewart's division.