The 1st Virginia had been separated from Colonel Erastus Tyler's force while attacking the enemy flank at Mileson to assist in Tyler's withdrawal from Romney on Day 2 of the campaign. Lieutenant Colonel Richmond's men were forced to retreat from Romney in the direction of Fort Van Meter to the south. On Day 3 of the campaign (and again on the morning of Day 4), they advanced toward Romney to find an enemy infantry regiment posted across the Moorefield Road at Wergman.
The presence of the Virginia cavalry (US) at Fort Van Meter was known to Jackson's command. He dispatched Turner Ashby with whatever cavalrymen he had available to ensure that Lieutenant Colonel Richmond's battalion was trapped and engaged. Ashby moved via Bethel Church, passed through Fort Van Meter on the morning of Day 4, and followed the 1st Virginia towards Romney. When Lieutenant Richmond declined to engage Confederate infantry at Wergman and headed back south, he ran into Ashby on the Moorefield Road, which runs along the east bank of the South Branch of the Potomac. They met near a farm reportedly owned by a man named Jones.
Ashby advanced and closed, having a slight numerical advantage and higher quality soldiers in his command. The two sides fired at each other for a few minutes before the 1st Virginia was forced to retreat. With the enemy on both sides of them, Lieutenant Colonel Richmond's command has broken up, every man for himself. It will take them 24 hours to reform, well behind Federal lines, and the command will be in a "shaken" condition for an additional 24 hours. They may lose more men missing during their retreat to friendly territory.
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