In late June of 1863, 15,000 Confederate troops in Carlisle under Lieutenant General Richard Ewell were preparing to attack Harrisburg. Brigadier General Albert Jenkins and 1200 soldiers of the Virginia Cavalry Brigade advanced to Mechanicsburg, captured the town and prepared to scout east toward the capital. Splitting his forces, Jenkins established artillery positions near the Peace Church on Trindle Road and at the Albright House on 36th Street near Carlisle Pike (about a half-mile east of GZ). When in position, they fired on Federal forces assembled near Oyster's Point (at the no longer existing intersection of Carlisle Pike and Trindle Road).
On 28 June, Confederate officers and soldiers camped on the high ground by the spring. General Jenkins visited this site on his tour of both artillery positions later that day. After exchanging artillery fire, Jenkins' forces retreated toward the Sporting Hill Road area to bivouac. There were further skirmishes before the Confederates withdrew to Gettysburg.