June 5 found Hood’s Division at Brandy Station, witnessing Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart’s grand cavalry review for President Jefferson Davis and other Richmond dignitaries. After the festivities, Hood’s veterans marched back to Culpeper Court House. Rodes’ Division advanced to Verdiersville, while Early’s and Johnson’s men broke camp after midnight and marched through the darkness, finally joining Rodes at Verdiersville on June 6.8
Joe Hooker was not blind to the clouds of dust to the southwest and the absence of men to his front. Suspecting an enemy movement might be underway, he ordered Sedgwick to reconnoiter, throwing his entire VI Corps across the river to support his scouts, if necessary. Sedgwick dispatched two regiments, the 5th and 26th New Jersey, across in pontoon boats, capturing some 150 rebels from A. P. Hill’s Corps in the process.9
Sedgwick did not know it, but he had sent men to an area recently vacated by Rodes, Early, and Johnson. A. P. Hill promptly rushed Pender’s Division east to counter the Federal probe. What appeared to be a promising excursion bogged down when Brig. Gen. Albion Howe’s division met stiff resistance on the south side of the river. Sedgwick wrote at 10:30 a.m., “I cannot move 200 yards without bringing on a general fight. Before bringing over the rest of my corps, I await orders.” Hooker quickly responded that the one division would suffice. Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. James Wadsworth’s First Corps division headed to Franklin’s Crossing to support Sedgwick’s probe.10
The movement of Howe’s division across the Rappahannock River froze most of the Confederate movements early on June 6. Lee quickly resumed the march when he realized that Hooker was merely testing his strength and intentions. As Hood’s Division returned to Brandy Station from Culpeper Court House, McLaws’ Division veered to the right of the Court House, halting at Stevensburg. These two powerful units were now in a position to cross the Rappahannock River and strike Hooker’s right flank near Hartwood Church. Ewell’s Second Corps continued its slow march toward Culpeper Court House, covering less than five miles that day.11
The Federal V Corps also caused Hooker grief. Ordered to probe across Banks’ and United States fords, Brig. Gen. George Sykes protested to his corps commander, George Meade. “I am opposed to any movement across the river with the forces I have…it is hardly to be expected that anything reliable would be gained, even supposing it could be obtained from such sources,” he wrote. An angry Hooker fired back, “You are not to disregard the order to feel the enemy a little.”12
Still unsure of Lee’s movements, Hooker sent units of Buford’s cavalry to Jefferson to gather information on June 6, but the usually reliable Buford produced little by way of results. Frustrated by his inability to get definitive information on Lee’s positions and intentions, Hooker wired General Henry Halleck at 3:00 p.m. that all of his cavalry and 3,000 of his infantry were on the road toward Culpeper Court House. He ordered Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton to take his cavalry across the Rappahannock at Beverly and Kelly fords and head for Brandy Station.13
The three divisions of Ewell’s II Corps marched to Culpeper Court House on June 7. Rodes reached the town that night, while Pender and Johnson camped their two divisions within three miles of the place. Five Southern infantry divisions were now concentrated near Culpeper Court House by the evening of June 8. To the south on the same day, three of the five brigades of Pickett’s Division left Hanover Court House.
The Federal army spent June 8 quietly, save for Pleasonton’s cavalry, which advanced toward Brandy Station, and Brig. Gen. Horatio Wright’s division, which relieved Howe’s south of the Rappahannock River on June 7.14