grant ordered major general edward ord's to move part of the army of the james from the lines near richmond to fill in the line to be vacated by the ii corps under major general andrew a. humphreys at the southwest end of the petersburg line before the ii corps moved to the west. ord moved two divisions of major general john gibbon's xxiv corps under brigadier generals charles devens and william birney and one division of xxv corps under brigadier general john w. turner to the south side of the appomattox river. this freed two corps of major general george meade's army of the potomac for offensive action against lee's flank and railroad supply lines: major general humphrey's ii corps and the v corps under the command of major general gouverneur k. warren. grant ordered these forces, along with major general philip sheridan's cavalry, still designated the army of the shenandoah, consisting of the first division of brigadier general thomas devin and the third division of brigadier general and brevet major general george armstrong custer but both under the overall command of brigadier general and brevet major general wesley merritt as an unofficial corps commander and the second division of major general george crook detached from the army of the potomac for this mission, to move west. the objectives were to bring on an open field battle to defeat the confederates in combat or to cut the southside railroad and the boydton plank road, which connected with the previously severed weldon railroad to petersburg, and the richmond and danville railroad to richmond, and to stretch lee's line to the breaking point.