On Nov. 15, 1864, after destroying Atlanta and cutting his communications with the North, Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, USA, began his destructive campaign for Savannah, the March to the Sea. He divided his army into two wings. The Left Wing, consisting of the 14th and 20th Corps, marched east from Atlanta in two columns, to feint at Augusta but then turn southeast and converge on Milledgeville. The 14th Corps marched via Covington and Shady Dale, and the 20th via Social Circle, Madison, and Eatonton. The Right Wing, under Maj. Gen. O. O. Howard, USA, marched south via Stockbridge and McDonough and camped at Jackson on the night of Nov. 17. The next morning, two pontoon bridges were laid across the Ocmulgee River at Planters’ Factory, also called Ocmulgee Mills, near Seven Islands, 12 miles southwest. At one o’clock the Right Wing began crossing into Jasper County. The 15th Corps, under Osterhaus and without Corse’s division, moved via Hillsboro, 10 miles south, toward Gordon, where the Right Wing would be in communication with the Left Wing at Milledgeville. The 17th Corps, under Blair, marched via Monticello and Blountsville, 8 miles northwest of Gray, to Gordon to relieve congestion on the Hillsboro road. Corse’s division, the last to cross, and the 1st Missouri Engineers with the pontoon train followed the 17th Corps.