From 1862 to 1864, the Wayside home stood here and was operated by 14 gallant Confederate women of this city. More than one million meals were served there to Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines passing through this town. More than ten thousand Confederates registered in a roster kept there. Weary, sick, and wounded men of the South were made to feel at home there, to rest and receive aid. In September of 1863, General James Longstreet and part of the First Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, passed through here en route to bloody Chickamauga.