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 Right Wing marched south from Atlanta, to feint at Macon but to cross the Ocmulgee River above the city and concentrate at Gordon. The Left Wing, the 14th and 20th Corps under Maj. Gen. H. W. Slocum, USA, marched east through Decatur, with the 20th Corps under Brig. Gen. A. S. Williams, USA, taking the road to Social Circle to strike the Georgia Railroad there and destroy it through Madison. On the night of the 17th, the 20th Corps camped northwest of Social Circle near the Ulcofauhachee, or Alcovy, River. On the 18th, the railroad was destroyed from Social Circle to Madison, a distance of 16 miles. At Rutledge, the depot, water tank, warehouses, and other railroad facilities were destroyed by the 28th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry, while those at Social Circle had been destroyed in July by Garrard's cavalry. That night, the 20th Corps camped with its leading division, Geary's, two miles west of Madison on the railroad, from which point it marched the next day to destroy the bridges over the Oconee River. Between Atlanta and Milledgeville, the movements of the Left Wing were almost unopposed, because the few Confederate troops available were employed against the Right Wing to protect Macon, a principal arsenal center, and the Central of Georgia Railway.