The Battle of Payne’s Farm began at the intersection beyond the trees on the afternoon of November 27, 1863, when men of the Union III Corps met portions of Confederate Gen. Edward Johnson’s division. Although pickets on both sides had encountered each other throughout the morning, neither side recognized the other as more than a small scouting party. That afternoon, as Johnson’s column was passing the intersection, Federal skirmishers in the woods fired upon the surprised Confederates on the Raccoon Ford Road. Gen. George H. Steuart, bringing up the Confederate rear, halted his brigade and quickly formed a line of battle in the road, and Johnson ordered the rest of his division to countermarch to the scene. In the woods and fields adjoining the intersection, one Confederate division confronted a Union army corps three times its size, and Steuart’s boldness helped stall the advance of the entire Union army.