With the occupation of Marietta by Federal forces on July 3, 1864, Garrard’s cavalry was sent to Roswell to secure a Chattahoochee River crossing for the passage of McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, which was later shifted from the Federal right to the extreme left. On July 5, Garrard reached this point on Willeo Creek, where he camped. From here a regiment was sent to burn the Soap Creek Paper Mills. On the same day a detachment moved to Roswell, and while the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry drove the Confederate defenders across the bridge, the cotton and woolen factories were burned.