On July 17, 1864, three Federal armies commanded by Gen. W. T. Sherman, after crossing the Chattahoochee River at Soap Creek, at Power’s and Pace’s ferries, and at Shallow Ford near Roswell, began a broad advance toward Atlanta designed to approach the city from the north, northeast, and east. McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee, consisting of Logan’s 15th, Dodge’s 16th, and Blair’s 17th Corps, crossed at Shallow Ford and moved on this road toward Decatur in that sequence, with their routes traversing the upper valleys of Nancy’s and Peachtree creeks.