On the night of Nov. 23, 1864, headquarters of the 17th Corps, Maj. Gen. F. P. Blair, USA, was established at McIntyre, the old Station No. 16 on the CRR, 2 miles northeast, after moving forward from Gordon, old No. 17, where the Left Wing of Gen. Sherman’s Army had concentrated beginning on the 21st to prepare for the second phase of its destructive March to the Sea. That day, G.A. Smith’s division, preceded by the 1st Alabama Cavalry, had advanced through Toomsboro to the railroad bridge over the Oconee River and skirmished with Confederate defenders. Other elements of the 17th Corps destroyed the railroad through McIntyre and burned the bridge over Commissioner Creek.