On Nov. 24, 1864, the Left Wing of Gen. Sherman’s U.S. army, which had left Atlanta on Nov. 15th on its destructive March to the Sea, crossed the Oconee River at Milledgeville en route to Sandersville. On the 26th, after delays caused by the destruction of bridges over Buffalo Creek by Wheeler’s Confederate cavalry, the Left Wing, the 14th and 20th Corps under Maj. Gen. H. W. Slocum, reached Sandersville, with the 14th Corps under Davis marching by way of Black Spring and the 20th Corps under Williams by way of Hebron. Near Keg and Buffalo Creeks their advance was hotly contested, but the infantry columns forced back the small cavalry units and entered Sandersville before noon. After the invaders were fired upon from the windows and portico of the courthouse, Gen. Sherman ordered the structure destroyed. That afternoon, Jackson’s and Geary’s divisions of the 20th Corps moved to Tennille, three miles south, to destroy the railroad from there to Davisboro. The next morning, Ward’s division of the 20th Corps and Carlin’s division of the 14th Corps moved to Davisboro with the artillery and trains of both corps. Morgan’s and Baird’s divisions of the 14th Corps moved to Fenn’s Bridge, thirteen miles northeast, crossed the Ogeechee River, and then turned toward Louisville. On the 27th, Gen. Sherman, who had accompanied the Left Wing from Atlanta to Sandersville, shifted to the Right Wing, the 15th and 17th Corps, then near Tennille.