On the morning of Nov. 18, 1864, the Right Wing of General Sherman’s army, the 15th and 17th Corps, moved from bivouacs in and near Jackson toward Planters’ Factory, or Ocmulgee Mills, on the Ocmulgee River at Seven Islands to cross there on pontoon bridges laid by the 1st Missouri Engineers. Smith’s division of the 15th Corps, which had camped near Flovilla, moved first, and when it arrived, the 1st Brigade, with the 4th Minnesota Infantry in advance, crossed on the ferry and entrenched on high ground east of the river. At 11:00 A.M. the pontoons arrived, and by 1:00 P.M. two bridges were ready. That afternoon Smith completed his crossing and camped two miles from the river on the Hillsboro road to wait for Woods’ and Hazen’s divisions and to permit the cavalry to pass to the front. During the night Blair’s 17th Corps crossed and moved by way of Monticello and Blountsville to avoid the Hillsboro road. On the 19th Kilpatrick’s cavalry division crossed, followed by Woods and Hazen and several wagon trains. Heavy rains made the steep hills on the east bank extremely difficult, so the passage was not completed until the afternoon of the 20th, when Corse’s division of the 15th Corps cleared the bridge site and, with the bridge train, followed the 17th Corps to Monticello.