On Tuesday, November 15, 1864, people here could look west and see the smoke and red sky from the burning of Atlanta as they wondered where Union Major General William T. Sherman's army was heading next. Two days later, on November 17, approximately 14,000 soldiers in the Federal 20th Corps, along with several hundred wagons, more than a dozen artillery pieces, and the animals needed to pull them, marched past Philadelphia Methodist Church on the Hightower Trail. The 20th Corps, composed primarily of men from northeastern states, was commanded by Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams and accompanied by Major General Henry W. Slocum, commander of the Left Wing of Sherman's army. The Hightower Trail, crossing the shallow fords of the Piedmont region between Augusta, Georgia, and Alabama, had begun as a notable trading route dividing the Cherokee Nation and Creek Confederacy long before it was also used by early European settlers, and its name is believed to come from the Native American word "italwa" (Etowah), meaning town, people, or tribe. Philadelphia Church, established one-quarter mile to the west in 1837, stood at this site in 1864 and served as a reference point on Federal army maps during the March to the Sea. That campaign was notable because Sherman moved an army of 62,000 men through 300 miles of enemy territory without the chance for military resupply. After first passing through areas stripped during the earlier battles around Atlanta, Federal troops reaching present-day Rockdale County began to find abundant forage along the road, including corn, fodder, sweet potatoes, pigs, and chickens, all essential to feeding the large force as it moved across Georgia. Daily foraging details, 50 men strong, systematically stripped farms of food, carriages, wagons, and livestock, and sometimes took other valuables as well. A local story tells of a little girl's pony being taken while her small saddle was left on a fence post. Almost four miles east of Philadelphia Church, the 20th Corps crossed Big and Little Haynes Creeks to reach Dial Mill, built before 1830 and owned by James M. Summers. During his absence in Confederate service, the mill was under the care of Mrs. Winnie Puckett. After a Federal officer ordered dry corn shucks placed in the doorway and set afire, Winnie pleaded with him to spare the mill for the women and children of the area. The officer relented, and Winnie sealed the agreement by offering him a tobacco twist from her apron pocket. Federal soldiers were then left to protect the mill from other passing soldiers. At dusk on November 17, the 1st Division, serving as the rear guard of the 20th Corps, passed the Sheffield Community Post Office, left present-day Rockdale County, and marched on toward Centreville and Social Circle.