On July 21, 1864, these troops and Wheeler’s cavalry of the Confederacy were sent from Atlanta on a fifteen-mile night march to gain the rear of McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee of the United States in east Atlanta. Hardee moved out of the city via McDonough Road (Capital Avenue) and here turned northeast on the old Fayetteville Road. At dawn on July 22, the columns were a little beyond Cobb’s Mill on Intrenchment Creek, 1.25 miles northeast of here. Plans called for a daylight attack on the Federal forces, but oppressive weather, battle fatigue, and a grueling march delayed the movement until noon, when the Battle of Atlanta began.