After Union victories at Chattanooga in November 1863, the Union Army IV Corps's First Division under Gen. David S. Stanley camped in this valley and prepared for the Atlanta Campaign. By April 1864, more than 9,000 men were here, confronting Confederate lines at nearby Dalton, Georgia. Col. William Grose called the site a good camping ground with good water and plenty of wood. Stanley said the position was risky, but that he had made the fortified hill so strong that it was a veritable place d'armes, and he recalled a domestic winter camp life with officers' wives, evening meetings filled with fun, jokes, and song, and religious services. Chaplain Father Peter Cooney wrote of a harsh winter and a 10-inch snowfall late in March. On February 10, 1864, Grose and Col. Louis Waters, both based at Blue Springs, gave patriotic speeches in Cleveland to more than 2,000 people celebrating the raising of the Stars and Stripes. The Federals here also guarded against Confederate raids into Tennessee and tested enemy defenses. From February 22-27, a demonstration against the Confederates near Dalton led to heavy fighting that left hundreds dead, wounded, and captured on both sides. The Atlanta Campaign began when the camps emptied in early May 1864.