Anxious to avoid a fight, McCook left the 8th Indiana to contend with Confederates at the depot while the rest of his command detoured south on the East Newnan Road, then turned by way of Land Lot 38 near Turkey Creek onto a country lane, the Griffin Road, and the Greenville Road before cutting telegraph wire and tearing up a short section of the Atlanta & West Point Railroad at Wright's Crossing, 4 miles below Newnan. Late that morning Joe Wheeler rode into Newnan after covering 55 miles in 24 hours and, though already outnumbered 3 to 1, divided his small force, sending Colonel Henry M. Ashby and 200 Tennesseans down the LaGrange Road to intercept the head of the Yankee column while preparing to strike the raiders' flank. By then McCook's column was fording Sandy Creek at Brown's Mill, and as Lieutenant Colonel William H. Torrey's advance guard approached the LaGrange Road, Ashby's Tennesseans opened fire from the thickets, sending Union troopers fleeing and mortally wounding Torrey as most of his brigade fled the field. Hearing gunfire at the head of the column, McCook halted 2 brigades under Colonels John Croxton and Tom Harrison and ordered them to cover a road on their right flank, and after dismounting they advanced north just in time to meet Wheeler and 500 of his men coming through the woods on foot; after a short skirmish the Confederates retreated, allowing McCook to recall Croxton and order that a regiment reopen communication with Torrey's men. The 8th Iowa Cavalry then mounted and formed in column of fours, but Wheeler quickly rallied his troops and led a counterattack that drove Tom Harrison's brigade out of the woods and south of what is now Millard Farmer Road. As Wheeler paused to realign his ranks, heavy firing broke out to his right and rear, where Brigadier General "Sul" Ross's Texas brigade had dismounted just as the 8th Iowa charged down the road with sabers drawn and bugles sounding, capturing Ross and most of his lead horses before the 3rd Texas Cavalry charged on foot, rescued Ross, and reclaimed their horses. The rest of Wheeler's men hurried toward the fighting, and three times they surrounded the Iowa troopers and three times the Iowans fought their way out in a wild melee that lasted nearly an hour.