On Monday, November 28, 1864, Union Major General William T. Sherman's Left Wing under Major General Henry W. Slocum reached the Ogeechee River and Rocky Comfort Creek just west of Louisville, where bridges recently destroyed by portions of Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler's cavalry forced several hours of repairs and corduroying through three-quarters of a mile of swamp so the entire Left Wing and its 1,200 wagons could cross. Before the full crossing was completed, scores of soldiers made improvised crossings and entered Louisville with few officers to command them, and heavy looting followed. Union Private William C. Johnson of the 89th Ohio Infantry Regiment recalled that the town of about 1,000 inhabitants, with well-stocked stores, was thoroughly ransacked during the delay in bringing over trains and troops, and that late in the afternoon the town caught fire. The fire began in a house on Broad Street and consumed half the street before Federal officers stopped it by ordering a warehouse demolished to create a firewall. One source said Federals had been angered by a Confederate flag flying over a Broad Street store, and some Federal soldiers reported being sniped at from homes and businesses, but there is no record of any military or civilian resistance in Louisville. Some acts of kindness also occurred: after a woman's house was ransacked, Slocum, whose headquarters on November 29 were on the courthouse grounds, posted guards at her home, and guards were provided for other households when requested. About 28,000 Federal infantry camped at or near Louisville from November 28 to December 1, and more than 5,000 cavalrymen of Brigadier General H. Judson Kilpatrick's division arrived on November 29 after fighting Wheeler's cavalry near Waynesboro during the previous two days. After resting their horses for two days, Kilpatrick's cavalry left for Waynesboro again on December 1 accompanied by the infantry division of Brigadier General Absalom Baird, 14th Corps, while the rest of the Left Wing marched southeast that morning toward Buckhead Church with several bands playing. Afterward Louisville became very quiet, stripped of livestock and even dogs, though townspeople were thankful conditions had not been worse.