On November 15, 1864, after destroying Atlanta and cutting his communications with the North, Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, USA, began his destructive campaign for Savannah, the March to the Sea. He divided his army into two wings. The Right Wing marched south from Atlanta, feinting at Macon, then crossing the Ocmulgee River above the city and concentrating at Gordon. The Left Wing, the 14th and 20th Corps under Maj. Gen. H. W. Slocum, USA, marched to Decatur, where the 20th Corps under Brig. Gen. A. S. Williams, USA, took the road to Social Circle to strike the Georgia Railroad there and destroy it through Madison. Late on November 17, the 20th Corps reached Centreville Box, Jersey, six miles northwest, and camped between Cornish and Big Flat creeks, with its leading division, Geary’s, on the west bank of the Ulcofauhachee, Alcovy, River, three miles from Social Circle. On November 18, elements of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions destroyed the Georgia Railroad from Social Circle to Madison, sixteen miles. At Rutledge, seven miles southeast, the depot, water tank, warehouses, and other railroad facilities were burned; those at Social Circle had already been destroyed in July by Garrard’s cavalry. That night the 20th Corps camped west of Madison on the Covington road. Between Atlanta and Milledgeville, the movements of the Left Wing were almost unopposed because the few Confederate troops available were employed against the Right Wing to protect Macon, a principal arsenal center, and the Central of Georgia Railway.