On July 22, 1864, Hardee’s army corps, four divisions of Confederate States forces moving north to the battlefield, divided into two columns at this road fork: Clebourne’s and Maney’s took the west fork leading to East Atlanta, while Walker’s and Bate’s took the east fork, or Fayetteville Road, as Wheeler’s cavalry also did while en route to Decatur to seize the wagon trains of McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee. Had Hardee continued on the Fayetteville Road to a point well in rear of Blair’s 17th army corps, he would have conformed with Hood’s explicit orders. A lack of definite knowledge of Federal positions, maps, and adequate guides in a forest wilderness resulted in confusion and consequent misdirection of his troops.