Key Facts
- Duration
- June 10 – July 3, 1864
- Campaign
- Atlanta Campaign, American Civil War
- Confederate force at Latimar's Mill
- 4,500 cavalry under Wheeler
- Union objective
- Interpose between Wheeler's cavalry and Union infantry
- Key Union units
- 17th Indiana Infantry, 1st Cavalry Brigade (Minty)
Strategic Narrative Overview
Fighting unfolded in a series of engagements from early June through early July 1864. On June 10, the 17th Indiana Infantry drove Confederate forces across Noonday Creek. Colonel Robert Minty's cavalry brigade crossed at the Old Alabama Road, skirmished at McAfee's Crossroads, and repelled two brigades of Martin's division before withdrawing. Subsequent Union attacks on June 15 and June 19 were repelled. On June 23, Colonel Eli Long's brigade crossed and successfully repelled a Confederate counterattack.
01 / The Origins
During the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, Union Major General William T. Sherman sought to secure his flanks and supply lines as his forces advanced toward Atlanta. Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler's cavalry threatened exposed Union positions near Big Shanty. Sherman ordered Brigadier General Kenner Garrard to neutralize Wheeler, but Garrard's failure to act after a week compelled Sherman to commit additional infantry and cavalry brigades to the effort along Noonday Creek.
03 / The Outcome
The series of engagements produced mixed results without a decisive victor. Wheeler's Confederate cavalry was gradually pushed to new positions, including along Bell's Ferry Road, but Union forces suffered repulses on multiple occasions. The actions succeeded in shifting Wheeler's cavalry away from Sherman's immediate flank, contributing to the broader Union effort to isolate and eventually capture Atlanta, though no formal territorial resolution emerged directly from these skirmishes.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Kenner Garrard, Robert H. G. Minty, Eli Long, William T. Sherman.
Side B
1 belligerent
Joseph Wheeler, William T. Martin.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.