An Unexpected Clash
July 22, 1864. The attack by Walker's & Bate's divs. (Hardee's A.C.) (C.S) struck the two brigades Mersy's & Rices's, of Sweeny's 16th A.C. div. (U.S.) enroute to support the 17th in E. Atlanta.
Walker's troops came up Sugar Cr. valley from the S.; Bates's from the high ground eastward.
Sweeny's men hastily formed defensively-Rice facing E., Mersy S., the apex of the lines atop the hill where Laird's 14th Ohio Battery was posted & where Murphy High School stands. Blodgett's Missouri Battery H was at Rice's center, facing E. Though greatly outnumbered, Sweeny managed to hold the position, thereby foiling Hardee's thrust at the Federal rear.
Marker is at the intersection of Clifton Street SE and Memorial Drive SE (Georgia Route 154), on the left when traveling south on Clifton Street SE.
Courtesy hmdb.org
