"Fighting Joe" Wheeler slept here in Newnan, Ga., after likely his finest day in uniform -- at Brown's Mill. The cavalry clash anniversary will be marked Saturday

Wheeler, fought at Brown's Mill, lower right) and stayed at Buena Vista (Picket photos and Library of Congress) 

Twenty-four hours of hard riding while chasing a large Union cavalry force paid off for Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his outnumbered troops on July 30, 1864, when they routed the Yanks at Brown’s Mill, a few miles outside Newnan, Ga.

After the battle, “Fighting Joe” – wearing a blacked plume hat, gray uniform and red sash, according to observers – tiredly rode back to Newnan and Buena Vista. He walked up the stairs at the home of Confederate officer Hugh Buchanan, a future congressman who was in Virginia with Phillips' Legion and recovering from a combat wound to his lung.

Wheeler's men were still in pursuit of the remnants of the Federal command, but the cavalry leader, just 27 years old, needed time to regroup.

Wheeler, according to legend, asked to use the home as his headquarters. Buchanan’s wife, who had hidden their children in the cellar during the day, happily obliged upon realizing there weren't Union troops outside. Mary Buchanan offered Wheeler and staff food and use of the dwelling.

“Shown to the study, Wheeler sat down behind a big plantation desk, spread his maps before him, and fell asleep,” historian David Evans wrote in his seminal “Sherman’s Horsemen: Union Cavalry Operations in the Atlanta Campaign.”

One of about a half dozen interpretive markers at Brown's Mill (Picket photo)

There was no real rest for the weary. Wheeler was back in the saddle the next day, and pressed his officers about the successes and failures of the pursuit as Union survivors tried to get back to safety near Atlanta.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said the Battle of Brown’s Mill was probably Wheeler’s best day in Confederate uniform, although the soldier is also recognized for his service at Shiloh and Perryville by protecting the Rebel army's rear guard during its retreat.

If Nathan Bedford Forrest was the “The Wizard of the Saddle,” perhaps Wheeler should be dubbed the “Prince of Pursuit.”

Some 160 years after the clash, the Brown’s Mill Battlefield Association will host a public commemorative gathering at 7 p.m. Saturday at the site. The Coweta County park is just a few miles from picturesque Newnan, which was home to a half dozen Confederate hospitals during the Civil War.

“As for General Wheeler, I think his relentless pursuit of McCook's Raid was nothing short of remarkable,” Evans has written. “Outnumbered, outgunned, and hopelessly outdistanced, he rode down, routed, and scattered what he called ‘the most stupendous cavalry operation of the war.’”

Union Maj. Gen. William Sherman had tasked Brig. Gen .Edward McCook (left) and Maj. Gen. George Stoneman with cutting vital railroads south of Atlanta so that he would not have to engage in a prolonged siege of Atlanta. McCook, after damaging some track at Lovejoy Station, hoped to rendezvous with Stoneman. He had nearly 3,000 men under his command.

But Stoneman had chosen to ride toward Macon, with the hope of reaching the large Confederate prison at Andersonville to the south. 

With no rendezvous, McCook hurried toward the Chattahoochee River and Federal lines to the north. Early the morning of July 30, after skirmishes at Line Creek and Shake Rag, troopers of the 8^th Indiana rode into Newnan. They were surprised to find dismounted Confederate cavalry at the railroad depot. McCook decided to avoid battle and continue his push for the river.

Wheeler chased them from Newnan.

“O, how joyfully we hailed them,” Confederate nurse Kate Cumming wrote in her diary. “They came galloping in by two different roads; the enemy in the meantime hearing of their approach, were retreating.”

Children attempted to follow the Union troopers, but were told to go home.

The park opened about a decade ago after a community campaign (Civil War Picket photo)

The Rebels ambushed the exhausted Federal forces at Brown's Mill. “This is where McCook lost control and was broken up,” said Crawford.

McCook held a brief council of war, suggesting the force surrender. Other officers decided to fight and McCook basically gave up command. It was every man for himself then, with separate columns attempting to break out from the trap.

Men fled toward the river and more than 1,200 men were taken prisoner over the new few days. Some men, including an officer who was naked, except for his hat, managed to swim or take a few ferries to safety. McCook got away.

Wheeler's force of about 1,400 riders also freed about 500 Confederate prisoners and seized supplies. It was a bloody debacle, in which there was saber-to-saber fighting, a trail of bodies and the heroic actions of a Union trooper who received the Medal of Honor. About 100 Federal men were killed or wounded, while Confederate casualties were about half that.

A day later, Stoneman was defeated and captured at the Battle of Sunshine Creek.

Painting at Newnan depot shows moment Union troops arrived (Picket photo)

Evans based his brief account of Wheeler’s stay on a 1952 book, “White Columns in Georgia,” Medora Field Perkerson’s account of antebellum residences.

After the McCook defeat, Sherman wrote to generals in Washington, DC:

“August 1, 1864 … Colonel Brownlow reports from Marietta that he has just reached there, having escaped from a disaster that overtook General McCook’s cavalry expedition at Newnan.” He expressed surprise such a large Federal force would be defeated and so many captured.

Wheeler, Perkerson wrote, brought the disaster referred to by Sherman.

The Newnan-County Historical Society's book "Coweta Chronicles" includes Wheeler's official report on Brown's Mill. He wrote of catching up with many of the dismounted Federals about three and half miles south of Newnan. "I determined to attack immediately, notwithstanding the great disparity of numbers."

Buena Vista was built in about 1830. (Civil War Picket photo)

Hugh Buchanan’s son, Edward, was 12 when the Confederates came to Buena Vista after the fight. The boy, who lived to nearly 84, never forgot the excitement. Called Eddie at the time, he tiptoed downstairs in the evening and found Wheeler asleep at the desk, according to a family letter kept by the historical society.

“All over Georgia they remembered Wheeler … a man small in stature but a fine leader and fighter, fine enough for the United States Army to make him a major general in the Spanish American War,” wrote Perkerson.

The house, built in 1830, gained its Greek Revival style when Buchanan added a second floor, according to the Newnan-Coweta History Center. Buchanan and a son bottled a medicine called "Horn of Salvation" at the residence. The attic was said to hold government records before the courthouse was built. An older building was used as slave quarters, according to a 1986 tour of homes.

The home was full of period furnishings and hand-crafted walls and mantels, according to the tour guide.

The seven-fireplace home, fronted by Doric columns, is owned now by Michael and Leah Sumner, who purchased it in 1990. The home did take a hit in a 2021 tornado that caused widespread damage in the area.

Old post card of Buena Vista (Newnan-Coweta Historical Society)

Loran Smith, a columnist and announcer associated with the Georgia Bulldogs football team, paid a visit a year ago and Leah Sumner told him the residence is on the highest ground in Newnan, giving Wheeler an excellent view of the area. Hence, the name Buena Vista, or beautiful view.

“We cherish the opportunity to live in and raise our family in such a special home,” she told the Picket in a recent email.

The area around the Brown's Mill battlefield used to be largely rural but, like most of the Atlanta region, that has changed.

“The farms over which the battle was fought have been subdivided and farmhouses that were present then no longer exist,” said Sandra Parker of the friends group.

Carolyn Turner, head of the battlefield association, said the desk where Wheeler fell asleep is believed to have been lost.

Brown’s Mill, she said, has been added to the National Register of Historic Places (above). “We are very proud of that.”

Bicyclists, hikers, runners and history enthusiasts use the park. Signs provide details on the Atlanta Campaign, the battle and personal accounts by and about soldiers, Turner said.

Evans told the Picket the Confederate cavalry victory at Brown’s Mill, one of few during the Atlanta Campaign, was the result of sheer force of will.

“Outnumbered more than 3 to 1, over the course of fifty-five miles and twenty-four hours, Wheeler and his men killed, wounded, or captured more than 1,300 Yankee cavalrymen, almost half of McCook's entire force. “

The Union defeat at Brown’s Mill forced Sherman to change tactics and besiege Atlanta and use infantry at Jonesboro, Evans wrote in “Sherman’s Horsemen.”

While Southern newspapers lauded his triumph, Wheeler was not without his critics. Cumming, the nurse in one of the Confederate military hospitals in Newnan, noted she heard "many complaints against General Wheeler."

Evans said among the critics was Capt. George Knox Miller of the 8^th Confederate Cavalry, who wrote to his wife, "Our forces were handled miserably . . . . If we had a commanding officer with any brains not one of them [McCook's raiders] would have escaped."

"Oh! for a few more Forrests and Whartons to command our cavalry," added Chaplain Robert F. Bunting of the 8^th Texas Cavalry.

“Just goes to show, you can't please all the people all the time, no matter what you do,” quipped Evans.

The anniversary “Toast and Taps” will occur 7 p.m. Saturday (July 27) at the Brown’s Mill battlefield, 155 Millard Farmer Road, Newnan, Ga. 30263. The battlefield association, said Carolyn Turner, will read the names of all who died on the property, salute them and play Taps and sing “Dixie.”