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.<br><br> 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.