Battle of King's Tanyard

On July 31, 1864, at the Battle of Sunshine Church (19 miles NE of Macon), Maj. Gen. Geo. Stoneman (US) surrendered with 600 men to Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson, Jr., (CS), after covering the escape of Adams' and Capron's brigades (US) of his cavalry command. Both units retreated via Athens, intending to resupply their troops there, but were stopped early on August 2nd at the river bridge south of Athens by Home Guard units with artillery. Unable to cross, they turned west; Capron on the Hog Mountain road to Jug Tavern (Winder), and Adams on roads farther north by which he reached the US lines near Marietta without further loss. Late that night, Capron halted briefly at Jug Tavern, fed and watered his horses, then marched to King's Tanyard (about 300 yards, east) and halted again for two hours to rest his exhausted command. A large body of fugitive slaves, who had followed the column, crowded in between the rear pickets and the main body. Before dawn on August 3rd, Williams' Kentucky brigade (CS), in pursuit from Sunshine Church, charged over his pickets and into the freedmen "driving and scattering everything before them." Thrown into confusion, Capron's men soon gave way and stampeded toward Mulberry River. About 430 were captured and sent to Athens; others escaped into the woods. Capron himself, with six men, reached Marietta four days later on foot. This engagement, called also the Battle of Jug Tavern, was the final event of the Stoneman Raid.