Battle of Griswoldville The Battle of Griswoldville was the first battle of Sherman ' s March to the Sea , fought November 22 , 1864 , during the American Civil War . A Union Army brigade under Brig . Gen . Charles C . Walcutt fought three brigades of Georgia militia under Brig . Gen . Pleasant J . Philips , at Griswoldville , near Macon , Georgia , and continued its march toward Savannah . Background . Sherman , victorious in the lengthy Atlanta Campaign , had refitted his army and recently departed from Atlanta on a march designed to reach the Atlantic Coast at Savannah . The right wing of Sherman ' s force was the Army of the Tennessee , commanded by Maj . Gen . Oliver O . Howard . It encountered the first resistance to its march in Griswoldville . Walcutt was ordered to make a demonstration with his brigade ( 2nd Brigade , 1st Division , XV Corps ) of six infantry regiment s and one artillery battery ( Battery B , 1st Michigan ) , toward Macon to ascertain the disposition of enemy troops in that direction . Union cavalry under Brig . Gen . Judson Kilpatrick had struck Griswoldville on November 21 , capturing a train of 13 cars loaded with military supplies , and burning the station and some factory buildings . Battle . Early on November 22 , a detachment of Confederate cavalry under Maj . Gen . Joseph Wheeler attacked the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry on the Gordon Road , killing one man , wounding two , and capturing eighteen . The 9th charged the Confederates and drove them back nearly a mile across a creek , where the enemy was found in force , posted in order of battle . The Confederates advanced and drove in the Union skirmishers , but the 9th Pennsylvania and 5th Kentucky Cavalry made a saber charge that forced the Confederates to retire to their works . At this point , Walcutt ' s infantry brigade and artillery battery joined the cavalry . Walcutt threw out a strong skirmish line that drove the Confederates back through Griswoldville , after which , by orders of division commander Brig . Gen . Charles R . Woods , he fell back to the Duncan farm and took up a position on the edge of the woods , with an open field in his front and his flanks protected by a swamp . Here he threw up a barricade of rails and logs and a battery of artillery was also brought up . About 2 p . m . , three brigades of Georgia militia under the command of Brig . Gen . Pleasant J . Philips attacked . The Georgia Militia had been ordered from Macon to Augusta , thinking the latter was Sherman ’ s next objective , and only accidentally collided with Walcutt ’ s force . The militia advanced in three compact lines , but were met by a shower of canister . They succeeded , however , in reaching a ravine about 75 yards from Walcutt ' s works , where they reformed their lines and from which they made three desperate charges on the Federal position , all repulsed with heavy losses . The militia then tried to turn the Federal flanks , but finding these well protected by cavalry , retired to the ravine , remained there until dark , and then withdrew from the field . General Walcutt was wounded early in the engagement , and brigade command fell to Col . Robert F . Catterson of the 97th Regiment Indiana Infantry . Aftermath . The Union losses were 13 killed , 79 wounded , and 2 missing . Confederate losses are estimated at 51 dead , 472 wounded and about 600 captured . General William Tecumseh Sherman ' s march to the sea continued .