The Battle of Brown's Mill took place July 30-31, 1864 in Newnan. The

conflict took about 600 Union lives and 50 Confederate lives. Major General

William T. Sherman had wanted to avoid a long siege of Atlanta, and used

his cavalry to try to cut Atlanta's railroads. He sent Brigadier General

Edward M. McCook on several around each side of Atlanta to accomplish this.

However when approaching Newnan, he met Confederate General Joe Wheeler,

and Confederate Brigadier General Philip D. Roddey and was eventually routed.

The Newnan-Coweta County Historical Society has held a dinner on this date

for the past several years. This year the event was also used to raise funds

for the restoration of its Old Newnan Train Depot.

The Speaker was Dr. David Evans, author of "Sherman's Horseman",

a book describing the battle. He outlined the plans for the portion of the

original battlefield recently purchased by Coweta County commissioners.

Just over 105 acres have been saved and plans are in place to create walking

paths and a memorial center.

Estimates for completion have gone as high as several million dollars and

various entities will be applying for matching funds and grants.