The Union cavalry then turned northeast and joined the army of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman near Marietta, Georgia, while sustaining few casualties.

[1] Confederate President Jefferson Davis knew that holding Atlanta was crucial because it was a transit point for supplies going to the army of General Robert E. Lee in the Eastern Theater.

[5] On April 10, he replied to Grant that he first planned to drive General Joseph E. Johnston's Confederate army south of the Chattahoochie River by maneuver.

After crossing the Tallapoosa River, Rousseau was instructed to move either through Talladega or Oxford before wrecking the Montgomery and West Point Railroad between Tuskegee and Opelika.

[11] Sherman's forces won a bridgehead on the south bank of the Chattahoochie, so on the night of July 9 Johnston retreated to the outskirts of Atlanta.

Sherman paused his campaign for a few days to build up his supplies and to allow time for Rousseau's raiders to reach the Montgomery and West Point Railroad.

At this time, Sherman also directed Major General George Stoneman's cavalry division to launch a 4–5 day raid against the Atlanta and West Point, which was not successful in damaging the railroad.

There was an hour-long skirmish with a badly outnumbered force of Confederates led by Brigadier General James Holt Clanton.

[9] On July 15, Rousseau's command occupied Talladega where the Union cavalrymen wrecked the depot, two weapons factories, and railroad cars filled with army provisions.

Continuing the march that night, they moved through Dadeville to reach the Montgomery and Westpoint Railroad at Loachapoka where they cut the telegraph wires.

Rousseau let his soldiers rest until 10 pm on July 17 before ordering them to start ripping up track, burning ties, and twisting rails.

The fourth detachment under Hamilton marched to Auburn where they routed a handful of Confederates from the East Alabama Male College, burned supplies, and wrecked 3 mi (4.8 km) of railroad track to the north of town.

At Montgomery, Governor Thomas H. Watts gathered a motley force of 300 Confederate soldiers, including 54 cadets from the University of Alabama and two cannons, and sent them east by railroad.

[11] Moving northeast, Rousseau's raiders crossed into Georgia and rode through Carrollton and Villa Rica before reaching Powder Springs on July 22.

[14] After the raid, the cavalrymen were assigned to Brigadier General Edward M. McCook's cavalry division in Sherman's army and Rousseau returned to his normal command,[15] the District of Nashville, which he led from November 10, 1863 until July 3, 1865.