Mersy's Brigade

Marker Text:
July 22, 1864. Colonel August Mersy's brigade of Sweeny's division, 16th Army Corps (US), was aligned on the right of the division when it went into action to meet the assault of Walker's division (CS) advancing up Sugar Creek valley (from Glenwood Avenue).
The left of Mersy's line rested on the hill were Murphy's High School stands. The right of the line extended southwest to join Fuller's 4th division, 16th Army Corps, on the high ground beyond the valley (near McPherson's monument).
General McPherson saw this part of the battlefield from the hill 3/8 mile due west of this marker (near Memorial drive and East Side avenue) enroute to his rendezvous with death.

044-50 Georgia Historical Commission erected 1956

Location: Memorial Drive at Dixie Avenue, Atlanta Georgia
GPS:
Visited: June 26, 2008

I left the last two markers and was driving east on Memorial drive towards Maynard Terrace in order to cross the Interstate, go to McPherson's Avenue and see if I could find his destination for the final ride. But I had to stop and turn around in order to go back to a small car wash where I passed a historical marker. Sensing it was of the first encounter of the Battle of Atlanta, I stopped.
This is part of Sweeny's men that had marched south. This would be part of the extension of the federal line near Glenwood avenue and Flat Shoals road. According to the marker, this line met with the men of Fuller's division, apparently near the Glenwood avenue and Flat Shoals road intersection, so McPherson's movement to protect his left flank had been completed or nearly completed when the battle began. But, to me, this line of protection accentuates the bulge in the federal line by flipping it back and around in a very narrow band. I could understand if Sweeny's men were to continue their southward movement to extend the line and had not yet arrived. I could also see the issue with determining the best defensive position to take in unfamiliar territory. Walker's men came up through a creek valley to the high point to the left of this marker so there must have been some consideration from Sweeny about how to get his men further south without breaking the brigades and therefore weakening his line further.
Note that the Murphy High School referenced on the marker is named as such, it is now Alfonso Crim High School. But it occupies the same ridge line apparent to the left, or east, of this marker. To the right, or west of this marker, about half a mile (3/8 a mile according to the marker), is "McPherson's Last Ride" marker (and "Gresham's Division" marker as well). After pausing to observe the encounter of Mersy's brigade here, McPherson rode off over the hill and down a rode through the pine trees to his death. This marker states what has been insinuated by the other markers.