Battle of LaFayette
military engagement of the American Civil War
The Battle of LaFayette (alternatively capitalized as the Battle of Lafayette), was a battle of the American Civil War, taking place on June 24, 1864, during the Atlanta campaign. LaFayette, Georgia, was under military occupation by Union Army Colonel Louis D. Watkins. Confederate Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow attacked Union forces in LaFatette. At first, Confederate forces maintained short-lived victories, but a three-hour stalemate ensued, and eventually, Union Col. John Croxton arrived in time to push Pillow to retreat.
Background
Col. Watkins first arrived, with around 450 cavalrymen of the Kentucky brigade, at LaFayette on June 18, 1864, during the Atlanta campaign, “to endeavor to rid the country of several guerilla bands”, including that of John Gatewood, an infamous criminal. He positioned himself first in the city's courthouse, built out of stucco and brick and standing two stories high, then in the city square, and his soldiers in nearby structures.
In early June 1864, following a series of unsuccessful battles led by Pillow, he was assigned a cavalry division of about 1,600 men, after he implored for a command for months. On the day of the battle, Gen.
The public source identifies “Battle of LaFayette” as military engagement of the American Civil War. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Battle, LaFayette and military.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q130711763. Authority coordinates are 34.709, -85.281. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1864.
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This entry incorporates text from “Battle of LaFayette” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.