The LaFayette Road is found in Northwest Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 in the counties of Walker

Walker County, Georgia

Walker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 18, 1833 from land formerly belonging to the Cherokee Indian Nation. As of 2000, the population was 61,053. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 64,554...

 and Catoosa

Catoosa County, Georgia

Catoosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created on December 5, 1853. As of 2000, the population was 53,282. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 62,241...

. The road, approximately 20 miles in length, leads from the Tennessee-Georgia state line in Rossville

Rossville, Georgia

Rossville is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The city of Rossville was named after Cherokee Indian Chief John Ross, who resided there until being forced to relocate with his people to Oklahoma in the Indian Removal. Chief John Ross' log cabin home is still located in the city and...

 southward to the city of LaFayette

LaFayette, Georgia

LaFayette is a city in Walker County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the city population was 6,702. The city is the county seat of Walker County.LaFayette is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

. The present day U.S. Highway 27 and U.S. Highway Business 27 contains part of the original roadbed. Old U.S. Highway 27 also follows the road in the city of Fort Oglethorpe

Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia

Fort Oglethorpe is a city in Catoosa County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 9,263. It is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and in the community of Rock Spring

Rock Spring, Georgia

Rock Spring is a small unincorporated community located in northwest Georgia about 14 miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is in Walker County which resides in Georgia's 9th congressional district.-Local business:...

.

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, the dirt road was fought over by the Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 Army of Tennessee

Army of Tennessee

The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in most of the significant battles in the Western Theater...

 (under Braxton Bragg

Braxton Bragg

Braxton Bragg was a career United States Army officer, and then a general in the Confederate States Army—a principal commander in the Western Theater of the American Civil War and later the military adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.Bragg, a native of North Carolina, was...

) and the Federal

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 Army of the Cumberland

Army of the Cumberland

The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...

 (under William S. Rosecrans) during the Battle of Chickamauga

Battle of Chickamauga

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863, marked the end of a Union offensive in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign...

 on September 19 and 20, 1863. The Federal troops defended the road from the west while the Confederates attacked from the east. In early 1864, Gen. James B. McPherson

James B. McPherson

James Birdseye McPherson was a career United States Army officer who served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

's Federal troops marched southward on the road from Rossville to Rock Spring during the Atlanta Campaign

Atlanta Campaign

The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...

.