It was located in a rich agricultural region from which Bragg planned to provision his army and a position that he intended to use to block a potential U.S. advance on Chattanooga.
Byen lå i et rigt landbrugsområde, hvorfra Bragg planlagde at forsyne sin hær og det var en stilling som ville bruge til at spærre for et muligt Unions fremstød mod Chattanooga.