This well-known landmark served as a point of reference for both Yankee and Rebel troops as they moved into the area in September, 1863. Additionally, the building also housed a general store that was of interest to the Union troops and a bridge crossed Chickamauga Creek just south of the structure that was of interest to the Rebels.

William Rosecrans and his chief of staff James Garfield stayed with the Lee's (James Gordon had died earlier in 1863) in Chickamauga while Braxton Bragg stayed in Gordon Hall in LaFayette, where he planned an attack on Union forces concentrating at Lee and Gordon's Mill. Crossing Chickamauga Creek further north at Reed's Bridge and Alexander's Bridge, the Confederate forces never made it that far south, engaging the Union forces on the LaFayette-Chattanooga Road (now U. S. 27) north of the mill. James Lee, an ardent Confederate, was forced to mill grain for the Union Army.

The mill was used by General James McPherson as the starting point for his move south to Snake Creek Gap west of Resaca at the start of the Atlanta Campaign.

After the war James Lee continued to run the mill. His son, Gordon Lee, who became a powerful United States Representative inherited the business and ran it until his election to that august body in 1892. Between 1892 and his death in 1927 other family members oversaw the work done at Lee and Gordon's Mill.

The Wallace brothers purchased the mill in 1929 and continued to operate it until 1967, when operations ceased. For 25 years the old mill sat dormant.

In 1993 Frank Pierce purchased the property and completely restored the mill to its appearance at the time of the Civil War. When we visited the mill we were greeted by Adair Brotherton, himself a piece of Georgia history. It was his great-grandfather who owned Brotherton Cabin on the battlefield of Chickamauga.

In the front of the mill is a museum that contains pictures of the mill from the time of the Civil War through modern-day along with pictures of each of its owners. Additional artifacts cover the Civil War and the battle of Chickamauga. As we moved into the large central room Adair powered up a ceiling fan system powered by the still working mill wheel. Then we visited the mill wheel itself. The ancient stone enclosure held the wheel that was powered by a dam a few feet up-stream from the mill. Although much of the dam has been renovated, a portion of the original dam remains, near the opposite bank of Chickamauga Creek.