On Wednesday, May 25, 1864, a fierce battle was fought at the New Hope crossroads around a church known as New Hope between Union Major General Joseph Hooker's 20th Corps and Confederate Major General Alexander P. Stewart's division. Three days earlier, with only 20 days of supplies in his wagons, Union Major General William T. Sherman began moving his armies toward Dallas and away from their Western and Atlantic Railroad lifeline, intending to march around the left flank of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee and its defenses around Allatoona Pass so he could capture Atlanta from the west rather than the north and sooner than anticipated. Federal troops headed toward Dallas by different routes, and Union Major General George H. Thomas's Army of the Cumberland marched south about 15 miles from Stilesboro, while Hooker's corps was the first to approach the New Hope crossroads. Johnston quickly shifted his Confederate army southwest from Allatoona Pass to the Dallas area, and Lieutenant General John B. Hood's corps was placed in a defensive line around and near New Hope Church. At 6:00 am on May 25th, Hooker's corps began crossing a creek near a burning bridge at Owen's Mill and immediately encountered enemy resistance. Confederate observers atop nearby Elsberry Mountain reported clouds of dust approaching from the north, and Hood's pickets captured several Federal soldiers, yet Sherman refused to believe a large Confederate force could have moved so quickly to block his path and ordered Hooker's corps forward. At approximately 4:00 pm Hooker deployed his three divisions for battle, a total of about 16,000 men. Opposing the 20th Corps was Stewart's Confederate division in the center of Hood's corps, with three brigades covering the crossroads: Brigadier General Marcellus A. Stovall's Georgians on the left, Henry D. Clayton's Alabamians in the center, and Alpheus Baker's Alabamians on the right. Two additional brigades were held in reserve and three artillery batteries were massed along the line. Stewart had about 4,000 total muskets and 16 cannon. The Federals advanced against the Confederate line one brigade at a time, so each brigade bore the brunt of massed enemy fire along a narrow front. Union Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams's division lost over 800 men in only a few minutes, and the 20th Corps' other two divisions also suffered heavily. Near the height of the battle, commanding Confederate General Johnston sent word to Stewart asking if he needed reinforcements, and Stewart replied, "My own troops will hold the position." The fiercest fighting occurred near the church's cemetery. This was the first of three major battles fought close together over a four-day period, followed by Pickett's Mill on May 27th and Dallas on May 28th.