Big Buckhead Baptist Church was established in 1774, disrupted by the Revolutionary War, and reconstituted in 1787. In 1831, delegates to the annual convention of Georgia Baptists meeting there resolved to establish a classical and theological school in a central part of the state when funds allowed, a school now known as Mercer University. The church’s current structure dates from 1855, and its cemetery also predates the Civil War. Over two days in late November 1864, Union Brigadier General H. Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry division, about 4,000 strong, tried to return to the safety of Major General William T. Sherman’s Left Wing around Louisville while under almost constant attack from Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler’s approximately 2,000 cavalrymen from Waynesborough to beyond Buck Head Creek. On Monday, November 28, a fast-moving two-hour gunfight took place around Big Buckhead Church and beyond the bridge over Buck Head Creek. Wheeler hoped to trap the Federals by burning the bridge, but Kilpatrick’s first troopers crossed before Confederates arrived. As both sides raced past the church, the Federal 2nd and 3rd Kentucky Cavalry Regiments served as rear guard on the church side of the creek while the rest of Kilpatrick’s division crossed. They were soon joined by the 9th Pennsylvania and 5th Kentucky Cavalry Regiments and part of the 10th Wisconsin Battery, which re-crossed the creek to help. A Confederate dismounted frontal assault was repelled while mounted cavalrymen crossed above and below the bridge. The Federals eventually retreated across the bridge, where the 5th Ohio Cavalry Regiment and the rest of the 10th Wisconsin Battery formed a final delaying line long enough for members of the 5th Ohio to set the bridge on fire. Kilpatrick’s entire division then rode rapidly west toward Louisville. Confederates removed church pews to repair the bridge, a task that took an hour, while other men forded the creek upstream at Dipping Ford to continue the pursuit. The day’s final Confederate attacks came at Reynolds Plantation three miles west, where repeated advances were repulsed and allowed Kilpatrick’s cavalry to reach Louisville the next day. Casualties nearing 100 on each side were disputed, but included Confederate Brigadier General Felix H. Robertson, who was severely wounded at Buck Head Creek. On Friday, December 2, the 20th Corps of Union Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams camped around Big Buckhead Church while the 14th Corps of Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis camped across the creek. The following morning, both men supposedly met inside the church with Left Wing commander Major General Henry W. Slocum to review plans for continuing their march.