New Hope Church Cemetery and the church’s former sanctuary became part of a battlefield on Wednesday, May 25, 1864, when the Federal 20th Corps under Major General Joseph Hooker attacked Confederate Major General Alexander P. Stewart’s division near the New Hope crossroads. Three days earlier, Union Major General William T. Sherman had begun moving his armies toward Dallas and away from their Western and Atlantic Railroad supply line in an effort to march around the left flank of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s army, and Hooker’s corps became the first sizeable Federal unit to approach the crossroads. Sherman ordered an attack, believing only light resistance stood ahead, but Confederate forces had also moved quickly into position. Brigadier General Marcellus A. Stovall’s Georgia brigade, led that day by Colonel Abda Johnson of the 40th Georgia Infantry Regiment, held this part of the line, with Brigadier General Henry D. Clayton’s Alabama brigade to the east behind log and dirt entrenchments, Brigadier General Randall L. Gibson’s Louisiana brigade aligned to the rear in support, and Brigadier General Alpheus Baker’s Alabama brigade farther east. Johnson’s men used headstones in the cemetery for cover because they were reluctant to dig among the graves. Hooker’s men attacked in columns through dense woods, tangled underbrush, and deep ditches, with Brigadier General Alpheus S. Williams’s division ordered to the double quick, followed by Brigadier General John W. Geary’s division, and finally Major General Daniel Butterfield’s division attacking the Confederate right. As each brigade neared the foot of a slope at a trot, it was met by the full force of Confederate fire, and the area became known to Federal troops as the Hell Hole. The three Confederate brigades inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking Federal divisions; the Federals lost over 1,500 men and the Confederates fewer than 500. About 7:30 pm, as the battle neared its end, a blinding summer thunderstorm added to the suffering of the wounded left on the field. Many unknown soldiers from both North and South were buried here. Confederate Private Sam Watkins later recalled shattered trees, dying horses, and the sickening odor of battle. The Battle of New Hope Church was the first of three major battles fought close together over four days, and the Federals attacked again two days later at Pickett’s Mill in an attempt to turn the Confederate right flank.