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Why did Confederate president Jefferson Davis replace Joseph E. Johnston with John Bell Hood?

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William Tecumseh Sherman General William T. Sherman in uniform and wearing a mourning ribbon for President Lincoln, photograph by Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, 1865.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced Joseph E. Johnston with John B. Hood in July 1864 primarily due to frustration with Johnston’s defensive strategy during the Atlanta Campaign.12

Throughout the campaign, Johnston utilized a series of planned withdrawals to avoid being crushed by the superior forces of William Tecumseh Sherman. Davis, who had a long-standing personal feud with Johnston, was dissatisfied with these continual retreats and Johnston’s refusal to share his military plans. Seeking a more aggressive approach to defend Atlanta, Davis turned to Hood, whom he viewed as a more combative and daring general.123

While Hood was indeed more aggressive than his predecessor, his subsequent attempts to launch bold, offensive attacks against Sherman’s forces were often poorly coordinated and ultimately failed to prevent the fall of Atlanta.13