The army settled into winter quarters at Dalton, where Bragg resigned his command and was replaced by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. During the winter of 1863–64, Johnston, an officer very popular with the rank and file, went to great lengths to improve the poor morale that plagued the army, and when campaigning resumed in the spring, the Army of Tennessee was arguably the most confident it had ever been.

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The reenergized army was facing three combined Union armies under the command of Sherman, who in May 1864 marched south from Chattanooga intent on crushing Johnston’s army and capturing Atlanta—the second most important city in the South, behind only Richmond, Virginia. During the ensuing Atlanta Campaign (May 7–September 2, 1864), Sherman, through a series of flanking maneuvers, forced Johnston’s army to continually retreat southward until it was locked in a siege in Atlanta. Davis, frustrated with Johnston’s continual retreats and refusal to share his plans, removed the general from command and replaced him with Gen. John B. Hood

Hood, lacking Johnston’s caution and temerity, launched a series of battles around Atlanta. While they were bold in their conception, these Confederate attacks were typically undermanned and poorly coordinated. As a result, Hood was forced to abandon the city on September 2. Historians have identified the Atlanta Campaign as one of the Confederacy’s last chances of attaining victory during the war. During the spring and summer of 1864, the Northern populace, growing weary of a series of military stalemates, was becoming increasingly hostile toward the administration of Pres. Abraham Lincoln and, in turn, the continuation of the war. Had Sherman not achieved a major victory at Atlanta, it is unlikely that Lincoln would have won the election of 1864. Northerners saw Union victory in Georgia as a sign that the war was being successfully conducted under Lincoln.

Final campaigns

The disaster in Georgia did nothing to dissuade Hood from launching another bold and aggressive campaign. Hoping to turn the tide of the war in the West by recapturing Nashville, he ordered the Army of Tennessee to invade the Volunteer State. While Sherman opted to embark upon his “March to the Sea,” he left two forces under General Thomas and Gen. John Schofield to deal with Hood. Knowing that his best chance of achieving victory was through attacking those Union forces before they could unite, Hood ordered his army into combat against Schofield—who was attempting to link up with Thomas in Nashville—at the Battle of Spring Hill (November 29, 1864). The Confederate attacks were poorly coordinated, and Schofield’s army escaped to set up fortified locations at Franklin, Tennessee.

Enraged at his army’s failure to cut off Schofield’s force and desperate to keep the Union armies from uniting at Nashville, Hood—over the objections of some of his lieutenants—ordered a frontal assault on Schofield’s entrenched army at the Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864). Largely unsupported by artillery, the Confederate soldiers taking part in the charge were decimated. Although the Union lines were temporarily broken, Federal troops rallied and forced the Confederates back into their lines. During the night, Schofield’s army escaped to Nashville.

Despite having sacrificed nearly a quarter of his army at Franklin, Hood continued his march toward Nashville. He placed the city under siege; however, given the depleted size of his army, he was not able to completely surround the city. Thus, at the Battle of Nashville (December 15–16, 1864), Union General Thomas achieved one of the most climactic victories of the war when he shattered Hood’s army.

The remnants of the Army of Tennessee retreated into Mississippi, where Hood resigned from command. From there the remains of the army were transferred to North Carolina, where they joined up with other scattered and broken rebel commands to form the Army of the South. Commanded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, that army—desperately trying to stop Sherman’s march through the Carolinas—fought only one battle, a defeat at Bentonville (March 19–21, 1865), before being reorganized and rechristened the Army of Tennessee. Following Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman at Durham, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865.