When Gen. John Bell Hood took command of the Confederate Army of Tennessee on the night of July 17, 1864, the fate of Atlanta hung in the balance. For two and a half months, Gen. William T. Sherman, in command of three Federal armies operating in concert, had pushed the Southern army from Dalton, Georgia to the gates of Atlanta. Convinced that Gen. Joseph Johnston would not fight for the city, Confederate President Jefferson Davis relieved him and elevated Hood to command. That same night, Secretary of War James A. Seddon very candidly warned the young general, “You are charged with a great trust. You will, I know, test to the utmost your capacities to discharge it. Be wary no less than bold.”