 During the months leading up to the battle , Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston had repeatedly retreated from Sherman 's superior force . All along the railroad line , from Chattanooga , Tennessee , to Marietta , Georgia , a pattern was played and replayed : Johnston took up a defensive position , Sherman marched to outflank the Confederate defenses , and Johnston retreated again . After Johnston 's withdrawal following the Battle of Resaca , the two armies clashed again at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain , but the Confederate senior leadership in Richmond was unhappy with Johnston 's perceived reluctance to fight the Union army , even though he had little chance of winning . Thus , on July 17 , 1864 , as he was preparing for the Battle of Peachtree Creek , Johnston was relieved of his command and replaced by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood . The dismissal and replacement of Johnston was one of the most controversial decisions of the civil war . Hood , who was fond of taking risks , lashed out at Sherman 's army at Peachtree Creek , but the attack failed with more than two thousand five hundred Confederate casualties . 
