WI Johnston Had Remained in Command of the Army of Tennessee?

That would have come as news to all the Union soldiers that Johnston's men had slaughtered at places like Resaca, New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, and Kennesaw Mountain.

It would have been a surprise to Sherman who had respect for Johnson and was extremely pleased to see him replaced with the idiot Hood.
 
That would have come as news to all the Union soldiers that Johnston's men had slaughtered at places like Resaca, New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, and Kennesaw Mountain.
My goof, I misspoke.

What I meant was that Davis expected Johnston to attack Sherman and drive him back (in spite of the fact that he was outnumbered 2-1!) Instead, Johnston wisely tried to force Sherman to attack fortified positions and bleed his Army dry. Sherman, however had enough men and space to flank Johnston out of his fortified positions. Johnston was alert enough to block the Union army when it tried to cut him off, resulting in many of the battles you mentioned. (Kennesaw Mountain was the only direct assault Sherman mounted....the resulting bloodbath dissuaded him from future frontal assaults)

Considering the odds, Johnston did a creditable job of slowing Sherman down; however, from Davis' POV, Johnston was not doing his job. This, combined with Davis' apathy toward Johnston, virtually guaranteed he would be fired.
 
combined with Davis' apathy toward Johnston, virtually guaranteed he would be fired.

Johnston was doing exactly the same thing that Lee was doing in Virginia [1]; Lee actions were OK for Davis, Johnston ones were not. It was not apathy, it was downright dislike [2].

[1] husbanding his army to keep it functional while slowly retreating to a position defensible with extensive trench system. The only difference is that Lee could only fall back up to Richmond/Petersburg while Johnston had place up to Atlanta so Lee appeared to be more determinate than Johnston.
[2] Exhibit A: why Davies did not consult with Lee before firing Johnston? Lee would have told him that Johnston was following the same strategy as he was. Davies was only looking for an excuse to get rid of Johnston. Come on, recognize Jefferson Davies vital contributions to union victory :D.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
why Davies did not consult with Lee before firing Johnston? Lee would have told him that Johnston was following the same strategy as he was. Davies was only looking for an excuse to get rid of Johnston. Come on, recognize Jefferson Davies vital contributions to union victory :D.

Davis did consult Lee by telegram and letter. Lee's response, as with most sensitive communications to Davis, was very tactful and careful. He said forthrightly that it was a bad idea to replace the commander of an army in the middle of a campaign, but also said he didn't know the specific circumstances in Georgia.

When directly asked about Hood, Lee replied that he was bold on the battlefield but "careless off" (pretty vague- I've spent years trying to figure out what Lee meant) and said directly that Hardee was more experienced.

In other words, Lee basically said that it probably wasn't a good idea to relieve Johnston, but that if Davis decided to do it, he should replace him with Hardee rather than Hood.
 
Thank you Anaxagoras. Davis responsibility is even bigger than what I thought having acted against both Lee recommendations.
 
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