In 1864, the Confederate States of America was in a precarious situation. It had been split down the middle when the Union forces gained control of the Mississippi River.

To add to the problems of the Confederate government, the individual states, especially those that were threatened with invasion by the northern forces, were determined to maintain a rather large home militia to be used only in the event their states were invaded.

The Army of Tennessee had operated under a defensive strategy for some time since the Battle of Perryville, falling back to the next most strategic position, hoping to draw the Union forces into an unfavorable situation. However, the Army of Tennessee found itself falling back rapidly upon Atlanta an important rail hub and vital to the supply of the South.

The Confederate administration wanted military victories. Politicking in and out of the army, John B. Hood became the commander of the Army of Tennessee, supposedly with a "better plan" to save the breadbasket of the South and drive the enemy back to the Ohio River.