Hood had moved his forces to Palmetto,…

Hood had moved his forces to Palmetto, Georgia, on September 21, where he is visited by Confederate President Davis on September 25.

The two men plan their strategy, which calls for Hood to move toward Chattanooga, Tennessee, and operate against Sherman's lines of communications.

They hope that Sherman will follow and that Hood will be able to maneuver Sherman into a decisive battle on terrain favorable to the Confederates.

During the conference, Davis expresses his disappointment in Hood's performance during the Atlanta Campaign, losing tens of thousands of men in ill-advised frontal assaults for no significant gains, and implies that he is considering replacing Hood in command of the army.

After the president's departure for Montgomery, Alabama, he telegraphs Hood that he has decided to retain him in command and, acceding to Hood's request, transfers Lieutenant General Hardee, one of Hood's corps commanders, out of the Army of Tennessee.

He also establishes a new theater commander to supervise Hood and the department of Lieutenant General Richard Taylor, although the officer selected for the assignment, General P.G.T. Beauregard, is not expected to exert any real operational control of the armies in the field.