against Joseph E. Brown. He telegraphed in blunt plain English:

"The Governor of Georgia refuses me provisions and the use of his
roads."

Brown answered:

"The roads are open to him and in capital condition. I have furnished
him abundantly with provisions."

The President of the Confederacy now faced the most dangerous and tragic
decision of his entire administration. The removal of Johnston from his
command before Sherman's victorious army in the heart of Georgia could
be justified only on the grounds of the sternest necessity. The
Commanding General not only had the backing of his powerful junta in
Richmond who were now busy with their conspiracy to establish a
dictatorship and oust the President from his office, but he was
immensely popular with his army. His care for his soldiers was fatherly.
His painful efforts to save their lives, even at the cost of the loss of
his country, were duly appreciated by the leaders of opinion in the
army. Johnston had the power to draw and hold the good will of the men
who surrounded him. He had the power, too, of infecting his men with his
likes and dislikes. His hatred of Davis had been for three years the
one mania of his sulking mind.

To remove him from command in such a crisis was to challenge a mutiny in
his army which might lead to serious results. Yet if he should continue
to retreat, and back out of Atlanta without a fight as he had backed out
of every position for the one hundred and fifty miles from Dalton, the
results would be still more appalling.

The loss of Atlanta at this moment meant the defeat of the peace party
of the North, and the reelection of Lincoln. If Lincoln should be
elected it was inconceivable that the South could continue the unequal
struggle for four years more.

If Johnston would only hold his trenches and save Atlanta for a few days
the South would win. Lee could hold Grant indefinitely.

The thought which appalled Davis was the suspicion which now amounted to
a practical certainty that his retreating General would evacuate Atlanta
as he had threatened to abandon Richmond when confronted by McClellan,
and had abandoned Vicksburg without a blow.

He must know this with absolute certainty before yielding to the demand
for his removal. That no possible mistake could be made, he dispatched
his Chief of Staff, General Braxton Bragg, to Atlanta for conference
with Johnston and make a personal report.

Bragg reported that Johnston was arrang