On learning of Johnson's replacement by Hood, and knowing Hood as well as he did, McPherson readied his army for an attack by Hood's confederates. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee was holding Sherman's left flank. On 22 July 1864, Hood directed his attack against McPherson's army. The battle went on for several hours. During a break in the fighting McPherson saw a gap developing in the Union lines. He rode out with a staff officer to close the gap. He came upon confederate skirmishers who ordered him to surrender. He turned and spurred his horse to escape, but was shot and killed. His body was returned to the Union lines for burial. Both Sherman and Hood mourned his death. McPherson was the second highest ranking Union officer killed in the civil war. He was buried in his hometown of Clyde, Ohio. Five years after his death President Rutherford B. Hayes presided over a ceremony where a bronze statue was placed over his grave.