Joseph E. Johnston as military adviser to the president. Davis offered the position to William J. Hardee, the senior corps commander, who refused it. He considered P.G.T. Beauregard, another general with whom he had poor personal relations, and also Robert E. Lee. Lee, who was reluctant to leave Virginia, first recommended Beauregard, but sensing Davis's discomfort, changed his recommendation to Johnston. After much agonizing, Davis appointed Johnston to command the Army of Tennessee in Dalton, Georgia, on December 27, 1863. Faced with Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta in the spring of 1864, Johnston conducted a series of withdrawals
Confederate Army of the Potomac Bull Run and attempted to organize an attack but following a brief skirmish Jones' brigade was thrown back due to heavy artillery fire. Both brigades subsequently withdrew back to Bull Run. The two Confederate armies were consolidated into a single army following the battle, retaining the name "Army of the Potomac" and with Johnston in command; Beauregard was initially posted as its second-in-command but he was soon transferred to the Western Theater. The army was spread through northern Virginia to observe the Union Army of the Potomac in Washington, fighting several small skirmishes including the Battle of Ball's Bluff. In