What to do?: President Davis had a mess on his hands in the Western Theater. General Hood, above, had lost Atlanta and thousands of men with his aggressive tactics. Did the Army of Tennessee need a new commander? General Robert E. Lee wrote a letter to Davis on September 18, 1864, preserved in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Vol., 39.2, p. 846, that indicates he thought Beauregard should lead that resilient force. (Heritage Auctions, Dallas)