Confederates strike from two sides at Atlanta; Union General McPherson is shot dead

Five days into command, John B. Hood needed a victory. He had replaced the cautious Joseph E. Johnston on July 17, and on July 22, southeast of Atlanta, he sent William Hardee's corps against the Union left in an L-shaped assault meant to catch Sherman's army off guard. Fighting collapsed into hand-to-hand combat on Bald Hill that lasted until dark. Union Major General James B. McPherson, riding to check a threat to his flank, was shot and killed, the war's second-highest-ranking Union officer to die in action. Hood's attack failed; Atlanta held for another six weeks…