Once again I have to agree that Lee wasn’t ready for corps command. As Herman Hattaway wrote, Lee possessed "insufficient tactical experience." Having never led an infantry command larger than a brigade, Hood give him command of three divisions and four artillery battalion, a third of the Army of Tennessee. Also, as you mentioned, Lee had arrived in Atlanta just two days earlier. Circumstances would not have allowed him to meet division commanders, question officers about their troops or learn much about the current situation.

On July 28th General Hood sent four divisions under Lee and A. P. Stewart to Lickskillet Road in preparation for an attack the following day. Castel also asks your question as to why Hood wasn’t present when the fighting took place.

"Why should Hood have been out on the Lick Skillet road at noontime on July 28? He was not expecting a battle that day but was planning for one the next day, to which end he was, as he should have been, at his headquarters, engaged in redeploying his army so that it could attack the enemy's rear and at the same time defend Atlanta from the enemy in front. Thus planning and engaged, he did not realize (as Shoup's afternoon dispatches to Lee and Stewart demonstrate) that a full-fledged battle was taking place near Ezra Church until it was nearly over."

William Scaife's "The Atlanta Campaign" will prove valuable to any student of this tragic battle, as will these battlefield markers in Atlanta–
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker2.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker3.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker4.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker5.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker6.jpg
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/gahistmarkers/ezrachurchhistmarker7.jpg

On the afternoon of July 27th General Hood directed both Lee and A. P. Stewart to report to his headquarters to review their orders in person. Having been informed by Jackson scouts of Howard’s advance to the west, Hood intended to prevent Federal troops from reaching the rail line on that side of Atlanta. Obviously Lee should have expected to encounter the enemy nearby.

Hood reported the substance of this meeting to General Hardee --
“General Lee is directed to prevent the enemy from gaining Lick Skillet road, and not to attack unless the enemy exposes himself in attacking us.” [emphasis added]

Given the primarily defensive purpose of his mission, and finding Federal troops preparing to receive an attack some distance beyond Lick Skillet road, Lee made an independent decision to ignore Hood's orders give General Sherman exactly what he wanted.

Here’s a relevant passage from Herman Hattaway’s 1988 biography of Stephen D. Lee –

Without exchanging messages with Hood as he should have, to ascertain if this situation necessitated a change in plans, Lee elected to attack. Lee believed he should act quickly because, as he said, "the enemy's works were slight and...they had scarcely gotten into position when we made the attack." The line that Lee thought "would yield before a vigorous attack" stretched along a wooded ridge overlooking an open slope. Lee hurried so much that he failed at coordinated action. Each division went forward separately, and the corps never fought as a team.

Hood (and Jefferson Davis) bore responsibility for appointing the youthful Lee to this senior positon. However, your criticism of Hood on July 28th should apply to Lee instead. In addition to supplying a written contingency plan, Hood reminded Lee of his mission by courier shortly after noon –
“General Hood directs that you hold the enemy in check. The object is to prevent him from gaining the Lick Skillet road.” [O.R. XXXIX, part 5, page 920]

I've enjoyed this discussion, and we all look forward to reading Bruce Allardice's article about S. D. Lee at Ezra Church. Hopefully you will initiate future discussions about the Mississippi brigade at Jonesboro GA (Aug 31, 1864), Munfordville KY (Sept. 14, 1862) and Lookout Mountain TN (Nov. 24, 1863).