System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Joseph Eggleston Johnston
1807 - 1891
Joseph Eggleston Johnston, one of the South's most competent commanders during the Civil War, died March 21, 1891. He was 84.
Johnston was born in Cherry Grove, Virginia on February 8, 1807. An 1829 West Point graduate, he served in the Black Hawk, Seminole and Mexican Wars. Wounded in all three conflicts, he won two honorary promotions in Mexico where he was severely injured by gunfire.
As a brigadier general in the quartermaster corps, Johnston was the highest-ranking Union officer to offer his services to the Confederacy. Many military analysts say Johnston was even more capable than Robert E. Lee, but petty differences over rank and decisions of Confederate President Jefferson Davis would hinder Johnston's career and standing in the rebel army.
His first assignment for the CSA was as major general in charge of Virginia Volunteers. Afterwards he took command of the Army of the Shenandoah. Promoted to full general in August 1861, Johnston was one of five people to achieve the South's highest rank of lieutenant general.
But he was not happy with the fact that he was fourth in seniority behind Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee. Johnston felt that since he was highest ranking Union officer to resign his commission to join the Confederacy that he should be first in seniority.
At the first Battle of Bull Run, Johnston, commander of the Army of the Shenandoah, almost brought the war to an early end. He and General Beauregard believed they could have followed up the Bull Run attack with an assault on Washington, D.C., but confusion over supply concerns, brought their plan to a halt as rebel forces retreated.
Thereafter, Johnston seemed to be beset with problems of military etiquette and his own perception of his worth to the Confederacy. He argued with President Jefferson Davis about combining soldiers from the same state in common brigades.
Having been promoted to full general, Johnston was given command of the Department of Northern Virginia, the premier command in the rebel army.
At the battle of Seven Pines, the South again had the chance to capture the Union capital, but confusion about the terrain allowed General McClellan's troops to escape. Johnston himself was wounded on the first day of the battle as Robert E. Lee was placed in command of the Army of Northern Virginia and held that position the remainder of the war.
Johnston assumed command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana, but with troop strengths low, he was not able to relieve Pemberton at Vicksburg in July 1863. The fall of Vicksburg cut the Confederacy in half as control of the Mississippi River went to the North.
When Braxton Bragg was defeated at Chattanooga, Johnston took command of the Army of Tennessee, but his withdrawal tactics on the battlefield caused President Davis to relieve him of his command near Atlanta in 1864 when General William Tecumseh Sherman began his crushing March to the Sea.
Johnston, who was much loved by the troops because of his humanitarian treatment, was eventually restored to his old command, but it was too little too late. In an attempt to link up with Lee's forces in Virginia, Johnston hoped to combine their armies to attack Grant and Sherman. But it never happened.
After Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Johnston followed suit on April 26, 1865.
After the war, Johnston was elected to the United States Congress, and served as a railroad commissioner for a time. He also wrote about his Civil War experiences, and was highly critical of President Davis and his fellow generals.
While attending the funeral of William Tecumseh Sherman, Johnston caught pneumonia and died in New York City on March 21, 1891.
