Joseph Johnston
Facts, information and articles about Joseph Johnston, a Civil War General during the American Civil War
Joseph Johnston Facts
Born
February 3, 1807 Farmville, Virginia
Died
March 21, 1891 Washington, D.C.
Years Of Service
1829–37 and 1838–61 (USA)
1861–65 (CSA)
Rank
Brigadier General (USA)
General (CSA)
Commands
Army of the Shenandoah (1861)
Army of Northern Virginia (1861–1862)
Department of the West (1862-1863)
Army of Tennessee (1863-1864)
Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and also the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia (1865)
Battles
Mexican-American War
Battle of Cerro Gordo
Battle of Chapultepec
Seminole Wars
First Battle of Bull Run
Peninsula Campaign
Battle of Seven Pines
Vicksburg Campaign
Atlanta Campaign
Battle of Bentonville
Joseph Johnston Articles
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Joseph Johnston summary: Joseph Eggleston Johnston (1807 -1891) was the seventh son born to Judge Peter Johnston and Mary Valentine Wood near Farmville, Virginia. He attended the United States Military Academy. In 1845 Johnston married Lydia Mulligan Sims McLane but bore no children.
Johnston Joins The U.S. Army
In 1837 he resigned from the army and later became a civilian topographic engineer aboard a ship during the Second Seminole War. It was here where he received the first of many injuries by a bullet which scraped his scalp. After more combats as a civilian, Johnston rejoined the army and fought in the Mexican-American War.
He constantly requested Jefferson Davis to be promoted further up the ranks, but Davis refused. This led to a major fall out between the pair. However, Johnston was promoted up through the ranks and in 1860 was Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army.
Johnston In The Civil War
When Civil War broke in 1861 and after Virginia seceded, Johnston resigned from the army. He was the highest ranking officer to leave the U.S. army for the Confederacy. He became a brigadier general and took over command of troops from Colonel Thomas Jackson. He was promoted to general in August 1861, but was angry that he was junior to three others. He felt he should have been the senior officer.
He was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. He fought and was forced to surrender in numerous battles and gained more injuries. He did realise that there were very little resources and tried to protect these assets. Johnston had to evacuate Jackson, Ms as he had very few men, and the city was burned and destroyed.
At the end of the war, Johnston negotiated surrender with Major General William T. Sherman from the Union on April 26th 1865. After this Sherman gave Johnston’s men 10 days of ration food. Johnston never forgot this gesture of goodwill.
Articles Featuring Joseph Johnston From History Net Magazines
Lincoln urges farmers to go west, McClellan stalls and a new Rebel commander takes over
May
3 – Confederate General Joseph Johnston orders troops to evacuate Norfolk, Va. Evacuation is completed May 10, and on May 11, the crew of …
In the final week of the war in Virginia, small villages, crossroads and railroad depots previously untouched by the fighting took on enormous importance as Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant sought to bring General Robert E. Lee to bay and …
By Ken Bivin
By Phil Noblitt
By Mark J. Crawford
Reviewed by Mike Oppenheim
By Michael B. Ballard
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2004
Popular writers tell us the Confederacy successfully fought off the Union until July 1863. Then came Vicksburg and Gettysburg, after which defeat became inevitable. Meant …
Jefferson Davis, American, by William C. Cooper, Jr., Alfred A. Knopf, 672 pages, $35.
Among historians Jefferson Davis has an image problem. He is seen as aloof and prickly, a man who could sometimes be an intellectual tyrant, always trying …
DAVIS AND LEE AT WAR
The decisive impact of politics on Civil War strategy is currently a hot topic among Civil War historians. Works analyzing thehigh commands of the Federal and Confederate armies and their complex relationships with the political …
South's Feuding Generals
By Richard Selcer
It sometimes seemed that Southern generals were more interested in fighting each other than in fighting Yankees. Their inability to get along together contributed greatly to the South's demise.
Imagine a situation in the …
At Antietam, George McClellan and his 'bodyguard' dawdled throughout a long 'Fatal Thursday.'
This issue of America's Civil War takes a close look at the Battle of Antietam on this, the 135th anniversary of the battle. There are feature-length articles …
PERSONALITY
When Samuel Garland fell at South Mountain, the Confederacy lost a promising general and a proven leader.
By James K. Swisher
In the years following the Civil War, the loss of outstanding young leaders in that fratricidal conflict had …
Suave, gentlemanly Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle of Her Majesty's Coldstream Guards picked an unusual vacation spot: the Civil War-torn United States.
By Robert R. Hodges, Jr.
After graduating from Sandhurst, Great Britain's West Point, Arthur James Lyon Fremantle entered the …
Kill Cavalry's
NASTY
SURPRISE
Union General William Sherman considered
Judson Kilpatrick, his cavalry chief, 'a hell of
a damn fool.' At Monroe's Cross Roads, N.C.,
his carelessness and disobedience of orders
proved Sherman's point.
By William Preston Mangum II
Major …
Last-Ditch Rebel Stand at Petersburg
By Ronald E. Bullock
After nearly 10 months of trench warfare, Confederate resistance
at Petersburg, Va., suddenly collapsed. Desperate to save his
army, Robert E. Lee called on his soldiers for one last miracle.
After …
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