Albert Sidney Johnston's "Iron Dice" Quote

[OldReliable1862]

Regardless of one's opinion of Albert Sidney Johnston's generalship, I think there can be little doubt that he was an eminently quotable man. I'm interested in one quote in particular. I've found several references to Johnston saying they must "roll the iron dice of battle" prior to Shiloh. Indeed, Tim Smith titled his book on Johnston The Iron Dice of Battle: Albert Sidney Johnston and the Civil War in the West. I have sometimes seen the quote rendered as "We must roll the iron dice of battle," and sometimes as "Let us roll the iron dice of battle."

Does anyone have a source for this quote?

 

[FZ11]

Regardless of one's opinion of Albert Sidney Johnston's generalship, I think there can be little doubt that he was an eminently quotable man. I'm interested in one quote in particular. I've found several references to Johnston saying they must "roll the iron dice of battle" prior to Shiloh. Indeed, Tim Smith titled his book on Johnston The Iron Dice of Battle: Albert Sidney Johnston and the Civil War in the West. I have sometimes seen the quote rendered as "We must roll the iron dice of battle," and sometimes as "Let us roll the iron dice of battle."

Does anyone have a source for this quote?

Means what it sez.

 

[OldReliable1862]

Means what it sez.

Sorry, I should have clarified that I was looking for the original source that states Johnston said that. I haven't been able to locate it in the biography of Johnston written by his son.

 

[RedRover]

General Jordan's book with Forrest on Forrest's campaigns, published in 1868, noted...

In Wiley Sword's 1974 "Shiloh: Bloody April," (p. 108) interpreted that as if Gen. Johnston "once remarked"...

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Did Johnston actually say that or was it a phrase adopted by an author for their work to more or less describe Johnston's strategy at Shiloh?