{⋆★⋆} GEN Johnston, Joseph E

Joseph Eggleston Johnston
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Born: February 3, 1807

Birthplace: Longwood House, near Farmville, Virginia

Father: Judge Peter Johnston 1763 – 1831

(Buried: Johnston Cemetery, Abingdon, Virginia)​

Mother: Mary Valentine Wood 1769 – 1825

(Buried: Johnston Cemetery, Abingdon, Virginia)​

Wife: Lydia Mulligan Sims McLane 1822 – 1887

(Buried: Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland)​

Married: July 10, 1845 in Prince Edward County, Virginia

Children: None

Signature:

Education:

1829: Graduated from West Point Military Academy (13th​ in class)​

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Studied Civil Engineering​

Occupation before War:

1829: Brevet 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 4th​ Artillery​

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1829 – 1836: 2nd​ Lt. United States Army, 4th​ Artillery​

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1836 – 1837: 1st​ Lt. United States Army, 4th​ Artillery​

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1836: Aide to Major General Winfield Scott​

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1837: Resigned from United States Army on May 31st​​

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1837 – 1838: Civilian Topographic Engineer​

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1838 – 1846: 1st​ Lt. United States Army, Corps of Topographic Engineers​

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1846 – 1860: Captain, United States Army, Topographic Engineers​

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1848 – 1858: Chief Topographic Engineer, Department of Texas​

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1858: Acting Inspector General for the Utah Expedition​

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1860 – 1861: Brigadier General, United States Army, Quartermaster Department​

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1861: Resigned from United States Army on April 22nd​​

Civil War Career:

1861: Major General of Virginia State Forces​

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1861: Brigadier General in the Confederate Army​

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1861: Commanding General, Army of the Shenandoah​

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1861: Commanding General, Army of the Potomac​

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1861 – 1865: General of Confederate Army, Infantry​

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1861 – 1862: Commanding General, Department of Northern Virginia​

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1862: Wounded in right shoulder and Chest, Battle of Seven Pines​

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1862 – 1863: Commander of C.S.A., Department of the West​

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1863 – 1864: Commanding General, Army of Tennessee​

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1865: Commanding General, Army of Tennessee​

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1865: Commanding General, Department of Tennessee and Georgia​

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1865: Commanding General, Department of South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia​

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1865: Commanding General, Department of North Carolina​

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1865: Surrendered at Bennett House near Durham, North Carolina​

Occupation after War:

1866 – 1867: President Alabama & Tennessee River Railroad Company​

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Agent for Liverpool, London, and Globe Insurance in Savannah, Georgia​

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1875: Declined Presidency of Arkansas Industrial University

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1876 – 1877: Moved from Savannah, Georgia to Richmond, Virginia​

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1879 – 1881: United States Representative from Virginia​

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1885 – 1887: United States Commissioner of Railroads​

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1887 – 1891: Participated in Veteran Gatherings​

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1891: Honorary pallbearer at General Sherman's Funeral​

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1891: Refused to wear his hat at General Sherman's Funeral​

Died: March 21, 1891

Place of Death: Washington, D.C.

Cause of Death: Pneumonia

Age at time of Death: 84 years old

Buried: Green Mount Cemetery, Baltimore, Maryland

 

[donna]

I always remember the story of Johnston being baptized by General Polk, the Bishop. It was in 1864 at time of great revival in Confederate army. Mrs. Johnston had asked the Bishop to baptize him and it finally happened. Polk baptized others too, including, General Hood.

 

[Nytram01]

I am of the opinion that Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a competent and conventional General who conducted his campaigns accordingly.

As a General in command of a force out-numbered and, frankly, outclassed in material - both in quality and quantity - he adopted a cautious approach where he traded territory for time and sought to preserve his manpower and fight only when necessary or when he had an advantage.

Johnston was not really an original thinker. He was a very well read professional soldier with a good reputation but when it came to putting military ideas into practice he was not someone who deviated much from convention - and this likely contributed to William Sherman's assesment of him as "a sensible man who only did sensible things"

I doubt whether he ever had any grand ideas to win the war, I doubt whether the idea of a "Fabian strategy" ever crossed his mind until he came to reflect on events with hindsight, and I am absolutely certain no political concerns ever influences his military thinking.

He dealt with what was in front of him, and relied on his ability to handle events in motion rather than plan ahead. It's, therefore, rather unlikely that he spared much thought to how his actions might have impacted the war as a whole outside of the particular front he was involved in at the time.

Throughout the war he consistantly sought to achieve local superiority in numbers over his enemy so that he could attack from a position of strength, but very rarely managed to do so - and thus there are only a handful of examples of Johnston offensives, and one of them is the aborted attack at Cassville - which has always suggested to me that had he remained with the Union he would have been a more aggressive General simply because of the almost gaurenteed numerical advantage.

 

[gentlemanrob]

Today mark's the birthday of General Joseph E. Johnston! Salutes General on your birthday.

 

[USS ALASKA]

AUTHOR: Colonel Joseph E. Wasiak Jr.
TITLE: A Failure in Strategic Command: Jefferson Davis, J.E. Johnston and the Western Theater
FORMAT: Strategy Research Project
DATE: 6 April 1998
PAGES: 21
CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

ABSTRACT
This paper looks at the decision of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in November of 1862 to appoint General Joseph E. Johnston to command of the armies in the Department of the West and why that decision failed. It addresses three primary reasons for this failure which were Johnston's unsuitability for the position, Davis's inability to allow a subordinate the appropriate freedom to command, and finally, the difficulties with the command structure of the Department of the West.

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a346356.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[JerryD]

AUTHOR: Colonel Joseph E. Wasiak Jr.
TITLE: A Failure in Strategic Command: Jefferson Davis, J.E. Johnston and the Western Theater
FORMAT: Strategy Research Project
DATE: 6 April 1998
PAGES: 21
CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

ABSTRACT
This paper looks at the decision of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in November of 1862 to appoint General Joseph E. Johnston to command of the armies in the Department of the West and why that decision failed. It addresses three primary reasons for this failure which were Johnston's unsuitability for the position, Davis's inability to allow a subordinate the appropriate freedom to command, and finally, the difficulties with the command structure of the Department of the West.

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a346356.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

Interesting paper. Are you the author?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Are you the author?

No sir.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

 

[JerryD]

No sir.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

What do you think of the conclusions? I wasnt real impressed with the analysis, to be honest. Was surprised the author trotted out the old grouse hunt story as if it had any probative value. It struck me as freshman level work, to be honest. I was expecting something a little more professional. All in all, though, I think his conclusions are for the most part sound.

 

[Nytram01]

AUTHOR: Colonel Joseph E. Wasiak Jr.
TITLE: A Failure in Strategic Command: Jefferson Davis, J.E. Johnston and the Western Theater
FORMAT: Strategy Research Project
DATE: 6 April 1998
PAGES: 21
CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A: Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

ABSTRACT
This paper looks at the decision of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in November of 1862 to appoint General Joseph E. Johnston to command of the armies in the Department of the West and why that decision failed. It addresses three primary reasons for this failure which were Johnston's unsuitability for the position, Davis's inability to allow a subordinate the appropriate freedom to command, and finally, the difficulties with the command structure of the Department of the West.

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a346356.pdf

Cheers,
USS ALASKA

I agree with the "three primary reasons" for why Johnston's appointment to Commander of the Department of the West failed - Johnston was unsuited for the role, Davis wasn't willing to relinquish any real power, and the command structure was inadequet for the task it faced.

I am uncertain of the speculation that the Johnston/Davis feud originated from Davis's support of Sidney Johnston over Joe for the vacant Quartermaster General's post. It might have had some impact on their opinions of each other but I have never seen that given for the reason their personal quarrel started.

But the author loses a few points with me for referencing Mary Chesnut's Wade Hampton story - referred to as "a grouse hunting trip before the war" in the document - and using it as an accurate assessment of Johnston as a general - as I have said before on this website, this story was something Mrs Chesnut, a staunch Davis supporter, made up to amuse herself and her friends about somebody she heavilly dissaproved of, and it should have no credibility in any serious assessment of Joe Johnston's professional or personal qualities.