70 THE WAR AND ITS HEROES. through the trial. Hi* WOOl ived OB the 12th of A] ril, exactly six the battle of C lo, in which, of course, he was unable to .r a j.art. However, lie r> jovered sufi 1 resume his oommand in the poinding battloa of the war. He distinguished himself at Molino del Key, and was again severely woutidi d a; < 'hapultepec. These numerous wounds led <;>i. tt, afterwards, to say of him: "Johnston is a great soldier, bat he lias an unfortunate knack of getting himself shot in nearly every engagement, Tlii aded, probablj is a erj but there could not be a more honorable the gallantry lier. He was several times brevetted for ^.•'.llant and meritorious eonduot is this war, and at its conclusion, was retained
- i of Topographical Engineers. At what time he was promoted} wc
not aware; hut lie became I Colonel in the old army, and when the disrup- i of the Union took place, was Quartermaster-General, lie immediately gned and offered his services to his native State. He wee appointed to a hi^h command by Governor Letcher, hut thinking he could he of more use in the Confederate service, he resigned and offered himself to President Davis, then at Montgomery. He was immediately appointed Major-General, and ordered to take command of the forces at Harper's Ferry. < >n the 23d of May, 1861, Genera] Johnston assumed the command of the • Harper's Ferry, consisting { Dice regiments of infantry, two battalions irttllery, and Colonel Stuart'.- cavalry. This lore.', numbering, in all, less than •0<> men. was called the Army of the Shenandoah, as that which was placed r down, nearly opposite Washington, under the command of General Bean* ml. was called the Army of the Potomac General Johnston had a hard task before htm, With his small force, he was expected to guard Harper's ry, to repulse the Yankee General Patterson, who was said to be approaching 00 the Maryland side with 20,0 •' men, and to prevent him from forming a junction with BioClellan, who was advanoing iii the direction of Winchester from the western pari of Virginia. John-ton saw, at a glance, that the position ot Harpers Kerry was of no importance whatever, since an enemy coining down the alley of Pennsylvania might easily avoid it, and unite in his rear at Win- chester, with an enemy coming down the Valley of Virginia. That snob i pro- wa- on j'.„,t, he believed to be icrtain, when he learned, on the 18th of June, that a force of 2,000 men, believed to be the advanced guard of MeClcl- lau's forces, had arrived in Romney. He immediately determined to abandon Harper's Ferry, having fir-t burnt and blown up the railroad bridge and set tire to such of the buildings as were likely to prove useful to the enemy. At the lame time he sent forward B detachment to Winchester to hold in check any force that might come from the direction of Romney. On the 14th, while on the march, he learned that Patterson had crossed at Williams-port, that he had already possession of Martinsburg, and that there was nothing to fear from Romney, from which the enemy had retreated. His course was instantly taken. Jle occupied Uunkcr's Hill on the Martinshurg turnpike by a Hank march, interposed his army between the enemy and Winchester, took up a strong posi-
