JOHNSTON
JOHNSTON
were confirmed by the provisional Confederate
senate, Maj"^ 13, 1861. Johnston was assigned to
the command of troops near Harper's Ferrj', where
he arrived, May 23, 18G1, and found Col. Tliomas
J. Jackson in command. He superseded Colonel
Jackson and at once began the work of organi-
zation on a much larger scale than had been
attempted by Jackson. He brigaded his troops
and assigned Colonel Jackson to the command
of the Virginia brigade. He withdrew to Wiu-
cliester, June 15, 1861, and upon his arrival there
was ceaseless in his labors to improve the effi-
ciency of his army. He left Winchester for Man-
assas, July 18, 1861, and arrived there, July 20,
1861, wiili part of his command. Altliougli
ranking officer, his late arrival and ignorance of
the topography of the region made him depend-
ent on General Beauregard for the necessary
information. Feai'ing the arrival of General
Patterson, both generals, after a long discussion,
decided that the offensive should be assumed
before reinforcements could arrive to their op-
ponents. The Federal movement was supposed
to have been planned against the Confed-
■erate right for the purpose of seizing Manassas
Junction, Beauregard's base of supply. Accord-
ingly orders were issued strengthening the right
on July 21, 1861. McDowell also decided to ad-
vance and attack Beauregard, not knowing of
the arrival of Johnston. The attack was made
on the weakened left of the Confederate forces,
with disastrous results. After two hours' stub-
born fight, McDowell won the first advantage,
and while General Bee was attempting to rally
his shattered command, Johnston and Beaure-
gard arrived on the field accompanied by their
color-bearers, and by their presence sustained
the troops until reinforcements arrived under
Cash, Kershaw, Preston and E. Kirby Smith,
and subsquently, u])on the arrival of Early,
McDowell gave up the contest and abandoned
the field in utter rout. The Confederate gov-
ernment passed " resolutions of tlianks to Gen-
erals Joseph E. Johnston and Gustave T. Beau-
regard and the officers and troops under
their command at the battle of Manassas." Up
to this time the relations between President
Davis and Genei'al Johnston had been most in-
timate. Upon the reorganization of the army
after the battle the President ranked Jolmston
fourth instead of first in the list of generals.
Johnston, in a letter dated Sept. 12, 1861, jiro-
tested against the action of the President, and
this led to an estrangement. Johnston remained
in command of the Army of Nortliern Virginia
and prepared to go into winter quarters. The
Federal army crossed the Potomac, intending
to attack the Confederate forces at Leesburg,
but met with defeat at Edwards Ferry and Ball's
Bluff, Oct. 21, 1861. Early in April, 1862, Johns-
ton was ordered to oppose McClellan at Yorktown
and the departments of Norfolk and of the Penin-
sula were added to his command. McClellan laid
siege, and on May 3, 1862, was ready to open
his batteries and pour a deadly fire into the
town. Johnston, however, withdrew his troops
in the night and concentrated at Williamsburg,
May 4, 1862. The battle of Williamsburg opened
May 5, and resulted in the retreat of the Con-
federates. On Maj' 31, 1862, Jolinston was re-
inforced by Iluger's division of three brigades
and attacked McClellan at Seven Pines. About
the close of the fight he was wounded in the
shoulder, and was soon after unhorsed by a
heavy fragment of shell, which struck his
breast. He was carried from the field to Rich-
mond, and the command of the army devolved
on Gen. Gustavus W, Smith. Upon his return
to duty in November, 1862, he was deprived of
his old command and assigned to the command
of the armies in the southwest, Nov. 24, 1862, with
headquarters at Chattanooga, Tenn. He reported
at Chattanooga, Dec. 4, 1862, and assumed com-
mand of the armies commanded respectively by
Generals Bragg, Pemberton and E. Kirby Smith.
The Federal forces separated Bragg's army at
Jackson, Pemberton's forces holding Vicksburg
while Holmes was at Little Rock, Ark., with
50,000 men, but not under the control of John-
ston. An attack by Grant was expected, but Van
Dorn reached the Federal rear and destroyed
their supplies at Holly Springs, causing an ex-
peditious retreat. While the detachment under
Bragg was advancing to assist Pemberton in
repelling Grant, Rosecrans advanced on Bragg,
and a battle took place at Murfreesboro on Stone's
River, Dec. 31, 1862, and Jan. 1 and 2, 1863. On
the first day the Confederates succeeded in de-
feating the Federal right, and on the second and
third days they held their ground, although a
heavj' Confederate loss was sustained ; but Bragg,
fearing that Rosecrans was receiving reinforce-
ments, withdrew behind Duck river to Manches-
ter, Tullahoma and Shelby ville. Bragg's force
was greatly weakened by the withdrawal of
troops by order of the President, who was on a
visit of inspection in Mississipi)i, for the purpose
of strengthening Pemberton's army, in spite of
Johnston's protest and his suggestion that the
reinforcement should come from Holmes's army
at Little Rock. On March 9, 1863, Johnston was
ordered to assume command of Bragg's army in
middle Tennessee, and lie reported at Tullahoma,
March 18, to find Bragg's absence from the army
caused by the severe illness of liis wife, and lie so
reported to the war department. About this
time his own health failed, and on April 10, at
his request. General Bragg was allowed to re-
