Beschreibung:

JOHNSTON, Joseph E. (1807-1891), General, C. S. A . Autograph letter signed ("J. E. Johnston") to Gen. E. U. Smith, Headquarters, Centreville, 14 February 1862, with autograph postscript initialed ("J. E. J."). 2 pp., 8vo., blue ruled paper . JOE JOHNSTON IN THE FINAL MONTHS OF HIS VIRGINIA COMMAND. "The President has through the Secretary of War, ordered that the 3d Tennessee be sent immediately to Knoxville. Please give the requisite orders. Please inform the Chief Qr. Mr., Major Barbour, when Railroad transportation will be required. The recent Va. Law requires the reenlistment of Va. troops under that state law--& not the furlough law of the Congress." In his postscript, Johnston asks: "Did you receive a note from me asking for an artillery report--to give the number & calibres of your pieces & the names & merit absolute & relative, of the artillery officers? Please let me have it when you can." Wounded five times in the Mexican War (not to mention a few battle scars inflicted in Indian fighting), Joe Johnston was a tough, seasoned campaigner by the time he took charge of the Confederate forces at First Bull Run. He thought his position as senior officer in the U.S. Army should translate to the same rank in the Confederate service. Instead, he was fourth in the chain of command, behind the desk-bound Samuel Cooper Davis's West Point roommate A. S. Johnston, and Lee. Clashes with Jefferson Davis would likely have brought his removal from the Virginia theatre, but two wounds at Seven Pines accomplished the same purpose. Replaced by Lee, Johnston was shifted to the western theatres, leading the Army of the Tennessee through the Atlanta and Carolinas campaigns. He flouted Davis until the end, disregarding the president's order to continue fighting after Appomattox, and surrendering to Sherman on 26 April 1865.