Joseph E. Johnston

Who: Joseph Eggleston Johnston

What: One of the most senior generals in the Confederate Army.

Where: Born Farmville, Virginia; died Washington D.C.

Why: His outstanding military career was hampered by a long standing feud with Jefferson Davis

When: Born February 3, 1807; died March 21, 1891

“That shot that struck me down was the best ever fired for the Confederacy” – Joseph E. Johnston, referring to his replacement as Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia by Robert E Lee

Joseph Johnston was the seventh son of Judge Peter Johnston. He was named for Major Joseph Eggleston, Judge Peter’s commander in the American Revolutionary War, in turn subordinate to ‘Light-Horse’ Harry Lee, father of Johnston’s future colleague Robert E Lee. Johnston attended West Point, graduating 13^th in the same class as Lee. He served in the Seminole and Mexican-American wars, and as a major general in 1861, became the highest-ranking US Army officer to resign his commission and join the Confederate Army. He helped muster the Army of the Shenandoah and met up with the forces of P.G.T Beauregard in July at the First Battle of Bull Run. When George McClellan began his Peninsula Campaign, Johnston fought defensively eventually attacking in the Battle of Seven Pines. He was hit by an artillery shell, and command was turned over to Robert E Lee, who drove the Federals away from Richmond. After recovering, Johnston moved to the Western Theater, but was powerless against Ulysses S Grant’s ultimately successful Siege of Vicksburg. After Confederate defeat in the Battle of Chattanooga, Johnston was given command of the Army of Tennessee, and masterfully delayed William T Sherman’s advance toward Atlanta. However, his fractious relationship with Jefferson Davis led to him losing command to John Bell Hood, who Sherman soundly defeated. Johnston and the remnants of his army ultimately surrendered to Sherman in April 1865. After the war, Johnston worked in the railroad and insurance businesses, including a term in Congress. He died of pneumonia a little over a month after attending Sherman’s funeral, having refused to wear a hat in the bitter cold out of respect to his former adversary and long-time friend. He was not related to the Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnston, who died at the Battle of Shiloh.

Further reading:

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Joseph_E_Johnston.htm

http://www.generaljosephejohnston.com/pages/josephejohnston.html

http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/Joseph_E._Johnston

https://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/JosephEJohnston.aspx

http://www.civilwarhome.com/joejohnston.html

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/joseph-johnston.html

http://www.bennettplacehistoricsite.com/history/gen-joseph-e-johnston/

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Who: Nathan Bedford Forrest.

What: Cavalry commander in the Confederate Army.

Where: Born Chapel Hill, Tennessee; died Memphis, Tennessee.

Why: Despite having no military education, Forrest was one of the greatest cavalrymen in the Civil War.

When: Born July 13, 1821; died October 29, 1877.

“Come on boys, if you want a heap of fun and to kill some Yankees” – Forrest’s call to arms in 1861.

Nathan Bedford Forrest was born poor. Eldest of twelve, his father died when Forrest was 17 making him head of the family. He entered into business, swiftly becoming a millionaire dealing in cotton and slaves. At the outbreak of war in 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private. Seeing how ill-equipped the Confederates were, he decided to raise a unit of his own at his own expense, and was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. He and his command quickly gained notoriety, breaking out of the Ulysses S Grant’s Union siege at Fort Donelson in February 1862, fighting at the Battle of Shiloh and earning the nickname ‘The Wizard of the Saddle’. Over the course of the war he reportedly had 29 horses shot out from under him. At Shiloh, he single-handedly charged into the Union lines, a point-blank musket shot to the spine physically lifting him out of his saddle, before hoisting a Union soldier up on to his horse to use as a shield, dumping the poor man once out of range. By 1863 he was raiding Union supply lines around the Vicksburg Campaign. In May he convinced Colonel Abel Streight’s far superior forces to surrender by marching his smaller force around the same hilltop several times, giving the appearance of larger numbers. He then fought with distinction in the Battle of Chickamauga but his reputation was then stained when his men reportedly massacred more than 200 black Union soldiers at the Battle of Fort Pillow. After the war he settled in Memphis. He was an early member of the Ku Klux Klan, but was not a founder. He disbanded the first Klan in 1869, and died in Memphis in 1877.

Further reading:

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/nathan-bedford-forrest.html

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/nathan-bedford-forrest

http://www.civilwarhome.com/natbio.html

http://www.nathanbedfordforrest.net/biography.htm

http://www.historynet.com/nathan-bedford-forrest

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2004/winter/a-different-kind-of-hero

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest.htm

The Siege of Vicksburg

Who: Ulysses S Grant (USA) vs John Pemberton (CSA)

What: Union victory; major battle in the Civil War – one of the turning points.

Where: Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Why: Vicksburg was key to control of the Mississippi River.

When: May 18 – July 4, 1863.

“Vicksburg is the key. The War can never be brought to a close until the key is in our pocket.” – Abraham Lincoln

The fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi turned out to be one of the most important battlegrounds of the entire war. Situated on the mighty Mississippi River, then a major supply line and huge economic highway opening up the Northwest to world markets, Vicksburg was the last stronghold preventing the Union from controlling the entire river. Ulysses S Grant’s Vicksburg campaign led him to the city’s limits by May 18, having marched 180 miles, won five battles and capturing 6,000 prisoners in three weeks. After flanking the city in a daring midnight raid, Grant had exposed Vicksburg’s more vulnerable underbelly to the south. However, the city remained too well-defended, and after two failed assaults with high casualties on May 19 and 22, Grant resorted to besieging the city on May 25. The situation became dire for the Confederates and the civilians, who abandoned their homes and dug caves in the hills around the city. After six weeks of constant bombardment, and without reinforcement or resupply – the Union navy had cut off the city from the rest of the Mississippi – the starving garrison finally surrendered on July 4, Independence Day, and the day after the equally crucial Union victory Battle of Gettysburg. It also marked the turning point in the careers of both Grant and William T Sherman, two of the most important men in American military history.

Further reading:

http://www.civilwarhome.com/battleofvicksburg.html

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg.html

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/vicksburg/maps/vicksburgmap.html

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/vicksburg-campaign

http://www.nps.gov/vick/historyculture/vickcamp-siege.htm

http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/map11.html

http://www.goddidntchoosesides.com/last-day-at-vicksburg/

William Tecumseh Sherman

Who: William Tecumseh Sherman

What: Union general in the Civil War

Where: Born Lancaster, Ohio; died New York City, NY.

Why: Union commander in the western theater after Grant’s accession to Commanding General of the United States Army.

When: February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891.

“War is Hell” – William T Sherman

Sherman is a divisive figure. Most famous for his ‘March to the Sea’, he had graduated West Point in 1840, serving in the Mexican War before resigning in 1853 to become a partner in a bank, and superintendent of what would become Louisiana State University. After fighting at First Manassas, he ended up in depression and suffered a nervous breakdown before recovering in time for the Battle of Shiloh, and served with Grant at the pivotal Siege of Vicksburg. Made Supreme Commander of the Armies in the West in 1864, he was instructed by Grant to ‘create havoc and destruction of all resources that would be beneficial to the enemy’, he marched on Atlanta, while his adversary Joseph E. Johnston was replaced by John Bell Hood, who proved even more unsuccessful against Sherman’s relentless advance. After his capture of Atlanta, with the intention of making ‘Georgia howl’, he carved a cruel path to Savannah, living off the land and scorching the earth behind him, before swinging north to wreak havoc in the Carolinas. Sherman was appointed Commanding General of the United States Army after Grant’s election to President in 1869, and continued the Indian Wars in the West. He was proposed as Republican candidate for the presidential election of 1884, but declined, saying ‘I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.’ He died on February 14 1881. At his funeral, Joseph E. Johnston, his old Confederate adversary, served as a pallbearer. Owing to the cold, a friend asked Johnston to put on a hat, who replied ‘If I were in [Sherman’s] place, and he were standing in mine, he would not put on his hat.’ Johnston died one month later of pneumonia.

Further reading:

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/william-t-sherman.html

http://www.aboutnorthgeorgia.com/ang/William_Tecumseh_Sherman

http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/william-t-sherman

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sherman.htm

http://www.civilwarhome.com/sherbio.html

Ulysses S Grant

Who: Born Hiram Ulysses Grant

What: Union general in the Civil War, later 18^th President of the United States

Where: Born Point Pleasant, Ohio.

Why: A stellar record in the West led to his appointment as Commanding General of the United States Army.

When: Born April 27, 1822, died July 23, 1885.

“I have never advocated war except as a means of peace.” – Ulysses S Grant

Ulysses S Grant was an unremarkable man that did remarkable things in his lifetime. Born a tanner’s son, he grudgingly attended West Point – a clerical error listing him as Ulysses S Grant – graduated middle of his class, and served in the Mexican War. He resigned in 1854, and spent seven years struggling financially, eventually working in his father’s leather store. In 1861 he volunteered again, and fought with distinction in the western theatre, turning the tide at the Battle of Shiloh and crucially taking the town of Vicksburg in 1863, effectively cutting the Confederacy in two, and defeating the Confederates in the Battle of Chattanooga, paving the way for Sherman’s March to the Sea. He was given command of all Union armies on March 3, 1864, and eschewed his predecessors’ tactic of territorial conquest, resolving instead to destroy the Confederate armies. He defeated the Confederacy simply by inflicting unsustainable casualties, at great cost, and Robert E Lee finally surrendered to Grant on April 9, 1865. After Lincoln’s assassination, Grant oversaw the military portion of Reconstruction, and was elected President of the United States in 1868 as a Republican. His Presidency was dogged by scandal and his political inexperience, although he managed to ratify the 15^th Amendment (prohibiting federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race) and established the National Parks Service. He lived out his final years writing his memoirs as he slowly died of throat cancer, dying just as the memoirs were published on July 23, 1885 at the age of 63, and was buried in New York City.