Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891)
General in the Confederate States Army & Brigadier-General in the U.S. Army
He was born at the "Longwood" Plantation in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and his maternal grandmother, Lucy (Henry) Wood, was the sister of Patrick Henry, twice Governor of Virginia. He graduated from West Point (1829) and served in the U.S. Army with distinction in the Seminole Wars, Mexican-American War, and various frontier assignments, rising to the rank of Brigadier-General in 1860.
When Virginia seceded in 1861, he resigned and joined the Confederacy, quickly becoming one of its highest-ranking generals. He commanded Confederate forces at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), securing a crucial early Southern victory. He led the Army of Northern Virginia until being wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines (1862) when Robert E. Lee assumed command. After recovering, he commanded the Department of the West, overseeing the Vicksburg campaign, though he clashed frequently with President Jefferson Davis over strategy. In 1864, he led the Army of Tennessee against Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, conducting a skilful defensive retreat. Nonetheless, Davis controversially replaced him with John Bell Hood in July 1864. He was reinstated in February 1865 to oppose Sherman's Carolinas Campaign but surrendered his forces in April 1865, one of the last major Confederate surrenders. After the war, he was elected as a U.S. Congressman from Virginia and Commissioner of Railroads under Grover Cleveland while also writing his memoirs defending his wartime decisions. He married Lydia, daughter of U.S. Secretary of State Louis McClane. They died without children at Richmond, Virginia.
When Virginia seceded in 1861, he resigned and joined the Confederacy, quickly becoming one of its highest-ranking generals. He commanded Confederate forces at the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), securing a crucial early Southern victory. He led the Army of Northern Virginia until being wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines (1862) when Robert E. Lee assumed command. After recovering, he commanded the Department of the West, overseeing the Vicksburg campaign, though he clashed frequently with President Jefferson Davis over strategy. In 1864, he led the Army of Tennessee against Sherman's Atlanta Campaign, conducting a skilful defensive retreat. Nonetheless, Davis controversially replaced him with John Bell Hood in July 1864. He was reinstated in February 1865 to oppose Sherman's Carolinas Campaign but surrendered his forces in April 1865, one of the last major Confederate surrenders. After the war, he was elected as a U.S. Congressman from Virginia and Commissioner of Railroads under Grover Cleveland while also writing his memoirs defending his wartime decisions. He married Lydia, daughter of U.S. Secretary of State Louis McClane. They died without children at Richmond, Virginia.
