Narrative Of Military Operations During The Civil War

This book describes campaigns of the Civil War from a Confederate view.

Respected by his opponents yet at odds with his own authorities, Joseph E. Johnston remains as divisive a soldier now as he was at the time of the Civil War. One of the Confederacy's highest ranking and most experienced officers, he was regularly criticized both for lacking aggression and for his failures across his campaigns. Despite effectively halting McClellan's advance at Seven Pines, having been wounded President Davis replaced Johnston with his old classmate, Gen. Lee. Already bitter, his relationship with Davis only continued to sour, but in spite of Davis' desire to be rid of him Johnston had the support of Louis Wigfall. In 1865, nearly three weeks after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Johnston surrendered his own forces to Gen. Sherman; it was the largest such act of the war, and saved numerous lives. Joseph E. Johnston (1807-91) was an American career soldier. Graduating from West Point in 1829, he served in the U.S. Army through the Mexican-American and Seminole Wars. When Virginia declared its secession from the Union, Johnston, then a Brigadier General, resigned his commission and joined the Confederates. Ending the Civil War a full General, he later served a term in Congress.

This compelling memoir provides a firsthand account of the military operations and strategies employed during the American Civil War. Written by Confederate general Joseph Eggleston Johnston, this work is an essential resource for anyone interested in the history of the Civil War, military strategy, and the challenges of leadership in times of war. Featuring detailed accounts of battles, campaigns, and personal struggles, this book is a valuable addition to any Civil War history collection. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

"[The South's ranking of senior generals] seeks to tarnish my fair fame as a soldier and a man, earned by more than thirty years of laborious and perilous service. I had but this, the scars of many wounds, all honestly taken in my front and in the front of battle, and my father's Revolutionary sword. It was delivered to me from his venerated hand, without a stain of dishonor. Its blade is still unblemished as when it passed from his hand to mine. I drew it in the war, not for rank or fame, but to defend the sacred soil, the homes and hearths, the women and children; aye, and the men of my mother Virginia, my native South." - Joseph E. Johnston to Jefferson Davis, September 1861During the Civil War, one of the tales that was often told among Confederate soldiers was that Joseph E. Johnston was a crack shot who was a better bird hunter than just about everyone else in the South. However, as the story went, Johnston would never take the shot when asked to, complaining that something was wrong with the situation that prevented him from being able to shoot the bird when it was time. The story is almost certainly apocryphal, but it was aptly used to demonstrate the Confederates' frustration with a man who everyone regarded as a capable general. Johnston began the Civil War as one of the South's senior commanders, leading the ironically named Army of the Potomac to victory in the Battle of First Bull Run over Irvin McDowell's Union Army. But Johnston would become known more for losing by not winning. Johnston was never badly beaten in battle, but he had a habit of strategically withdrawing until he had nowhere left to retreat. When Johnston had retreated in the face of McClellan's army before Richmond in 1862, he finally launched a complex attack that not only failed but left him severely wounded, forcing him to turn over command of the Army of Northern Virginia to Robert E. Lee. Johnston and Confederate President Jefferson Davis had a volatile relationship throughout the war, but Johnston was too valuable to leave out of service and at the beginning of 1864 he was given command of the Army of Tennessee. When Johnston gradually retreated in the face of Sherman's massive army (which outnumbered his 2-1) before Atlanta in 1864, Davis removed Johnston from command of the Army of Tennessee and gave it to John Bell Hood. Johnston has never received the plaudits of many of the South's other generals; in fact, there are only a couple of monuments commemorating his service in the South. Yet Johnston was a competent general who fought in some of the most important campaigns of the Civil War, and it's often forgotten that it was his surrender to Sherman weeks after Appomattox that truly ended the Civil War. Johnston did so over Davis's command to keep fighting, incurring his wrath once more. Having dealt with each other, Sherman and Johnston became friends after the war, and when the elderly Johnston served as a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral, he contracted an illness that eventually killed him. Given his prominent and controversial role in the Civil War, Johnston naturally took to writing memoirs, Narrative of Military Operations During the Civil War, which gives an extremely detailed account of the war, a defense of his actions, and criticism of Jefferson Davis and John Bell Hood. One of the most interesting parts of Johnston's memoirs come at the end, with his letters, telegrams, and even an anecdote about the origins of the Confederate Battle Flag.

Published in 1874, these are Confederate General, Joseph E. Johnston's reminiscences of his time serving and commanding in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States.