Albert Sidney Johnston - Early life, Texas Army, U.S. Army, Civil War, Shiloh, Epitaph

Confederate general, born in Washington, Kentucky, USA. He trained at West Point, joined the Army of Texas, became its head, and in 1838 was appointed secretary of Texas. He served in the Mexican War, and commanded in Utah and on the Pacific (1857–9). In 1861 he resigned to fight for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Appointed to the command of Kentucky and Tennessee, he fortified Bowling Green, retreated to Corinth, and attacked Grant at Shiloh (1862). The Union army was surprised, and the advantage lay with the Confederates until he was mortally wounded.

Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was a career U.S. Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Considered by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to be the finest general in the Confederacy, he was killed early in the war at the Battle of Shiloh.

Early life

Johnston was born in Washington, Kentucky, the youngest son of Dr. John and Abigail Harris Johnston. Although Albert Johnston was born in Kentucky, he lived much of his life in Texas, which he considered his home. They had one son, William Preston Johnston.

Texas Army

In April 1834, Johnston took up farming in Texas, but enlisted as a private in the Texas Army during the Texas War of Independence against the Republic of Mexico in 1836. One month later, Johnston was promoted to major and the position of aide-de-camp to General Sam Houston. He was named Adjutant General as a colonel in the Republic of Texas Army on August 5, 1836. On January 31, 1837, he became Senior Brigadier General in command of the Texas Army.

On February 7, 1837, he fought in a duel with Texas Brig. Johnston refused to fire on Huston and lost the position after he was wounded in the pelvis. Johnston was to provide the defense of the Texas border against Mexican invasion, and in 1839 conducted a campaign against Indians in northern Texas.

U.S. Army

Johnston returned to the Texas Army during the Mexican-American War under General Zachary Taylor as a colonel of the 1st Texas Rifle Volunteers. Johnston managed to convince a few volunteers to stay and fight as he himself served as the inspector general of volunteers and fought at the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista. Johnston remained on his plantation after the war until he was appointed by President Zachary Taylor to the U.S. Army as a major and was made a paymaster in December of 1849.

Civil War

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Johnston was the commander of the U.S. Army Department of the Pacific in California. There Johnston was appointed a general by his friend, Jefferson Davis. On May 30, 1861, Johnston became the second highest ranking Confederate General (after the little-known Samuel Cooper) as commander of the Western Department.

Although the Confederate Army won a morale-boosting victory at First Bull Run in the East in 1861, matters in the West turned ugly by early 1862. Johnston's subordinate generals lost Fort Henry on February 6, 1862, and Fort Donelson on February 16, 1862, to Union Brig. Johnston has been faulted for poor judgment in selecting Gens. Beauregard was sent west to join Johnston and they organized their forces at Corinth, Mississippi, planning to ambush Grant's forces at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

Shiloh

Johnston concentrated many of his forces from around the theater and launched a massive surprise attack against Grant at the Battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862. As the Confederate forces overran the Union camps, Johnston seemed to be everywhere, personally leading and rallying troops up and down the line. Within a few minutes Johnston was observed by his staff to be nearly fainting off of his horse, and asked him if he was wounded, to which he replied "Yes, and I fear seriously." It is possible that Johnston's duel in 1837 had caused nerve damage or numbness to that leg and that he did not feel the wound to his leg as a result. Johnston was taken to a small ravine, where he bled to death in minutes. No Union soldiers were observed to have ever gotten behind Johnston during the fatal charge, while it is known that many Confederates were firing at the Union lines while Johnston charged well in advance of his soldiers.

Epitaph

Irony exists in the date of Johnston's death, Sunday, April 6, 1862, the 32nd anniversary of the founding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons), against whom he led United States forces in 1856 during the Utah War, as the Mormons were deemed by the Buchanan Administration to be in rebellion against the United States.

Johnston was buried in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1866, a joint resolution of the Texas Legislature was passed to have his body reinterred to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin The re-interment occurred in 1867.

The Texas Historical Commission has erected a historical marker near the entrance of what was once his plantation. An adjacent marker was erected by the San Jacinto Chapter of the Daughters of The Republic of Texas and the Lee, Roberts, and Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederate States of America. Johnston, William Preston, The Life of Albert Sidney Johnston, New York, 1878. Nofi, Albert A., The Alamo and the Texas War for Independence; Roland, Charles P., Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics, Austin, 1964.