Customer Reviews

Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography (Norton Paperback)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Symonds, who also wrote a great bio of Patrick Cleburne, weaves a tremendous story of Johnston's life. This book is one of the few on Johnston and it is easily the best. This book delves into Johnston's personal life, his time in the military before the Civil War and during the war, his famous feud with Jefferson Davis, his association with Senator Louis Wigfall (a hater of Davis), and many other things. It seems Symond believes Johnston was a good general who has gotten somewhat of a bum rap, but he doesn't take sides in any battles or any of Johnston's disputes with Davis. To make a long story short, this is one of the best bios of any Confederate general and certainly the best on Johnston.

Symonds presents a well-balanced account of Johnston the man, the soldier, and the friend and husband. This book is interesting, not overly complex and contains as much detail of Johnston's life as one would require to render an objective opinion of Johnston.

Not until I read this book did I understand the impact that Johnston's leadership had on the Confederate army's achievements and set-backs during the Civil War. Johnston could be cautious in his execution of battle plans and overly sensitive to criticism of his leadership and the strategic use of his army. However, Johnston understood that winning battles against numerically superior odds required picking the right circumstances in which to use his men. Johnston's first priority as a soldier was always the well-being of his men. The book also explores in depth the antipathy that Johnston and Jefferson Davis shared toward each other, indeed for a lifetime. This biography provides an easy-to-read account of all significant events in the life of Joe Johnston.

I would have to agree with the previous review. This is one of the best Civil War biographies I have read in some time and I have not seen one better on Johnston yet. The author, I believe, offers a non-baised account of this Confederate leader and writes in a style that just keeps you turning the pages. The book is well researched and very well written, it was a joy to read. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who enjoys reading a decent history book. Well done to the author.

I must say that I have always been interested in Joe Johnston and having finally read such a good biography of him I am even more interested. As others have said you can't help but feel a bit sorry for "Old Joe." He was blamed for Vicksburg, even though it was Pemberton who disobeyed his orders and got his army trapped in the city. It was Davis who refused to allow Johnston the use of the troops west of the Mississippi. Johnston was blamed for not being able to stop Sherman in Northern Georgia when all facts show that he had done an incredible job of holding his army together against a superior force and perhaps the best general in the Union Army.

Symonds has done a great job with this biography. You can't help but get interested in and just keep reading. I read this book in 2 days it was so good. Symonds reveals Joe Johnston to be a complex, yet overall admirable general. I liked how he included the jealousy Johnston felt for Lee at one time, and the eventual end to that jealousy when Johnston took command in North Carolina. I loved reading about the constant fighting between Joe Johnston and Jefferson Davis. I think Symonds did an excellent job writing about this conflict that lasted for some 25 years. Only real complaint would be that I would have liked a bit more on Johnston before the war, specifically in Mexico. I felt that was rushed a bit. Besides that though this biography was excellent. I strongly recommend it to all.

A detailed and well documented trip through the mind of a great leader. An 18th century gentleman caught up in the burden of a 19th century conflict. Symonds shows how Johnston agonized through the days with Hood in the west, avoiding decisions that may have had a marked impact on the eventual outcome of the war in the west. Johnston's feud with Jefferson Davis is also well covered and it is clear that Johnston became so engrossed with this struggle that one cannot help but wonder if things in April, 1865, might have been very different had these two men cooperated rather than bickered with each other. Johnston's relationship with his classmate, Lee, is covered lightly, although the jealously in Johnston's heart sneaks through. The only reason I did not give the book five stars is the brief treatment of Johnston's early life - probably due to a lack of source material - and his life following the war. The treatment of this latter period seems rushed. All in all, an excellent history and an insightful look at a often unfairly maligned warrior. ...But, I'm prejudiced.

Whatever your opinion of Joseph Johnston, in my humble opinion, Craig Symonds has written a fabulous biography that is easy to read and seems to be fair in its treatment of Johnston.

Symonds comprehensively covers several areas of Johnston's life:

1. Early life in Virginia.
2. Years at West Point.
3. Service in Mexican War.
4. Army service between the Mexican War and the Civil War.
5. Civil War service - First Bull Run, early part of the Peninsula Campaign, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign, Bentonville, and surrender to Sherman.
6. Relationships with various Civil War generals and politicians.
7. Family life.
8. Post-Civil War years and death.

Symonds is fair and objective by pointing out Johnston's weaknesses (temper, sometimes a little touchy, prone to fight a defensive war), and his strengths (cared deeply for his troops, managed to win some battles while not suffering major defeats, ability to get along with Robert E. Lee, etc.). The writing style is fine and flows freely throughout the book.

After reading this title and the biography of Patrick Cleburne, I have concluded that Symonds is one of the best Civil War biographers around.

Read and enjoy the book and form your own opinion of one of the most controversial Civil War generals. Highly recommended!

If you ever wanted to know anything about Joseph E. Johnston than this is the book to read. After finishing it you can't but feel sorry for Johnston. He spent most of the post war years trying to set the record straight as to the part he played in the war, why he attacked when he did, and why he chose not to attack, his unconsuming hate and blame for the loss of the confederacy on Davis and others but never takes blame himself for any mistakes.I found the man an interesting figure of the war but also a sad one.

Joseph Johnston was one of the top ranking generals in the Confederate Army (at the outset, he was one of the five top ranking Generals with others such as Robert E. Lee, Albert S. Johnston, and Samuel Cooper). He is also a controversial figure. His feud with President Jefferson Davis is legendary. He was viewed by many as too timid militarily, willing to give up space rather than fight hard. On the other hand, more friendly analysts have mentioned that, unlike Robert E. Lee, he understood the value of preserving as much of his army as possible, rather than being bled to death by sanguinary battles with the larger Union forces. In that, some see him as the "anti-Lee."

This biography does a good job of describing Johnston's military career, the controversies that he engendered, his accomplishments and his failures.

There were certainly high moments: his role at First Manassas (or Bull Run); his skillful retreat before William T. Sherman's much larger army as he fell back on Atlanta (although critics would argue that he was far too unwilling to engage Sherman); his pulling together shattered Confederate forces for a final confrontation with Sherman at the battle at Bentonville.

There were low moments: his botched generalship at Seven Pines ranks pretty high.

Then, the more ambiguous examples. Was his behavior at Vicksburg visionary (as he sought to save Pemberton's army rather than the redoubt at Vicksburg)? Or disastrous, as he refused to try to fight through the far superior Union forces to relieve Vicksburg during the siege? I think the case can be made that Johnston was far wiser than others in this campaign--but it is also clear that he may not have been vigorous enough in trying to realize his vision. Did he fail in his role as supervising general in the western theater? Or was his role crippled from the outset? Questions without clear answers.

In the end, there is much ambiguity about his role in the Civil War. In retrospect, I think that he was one of the more capable Confederate generals and one of the few who understood that bloody conflicts against overwhelming Union forces was suicidal for the Confederate cause. But his prickliness and inability to work with the political directorate (headed by Davis) certainly undermined his efforts.

At any rate, this is a sensitive and fair biography of one of the major military leaders of the Confederacy.

During the Civil War, General Joseph Johnston was viewed as one of the South's three greatest Generals; today, he is essentially forgotten....he has exactly one monument [in Georgia], while Lee and Jackson have an untold number. And yet....he was never defeated on the field of battle...he won the first AND last major battles of the war...Generals Grant and Sherman each said that he was the toughest commander they faced [Lee said the same about McClellan; interesting]...maybe there was more to Joe than we realize....

Like many Civil War officers, Joe Johnston was the child of a Revolutionary War officer, though he was raised with niether the vast wealth of Polk, or the crushing poverty that afflicted Lee. He followed a life pattern typical of the breed....West Point....service as an engineer. Joe resigned from the Army due to low pay and lack of promotion, but didn't stay out long....while a civilian engineer with a group of inexperienced troops in Florida, he saved the day when the unit was attacked by Seminoles. Distinguished service in Mexico....eventually he became Quartermaster General of the US Army; this fact was to cause profound problems later, as Joe was the only General Officer to follow the South. [His portrait hangs in the main auditorium at Ft. Lee, VA, along with all the other Quartermasters General].

Joe Johnston could be a vain, difficult man; touchy about his dignity, he forever resented not being made the senior full General of the CSA [he was fourth]. He hated for his equals to call him "Joe", yet any of his soldiers was free to do so. The profound dislike of Joe Johnston and Jeff Davis for each other was a disaster for the South. Davis resented that Joe wouldn't communicate with him, and Joe knew that communicating a secret to the President's office was equivalent to printing it in a newspaper. After Joe was wounded at Seven Pines [Davis was properly supportive of his injured General], Lee took over the Army of Northern Virginia, and Joe was relegated to a series of assignments that involved cleaning up the messes of others...

Johnston was a General loved by his troops...they knew he wouldn't waste their lives. He had the "common touch"...Symonds relates an incident where Joe jumps down in the mud to help free a stuck cannon...reminds me of the scene in "Patton" where Patton plays traffic cop, getting jeeps out of the mud. He was criticized as being too "defensive", and was replaced in command of the Army of Tennessee by John Bell Hood [whom I consider a great General]...US Grant later said that the South might have won the war by leaving Joe in place, as he would have simply outlasted the North's desire to fight. Sort of like the US in Viet Nam; we could have nuked the North Vietnamese into submission anytime, but.......

After the war, Joe served one term in Congress [he headed the committee that cleared the name of Fitz John Porter], and was a US Railroad Commissioner. He and Davis continued to hate each other, and put their bile into print.

Craig Symonds has written a superb book about a great man and General who still doesn't get the respect he deserves. This is the finest book about Joe, and one of the finest about any General. Yes, Robert E. Lee was a great man, and so was Jeff Davis...a series of tragic circumstances deprived the South of the full service of a great officer. It's time you knew....

Craig Symonds provides one of the more balanced views on one of the most contested generals in the Civil War. While the debate still rages about Johnston as either tactically inept or a military genius, Symonds steps around it to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the man and points more in the direction of genius than inept. Johnston fought well during the Peninsula campaign and one the first battle of Bull Run. He was the most senior military man to leave the Union to join the confederacy and Davis political choices started a rift that would plague the confederacy throughout the war. His wounding at the battle for the Peninsula removed him from command of the Army of Northern Virginia and set the stage for Robert E. Lee's ascension.
Johnston in order to avoid the political debates in Richmond was sent by Davis to the west and placed in the command of the scattered armies where although the Confederates mocked and complained of his command decisions that lost Vicksburg and Murfreesboro his enemies praised his decisions to Washington that Johnston kept the war going years longer than it should have in the west. The Confederates did not have enough men to properly defend the vast territory they were trying to. Johnston would face a rearguard action from Tennessee to Georgia where he would continue to check Sherman's famous march to the Sea. He was relieved by the confederacy before the assault on Georgia and stayed without a command through the fall of Savannah. Finally as options ran out he took command of forces in North and South Carolina to check Sherman's ability to meet up with Grant. Here he was successful in slowing Sherman down and continued fighting three days after Lee surrendered making him the last confederate Army to surrender.
Overall this is an excellent biography about a complex solider who was in many of the important campaigns of the civil war. This book also details his time at west point, in Mexico, and fighting Indians before moving on to the Civil war. For those interested in Civil War history this is one not to miss.