The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston [Hardcover]

William Preston Johnston (Author), Charles P. Roland (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

The Life of Albert Sidney Johnston, selected by John H. Jenkins III as one of the basic Texas books, reads like a litany of the important events in the life of the Texas Republic and early statehood through the Civil War. A native Kentuckian and 1826 graduate of West Point, and a veteran of the Black Hawk War, Johnston arrived in Texas in 1836 shortly after the battle of San Jacinto and enlisted as a private in the Texas Army. Soon discovered in the ranks, he was immediately appointed the army's adjutant general. His injury from a duel with Felix Huston later prevented his taking command of the army. In 1838 he was appointed Texas' Secretary of War, and later led the expedition against the Cherokee Indians in East Texas. He commanded the 1st Texas Rifle Volunteers dring the Mexican War and became a regular officer in the U.S. Army--one of the few Texas military men permitted to do so.

At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Johnston was offered a position second in rank only to the aging Winfield Scott, but he refused the Federal government's offer and instead became commander of the Confederacy's Department No. 2, the Western Department. Keenly aware of the military weakness of the South, he issued a call for men at Bowling Green, Kentucky, and formed and drilled his army. On April 6, 1862, Johnston was killed at the battleof Shiloh. The author, Johnston's son, presents "a whole picture of the character of a difficult, generally taciturn man, and defends his actions in a balanced, scholarly manner." The son, having access to all of his father's private correspondence and papers, including his complete Confederate archives, was able to provide anecdotes only a son could know, and was able to persuade many of his father's associates to submit memoirs about him. Never before reprinted since its last publication in 1878, this new volume is of inestimable value and interest to historians and to other readers of Civil War history and early Texas history. This edition contains a new introduction by Charles P. Roland, author of Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics, and Jefferson Davis's Greatest General: Albert Sidney Johnston (McWhiney Foundation Press, 2000).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A delight for any student of Texan and Confederate history." -- The Rebel Rouser

Product Details

• Hardcover: 781 pages
• Publisher: State House Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880510480
• ISBN-13: 978-1880510483
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,742,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "I will fight them if they were a million!", January 30, 2005

By 

Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston (Hardcover)

Albert Sidney Johnston is one of the most interesting generals of the Civil War. Johnston already had an extensive military record when the war began, and President Jefferson Davis (his old West Point classmate) personally saw to it that Johnston was given command of an entire army (the Army of the Mississippi, later the Army of Tennessee).

The problem with this was that Johnston had never commanded an army before, and now he was faced with defending a 500-mile-long border stretching from eastern kentucky to western Missouri. He had less than 50,000 "available" troops, and many were poorly armed and equipped (some units didn't have any weapons at all!).

The Union capture of Forts Henry and Donelson in February 1862 paved the way for the fall of Nashville, and soon nearly all of Tennessee was in Union hands. Desperate to reclaim Tennessee for the Confederacy, Johnston planned a bold strike on the Union forces gathered around Shiloh Church in southwest Tennessee.

On the morning of April 6, 1862, the Confederates charged into the surprised Union camps and for the rest of the day pushed them back towards the Tennessee River. But the Confederate assault had eventually come to a stop, thanks to the strong Union artillery position as well as an exhaustion of ammunition.

It was the first day of the Battle of Shiloh where Gen. Johnston was killed, the enemy bullet severing his femoral artery in his right leg. Isham Harris, the Confederate governor of Tennessee, was by his side as the general lay dying. Johnston had ignored the wound and had continued directing his troops, but within minutes he bled to death.

In his "Personal Memoirs", Gen. Ulysses S. Grant wrote, "I do not question the personal courage of General Johnston, or his ability, but he did not win the distinction predicted for him by many of his friends. He did prove that as a general he was over-estimated."

Had he survived the Battle of Shiloh, Gen. Johnston might have proven otherwise, but for the relatively short time he commanded the Army of the Mississippi he proved to be a brave yet unreliable leader. This book strongly defends his actions and is an in-depth look at his life and long military career. It is highly recommended for those who want to learn more about the first year of the Civil War in Tennessee, and for those wanting to know more about this interesting general.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting, if prejudiced, biography., May 1, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (League City, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Life of General Albert Sidney Johnston (Hardcover)

This life of General Albert Sidney Johnston was written by his son about twenty years after the War Between The States. It covers his entire career, while concentrating upon the events surrounding the fall of Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh. It is obviously designed to prove that Gen. Johnston was not to blame for the fall of Fort Donelson, and that he deserves credit for a great strategic success at Shiloh, which was spoiled by his untimely death. Despite the propaganda, I quite enjoyed the book. Gen. Johnston was highly regarded by President Davis. Many thought him to be the equal (or superior) to Lee and that his death was a great tragedy to the Confederacy. The book is somewhat dense reading, containing numerous letters to support the author's case. Many were solicited from the surviving participants after the war.

5.0 out of 5 stars surprisingly good, January 3, 2012

By 

David Landau (San Francisco, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The life of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, embracing his services in the armies of the United States, the republic of Texas, and the Confederate States (Paperback)

This book begins with an obvious deficit; one can scarcely credit a biography written by the subject's child. But from the start, it's obvious this writer is a man of fairness and, furthermore, possesses the gifts of a poet. His descriptions of the battle at Shiloh are brilliantly constructed and strikingly beautiful. It's not surprising to find a biographer in total awe of his subject, but here --owing to the writer's good nature-- this element does not disturb; especially since the younger Johnston is fair and generous to others, including his father's mortal enemies. This is a handsome, instructive, inspiring read.