At the beginning of the Civil War it was almost universally
agreed that the finest soldier, North or South, was Albert Sidney Johnston.
But his Civil War career was a definite disappointment to the Confederacy.
The Kentucky-born Johnston was appointed to West Point from Louisiana and
graduated eighth in the class of 1826. After eight years of service he
resigned to care for his terminally ill wife. A failure at farming, he went
to Texas and joined the revolutionary forces as a private. He rose to the
forces' chief command as senior brigadier the next year.
He served as secretary of war in the Republic of Texas and commanded
the lst Texas Rifles in the Mexican War. Reentering the regular army in 1849
as a major and paymaster, he became colonel, 2nd (old) Cavalry, in 185 5.
For his services in the 1857 campaign against the Mormons in Utah he was
brevetted brigadier general. He resigned his commission on April 10, 1861,
but did not quit his post on the West Coast until his successor arrived.
Relieved, he began the long trek to Richmond overland. Meeting with
Jefferson Davis, he entered Confederate service where his assignments
included: general, CSA (August 30, 1861, to date from May 30, 1861);
commanding Department No. 2 (September 15, 1861 - April 6, 1862); and in
immediate command of the Central Army of Kentucky, Department No. 2 (October
28 - December 5, 1861 and February 23- March 29, 1862).
As the second ranking general in the Southern army he was given
command of the western theater of operations. Establishing a line of defense
in Kentucky from the Mississippi River to the Appalachians, he held it until
it was broken at Mill Springs in January and at Forts Henry and Donelson in
February 1862. Abandoning Kentucky and most of Tennessee, he fell back into
northern Mississippi where he concentrated his previously scattered forces.
In early April he moved against Grant's army at Shiloh. In what was
basically a surprise attack, he drove the enemy back. While directing
frontline operations he was wounded in the leg. Not considering his wound
serious, he bled to death. Grant, writing in his memoirs, considered
Johnston as having failed to live up to earlier expectations. (Roland,
Charles P., Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Tbree Republics)
Source: "Who Was Who In The Civil War" by Stewart Sifakis
