February 3, 1803 - April 6, 1862

This American army officer was born in Washington, Mason County, Kentucky and educated at Transylvania University (now Transylvania College) and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.. He entered the U.S. Army in 1826 and later fought in the war against the Sac Indian chief Black Hawk. In 1834 he resigned his commission, and two years later he enlisted as a private in the army of the republic of Texas. Within a year he rose to the rank of brigadier general and was give command of the Texan army. In 1838 he was made secretary of war of the republic, a position he held for two years. After Texas had been admitted to the Union in 1845, Johnston served as colonel of a regment of Texas volunteers during the Mexican War. He reentered the army in 1849, but in 1861, when the American Civil War broke out, he resigned his commission as brevet brigadier general and became a general in the Confederate army. He was assigned commander of the department of Kentucky by President Jefferson Davis, whom he had known from his days at West Point.

As commander of the department of Kentucky he had to guard a long and weak line from the Mississippi to the Alleghany Mountains, which was dangerously advanced on account of the political necessity of covering friendly country. The first serious advance of the Federals forced him back at once, and he was freely criticized and denounced for what, in ignorance of the facts, the Southern press and people regarded as a weak and irresolute defence. Johnston himself, who had entered upon the Civil War with the reputation of being the foremost soldier on either side, bore with fortitude the reproaches of his countrymen, and President Davis loyally supported his old friend.

General Johnston then marched to join Beauregard at Corinth, Miss., and with the united forces took the offensive against Ulysses S. Grant's army at Pittsburg Landing. The battle of Shiloh took place on the 6th and 7th of April, 1862. The Federals were completely surprised, and Johnston was in the full tide of success when he fell mortally wounded during his first battle of the war. He died a few minutes afterwards.

Johnston's death in the battle was a severe blow to Confederate hopes of winning the war. President Davis said, in his message to the Confederate Congress, "Without doing injustice to the living, it may safely be said that our loss is irreparable", and the subsequent history of the war in the west went far to prove the truth of his eulogy.

He is buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

 

 

 

 

 

HOME I HQ UDC I History I Objectives I Eligibility I Membership I Meetings I Contact Us