Miracles never cease, as he has finally written a piece without blathering on slavery.
Our State Magazine
************************
Our State Magazine
************************
Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s massive army streams across the Cape Fear River at Fayetteville on pontoon bridges, and surges in two muscular columns northeast, threatening Raleigh to the north and the Goldsboro railroad nexus to the northeast. Sherman’s force of 4,400 cavalry and nearly 59,000 infantry seems unstoppable.
It falls to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to stop it.
He is 58 years old, of slight stature, his high forehead crowned with thinning gray hair. He favors side whiskers and a wispy goatee. He is naturally reticent, even aloof, but his gray eyes can suddenly light up with humor. He pursues any objective with single-minded intensity. He does not like to lose.
Many of his fellow officers consider him the best fighting soldier of his generation.
But two flaws of character sabotage his career. He is often prickly and irritable, and he is oversensitive about matters of personal honor.
At the outbreak of the war, Johnston resigns his commission as Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army to fight for the Confederacy. At First Manassas, he commands the Confederate forces as the highest-ranking officer in the army. Then President Jefferson Davis reorganizes the high command, demoting Johnston to fourth in rank.
He takes this as the gravest insult to his honor and enters a feud with Davis that comes to a head after he is wounded in the chest by a shell fragment at Seven Pines. When Johnston recuperates, he’s posted to the western outlands of the war, far from Richmond.
But now, with General Lee’s army surrounded in Virginia and so many other generals dead or incapacitated, old feuds matter less than fighting spirit and competence.
Johnston faces the ultimate test of his generalship: to defeat a well-equipped, seasoned army almost three times as large as his own.
More @ Our State
I think that the words "Last Stand" are rather deceptive, as it implies that Johnston was involved in a defense that resulted in his death, á la Custer's defeat at Little Big Horn or the tragedy at the Alamo.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but at least this is one I would post. :) Did you see the link at the top Our State Magazine?
Delete*nods* As a nominal journalist, he's obligated to post material from both sides of the conflict. As a blogger, you're under no such constraints. ;)
ReplyDeletejournalist, he's obligated to post material from both sides of the conflict.
DeleteReally, just like the liberal news 'journalists? :) At any rate, he's one sided as you might see in the comments
That's why I described him as a "nominal" journalist. ;)
ReplyDelete:). Were you in the cCav?
DeleteNope, it's just a hat I like. I currently can't budget the $200+ that a proper gray slouch would cost. I've never even done the research to know if I have Confederate ancestors, although with a father from Mississippi I'd be inclined to think I probably do.
DeleteThanks and do you have your grandfather's names and years?
DeleteIt'd be great-grandfather in my case. Only thing I know about him is that his name was T.W. Evans (my dad never told me what the TW stood for), and that he was a section foreman on a railroad. I still have some brass knuckles (nickle-plated iron, actually) that the old fellow used on the job. My mother's family was from Pennsylvania, post-war German immigrants.
ReplyDeleteMaybe one of these?
DeleteEvans, T. W. MS 1st Infantry Regiment State Troops
Evans, T. W. MS 2nd Cavalry Regiment State Troops
http://www.researchonline.net/mscw/index/index55.htm
Might be a place to start researching. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGo for it and let me know. Thanks.
Delete