Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: November 29, 2015
Caption: Joseph E. Johnston
Additional Description: This c. 1860-61 portrait of Joseph E. Johnston by Benjamin Franklin Reinhart hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

“Joseph E. Johnston joined the Confederate army as a leading contender for high command. His brilliant performance at the First Battle of Manassas earned him a general's commission and seemed to foretell further military successes. Yet his promotion was the beginning of a difficult working relationship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The two simply did not trust each other. When assigned to com­mand in Tennessee and Mississippi, Johnston com­plained that his orders were insufficient and lacked authority. In turn, when the strategic river town of Vicksburg fell into Union hands, Davis blamed Johnston for circumstances beyond his immediate control. What Impaired Johnston most was his over­cautiousness, which his superiors interpreted as passivity. He liked Ideal situations in which his army had I numerical edge and could take the defensive, but It no time was the Confederacy ever blessed with superior numbers.” — National Portrait Gallery
Submitted: February 2, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p374632
File Size: 2.290 Megabytes

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