American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-12-20
GEN, JOSEPH e. JOHNSTON.

Gen. JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON.
The forthcoming history of the
late war, by this distinguished SOL
der, is looked for with no ordinary
interest by both sections of the
Union. 1t is thought by many that
revelations will be made seriously
affecting the government at Rich
mould, and that the true cause or
causes of the disaster to our arms
will be therein set forth. Whatever
developments may be made in the
work, we feel satisfied that they
will bear the stamp Of truth and
honesty.
No history of the war ever at
tracted as much attention before
publication, and certainly none has
been so generally noticed by the
press. In this cOnnec ion, We sad
many papers, both North a.. south,
are reviewing Gener"' job ou's
military record, especially with ref
erence to his celebrated retreat from
Dalton to Atlanta, and the effect o.
his removal from command, by order
Of Mr.. Davis, on the very eve of a
great battle. That act was univer-
sally condemned in the army at the
time as being both unwise and i'm
polite, and we find that some North
ern journals, and at least one Fed
eral officer, attribute the defeat of
our cause to that unfortunate mill
tary blunder. In private letter
written in the fall of 1864, and ad-
dressed to our deceased friend, Mr..
John F. Bosworth, then editor of
the AMERICAN CITIZEN. the writer
of this article predicted the down
fall of the COnfederacy from the
date of the removal of General
Johnston, and from which letter the
following extracts, with others, were
published in this paper early in the
year 1865:
It makes my heart sick to think of
the present condition of the noble
Army of Tennessee. The moment
heard that Genl Johnston had been
relieved of its command, predicted
defeat and disaster. He took charge
of it when it had been whipped and
demOralized, and by his skill and
energy worked it up to high stan
dard of discipline and prowess. He
had the entire confidence of his off
GERS and men, and on no occasion
did either distrust the great ability
of their leader. No one but Gen
erai Johnston could have effected
the retreat from Dalton to Atlanta
and preserved his army intact, and
retained his confidence over it; and
in view of that fact alone, no living
man should have placed in his
stead. General Hood is a gallant
and meritorious soldier, and de-
serves well of his country, bnt he
lacked that controlling influence
over the army that General John
ston SO signally welded, and with
out which it was fated to lose it's
potency.
am rejOiced to sec that the army
and the country are both clamorous
for the reinstatement of General
Johnston and if the President does
not yield to the pressure brought to
bear against him in this particular.
he will, in my judgement, commit a
grievOus error. Should our govern
ment eventually reel to its fall. I
honestly believe that the Gauss will
be traced back, with unerring GER
taiDty, to the removal of General
Johnston from command of the Ar
my of Tennessee, at the most impOr-
tant and critical juncture of his
operations, and when SO much de-
pended upon the checking of Sher-
mans advance towards the sea.
We have reproduced these ex-
tracts, written and published nearly
nine years ago, merely to show that
the prediction then made is enter
tanned by some even at this late
day. The New York correspondent
of the New Orleans Herald confirms
our opinion in a letter of a recent
date, as will be seen by the follow
ing extract:
During the war I watched his
(JOhnstOn's) career with great inter
est, and as military mind to con-
ceive and execute defensive cam
paigns, I placed him in the front
rank beside Lee. Stonewall Jackson,
Sherman and Thomas-As an ag-
gressive commander he may not be
Sherman's equal, but as defensive
one, I believe the war did not pro-
duce his superior. The mastery
manner in which he contested every
inch of ground between Chattanoo>
ga and Atlanta, with Sherman,
placed him high up in the list Of
great commanders, and the greatest
that Sherman ever encountered.
While wasting away our army
who vainly attacked his works,
Johnston had his non-combatants
another line. a few
yards in the rear, to which he
wOuld fall back and invite attack.
Thus, during the entire summer,
hid he contest every in IN of GeOr-
uia soil and made the whole rOuta |