Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1880-06-17
BY /. w. AVERY,
Colonel Fourth Georgia Cavalry.

lCdlul Cd oO CAth oOANfh 10 "
be we'll worthy of a critical and
dispassionatc review. This Of
lfcer was one Of the two men
that took the foremost lead in
the active operations of the great
civi, war on the Southern side,
the other being General Robert
e. Lee. Both were continuous
ly identified with important
movements and decisive events
of the struggle. Both stood the
admitted leaders the Confeder-
ate armies, the authors of Con-
federate strategy, and the exc
cutive spirits of Confederate
warfare. Both were Virginians,
both men of distinguished SER,
vice and reputation before the
war, both individuals of lofty
personal character, but they
were in the qualities of their
genius and the details of their
service, fame and career, during
this bloody contest strikingly
unlike. ssss1'EB 4a
The death Of Lee has left his
illustrious colleague the most
famous and brilliant living lead
er of the South. Like Lee,
Johnston was an hereditary SOL
dier and stateemah. His family
for generations had been con-
nected in illustrious capacity
with Virginia history. The
two names rang in the annals
of the State with clarion fame,
Illuminating its soldierhood, di-
plomacy and craftsmanship.
They were names representing
virtue, courage, capacity and
patriotism. And the two des-
cendants of noble lineage
have preserved the stainless
manhood of their ancestral
character.
In summing up Johnston's
career in the late war it is not
an exaggeration to say that it
perhaps presents the most re-
markable anomaly Of military
annals. From the beginning
to the end he was distrusted and
deprecated by the Confederate
authorities; yet he held from
first to last the confidence and
admiration of armies and peo-
pie. And every effort of the
several made TO retire him to
obscurity but strengthened him
lin popular esteem, ard resulted
in calling him to new exaltation
Of power, new display of genius
and increase of fame. Itseemcd
Impossible to dispense with him.
The public outcry for his install
lation irresponsible leadership
was irresistible. His genius
was openly decried, and his adj
ministration condemned by his
superlor5, yet it was utterly in
vain so far as the public conf.
dence was concerned. The peo'
&. pie stubbornly believed in him
and the soldiers clamored fol
his GeneraIship, and fought un'
E der it with an unshakcn trus
and a loving enthusiasm. Ant
! while he labored under a con
tinuous censurc from the Con
federate rulers he enjoyed
constant triumph of praise from
the masses of the people. L
certainly presents a strange in
: cident| of the war, this incon
gruity of Johnston's connection
s with the struggle.
In passing Judgment upo1
. General Johnston's very extra
= ordinary record rs a Confeder
J; ! ate General one must estlmat
d what he counseled that was no
e followed as well as what he did
a In nothing was Johnston NOR
d remarkable than in his grasp o.
& the great strategic questions oI
It the war and his provision Of re
IS suits. In every leading move
y ment with which he was con
d nected he mapped out unerrins
d ID ly the proper plan of operations
and in every case he was strlk
r ingIy confirmed, though in scyel
A al instances his opinion was dis
os sented from at the start to b
{. signally vindicated alterwar'
J. The fact is, that Johnston,
os far as a comprehension of I'll
line of military conduct propt
It's to be pursued was concerne'
o was inquestionably the mastt
o mind of the South. Aud th
great fact will be established
the following pages.
General Johnston at the b'
ginning Of the war was ordcre
to take command of the fore,
around Harper's Ferry, the pm
pose Of the Administration b
ing to make this the basis Q
= Operations. Johnston addres
ed letter to the Secretary Q
War that, in the light of subs
quent events, reads like an i
spired prophecy. He shows