The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-04-18

| ~ expected OF me I must pass over
hts service In Mississippi.
| Welcomed by Army.
! In February. 1854, he was assigned
/ to command the Army of Tennessee
which was recovering at Dalton. Ga.
/ from the disaster of Missionary Ridge.
His coming there was welcomed by the
| troops as would have been a REIN
forcement OF ten thousand men.
There was something in his bear
! ing in the ordinary life of the camp
which inspired his men with conf
dence and pride.
But on the field of battle his
countenance and whole being were so
( instinct with martial ardor that all
about him felt that his great soul
and strong mind would be equal to
any crisis OF war. 60 he appeared
at Seven Pines. Such he was in his
| spring with the thin ranks OF
his Scared veterans on one-half Of
| Sherman's army at Bentonvlle-the
the last battle of the troops he COM
! manded.
In the darkest hour of the Con-
federacy's fate Gen ,ral Lee had called
him back t. the command ow the sur
vivors of those men whom he once de-
| scribed AS infantry Unsurpassed by
| that of Napoleon's Old Guard or that
which followed Wellington into France
out of Spain"
Last Gallant Campaign.
But ] must speak of the campaign
from Dalton to Atlanta. which finally
placed him by the side of the great
commanders of history Enormously
outnumbered. overmatched In all the
material which supplements the sol
diers courage, confronted by Sher,
man, one Of the greatest generals
whom three years OF war had devel-
oped in the Federal service. Johnston
so foiled every turning movement of
the enemy, fought SO fiercely
In the numerous battles in the
hundred uiles between Dalton
and Atlanta and kept the spirit
and yigor OF his own army at such
high point that when he reached
Atlanta he could with confidence look
forward to a decisive attack on the
Federal Army whenever its leader ny
accident or blunder offered an open
ing This was whist Johnston lay in
wait for, and ardently expected, That
fighting march In retreat with the
| skirmishers or the armies in almost
continuous contact and combat for
seventy days was close parallel in
the battles won and the unbroken
courage of the Southern Army TO
Lees immortal campaign of the same
year II ON the Wilderness to Rich
mond.
But there was this striking diff
ference
when Lee reached Richmond, his
adversary was soon to gain possession
of a better base, City Point. and a
line of communication not twelve
miles long. When Johnston reached
Atlanta. his army was in as high a
state OF vigor. cohesion and military
devotion as Lees and Sherman was
dragging lengthening chain of weak
and attenuated communications
Paid Johnston High Tribute.
It was this Dalton Atlanta cam
paign which made the English mill
tary critic. Chesuey. say Of Johnston
that his name should be placed as high
as that Of Fabius, or Turenne or
! Moreau. sherman declared that John
ston was one Of the most enterprising
| Of the Confederate generals Many
! of the Federal officers confronting
| Johnston thought him the equal of
| Lee.
| Grant said: when I heard that
your government had removed John
| ston from command. I was as happy az
| II had reinforced SHerman with a
large army corps" and to another per-
son: II have had nearly all of the
Southern generals In high command in
| front OF me. and Joe Johnston gave
me more anxiety than any of me
/ others. I was never half SO anxious
about Lee"
Such was the great soldier whose
name Is inscribed in the tablet we now
unveil.
The men who felt his brow praised
| him most