Joseph E . Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston ( February 3 , 1807 – March 21 , 1891 ) was a career U . S . Army officer , serving with distinction in the Mexican - American War and Seminole Wars , and was also one of the most senior general officer s in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War . He was unrelated to Albert Sidney Johnston , another high - ranking Confederate general . Johnston was trained as a civil engineer at the U . S . Military Academy . He served in Florida , Texas , and Kansas , and fought with distinction in the Mexican - American War and by 1860 achieved the rank of brigadier general as Quartermaster General of the U . S . Army . When his native state of Virginia seceded from the Union , Johnston resigned his commission , the highest - ranking officer to join the Confederacy . To his dismay , however , he was appointed only the fourth ranking full general in the Confederate Army . Johnston ' s effectiveness in the Civil War was undercut by tensions with Confederate President Jefferson Davis , who often criticized him for a lack of aggressiveness , and victory eluded him in most campaigns he personally commanded . However , he was the senior Confederate commander at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861 , and his recognition of the important necessary actions , and prompt application of leadership in that victory is usually credited to his subordinate , P . G . T . Beauregard . He defended the Confederate capital of Richmond , Virginia , during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign , withdrawing under the pressure of a superior force under Union Maj . Gen . George B . McClellan . In his only offensive action during the campaign , he suffered a severe wound at the Battle of Seven Pines , after which he was replaced in command by his classmate at West Point , Robert E . Lee . In 1863 , in command of the Department of the West , he was criticized for his actions and failures in the Vicksburg Campaign . In 1864 , he fought against Union Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman in the Atlanta Campaign , but was relieved of command after withdrawing from northwest Georgia to the outskirts of the city . In the final days of the war , he was returned to command of the small remaining forces in the Carolinas Campaign and surrendered his armies to Sherman on April 26 , 1865 . Two of his major opponents , Grant and Sherman , made comments highly respectful of his actions in the war , and they became close friends with Johnston in subsequent years . After the war Johnston was an executive in the railroad and insurance businesses . He served a term in Congress and was commissioner of railroads under Grover Cleveland . He died of pneumonia after serving in inclement weather as a pallbearer at the funeral of his former adversary , and later friend , William T . Sherman . Early years . Johnston was born at Longwood House in " Cherry Grove " , near Farmville , Virginia . ( Longwood House later burned down . The rebuilt house was the birthplace in 1827 of Charles S . Venable , an officer on the staff of Robert E . Lee , and is now the home of the president of Longwood University . ) His grandfather , Peter Johnston , emigrated to Virginia from Scotland in 1726 . Joseph was the seventh son of Judge Peter Johnston ( 1763 - 1831 ) and Mary Valentine Wood ( 1769 - 1825 ) , a niece of Patrick Henry . He was named for Major Joseph Eggleston , under whom his father served in the American Revolutionary War , in the command of Light - Horse Harry Lee . His brother Charles Clement Johnston served as a congressman , and his nephew John Warfield Johnston was a senator ; both represented Virginia . In 1811 , the Johnston family moved to Abingdon , Virginia , a town near the Tennessee border , where Peter built a home he named Panecillo . Johnston attended the United States Military Academy , nominated by John C . Calhoun while he was Secretary of War , days before he was inaugurated as in 1825 . He was moderately successful at academics and received only a small number of disciplinary demerits . He graduated in 1829 , ranking 13th of 46 cadets , and was appointed a second lieutenant in the 4th U . S . Artillery . He would become the first West Point graduate to be promoted to a general officer in the regular army , reaching a higher rank in the U . S . Army than did his 1829 classmate , Robert E . Lee ( 2nd of 46 ) . U . S . Army service . Johnston resigned from the Army in March 1837 and studied civil engineering . During the Second Seminole War , he was a civilian topographic engineer aboard a ship led by William Pope McArthur . On January 12 , 1838 , at Jupiter , Florida , the sailors who had gone ashore were attacked and Johnston was to claim there were " no less than 30 bullet holes " in his clothing and one bullet creased his scalp , leaving a scar he had for the rest of his life . Having encountered more combat activities in Florida as a civilian than he had had previously as an artillery officer , Johnston decided to rejoin the Army . He departed for Washington , D . C . , in April 1838 and was appointed a first lieutenant of topographic engineers on July 7 ; on that same day , he received a brevet promotion to captain for the actions at Jupiter Inlet and his explorations of the Florida Everglades . On July 10 , 1845 , in Baltimore , Johnston married Lydia Milligan Sims McLane ( 1822 – 1887 ) , the daughter of Louis McLane , the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and a prominent former politician ( congressman and senator from Delaware , minister to London , and a member of President Andrew Jackson ' s cabinet ) . They had no children . Johnston was enthusiastic about the outbreak of the Mexican - American War . He served on the staff of Lt . Gen . Winfield Scott in the Siege of Veracruz , having been chosen by Scott to be the officer carrying the demand for surrender beforehand to the provincial governor . He was in the vanguard of the movement inland under Brig . Gen . David E . Twiggs and was severely wounded by grapeshot performing reconnaissance prior to the Battle of Cerro Gordo . He was appointed a brevet lieutenant colonel for his actions at Cerro Gordo . After recovering in a field hospital , he rejoined the army at Puebla . During the advance toward Mexico City , he was second in command of a regiment of U . S . " Voltigeurs " , meaning light infantry or skirmishers . He distinguished himself at Contreras and Churubusco , was wounded again at Chapultepec , and received two brevet promotions for the latter two engagements , ending the war as a brevet colonel of volunteers . ( After the end of hostilities , he reverted to his peacetime rank of captain in the topographical engineers . ) Winfield Scott remarked humorously that " Johnston is a great soldier , but he had an unfortunate knack of getting himself shot in nearly every engagement . " Despite his wounds , however , Johnston ' s greatest anguish during the war was the death of his nephew , Preston Johnston . When Robert E . Lee informed Johnston that Preston had been killed by a Mexican artillery shell at Contreras , both officers wept , and Johnston grieved for the remainder of his life . Johnston was an engineer on the Texas - United States boundary survey in 1841 and returned to be chief topographical engineer of the Department of Texas from 1848 to 1853 . During the 1850s he displayed an early indication of his sensitivity for rank and prestige , sending letters to the War Department suggesting that he should be returned to a combat regiment with his wartime rank of colonel . Secretary of War Jefferson Davis , an acquaintance of Johnston ' s from West Point , rebuffed these suggestions , a practice that he would continue during the Civil War , much to Johnston ' s irritation . Despite this disagreement , Davis thought enough of Johnston to appoint him lieutenant colonel in one of the newly formed regiments , the 1st U . S . Cavalry at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , under Col . Edwin V . " Bull " Sumner , on March 1 , 1855 . ( At this same time , Robert E . Lee was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 2nd U . S . Cavalry under Col . Albert Sidney Johnston ( no relation ) . ) In this role , Johnston participated in actions against the Sioux in the Wyoming Territory and in the violence known as Bleeding Kansas . He developed a mentor relationship and close friendship with one of his junior officers , Capt . George B . McClellan , who would become one of his principal opponents during the Civil War . In the fall of 1856 , Johnston was transferred to a depot for new recruits at Jefferson Barracks , Missouri . In 1857 he led surveying expeditions to determine the Kansas border . Later that year , a new Secretary of War replaced Jefferson Davis — John B . Floyd , a native of Abingdon , a cousin of Johnston ' s by marriage , and former guardian of Preston Johnston . Floyd overturned Davis ' s previous decision about Johnston ' s highest brevet rank and he was listed as a brevet colonel for Cerro Gordo , an action that caused grumbling within the Army about favoritism . In 1859 , President James Buchanan named Johnston ' s brother - in - law , Robert McLane , as minister to Mexico , and Johnston accompanied him on a journey to visit Benito Juárez ' s government in Veracruz , ordered to inspect possible military routes across the country in case of further hostilities . Brig . Gen . Thomas S . Jesup , the Quartermaster General of the U . S . Army , died on June 10 , 1860 . Winfield Scott was responsible for naming a replacement , but instead of one name , he offered four possibilities : Albert Sidney Johnston , Joseph E . Johnston , Robert E . Lee , and Charles F . Smith . Although Jefferson Davis , now a member of the Senate Military Affairs Committee , favored Albert Sidney Johnston , Secretary of War Floyd chose Joseph E . Johnston for the position . Johnston was promoted to brigadier general on June 28 , 1860 . Johnston did not enjoy the position , preferring field command to paperwork in Washington . In addition , he suffered from the pressures of the imminent sectional crisis and the ethical dilemma of administering war matériel that might prove useful to his native South ; he did not yield to temptation , however , as Secretary of War Floyd was accused of doing . Civil War . Manassas and first friction with President Davis . When his native state , Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861 , Johnston resigned his commission as a brigadier general in the regular army , the highest - ranking U . S . Army officer to do so . He was initially commissioned as a major general in the Virginia militia on May 4 , but the Virginia Convention decided two weeks later that only one major general was required in the state army and Robert E . Lee was their choice . Johnston was then offered a state brigadier general commission , which he declined , accepting instead a brigadier general commission in the Confederate Army on May 14 . Johnston relieved Col . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson of command at Harpers Ferry in May and organized the Army of the Shenandoah in July . In the First Battle of Bull Run ( First Manassas ) , July 21 , 1861 , Johnston rapidly moved his small army from the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce that of Brig . Gen . P . G . T . Beauregard , but he lacked familiarity with the terrain and ceded tactical planning of the battle to the more junior Beauregard as a professional courtesy . At midday , while Beauregard was still unclear about the direction his Union opponent was taking in the battle , Johnston decided that the critical point was to the north of his headquarters ( the Lewis house , " Portici " ) , at Henry House Hill . He abruptly announced " The battle is there . I am going . " Beauregard and the staffs of both generals followed his lead and rode off . Johnston encountered a scattered unit , the 4th Alabama , all of whose field grade officers had been killed , and personally rallied the men to reinforce the Confederate line . He consoled the despairing Brig . Gen . Barnard Bee and urged him to lead his men back into the fight . ( General Bee ' s exhortation to his men was the inspiration for Stonewall Jackson ' s nickname . ) Beauregard then convinced Johnston that he would be more valuable organizing the arrival of reinforcements for the remainder of the battle than providing at - the - front tactical leadership . Although Beauregard managed to claim the majority of public credit , Johnston ' s behind - the - scenes role was a critical factor in the Southern victory . After Bull Run , Johnston assisted Beauregard and William Porcher Miles in the design and production of the Confederate Battle Flag . It was Johnston ' s idea to make the flag square . In August , Johnston was promoted to full general — what is called a four - star general in the modern U . S . Army — but was not pleased that three other men he had outranked in the " old Army " now outranked him , even though Davis backdated his promotion to July 4 . Johnston felt that since he was the senior officer to leave the U . S . Army and join the Confederacy he should not be ranked behind Samuel Cooper , Albert Sidney Johnston , and Robert E . Lee . Only Beauregard was placed behind Johnston on the list of five new generals . This led to much bad blood between Johnston and Jefferson Davis , which would last throughout the war . The crux of Davis ' s counterargument was that Johnston ' s U . S . commission as a brigadier general was as a staff officer and that his highest line commission was as a lieutenant colonel ; both Sidney Johnston and Lee had been full colonels . Johnston sent an intemperately worded letter to Davis , who was offended enough to discuss its tone with his cabinet . Johnston was placed in command of the Department of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of the Potomac on July 21 , 1861 , and the Department of Northern Virginia on October 22 . From July to November 1861 , he was headquartered at the Conner House . The winter of 1861 – 62 was relatively quiet for Johnston in his Centreville headquarters , concerned primarily with organization and equipment issues , as the principal Northern army , also named Army of the Potomac , was being organized by George B . McClellan . McClellan perceived Johnston ' s army as overwhelmingly strong in its fortifications , which prompted the Union general to plan an amphibious movement around Johnston ' s flank . In early March , learning of Union offensive preparations , Johnston withdrew his army to Culpeper Court House . This movement had repercussions on both sides . President Davis was surprised and disappointed by the unannounced move , which he considered a " precipitate retreat . " At about this time , Davis moved to restrict Johnston ' s authority by bringing Robert E . Lee to Richmond as his military adviser and began issuing direct orders to some of the forces under Johnston ' s ostensible command . On the Northern side , McClellan was publicly embarrassed when it was revealed that the Confederate position had not been nearly as strong as he had portrayed . But more importantly , it required him to replan his spring offensive , and instead of an amphibious landing at his preferred target of Urbanna , he chose the Virginia Peninsula , between the James and York Rivers , as his avenue of approach toward Richmond . Peninsula Campaign . In early April 1862 , McClellan , having landed his troops at Fort Monroe at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula , began to move slowly toward Yorktown . Johnston ' s plan for the defense of the Confederate capital was controversial . Knowing that his army was half the size of McClellan ' s and that the Union Navy could provide direct support to McClellan from either river , Johnston attempted to convince Davis and Lee that the best course would be to concentrate in fortifications around Richmond . He was unsuccessful in persuading them and deployed most of his force on the Peninsula . Following lengthy siege preparations by McClellan at Yorktown , Johnston withdrew and fought a sharp defensive fight at Williamsburg ( May 5 ) and turned back an attempt at an amphibious turning movement at Eltham ' s Landing ( May 7 ) . By late May the Union army was within six miles of Richmond . Realizing that he could not defend Richmond forever from the Union ' s overwhelming numbers and heavy siege artillery and that McClellan ' s army was divided by the rain - swollen Chickahominy River , Johnston attacked south of the river on May 31 in the Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks . His plan was aggressive , but too complicated for his subordinates to execute correctly , and he failed to ensure they understood his orders in detail or to supervise them closely . The battle was tactically inconclusive , but it stopped McClellan ' s advance on the city and would turn out to be the high - water mark of his invasion . More significant , however , was that Johnston was wounded by an artillery shell on the second day of the battle , hit in his right shoulder and chest . This led to Davis turning over command to the more aggressive - and effective Robert E . Lee , who would lead the Army of Northern Virginia for the rest of the war . Lee began by driving McClellan from the Peninsula during the Seven Days Battles of late June and beating the Union forces a second time near Bull Run . Western Theater . After recovering from his wounds , on November 24 , 1862 , Johnston was appointed to command the Department of the West , the principal command of the Western Theater , which gave him titular control of Gen . Braxton Bragg ' s Army of Tennessee and Lt . Gen . John C . Pemberton ' s Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana . ( The other major force in this area was the Trans - Mississippi Department , commanded by Lt . Gen . Theophilus H . Holmes , stationed principally in Arkansas . Johnston argued throughout his tenure that Holmes ' s command should be combined with Pemberton ' s under Johnston ' s control , or at least to reinforce Pemberton with troops from Holmes ' s command , but he was unable to convince the government to take either of these steps . ) The first issue facing Johnston in the West was the fate of Braxton Bragg . The Confederate government was displeased with Bragg ' s performance at the Battle of Stones River , as were many of Bragg ' s senior subordinates . Jefferson Davis ordered Johnston to visit Bragg and determine whether he should be replaced . Johnston realized that if he recommended Bragg ' s replacement , he would be the logical choice to succeed him , and he considered that a field army command was more desirable than his current , mostly administrative post , but his sense of honor prevented him from achieving this personal gain at Bragg ' s expense . After interviewing Bragg and a number of his subordinates , he produced a generally positive report and refused to relieve the army commander . Davis ordered Bragg to a meeting in Richmond and designated Johnston to take command in the field , but Bragg ' s wife was ill and he was unable to travel . Furthermore , in early April Johnston was forced to bed with lingering problems from his Peninsula wound , and the attention of the Confederates shifted from Tennessee to Mississippi , leaving Bragg in place . The major crisis facing Johnston was defending Confederate control of Vicksburg , Mississippi , which was threatened by Union Maj . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant , first in a series of unsuccessful maneuvers during the winter of 1862 – 63 to the north of the fortress city , but followed in April 1863 with an ambitious campaign that began with Grant ' s Union army crossing the Mississippi River southwest of Vicksburg . Catching Lt . Gen . Pemberton by surprise , the Union army waged a series of successful battles as it moved northeast toward the state capital of Jackson . On May 9 , the Confederate Secretary of War directed Johnston to " proceed at once to Mississippi and take chief command of the forces in the field . " Johnston informed Richmond that he was still medically unfit , but would obey the order . When he arrived in Jackson on May 13 from Middle Tennessee , he learned that two Union army corps were advancing on the city and that there were only about 6 , 000 troops available to defend it . Johnston ordered a fighting evacuation ( the Battle of Jackson , May 14 ) and retreated with his force to the north . Grant captured the city and then faced to the west to approach Vicksburg . Johnston began to move his force west to join Pemberton when he heard of that general ' s defeat at Champion Hill ( May 16 ) and Big Black River Bridge ( May 17 ) . The survivors retreated to the fortifications of Vicksburg . Johnston urged Pemberton to avoid being surrounded by abandoning the city and to join forces with Johnston ' s troops , outnumbering Grant , but Davis had ordered Pemberton to defend the city as his highest priority . Grant launched two unsuccessful assaults against the fortifications and then settled in for a siege . The soldiers and civilians in the surrounded city waited in vain for Johnston ' s small force to come to their rescue . By late May Johnston had accumulated about 24 , 000 men but wanted additional reinforcements before moving forward . He considered ordering Bragg to send these reinforcements , but was concerned that this could result in the loss of Tennessee . He also bickered with President Davis about whether the order sending him to Mississippi could be construed as removing him from theater command ; Steven E . Woodworth judges that Johnston " willfully misconstrued " his orders out of resentment of Davis ' s interference . Pemberton ' s army surrendered on July 4 , 1863 . Along with the capture of Port Hudson a week later , the loss of Vicksburg gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River and cut the Confederacy in two . President Davis wryly ascribed the strategic defeat to a " want of provisions inside and a general outside [ Johnston ] who would not fight . " The relationship between Johnston and Davis , difficult since the early days of the war , became bitter as recriminations were traded publicly about who was to blame for Vicksburg . Davis considered firing Johnston , but he remained a popular officer and had many political allies in Richmond , most notably Sen . Louis Wigfall . Instead , Bragg ' s army was removed from Johnston ' s command , leaving him in control of only Alabama and Mississippi . While Vicksburg was falling , Union Maj . Gen . William S . Rosecrans was advancing against Bragg in Tennessee , forcing him to evacuate Chattanooga . Bragg achieved a significant victory against Rosecrans in the Battle of Chickamauga ( September 19 – 20 ) , but he was defeated by Ulysses S . Grant in the Battles for Chattanooga in November . Bragg resigned from his command of the Army of Tennessee and returned to Richmond in the role as military adviser to the president . Davis offered the position to William J . Hardee , the senior corps commander , who refused it . He considered P . G . T . Beauregard , another general with whom he had poor personal relations , and also Robert E . Lee . Lee , who was reluctant to leave Virginia , first recommended Beauregard , but sensing Davis ' s discomfort , changed his recommendation to Johnston . After much agonizing , Davis appointed Johnston to command the Army of Tennessee in Dalton , Georgia , on December 27 , 1863 . Atlanta Campaign . Faced with Maj . Gen . William T . Sherman ' s advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta in the spring of 1864 , Johnston conducted a series of withdrawals that appeared similar to his Peninsula Campaign strategy . He repeatedly prepared strong defensive positions , only to see Sherman maneuver around them in expert turning movement s , causing him to fall back in the general direction of Atlanta . Johnston saw the preservation of his army as the most important consideration , and hence conducted a very cautious campaign . He handled his army well , slowing the Union advance and inflicting heavier losses than he sustained . Sherman began his Atlanta Campaign on May 4 . Johnston ' s Army of Tennessee fought defensive battles against the Federals at the approaches to Dalton , which was evacuated on May 13 , then retreated 12 miles south to Resaca , and constructed defensive positions . However , after a brief battle , Johnston again yielded to Sherman , and retreated from Resaca on May 15 . Johnston assembled the Confederate forces for an attack at Cassville , but one of his corps commanders , Lt . Gen . John Bell Hood , failed to attack as ordered and the opportunity was lost . On May 20 they again retreated 8 miles further south to Cartersville . The month of May 1864 ended with Sherman ' s forces attempting to move away from their railroad supply line with another turning movement , but became bogged down by the Confederates ' fierce defenses at the Battle of New Hope Church on May 25 , the Battle of Pickett ' s Mill on May 27 , and the Battle of Dallas on May 28 . In June Sherman ' s forces continued maneuvers around the northern approaches to Atlanta , and a battle ensued at Kolb ' s Farm on June 22 , followed by Sherman ' s first ( and only ) attempt at a massive frontal assault in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on June 27 , which Johnston strongly repulsed . However , by this time Federal forces were within 17 miles of Atlanta , threatening the city from the west and north . Johnston had yielded over 110 miles of mountainous , and thus more easily defensible , territory in just two months , while the Confederate government became increasingly frustrated and alarmed . Letters to Richmond by Johnston ' s subordinates , particularly Lt . Gen . Hood , complaining of his lack of aggressiveness , did not help his situation . When Johnston retreated across the Chattahoochee River , the final major barrier before Atlanta , President Davis lost his patience . In early July Davis sent Gen . Braxton Bragg to Atlanta to assess the situation . After several meetings with local civilian leaders and Johnston ' s subordinates , Bragg returned to Richmond and urged President Davis to replace Johnston . Davis removed Johnston from command on July 17 , 1864 , just outside of Atlanta . ( His replacement , Lt . Gen . Hood , was overly aggressive , but ineffective , losing Atlanta in September and a large portion of his army in the Franklin - Nashville Campaign that winter . ) Davis ' s decision to remove Johnston was one of the most controversial of the war . North Carolina and surrender at Bennett Place . Johnston traveled to Columbia , South Carolina , to begin a virtual retirement . However , as the Confederacy became increasingly concerned about Sherman ' s March to the Sea across Georgia and then north through the Carolinas , the public clamored for Johnston ' s return . The general in charge of the Western Theater , P . G . T . Beauregard , was making little progress against the advancing Union force . Political opponents of Jefferson Davis , such as Sen . Louis Wigfall , added to the pressure in Congress . Diarist Mary Chesnut wrote , " We thought this was a struggle for independence . Now it seems it is only a fight between Joe Johnston and Jeff Davis . " In January 1865 , the Congress passed a law authorizing Robert E . Lee the powers of general in chief , and recommending that Johnston be reinstated as the commander of the Army of Tennessee . Davis immediately appointed Lee to the position , but refused to restore Johnston . In a lengthy unpublished memo , Davis wrote , " My opinion of General Johnston ' s unfitness for command has ripened slowly and against my inclinations into a conviction so settled that it would be impossible for me again to feel confidence in him as the commander of an army in the field . " Vice President Alexander H . Stephens and 17 senators petitioned Lee to use his new authority to appoint Johnston , bypassing Davis , but the general in chief declined . Instead , he recommended the appointment to Davis . Despite his serious misgivings , Davis restored Johnston to active duty on February 25 , 1865 . His new command comprised two military departments : the Department of South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida , and the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia ; he assumed command of the latter department on March 6 . These commands included three Confederate field armies , including the remnants of the once formidable Army of Tennessee , but they were armies in name only . The Tennessee army had been severely depleted at Franklin and Nashville , lacked sufficient supplies and ammunition , and the men had not been paid for months ; only about 6 , 600 traveled to South Carolina . Johnston also had available 12 , 000 men under William J . Hardee , who had been unsuccessfully attempting to resist Sherman ' s advance , Braxton Bragg ' s force in Wilmington , North Carolina , and 6 , 000 cavalrymen under Wade Hampton . Johnston , severely outnumbered , hoped to combine his force with a detachment of Robert E . Lee ' s army from Virginia , jointly defeat Sherman , and then return to Virginia for an attack on Ulysses S . Grant . Lee initially refused to cooperate with this plan . ( Following the fall of Richmond in April , Lee attempted to escape to North Carolina to join Johnston , but it was too late . ) Recognizing that Sherman was moving quickly , Johnston then planned to consolidate his own small armies so that he could land a blow against an isolated portion of Sherman ' s army , which was advancing in two separated columns . On March 19 , 1865 , Johnston was able to catch the left wing of Sherman ' s army by surprise at the Battle of Bentonville and briefly gained some tactical successes before superior numbers forced him to retreat to Raleigh , North Carolina . Unable to secure the capital , Johnston ' s army withdrew to Greensboro . After learning of Lee ' s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9 , Johnston agreed to meet with General Sherman between the lines at a small farm known as Bennett Place near present day Durham , North Carolina . After three separate days ( April 17 , 18 and 26 , 1865 ) of negotiations , Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and Florida . It was the largest surrender of the war , totaling 89 , 270 soldiers . President Davis considered that Johnston , surrendering so many troops that had not been explicitly defeated in battle , had committed an act of treachery . Johnston was paroled on May 2 at Greensboro . After the surrender , Sherman issued ten days ' rations to the hungry Confederate soldiers , as well as horses and mules for them to " insure a crop . " He also ordered distribution of corn , meal , and flour to civilians throughout the South . This was an act of generosity that Johnston would never forget ; he wrote to Sherman that his attitude " reconciles me to what I have previously regarded as the misfortune of my life , that of having you to encounter in the field . " Postbellum life . After the war Johnston struggled to make a living for himself and his wife , who was ailing . He became president of a small railroad , the Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road Company , which during his tenure of May 1866 to November 1867 , was renamed the Selma , Rome and Dalton Railroad . Johnston was bored with the position and the company failed for lack of capital . He established in 1868 an insurance company in Savannah , Georgia , acting as an agent for the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company , and within four years had a network of more than 120 agents across the deep South . The income from this venture allowed him to devote time to his great postwar activity , writing his memoirs . His " Narrative of Military Operations " , published in 1874 , was highly critical of Davis and many of his fellow generals , continuing his grievance about the unfairness of his ranking as a general and attempting to justify his career as a cautious campaigner . The book sold poorly and its publisher failed to make a profit . Although many Confederate generals were critical of Johnston , the memoirs of both Sherman and Grant put him in a favorable light . Sherman described him as a " dangerous and wily opponent " and criticized Johnston ' s nemeses , Hood and Davis . Grant supported his decisions in the Vicksburg Campaign : " Johnston evidently took in the situation , and wisely , I think , abstained from making an assault on us because it would simply have inflicted losses on both sides without accomplishing any result . " Commenting on the Atlanta Campaign , Grant wrote , " For my own part , I think that Johnston ' s tactics were right . Anything that could have prolonged the war a year beyond the time that it finally did close , would probably have exhausted the North to such an extent that they might then have abandoned the contest and agreed to a settlement . " Johnston moved from Savannah to Richmond in the winter of 1876 – 77 . He served in the 46th Congress from 1879 to 1881 as a Democratic congressman having been elected with 58 . 11 % of the vote over Greenback William W . Newman ; he was not a candidate for renomination in 1880 . He was a commissioner of railroads in the administration of President Grover Cleveland . After his wife died in 1887 , Johnston spent his remaining years traveling to veterans ' gatherings , where he was universally cheered . Johnston , like Lee , never forgot the magnanimity of the man to whom he surrendered , and would not allow an unkind word to be said about Sherman in his presence . Sherman and Johnston corresponded frequently and they met for friendly dinners in Washington whenever Johnston traveled there . When Sherman died , Johnston served as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral ; during the procession in New York City on February 19 , 1891 , he kept his hat off as a sign of respect in the cold , rainy weather . Someone with concern for the old general ' s health asked him to put on his hat , to which Johnston replied " If I were in his place and he were standing here in mine , he would not put on his hat . " He caught a cold that day , which developed into pneumonia , and he died several weeks later in Washington , D . C . He was buried next to his wife in Green Mount Cemetery , Baltimore , Maryland . His personal papers are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary . In memoriam . A public monument to Johnston was erected in Dalton , Georgia , in 1912 . On March 20 , 2010 , a bronze statue of Johnston was dedicated at the site of the Battle of Bentonville in North Carolina . During World War II , the United States Navy named a Liberty Ship in honor of Johnston . In fiction . The 1988 alternate history novel " Gray Victory " by Robert Skimin imagines a scenario in which Johnston is left in command during the Atlanta Campaign . Johnston is a major character in the alternate history novel " Shattered Nation : An Alternate History Novel of the American Civil War " , by Jeffrey Evan Brooks .