Born 1807
Died March 21, 1891
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was born near Farmville, Va. In 1807. He attended West Point and graduated in the Class of 1829. Robert E. Lee was a classmate.
Johnston fought in the Seminole and Mexican Wars and he was made Quartermaster-General in 1860.
Joseph E. Johnston resigned his commission to join the Confederate forces in 1861. In May of that year, he was made Brigadier and placed in charge of the Army of Northern Virginia. Johnston took command of the Army of Tennessee when his command was passed to Robert E. Lee.
In 1861, Johnston supported Beauregard at the first battle of Bull Run. He was criticized by Jefferson Davis after the fall of Vicksberg and Jefferson Davis relieved Joseph E. Johnston of his command in 1864 for failing to stem the Union advance.
He was restored to his former rank in 1865.
On April 26, 1865, General Johnston surrendered his army to General Sherman. The terms of surrender were the same as General Grant had given to Robert E. Lee. Johnston's surrender virtually closed the war.
He was elected to congress in 1877 and in 1885 appointed the U.S. Commissioner of railroads by President Grover Cleveland.
Joseph E. Johnston died from a cold on March 21, 1891. He caught the cold while serving as a pallbearer at General William Tecumseh Sherman's funeral.
There is only one statue which honors Brigadier
General Joseph E. Johnston. The statue is located in Dalton, Georgia.
The statue was erected October 21, 1912.