by Richard M. McMurry
El Dorado Hills, Ca.: Savas Beatie, 2023. Pp. xxiv, 336.
Illus., maps, notes, index. $34.95. ISBN: 1611215927
The Confederacy's Best General?
Prof. McMurray, noted for his many earlier works, such as John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence and Two Great Rebel Armies, has drawn upon decades of research to produce a two volume account of Joseph E. Johnston's experiences during the Civil War.
This first volume deals with Johnston's activities during the first two years of the war, and comprises two "books", one on Johnston's role in operations in Virginia and adjacent areas in 1861-1862, and one on his activities in Mississippi in 1862-1863.
McMurray argues that while Lee is the most prominent Confederate officer, his role in the war was not as significant as was Johnston's, who directed Confederate efforts in the conflict’s two most important campaigns, Vicksburg in 1863 and Atlanta in 1864. Much of the book involves Johnston’s differences with Confederate President Jefferson Davis – which began literally at the moment Johnston joined the Confederate ranks – as well as with Robert E. Lee and other civil and military leaders, including John Pemberton and Braxton Bragg, whom he had as subordinates at various times during the war. He makes a case that the general’s feud with Davis was an important factor in the Confederacy's failure to win the war. McMurray supports his argument through the extensive use of direct quotations from Johnston, Davis, and Lee, to provide readers with context.
This is a well-researched and provocative study, fast paced and well written, from which both scholars and armchair historians will gain much.
This reviewer highly recommends this book, and awaits a second volume, covering Johnston's role in command in the Western theater through to the end of the war.
Our Reviewer: David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for more than three decades. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, David is president of the Miami Civil War Round Table Book Club. In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the common soldier. His most recent previous reviews here include Their Maryland, The Lion of Round Top, Rites of Retaliation, Animal Histories of the Civil War Era, Benjamin Franklin Butler, Dreams of Victory: General P. G. T. Beauregard, Bonds of War, Early Struggles for Vicksburg, True Blue, Civil War Witnesses and Their Books, Love and Duty, When Hell Came To Sharpsburg, Lost Causes, Six Miles From Charleston, Five Minutes to Hell, "If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania", James Montgomery: Abolitionist Warrior, Cedar Mountain to Antietam, Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Count the Dead, All Roads Led To Gettysburg, Unhappy Catastrophes, The Heart of Hell, The Whartons' War, Gettysburg’s Southern Front , Civil War Monuments and Memorials, The Tale Untwisted, The Confederate Military Forces in the Trans-Mississippi West, The Civilian War, and The Carnage was Fearful. . ---///---
Note: The Civil Wars of Joseph E. Johnston, Confederate States Army, Vol. I is also available in e-editions.
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