June 6, 2025 • 45 mins
This week, we cover General Albert Sidney Johnston, a distinguished military officer who served in the Texian Army, United States Army, and Confederate States Army. From his early days at West Point to his heroic actions in the Black Hawk War, Texas-Indian Wars, Mexican-American War, Utah War, and his ultimate sacrifice at the Battle of Shiloh during the American Civil War, Johnston’s 34-year career was marked by courage and leadership. Praised by Confederate President Jefferson Davis as one of the finest generals before Robert E. Lee, Johnston’s death at Shiloh was considered a turning point for the Confederacy.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
The bloodiest war on American soil. States versus States, Brothers
versus brothers. Join hosts bang and dang as they take
you battle by battle through the most divisive time in
American history. Welcome to battles of the American Civil War, AI.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome back to battles of Americans of a war. Behind
the battles, moving on with some more general allies, this
time for the Confederate Allies. And things might have gone
different if this guy didn't get killed early on in
the war.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
But when he died, he thought the Salt was going
to win it. Answer at that point right.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Also probably the best general at this time when he died,
Albert Sidney Johnston. He was the head guy at the
time of his death. The whole Confederacy our military obviously
with the widerly are being regarded as, like I said,
the best general in all of armies at this time.
He is also a general in three different armies, which
(01:23):
was the Texian Army, the United States Army, and obviously
the Confederate States Army. So good for him. He saw
extensive combat thirty four year military career. He fought in
the Black Hawk War, the Texas Indian Wars, the Mexican
American War, the Utah War, and of course the Civil
War where he died on the battlefield at the Battle
of Shiloh. Damn. He sure did. He was born Washington, Kentucky,
(01:46):
the youngest kid of doctor John Johnson and Abigail Harris.
His dad originally came from Salisbury, Connecticut. His old granddaddy
Edward Harris. He was a legit Revolutionary War patriot. Even
though Albert started life in Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Texas, Ah, my exus, all this side, no one, my
hat in Tennis, Okay, right, Texas is where he really
put down his roots and called in his home.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
As a young and Albert went to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.
And that's where he cross path was Oh Jefferson Davis,
who we already know about him. Two of them ended
up at West Point. Two of them. They ended up
at West Point, and Albert he graduated in eighteen twenty six,
eighth out of a class of forty one. Well that's
the guice. He walked away with the commission as a
(02:33):
Brevett second lieutenant in the second US Infantry. That shit.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
After West Point, Albert he got sent to post in
New York and Missouri August eighteen twenty seven. He was
part of this expedition to deal with the Red Bird.
He was a Winnebago chief who'd been stirring things up,
pissing the old gubbling it off. Albert he was really
struck by this guy. He later wrote about how Redbird
was one of the most dignified and noblemen he'd ever met.
(02:58):
Redbird said something like I met sup and giving myself
up to save my people. That left a great impression
on Albert.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
He said, if it's going to save my people, I'll
go with you. Good for you byday. Well, then eighteen
thirty two rolls along and el oh L can we
call you l? He gets pulled into the black Hawk War,
which didn't last very long. He served as chief of
staff for Brevet Brigader General Henry Atkinson, and let me
tell you, Atkinson, he was impressed. He went on record
(03:26):
saying Albert had talents of the first order. He called
him a gallant soldier with top notch education and a
real gentleman with his high integrity. Nice kind of praise.
Do some good in the old army world.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
For ani back In eighteen twenty nine, Albert married Henrietta Preston,
whose brother William Preston, was a big deal in Kentucky politics,
aren't they all lean Later he became a Civil War
general for who Kentucky Pride and North. Albert and Henriette,
I think so. I had three kids, but sadly.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Only two of them made it to dollhood. Has happened?
Two watter three right six percent baby Kentucky's soldier, the
brigadier general in the Confederate Army once the old Feds. Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Anyway, like you mentioned, they had three kids, but only
two of them made adulthood. One of them, their son,
William Preston Johnson, grew up to be a colonel in
the Confederate Army. Awesome, which is the whole story in itself,
which we will get to eventually. Things took a tough
turn though. In eighteen thirty four, Henrietta got really sick
with tuberculosis. Albert made a hard call to resign his
(04:31):
military commission so he could be by her side in Kentucky.
He was a devoted husband and he had to take
care of his wife. Heartbreaking, but she passed away two
years later. Hit him hard, but you had to have adu.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
After that, Albert He picked up moved on took on
a big role as Secretary of War for the Republic
of Texas from nineteen thirty eight to forty. Once he
wrapped that up, he headed back to Kentucky. In eighteen
forty three, he found love again and they married Eliza Griffin,
who was actually Henrietta's first cousin that happens. Two of
them decided to start fresh in Texas, settling on a
(05:07):
big plantation in Brazoria County, which Albert He named it
China Groves. There they raised the two kids from his
first marriage. Watts had another three they had together. Later on,
they had a six child. After the family moved to
Los Angeles, where they put down permanent roots. Go to
Los Angeles in the thirties, nothing there.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Eighteen thirty six, Albert packed up headed to Texas right
after the Texas War of Independence when they broke away
from EGO. He didn't just sit around, though, He jumped
in and listened as a private in the Texan Army.
But this guy wasn't staying at the bottom for long.
But at fifth of August eighteen thirty six, he'd been
named a jutant general with the rank of colonel in
(05:52):
the Republic of Texas Army January thirty first, eighteen thirty seven.
Promoted again, this time senior brigadier general, putting I'm in
charge of the whole Texas Army.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Look at this guy well as as usual. Not everyone
was thrilled about his rise. February fifth, eighteen thirty seven.
Felix Houston. He was a Texas prigader general who had
been acting commander. He got real mad about Albert's promotion.
They took it personally like he was getting slapped in
the face by the Texas government. Said, I've been here
(06:22):
the whole time. This guy just waltzed in from California, right,
So he challenges Albert to a duel. Ooh. They faced off.
It didn't go well for Albert, though. He got shot
in the hip, badly wounded, and he did stepped down
from his post while he recovered.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Later, Elbert opened up about it, saying he only fought
Houston because he fell.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It was his duty.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
He wasn't a fan of dueling, thought it was kind
of pointless, but he believed the Texas Army needed discipline
and in order, and Houston was this wild, lawless figure
who needed to be checked. Albert saw it as putting
in the republic safety first, even if he met risking
his own neck. Years later, Houston himself looked back and
regretted the whole thing. He called it shameful piece of business.
He never ever, ever, ever would.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Do it again.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
He felt awful, he said, attainted all the good he's
done in his life. Yeah, but he couldn't exactly challenge
the government or the president.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
So Albert he was the target. He was just glad
he didn't killed the man out. Fast forward December twenty second,
eighteen thirty eight, and Mirabeau b Lamar, the second President
of Texas. He tapped Albert. He wanted him to be
his secretary of war. Damn right in that row. He
was out there protecting the Texas border from Mexicans. They
were trying to take back the rebellious state good Luck.
(07:34):
Eighteen thirty nine. He also got involved in the Cherokee
War in northern Texas, campaigning against Native Americans. I would
assume right during the Battle of Netchez, both Albert and
Vice President David Burnett they got shoutouts in the commanders
report for their active exertions on the field, he's and
for carrying themselves in a way that brought them a
lot of respect. Febuary of eighteen forty though, Albert he's
(07:56):
ready to take a break. Yeah. He resigned his post
headed back to Oakentucky.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
When the United States declared war on may Go in
May of eighteen forty six, Albert he didn't even hesitate.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
He said yes.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
He rode four hundred miles from his home in Galveston
to Port Isabelle to volunteer for Zachary Taylor's Army of Occupation.
He got elected colonel of the first Texas Rifle Volunteers.
But right before the army marched on Monterey, his soldiers enlistments, they.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Said who they were are times up MUDs.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Right Still, Taylor saw his potential and made him inspector
general for Brigadier General William Butler's Volunteer Division. Albert he
even persuaded a few of his old regiment buddies to
stick around and fight.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The Battle of Monterey. Things got intense. Butler he got
wounded and had to be carried off, So Albert he
stepped up, taking a real leadership role. Joseph Hooker will
get to him later, not today. Right, he was there,
and he couldn't stop talking about Albert's cool headness. He said,
Albert basically saved their division from bloodbath with his magnificent
(08:55):
presence on the field. Taylor himself went as far as
a calling Albert the best soldier he ever commanded. Oh
that's nice. But after Monterey October eighteen forty six, Albert
he calls it quits again, he said. He told his
wife Eliza, he'd only served for six months, and he's
a man of his word, dammit. Plus, the politics didn't help.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
President Jane Polk's administration was playing favorites, handing out officer
rolls to Democrats, well sidelining guys like Albert who were.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Seen as wigs. It was a raw deal.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Polk appointed a bunch of Democrats who've never seen a battlefield.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Well.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
West Point grads like Albert, proven himself in Texas and
had top notch military chops, got nothing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Taylor day, sir, Right.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Taylor even wrote the Pope begging him to give Albert
command of one of the new regiments, but the letter
didn't even get a reply. Albert's brother Josiah'sdadter Johnston. He
was tight with the Whig leader Henry Clay, and that
probably didn't help his case with the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Probably not so. Albert said this, going back to this plantation. Yeah,
he stayed there until eighteen forty nine. Wins Zachary Taylor,
he's now the twelfth president. He brought him back. Taylor.
He pointed him a major in the US Army, making
him a paymaster for Texas District, stretching from the Upper
Colorado River to the Upper Trinity River for over five years. Albert,
(10:07):
he's out there, making six tours a year, covering more
than four thousand miles on the Indian frontier. Oh, he
served at places like Fort Mason and others in the West,
always on the move. Good for him, right, eighteen fifty five,
you guys, can't hear some Asso decided to cut his
grass is at the same time we record this. So
eighteen fifty five, Franklin Pierre's fourteenth president, he made Elbert
(10:29):
colonel of a brand new second United States Cavalry, which
later became the fifth US That regiment was staffed his
second command, Robert E. Lee, Majors William Hardy George Thomas.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
They all go to the Confederate right and our roster
full of future Civil War generals like Earl Van dorn,
Edmund Kirby Smith, John B.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Hood and others and others. Elbert helped build that.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Unit from the ground up and by the thirty first
of March eighteen fifty six had a temporary gig.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
He was commanding the entire Department of Texas.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Once again, he didn't mess around, leading aggressive campaigns against
the commanche.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
He wrote to his.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Daughter about how the Indians were harassing the frontiers, but
him and his Second Cavalry and other troops were giving
them a thrashing whenever they caught up to him.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You just see the slaughter we did to those women
and children.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
In March of eighteen fifty seven, Brigadier General David Twiggs
took over as permanent commander, and Albert he said, I'm
gonna go back to the Second.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Cavalry might as well. I ain't. November eighteen fifty seven,
he gets pulled into the Utah War, taking charge of
the US forces sent to squash of rebellion by the
Latter Day Saints. Oh wow. Their mission was to replace
Brigham young with Elfred Cumming as the governor of Utah Territory,
good luck and re established US authority. Albert stepped in
and took over for Brigadier General William Harney, and he
(11:53):
joined the army late since it was already on its
way to Utah. I'll catch up with the guys. His adjutant,
General John fitzp It was John Porter, all right, FitzJohn
Porter would later be a civil war John hll Yes,
couldn't say enough of good things about him. Look at
this guy getting praised by everybody. Nice Porter, he wrote.
Elbert's experience on the planes, his energy and his guts
(12:14):
brought him got brought calm to a chaotic situation all right.
But the wagon train was a mess, all tangled up.
Albert got it moving smoothly again. People were freaking out,
but he steadied them. Calm My children and people whisper.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Over the next few months, Elbert he was grinding it
out at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, keeping his army shopping and
brutal Win a porter. He was impressed right into a
friend that Elbert did everything possible to keep the troops
ready and uphold the country's on her.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
That's time to fucking betray it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
But he was adamant that no one wild should out
rank Albert, ever, saying, every man in this camp wanted
him to be promoted to brigadier general. Even the Mormons
gave him props. That's good, dude, he deserves another wife, right.
The Desert Rat News in Salt Lake City wrote that
it took a cool head and a sharp judgment to
keep an army content and a camp healthy through a
(13:11):
stormy winter and the Wasatch Mountains. That's not faint praise.
And folks on the other side they.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Know what it's like, right Well, Albert and his men,
they're now itching for a fight. They want to do something.
They'd heard about the Mountain Meadows massacre and were fired
up for payback against the Mormons. But in the end
they didn't go that way. After enduring the harsh winter
at Fort Bridger, the whole peace deal was struck. They're like,
damn it, we can't kill these motherfuckers wo. By late
June eighteen fifty eight, Alberty let his army through Salt
(13:40):
Lake City without a hitch and set up Camp Floyd
about fifty miles away, and his report to the war Department.
He didn't hold back, saying some horrible crimes had gone
down in Utah, stuff so bad it was hard to
wrap your head around. No one had been had accountable.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Jeez.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Still his army kept the peace, Windingfield Scott, we'll get
to him. Surprise, we haven't got him yet. There he's
a US army's top dog at this point, and he's
thrilled with Albert's work. And he pushed for his promotion
to brevet brigadier general, calling him a godsend to the country. Oh,
the Senate they made it official March twenty fourth, eighteen
fifty eight. He's a two time, two time, two time general.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Albert he also had a knack for dealing with the
Native American drivers had just slaughter them all.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Porter said.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
He made a point of bringing chiefs in the camp,
treating them with kindness but staying firm and dignified tribes
like the.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Utes, the pi Utes, and the Bannacks. They visited.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
They left happy, promising to be friendly. As long as
Albert's around, you.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Stay around al long as.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Year body, we won't scalp anybody even undercut the Mormons
influence over them, making sure travelers to California, Oregon were safe,
they had Mormons, hated Indians. Things got murky though. In
August eighteen fifty nine, parts of Albert's army of View,
tah were tied to an alleged massacre at Spring Valley,
supposedly in retaliation for an Indian attack and an immigrant train.
(15:05):
Details of shaky, but Elbert only mentioned it in November
eighteen fifty nine report to Scott.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Just mentioned it briefly. It's oh, by the way, He
did say three immigrant groups are robbed, about ten or
twelve people, included men, women, and children. They are all killed.
A detachment under a Lieutenant Gay severely chastised the group's robbers,
but the culprits behind the other attacks slipped away well.
Albert he suspected they were rogue Shoshone or Bannock bands,
(15:30):
maybe led by white men. Since the chiefs denied any involvement,
they wouldn't lie, right. The only real account comes from
Elijah Nicholas Wilson wrint Way later in nineteen ten, plus
some oral histories. Nobody really knows what actually happened.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Right late February eighteen sixty, Albert, you got orders to
head to Washington d C for a new assignment. He
spent most of that year in Kentucky and then sailed
to Cali on December twenty first sailed to take over
the Department of Pacific, and spring of eighteen sixty one
he's in a small unit to patrol northern California after
reports of Native American raids on settlers. He was clear
(16:05):
with his officers, no reckless killing, no mixing up the
guilty with the innocent, and after that things stayed quiet.
Albert he was always about keeping the balance, tough when
he needed to be.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But he was also fair. Yeah. Good the guy he
was just he just had a way of getting things done,
getting things done right. That's nice. Before we dive into
his Civil War time, let's take a look at his
views on slavery. His eldest son once said his dad's
views on slavery were pretty typical for the South. It's
just the way things were for millions of people down there,
(16:38):
part of the social fabric that grew up. In eighteen
forty six, record show Albert owned for slaves in Texas,
and fast forward eighteen fifty five, he ran into a
situation where one of his slaves were stealing from the
army payroll a stead of resort. In the physical punishment,
Albert chose to sell the man for a thousand bucks
to cover the losses. He explained it by saying, whipping
wouldn't undo theft or change the guy. Right, he hadn't
(17:00):
turned honest despite years of decent treatment anyways. Right, that
gives you a sense of foul handled things practical, not cruel,
but still very much a man of his time. That
just happened to, you know, own human beings. Yeah, what
he can do.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Eighteen fifty six, Albert he wrote to his son, and
you can hear the heat and his words. He called
abolitionism fanatical, idolatrous, negro worshiping himsel. And he was worried
that abolitionists were going to stir up a slavery volt
across the South.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I don't worry, they're gonna do more than that.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Right, It's clear that he saw their movement as a
threat to the world. He knew when he moved to California.
His actions show some nuance. He sold one slave to
his son, but there was another, Randolph Hughes. Folks called
him ran. This is uh Albert. He's like you can
go free. Ran Ran Run, Run, Ran, Run, Ran, Ran,
(17:56):
Ran Run, But Ran ran all right, But Ran, He's like,
I'll stick with the family under a deal about twelve
dollars a month for five more years of work.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Good for you, Buden.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That arrangement held, That arrangement held, and Ran stayed by
Albert's side throughout the Civil War, right up until Elvert's death.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Oh good guy. It's a complicated picture. Though Albert was
shaped by.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
The South system, he was defensive of it, but he
also made choices that hinted a bit of flexibility, at
least in his own way.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Okay, well, when the Old Civil War kicked off, Albert
he was running the show as commander of the US
Department Army's Department of the Pacific out in Calli. Now.
Like a lot of Southern born regular Army officers, he
wasn't keen on secession. Didn't like the idea of the
country splitting up right. But when he got word that
the Confederate States were declaring independence, he made a tough call,
(18:48):
resigned his commission, and the War Department accepted it on
May six, eighteen sixty one. They backdated it though to
May third, by April twenty eighth, he'd moved to La
where his wife's brother John Griffin lived. Wow.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Albert thought about staying put in California with his wife
and five kids, actually make that six, since the youngest
was born in their La home. Life could have been
quiet there, but that wasn't Elbert's path. Tragically, his eldest son,
Captain Albert S. Johnston Junior, he died a couple of
years later. In eighteen sixty three, he was caught an
accidental explosion on a steamership well on leave in La.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Oh poor guy. By May, Albert made up his mind.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
He joined the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, which was a
pro Southern militia, signing on as a private.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And his duden't even care. He's in general and shit,
and he's I'll go back as a private.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
And at twenty seventh of May he left the Winners
Ranch with the militia. He trekked across the scorching southwestern
deserts to Texas.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Ax the Old Texas, across the Colorado River into the
Confederate Territory of Arizona. July fourth, eighteen sixty one, A
guy leading his escort, Alonso Ridley, he was the under
Sheriff of la and stuck by Elbert's side until the end.
Elbert got to the Confederate. So he was fifty eight,
pretty old for our army, got pretty old at all
right there on to be in the army. He showed
(20:08):
up in Richmond on September fifth, eighteen sixty one, after
that grueling cross country trip with no promises, just hoping
for a role. At this time Old President Davis, he's
trying to hold as much territory as possible, spreading his
forces along the borders and coasts. He said, we can't
lose territory end. We need to gain some if possible.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
That very summer, Davis pick generals defend the lines from
the Mississippi River to the Alleghany Mountains. The trickiest spots
along the Mississippi and in western Tennessee, where the Tennessee
and the Cumberland Rivers were key that went to Major
General Lenitis Poke and Brigadier General Gideon Pillow. Pillow had
been Tennessee stopped general. At first, things get miicy, of course,
(20:48):
because on the third September eighteen sixty one, just two
days before Albert reached Richmond, Poked Pillow and made a
bold move. They occupy Columbus Kentucky, and we're supposed to
own Old Kentucky is neutral. That was a Kentucky had
been trying to stay neutral, but their action pushed the
state toward the Union dead most Kentucky insided with the
US and gave Union Brigadier General Ulysses, says Grant the
(21:09):
perfect excuse to seize.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Paducah Paducah, and he sure did without even ticking off
the state's pro union majority or legislator like, hey, yeah,
these guys came. First September tenth, eighteen sixty one, Albert
He got a massive assignment from the Confederacy in which
he was put in charge of pretty much everything west
of the Allegheny Mountains except the coastal areas. They called
(21:32):
it the Western Department or the Western Military Department, makes sense,
and it was a huge chunk of territory. His old
friend Jeff Davis, who thought the world of him, had
already pushed through his appointment as a full general. Fantastic
this guy out there.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
The Confederate Senate confirmed it thirty first of August eighteen
sixty one.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Back dating is ringed to May.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Thirtieth dam gets paid all that right. That made Albert
the second highest ranking general in the Confederiti Army, just
behind Old Samuel Cooper. He was dad you in General
Inspector General right after the appointment, Albert anywayte anytime he
had it straight for his new territory.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Ready to take on the challenge.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
He was giving green light to call up new troops
from the governors Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi. Well, as usual, politics
got in the way, especially with Mississippi, so that didn't
go so smoothly as he had hoped.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
So he got to work. September thirteenth, he sent Brigader
General Felix Zalakhoffer with four thousand men to hold Cumberland
Gap in Kentucky, blocking Union troops from slipping into eastern Tennessee. Oh.
This was a big move, especially since Kentucky's legislator had
just thrown in with the Union after pokes Plunder and
Columbus that we already talked about stupids. A few days later,
(22:39):
September eighteenth, Albert he had Brigader General Simon Blivar Buckner
and another four thousand men stationed at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
He said, go cut off the railroad route into Tennessee.
He was stretching his forces thin, but putting where it counted.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
All right, well, Albert, he was working with less than
forty thousand men scattered all across Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Out of that, ten thousand were in Missouri under Sterling
Price with the Missouri State Guard. When Albert asked the
governor for more recruits, he didn't get the flood volunteers
he needed. What was worse, he was critically short on
(23:13):
weapons enamel for the troops.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
That he already had. And then you want more, oh wow.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The old rebel government was pouring most of its resources
into the East An armies, leaving Albert with scraps, barely
any reinforcements or supplies. So guess what he's like. I
can be creative, So he did. He kept up a
study stream of raids and maneuvers, making it look like
he had.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Way more man than he did.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
The bluff worked for months keeping the Union guessing in
that bay as well.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And we already know the Union. They already think you
got twice the army they have. Anyways, his tactics drove
Union Brigadier General William to come see Sherman absolutely off
the wall in Kentucky. Sherman he got so spoot overestimated
in Albert's forces that he started unraveling, acting paranoid and unstable.
By November nine, eighteen sixty one, the Union replaced him
(24:00):
with Brigadier General Don Carlos Mules and you get to
get out of everybody. Later on, Sherman pushed back hard
on that story in his memoirs, but at the time
Albert's mind games did have him rattled, courting to everybody else. Albert,
He's out there holding the line with not nearly enough
men or gear, but still managed to keep the Union
on their toes. Kind of leader he was. That's why
(24:20):
they loved him. That's why Joe jeff said he was
the best.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Right East Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
It was a tricky spot for the old rebels during
Civil War. Most folks were pro Union, which made holding
a headache Jefferson Davis. He put two brigadier generals in
choge Felix Zellakoffer and George Crittenden, and crittin In was
soon bumped up to major General. Zali Coffer was brave
but Green no real training or experience. Crittin In, and
(24:47):
former a United States Army officer, had his own issues
with whispers about him hitting the.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Bottle too much. Don't they all right?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
This is not exactly the dream team the old rebels
thought they had. While crittin In was off in Richmond Zolikoffer,
he made a bold move. He took his forces to
the north bank of the Upper Cumberland near Mill Springs, Kentucky,
which is now called Nancy.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Nancy can do yeah, Nancy Well. Problem was he was
parked with his troops at the river at their backs,
basically trapping them. He'd be in order to pull back to
the other side, but he claimed he couldn't because transport
was scarce and Union troops are too close. When Union
Brigadier General George Thomas started moving in gritting and now
back in the picture, he decided to hit one part
of Thomas's split up command at Logan's Crossroads before the
(25:30):
Union forces could link up. January nineteenth, eighteen sixty two,
at the Battle of Mill Springs, the Confederates soaked from
a night march in the rain, they came out swinging
and had some early success. We just put out a
little the full Battle of Mill Springs by itself on
the old YouTube. I'm not mistaken well, but things fell
(25:52):
apart fast, Zalikoffer, he got killed. Union hit back with
the mayonet chars. They sent the Confeders running. Their four
thousand man force took a beating in five hundred and
thirty three of them. Crittin's leadership was such a mess
that some of his own men accused him of being
drunk on the job. The survivors were scattered to other unions,
and Crittenden ended up under investigation for his conduct. What
(26:13):
a disaster, old Zolakoffer, he's gone. Oh no.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
After that loss, Jefferson Davis tried to patch things up
with Albert. He sent a brigade and some scattered reinforcements,
and he also sent General P. G.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Bauregard. Here's a t bowl guy. He was a big
name thanks to his early war wins.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Beaureguard was supposed to draw in recruits and be a
solid right hand man.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
For Albert, but as usually, things seems to go.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Brigadier The brigade was led by Brigadier General Floyd, who
had a reputation for being pretty useless. Floyd ended up
in charge at Fort Donaldson just as the Old Blue
Coats Brigadier General Ulysses Grant came a knocking word got
around that Beaureguard was bringing fifteen regiments, which spooted the
Old Blue Coats and probably pushed him to hit the
forts before he could settle in. That number was exaggerated,
(27:02):
though as usual, boy Guarden didn't have nearly that many
men as they thought. That's usually what happened, So I
can't believe Grant fell for that.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
They all are at this point well Tennessee. They were
banking on Kentucky's neutrality to act as a buffer against
a Union invasion from the north, but that plan fell
apart by September of eighteen sixty one. The state had
sent a bunch of troops to Virginia early on and
focuses defenses on the Mississippi Valley. Even before Albert showed
up in Tennessee, they started building two forts, which Fort
Entry on the Tennessee River and Old Fort Donaldson on
(27:33):
the Cumberland.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Was that an old Indian chief fort two forts?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Fort forts? Probably? Yeah. They wanted to block Union access
from the north, clearly, problem was they built these forts
in Tennessee to avoid stepping on Kentucky's toes. And the
locations weren't great. Yeah, you end up getting pummeled by
old Grant.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Fort Renemy was in a low spot, easy pickings for
hills across the river in Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I mean when you're shooting down, I mean shooting fish
in a barrel.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Fort Downsond. Well, it was better situated, but I had
a weak landies. But I had a weak landside and
not even enough big guns to fend off Union gun
boats as well made it.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
General leonieds poke when he took charge.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
He brushed off the fort's issues. He's like, nah. Once
Albert stepped in, he ordered Pope the Senate an engineer.
He's like, uh, who do we got, Lieutenant Joseph Dixon.
I wanted you to tell him to come check him out.
Polk is like, sure, I'll get to it. He dragged
his feet, but Albert he put his foot down and
Dixon got to work.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
He said, no, we're gonna do it now right. He
was come on, man, well it's just like Albert thought Dixon.
He said the forts weren't perfect, but too much effort
had gone into them to abandon him. All right. The
Confederates might not have time to start over, and so
we got to do what we gotta do. Albert He
went with his advice. He wanted Major Alexander Stewart to
run the forts, but Jefferson Davis. He picked Biggader General
Lloyd Tillman instead. To keep Pope from spreading his horses thin,
(28:56):
some of his men were itching to join a partisan group,
Albert He ordered him to send brider General Gideon Pillow
with five thousand men to Fort Donaldson.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
We'll give you a little bit more, all right. Pillow
he set up in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee. He didn't even
move into the four until the seventh of February eighteen
sixty two, after a Union reconnaissance on January fourteenth tipped
them off. Oh, Albert he told Tickman, he said, he
I want you to for divide that high ground across
from Fort Henry, something Polk had annoyed.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
But Tillman he didn't act fast enough, and honestly the
orders came way too late. Anyhow. Make even a difference
there there, you're not, you're not. It doesn't fucking matter.
February fourth, General P. G. T beaureguard. He showed up
at Albert's headquarters in Bowling Green, and he took charge
of Poke's forces at the western end of the line
in Columbus Tucky. Two days later, February sixth, Union gunboats.
(29:45):
They tore through Fort Henry's defenses like they were nothing,
killing or wounding twenty one of the small Confederate force
left there Tillman. He then surrounded as Tillman then surrendered
as ninety four remained him in out of about three thousand,
since most had been at Fort Donaldson, and that was
before the Grant scroops could even get in position. He said,
I don't want to fight at all. Albert. He knew
(30:07):
if Fort Donaldson fell, he'd be stuck in Bowling Green,
so he started moving up to them. So he started
moving up to Nashville, and uh, that happened on February eleven.
He said, we're gonna get captured too if we don't
get out of here, right, gotta go get a goal. Forts.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
I told you guys at the beginning, Albert. He also
poured twelve thousand more.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
He also poured twelve thousand more men in Fort Donaldson,
including Floyd and Pillows troops, which was a head scratcher
since he thought the old Blue Coats gunboats could take
the four on their own. He told the commanders to
pull out with the Fort count hold. But Floyd and
Pillow says, I got twelve kids each pull pullos.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Do I look like I pull out?
Speaker 3 (30:47):
But Floyd and Pillow, the senior generals, they botched.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
It exactly why they got twelve kids.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
They missed a chance to avoid his surrender, and in
sixteenth February, Brigadier General Simon Buckner left tie and dry.
After Floyd and Pillow bailed, they had to give the
Ford up. Oh, Fort Doninson no more. Colonel Nathan Bedford
forest sharp as ever, he slipped out with the seven
hundred man cavalry before the even surrender happened.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
He's I'm out, boys.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
The old rebels lost one thousand, five hundred man twelve
fourteen thousand taking prisoner Union losses five hundred killed, twenty
eight wounded, two hundred and twenty four missing.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Still a lot killed.
Speaker 5 (31:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Well, Albert had to take the heat for the Fort
Donaldson's fault. Clearly he was the guy. He didn't have
much choice but to let Floyd and Pillow take charge
based on their seniority, and explaining the full mess to
the public would have shown how shaky the Confederate position was.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Bad. People started calling for his head, and historians later
piled on, pointing how he spread his forces too thin
and didn't pull them together when the Union advanced, and
he leaned on some pretty questionable subordinates as well. His
defensive stance, sitting in a forward spot like bowling green
At didn't help either.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Son of Pitch.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
The loss of the forts left Nashville wide open for
the pickings, and that too fell a union Briger Jenner
Don Carlos Bule, February twenty fifth, just two days after
Albert had to pull his men out to avoid them
getting captured.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Damn.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I talk about a brutal stretch for Albert, and is
about to get a brutal even more brutal because he's
not allowed. He's not about the last very long here,
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
After Forte Henry Doallinson fell gone odiosa mugos, no more
occupiedo Elbert. He was in a real bind and he
had barely seventeen thousand men left. It's crazy staring down
a massive Union force that could steam roll him.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
He made a court they probably think he's got thirty
four thousand right.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
He made a quick call to pull back hot tail
in it south from Nashville into Mississippi and then northern Alabama.
He personally led the Army of Central Kentucky his core
group out of Nashville area to avoid getting trapped.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Good for him.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
With General Beauregard's help, Elbert came up with a plan
to regroup at Corinth, Mississippi, a key spot where railroads
cross perfect for staging the defense.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
He took a roundabout route to get there, keeping the
Union forces, which is now under Major General Henry Hallett
guessing and slow to react, that bottom enough time to
slip into Corinth without being spotted. Right then, to beef
up his numbers, he pulled in reinforcements to Louisiana, which
was part of Polk's troops from Island number ten and
ten thousand more men under Brax and Brag who came
up from mobile Mobio engine number nine going to Island
(33:21):
number ten right right. Bragg's arrival was a relief for
Boreguard and Polk, who were starting to panic and they
were filling out number and Outgune before Albert showed up
March twenty fourth, eighteen sixty two. The uh oh finally right.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
By the time Albert got the Corinth, seventeen thousand men
that he had combining went the forces already there, gave
him a total of forty to forty four thousand troops.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Holy shit, like I saw it'sousand to forty four thousand,
six hundred and sixty nine troops, which a how do
you get that? Exactly? Two?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
About that?
Speaker 3 (33:50):
On a twenty ninth to match, he officially took command
of this mixed force. This is this kept the name,
which kept the name of the army Mississs, something that
Borguard had organized back on the fifth of months. For you,
Elvert knew his only shot was to hit Ulysses as
Grant's army very hard and fast before Grant couldn't even
link up with Brigerdy General Don Carlo's brules and reinforcements.
(34:13):
So on the third of April eighteen sixty two, he
got his army moving, aiming to catch Grant off guard
the next day at Pittsburgh Landing and we did that
very battle.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Sure did well. As usual, it wasn't smooth sailing. His
army was a patchwork thrown together in a hurry. Two
thirds of them had never seen combat. The whole operation
was a mess, divisions tripping over each other because of
lousy drill, discipline and planning. Paul Guard he thought the
attack was a bad idea flat out doomed. But Albert,
(34:45):
he wasn't hearing it, and so it's our only chance,
said I would fight them if they were a million.
He pushed his men towards Grant's position. By the evening
in April fifth, his army was in place with just
a mile or two from Grant's force, and the un
army had no idea they were even coming. Okay, Albert,
he was betting everything on this surprise. Ready to throw
the dice. He said, it's all we got left, boys,
(35:06):
just throw that damned dice.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Sixth April eighteen sixty two, Albert lunched a huge surprise
attack against you, listed as Grant's army the Battle of Shiloh.
His forces came crashing into the Blue Coats camp, catching
them off Guards, We're dead. Albert was right in the
thick of it, riding his horse up and down the
line rounding his men. There was this moment that really
(35:28):
stood out. He caught some of his soldiers, including the
young lieutenant, brinking ranks to loot the Union camps. Albert said, oh,
hell no, he shot it out.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
None of that, sir. We're not here for plunder.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Now, We're just here to shoot people in the face. Right.
Realizing he called out.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Realizing he called the guy out, He softened the blow
by grabbing a tin cup off the table and saying,
let this be my share of the spoils today, before.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Pushing his men for it. I didn't want to like.
He wanted them to keep fighting, So all right, I'll
grab this cup here. Around two thirty pm, leading a
charge near a spot called the Peach Orchard things, they
took a turn, and they're for the worse. A bullet
hit him behind his right knee, nicking his pop pop
(36:17):
appeal artery. As boots started filling with blood and there
was no doctor around. Albert had sent his personal surgeon
to tend to wounded Confederate troops and Union prisoners earlier.
Within minutes of staff noticing slumping in the saddle, looking
deathly pale, Isham Harris, the Tennessee governor who basically stopped
governing after Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson as military governor. He
(36:39):
was right there next to him and he said, General,
are you wounded. Albert glanced at his leg, then said,
in a faint voice, yes, and I fear seriously. Those
were his last words. This dude, blood in his boot,
A stupid shot to the leg.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
Man, he's just retarded.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
That's why everybody was like, you know, cops to shoot
you in the lay. This is exactly why you don't right?
Speaker 2 (37:02):
How many major hard to reason in your freaking leg.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Damn.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
His men pulled off his horse. Well, he would have
survived if they could have had something there. His man
pulled him off his horse, carried him to a small
ravine near the hornet's nest, trying to help, but he'd
already passed it done. Harris sent for the passed out.
Harris sent for the surgeon, but didn't think to tie
a tourniquet, you idiot.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
A few minutes.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Later, Albert was gone, bled out before a doctor could
even get to him. M even if they put a
tournique on and he lost so much damn blood, would.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Have stopped it at least and could have cut off
his leg or done something. Still, gotta give him blood.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Did they even do that back then?
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Who knows? Jeez, that's terrible.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
They later found a tourniquet in his pocket, such as
a small thing that could have made a difference.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Well, they obviously knew to use them, just nobody thought to.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Apparently he might have hung on for up to an
hour after the wound. To keep the troops spirits up
Harrison the others wrapped Elbert's body in a blanket so
the men wouldn't see.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Their dead general. And dude, that's just insanely stupid.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Well, they then took him and his wounded horse, fire
Eater to his field headquarters in the Corinth Road, where
his body stayed in his tent for the rest of
the battle. Bauerguard he took over and kept the Confederate
attack going, pushing the Union back to a final line
near the Tennessee River. By seven pm. With his horse
worn out, with his men worn out, and darkness falling,
Bauerguard he called off the assault, planning to finish the
(38:34):
job the next morning, but overnight Grant he said, I'm
getting twenty thousand fresh troops from Don Carlo's bule, and
the next day his countertrack drove the Confederates off the field,
winning the battle yep and putting the Confederates in so
much like panic. They just lost their best generator, insane.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
As the old rebels fell back to Corinth, Elbert's body
was taken to the home of Colonel William Inge, his
former headquarters. They draped it in the Confederate flag and
laid it in state for a few hours. There's a
chance the fatal shot came from a Confederate soldier.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Isn't it always?
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Albert was charging way ahead of them, and plenty of
the Confederates were flying toward the Union lines.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Also, what makes sense he got shot in the back
of the leg, and if he was charging ahead of them.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Alonso Ridley, who let Elbert's bodyguard the guides, was right
there when he fell. Albert's death hit the Confederacy hard.
He was the highest ranking officer ever to die in
the war on either side, and Jefferson Davis, who saw
him as the best general they ever had, felt the
loss deeply. It was I got punched to the south morale,
(39:45):
losing the leader like that at such a critical moment.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah, the tide's about to start turning here. Not only
was he the highest ranking general to die in the
Civil war's the highest ranking American general to die ever. Right. Insane? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
When Albert died, he left behind his wife, Eliza and
their six kids. Eliza along with their five younger children,
including the other one that was born after Albert headed
off to war and never met him. They decided to
stay in La living with her brother, doctor John Struther Griffin.
Albert's eldest son, Albert Sidney Junior, born back in Texas,
he followed his dad into the army. Eighteen sixty three,
(40:22):
Albert Junior was in La on leave. They caught a
ferry out of San Pedro Harbor. As a steamer was
picking up passengers from the ferry, a wave hit, swamping
the smaller boat and causing its boilers to explode. As
you would guess, old Elbert Junior, he didn't make it.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Crazy, crazy man, this insane.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
After Elbert's death, the old rebel government gave him the
highest praise they ever dished out because on December twentieth,
eighteen sixty two, and later in the Los Angeles Star,
his hometown paper, they published glowing accounts of his service.
Northeast LA, where his family lived. You can still find
Johnson Street, Hancock Street, and Griffin Avenue named for Albert,
(41:04):
and it's ken. Albert was first buried in Dolens, but
in eighteen sixty six Texas legislator passed the resolution said
bring that boy right back to Texas State Cemetery in
Austin is where he belongs.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Indeed, they reburied him there in eighteen sixty seven. Then
nineteen oh five the state hired sculptor Elizabeth Elizabet Well
Elizabeth Nay took great a monument and statue for his gravesite,
which still stands today. That's it, It's Texas, Texas, Austin right.
The Texas Historical Commission also put up a marker near
(41:38):
the entrance to what used to be Albert's plantation, and
another one nearby was set up at the San Jacinto
Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and
the Lee, Roberts and Davis Chapter of the United Daughters
of the Confederacy.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Cool Cool nineteen sixteen University of Texas at Austin honored
Albert and other rebel veterans with statues on the South Mall.
But as you were to guess, in August two, I
was seventeen, they'ing the push to remove Confederate monument's across
the country.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
Statue came down.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
The plan was to move it to the Brisco Center
for American History on the east side of the campus.
In eighteen eighty and nineteen eighty Albert was inducted. Okay,
so I guess they never moved or that was I
was planning.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Well. Going back to.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Nineteen eighty, Albert was inducted into the Texas Military Hall
of Honor.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
That's a good nod to his legacy. Right.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
By the fall of twenty eighteen, some schools named after
him and other Confederate figures got new names, as Johnston
Elementary and Dallas became Cedar Crest, and Johnston Middle School
in Houston was renamed to Mereland three.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
It's Johnston Middle School.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
I know three other elementary schools tied to Confederates were
also renamed at the same time.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
That's so stupid, I mean technically traders. Yeah, that's true,
I guess.
Speaker 5 (42:55):
So.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Yeah, that was Albert Sydney. Another life cut short. His
life wasn't cut short, though, he was old when he.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
It was like sixty seventy years on that one't he?
Speaker 2 (43:04):
It was the fifties. I was born in eighteen o three.
It was sixty sixty one, right, So I mean good
for him, right, he didn't have to go, but he
didn't just decided to be a trader when he could
just stayed in LA and lived his life.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Could have been a he died from. Uh would have
died from polio for a trader of other sorts, right,
it would.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Have died from small box or some shit down the line,
you know. So yeah, A S. Johnson Albert Sidney, the
highest rank in general ever to die in battle for
Still America. So yeah, that's him. One. There's another what
if if? Stonewall? What if Jeb what if? Well he
(43:45):
died pritten later, but uh, he's stonewalling him if they
wouldn't have died so soon. Who knows what what happened,
but we can't what if? What if? What ifs Ye
with that, we'll be back next week for maybe we'll
cover Don Carlos Bill. His name was brought up a
couple of times in this episode. He was done, he
wasn't done. Uh, either way, We're back, probably for another
(44:06):
Union guy, unless we can find an interesting story outside
of that, but we'll be back anyways for.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Or to train, robbery or something mane all being looking
or manure.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
We'll be back next week for more behind the battles
of this American Civil War. We have the mother. He's
gonna be a big name chi
The bloodiest war on American soil. States versus States, Brothers
versus brothers. Join hosts bang and dang as they take
you battle by battle through the most divisive time in
American history. Welcome to battles of the American Civil War, AI.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Welcome back to battles of Americans of a war. Behind
the battles, moving on with some more general allies, this
time for the Confederate Allies. And things might have gone
different if this guy didn't get killed early on in
the war.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
But when he died, he thought the Salt was going
to win it. Answer at that point right.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Also probably the best general at this time when he died,
Albert Sidney Johnston. He was the head guy at the
time of his death. The whole Confederacy our military obviously
with the widerly are being regarded as, like I said,
the best general in all of armies at this time.
He is also a general in three different armies, which
(01:23):
was the Texian Army, the United States Army, and obviously
the Confederate States Army. So good for him. He saw
extensive combat thirty four year military career. He fought in
the Black Hawk War, the Texas Indian Wars, the Mexican
American War, the Utah War, and of course the Civil
War where he died on the battlefield at the Battle
of Shiloh. Damn. He sure did. He was born Washington, Kentucky,
(01:46):
the youngest kid of doctor John Johnson and Abigail Harris.
His dad originally came from Salisbury, Connecticut. His old granddaddy
Edward Harris. He was a legit Revolutionary War patriot. Even
though Albert started life in Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Texas, Ah, my exus, all this side, no one, my
hat in Tennis, Okay, right, Texas is where he really
put down his roots and called in his home.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
As a young and Albert went to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.
And that's where he cross path was Oh Jefferson Davis,
who we already know about him. Two of them ended
up at West Point. Two of them. They ended up
at West Point, and Albert he graduated in eighteen twenty six,
eighth out of a class of forty one. Well that's
the guice. He walked away with the commission as a
(02:33):
Brevett second lieutenant in the second US Infantry. That shit.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
After West Point, Albert he got sent to post in
New York and Missouri August eighteen twenty seven. He was
part of this expedition to deal with the Red Bird.
He was a Winnebago chief who'd been stirring things up,
pissing the old gubbling it off. Albert he was really
struck by this guy. He later wrote about how Redbird
was one of the most dignified and noblemen he'd ever met.
(02:58):
Redbird said something like I met sup and giving myself
up to save my people. That left a great impression
on Albert.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
He said, if it's going to save my people, I'll
go with you. Good for you byday. Well, then eighteen
thirty two rolls along and el oh L can we
call you l? He gets pulled into the black Hawk War,
which didn't last very long. He served as chief of
staff for Brevet Brigader General Henry Atkinson, and let me
tell you, Atkinson, he was impressed. He went on record
(03:26):
saying Albert had talents of the first order. He called
him a gallant soldier with top notch education and a
real gentleman with his high integrity. Nice kind of praise.
Do some good in the old army world.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
For ani back In eighteen twenty nine, Albert married Henrietta Preston,
whose brother William Preston, was a big deal in Kentucky politics,
aren't they all lean Later he became a Civil War
general for who Kentucky Pride and North. Albert and Henriette,
I think so. I had three kids, but sadly.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Only two of them made it to dollhood. Has happened?
Two watter three right six percent baby Kentucky's soldier, the
brigadier general in the Confederate Army once the old Feds. Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Anyway, like you mentioned, they had three kids, but only
two of them made adulthood. One of them, their son,
William Preston Johnson, grew up to be a colonel in
the Confederate Army. Awesome, which is the whole story in itself,
which we will get to eventually. Things took a tough
turn though. In eighteen thirty four, Henrietta got really sick
with tuberculosis. Albert made a hard call to resign his
(04:31):
military commission so he could be by her side in Kentucky.
He was a devoted husband and he had to take
care of his wife. Heartbreaking, but she passed away two
years later. Hit him hard, but you had to have adu.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
After that, Albert He picked up moved on took on
a big role as Secretary of War for the Republic
of Texas from nineteen thirty eight to forty. Once he
wrapped that up, he headed back to Kentucky. In eighteen
forty three, he found love again and they married Eliza Griffin,
who was actually Henrietta's first cousin that happens. Two of
them decided to start fresh in Texas, settling on a
(05:07):
big plantation in Brazoria County, which Albert He named it
China Groves. There they raised the two kids from his
first marriage. Watts had another three they had together. Later on,
they had a six child. After the family moved to
Los Angeles, where they put down permanent roots. Go to
Los Angeles in the thirties, nothing there.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Eighteen thirty six, Albert packed up headed to Texas right
after the Texas War of Independence when they broke away
from EGO. He didn't just sit around, though, He jumped
in and listened as a private in the Texan Army.
But this guy wasn't staying at the bottom for long.
But at fifth of August eighteen thirty six, he'd been
named a jutant general with the rank of colonel in
(05:52):
the Republic of Texas Army January thirty first, eighteen thirty seven.
Promoted again, this time senior brigadier general, putting I'm in
charge of the whole Texas Army.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Look at this guy well as as usual. Not everyone
was thrilled about his rise. February fifth, eighteen thirty seven.
Felix Houston. He was a Texas prigader general who had
been acting commander. He got real mad about Albert's promotion.
They took it personally like he was getting slapped in
the face by the Texas government. Said, I've been here
(06:22):
the whole time. This guy just waltzed in from California, right,
So he challenges Albert to a duel. Ooh. They faced off.
It didn't go well for Albert, though. He got shot
in the hip, badly wounded, and he did stepped down
from his post while he recovered.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Later, Elbert opened up about it, saying he only fought
Houston because he fell.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It was his duty.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
He wasn't a fan of dueling, thought it was kind
of pointless, but he believed the Texas Army needed discipline
and in order, and Houston was this wild, lawless figure
who needed to be checked. Albert saw it as putting
in the republic safety first, even if he met risking
his own neck. Years later, Houston himself looked back and
regretted the whole thing. He called it shameful piece of business.
He never ever, ever, ever would.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Do it again.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
He felt awful, he said, attainted all the good he's
done in his life. Yeah, but he couldn't exactly challenge
the government or the president.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
So Albert he was the target. He was just glad
he didn't killed the man out. Fast forward December twenty second,
eighteen thirty eight, and Mirabeau b Lamar, the second President
of Texas. He tapped Albert. He wanted him to be
his secretary of war. Damn right in that row. He
was out there protecting the Texas border from Mexicans. They
were trying to take back the rebellious state good Luck.
(07:34):
Eighteen thirty nine. He also got involved in the Cherokee
War in northern Texas, campaigning against Native Americans. I would
assume right during the Battle of Netchez, both Albert and
Vice President David Burnett they got shoutouts in the commanders
report for their active exertions on the field, he's and
for carrying themselves in a way that brought them a
lot of respect. Febuary of eighteen forty though, Albert he's
(07:56):
ready to take a break. Yeah. He resigned his post
headed back to Oakentucky.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
When the United States declared war on may Go in
May of eighteen forty six, Albert he didn't even hesitate.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
He said yes.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
He rode four hundred miles from his home in Galveston
to Port Isabelle to volunteer for Zachary Taylor's Army of Occupation.
He got elected colonel of the first Texas Rifle Volunteers.
But right before the army marched on Monterey, his soldiers enlistments, they.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Said who they were are times up MUDs.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Right Still, Taylor saw his potential and made him inspector
general for Brigadier General William Butler's Volunteer Division. Albert he
even persuaded a few of his old regiment buddies to
stick around and fight.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The Battle of Monterey. Things got intense. Butler he got
wounded and had to be carried off, So Albert he
stepped up, taking a real leadership role. Joseph Hooker will
get to him later, not today. Right, he was there,
and he couldn't stop talking about Albert's cool headness. He said,
Albert basically saved their division from bloodbath with his magnificent
(08:55):
presence on the field. Taylor himself went as far as
a calling Albert the best soldier he ever commanded. Oh
that's nice. But after Monterey October eighteen forty six, Albert
he calls it quits again, he said. He told his
wife Eliza, he'd only served for six months, and he's
a man of his word, dammit. Plus, the politics didn't help.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
President Jane Polk's administration was playing favorites, handing out officer
rolls to Democrats, well sidelining guys like Albert who were.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Seen as wigs. It was a raw deal.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Polk appointed a bunch of Democrats who've never seen a battlefield.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Well.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
West Point grads like Albert, proven himself in Texas and
had top notch military chops, got nothing.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Taylor day, sir, Right.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Taylor even wrote the Pope begging him to give Albert
command of one of the new regiments, but the letter
didn't even get a reply. Albert's brother Josiah'sdadter Johnston. He
was tight with the Whig leader Henry Clay, and that
probably didn't help his case with the Democrats.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Probably not so. Albert said this, going back to this plantation. Yeah,
he stayed there until eighteen forty nine. Wins Zachary Taylor,
he's now the twelfth president. He brought him back. Taylor.
He pointed him a major in the US Army, making
him a paymaster for Texas District, stretching from the Upper
Colorado River to the Upper Trinity River for over five years. Albert,
(10:07):
he's out there, making six tours a year, covering more
than four thousand miles on the Indian frontier. Oh, he
served at places like Fort Mason and others in the West,
always on the move. Good for him, right, eighteen fifty five,
you guys, can't hear some Asso decided to cut his
grass is at the same time we record this. So
eighteen fifty five, Franklin Pierre's fourteenth president, he made Elbert
(10:29):
colonel of a brand new second United States Cavalry, which
later became the fifth US That regiment was staffed his
second command, Robert E. Lee, Majors William Hardy George Thomas.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
They all go to the Confederate right and our roster
full of future Civil War generals like Earl Van dorn,
Edmund Kirby Smith, John B.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Hood and others and others. Elbert helped build that.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
Unit from the ground up and by the thirty first
of March eighteen fifty six had a temporary gig.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
He was commanding the entire Department of Texas.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
Once again, he didn't mess around, leading aggressive campaigns against
the commanche.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
He wrote to his.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Daughter about how the Indians were harassing the frontiers, but
him and his Second Cavalry and other troops were giving
them a thrashing whenever they caught up to him.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
You just see the slaughter we did to those women
and children.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
In March of eighteen fifty seven, Brigadier General David Twiggs
took over as permanent commander, and Albert he said, I'm
gonna go back to the Second.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Cavalry might as well. I ain't. November eighteen fifty seven,
he gets pulled into the Utah War, taking charge of
the US forces sent to squash of rebellion by the
Latter Day Saints. Oh wow. Their mission was to replace
Brigham young with Elfred Cumming as the governor of Utah Territory,
good luck and re established US authority. Albert stepped in
and took over for Brigadier General William Harney, and he
(11:53):
joined the army late since it was already on its
way to Utah. I'll catch up with the guys. His adjutant,
General John fitzp It was John Porter, all right, FitzJohn
Porter would later be a civil war John hll Yes,
couldn't say enough of good things about him. Look at
this guy getting praised by everybody. Nice Porter, he wrote.
Elbert's experience on the planes, his energy and his guts
(12:14):
brought him got brought calm to a chaotic situation all right.
But the wagon train was a mess, all tangled up.
Albert got it moving smoothly again. People were freaking out,
but he steadied them. Calm My children and people whisper.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Over the next few months, Elbert he was grinding it
out at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, keeping his army shopping and
brutal Win a porter. He was impressed right into a
friend that Elbert did everything possible to keep the troops
ready and uphold the country's on her.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
That's time to fucking betray it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
But he was adamant that no one wild should out
rank Albert, ever, saying, every man in this camp wanted
him to be promoted to brigadier general. Even the Mormons
gave him props. That's good, dude, he deserves another wife, right.
The Desert Rat News in Salt Lake City wrote that
it took a cool head and a sharp judgment to
keep an army content and a camp healthy through a
(13:11):
stormy winter and the Wasatch Mountains. That's not faint praise.
And folks on the other side they.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Know what it's like, right Well, Albert and his men,
they're now itching for a fight. They want to do something.
They'd heard about the Mountain Meadows massacre and were fired
up for payback against the Mormons. But in the end
they didn't go that way. After enduring the harsh winter
at Fort Bridger, the whole peace deal was struck. They're like,
damn it, we can't kill these motherfuckers wo. By late
June eighteen fifty eight, Alberty let his army through Salt
(13:40):
Lake City without a hitch and set up Camp Floyd
about fifty miles away, and his report to the war Department.
He didn't hold back, saying some horrible crimes had gone
down in Utah, stuff so bad it was hard to
wrap your head around. No one had been had accountable.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Jeez.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Still his army kept the peace, Windingfield Scott, we'll get
to him. Surprise, we haven't got him yet. There he's
a US army's top dog at this point, and he's
thrilled with Albert's work. And he pushed for his promotion
to brevet brigadier general, calling him a godsend to the country. Oh,
the Senate they made it official March twenty fourth, eighteen
fifty eight. He's a two time, two time, two time general.
Speaker 3 (14:20):
Albert he also had a knack for dealing with the
Native American drivers had just slaughter them all.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Porter said.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
He made a point of bringing chiefs in the camp,
treating them with kindness but staying firm and dignified tribes
like the.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Utes, the pi Utes, and the Bannacks. They visited.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
They left happy, promising to be friendly. As long as
Albert's around, you.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Stay around al long as.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Year body, we won't scalp anybody even undercut the Mormons
influence over them, making sure travelers to California, Oregon were safe,
they had Mormons, hated Indians. Things got murky though. In
August eighteen fifty nine, parts of Albert's army of View,
tah were tied to an alleged massacre at Spring Valley,
supposedly in retaliation for an Indian attack and an immigrant train.
(15:05):
Details of shaky, but Elbert only mentioned it in November
eighteen fifty nine report to Scott.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Just mentioned it briefly. It's oh, by the way, He
did say three immigrant groups are robbed, about ten or
twelve people, included men, women, and children. They are all killed.
A detachment under a Lieutenant Gay severely chastised the group's robbers,
but the culprits behind the other attacks slipped away well.
Albert he suspected they were rogue Shoshone or Bannock bands,
(15:30):
maybe led by white men. Since the chiefs denied any involvement,
they wouldn't lie, right. The only real account comes from
Elijah Nicholas Wilson wrint Way later in nineteen ten, plus
some oral histories. Nobody really knows what actually happened.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Right late February eighteen sixty, Albert, you got orders to
head to Washington d C for a new assignment. He
spent most of that year in Kentucky and then sailed
to Cali on December twenty first sailed to take over
the Department of Pacific, and spring of eighteen sixty one
he's in a small unit to patrol northern California after
reports of Native American raids on settlers. He was clear
(16:05):
with his officers, no reckless killing, no mixing up the
guilty with the innocent, and after that things stayed quiet.
Albert he was always about keeping the balance, tough when
he needed to be.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But he was also fair. Yeah. Good the guy he
was just he just had a way of getting things done,
getting things done right. That's nice. Before we dive into
his Civil War time, let's take a look at his
views on slavery. His eldest son once said his dad's
views on slavery were pretty typical for the South. It's
just the way things were for millions of people down there,
(16:38):
part of the social fabric that grew up. In eighteen
forty six, record show Albert owned for slaves in Texas,
and fast forward eighteen fifty five, he ran into a
situation where one of his slaves were stealing from the
army payroll a stead of resort. In the physical punishment,
Albert chose to sell the man for a thousand bucks
to cover the losses. He explained it by saying, whipping
wouldn't undo theft or change the guy. Right, he hadn't
(17:00):
turned honest despite years of decent treatment anyways. Right, that
gives you a sense of foul handled things practical, not cruel,
but still very much a man of his time. That
just happened to, you know, own human beings. Yeah, what
he can do.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Eighteen fifty six, Albert he wrote to his son, and
you can hear the heat and his words. He called
abolitionism fanatical, idolatrous, negro worshiping himsel. And he was worried
that abolitionists were going to stir up a slavery volt
across the South.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I don't worry, they're gonna do more than that.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Right, It's clear that he saw their movement as a
threat to the world. He knew when he moved to California.
His actions show some nuance. He sold one slave to
his son, but there was another, Randolph Hughes. Folks called
him ran. This is uh Albert. He's like you can
go free. Ran Ran Run, Run, Ran, Run, Ran, Ran,
(17:56):
Ran Run, But Ran ran all right, But Ran, He's like,
I'll stick with the family under a deal about twelve
dollars a month for five more years of work.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Good for you, Buden.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
That arrangement held, That arrangement held, and Ran stayed by
Albert's side throughout the Civil War, right up until Elvert's death.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Oh good guy. It's a complicated picture. Though Albert was
shaped by.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
The South system, he was defensive of it, but he
also made choices that hinted a bit of flexibility, at
least in his own way.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Okay, well, when the Old Civil War kicked off, Albert
he was running the show as commander of the US
Department Army's Department of the Pacific out in Calli. Now.
Like a lot of Southern born regular Army officers, he
wasn't keen on secession. Didn't like the idea of the
country splitting up right. But when he got word that
the Confederate States were declaring independence, he made a tough call,
(18:48):
resigned his commission, and the War Department accepted it on
May six, eighteen sixty one. They backdated it though to
May third, by April twenty eighth, he'd moved to La
where his wife's brother John Griffin lived. Wow.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Albert thought about staying put in California with his wife
and five kids, actually make that six, since the youngest
was born in their La home. Life could have been
quiet there, but that wasn't Elbert's path. Tragically, his eldest son,
Captain Albert S. Johnston Junior, he died a couple of
years later. In eighteen sixty three, he was caught an
accidental explosion on a steamership well on leave in La.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Oh poor guy. By May, Albert made up his mind.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
He joined the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, which was a
pro Southern militia, signing on as a private.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And his duden't even care. He's in general and shit,
and he's I'll go back as a private.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
And at twenty seventh of May he left the Winners
Ranch with the militia. He trekked across the scorching southwestern
deserts to Texas.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Ax the Old Texas, across the Colorado River into the
Confederate Territory of Arizona. July fourth, eighteen sixty one, A
guy leading his escort, Alonso Ridley, he was the under
Sheriff of la and stuck by Elbert's side until the end.
Elbert got to the Confederate. So he was fifty eight,
pretty old for our army, got pretty old at all
right there on to be in the army. He showed
(20:08):
up in Richmond on September fifth, eighteen sixty one, after
that grueling cross country trip with no promises, just hoping
for a role. At this time Old President Davis, he's
trying to hold as much territory as possible, spreading his
forces along the borders and coasts. He said, we can't
lose territory end. We need to gain some if possible.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
That very summer, Davis pick generals defend the lines from
the Mississippi River to the Alleghany Mountains. The trickiest spots
along the Mississippi and in western Tennessee, where the Tennessee
and the Cumberland Rivers were key that went to Major
General Lenitis Poke and Brigadier General Gideon Pillow. Pillow had
been Tennessee stopped general. At first, things get miicy, of course,
(20:48):
because on the third September eighteen sixty one, just two
days before Albert reached Richmond, Poked Pillow and made a
bold move. They occupy Columbus Kentucky, and we're supposed to
own Old Kentucky is neutral. That was a Kentucky had
been trying to stay neutral, but their action pushed the
state toward the Union dead most Kentucky insided with the
US and gave Union Brigadier General Ulysses, says Grant the
(21:09):
perfect excuse to seize.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Paducah Paducah, and he sure did without even ticking off
the state's pro union majority or legislator like, hey, yeah,
these guys came. First September tenth, eighteen sixty one, Albert
He got a massive assignment from the Confederacy in which
he was put in charge of pretty much everything west
of the Allegheny Mountains except the coastal areas. They called
(21:32):
it the Western Department or the Western Military Department, makes sense,
and it was a huge chunk of territory. His old
friend Jeff Davis, who thought the world of him, had
already pushed through his appointment as a full general. Fantastic
this guy out there.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
The Confederate Senate confirmed it thirty first of August eighteen
sixty one.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Back dating is ringed to May.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Thirtieth dam gets paid all that right. That made Albert
the second highest ranking general in the Confederiti Army, just
behind Old Samuel Cooper. He was dad you in General
Inspector General right after the appointment, Albert anywayte anytime he
had it straight for his new territory.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Ready to take on the challenge.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
He was giving green light to call up new troops
from the governors Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi. Well, as usual, politics
got in the way, especially with Mississippi, so that didn't
go so smoothly as he had hoped.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
So he got to work. September thirteenth, he sent Brigader
General Felix Zalakhoffer with four thousand men to hold Cumberland
Gap in Kentucky, blocking Union troops from slipping into eastern Tennessee. Oh.
This was a big move, especially since Kentucky's legislator had
just thrown in with the Union after pokes Plunder and
Columbus that we already talked about stupids. A few days later,
(22:39):
September eighteenth, Albert he had Brigader General Simon Blivar Buckner
and another four thousand men stationed at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
He said, go cut off the railroad route into Tennessee.
He was stretching his forces thin, but putting where it counted.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
All right, well, Albert, he was working with less than
forty thousand men scattered all across Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Out of that, ten thousand were in Missouri under Sterling
Price with the Missouri State Guard. When Albert asked the
governor for more recruits, he didn't get the flood volunteers
he needed. What was worse, he was critically short on
(23:13):
weapons enamel for the troops.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
That he already had. And then you want more, oh wow.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
The old rebel government was pouring most of its resources
into the East An armies, leaving Albert with scraps, barely
any reinforcements or supplies. So guess what he's like. I
can be creative, So he did. He kept up a
study stream of raids and maneuvers, making it look like
he had.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Way more man than he did.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
The bluff worked for months keeping the Union guessing in
that bay as well.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
And we already know the Union. They already think you
got twice the army they have. Anyways, his tactics drove
Union Brigadier General William to come see Sherman absolutely off
the wall in Kentucky. Sherman he got so spoot overestimated
in Albert's forces that he started unraveling, acting paranoid and unstable.
By November nine, eighteen sixty one, the Union replaced him
(24:00):
with Brigadier General Don Carlos Mules and you get to
get out of everybody. Later on, Sherman pushed back hard
on that story in his memoirs, but at the time
Albert's mind games did have him rattled, courting to everybody else. Albert,
He's out there holding the line with not nearly enough
men or gear, but still managed to keep the Union
on their toes. Kind of leader he was. That's why
(24:20):
they loved him. That's why Joe jeff said he was
the best.
Speaker 5 (24:25):
Right East Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
It was a tricky spot for the old rebels during
Civil War. Most folks were pro Union, which made holding
a headache Jefferson Davis. He put two brigadier generals in
choge Felix Zellakoffer and George Crittenden, and crittin In was
soon bumped up to major General. Zali Coffer was brave
but Green no real training or experience. Crittin In, and
(24:47):
former a United States Army officer, had his own issues
with whispers about him hitting the.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Bottle too much. Don't they all right?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
This is not exactly the dream team the old rebels
thought they had. While crittin In was off in Richmond Zolikoffer,
he made a bold move. He took his forces to
the north bank of the Upper Cumberland near Mill Springs, Kentucky,
which is now called Nancy.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Nancy can do yeah, Nancy Well. Problem was he was
parked with his troops at the river at their backs,
basically trapping them. He'd be in order to pull back to
the other side, but he claimed he couldn't because transport
was scarce and Union troops are too close. When Union
Brigadier General George Thomas started moving in gritting and now
back in the picture, he decided to hit one part
of Thomas's split up command at Logan's Crossroads before the
(25:30):
Union forces could link up. January nineteenth, eighteen sixty two,
at the Battle of Mill Springs, the Confederates soaked from
a night march in the rain, they came out swinging
and had some early success. We just put out a
little the full Battle of Mill Springs by itself on
the old YouTube. I'm not mistaken well, but things fell
(25:52):
apart fast, Zalikoffer, he got killed. Union hit back with
the mayonet chars. They sent the Confeders running. Their four
thousand man force took a beating in five hundred and
thirty three of them. Crittin's leadership was such a mess
that some of his own men accused him of being
drunk on the job. The survivors were scattered to other unions,
and Crittenden ended up under investigation for his conduct. What
(26:13):
a disaster, old Zolakoffer, he's gone. Oh no.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
After that loss, Jefferson Davis tried to patch things up
with Albert. He sent a brigade and some scattered reinforcements,
and he also sent General P. G.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Bauregard. Here's a t bowl guy. He was a big
name thanks to his early war wins.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
Beaureguard was supposed to draw in recruits and be a
solid right hand man.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
For Albert, but as usually, things seems to go.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
Brigadier The brigade was led by Brigadier General Floyd, who
had a reputation for being pretty useless. Floyd ended up
in charge at Fort Donaldson just as the Old Blue
Coats Brigadier General Ulysses Grant came a knocking word got
around that Beaureguard was bringing fifteen regiments, which spooted the
Old Blue Coats and probably pushed him to hit the
forts before he could settle in. That number was exaggerated,
(27:02):
though as usual, boy Guarden didn't have nearly that many
men as they thought. That's usually what happened, So I
can't believe Grant fell for that.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
They all are at this point well Tennessee. They were
banking on Kentucky's neutrality to act as a buffer against
a Union invasion from the north, but that plan fell
apart by September of eighteen sixty one. The state had
sent a bunch of troops to Virginia early on and
focuses defenses on the Mississippi Valley. Even before Albert showed
up in Tennessee, they started building two forts, which Fort
Entry on the Tennessee River and Old Fort Donaldson on
(27:33):
the Cumberland.
Speaker 5 (27:33):
Was that an old Indian chief fort two forts?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Fort forts? Probably? Yeah. They wanted to block Union access
from the north, clearly, problem was they built these forts
in Tennessee to avoid stepping on Kentucky's toes. And the
locations weren't great. Yeah, you end up getting pummeled by
old Grant.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Fort Renemy was in a low spot, easy pickings for
hills across the river in Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I mean when you're shooting down, I mean shooting fish
in a barrel.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Fort Downsond. Well, it was better situated, but I had
a weak landies. But I had a weak landside and
not even enough big guns to fend off Union gun
boats as well made it.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
General leonieds poke when he took charge.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
He brushed off the fort's issues. He's like, nah. Once
Albert stepped in, he ordered Pope the Senate an engineer.
He's like, uh, who do we got, Lieutenant Joseph Dixon.
I wanted you to tell him to come check him out.
Polk is like, sure, I'll get to it. He dragged
his feet, but Albert he put his foot down and
Dixon got to work.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
He said, no, we're gonna do it now right. He
was come on, man, well it's just like Albert thought Dixon.
He said the forts weren't perfect, but too much effort
had gone into them to abandon him. All right. The
Confederates might not have time to start over, and so
we got to do what we gotta do. Albert He
went with his advice. He wanted Major Alexander Stewart to
run the forts, but Jefferson Davis. He picked Biggader General
Lloyd Tillman instead. To keep Pope from spreading his horses thin,
(28:56):
some of his men were itching to join a partisan group,
Albert He ordered him to send brider General Gideon Pillow
with five thousand men to Fort Donaldson.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
We'll give you a little bit more, all right. Pillow
he set up in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee. He didn't even
move into the four until the seventh of February eighteen
sixty two, after a Union reconnaissance on January fourteenth tipped
them off. Oh, Albert he told Tickman, he said, he
I want you to for divide that high ground across
from Fort Henry, something Polk had annoyed.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
But Tillman he didn't act fast enough, and honestly the
orders came way too late. Anyhow. Make even a difference
there there, you're not, you're not. It doesn't fucking matter.
February fourth, General P. G. T beaureguard. He showed up
at Albert's headquarters in Bowling Green, and he took charge
of Poke's forces at the western end of the line
in Columbus Tucky. Two days later, February sixth, Union gunboats.
(29:45):
They tore through Fort Henry's defenses like they were nothing,
killing or wounding twenty one of the small Confederate force
left there Tillman. He then surrounded as Tillman then surrendered
as ninety four remained him in out of about three thousand,
since most had been at Fort Donaldson, and that was
before the Grant scroops could even get in position. He said,
I don't want to fight at all. Albert. He knew
(30:07):
if Fort Donaldson fell, he'd be stuck in Bowling Green,
so he started moving up to them. So he started
moving up to Nashville, and uh, that happened on February eleven.
He said, we're gonna get captured too if we don't
get out of here, right, gotta go get a goal. Forts.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
I told you guys at the beginning, Albert. He also
poured twelve thousand more.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
He also poured twelve thousand more men in Fort Donaldson,
including Floyd and Pillows troops, which was a head scratcher
since he thought the old Blue Coats gunboats could take
the four on their own. He told the commanders to
pull out with the Fort count hold. But Floyd and
Pillow says, I got twelve kids each pull pullos.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Do I look like I pull out?
Speaker 3 (30:47):
But Floyd and Pillow, the senior generals, they botched.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
It exactly why they got twelve kids.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
They missed a chance to avoid his surrender, and in
sixteenth February, Brigadier General Simon Buckner left tie and dry.
After Floyd and Pillow bailed, they had to give the
Ford up. Oh, Fort Doninson no more. Colonel Nathan Bedford
forest sharp as ever, he slipped out with the seven
hundred man cavalry before the even surrender happened.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
He's I'm out, boys.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
The old rebels lost one thousand, five hundred man twelve
fourteen thousand taking prisoner Union losses five hundred killed, twenty
eight wounded, two hundred and twenty four missing.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Still a lot killed.
Speaker 5 (31:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:25):
Well, Albert had to take the heat for the Fort
Donaldson's fault. Clearly he was the guy. He didn't have
much choice but to let Floyd and Pillow take charge
based on their seniority, and explaining the full mess to
the public would have shown how shaky the Confederate position was.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Bad. People started calling for his head, and historians later
piled on, pointing how he spread his forces too thin
and didn't pull them together when the Union advanced, and
he leaned on some pretty questionable subordinates as well. His
defensive stance, sitting in a forward spot like bowling green
At didn't help either.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
Son of Pitch.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
The loss of the forts left Nashville wide open for
the pickings, and that too fell a union Briger Jenner
Don Carlos Bule, February twenty fifth, just two days after
Albert had to pull his men out to avoid them
getting captured.
Speaker 5 (32:05):
Damn.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
I talk about a brutal stretch for Albert, and is
about to get a brutal even more brutal because he's
not allowed. He's not about the last very long here,
no doubt.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
After Forte Henry Doallinson fell gone odiosa mugos, no more
occupiedo Elbert. He was in a real bind and he
had barely seventeen thousand men left. It's crazy staring down
a massive Union force that could steam roll him.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
He made a court they probably think he's got thirty
four thousand right.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
He made a quick call to pull back hot tail
in it south from Nashville into Mississippi and then northern Alabama.
He personally led the Army of Central Kentucky his core
group out of Nashville area to avoid getting trapped.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Good for him.
Speaker 3 (32:46):
With General Beauregard's help, Elbert came up with a plan
to regroup at Corinth, Mississippi, a key spot where railroads
cross perfect for staging the defense.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
He took a roundabout route to get there, keeping the
Union forces, which is now under Major General Henry Hallett
guessing and slow to react, that bottom enough time to
slip into Corinth without being spotted. Right then, to beef
up his numbers, he pulled in reinforcements to Louisiana, which
was part of Polk's troops from Island number ten and
ten thousand more men under Brax and Brag who came
up from mobile Mobio engine number nine going to Island
(33:21):
number ten right right. Bragg's arrival was a relief for
Boreguard and Polk, who were starting to panic and they
were filling out number and Outgune before Albert showed up
March twenty fourth, eighteen sixty two. The uh oh finally right.
Speaker 3 (33:33):
By the time Albert got the Corinth, seventeen thousand men
that he had combining went the forces already there, gave
him a total of forty to forty four thousand troops.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
Holy shit, like I saw it'sousand to forty four thousand,
six hundred and sixty nine troops, which a how do
you get that? Exactly? Two?
Speaker 1 (33:50):
About that?
Speaker 3 (33:50):
On a twenty ninth to match, he officially took command
of this mixed force. This is this kept the name,
which kept the name of the army Mississs, something that
Borguard had organized back on the fifth of months. For you,
Elvert knew his only shot was to hit Ulysses as
Grant's army very hard and fast before Grant couldn't even
link up with Brigerdy General Don Carlo's brules and reinforcements.
(34:13):
So on the third of April eighteen sixty two, he
got his army moving, aiming to catch Grant off guard
the next day at Pittsburgh Landing and we did that
very battle.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Sure did well. As usual, it wasn't smooth sailing. His
army was a patchwork thrown together in a hurry. Two
thirds of them had never seen combat. The whole operation
was a mess, divisions tripping over each other because of
lousy drill, discipline and planning. Paul Guard he thought the
attack was a bad idea flat out doomed. But Albert,
(34:45):
he wasn't hearing it, and so it's our only chance,
said I would fight them if they were a million.
He pushed his men towards Grant's position. By the evening
in April fifth, his army was in place with just
a mile or two from Grant's force, and the un
army had no idea they were even coming. Okay, Albert,
he was betting everything on this surprise. Ready to throw
the dice. He said, it's all we got left, boys,
(35:06):
just throw that damned dice.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Sixth April eighteen sixty two, Albert lunched a huge surprise
attack against you, listed as Grant's army the Battle of Shiloh.
His forces came crashing into the Blue Coats camp, catching
them off Guards, We're dead. Albert was right in the
thick of it, riding his horse up and down the
line rounding his men. There was this moment that really
(35:28):
stood out. He caught some of his soldiers, including the
young lieutenant, brinking ranks to loot the Union camps. Albert said, oh,
hell no, he shot it out.
Speaker 5 (35:38):
None of that, sir. We're not here for plunder.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Now, We're just here to shoot people in the face. Right.
Realizing he called out.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
Realizing he called the guy out, He softened the blow
by grabbing a tin cup off the table and saying,
let this be my share of the spoils today, before.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Pushing his men for it. I didn't want to like.
He wanted them to keep fighting, So all right, I'll
grab this cup here. Around two thirty pm, leading a
charge near a spot called the Peach Orchard things, they
took a turn, and they're for the worse. A bullet
hit him behind his right knee, nicking his pop pop
(36:17):
appeal artery. As boots started filling with blood and there
was no doctor around. Albert had sent his personal surgeon
to tend to wounded Confederate troops and Union prisoners earlier.
Within minutes of staff noticing slumping in the saddle, looking
deathly pale, Isham Harris, the Tennessee governor who basically stopped
governing after Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson as military governor. He
(36:39):
was right there next to him and he said, General,
are you wounded. Albert glanced at his leg, then said,
in a faint voice, yes, and I fear seriously. Those
were his last words. This dude, blood in his boot,
A stupid shot to the leg.
Speaker 5 (36:55):
Man, he's just retarded.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
That's why everybody was like, you know, cops to shoot
you in the lay. This is exactly why you don't right?
Speaker 2 (37:02):
How many major hard to reason in your freaking leg.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Damn.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
His men pulled off his horse. Well, he would have
survived if they could have had something there. His man
pulled him off his horse, carried him to a small
ravine near the hornet's nest, trying to help, but he'd
already passed it done. Harris sent for the passed out.
Harris sent for the surgeon, but didn't think to tie
a tourniquet, you idiot.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
A few minutes.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Later, Albert was gone, bled out before a doctor could
even get to him. M even if they put a
tournique on and he lost so much damn blood, would.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
Have stopped it at least and could have cut off
his leg or done something. Still, gotta give him blood.
Speaker 5 (37:42):
Did they even do that back then?
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Who knows? Jeez, that's terrible.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
They later found a tourniquet in his pocket, such as
a small thing that could have made a difference.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Well, they obviously knew to use them, just nobody thought to.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
Apparently he might have hung on for up to an
hour after the wound. To keep the troops spirits up
Harrison the others wrapped Elbert's body in a blanket so
the men wouldn't see.
Speaker 5 (38:08):
Their dead general. And dude, that's just insanely stupid.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
Well, they then took him and his wounded horse, fire
Eater to his field headquarters in the Corinth Road, where
his body stayed in his tent for the rest of
the battle. Bauerguard he took over and kept the Confederate
attack going, pushing the Union back to a final line
near the Tennessee River. By seven pm. With his horse
worn out, with his men worn out, and darkness falling,
Bauerguard he called off the assault, planning to finish the
(38:34):
job the next morning, but overnight Grant he said, I'm
getting twenty thousand fresh troops from Don Carlo's bule, and
the next day his countertrack drove the Confederates off the field,
winning the battle yep and putting the Confederates in so
much like panic. They just lost their best generator, insane.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
As the old rebels fell back to Corinth, Elbert's body
was taken to the home of Colonel William Inge, his
former headquarters. They draped it in the Confederate flag and
laid it in state for a few hours. There's a
chance the fatal shot came from a Confederate soldier.
Speaker 2 (39:12):
Isn't it always?
Speaker 3 (39:13):
Albert was charging way ahead of them, and plenty of
the Confederates were flying toward the Union lines.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
Also, what makes sense he got shot in the back
of the leg, and if he was charging ahead of them.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Alonso Ridley, who let Elbert's bodyguard the guides, was right
there when he fell. Albert's death hit the Confederacy hard.
He was the highest ranking officer ever to die in
the war on either side, and Jefferson Davis, who saw
him as the best general they ever had, felt the
loss deeply. It was I got punched to the south morale,
(39:45):
losing the leader like that at such a critical moment.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
Yeah, the tide's about to start turning here. Not only
was he the highest ranking general to die in the
Civil war's the highest ranking American general to die ever. Right. Insane? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:00):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
When Albert died, he left behind his wife, Eliza and
their six kids. Eliza along with their five younger children,
including the other one that was born after Albert headed
off to war and never met him. They decided to
stay in La living with her brother, doctor John Struther Griffin.
Albert's eldest son, Albert Sidney Junior, born back in Texas,
he followed his dad into the army. Eighteen sixty three,
(40:22):
Albert Junior was in La on leave. They caught a
ferry out of San Pedro Harbor. As a steamer was
picking up passengers from the ferry, a wave hit, swamping
the smaller boat and causing its boilers to explode. As
you would guess, old Elbert Junior, he didn't make it.
Speaker 5 (40:36):
Crazy, crazy man, this insane.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
After Elbert's death, the old rebel government gave him the
highest praise they ever dished out because on December twentieth,
eighteen sixty two, and later in the Los Angeles Star,
his hometown paper, they published glowing accounts of his service.
Northeast LA, where his family lived. You can still find
Johnson Street, Hancock Street, and Griffin Avenue named for Albert,
(41:04):
and it's ken. Albert was first buried in Dolens, but
in eighteen sixty six Texas legislator passed the resolution said
bring that boy right back to Texas State Cemetery in
Austin is where he belongs.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Indeed, they reburied him there in eighteen sixty seven. Then
nineteen oh five the state hired sculptor Elizabeth Elizabet Well
Elizabeth Nay took great a monument and statue for his gravesite,
which still stands today. That's it, It's Texas, Texas, Austin right.
The Texas Historical Commission also put up a marker near
(41:38):
the entrance to what used to be Albert's plantation, and
another one nearby was set up at the San Jacinto
Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and
the Lee, Roberts and Davis Chapter of the United Daughters
of the Confederacy.
Speaker 3 (41:50):
Cool Cool nineteen sixteen University of Texas at Austin honored
Albert and other rebel veterans with statues on the South Mall.
But as you were to guess, in August two, I
was seventeen, they'ing the push to remove Confederate monument's across
the country.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
Statue came down.
Speaker 3 (42:09):
The plan was to move it to the Brisco Center
for American History on the east side of the campus.
In eighteen eighty and nineteen eighty Albert was inducted. Okay,
so I guess they never moved or that was I
was planning.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
Well. Going back to.
Speaker 3 (42:21):
Nineteen eighty, Albert was inducted into the Texas Military Hall
of Honor.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
That's a good nod to his legacy. Right.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
By the fall of twenty eighteen, some schools named after
him and other Confederate figures got new names, as Johnston
Elementary and Dallas became Cedar Crest, and Johnston Middle School
in Houston was renamed to Mereland three.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
It's Johnston Middle School.
Speaker 3 (42:44):
I know three other elementary schools tied to Confederates were
also renamed at the same time.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
That's so stupid, I mean technically traders. Yeah, that's true,
I guess.
Speaker 5 (42:55):
So.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
Yeah, that was Albert Sydney. Another life cut short. His
life wasn't cut short, though, he was old when he.
Speaker 5 (43:00):
It was like sixty seventy years on that one't he?
Speaker 2 (43:04):
It was the fifties. I was born in eighteen o three.
It was sixty sixty one, right, So I mean good
for him, right, he didn't have to go, but he
didn't just decided to be a trader when he could
just stayed in LA and lived his life.
Speaker 3 (43:18):
Could have been a he died from. Uh would have
died from polio for a trader of other sorts, right,
it would.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
Have died from small box or some shit down the line,
you know. So yeah, A S. Johnson Albert Sidney, the
highest rank in general ever to die in battle for
Still America. So yeah, that's him. One. There's another what
if if? Stonewall? What if Jeb what if? Well he
(43:45):
died pritten later, but uh, he's stonewalling him if they
wouldn't have died so soon. Who knows what what happened,
but we can't what if? What if? What ifs Ye
with that, we'll be back next week for maybe we'll
cover Don Carlos Bill. His name was brought up a
couple of times in this episode. He was done, he
wasn't done. Uh, either way, We're back, probably for another
(44:06):
Union guy, unless we can find an interesting story outside
of that, but we'll be back anyways for.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
Or to train, robbery or something mane all being looking
or manure.
Speaker 2 (44:17):
We'll be back next week for more behind the battles
of this American Civil War. We have the mother. He's
gonna be a big name chi
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