to make his way to the Atlantic coast. With a party of thirty citizens and officers mounted on mules, he took the overland route through Arizona, which he proclaimed a territory of the Confederate States. On arriving at Richmond, September 2, 1861, he was received with many marks of respect, and immediately assigned by Jefferson Davis to the command of the Department of Kentucky and Tennessee. At this time he was nearly sixty years of age, yet still in the full possession of vigorous strength. It was generally reported in Kentucky that he had under his command an army of 100,000 men ; but in reality he had little over one-fifth part of that number. The Federal general, Buell, who held a strong position at no great distance from him, was said to be at the head of an army of not less than 50,000. Behind him lay the Cumberland River, which might rise at any moment and admit steamboats as far as Nashville, while gunboats could pass along the Tennessee as far as Alabama. At Paducah and Smithfield, which commanded the mouths of both rivers, Union leaders were massing large naval and military forces. Johnston felt that his raw army was but ill-prepared to cope with these vast preparations, and repeatedly called on the Confederate government for reinforcements, which, however, were not furnished. Johnston was forced to keep silence before the public; he could not tell them of the real situation, and clear his own reputation in case of defeat. He was daily assailed by the irresponsible and uninformed criticisms of the press, and actually declared incompetent. The journals pictured him as a slow and unsympathetic commander, delaying to snatch a victory which a brave and efficient army was panting to obtain.

The truth came out when Fort Donelson fell in February, 1862. Then it became known that half of Johnston's forces had been detached for the defence of that place. When it surrendered he was left with only 12,000 men to effect a retreat to Nashville. He wrote to Jefferson Davis: "The test of merit in my profession is success; it is a hard rule, but I think it right. If I join this corps to the forces of General Beauregard, then those who are now exclaiming against me will be without an argument." By and by the dangerous

experiment was tried. Leaving Nashville Johnston fell back on Murfreesboro, and there succeeded in collecting an army capable of offering battle, but on account of the floods in the rivers nothing effective could be accomplished. Crossing the Tennessee at Decatur, he soon afterwards formed a junction with Beauregard and Bragg, the entire force being posted around Corinth. The capture of Forts Donelson and Henry and the evacuation of Columbus had been a fatal blow to the Confederates; for thus the three great water-ways, the Cumberland, the Mississippi, and the Tennessee were open to the Union forces. The Confederate line in the West was broken, and the campaign transferred to the southern bank of the Tennessee. The Confederate army was thus compelled to take a position at Corinth to defend the State of Mississippi and retain command of the railroads.

Johnston, inspired with the hope of a great battle by which these disasters could be counterbalanced, and confident of retrieving his fortunes, determined to attack Grant, who was already in his front, before Buell could arrive to support him. On April 6, 1862, Johnston commenced the attack, about twenty miles from Corinth on the west bank of the Tennessee. The small log meeting-house, called Shiloh Church, gave its name to this battle. Hardee's corps engaged Sherman's left and threw it into confusion. The Union troops were steadily forced back; but at one stage of the combat, the infantry made a desperate stand, and the Confederate advance was for the moment checked. At this juncture Johnston rode forward, and seizing a musket, presented it at charge-bayonet, calling on his men to follow. The Kentuckians were the first to respond to the call, then came the men of Tennessee, followed by the Mississippians and the men of Arkansas. A fearful rush was made, and the Federal infantry were slowly but surely losing ground. Johnston now rode to an eminence in the rear to observe the effect of the onset. At half-past ten the first line of the Union infantry was broken, and Johnston rode forward fully assured that the victory would be on his side. One of his staff, seeing blood on his clothes, asked if he was wounded. "Only a scratch," he replied, without taking his eyes off the troops. Scarcely had he spoken when he began

to reel in the saddle and was lifted to the ground. When his boot was pulled off it was found to be full of blood, which was still oozing from a small wound under the knee. A small artery had been severed, and what he had considered only a scratch proved to be a mortal wound. His body was borne to a ravine, and stimulants were applied, but to no purpose; the Confederate commander was already peacefully composed in death. The tide of battle turned on the second day of Shiloh, and what appeared so near victory under Johnston was turned into defeat and disaster.

The remains of the fallen general were taken to New Orleans, and with much ceremony laid in their last resting-place in the St. Louis Cemetery. Johnston was fortunate in possessing all the qualities which make up the popular picture of a hero. He had a strong sinewy frame, and stood over six feet in height. His features denoted both resolution and composure of character, and were strongly marked with lines. showing a Scottish lineage. His manner was courteous; but he was naturally disposed to be grave and silent. It was often said of him that he was "born to command.”

A. S. JOHNSTON'S LAST CAMPAIGN.

During the latter portion of March, 1862, the troops occupied the chief points of the Mobile and Ohio, and Memphis and Charleston railroads, which unite at Corinth, Mississippi, where headquarters were established; the right was at Iuka, Mississippi, eight miles from the Tennessee river, under command of Major-General Crittenden; the centre at Corinth, some twenty-two miles from the river; and the left rested upon the Memphis road, still further from the stream. This line protected the Gulf States from any further advance. Still various attempts were made by the enemy to turn our right, by attacking the batteries of Eastport, which, however, were promptly checked by a detachment commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Schaller, taken from the forces of Major-General Crittenden and Brigadier-General Breckinridge.

The enemy, in the meantime, had concentrated a heavy force, under Major-General Grant, on the left bank of the Tennessee, near Pittsburg Landing, opposite our centre, threat

ening Corinth, with the intention of awaiting the arrival of Major-General Buell, who, by forced marches, was hastening to effect a junction with Grant. In perfect security against the formidable opponent they deemed to have been entirely discomfited, they reposed upon the beautiful banks of the river, leisurely awaiting the command of the senior general hastening to their support.

A change "one of the most delicate operations of war," as Napoleon has said—was here determined upon by General Johnston; the transition from the defensive to the offensive, against an enemy flushed with success.

Now, for the first time, he had an army with which he was confident he could teach a lesson to the enemy. With the junction of his force with the disciplined corps of Pensacola, under Major-General Bragg, and the troops of General Beauregard and Major-General Polk, full confidence animated every regiment of the army, and it burned for the opportunity to hurl back the invaders. As soon as the preparations and the labors of organization could be completed, he had resolved to march upon the enemy, to surprise and defeat him near the river, and, with a victorious army, to meet Buell. With the zealous coöperation of his generals, the different columns were reported ready on the 1st of April.

General Beauregard, to whom the immediate command of the troops had been offered, declined on account of his illhealth; but Major-General Bragg consented to take upon himself, in addition to the command of his corps d' armée, the arduous duties of chief of the general staff. The army was divided into four corps, commanded by Major-Generals Polk, Bragg, Hardee, and Brigadier-General Breckinridge, respectively-the corps of the latter acting as a reserve.

The three first-named corps marched from Corinth, the last from Burnsville, a point between the centre and right of the line, upon Farmington. The corps of reserves, having the longest march to perform, upon roads made impassable by drenching rains which had overtaken the troops in bivouac, found almost insuperable difficulties to arrive in time at the common rendezvous at Monterey, and, in fact, could not reach there before twelve hours after the appointed time. The artil

The

lery of Brigadier-General Breckinridge, fast in the mud, was only relieved after great difficulties by large detachments sent to the rear from the regiments composing the corps. perplexities were so great that Brigadier-General Breckinridge reported his situation to the general. "Let a new road be cut," was, according to Major Hayden, the laconic reply the messenger received.

The attack was to have been made on the morning of Saturday, the 5th of April, and the troops were ordered to march from Monterey-a few homesteads, surrounded by woods, and some eleven miles from the river-at three o'clock in the morning. But a heavy rain-fall during the night upon wornout troops retarded the preparation for the march of the army until about seven o'clock. Then, in serried ranks and upon many lines, gloomy clouds charged with rain overhead, in the morning mist, at the head of every regiment, the general's last battle-order was read:

'Soldiers of the Army of the Mississippi," said he, "I have put you in motion to offer battle to the invaders of your country. With resolution and disciplined valor, becoming men fighting as you are for all that is worth living or dying for, you can but march to decisive victory over the agrarian mercenaries who have been sent to despoil you of your liberties, your property, and your honor.

"Remember the precious stake that is involved in this contest; remember the dependence of your mothers, your wives, your sisters, and your children is upon the result.

"Remember the fair, broad, abounding land, the happy homes, and the ties that would be dissolved and desolated by your defeat.

"The eyes and hopes of eight millions of people rest upon you. You are expected to show yourselves worthy of your race and your lineage; worthy of the women of the South, whose noble devotion in this war has never been exceeded at any time.

"With such incentives to brave deeds, and in the trust that God is with you, your generals will lead you confidently to the combat, fully assured of ultimate and glorious success."