Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, and the Army of Tennessee

Severely wounded at the battle of Seven Pines, Virginia

United States Congressman from Virginia

(1807-1891) Johnston was born at Longwood House, in "Cherry Grove," near Farmville, Virginia. He graduated from West Point in the class of 1825. One of his classmates was Robert E. Lee. He served with great distinction in the Seminole and Mexican Wars, in which he was wounded and brevetted repeatedly. He was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army in May 1861. The forces he commanded at Harpers Ferry linked up in time to fight with General P.G.T. Beauregard at 1st Manassas, turning the tide of battle in favor of the Confederacy. This performance earned him a full generalcy and the command of the Army of Northern Virginia. He fought against General George B. McClellan in the 1862 Virginia Peninsular campaign and was severely wounded at the battle of 7 Pines, Va., in May 1862. He was later given the command of the Army of Tennessee which he led in the early stages of the Atlanta campaign. He later opposed General William T. Sherman in the 1865 Carolina's campaign, and was forced to surrender his army at Greensboro, N.C., on April 26, 1865. From 1879-81, Johnston served as a U.S. Congressman from his native state of Virginia, and was U.S. Commissioner of Railroads from 1885-91. He died in Washington, on March 21, 1891, supposedly as a result of a cold contracted while marching bareheaded in the rain in the funeral procession of his old Civil War adversary, General William T. Sherman.

Wet plate, albumen carte de visite photograph, mounted to 2 3/8 x 4 card. Bust view in Confederate uniform. Back mark: E.& H.T. Anthony, 501 Broadway, New York. Very tiny chip at bottom right corner of the card mount. Very fine.