Richard McMurry tells KWCRT Joseph Johnston gets ‘too much credit’ for transforming the Army of Tennessee

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Army of Tennessee, Braxton Bragg, Chattanooga, Civil War, Joseph Johnston, Richard McMurry

Historian Richard McMurry told the August meeting of the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable that Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston gets too much credit for being a “miracle worker” in November 1863 when he too command of the Army of Tennessee south of Chattanooga.

Most of the things that happened to change the army during that winter, McMurry said, “would have happened anyway no matter who was the commander.”

Here’s a video excerpt of McMurry’s talk:

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KCWRT-McMurry from Jim Stovall on Vimeo.

Historian Richard McMurry discusses the undue credit that Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston receives for “turning the Army of Tennessee around” in the winter of 1863-64 when he took command. Many of the things that happened to re-invigorate the army would have taken place no matter who was in command. The speech was given on August 9, 2016, to the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable.

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Johnston took over the Army of Tennessee in November 1863 when it was demoralized and in disarray. McMurry listed some of the things that Johnston did to get the army ready for its spring battles:

• He reorganized the command and thus restored its morale.
• He made useful suggestions for transporting food more efficiently.
• The men built relatively comfortable shelters for the winter.
• More railroad cars became available and thus more food, clothing and supplies were shipped tot he army.
• Johnston reduced the number of mouths the army had to feed by granting furloughs.

Many of these things would have happened anyway, McMurry said, but Johnston gets credit for them. The reputation of Braxton Bragg, one of the army’s previous commanders, has suffered because these things had not happened on his watch.

Dorothy E. Kelly: General Who? William P. Sanders

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Ambrose Burnside, Antietam, Battle of Fort Sanders, Belle Boyd, Chattanooga, E. Porter Alexander, Fort Dickerson, George McClellan, James Longstreet, James M. Shackelford, Joseph Kershaw, Joseph Wheeler, Lamar House Hotel, Orlando Poe, Peninsula Campaign, Robert E. Lee, William P. Sanders

By Dorothy E. Kelly

ddkelly@earthlink.net

Civil War historians outside the East Tennessee area know little or nothing about the Federal general who gave his life at Knoxville. But how much do WE know about this man whose name adorns modern buildings, hospitals, and even a neighborhood?

Born under the Southern skies of Kentucky and raised in the humid Mississippi river town of Natchez, William Price Sanders was a young Federal officer on his way up when he died at Knoxville in 1863. He had been a general one month and one day.

Sanders was the sixth child of Margaret and Lewis Sanders, a prominent Mississippi attorney. According to his sister, Elizabeth J. Sanders Haggin, William Price was named for a physician uncle and was known as “Doc” to family and friends, a nickname which was later adopted by his fellow officers.

William Price Sanders

Sanders’ politically connected father secured his appointment to West Point in 1852. His career at West Point was somewhat rocky. A May, 1854 letter from West Point Commandant, Robert E. Lee, announced his impending dismissal for want of application, deficiency in academics and accumulation of numerous demerits. With the aid of a fellow Mississippian—Secretary of War Jefferson Davis— Sanders avoided dismissal and went on to graduate in 1856. In addition to Sanders, two of his West Point classmates played important roles in the Civil War in East Tennessee: Orlando M. Poe, Burnside’s Chief Engineer and designer of the Knoxville fortifications, and E. Porter Alexander, Longstreet’s Chief of Artillery.

James Longstreet

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Ambrose Burnside, Battle of the Wilderness, Braxton Bragg, Centreville, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Civil War in East Tennessee, Civil War in Knoxville, Fredericksburg, Ft. Sanders, George McClellan, Gettysburg, James Longstreet, Jefferson Davis, Joseph Hooker, Manassas Junction, Robert E. Lee. George Pickett, Rutherford B. Hayes, T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, United States Military Academy, West Point

By J. C. Tumblin, O.D., Past President, Knoxville Civil War Roundtable

Copyright 1998 by J. C. Tumlbin All rights reserved.

James Longstreet

CHILDHOOD, YOUTH, AND WEST POINT YEARS (1821- 1842)

James Longstreet was born the fifth child of James and Mary Ann Dent Longstreet, on January 8, 1821, in the Edgefield District of South Carolina. His mother had traveled to her mother-in-law’s home for his birth. Both of his parents, owners of a cotton plantation near present-day Gainesville in the Piedmont section of northeastern Georgia, were descendants of families dating to the colonial period — James born in New Jersey, Mary Ann in Maryland. The future general always regarded Georgia as his home, as he came there within weeks of his birth and spent the first nine years of his life there. It had required hard physical labor and resilience to carve a farm out of the forest and wilderness that had been the frontier only a few years previous. Under the tutelage of his older brother and sister, William and Anna, young James rode horseback, hunted, fished, and developed the strong physique that would characterize him throughout life. He also developed self-confidence, self-reliance, and a work ethic.