Joseph Eggleston Johnston

Joseph E. Johnston joined the Confederate army as a leading contender for high command. His brilliant performance at the First Battle of Manassas earned him a general's commission and seemed to foretell further military successes. Yet his promotion was the beginning of a difficult working relationship with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The two simply did not trust each other. When assigned to command in Tennessee and Mississippi, Johnston complained that his orders were insufficient and lacked authority. In turn, when the strategic river town of Vicksburg fell into Union hands, Davis blamed Johnston for circumstances beyond his immediate control.

What impaired Johnston most was his over-cautiousness, which his superiors interpreted as passivity. He liked ideal situations in which his army had a numerical edge and could take the defensive, but at no time was the Confederacy ever blessed with superior numbers.