2022 FALL PREMIER AUCTION

When the Confederate States Army was formed in 1861, Lieutenant General Joseph Johnston was the most senior officer to throw in his lot with the rebels. While an experienced and able commander, Johnston unfortunately did not get along with Confederate President Jefferson Davis. When Johnston was wounded in battle in 1862, Davis used the opportunity to put Robert E. Lee in command. Johnston recovered from his wounds and was put in command of the Department of the West where he faced his old friend, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman. After the war Johnston served in the US House of Representatives and was one of the pall bearers at William Tecumseh Sherman’s funeral in 1891, where he caught pneumonia and passed away two weeks later. This remarkable document was handwritten on in the CSA headquarters in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia by General Johnston. Dated June 10, 1861, Johnston issues orders to one of his colonels as he organized his forces before the First Battle of Manassas. The orders are written in black fountain pen on a single page while the reverse has a handwritten general’s name and the date, June 11, 1861. The sheet shows wear from age and use with some staining and toning along with creases from storage. A rare piece of history from Joseph Johnston’s brief time as commander of the Confederate States Army. The piece comes with a modern reprint of a portrait of Joseph Johnston.