He Died At Shiloh

Albert Sidney Johnston died April 6th 1862 after a winning day at the Battle of Shiloh.

On February 3rd 1803 Albert Sidney Johnston was born in Washington, Mason, Kentucky. He went to Transylvania University and West Point from which he graduated; eighth in his class, in 1826. Due to his wife’s illness and a move to Texas he resigned his United States military commission. In 1835 he joined the Texas army as a private, but with his background, by 1837 he had been made a Brigadier General in Texas Army. Two years later Texas President Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar appointed Johnston to Secretary of War. With coming of the Mexican American War, Johnston re-enlisted in the US Army. For his service in the Mormon War he was brevetted Brigadier General.

As many southern military men did, Johnston resigned his commission in the Union Army on April 10th 1861 and joined with the Confederacy. Confederate President Jefferson Davis placed Johnston in charge of the Western Department. It was in this capacity that on April 6th Johnston was killed during the Battle of Shiloh. Making a surprise attack his troops were able to drive the Union force they faced back. While managing the battle in the front line he was wounded in leg. Not thinking the wound serious, he didn’t seek treatment and bled to death.

He was buried temporarily in New Orleans, but was re-interred in the State Cemetery in Austin TX.