Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/688

 646 the command of the Virginia valley army, confronting the force under Patterson, which was much superior in numbers. On hearing of McDowell s advance on Manassas, he eluded Patterson with rare address, and moved to Manassas, taking command as ranking officer. Finding that Beauregard had greatly weakened the left under the idea that McDowell would attempt to turn the Southern right, Johnston directed his own troops to that part of the line. The brunt of the fight was borne by his troops under Jackson, Bee, Bartow and Elzey, and two-thirds of the Southern loss fell upon his men. At a crisis in the battle he himself seized a standard and led a broken regiment back to the fight. Soon after the battle he was made a full general, which was the highest rank in the Confederate service. In the fall he was placed in command of this army, and though it was weaker than at any subsequent winter of the war, and its opponent stronger, he held with it the lines of Centreville, far in advance of any position subsequently held as a winter camp by the Confederates.

In the early spring of 1862 he withdrew to a position near Richmond, frustrating McClellan s plan of a landing at Urbana, which was nearer to Richmond than the Southern army, and forcing McClellan to adopt the peninsular route. When the latter moved upon Yorktown, Johnston again confronted him, withdrawing up the peninsula when Yorktown became untenable, securing an undisturbed retreat and severely punishing his pursuers in the battle of Williamsburg and the smaller fight at Eltham's Landing. When he reached the Richmond lines he was opposed not only by McClellan with a much superior force, but threatened by McDowell at Fredericksburg. To neutralize the latter he concerted with Jackson, who was in his department, the latter's famous valley campaign. On May 31, 1862, McClellan's army was divided by the Chickahominy, and Johnston, taking advantage of this, attacked him at Seven Pines.