Lot 227: [CIVIL WAR]. JOHNSTON, Albert Sydney (1803-1862)

[CIVIL WAR]. JOHNSTON, Albert Sydney (1803-1862), C.S.A. General. Autograph note signed ("A. Sydney Johnston, Secy. of War," with flourish), as Secretary of War of the Texas Republic, Department of War, [Austin, Tex.], 3 June 1839. 1 page, oblong folio, minor holes to a few letters due to acidic ink.

A.S. JOHNSTON AS SECRETARY OF WAR OF THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

In his capacity as Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas, Johnston resolves a dispute over back pay: "This certificate entitles Wm. Kaiser to the difference between the pay of Sergeant & first Sergeant from the date of last payment made to him to the first day of October 1834--as he served during the time specified as last mentioned in Capt. Harry's Co, I, 1st Rgt....volunteers."

After joining the Texas Army as a private in 1836, Johnston (a West Point graduate) found himself named brigadier general the following year--but was unable to assume his post due to wounds suffered in a duel with the commander he was to have replaced. In 1839 he became secretary of war but resigned the following year. He fought with the U.S. Cavalry in the Mexican War, commanded the Department of Texas in 1856, led the Utah Expedition escorting the Mormons to Salt Lake City between 1858 and 1860, and was serving at San Francisco when the secession movement erupted in 1861. He declined a post as Winfield Scott's deputy and instead accepted the request of his longtime friend Jefferson Davis to command the Confederate Army of the Mississippi. Johnston battled Grant at Corinth and Shiloh, where he was wounded in the leg and died from internal bleeding. When Jefferson Davis received the news of Johnston's death, he wept, and vowed that "the cause could have spared a whole State better than that great soldier" (W.C. Davis, Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour, p. 404).