The reptile press of the South began on the President a bitter,
malignant and unceasing vilification for this, his first fatal and
inexcusable blunder!
Defeat had freed Abraham Lincoln of fools and incompetents and armed him
with dictatorial powers. Victory had saddled on the Confederacy two
heroes destined to cripple its efficiency with interminable controversy,
sulking bitterness and personal ambitions. The halo of supreme military
genius which encircled the brows of Johnston and Beauregard with the
lifting of the smoke from the field of Bull Run grew quickly into two
storm clouds which threatened the life of the new Republic.
Johnston's contempt for Beauregard had from the beginning been outspoken
to his intimate friends. The battle had raised this little upstart to
his equal in rank! He claimed that the President had robbed him of his
true position in the Southern army through favoritism in the appointment
of Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee to positions of seniority to
which they were not entitled.
Johnston began a series of bitter insulting letters to the Confederate
President, complaining of his injustice and demanding his rights. Not
content with his letters to the Executive, Johnston poured his
complaints into the ears of his friends and admirers in the Confederate
Congress and began a systematic and determined personal campaign to
discredit and ruin the administration.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271