western confederate forces under the supreme western commander in the west for the confederacy, albert sidney johnston. johnston had the encamped now disembarked at pittsburg landing in close proximity to the railroads and corinth junction, but he had three additional union armies pressuring his defenses. he had one in arkansas, he had pope on the river, had just taken new madrid, grant's force here and buell in the ohio and was maneuvering through tennessee. halleck had ordered a concentration of grant's force with buell. the plan would be once the two armies were within supporting distance, then halleck would come into the field from st. louis, take command of the whole and they would carry out the mission of cutting the vital railroads. to do that, they knew they would probably have to contest with the principle army for the confederates. they knew that the confederate forces were concentrating and that the concentration was occurring in front of grant here in proximity to the tennessee river in direct defense of the railroads. the key word is defense. the union high command believed the confederat

and johnston said, yes, i fear seriously, and that will be the last conscious thought from albert sidney johnston. so harris, assisted by another staff officer, brought johnston down into the ravine, got him off his horse, laid him up against a tree, ripped open his coat, his shirt looking for a wound. of course, they're imagining something up in the, you know, vital part of the body. johnston's wound actually was from the back side around -- had entered just below his right

they were first used in the utah expedition commanded by albert sidney johnston of the united states army in 1856-1857 time frame, through 1858, and overall it appears that roughly 44,000 of the tents produced. unfortunately, sibley, who had worked out an arrangement where he would receive $5 per tent made joined the confederate state army so he never recovered any money from the manufacturer of the tents made off of his patent, so we're excited about this object going on display, receiving some conservation treatment, and then maybe before it returns to shiloh we might be able to work up a plan. i'm going to get displayed here, but we'll have to have a complete exhibit overall to do anything with it here. this is probably the most unique item, bar none, considering there's only one like it in the western hemisphere. the other one, of all places, is in copenhagen, denmark, and then the wall tent. you count the wall tent and the sibley, the park within its collection holds about half the total tentage of the civil war remains on the earth. that's amazing. this is the second tent that

while western confederate forces led by general albert sidney johnston concentrated by rail around corinth to rendezvous for the offensive johnston plan to lead against grant. the military issues confronting these combatants proved not to be the mere possession of the field or even the vital cross-roads, but involved the defeat of their respective major armies and the ultimate possession of the mississippi valley. grant's mission, sever the western railroads linking the mississippi with the eastern confederacy to facilitate the union's main objective, to recover the valley. johnston's mission, hold the mississippi by defeating all union armies such as grant's, for there were four threatening his responsibility in the western confederacy. threatening the valley. today, as one gazes upon the historic corinth railroad crossing, or traverses the once bloodied battlefield christianed by song as shiloh healed. you need simply to ponder the presence and strategic value of old man river, roughly 100 miles further west, to appreciate the relevant chapter in history these two preserved landscapes li

johnson, albert sidney johnston to a certain extent, and the pressure was, who was going to sort of be the face of the south after the civil war? well, lee had a group of very dedicated adherents. people like ubile early. whos actually buried here in lynchberg, and through their actions you begin to see the construction of lee as something that was much bigger than just a normal human being. lee, for instance, never lost a battle. he only wore himself out whipping the yankees. all of these reasons why lee was perfect and there were other things that sort of -- there were other things that dragged him down. it was like tragic situations. get good-gettysberg. people whatnot to know why lee lost? someone asked george picket what he thought happened. did longstreet make the mistake in over here, over there? and picket responded he always thought the yankees had something to do with it, which i think hits the nail right on the head, whatever you think of picket. lee did make some mistakes, but george mead did some things right, too. as time goes along lee becomes a regional hero, then a sec

terms of fame even here in virginia with people like stonewall jackson, joseph johnston, albert sidney johnston. to a certain extent. and the question was, who was going to sort of be the face of the south after the civil war. well, lee at a group of very dedicated adherents, people like jubal early. jubal early was one of his corps commanders who action is buried here. and through the actions of early and other members of the southern historical society you begin to see the construction of lee as something that was much bigger than just a normal human being. lee, for instance, never lost a battle. he wore himself out weeping the yankees. with all these reasons why lee was perfect and there were other things, there were other things that always dragged him down. it was a tragic situation. gettysburg is another good example of that. for a lot of people who talk about gettysburg, want to know why to lee lose. get lee make a mistake here, get lee make a mistake there? someone once asked george pickett of pickett's charge of what he thought happened. did longstreet make a mistake? was over, was it

and johnston said, yes, i fear seriously, and that will be the last conscious thought from albert sidney johnson. so harris assisted by another staff officer brought johnston down into the ravine, got him off his horse, laid him up against a tree, ripped open his coat, his shirt looking for a wound. of course, they're imagining something up in the, you know, vital part of the body. johnston's wound actually was from the back side around -- had entered just below his right knee into the top of the calf and clipped open a primary artery. he had a bleeder. hadn't done much damage to the leg itself in the sense it hadn't shattered the bone or anything. he was wearing high boots. that would have hidden the wound. he was unconscious. they had tried to prime him to consciousness with a little alcohol. it seemed to run right out of his mouth. final scene is very tragic, kind of shakespearean. he's in the arms of his brother-in-law. johnston, do you know me? johnston, do you know me? but he's gone. johnston had bled to death in a very short time. probably wounded somewhere around 2:00. dead somew

and johnston said, yes, i fear seriously, and that will be the last conscious thought from albert sidney johnson.