W. H. D. Rouse
speaker
492 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Aug 2026
last heard 8 Aug
W. H. D. Rouse’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 1.
Appearances
who was promoted to the temporary rank of full general.
Davis' replacement of Johnston with Hood is one of the most controversial acts of the war.
Relations between the president and Johnston had not been friendly since a dispute over the general's rank in 1861.
Disagreements over strategy and tactics, as well as the personalities of the two men, exacerbated matters in 1862 and 1863.
during johnston's tenure as commander of the army of tennessee the situation became worse as communications between the two broke down almost completely davis promoted officers in the army without consulting johnston
who maneuvered in the field without informing the government of his plans and operations in any meaningful detail.
Davis saw that Johnston had yielded much valuable territory to the enemy.
Important officials in the government began to urge that the general be removed from command.
On July 9, Davis sent his military advisor, General Braxton Bragg, to report on the situation in Georgia.
Bragg visited Johnston, learned nothing of the general's plans, and reported that it appeared the city would be abandoned.
Other evidence brought to the president's attention, such as Johnston's suggestion that prisoners held in South Georgia be sent to safer points, seemed to confirm Bragg's assessment that Atlanta would not be defended.
On July 16, David telegraphed Johnston,
i wish to hear from you as to present situation and your plan of operations so specifically as will enable me to anticipate events the general's reply of the same date read in part as the enemy has double our numbers we must be on the defensive my plan of operations must therefore depend upon that of the enemy it is mainly to watch for an opportunity to fight to advantage
we are trying to put atlanta in condition to be held for a day or two by the georgia militia that army movements may be freer and wider this vague reply did not satisfy davis and on july seventeen he issued the order that removed johnson from command
in great haste johnston wrote out an order relinquishing his position and thanking the soldiers for their courage and devotion by the afternoon of the eighteenth he had left atlanta and the army of tennessee in the none too steady hands of john bell wood much debate has swirled around davis's decision johnston and his partisans have argued that the general's removal made inevitable the loss of atlanta
the reelection of lincoln and the defeat of the confederacy they contend that had johnston remained in command the city would have been held or that if it were surrendered the army at least would not have been weakened and would have continued as an effective unit hood and davis maintained that johnston's long retreat had demoralized the army
that Johnston would not have held Atlanta, and that the Confederacy's only chance for success lay in replacing Johnston with a bold commander who would strike Sherman a blow that would send the Northerners reeling back to Chattanooga.
Most historians have tended to accept Johnston's position.
There can be no definite answer, of course, but it does seem that Johnston would have evacuated the city rather than lose a large portion of his army fighting for it.
this would have saved the army but coming after the long retreat from dalton might have so demoralized it that desertion and disgust would have ended its career as an effective fighting force if the retention of atlanta was essential to the life of the confederacy president davis seems justified in his decision to remove johnston
Showing 281–300 of 492 · page 15 of 25
← Previous
Next →