reminded of Captain MacTurk's joyous comment, "Oh, crimini, if these sweetmeats be passing between them, it is only the two ends of a handkercher that can serve the turn—Cot tamn!"
And now, how much reason and excuse did Johnston give for such treatment? Abundant. Really, when I remember Davis's keen and fiery disposition, I am less surprised at the things he did say than at those he did not. It is not so much any one word or speech in Johnston's case, as the constant attitude of disapproval, of fault-finding, of resentment even approaching sullenness.
To begin with, Johnston criticized with the utmost freedom. He criticized even Lee. And if we did not know how deep was the affection between the two, we should be inclined to attribute the criticism to jealousy. "After his operations in the Wilderness, General Lee adopted as thorough a defensive as mine, and added by it to his great fame. The only other difference between our operations was due to Grant's bull-headedness and Sherman's extreme caution, which carried the army in Virginia to Petersburg in less than half the time in which Sherman reached Adanta."31 In the same way, according to Fremantle, he criticized Jackson. "General Johnston said that although this extraordinary man did not possess any great qualities as a strategist, and was perhaps unfit for the independent command of a large army; yet he was gifted with wonderful courage and determination...
