Bradley T. Johnson, Brigadier-General, C. S. A

Abstract

“Bradley T. Johnson, Brigadier-General, C.S.A.” is a military biography of a Marylander who joined the Confederate States Army in the Civil War. The study concentrates on Johnson’s immediate antebellum years and his involvement in the war drama. Drawn from manuscript collections, biographies and the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, it attempts to describe the development of Johnson’s Southern sympathies and his consequent participation in the war. The chapters follow Johnson through the beginning of the 1861 riots in Baltimore to the 1865 horrors at the Salisbury, North Carolina military prison. The biography also explores Johnson’s qualities as a family man, writer and lawyer. Johnson was a very talented individual. After the war he devoted his energies to the publication of books and articles on aspects of Maryland and Civil War history. Besides a busy law practice, he found time to be one of the founders of the confederate veterans home in Pikesville, Md. The Maryland ideals of truth, honor and courage were ones that Johnson admired, and he saw these exemplified in his beloved “Maryland Line” that became a valuable part of the Confederate army. The spirit behind the war, and the courage of the men who fought with him, were ideals that Johnson tried to maintain. This is the essence of Johnson’s decision to go South, and the pattern by which he led his men in battle.