Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 27.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

---

[342] in the Southern army. His heroic defence of Mobile, in the spring of 1865, against the land attack of Canby and the attack of the great Farragut by sea, is alone sufficient to give him a lasting place in history.

General Johnston and General Maury were old army comrades and warmest friends, but General Johnston felt he had been improperly treated in having General Lee assign officers to his army. He claimed to outrank Lee. General Maury was much embarrassed by the view which General Johnston took of General Lee's action, and, with the former's permission, returned to Richmond and requested assignment elsewhere. General Johnston, after General Maury returned to Richmond, wrote to Mr. Davis, protesting against the injustice of General Lee's action and the then existing state of affairs. He said he would raise no protest until after the achievement of the independence of the Confederacy, when he would use all proper means to have his rank rightfully established. The gauntlet thus thrown down was accepted by Mr. Davis. General Maury always said this caused the ultimate removal of Johnston from the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and, as many thought, the downfall of the Confederacy.

General Maury's request for a different post was answered with an assignment to the Army of Fredericksburg, under General Holmes, at Brooke's Station. After the victory of Manassas, both armies lay quiescent for many months. General Maury had had no opportunity for active service when, in February, 1862, he was made chief of staff to General Earle Van Dorn, in command of the Trans-Mississippi Department. This distinguished honor illustrates the confidence reposed in General Maury at headquarters in Richmond.