Presented by: Dr. Timothy Smith, University of Tennessee at Martin
Location: UNT Health Science Center, MET Building, 1000 Montgomery Street, Fort Worth 76107
Dinner: 6 PM Program: 7PM
Dinner Menu: Italian Sausage and Beef Lasagna, Beans with Almonds and Shallots, Bread Sticks, Caesar Salad and Desserts – $20 per person – RSVP to jimrosenthal5757@aol.com or call or text 817-307-9263.
Albert Sidney Johnston is well known but not fully understood. Perhaps the best way to analyze his life and Confederate command is by examining him as a gambler. His early life showed traits of such gambling when life-or-death or life-altering decisions confronted him, and similarly there were times when he put family or army organizations at risk with gambles. Johnston certainly did so in his tenure as Western Theater Confederate commander, and much like a gambler he had to bluff and deceive with a strict poker face. He did so until the enemy upped the ante with the shocking Confederate defeats at Forts Henry and Donelson. Johnston ultimately had to call his opponent’s hand, which he did at Shiloh where he declared he must “roll the iron dice of battle.” It was a gamble to be sure, but it had to be done, or as he stated it, he and the Confederate army must “conquer or perish.” Of course, he perished, and his defeat on top of the setbacks earlier in 1862 led to a terribly dismal situation for the Confederacy, especially in the west, that far outlived his tenure as commander.
Timothy B. Smith (Ph.D. Mississippi State University, 2001) is a veteran of the National Park Service and currently teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin. In addition to numerous articles and essays, he is the author, editor, or co-editor of more than twenty books with several university and commercial presses. His books have won numerous book awards, his trilogy on the American Civil War’s Tennessee River campaign (Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth) winning a total of nine book awards. He has recently finished a five-volume study of the Vicksburg Campaign for the University Press of Kansas and a new study of Albert Sidney Johnston for LSU Press. He lives with his wife Kelly and daughters Mary Kate and Leah Grace in Adamsville, Tennessee.
Dr. Tim Smith is one of our most popular speakers. Rumor is – he is also one of the best Civil War Tour guides. Many of our members can attest to that. This should be an excellent program. Don’t miss it!