Compelled to Appear in Print: The Vickburg Manuscript of General John C. Pemberton

by David M. Smith (Editor), John C. Pemberton, Edwin C. Bearss (Foreword by)

The book contains a short history of the Vicksburg Campaign, and examines the feuding between Johnston and Pemberton through their deaths after the war. Pemberton's manuscript, discovered in Cincinnati. Ohio in 1995, is the focal point of the discussion.

Genres: Civil War

210 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 1999

About the author

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David M.^Smith

Reviews

[Mark Harden]

Joseph Johnston, in his 1874 memoirs, slandered John Pemberton as solely responsible for the loss of Vicksburg and its garrison in 1863. Pemberton drafted a detailed response to Johnston’s book but it did not see the light of day until 1995, when it was discovered in an estate sale. David Smith has edited Pemberton’s response to Johnston, which makes a compelling case that Johnston lied to protect his own reputation by destroying Pemberton’s.