To Confederate president Jefferson Davis, America had no finer soldier than Kentucky-born Texan Albert Sidney Johnston. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Davis turned to Johnston to take control of the deteriorating situation in the Western Theater. With a widely dispersed and undermanned army, Johnston tried but failed to hold the line in Kentucky and Tennessee. After yielding Forts Henry and Donelson, and Nashville, the Confederates fell back into Alabama and Missisippi, where Johnston rallied his troops for a surprise attack against Federal forces in western Tennessee. Thus far,...