Joseph E. Johnston a right to assert it. Having been educated in such opinions, I naturally determined to return to the State of which I was a native, join the people among whom I was born, and live with my kindred, and if necessary, fight in their defense." He was initially commissioned as a major general in the Virginia militia on May 4, but the Virginia Convention decided two weeks later that only one major general was required in the state army and Robert E. Lee was their choice. Johnston was then offered a state commission as a brigadier general, which he declined,
Fourth Corps, Army of Northern Virginia Fourth Corps, Army of Northern Virginia The Fourth Corps was a military unit formed in October 1864 within the Army of Northern Virginia of the Confederate Army. It fought for the Confederate States of America during the late stages of the American Civil War. The corps was commanded by Richard H. Anderson during its short life and was combined with the Second Corps shortly before Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865. With the recovery of Lt. General James Longstreet from injury, which allowed him to resume leading the First Corps, a new Fourth Corps was created on October 19, 1864.