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,
Army of Northern Virginia The Department comprised three districts: Aquia District, Potomac District, and the Valley District. In April 1862, the Department was expanded to include the Departments of Norfolk and the Peninsula (of Virginia). Gen. Johnston was eventually forced into maneuvering the Army southward to the defenses of Richmond during the opening of the Peninsula Campaign, where it conducted delay and defend tactics until Johnston was severely wounded at the Battle of Seven Pines. During the months after the First Battle of Bull Run, Johnston organized his Shenandoah Army and Beauregard's Potomac Army into two divisions under a unified command with Gustavus Smith