[645] near Abingdon in Southwest Virginia, his father having been made judge, and here he spent his youth, devoted largely to the manly pleasures of the chase in that wild region. In 1825 he was appointed a cadet to West Point, entering it as one of nine Virginians, another being Robert E. Lee, who was two weeks his senior. They graduated together, being the only two of the nine who endured to the end, and there they formed the friendship which they had inherited from their fathers of the Legion—a friendship which was co-extensive with their eventful lives. Johnston's first military service was in the Seminole war. In a fight near Jupiter Inlet, a small body of soldiers and sailors under Lieutenant Powell was surprised by an Indian force and put to flight. It would have been annihilated but for Johnston's skill and bravery. He rallied a few regulars, interposed them as a rear-guard and covered the retreat. He was severely wounded and his clothing had thirty bullet-holes in it.
On July 10, 1845, he married Lydia McLane, daughter of Louis McLane of Baltimore, but the outbreak of the Mexican war the next year carried him away to active service. He accompanied the army of Scott, first in the Engineer corps, but soon he was made lieutenant-colonel of voltigeurs. At Cerro Gordo he was twice severely wounded while making a daring reconnoissance. He took an active part in the battles around the city of Mexico, gaining special distinction at Contreras, Molino del Rey and Chapultepec. In this last named fight his command was the first to enter the enemy's works, and he himself was wounded three times. In 1860 he was appointed quartermaster-general to succeed General Jesup. Scott had suggested four names from which to make the selection, viz: Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston and Charles F. Smith.
When Virginia seceded, Johnston came South as soon as he could settle his accounts. He was one of the five brigadier-generals first appointed, and was assigned to
