George W. Johnson (governor)

The Clark House in Russellville, Kentucky

On October 29, 1861, a group of Kentuckians—Johnson among them—met at Russellville, Kentucky, to discuss the formation of a Confederate government for the Commonwealth, believing the Unionist government in Frankfort did not represent the will of the majority of Kentucky's citizens.[5] Johnson chaired the committee that authored the convention's final report, and personally introduced some of its key resolutions.[5] The report called for a sovereignty convention to sever ties with the Federal government.[5] Johnson, Breckinridge, and Humphrey Marshall were among the notable members of the Committee of Ten that made arrangements for the convention.[12]

On November 18, 1861, 116 delegates representing 68 Kentucky counties convened at the Clark House in Russellville.[13] Over the next three days, a shadow government was established with Bowling Green as its temporary capital.[7] Johnson was unanimously chosen as governor of the new Confederate state.

On November 21, 1861, Johnson wrote Confederate president Jefferson Davis to request Kentucky's admission to the Confederacy.[9] Though Davis had some reservation about the circumvention of the elected General Assembly in forming the Confederate government, he concluded that Johnson's request had merit.[9] Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861.[5]

During the winter of 1861, Johnson tried unsuccessfully to assert the legitimacy of the fledgling government. Its jurisdiction extended only as far as the area controlled by the Confederate Army.[9] Johnson came woefully short of raising the 46,000 troops requested by the Confederate Congress in Richmond.[9] Efforts to levy taxes and to compel citizens to turn over their guns to the government were similarly unsuccessful.[9] On January 3, 1862, Johnson requested a sum of $3 million from the Confederate Congress to meet the provisional government's operating expenses.[14] The Congress instead approved a sum of $2 million, the expenditure of which required approval of Secretary of War Judah P. Benjamin and President Davis.[14]

During his labors to sustain the provisional government, Johnson's lack of hearing from his family weighed heavily upon him. The only family member with whom he had contact was his son Madison ("Matty"), who had joined John Hunt Morgan's cavalry. Johnson admired and respected Morgan, and was pleased that his son had chosen to serve under him. In 1862, he requested by letter that his wife send their fifteen-year-old son Junius to serve in the Confederate Army. Despite Johnson's protestations that he would ensure his son's safety, his wife refused this request.[15]

It was Johnson's practice to avoid interference with military decisions, however he supported Morgan's request for two light artillery pieces that became hallmarks of his command. By contrast, he consistently opposed the command of General Lloyd Tilghman, trying repeatedly but unsuccessfully to have him removed. It is unclear how much military influence Johnson wielded in his position as governor, though he enjoyed a cordial relationship with most of the Confederate generals.[16]

Johnson's gravestone in Georgetown Cemetery in Georgetown, Kentucky.

When General Albert Sydney Johnston was forced to withdraw his troops from Bowling Green in February 1862, the Confederate state government moved with his army to Tennessee.[5] On April 6, 1862, General Johnston attacked the Union army at Shiloh, Tennessee.[5] During this battle, Johnson served as a volunteer aide to General Breckinridge and Colonel Robert P. Trabue.[5] After his horse was killed out from under him, Johnson fought on foot with Company E of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry Regiment, and insisted on being sworn in as a private.[5] He declared "I will take a good night's rest and be ready for the fight tomorrow."[2]

The next day, Johnson was seriously wounded in the right thigh and abdomen.[5] He lay wounded on the battlefield until the next morning, when he was recognized by Union General Alexander McDowell McCook.[5] Johnson and McCook had both attended the 1860 Democratic National Convention and were both Freemasons.[9] Johnson was taken aboard the Union hospital ship Hannibal, where despite the ministrations of several physicians, he died on April 8.[9] Friends in the Union army, including General John M. Harlan, packed Johnson's body in salt and shipped it to Louisville, then on to Georgetown for burial.[11]

• Kent Masterson Brown, ed. (2000). The Civil War in Kentucky: Battle for the Bluegrass. Mason City, Iowa: Savas Publishing Company. ISBN 1-882810-47-3.
• Harrison, Lowell Hayes (Winter 1981). "George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes: The Governors of Confederate Kentucky". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 79 (1): 3–39.
• Lowell H. Harrison, ed. (2004). Kentucky's Governors. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2326-7.
• Kleber, John E., ed. (1992). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
• Klotter, James C.; Harrison, Lowell; Ramage, James; Roland, Charles; Taylor, Richard; Bush, Bryan S.; Fugate, Tom; Hibbs, Dixie; Matthews, Lisa; Moody, Robert C.; Myers, Marshall; Sanders, Stuart; McBride, Stephen (2005). Rose, Jerlene (ed.). Kentucky's Civil War 1861–1865. Clay City, Kentucky: Back Home In Kentucky, Inc. ISBN 0-9769231-1-4.
• William Henry Perrin, ed. (1882). History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. Chicago, Illinois: O. L. Baskin & Co. ISBN 0-8063-0510-X.
• Powell, Robert A. (1976). Kentucky Governors. Danville, Kentucky: Bluegrass Printing Company. OCLC 2690774.