A Governor Killed In Battle

Confederate Governor George Washington Johnson died April 8^th 1862 from wounds received while fighting at the Battle of Shiloh.

George Washington Johnson was born May 27^th 1811 near Georgetown, Scott, Kentucky the son of William and Betsey (Payne) Johnson.  His father died shortly after his birth and he was raised by his stepfather John Allen.  Johnson was sent to Transylvania University where he graduated in 1833 with three degrees.  He practiced law in Georgetown, before deciding he liked farming better.  He owned two plantations one near Georgetown and one in Arkansas.  In 1838 Johnson was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives.  He headed the Committee of Sixty in August 1845 that seized the printing press belonging to abolitionist Cassius M Clay.

As the Confederate States of America were forming, Johnson advocated for Kentucky to join the Confederacy, he thought the two sides would be evenly matched and that a trade agreement could be negotiated.  When the Union took control of Kentucky Johnson fled with other Southern sympathizers, traveling to Tennessee he volunteered as an aid to Confederate General Simon B Buckner.   On November 18^th 1861 at Russellville, Kentucky 116 men representing 68 Kentucky counties met to establish a Confederate government.  They unanimously chose Johnson to be the Governor of the new Confederate state.  Kentucky was admitted on December 10^th 1861.  When Confederate General Albert Sydney Johnston withdrew from Bowling Green, Kentucky in February 1862, Johnson moved the government to Tennessee.

When General Johnston attacked the Union army at Shiloh, Tennessee Johnson served as an aide to General Breckinridge.  He had his horse shot out from under him, and then insisted on being sworn in as a Private in Company E of the 4^th Kentucky Infantry.  In the fight the next day Johnson was wounded in the abdomen and right thigh, he was left on the battlefield overnight.  The next day Union General Alexander M McCook recognized him and had Johnson taken aboard a Union hospital ship where despite medical care he died April 8^th 1862.

Members of the Union army had Johnson’s body shipped to Georgetown, Kentucky for burial, in the Georgetown Cemetery.

Confederates In California

The only California unit to serve the Confederacy, the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was formed March 17^th 1861.

The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles were formed as a part of a call by California Governor John G Downey for militia companies at the beginning of the Civil War.  Enrollment filled quickly in the Mounted Rifles and an organizational meeting was held with 85 men at the Los Angeles County Courthouse March 17^th 1861.  The name of the company the Los Angeles Mounted Rifles was chosen, and the company mustered into service under Captain Alonzo Ridley and First Lieutenant Joseph Cattick.  The rolls showed 8 officers and 64 privates.  From the Rifles inception they were known as pro-Confederacy.

Once the news reached the west coast that Fort Sumter had fallen, Ridley decided to take Rifles to Texas.  They were joined by former United States Officers Albert Sidney Johnston and Lewis Addison Armistead, who had resigned their commissions.

After making a long journey across the desert the Rifles were disbanded as a unit the second week of August 1861.  Most of the members of the Rifles joined Texas units and served throughout the war.  Captain Alonzo Ridley stayed with Albert Sidney Johnston through the Battle of Shiloh.

A web site for more information about this subject is California's Confederate Militia: The Los Angeles Mounted Rifles

The Army West Of The Rockies

The Union Army reorganized the Department of the Pacific on January 15^th 1861 by consolidating the Departments of California and Oregon.

The Department of the Pacific was first organized at San Francisco, California October 31^st 1853.  It reported to Army headquarters in Washington, DC and oversaw the military in California and the Oregon and Washington Territories.  It moved its headquarters to Benicia, California for a short time in 1854, but was back in San Francisco by 1857.  In 1858 the Utah Territory was included this department.  The Department was disbanded on September 13^th 1858.

On January 15^th 1861, with the Civil War about to start, the Union Army reorganized the Department of the Pacific.  The first commander was Union Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston.  He served as commander until March 1861, when Johnston resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army.  He was replaced by Union Brigadier General Edwin Vose Sumner.

Old Reliable Resigns

Confederate General William Joseph Hardee resigned his United State Army commission on January 31st 1861.

William Joseph Hardee the son of Major John and Sarah [Ellis] Hardee, he was born October 12th 1815 at his families home in Camden County, Georgia. He attended the United State Military Academy at West Point, graduating 26 out of a class of 45 in 1838. Hardee was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 2nd United States Dragoons. The Army sent him to France in 1840 to study military tactics. During the Mexican - American War Hardee was serving under General Zachary Taylor when he was captured at Carricitos Ranch, Texas. After being exchanged on May 11th 1846 he served under General Winfield Scott and was wounded at La Rosia, Mexico in 1847. He wrote “Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics” [known as “Hardee’s Tactics”] in 1855. Hardee returned to West Point where he taught tactics and served from 1856 to 1860 as commandant of cadets.

When Georgia seceded from the United States, Hardee resigned his commission on January 31st 1861. He became at Colonel in the Confederate States Army on March 7th 1861, with command of Fort Morgan in Alabama. Hardee was made a Lieutenant General October 10th 1862. His assignment was to organize an Arkansas regiment. Do to his seeing that his men were well supplied, they nicked named him “Old Reliable”. Hardee was a Corps commander in General Albert Sidney Johnston’s Army of Mississippi during the Battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded. His Corps was defeated by Union Major General George Henry Thomas during their assault on Missionary Ridge as part of the Battle of Chickamauga. Hardee was in the Battle of Bentonville in March 1865, where his only son 16 year old William was mortally wounded. Hardee surrendered to Union General William Tecumseh Sherman at Durham Station April 26th 1865.

Following the war Hardee went back to his wife’s plantation in Alabama. He latter moved to Selma, Alabama where Hardee worked in insurance and warehousing. He would become the president of the Selma and Meridian railroad, and co-author the book “The Irish in America” in 1868. Hardee took sick while with his family on vacation in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and died November 6th 1873 in Wytherville, Virginia. He is buried in the Live Oak Cemetery in Selma, Alabama.

Oldest Officer

Union General Edwin Vose Sumner died March 21st 1863, he was the oldest field commander on either side during the Civil War.

Edwin Vose Sumner was born January 30th 1797 in Boston, Massachusetts the son of Elisha and Nancy [Vose] Sumner. He got his education at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. After trying a career in retail in Tory, New York in 1819 he entered the United States Army. By January 25th 1825 he had been promoted to First Lieutenant.

Sumner served in the Black Hawk War and other Indian campaigns. In 1833 he was promoted again to Captain in command of Company B of the First United States Dragoons. In 1838 Sumner was instructing cavalry at the Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. During the Mexican American War received two brevet for bravery to the rank of Colonel. He would serve as the Military Governor of the New Mexico Territory from 1851 to 1853. Sumner was at Fort Leavenworth Kansas in 1856 during the time known as “Bleeding Kansas”. He was assigned by Lieutenant General Winfield Scott to accompany Abraham Lincoln in March 1861 from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC.

Sumner spent the first year of the Civil War as the commander of the Department of the Pacific in California, having been sent there to replace Albert Sidney Johnston. So Sumner saw no action in 1861. He was brought back east and on May 5th 1862 promoted to Major General and given command of one of the new Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He lead the II Corp through out the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. After Major General Joseph Hooker was placed in command of the Army, Sumner was relieved at his own request and appointed to command the Department of Missouri.

Taking advantage of time off, he traveled to Syracuse, New York to visit with a daughter. While there Sumner had heart attacked and died March 21st 1863. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Syracuse, New York in the Teall family plot.

He Died At Shiloh

Albert Sidney Johnston died April 6th 1862 after a winning day at the Battle of Shiloh.

On February 3rd 1803 Albert Sidney Johnston was born in Washington, Mason, Kentucky. He went to Transylvania University and West Point from which he graduated; eighth in his class, in 1826. Due to his wife’s illness and a move to Texas he resigned his United States military commission. In 1835 he joined the Texas army as a private, but with his background, by 1837 he had been made a Brigadier General in Texas Army. Two years later Texas President Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar appointed Johnston to Secretary of War. With coming of the Mexican American War, Johnston re-enlisted in the US Army. For his service in the Mormon War he was brevetted Brigadier General.

As many southern military men did, Johnston resigned his commission in the Union Army on April 10th 1861 and joined with the Confederacy. Confederate President Jefferson Davis placed Johnston in charge of the Western Department. It was in this capacity that on April 6th Johnston was killed during the Battle of Shiloh. Making a surprise attack his troops were able to drive the Union force they faced back. While managing the battle in the front line he was wounded in leg. Not thinking the wound serious, he didn’t seek treatment and bled to death.

He was buried temporarily in New Orleans, but was re-interred in the State Cemetery in Austin TX.

Twin Relics of Barbarism

In Utah March 23rd 1858 Brigham Young ordered the faithful to move to Provo, Utah and prepare for their homes in Salt Lake City to be burned as part of his “Sebastopol Policy”

From 1857 to 1858 what is known as the Utah War occurred between the United States Government and the Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory. The election in 1856 between Democrat James Buchanan and Republican John C Freemont was close enough to shake the Democratic Party. The Republicans charged the Democrats during that election as being soft on the “Twin Relics of Barbarism”; polygamy and slavery. In order to stand up to the charge Buchanan had do something, he decided his only political option was to replace Brigham Young as the governor of the Utah Territory and make a stand against polygamy. Alfred Cumming was appointed the new governor and sent to Utah under an Army escort.

The first troops to march for Utah were lead by General William S Harney, but they were forced to return to Kansas. Then a detachment under Colonel Edmund Alexander got started, only to meet up with and give command to Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston. The Utah militia known as the Nauvoo Legion under the command of Lot Smith harassed the federals. Johnston decided to settle for the winter in the burned out Fort Bridger.

When spring arrived the United States Army was re-supplied and reinforcements arrived. With negotiation underway Brigham Young accepted the replacement governor; bring peace back to the territory.