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.

The President's Brother-In-Law

Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin Hardin Helm was killed during the Battle of Chickamauga  September 21^st 1863; he was the brother-in-law of President Abraham Lincoln.

Benjamin Hardin Helm was born June 2^nd 1831 in Bardstown, Kentucky, the son of John L and Lucinda (Barbour) Hardin.  In 1846 he enrolled in the Kentucky Military Institute at the age of 15, just three month later he left for the United State Military Academy at West Point.  Helm graduated 9^th out of a class of 42 in 1851.  He served at the cavalry school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania and at Fort Lincoln, Texas before being discharge do to being diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis.  Helm went on to study the law at the Universities of Louisville and Harvard; graduating in 1853 he began practicing law with his father in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives and served as Hardin County State’s Attorney.  In 1856 Helm married Mary Todd Lincoln’s half-sister Emilie.

In 1861 with Kentucky remaining neutral President Abraham Lincoln offered Helm the job of Union Army Paymaster.  Helm turned the job down and raised the Confederate 1^st Kentucky Cavalry.  He was commissioned their Colonel October 19^th 1861, and they marched south under Confederate Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner.  On March 14^th 1862 Helm received the assignment to raise the 3^rd Kentucky Brigade and was promoted to Brigadier General.  They saw action at the Battle of Shiloh, guarding the flanks.  In January 1863 Helm was placed in command of the First Kentucky Brigade, known as the “Orphan Brigade” and was assigned to the Confederate Army of Tennessee.  With the Orphan Brigade Helm saw action at the Battles of Chickamauga and Vicksburg.

The Orphan Brigade was a part of Confederate fight against Union Major General William Rosecrans’ offensive during the Battle of Chattanooga on September 20^th 1863.  Striking near the center of the Union line and moving against heavy fire the men under Helm made it to within 40 yards of the Union line.  In less than an hour the Orphan Brigade lost a third of its men.  Helm, on horseback was shot in the chest by a member of the Union 15^th Kentucky Infantry.  Helm fell from his saddle and was carried to the rear, where it was determined his wound was mortal.  He died September 21^st 1862.  Confederate General John Cabell Breckinridge wrote to Helm’s wife, saying "Your husband commanded them [the men of the Orphan brigade] like a thorough soldier. He loved them, they loved him, and he died at their head, a patriot and a hero."

Unconditional Surrender

Fort Donelson was surrendered unconditionally to Union General Ulysses S Grant on February 16th 1862.

Following the capture of Fort Henry on February 6th 1862 Union General Ulysses S Grant moved his men overland to Fort Donelson. On February 12th and 13th 1862 they made a few probing attacks. The Union Navy fired on the Fort on February 14th, but were drove away by batteries from the Fort. Confederate Brigadier General John B Floyd finding Fort Donelson surrounded made a surprise attack on Grant’s army trying to find an escape path on February 15th 1862. Grant rallied his men, and Floyd pulled his troops back into their entrenchments.

Floyd and his second in command, Confederate Brigadier General Gideon J Pillow turned over the Fort on the morning of February 16th 1862. Excepting the unconditional surrender terms from Grant. They left command of the Fort to Confederate General Simon B Buckner and made their own escape. Buckner surrendered about 14,000 troop along with 48 guns, equipment and provisions. About 800 men on both sides were killed during the battle, with another 1,500 wounded. Some of the wounded left on the field, froze to death in a snowstorm. The capture of Fort Donelson opened up the Cumberland River to the Union for the invasion into the South.

Holding Onto Kentucky

President Abraham Lincoln wrote a memo on July 10th 1861 to Simon B Buckner about military need in Kentucky. Buckner had been sent to see Lincoln, by Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin to express the publics feeling regarding the succession. Lincoln’s note said, "It is my duty . . . to suppress an insurrection existing within the United States. I wish to do this with the least possible disturbance, or annoyance to well disposed people anywhere. So far I have not sent an armed force into Kentucky . . . I sincerely desire that no necessity for it may be presented; but I mean to say nothing which shall hereafter embarrass me in the performance of . . . my duty."

Kentucky became the last state to join the Confederacy, joining them as the 13th state in December 10th 1861.

For more information about Kentucky in the Civil War
The Civil War in Lexington KY