How to Pronounce George W. Johnson (governor)
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May 27, 1811 Scott County, Kentucky, United States Died on 08 Apr 1862 (aged 50)
First Confederate governor of Kentucky
GeminiGeorge W. Johnson Governor - Place of Birth, Date of Birth, Age, Wiki, Facts, Net Worth, Birthday, Biography and Family
George W. Johnson Governor, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Family, Facts, Age, Net Worth, Biography and More in FamedBorn.com
About George W. Johnson Governor
- George Washington Johnson (May 27, 1811 – April 8, 1862) was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky.
- A lawyer-turned-farmer from Scott County, Kentucky, Johnson favored secession as a means of preventing the Civil War, believing the Union and Confederacy would be forces of equal strength, each too wary to attack the other.
- As political sentiment in the Commonwealth took a decidedly Union turn following the elections of 1861, Johnson was instrumental in organizing a sovereignty convention in Russellville, Kentucky with the intent of "severing forever our connection with the Federal Government." The convention created a Confederate shadow government for the Commonwealth, and Johnson was elected its governor. Despite his meager political experience—having previously served only three years in the Kentucky House of Representatives—Johnson labored vehemently to ensure the success of the shadow government.
- Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, but the shadow government's influence in the Commonwealth extended only as far as the Confederate Army advanced.
- When Albert Sidney Johnston abandoned the Confederate capital of Bowling Green, Governor Johnson and the other government officials accompanied him.
- Despite his advanced age and a crippled arm, Johnson volunteered for military service in General Johnston's army.
- Johnson was killed at the Battle of Shiloh, making him the only state governor, Union or Confederate, to fall in battle during the Civil War.
- He was succeeded by Richard Hawes, the second and last governor of Confederate Kentucky.
