JOHNSON
JOHNSON
by the secretary of war to raise a regiment of
mounted volunteers to consist of one thoasand
men. Accordingly, he went to Kentucky and in
a few weeks secured the full complement of
volunteers. He was appointed colonel of the
regiment and his brother James lieutenant-
colonel. He joined Gen. William H. Harrison
on the Britisli frontier, and took part in the
engagement at Chatham, Ontario. October 4,
and in the battle of the Tliames, Oct. 5, 1813.
Col. Richard M. Johnson, with half his men,
attacked the Indians under Tecumseh, while
his brother, Col. James Johnson, with the re-
mainder of the men, fell upon and routed the
British regulars under General Proctor. It was
during this obstinate but successful engagement
that Colonel Johnson killed, in a hand-to-hand
figiit, an Indian chief who formed the rallying
point of the savages, and who was by some
supposed to have been ciiief Tecumseh. Colo-
nel Johnson was carried unconscious from the
field, having received sevei"al severe bullet
wounds. He resumed his seat in congress the
following February and on his way to Washing-
ton was greeted with public ovations, and congress
passed a resolution authorizing a suitable testi-
monial to be presented to him in recognition of
his valuable services. In 1819, at the close of his
term as representative in congress, he returned
to Kentucky, where he was a representative in
the state legislature until elected a member of
the U.S. senate, firet as successor to John J.
Crittenden, deceased, and then for a full term,
serving 1819-29. He was again a representative
in the 21st, 22d, 23d and 24th congresses, 1829-37.
He was a candidate for Vice-President of the
United States on the ticket with Martin Van
Buren, and was chosen Vice-President by the
senate, as the electoral college gave him 147
votes and Granger, Tyler and Smith together
147 votes. At the expiration of his term of office,
March 4, 1841, he retired to his home in Scott
county, Ky., and was a representative in the
state legislature until his death. He was the
autlior of the law abolishing imprisonment for
debt in Kentucky, and while in congress he used
his influence to secure pensions for the old soldiers
of the Revolution and the invalids of the war of
1812. He die.l in Frankfort, Ky., Nov. 19, 1850.
JOHNSON, Richard W., soldier, was born near Smitliland, Livingston county, Ky., Feb. 7, 1827; son of Col. Robert Johnson and a brother of John Milton Johnson (q.v.). He was graduated from the U.S. ^lilitary academy in 1849 and was brevetted 2nd lieutenant ami assigned to the 6th infantry. He was transferred to the 1st infantry, June 10, 1850; to the 2d cavalry witiithe rank of 1st lieutenant, March 3, 1855, and was promoted captain, Dec. 1, 1856. He served on the Texas
frontier, 1855-61; was assigned to the 3d Ken-
tucky cavalry with the rank of lieutenant-colonel
of volunteers, Aug. 28, 1861; was promoted brig-
adier-general of volunteers, Oct. 11, 1861, and
assigned to General Buell's army, and partici-
pated in the engagements at Sliiloh, Tenn.. and in
the siege of Corinth, Miss. He commanded a
division of the Army of the Ohio in the Tennes-
see campaign; was taken prisoner at Gallatin,
Aug. 21, 1862, and after his exchange in December,
1862, commanded the 12th division of the Army of the Cumberland and was in the engagements at Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionarj- Ridge and all the .subsequent battles, including New Hope Church, Ga., where he was wounded. May 28, 1864. He commanded a division of cavalry in the battle of Nashville, Dec. 1.5-16, 1864. He was a member of the staff of Gen. George H. Thomas, serving as provost-marshal and judge-advocate until he was mustered out of the volunteer serv- ice, Jan. 15, 1866. He received brevets in the volunteer service as lieutenant-colonel, Sept. 20,
1863, for Chickamauga; colonel, Nov. 24, 1863, for Chattanooga; brigadier-general, March 13, 1865, for Nashville, Tenn.; major-general, March 13, 1865, for " gallant and meritorious services on the field during the war, and major-general of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services in the battles before Nashville."' He resigned from the regular army with the rank of'major. Oct. 12, 1867, and was retired with the rank of brigadier-general, March 3, 1875. He was military professor in the University of Missouri, 1808-69 and in the University of Minnesota, 1869- 70. lie was the unsuccessful candidate of the Democratic party for governor of ^linnesota in 1881. He is the author of: ^4. Memoir of Gen. George H. TJwmas (ISSl): Monual for Coifs Breech- Loading Carbine and Xai-y Revolver; A Soldier's Eeminiscences (1886). He died in St. Paul, Minn., April 21. 1897.
JOHNSON, Robert Underwood, editor, was born on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 1853; son of Judge Nimrod H. and Catherine Coj'le (Underwood) Johnson and grandson of Dr. Nathan Johnson and of John Underwood. He passed his boyhood in Indiana; was prepared for college in the public schools and the collegiate institute of Centreville, Ind., and was graduated from Earlham college, Richmond, Ind., in 1871. He immediately engaged as a clerk in the west- ern agency of the Scribner educational books at Chicago and in 1873 became connected with the editorial staff of Scrihtier's Monthly. In 1881, the j'ear the name of that periodical was changed to the Century Magazine, he was made associate editor. He was married in 1876 to Katharine McMahon, of Washington, D.C. He was joint- editor with Clarence Clough Buel of the " Cen-
