James Johnson was an American soldier and congressman. He served as Member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 5th district.
Background
Johnson was born on January 1, 1774, in Orange County, Virginia. When he was six years of age, his father, Robert, and his mother, Jemima (Suggett) Johnson, migrated to Pennsylvania, where they remained one year before they moved to Kentucky and settled ultimately at Great Crossings, or Bryant's Station, near Lexington.
In 1782 Bryant's Station was attacked by a large body of hostile Indians. The supply of water in the fort became exhausted and the women went to the spring for more, thinking that the Indians would be less likely to fire upon them than upon the men. It was Jemima Johnson who volunteered to lead the party and she accomplished the feat unmolested. Her husband also established his reputation in the new country. He acquired the title of colonel, was appointed in 1796 on the commission to determine the boundary between Kentucky and Virginia, and sat in the first and second constitutional conventions of his state.
Career
Johnson's fame rests exclusively upon his participation as lieutenant-colonel under command of his brother Richard Mentor Johnson in the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. In this engagement the British left consisted of a force of regular troops; their right was made up of Indian allies under the famous Tecumseh. The regulars were drawn up in an open wood, while the natives were concealed in the edge of a swamp. Col. R. M. Johnson asked and received permission to begin the attack with his regiment of mounted riflemen. Seeing that there was not room for his whole force to maneuver in front of the British regulars, he led a part of his men off to attack in person the Indians concealed in the swamp and left his brother to lead the assault on the regular forces. Disposing his men in four columns of twos, James Johnson advanced slowly toward the enemy. A volley was fired upon him and several of the leaders fell. A second volley was fired before order could be restored. The horsemen then dashed forward. They rode through the British lines before muskets could be reloaded and, wheeling right and left, opened fire upon the enemy from the rear, thus disorganizing and defeating the force. It was a brilliant plan brilliantly executed, and it showed the frontier soldier at his best. During the battle James Johnson had under his command two of his sons, aged fifteen and seventeen years.
After this exploit, he returned to Great Crossings to live the life of a private citizen. In 1819 he undertook a contract to supply federal troops on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. He was not successful as a business man, however. Because he trusted too much in the honesty of others, his affairs became seriously involved, and he was never able to extricate himself from the toils of debt. In 1824 he was elected to Congress, but death overtook him before his term expired and his passing attracted little attention even in Kentucky.
Achievements
Connections
Johnson married Nancy Payne Johnson in 1796. The couple had five children.