Stovepipe Johnson

Adam Rankin “Stovepipe” Johnson (February 6,1834 – October 20, 1922) was an antebellum Westernfrontiersman and later an officer in the Confederate StatesArmy during the American Civil War.Permanently blinded during a skirmish in 1864, Johnsonin 1887 founded the town of Marble Falls, Texas, whichbecame known as “the blind man’s town.”

1 Early life

Johnson was born in Henderson, Kentucky, a son ofThomas J. and Juliet (Rankin) Johnson. Educated in thelocal schools, he went to work at age 12 in a drugstorefor the next eight years. In 1854 he moved to Hamil-ton Valley in Burnet County, Texas, and worked as a sur-veyor on the West Texas frontier. He was a noted In-dian fighter and provided supplies and animals for theButterfield Overland Mail stations. On January 1, 1861,he married Josephine Eastland of Austin, with whom hehad nine children.

2 Civil War

When the Civil War began and his native Kentucky strug-gled to maintain its neutrality, Johnson returned homeand joined Nathan B. Forrest's cavalry battalion as ascout, fighting with him at his first engagement at theBattle of Sacramento.[1] He escaped capture with For-rest after Fort Donelson, when the Confederate comman-ders decided to surrender their post to the Union be-siegers. He later received a promotion to colonel in recog-nition of his exploits with his 10th Kentucky PartisanRangers, a regiment he raised that often operated deepbehind Federal lines in Kentucky. Johnson’s men ha-rassed Union supply lines and attacked isolated garrisons.In July 1862, in his Newburgh Raid, Johnson capturedthe town of Newburgh, Indiana, bluffing its sizable Unionmilitia force into surrendering with only twelve of his menand two joints of a stovepipemounted on the running gearof an abandoned wagon to form a Quaker cannon. Hiscapture of the first Northern city to fall to the Confeder-ates made the news even in Europe, and Johnson’s menthereafter nicknamed him “Stovepipe”.In 1863, Johnson assumed command of a brigade in thecavalry division of Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Hereluctantly participated in Morgan’s Raid, though he was

only supposed to raid on the Kentucky side of the river.Following the Confederate disaster at the Battle of Buff-ington Island, Johnson led nearly 350 of his men acrossthe rain-swollen Ohio River to safety. The remainder ofMorgan’s division was trapped on the Ohio side of theriver and eventually forced to surrender.Johnson was appointed brigadier general on September 6,1864, to rank from June 1, 1864, though his appointmentwas never confirmed by the Confederate Congress.[2] OnAugust 21, 1864, he was blinded by an accidental shotfrom one of his own men during a skirmish at Grubb’sCrossroads, near Princeton, Kentucky. Left behind be-cause of his injuries, he was captured by the Federals andwas a prisoner for much of the remainder of the war inFort Warren. He was exchanged near the war’s end, anddespite his blindness attempted to return to active duty.However, the final surrender put a stop to that.

3 Postbellum

Adam R. Johnson returned to Texas after being ex-changed and paroled in 1865. Despite being blind, hefounded a town, established a company, and worked toharness the water power of the Colorado River.He died in Burnet, Texas in 1922 at the age of 88, andis interred at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, Texas.He rests beside his wife Josephine and near his grandson,Judge George Christian, Sr., and a great-grandson, for-mer White House Press Secretary George Christian, Jr.

4 Notes

[1] Davison, E. W. and D. Foxx (2007). Nathan Bedford For-rest: In Search of the Enigma. Pelican Publishing. pp.36–41. ISBN 1589804155.

[2] Eicher, p. 601; United States War Department, The Mil-itary Secretary’s Office, Memorandum relative to the gen-eral officers appointed by the President in the armies of theConfederate States-−1861-1865 (1908) (Compiled fromofficial records), p. 32. Caption shows 1905 but print-ing date is February 11, 1908. https://archive.org/details/memorandumrelati01unit, retrieved August 5, 2010..

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2 6 EXTERNAL LINKS

5 References• Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil WarHigh Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001,ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

• Johnson, AdamR., The Partisan Rangers of the Con-federate Army. Louisville, Kentucky: George G.Fetter, 1904.

• United States War Department, The Military Sec-retary’s Office, Memorandum relative to the generalofficers appointed by the President in the armies ofthe Confederate States—1861-1865 (1908) (Com-piled from official records). Caption shows 1905but printing date is February 11, 1908. https://archive.org/details/memorandumrelati01unit, re-trieved August 5, 2010.

• Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of theConfederate Commanders, Louisiana State Univer-sity Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.

• Johnson, E. Polk (1912). A History of Kentucky andKentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men inCommerce, Industry and Modern Activities. LewisPublishing Company. pp. 1003–1004. Retrieved2008-11-10.

6 External links• Texas State Cemetery Official Website

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7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1 Text• Stovepipe Johnson Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stovepipe_Johnson?oldid=665316281 Contributors: Hlj, Stevietheman, Nut-megger, Bender235, Tony Sidaway, Woohookitty, BD2412, Bedford, Scott Mingus, Hmains, Thumperward, Ser Amantio di Nicolao,Majora4, Billy Hathorn, Spacini, Cydebot, SGGH, JustAGal, RobotG, Kresock, Acdixon, R'n'B, 8th Ohio Volunteers, GhostPirate, Gra-hamHardy, BOTijo, Patriciacraig, Kumioko (renamed), ClueBot, Patriciacjohnson, Passargea, 1ForTheMoney, Addbot, Yobot, Citationbot, FrescoBot, ZéroBot, Donner60, Mnoirot64, ProudIrishAspie, Valetude, Tymon.r and Anonymous: 15

7.2 Images• File:ARJohnson.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/ARJohnson.jpg License: Public domain Contribu-tors: ? Original artist: ?

• File:Brigadier-General_John_H._Morgan.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Brigadier-General_John_H._Morgan.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Johnson, Robert Underwood; Buel, Clarence Clough (1887) "Morgan’s OhioRaid" in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, vol. 3, New York City: The Century Company, pp. p. 653 Retrieved on 3 July 2009. Originalartist: Unknown

• File:Union_army_col_rank_insignia.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Union_army_col_rank_insignia.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:

• US-O6_insignia.svg Original artist: US-O6_insignia.svg: Ipankonin

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