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Johnson saw secession as preventative
First CSA governor first leader fatality
Scott County lawyer and farmer George Washington Johnson recorded several firsts during the Civil War.
1. He was Kentucky’s first Confederate governor, and
2. was the only state governor, Union or Confederate, to die in battle.
Johnson’s death also set the stage for the selection of the Commonwealth’s second and last Confederate governor, Richard Hawes.
Ironically, Johnson saw secession as a means of preventing the Civil War. He reasoned that if the Union and Confederacy were of equal strength, each would be reluctant to attack the other.
Following his election in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln made a special effort to keep his native state in the Union fold, sensing military defeat if Kentucky joined the Confederacy.
In desperation, Johnson traveled to Richmond, Va., to ask CSA President Jefferson Davis to respect Kentucky’s neutrality.
However, with political sentiment turning toward the Union, Johnson helped organize a pro-southern convention at Russellville on Nov. 18, 1861 for the purpose of “severing forever our connection with the Federal Government.”
A provisional government was formed with 10 councilmen, Johnson was elected governor and Bowling Green became the state’s Confederate capital.
Johnson, whose only prior political experience was three years as a Kentucky representative, worked hard to ensure the success of the shadow government. Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston’s army was encamped at Bowling Green at that time and provided protection for the political body.
After the Union’s victory at Mills Springs in January 1862 and with Federal victories imminent at Tennessee’s Forts Henry and Donelson, Johnston moved his army south. With his Confederate government unprotected, Johnson and the council withdrew and followed the Confederate Army to Tennessee.
At age 50 and with a crippled arm, Johnson volunteered for service in Gen. Johnston’s army. He was wounded in the thigh and abdomen at the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) and was found on the battlefield by an old friend, Union Gen. Alexander McCook. Johnson was taken to a U.S. transport, where he died on April 8.
The Confederate gubernatorial vacancy was filled almost immediately when another who initially had favored Kentucky’s neutrality was appointed to succeed Johnson. Richard Hawes, a Virginia native and former Kentucky U.S. Representative, took the post and, along with his Confederate government, joined up with Gen. Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee.
When the Confederate Kentucky invasion of 1862 led to the capture of Frankfort, Hawes was installed as the state’s governor. The inauguration took place the morning of Oct. 4. His term lasted but a few hours, however, as Union shells began bursting in Frankfort.
Hawes and the provisional government quickly returned to Tennessee.
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