Shrouded Veterans: Free State Convert Killed in 1861 Skirmish

“[Colonel Hamilton P. Johnson] met his death by riding in advance of his men. And would not that sentence be a sufficient commentary, as an epitaph, engraven upon his tombstone? Came to his death by riding in advance of his men,” a Kansas reporter noted on September 21, 1861, the day of Johnson’s funeral. “His last words were,—‘Come on, boys,’ as he fell, pierced by ten [nine] of the enemy’s balls.”

“Hamp” Johnson was born in Belmont County, Ohio, and left home as a youth, spending his summers laboring on a farm and his winters attending school until he was old enough to support himself as a teacher. He later moved to Kentucky, where he taught, practiced law, and preached. After serving in the Mexican War as an infantry lieutenant, Johnson eventually settled in Kansas.

In a newspaper article about his brother-in-law, Verres Nicholas Smith, published on April 1, 1886, a reporter with The Leavenworth Times wrote, “So ardent was [Johnson] for the establishment and propagation of slavery, that he returned to Kentucky, at one time, to collect money from the faithful, in aid of that cause.” But the “violent pro-slavery man” experienced a change of heart. “It was not long before he out Heroded Herod, on the other side, and became the noisiest, if not the most reliable, of free state men,” the reporter declared.

Johnson served as a delegate at the 1858 Leavenworth Constitutional Convention, supported Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 presidential campaign, and was even considered a viable candidate for governor of Kansas.

“When he once turned his attention to the war, he made it his sole business to gather his command and get himself in a position to do active service in behalf of the imperilled [sic] institution of our country,” the editor of the Kansas State Journal recalled. “As a soldier he had few equals in the qualities of energy and courage. If he had any faults in this character it was his impetuosity and great daring.”

He recruited hundreds of men to form the 5th Kansas Cavalry and was appointed colonel on August 13, 1861. Less than a month later, he led a bold raid against a Missouri State Guard encampment at Morristown, Missouri, located just five miles from the Kansas border. His command surprised and routed the guardsmen, capturing their camp equipment, tents, wagons, and approximately 100 horses — but at a high cost.

During the skirmish, Johnson rashly rode ahead of his men when Missouri guardsmen, concealed in a ravine, opened fire. The colonel was struck nine times — three bullets to the head, two to the neck, one to the left shoulder, one to the thigh, and one in each hand — killing him instantly. In addition to Johnson, one other soldier of the 5th Kansas, Private James M. Copeland, was shot through the head and killed.

“His loss is deemed by every member of the command as of great importance to the service,” mourned Brigadier General James H. Lane, commander of the Kansas Brigade. “[A]s a dashing cavalry officer he had no superior.”

As soon as a coffin was prepared, Lane had Johnson’s body sent to his widow, Kezia, in Leavenworth. Hugh D. Fisher, chaplain of the 5th Kansas Cavalry, delivered the sermon during the funeral’s religious service.

Years later, Johnson’s remains — along with many others — were disinterred from Pilot Knob Cemetery (also known as Mount Aurora Cemetery) to make way for the Leavenworth Water Works Company and reinterred at Mount Muncie Cemetery in Lansing. Although the exact location of Johnson’s second burial has been lost to history, a veteran headstone was placed in the cemetery to honor his early-war sacrifice.

Shrouded Veterans is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing the neglected graves of 19th-century veterans, primarily Mexican War (1846-48) and Civil War (1861-65) soldiers, by identifying, marking, and restoring them. You can view more completed grave projects at facebook/shroudedvetgraves.com.