Sir John Johnson
It is somewhat rare to run back to back profiles of Loyalists but I have been meaning to profile a member of a family that defined British – native relations in the mid to late 18th century, Sir John Johnson. John Johnson's father was the famed Agent of the crown to the Indians of New York. In that capacity, Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York, was the key interlocutor for British interests and managed to establish pretty good relations between the settlers and the Iroquois nations in central New York. This was no easy undertaking as the migrants from New England and other points east had a thirst for land and the Iroquois had a thirst for, well suffice to say they were the most fearsome warriors of their day and not to be trifled with. William Johnson’s passing and the outbreak of the American Revolution ignited a final struggle between these forces.
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| Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet of New York |
Thrust into this frontier cauldron was Johnson’s heir and reluctant interlocutor, John Johnson, 2nd Baronet of New York. The younger Johnson was born 5 Nov. 1741 at Mount Johnson near New Amsterdam, New York. His mother was a local woman of Dutch extraction, Catherine Wysenberk.
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| Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet |
French & Indian Fighter
John Johnson spent most of his childhood at Fort Johnson on the Mohawk River. After briefly attending Benjamin Franklin’s College and Academy in Philadelphia in 1757, Johnson returned home to answer the call of the war drums. So at the age of 13, Johnson accompanied his father as a volunteer in the French and Indian War. He accompanied him on expeditions to Niagara and Detroit. He also attended most of Sir William’s conferences with the Indians, including the one at Fort Stanwix (Rome), N.Y., in 1768 that established the boundary between encroaching white settlers and the Iroquois.
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| Sir William Johnson hosted Indian conferences at Johnson Hall |
Indian Fighter
The younger Johnson also acquitted himself well during Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763, when he led a successful expedition into the Ohio territory. Two years later his father sent him to England to broaden his horizons and establish him as a man of means and social standing. The journey had the desired result and Johnson was knighted by King George III in preparation for inheriting his father’s impressive estates in America.
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| The younger Johnson distinguished himself during Pontiac's Rebellion |
Gentleman Farmer
Johnson returned from Britain a staunch supporter of the crown and disdained all who dared disagree with royal policies. He settled at Fort Johnson and took Clarissa Putman as his common-law wife. But a man of Johnson’s status needed the proper sort of match and in 1773 he finally acceded to his father’s desire for him to marry into the New York aristocracy. Johnson left Clarissa Putman, but he did provide support to her and their two children. He was now able to marry Mary Watts and brought her to Fort Johnson.
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| John Johnson settled in at Fort Johnson after inheriting the Baronetcy |
The 2nd Baronet
In 1774, Sir William died. John was now the 2nd Baronet of New York and inherited over 200,000 acres along with numerous tenants. He did not, however, comply with his father’s wish to become the next superintendent of northern Indians. Instead, John lived as a country gentleman in his palatial home - Johnson Hall. Due to his social standing and wartime experience, Johnson was made a major general of the militia not long before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
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| At the outbreak of war the NY militiamen would have to choose sides |
Loyalist Leader
In the run-up to war, Johnson espoused Loyalist sympathies and went about recruiting from his tenants, many of whom were Scottish and English war veterans. This became a sort of personal militia. Johnson even approached the Royal Governor, William Tryon with the offer to organize the entire Mohawk Valley in support of the crown. Johnson’s actions alarmed the local patriots and when the time was right, he became a target.
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| Governor William Tryon was a key figure in the run-up to the American Revolution |
In January 1776 the Continental Congress authorized General Philip Schuyler, also prominent New York landholder, to gather an army and attack Johnson with the aim of eliminating the threat he and his followers posed to the Albany region. Schuyler accomplished his task. Johnson’s supporters and followers were disarmed and Johnson promised to maintain neutrality. However, the local patriots remained suspicious of his motives.
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| Fellow New York aristocrat led efforts against Johnson |
A King's Commission
Tensions mounted and suspicions grew over the next several months. Fearing arrest, Johnson fled with his family and supporters to Quebec in May 1776. Johnson then offered his services to the Governor-General of Canada, Guy Carleton. Carleton commissioned him a lieutenant-colonel of a newly formed unit, the King’s Royal Regiment. Johnson was ordered to leverage his connections to the Indians to keep them neutral.
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| Soldier of the King's Royal Regiment |
A Failed Campaign
In the summer of 1777, Johnson accompanied Lieutenant-Colonel Barry St. Leger on his expedition up the Mohawk River. This was part of a three-pronged attack on Albany to control the New York waterways and divide the colonies. Johnson’s men and Indian confederates assisted Saint Leger in the siege of Fort Stanwix (today’s Rome, NY). Saint-Leger got wind of a relief column marching west to relieve the siege. This force of patriot militia force was led by Colonel Nicholas Herkimer. Johnson’s Indian allies found the perfect ambush spot near Oriskany and on 6 August a combined Indian –Loyalist force defeated Herkimer, who was mortally wounded.
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| The Battle of Oriskany |
But when word of another relief column, this time led by Benedict Arnold reached them, Saint Lager’s forces retreated back to Canada and Johnson went with him. In no small irony, the man who eschewed replacing his father as Indian Superintendent wound up devoting much of his time handling Indian affairs for the British as many hundreds had fled their lands to avoid the ravages of the American settlers.
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| The failed siege of Fort Stanwix was a foretaste of the failed British strategy to split the colonies |
Guerilla Warrior
But Johnson also found time to wage an on and off again guerrilla war in central New York. Over the next three years, he became infamous in the Mohawk Valley region for his raids of combined Loyalist and Indian forces. Johnson often teamed with Loyalist Colonel John Butler and Loyalist Iroquois Chief Joseph Brant. This dream team of crown supporting badasses raised havoc.
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| Chief Joseph Brant was a key ally of Johnson and tireless fighter for the Iroquois and the crown |
Perhaps his greatest success came in 1780 when Johnson’s strike force pillaged and burned settlements at Schoharie, Caughnawaga, and Fort Hunter. He even managed to retake his homestead, Johnson Hall. Johnson’s guerrilla actions caused great economic hardship and depleted the morale of the American settlers in the region. But overall they failed to influence the war to any great extent.
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| Johnson's Raid was his major operation but in the end, the mix of Loyalists and Iroquois could not hold central New York |
Superintendent General
In 1782 Governor-General Frederick Haldimand appointed Johnson brigadier-general on the American establishment and, by a commission dated 14 March 1782, named him Superintendent General and Inspector General of the Six Nations Indians and those in the Province of Quebec. In taking this appointment he replaced his cousin Guy Johnson, who was removed for fiscal irregularities. This was no easy job. The war was ending badly, and not just for the Loyalists who were driven to Canada. Johnson had to explain to the disgruntled Iroquois that much of their land was being turned over to the Americans.
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| Johnson would not receive the one appointment he wanted in later life |
A Canadian Founder
After the war, Johnson traveled back to England as so many Loyalists did to make claims for compensation to the crown. Upon his return to Canada, he was a leader in resettling Loyalists and Indians at Cataraqui (today’s Kingston, ON). He did outstanding work for the refugees to the point where he thought he would get the first appointment as governor-general of the new province of Upper Canada. When the appointment went to that other Loyalist badass, John Graves Simcoe, Johnson was devastated.
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| Loyalist leader John Graves Simcoe would receive the appointment Johnson hoped for |
After spending a few more years in England, Johnson settled in Quebec, gaining an appointment to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada. He became prominent among the United Empire Loyalists and a defender of Indian rights.
A Last Tribute
Sir John Johnson died in Montreal on 4 January 1830. Johnson is considered one of the founding fathers of Canada. He had a military funeral, which was attended by throngs of friends, relatives, acquaintances, and admirers. In addition, more than 300 Indians attended and Chief Joseph Brant gave the eulogy. At the ceremony, Brant referred to him as the Indians’ “friend and fellow warrior.” Sir John's body was then taken to Mount Johnson for burial.
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| Sir John was interred in a family vault at Mount Johnson |
