Charles Johnson (Tennessee)
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Charles Johnson (February 19, 1830April 4, 1863) was the first-born son of 17th U.S. President
Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...
and his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson. He died at age 33 near
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, while his father was serving as military governor of Tennessee. Charles Johnson was remembered as his mother's favorite. She was said to have "never quite recovered" from her grief at his early death. Charles Johnson's death is sometimes mentioned as one of the causes for Eliza Johnson's self-isolation during the family's
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
years. He was noted for both his conviviality but also his "dissipation," and he is believed to have suffered from the same
alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...
that contributed to his brother
Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
's death in 1869.


Biography

Born 1830 in the family's Main Street house in
Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of American Revolutionary War, Revol ...
, Charles Johnson was the second-born of Andrew Johnson's five children with Eliza McCardle. Charles Johnson was working in Greeneville at age 20 as a printer at the time of the 1850 census. For about a year he was a partner in a newspaper called the ''Greeneville Spy'', and circa 1857 he co-owned a drugstore and worked as a druggist. Charles and his brother Robert also managed their father's business affairs and real estate when Andrew Johnson was away from Tennessee. At the time of the 1860 census, when he was 30, he was living in the family home, but his occupation was now listed as physician. But that same year, he also visited
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, for the
1860 Democratic National Convention The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The first convention, held from April 23 ...
and had "gotten on a spree" that had troubled the family, meaning that he had been drunk for the duration to the point that his brother had a hard time even getting him out of the city. In January 1861, as the nation was collapsing into civil war, Andrew Johnson's son
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
reported that Charles had gone on another "spree." Both Johnson brothers were delegates from Greene County at the May–June 1861 pro-Union
East Tennessee Convention The East Tennessee Convention was an assembly of Southern Unionist delegates primarily from East Tennessee that met on three occasions during the Civil War. The convention most notably declared the secessionist actions taken by the Tennessee sta ...
. When Tennessee went for the Confederacy, both
Southern Unionist In the United States, Southern Unionists were white Southerners living in the Confederate States of America and the Southern Border States opposed to secession. Many fought for the Union during the Civil War. These people are also referred t ...
Johnson sons were wanted men, their brother-in-law David T. Patterson was imprisoned, and their brother-in-law Daniel Stover, a leader of the East Tennessee bridge burners, would have been summarily executed by CSA troops had he been captured. According to the National Park Service, at some point early in the war Charles Johnson took the Confederate oath of allegiance, "apparently in an unsuccessful attempt to preserve family property." Andrew Johnson was made military governor of Tennessee by President Lincoln and the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
on March 5, 1862. Charles apparently traveled with him to the capital in the fall of 1862, where he enlisted in the federal army. He served as an assistant surgeon under Rudolph Knaffl in the
10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment The 10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Originally recruited and designated as the 1st Middle Tennessee Infantry, it was largely composed of Irish-Americans in the ...
of the U.S. Army, which was also known as the Middle Tennessee Infantry.


Death

Charles Johnson died at
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
after being thrown from a horse. As one bio put it, his death was "under circumstances that were never quite clear." Two news accounts stated that he was killed almost instantly due to a
traumatic head injury A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...
. Another account said he was on duty at camp in the suburbs of Nashville when the horse he was riding "became restive" and then reared and fell on top of him, which caused the fatal injuries, and that he lingered for a "few hours." According to a telling in 1869: An account published in 1891 stated, "Of the three bright, promising sons born to ndrew Johnsonall died victims of the same enemy that carried the illustrious father awaythe bottle. One of the young men was a dear fellow who I knew and loved well. One day during the war he was toppled from his horse on the streets of Nashville, Tenn. He was picked up with a broken skull." According to Paul Bergeron, a
University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...
historian and the last of three major editors of '' The Papers of Andrew Johnson'', "Charles...had been cursed for many years with a serious drinking problem. Many believed he was drunk on the day of his fatal accident." The family was notified by telegram from Tennessee Secretary of State Edward H. East. The only family member able to attend the April 7, 1863, funeral was Robert Johnson, and the funeral procession included part of his regiment, the 1st Tennessee Cavalry. According to the U.S. National Park Service, which operates the
Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the National Park Service. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, who became president afte ...
, Charles Johnson was originally buried at Mount Olivet in the Tennessee state capital. Charles Johnson does not appear by name in the Mount Olivet burial record for April 1863, but there is a "Mrs. Patterson" entry for Lot I on April 29, 1863, with no cause of death or age listed; this may be Charles Johnson's burial recorded under the name of older sister Martha Johnson Patterson, although she was said to be "across enemy lines in Greeneville." Charles Johnson was eventually reinterred in the family burial plot at
Andrew Johnson National Cemetery The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery on the grounds of the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee. Established in 1906, the cemetery was built around the resting place of Andrew John ...
, where he shares a grave marker with Robert Johnson.


See also

*
List of children of presidents of the United States The following people are children of List of presidents of the United States, U.S. presidents, including biological children, confirmed and alleged extramarital children, adopted or abducted children, stepchildren, and legal wards. Status of pate ...
* Andrew Johnson alcoholism debate


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Charles 1830 births 1863 deaths People from Greeneville, Tennessee Children of Andrew Johnson Union army surgeons Union military personnel killed in the American Civil War People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Southern Unionists in the American Civil War