George W . Johnson ( governor ) George Washington Johnson ( May 27 , 1811April 8 , 1862 ) was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky . A lawyer - turned - farmer from Scott County , Kentucky , Johnson favored secession as a means of preventing the Civil War , believing the Union and Confederacy would be forces of equal strength , each too wary to attack the other . As political sentiment in the Commonwealth took a decidedly Union turn following the elections of 1861 , Johnson was instrumental in organizing a sovereignty convention in Russellville , Kentucky with the intent of " severing forever our connection with the Federal Government . " The convention created a Confederate shadow government for the Commonwealth , and Johnson was elected its governor . Despite his meager political experience — having previously served only three years in the Kentucky House of Representatives — Johnson labored vehemently to ensure the success of the shadow government . Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10 , 1861 , but the shadow government ' s influence in the Commonwealth extended only as far as the Confederate Army advanced . When Albert Sidney Johnston abandoned the Confederate capital of Bowling Green , Governor Johnson and the other government officials accompanied him . Despite his advanced age and a crippled arm , Johnson volunteered for military service in General Johnston ' s army . Johnson was killed at the Battle of Shiloh , making him the only state governor , Union or Confederate , to fall in battle during the Civil War . He was succeeded by Richard Hawes , the second and last governor of Confederate Kentucky . Early life and career . George Washington Johnson was born on May 27 , 1811 near Georgetown in Scott County , Kentucky , the son of major William and Betsy Payne Johnson . Major Johnson died soon after the close of the War of 1812 , in which he was a participant , and George Johnson was reared in the home of his stepfather , John Allen . Johnson received three degrees from Transylvania University : an A . B . in 1829 , an LL . B . in 1832 , and an Master of Arts in 1833 . On August 20 , 1833 , he married Ann Eliza Viley , daughter of Captain Willa and Lydia Smith Viley . The couple had ten children , seven of whom lived to adulthood . Johnson briefly practiced law in Georgetown , but decided he preferred farming . He owned a farm near Georgetown , as well as a plantation in Arkansas . In 1838 , Johnson was elected as a Democrat to the Kentucky House of Representatives . He was offered the nominations for lieutenant governor and U . S . Congressman , but declined them both . In August 1845 , Johnson headed the Committee of Sixty that seized abolitionist Cassius M . Clay ' s printing press and shipped it to Cincinnati , Ohio . Civil War . Although he supported John C . Breckinridge for president in 1860 , he did not feel that Abraham Lincoln ' s election justified secession , since Republicans controlled neither Congress nor the Supreme Court . As the Confederate States of America were formed , however , Johnson began to lose hope for Kentucky as a part of the Union . Instead , he began to advocate that Kentucky join the Confederacy , believing that the Union and Confederate nations would be too evenly matched to consider war and would negotiate a free trade agreement that would benefit both . In 1861 , Johnson traveled to Richmond , Virginia to ask Jefferson Davis to respect Kentucky ' s neutrality in the Civil War . Following a near sweep of Kentucky ' s state and federal elections by Union sympathizers , William " Bull " Nelson established Camp Dick Robinson , a Union recruiting camp , in Garrard County . Southern sympathizers saw this as a breach of the Commonwealth ' s neutrality , and called a State Rights Convention on September 10 , 1861 . Johnson was among the delegates from seventy Kentucky counties who attended the convention . The delegates elected Richard Hawes as chair , called for a restoration of Kentucky ' s neutrality in the war , and condemned the Federal government for its " invasion . " This last - minute effort to prevent Kentucky from aiding the Union was unsuccessful , and Johnson , a known Southern sympathizer , fled to Virginia with Breckinridge and others to avoid potential arrest by Union forces . From Virginia , Johnson traveled through Tennessee to Bowling Green where , despite his age ( 49 ) and a crippled arm , he volunteered as an aid to General Simon B . Buckner . Russellville Convention . On October 29 , 1861 , a group of Kentuckians — Johnson among them — met at Russellville , Kentucky to discuss the formation of a Confederate government for the Commonwealth , believing the Unionist government in Frankfort did not represent the will of the majority of Kentucky ' s citizens . Johnson chaired the committee that authored the convention ' s final report , and personally introduced some of its key resolutions . The report called for a sovereignty convention to sever ties with the Federal government . Johnson , Breckinridge , and Humphrey Marshall were among the notable members of the Committee of Ten that made arrangements for the convention . On November 18 , 1861 , 116 delegates representing 68 Kentucky counties convened at the Clark House in Russellville . Over the next three days , a shadow government was established with Bowling Green as its temporary capital . Johnson was unanimously chosen as governor of the new Confederate state . Confederate governor . On November 21 , 1861 , Johnson wrote Confederate president Jefferson Davis to request Kentucky ' s admission to the Confederacy . Though Davis had some reservation about the circumvention of the elected General Assembly in forming the Confederate government , he concluded that Johnson ' s request had merit . Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10 , 1861 . During the winter of 1861 , Johnson tried mightily to assert the legitimacy of the fledgling government , but to no avail . Its jurisdiction extended only as far as the area controlled by the Confederate Army . Johnson came woefully short of raising the 46 , 000 troops requested by the Confederate Congress in Richmond . Efforts to levy taxes and to compel citizens to turn over their guns to the government were similarly unsuccessful . On January 3 , 1862 , Johnson requested a sum of $ 3 million from the Confederate Congress to meet the provisional government ' s operating expenses . The Congress instead approved a sum of $ 2 million , the expenditure of which required approval of Secretary of War Judah P . Benjamin and President Davis . During his labors to sustain the provisional government , Johnson ' s lack of hearing from his family weighed heavily upon him . The only family member with whom he had contact was his son Madison ( " Matty " ) , who had joined John Hunt Morgan ' s cavalry . Johnson admired and respected Morgan , and was pleased that his son had chosen to serve under him . In 1862 , he requested by letter that his wife send their fifteen - year - old son Junius to serve in the Confederate Army . Despite Johnson ' s protestations that he would ensure his son ' s safety , his wife refused this request . It was Johnson ' s practice to avoid interference with military decisions , however he supported Morgan ' s request for two light artillery pieces that became hallmarks of his command . By contrast , he consistently opposed the command of General Lloyd Tilghman , trying repeatedly but unsuccessfully to have him removed . It is unclear how much military influence Johnson wielded in his position as governor , though he enjoyed a cordial relationship with most of the Confederate generals . Death at the Battle of Shiloh . When General Albert Sydney Johnston was forced to withdraw his troops from Bowling Green in February 1862 , the Confederate state government moved with his army to Tennessee . On April 6 , 1862 , General Johnston attacked the Union army at Shiloh , Tennessee . During this battle , Governor Johnson served as a volunteer aide to General Breckinridge and Colonel Robert P . Trabue . After his horse was killed out from under him , Johnson fought on foot with Company E of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry Regiment , and insisted on being sworn in as a private . He declared " I will take a good night ' s rest and be ready for the fight tomorrow . " The next day , Governor Johnson was seriously wounded in the right thigh and abdomen . He lay wounded on the battlefield until the next morning , when he was recognized by Union General Alexander McDowell McCook . Johnson and McCook had both attended the 1860 Democratic National Convention and were both Freemasons . Johnson was taken aboard the Union hospital ship " Hannibal " , where despite the ministrations of several physicians , he died on April 8 . Friends in the Union army , including General John M . Harlan , packed Johnson ' s body in salt and shipped it to Louisville , then on to Georgetown for burial .