The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army

Adam Johnson (1834-1922) came to Texas in 1854 where he engaged in surveying, stage driving and Indian fighting. In 1861 he returned to his native state of Kentucky and became a scout for Nathan Bedford Forrest and later commanded the 10th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment fighting with Forrest and John Hunt Morgan. One of his most remarkable feats was the capture of Newburg, Indiana, from a sizable Union garrison with only twelve men and two joints of stovepipe mounted on the running gear of an abandoned wagon. This episode won him a nickname of "Stovepipe." He was promoted to Brigadier General in June 1864 but in August 1864 was accidentally shot and blinded by one of his own men. After the war ended, Johnson returned to Texas and became a successful businessman. He founded Marble Falls, Texas, in 1887. His memoir, The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army, was first published in 1904 and was selected by John H. Jenkins III as one of the basic Texas books. One of Johnson's men, Thomas S. Miller, wrote this of Johnson: "Paladin of old was not more daring and heroic than this Southern knight on the field of battle. No man in the Southern army, no matter how high his rank, displayed more military skills. . . . He was literally the 'Swamp Fox' of Kentucky."