STORIES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS

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Francis Johnson

" Francis Johnson was born in Pennsylvania in 1749. At the commencement of a conflict with mother Britain he was enjoying a lucrative practice at the bar. He well understood the merits of the high contending parties and enlisted under the banner of freedom. He commenced his military career with General Wayne with the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel in the first regiment raised by that brave officer. He shared with him all the fatigues and glory of the numerous expeditions and battles in which he was engaged up to the time General Wayne went south. He succeeded him in the command of the 5th Pennsylvania regiment. His services were ably and zealously rendered and highly appreciated. He ventured his life and spent his fortune for Liberty. After the close of the Revolution he was elected sheriff of the city and county of Philadelphia as a tribute of merit awarded by both political parties. No man could be more generally beloved, no one better deserved it. He died in Philadelphia on the 22d of February 1815."

Source: The Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson