By the fall of 1780, Samuel Johnson was a 23-year-old Wilkes County backwoods farmer. With little formal education he depended greatly upon a keen sense of "out door know how" rather than upon his unusual ability to read and write. These fiercely independent backwoods people had been little threatened by the northern war of the American Revolution, now five years long. Not yet married, Johnson was eager to volunteer for militia duty when the call for able-bodied men was made. Enlisting in Captain Benjamin Cleveland's Company of North Carolina Volunteers as a private in 1776, eventually promoted and awarded an officer's commission.

After many years of fighting to a stalemate in the northern colonies, England had changed military strategies and moved an army under the command of British General Charles Cornwallis into South Carolina. Within weeks Cornwallis' troops had overrun the entire state. It was this southern invasion that aroused the inhabitants of North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and western Virginia to gather a volunteer army to stop and eliminate the British threat in the south. Now four years later Colonel Benjamin Cleveland's crude minuteman unit, consisting mainly of about 400 Scot-Irish descendents was again mustered for service. Twenty three year old Captain Johnson from Wilkes County was one of those minuteman volunteers. Cleveland's little brigade marched to an area called Quaker Meadows near modern day Morganton, NC. Joining another force of over-mountain men hailing from valleys west of the Alleghenies, the combined strength of frontiersmen approximately 1,600 strong.

For several days in steady rain this militia group followed one of General Cornwallis' Loyalist Regiments numbering about 1,100 men until trapping them atop the crest of Kings Mountain, South Carolina. On October 7, 1780, about 3 o'clock in the after noon in a misty rain, this volunteer militia of over-mountain men formed in a horseshoe around the base of the mountain. As they began to close the noose of the encirclement, Loyalist pickets began to skirmish. At that moment, a coordinated assault was launched. From the crest in their defensive positions the Loyalist rained down volley after volley of fire, but the densely wooded sides of the mountain provided the attackers with cover. As the militia clawed their way near the summit of Kings Mountain, the Loyalists now facing possible destruction charged from their positions with fixed bayonets. Witnesses reported that Johnson "rushed his men forward into the most dangerous and exposed position." Amidst the chaos Johnson sustained a bullet wound through his abdomen and a number of bullet holes in the skirts of his coat. Wounded in action, Johnson continued to issue directions and shout encouragement to his men without regard to his own safety. Another eyewitness reported that Johnson's immediate reactions upon enemy contact resulted in the successful accomplishment of his mission but not before five of his men were killed in action. While the combat lasted approximately an hour, to one of the attackers, the mountain appeared, "volcanic; there flashed along its summit, and around its base, and up its sides, one long sulphurous blaze." The violent description of the attack to secure the summit of Kings Mountain could be summed up as a complete victory for the volunteer militia. This combined force of over-mountain men volunteers had slain 225 Loyalists, wounded 163, and taken 716 prisoners, with a loss to themselves of 28 killed and 62 wounded.

During Johnson's lifetime, he repeatedly said that the gun- shot wound to his body would have been fatal had it not been that for three days before the battle he had not eaten. Constantly on the move as they tracked the Loyalists to Kings Mountain, they did not stop to eat or rest. They consumed tack and water on the move. This deprivation resulted in the empty condition of his bowels and was therefore attributed to his escape from death and helped in a speedy recovery.

Johnson married Mary Hamon in Wilkes County on June 25, 1782. They settled on the headwaters of the Roaring River today's Traphill, Wilkes County, NC. They lived out their lives there and are buried on the old home place, now the Old Newt Johnson Cemetery. Samuel Johnson was 77 years old at his death. The Johnson's produced nine children, the youngest, Rachel Walker Johnson being my great-great-great Grandmother.

Various affidavits and testimonies on file in the Revolutionary War Pension files state, "Captain Johnson was known as a brave man, and most effective officer and soldier during the Revolutionary War. He was highly esteemed by the citizens of the country and entitled to distinguished consideration for his service."

Wanting to mark Johnson's grave with the SAR medallion, the Johnson family descendants realized the grave had too many previous markers including the original stone. Since the grave site is obscure from the highway, the family decided to place the new VA headstone just off the highway less than 100 yards from the original grave. Fortunately, one of the Johnson's owned the cemetery land so the new headstone was set by the side of the road for more exposure to the general public. Thus, Captain Samuel Johnson is seen daily as travelers pass by his headstone. The sacred memory of this local patriot lives on as young and old travel the Grissel Tail Road near Traphill , NC.

Joe E. Harris, Jr. is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel residing in Southern Pines, North Carolina. He is the current president of the North Carolina Society of SAR, and serves on various National Society committees. Both of his sons are also SAR members. Joe Harris can be reached at jharris8045@nc.rr.com.