James Johnston (c. 1742 July 23, 1805) was an officer in the Tryon County Regiment and

Lincoln County Regiment The Lincoln County Regiment was a local militia in Lincoln County, North Carolina during the American Revolutionary. It was created by the North Carolina General Assembly of 1778 on February 8, 1779 at the same time that Lincoln County was created ...

s of the North Carolina militia in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, a delegate to the

North Carolina Provincial Congress The North Carolina Provincial Congresses were extra-legal unicameral legislative bodies formed in 1774 through 1776 by the people of the Province of North Carolina, independent of the British colonial government. There were five congresses. They ...

in 1776, and a state senator in 17801782.

Early life

Johnston was born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

about 1742. He was the son of Henry Johnston. He was married to Jane Ewart, the daughter of Robert Ewart. Before the Revolution, he purchased a large tract of land on the Catawba River in Tryon County, North Carolina. He built a home, called Oak Grove, there in 1782. A North Carolina highway marker shows the location where his home stood, which is now near Lucia in

Gaston County, North Carolina Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the C ...

Military service

James Johnston was a Captain in the Tryon County Regiment (1775-1779) and

(1779-1780) in the North Carolina militia. James first entered the service of his country, as a company captain in 1775 under Colonel William Graham. (Note: The Tryon County Regiment was disbanded on February 8, 1779 and split into the Lincoln County Regiment and Rutherford County Regiment. He was in many notable battles, including the

Battle of Great Cane Brake The Battle of Great Cane Brake was a skirmish fought on December 22, 1775, during the American Revolutionary War in what was then Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, modern Greenville County. Background With the coming of the American Revolutio ...

in South Carolina on December 22, 1775, the

Snow Campaign The Snow Campaign was one of the first major military operations of the American Revolutionary War in the southern colonies. An army of up to 3,000 Patriot militia under Colonel Richard Richardson marched against Loyalist recruiting centers in ...

in South Carolina from December 23 to 30, 1775, the

Cherokee Expedition The Cherokee Expedition, also known as Christie's Campaign, was a military offensive that occurred during the American Revolutionary War between American forces and Cherokee tribes allied to Great Britain. The British encouraged and facilitated Che ...

in western North Carolina from August to November 1776, and the

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...

in South Carolina on October 7, 1780. In the battle of Kings Mounty, he led the rear guard, as one of ten captains. This rear guard consisted of about 90 men, under his command. He was called into the battle within the first 20 minutes. He and his fellow captains had a complete victory over the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

forces. His militia units became part of the

Salisbury District Brigade The Salisbury District Brigade was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). This unit was established by the Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disban ...

on May 4, 1776. A 1877 publication by Hunter reports that James Johnston was promoted to colonel in the North Carolina militia. He was an aide to General

Griffith Rutherford Griffith Rutherford (c. 1721 – August 10, 1805) was an American military officer in the Revolutionary War, a political leader in North Carolina, and an important figure in the early history of the Southwest Territory and the state of Ten ...

and commanded a reserve unit at the

Battle of Ramseur's Mill The Battle of Ramsour's Mill took place on June 20, 1780 in present-day Lincolnton, North Carolina, during the British campaign to gain control of the southern colonies in the American Revolutionary War. The number of fighters on each side of th ...

Political career and home

He was chosen as a delegate to the

, which met on 4 April in 1776 in Halifax. He was a fellow delegate with Colonel Charles McLean, who also served in the Lincoln County Regiment. He was also a state senator from Lincoln County between 1780 and 1782 and reportedly acted as a disbursing agent for the Western Division of the army. He was also a representative at the Convention of 1788. He was a respected elder of his church

probably the Goshen Presbyterian Church, which was the oldest in the area where he lived. He died on July 23, 1805 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He was buried on his farm at Oak Grove.

References

* * , copied from C.L. Hunter {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, James (Colonel) Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses North Carolina state senators North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution People from Gaston County, North Carolina Scottish emigrants to the United States 1740s births 1805 deaths