Person

Andrew Johnson

Not who you're looking for? Others named Andrew Johnson: President of the United States from 1865 to 1869 · member of the Michigan House of Representatives · American golfer · British actor

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Overview

Andrew W. Johnson (1833–1912) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863. Johnson joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862, and was discharged in February 1865. Union assault On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called, in nineteenth century vernacular, a "forlorn hope". Only single men were accepted as volunteers and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. The assault began in the early morning following a naval bombardment. The Union soldiers came under enemy fire immediately and were pinned down in the ditch they were to cross. Despite repeated attacks by the main Union body, the men of the forlorn hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. Of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Seventy-nine of the survivors were awarded the Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor citation “For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.”

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws.”
— Statement (1835), as quoted in Andrew Johnson, Plebeian and Patriot (1928) by Robert Watson Winston.
“I have lived among Negroes, all my life, and I am for this Government with slavery under the Constitution as it is. I am for the Government of my fathers with Negroes, I am for it without Negroes. Before I would see this Government destroyed, I would send every negro back to Africa, disintegrated and blotted out of space.”
— Speech in Indianapolis, Indiana (26 February 1863).
“I am a-goin' for to tell you here to-day; yes, I'm a-goin for to tell you all, that I'm a plebian! I glory in it; I am a plebian! The people — yes, the people of the United States have made me what I am; and I am a-goin' for to tell you here to-day — yes, to-day, in this place — that the people are everything.”
— First address as Vice-President, widely reported as having been delivered while he was inebriated. (5 March 1865).
“I have had a son killed, a son-in-law die during the last battle of Nashville, another son has thrown himself away, a second son-in-law is in no better condition, I think I have had sorrow enough without having my bank account examined by a Committee of Congress.”
— Letter to his friend Colonel William G. Moore, complaining of Congressional investigations.... (1 May 1867).
“Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests at least equally important and equally deserving the considerations of Congress.”
— Veto message to the House of Representatives (22 February 1869).
“Your President is now the Tribune of the people, and, thank God, I am, and intend to assert the power which the people have placed in me... Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one.”
— As quoted in Presidential Government in the United States: The Unwritten Constitution (1947) by Caleb Perry Patterson.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Not who you're looking for? Others named Andrew Johnson: President of the United States from 1865 to 1869 · member of the Michigan House of Representatives · American golfer · British actor

Notable quotes

“There are no good laws but such as repeal other laws.”
— Statement (1835), as quoted in Andrew Johnson, Plebeian and Patriot (1928) by Robert Watson Winston.
“I have lived among Negroes, all my life, and I am for this Government with slavery under the Constitution as it is. I am for the Government of my fathers with Negroes, I am for it without Negroes. Before I would see this Government destroyed, I would send every negro back to Africa, disintegrated and blotted out of space.”
— Speech in Indianapolis, Indiana (26 February 1863).
“I am a-goin' for to tell you here to-day; yes, I'm a-goin for to tell you all, that I'm a plebian! I glory in it; I am a plebian! The people — yes, the people of the United States have made me what I am; and I am a-goin' for to tell you here to-day — yes, to-day, in this place — that the people are everything.”
— First address as Vice-President, widely reported as having been delivered while he was inebriated. (5 March 1865).
“I have had a son killed, a son-in-law die during the last battle of Nashville, another son has thrown himself away, a second son-in-law is in no better condition, I think I have had sorrow enough without having my bank account examined by a Committee of Congress.”
— Letter to his friend Colonel William G. Moore, complaining of Congressional investigations.... (1 May 1867).
“Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests at least equally important and equally deserving the considerations of Congress.”
— Veto message to the House of Representatives (22 February 1869).
“Your President is now the Tribune of the people, and, thank God, I am, and intend to assert the power which the people have placed in me... Tyranny and despotism can be exercised by many, more rigorously, more vigorously, and more severely, than by one.”
— As quoted in Presidential Government in the United States: The Unwritten Constitution (1947) by Caleb Perry Patterson.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Overview

Andrew W. Johnson (1833–1912) was a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Siege of Vicksburg on May 22, 1863. Johnson joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862, and was discharged in February 1865. Union assault On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. The volunteers knew the odds were against survival and the mission was called, in nineteenth century vernacular, a "forlorn hope". Only single men were accepted as volunteers and even then, twice as many men as needed came forward and were turned away. The assault began in the early morning following a naval bombardment. The Union soldiers came under enemy fire immediately and were pinned down in the ditch they were to cross. Despite repeated attacks by the main Union body, the men of the forlorn hope were unable to retreat until nightfall. Of the 150 men in the storming party, nearly half were killed. Seventy-nine of the survivors were awarded the Medal of Honor. Medal of Honor citation “For gallantry in the charge of the volunteer storming party on 22 May 1863.”

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).