John Alexander Johnston – Brigadier General, United States Army

John Alexander Johnston of Pennsylvania

Appointed from Pennsylvania, Cadet, United States Military Academy, 1 July 1875 (23);
Second Lieutenant, 8th United States cavalry, 13 June 1879
First Lieutenant, 20 January 1866
Captain, 3 January 1895
Major, Assistant Adjutant General, 19 May 1898
Lieutenant Colonel, Assistant Adjutant General, 21 February 1901
Brigadier General, 6 January 1903
Resigned 15 January 1903

Brigadier General John A. Johnston (1858 – 1940)
John Alexander Johnston
Born February 22, 1858 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Died in Washington D.C., January 5, 1940
Son of Alexander and Sarah Johnston
Married Henrietta V. Vandergrift 1888
Cadet U.S. Military Academy 1875-79
Graduated as No. 2782, Class of 1879
Frontier service in Texas 1879-82
Instructor (art of War and Engineering), Infantry-Cavalry School 1883-85
Frontier service in Texas 1885-87
Instructor (History, Law and Tactics) US. Military Academy 1887-91
Frontier service in South Dakota 1891-93
In Charge of Mounted Instruction, Cavalry Depot, Jefferson Barracks (Missouri) 1893-95
Frontier service in South Dakota 1895-97
Duty in Office of the Adjutant General of the Army, In Charge of Organization and Muster in and out of all Volunteer forces raised during Spanish-American War, 1898
In Charge of the Volunteers raised for the Philippines 1898-01
In Charge of Reorganizing of the General Recruiting Service for a regular Army of 100,000 men, and in Charge of the following divisions of the Adjutant General´s Office respectively, viz:
The Rolls, Enlisted, Recruiting and miscellaneous.
Organized President McKinley´s inaugural Parade, March 4, 1901
Accompanied the Adjutant General of the Army to and inspected Commands in the Philippine Island, returning via China and Japan in 1901.
Accompanied, as the guest of the Emperor of Germany, General´s Corbin, Young and Wood, to and prepared the Report of War Maneuvers of 1902.

Commissioned Brigadier General (National Army) August 5, 1917

Commander, Northeast Department September 1, 1917 – May 23, 1918
Commanding General, 68th Brigade, 34th Division at Camp Cody (NM) June 1 – July 4, 1918
Commanding General, 34th Division July 4 – November 18, 1918 (AEF)
At Advanced Center of Information, AEF November 20 – December 2, 1918
Commanding General, 153rd Depot Brigade, Camp Dix (NJ) January – February 5, 1919

Honorary mustered out, February 5, 1919

Civil History:

Trustee Estate of J. Jay Vandergrift (note that his wife were a Vandergrift).
Organized the Parade in dedication of Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis (MO), April 30, 1903. Organized as Chief of Staff, President Roosevelt´s Inaugural Parade, March 4, 1905 and that of President Taft, March 4, 1909. Appointed Commissioner of the District of Columbia for three years, by President Taft January 18, 1910 to June 30, 1913. Director and Chairman of Audit Committee, Washington Load and Trust Co. Director Columbian National Life Insurance Company of Boston. Director American Investment Securities Company, Maine.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard