Pvt. Amos Stevenson Johnston
6th Pa HA, Co. C

Amos Stevenson Johnston was born in the last week of February 1832 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and a husband when, in June 1863, Lee's Confederates invaded Pennsylvania. Johnston enlisted as a private in Company B of the 1st Battalion Pennsylvania Cavalry (also known as Dale's Independent Cavalry) to help repel the invasion. Though the Confederates were turned back at Gettysburg, the 31-year-old Johnston served out his six-month enlistment. He was not mustered out until two days after Christmas and probably had neither left Pennsylvania nor seen any Confederates during his service.

In August 1864, as enlistment bounties grew large, Johnston enlisted again, receiving $100 from the government. The 5' 10" framer with sandy hair and hazel eyes enrolled in Company G of the 6th PA Heavy Artillery for one year as a corporal. A month later he had been transferred to Company C and served with it at Fort Ward, Alexandria, VA. He remained a noncommissioned officer until the end of the year, however, for on January 1, 1865, he was reduced to private. Perhaps a New Year's Eve celebration led Johnston to behavior unbecoming a corporal. He had no more trouble at Fort Ward and quietly served out his time with the company at Fort Ethan Allen, Arlington, VA.

After the war, Johnston and his family moved to Chariton, Iowa. His wife died there in 1873, leaving Johnston with four children aged seven and under. He remarried, returned to Pennsylvania, purchased a 100-acre farm near Ligonier in the Laurel Highlands, and worked it for the rest of his life. He died there December 10, 1905 and was buried two days later on his farm.

Information was taken from the book, "The Men of Fort Ward, Defenders of Washington" written by William J. Miller. Published by The Friends of Fort Ward - 1989. Visit the Fort Ward Website at http://oha.ci.alexandria.va.us/fortward/