Harry H. Johnson

Harry Hubbard Johnson (11 April 1895 – 6 August 1987) was a United States army officer with the rank of Major General, who commanded 2nd Cavalry Division and 93rd Infantry Division during World War II.

He was born in Glenflora, Texas, six miles from his later hometown of Eagle Lake, Texas. He was the only son of Harry Stafford Johnson (September 17, 1873 Columbus, Texas - April 21, 1956 Eagle Lake, Texas) and Annie Bell Hubbard (Oct 14, 1873 Sealy, Texas - December 24, 1908 Eagle Lake, Texas).

His mother Annie died in 1908 when he was 13. His father later married Mamie Eggar (January 28, 1891 Corpus Christie, Texas - January 2, 1962 Runge, Texas) on January 28, 1912. They had three children: Robert Ellen Johnson (1913 - October, 1916), Frank Marshall Johnson (February 15, 1915 - January 31, 1976), and Richard Wayne Johnson (November 11, 1917 - November 1, 1919).

He attended Texas A&M College to study agriculture, but transferred to Tyler Community College after 2 years. He later graduated from Tyler with a degree in accounting in May, 1916. He attended the Officer Training Course at Leon Springs, Texas in May, 1917 and was assigned to the Aviation Ground School in Austin, Texas. When the call went out for recruits to fight in Europe, Johnson dropped out of flight school and enlisted in the Texas National Guard in August 10, 1917.

Johnson was sent to Camp Bowie in Fort Worth, Texas on August 23, 1917, where he was made a Sergeant on September 7, 1917 with Company E, 141st Infantry, 36th Division. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant on December 2, 1917 and commissioned on December 28, 1917. He was transferred to Camp Bullis and was promoted to First Lieutenant on June 11, 1918.

Johnson served with the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division in France. He left France on August 23, 1919 on board the transport USS Marcia and arrived at Brooklyn, New York on September 2, 1919. He was Honorably Discharged on 16 October 1919 but failed to get a commission in the Officer's Reserve Corps.

On August 9, 1920 he was commissioned in the Texas National Guard as a first lieutenant in the 3rd Texas Cavalry. He also had a job as a commissary foreman for the Gulf Production company. In January 1921 he was promoted to Captain in the 56th Cavalry Brigade, Texas National Guard and worked as an oil salesman for Gulf. He also enlisted as A Texas Special Ranger in 1930 for one year see https://tslarc.tsl.texas.gov/service/SR/j/jo/joh10852.pdf

From 1929 to 1940 he served with the 124th Cavalry Regiment. In October 1941 he was given command of the 112th Cavalry Regiment.

In 1941 - 1942 he commanded the 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments, 2nd Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. In 1942 - 1943 he commanded the 56th Cavalry Brigade. In 1943 he was promoted to Brigadier General. In 1944 he was promoted to Major General and made commander of the all-black 2nd Cavalry Division, which was dismounted and performed various service and support functions in the North African Campaign from February, 1943 to May, 1944. On June 5, 1944, he was appointed by President Roosevelt as the Military Governor of Rome. From August 1944 to September 1945 he was made commander of the all-black 93rd Infantry Division which performed service and support tasks in the New Guinea-Philippines Campaign.

Johnson worked as an executive for the Gulf Oil company after the war while remaining in the Army Reserve.

He served as Director of the Hoof and Mouth Commission in the Republic of Mexico from 1946?-1951?. The joint Mexico-U.S. commission produced 5,500,000 doses of vaccine and vaccinated over 3,500,000 animals in August, 1949.

Johnson retired from the Army Reserve in 1958.

Harry H. Johnson died on 6 Aug 1987 in Kerrville, Texas. He was buried on 11 Aug 1987 in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.

Johnson married Rose Mathilda "Mimi" Morisseau (11 Nov 1894 - 2 Feb 1977) in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas on 5 Jun 1923. They had four children:

1. Rosemary Virginia Johnson (8 Feb 1925 Fort Worth, Texas - 31 Jan 1997 Houston, Texas). She was buried in Davis-Greenlawn Cemeteries in Richmond, Texas.
2. Harry Hubbard Johnson Jr. (11 Nov 1927 Eastland, Texas - 12 Nov 1981 San Antonio, Texas) Major, US Army. He was buried on November 16, 1981 in Fort Sam Houston Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.
3. Jacob Pyron Johnson (12 May 1931 Midland, Texas Died September 8, 2006, at age 75 Buried Texas State Cemetery
4. Richard Stafford Johnson (20 June 1933 Midland, Texas - 8 Feb 1999 San Antonio, Texas) Lieutenant-Colonel, US Army. He was buried on February 8, 1999 in Fort Sam Houston Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.