Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet

Common card · No. 290101

Major-General Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet (c. 1715 – 11 July 1774), was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. As a young man, Johnson moved to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, the Royal Navy officer Sir Peter Warren, which was located in territory of the Mohawk people, one of the six peoples of the Iroquois confederation. Johnson learned the Mohawk language and customs, and was appointed the British agent to the Iroquois. Johnson commanded Iroquois and colonial militia forces against the French and their allies during the French and Indian War. Commissioned as a major general in the British army, his role in the victory at the Battle of Lake George in 1755 earned him a baronetcy of New York. His capture of Fort Niagara from the French in 1759 brought him additional renown. Throughout his career as a British official among the Iroquois, Johnson combined personal business with official diplomacy, acquiring tens of thousands of acres...

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