 Johnson pictured inThe Bomb 1904, VMI yearbook | |
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1883-04-19)April 19, 1883 Woodville, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | May 17, 1919(1919-05-17) (aged 36) nearCochem, Germany |
| Alma mater | Virginia Military Institute (1904) University of Virginia (1907) |
| Playing career | |
| Football | |
| 1901–1903 | VMI |
| 1904–1906 | Virginia |
| Position(s) | Halfback |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| Football | |
| 1907 | Virginia |
| 1908–1909 | Virginia (assistant) |
| Baseball | |
| 1908 | Georgia |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 6–3–1 (football) 20–2 (baseball) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| All-Southern (1904) | |
Edward Hammond Johnson[1] (April 19, 1883 – May 17, 1919) was anAmerican football player and coach of football andbaseball. He served as the head football coach at theUniversity of Virginia for one season in 1907, compiling a record of 6–3–1. Johnson was also the head baseball coach at theUniversity of Georgia for one season in 1908, tallying a mark of 20–2.
Johnson was a native ofWoodville, North Carolina.[2] He graduated from theVirginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1904 and theUniversity of Virginia School of Law. While inAthens, Georgia, on November 10, 1910, he married Anne Barrett Phinizy, daughter of Billups Phinizy and Nellie G. Stovall, and then went to Norfolk, Virginia to make his home. He practiced law in Norfolk until America enteredWorld War I.[3]
In 1917, Johnson returned to Athens to enlist in theUnited States Army and was sent to officer's training school atFort McPherson inAtlanta, where on August 15, 1917, he was commissioned a major. He saw service atCamp Gordon, near Atlanta,Camp Upton in New York, and inBoston, Massachusetts, before being ordered to France on May 1, 1918, as a battalion commander in328th Infantry, 164th Brigade,82nd Division,American Expeditionary Forces (AEF).[2]
During theMeuse-Argonne Offensive, Major Johnson was severely wounded, gassed, and he received a bad case of shell shock, which left him deaf in one ear. Released from the hospital after theArmistice, he was reassigned to Headquarters,112th Infantry,56th Brigade, 28th Division,IV Army Corps, AEF. While serving as assistant inspector general in the American Army of Occupation, based nearCochem, Germany, Johnson died ofapoplexy.[4][5]
Although he was immediately buried in Cochem, his body was later returned to the United States and he was re-interred inArlington National Cemetery. His marker has date of death as May 19, 1919, but this was the date of his original burial in Germany.[6]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Orange and Blue(South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association)(1907) | |||||||||
| 1907 | Virginia | 6–3–1 | |||||||
| Virginia: | 6–3–1 | ||||||||
| Total: | 6–3–1 | ||||||||