To danger he was indifferent. It was Mrs. Johnson who paid the heavy price in suffering for his energetic service to the Union. When the little family was finally reunited in Nashville after two years of separation, it was a most eventful and happy day. The occasion was one of the few, if not the only one, where rumour credits Senator Johnson with exhibiting any emotion of joy. Mrs. Johnson’s strength, however, gave way, and disease fastened upon her so tenaciously that she was reduced to complete invalidism for the balance of her life. The Johnson element quickly formed themselves into a fighting unit for action, a procedure that was characterized by Jefferson Davis as the “rebellion of East Tennessee.” President Lincoln appointed Senator Johnson Military Governor of Tennessee on March 7, 1862, with the rank of Brigadier General, with full authority to do as seemed best to him to bring order out of the chaos in that state. Johnson inaugurated a rule of stringency and dictatorship that was long remembered. In the autumn of that year General Buell, chief in command, proposed to evacuate the city on the approach of the Confederate Army. Governor Johnson determined to prevent this and requested the President to remove General Buell, threatening to shoot the first man who talked of surrender. At this juncture, when the Governor was most alarmed over the impending disaster, he was visited by the fighting Parson of the Buckeye state, Reverend Granville Moody. A story often related of their meeting is as follows: “Mr. Johnson turned to Mr. Moody, exclaiming, ‘Moody, we are sold out. Buell is a traitor. He is going to evacuate the city, and in forty-eight hours we will be in the hands of the rebels.’ Presently, when calmer, he said, ‘Moody, can you pray?’ ‘That’s my business as a minister of the gospel,’ said the preacher. ‘Well, I wish you would pray,’ said Johnson. The two knelt down at their chairs, and as the prayer became more fervent, Johnson added his ‘Amen’ with true Methodist energy. Presently, he crawled over to the preacher and put his arms about him as he prayed, and when the prayer was over, Johnson said emphatically, ‘Moody, I feel better.’ A moment later he said, ‘Moody, I don’t want you to think I have become religious because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to say it, but I have never pretended to be religious, but, Moody, there is one thing I do believe: I believe in Almighty God, and I also believe in the Bible, and I say, I’ll be damned if Nashville shall be surrendered.’” Nashville was not surrendered. President Lincoln relieved General Buell. In his office of Brigadier General, Andrew Johnson raised and equipped twenty-five regiments for service in Tennessee, in which his sons and sons-in-law were all enrolled. This position was to his liking, and he reluctantly turned his face to Washington for the inauguration of March 4, 1865.