Despite his meager political experience—having previously served only three years in the Kentucky House of Representatives—Johnson labored vehemently to ensure the success of the shadow government. Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, but the shadow government's influence in the Commonwealth extended only as far as the Confederate Army advanced. When Albert Sidney Johnston abandoned the Confederate capital of Bowling Green, Governor Johnson and the other government officials accompanied him. Despite his advanced age and a crippled arm, Johnson volunteered for military service in General Johnston's army. Johnson was killed at the Battle of Shiloh, making him the only state governor, Union or Confederate, to fall in battle during the Civil War. He was succeeded by Richard Hawes, the second and last governor of Confederate Kentucky.