John Williams (January 29, 1778 – August 10, 1837) was an American lawyer, soldier, and statesman, operating primarily out of Knoxville, Tennessee, in the first part of the 19th century.

[3]: 36  Williams also served as colonel of the 39th U.S. Infantry Regiment during the Creek Wars, and played a key role in Jackson's victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814.

[1] In 1811, he led a mass meeting of Knox County citizens that condemned Archibald Roane for resigning from the state legislature to run for circuit court judge.

[3]: 12  In a letter published in a local newspaper, Williams blasted Roane as too selfish and too much of a drunkard to be a faithful judge.

[3]: 12 In December 1812, John Williams assembled 240 Tennessee mounted volunteers with 220 Georgia troops led by Rifleman Colonel Thomas Adams Smith to conduct a raid on the Seminoles who were reported to be allegedly planning attacks on Americans as allies of the British and Spanish.

John Williams and Thomas Adams Smith with their combined raiding force then withdrew back to friendly lines on February 24, 1813.

[5] [3]: 14 [6][3]: 16 "[3]: 16 [3]: 17 In June 1813, Williams was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a colonel, and ordered to recruit and organize the 39th U.S. Infantry for the purpose of engaging the hostile Red Stick Creeks.

In early 1814, Williams and the 39th were placed under the command of Andrew Jackson, who was preparing an expedition against the Red Sticks in Alabama.

[3]: 21–2 On March 27, Jackson attacked the Red Stick camp on the Tallapoosa River, initiating the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

[4] Following the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Williams went to Washington, D.C., to raise money for the 39th, and gradually acquired a sizable cache of weapons.

[3]: 36  Though Williams had the support of the influential Knoxville Register[7] and rising politician Davy Crockett,[8] he lost to Jackson by a margin of 35 votes to 25 at a contentious meeting of the state legislature on October 1, 1823.

[1] He rejected several invitations to run for Congress, stating he had no desire to go to Washington and serve at the "bow of the emperor," in reference to then-President Jackson.

[2] In 1816, Williams made plans to develop a subdivision, "Williamsburg," on what was then the outskirts of Knoxville (now part of the Downtown area).