Robert Johnson (governor)

Johnson ordered Colonel William Rhett to engage the notorious pirate Stede Bonnet's sloops in the Battle of Cape Fear River with the Charleston Militia on sea in 1718.

During his time as governor Johnson oversaw an innovative new approach to settling the South Carolina frontier with the hope of providing a buffer between Native Americans in the west and Charles Towne on the east coast.

Fitting out an expedition, he personally commanded a victorious engagement with them off the bar of Charleston, and carried on the campaign until they were exterminated and their famous leader Stede Bonnet was captured and executed.

[3] In 1719, when the proprietary government was overthrown, the revolutionary convention, of which Arthur Middleton was president, requested him to continue in office if he would agree to administer it in the name of the king, but Johnson declined to do so, asserting the rights of the proprietors to whom he owed allegiance.

His administration was marked by the issuance of several acts regarding the granting of land to new settlers, and by a protracted boundary dispute with North Carolina, the two colonies being for the first time constituted entirely separate provinces.