General Washington Johnston (November 10, 1776 – October 26, 1833) was born in Culpeper County, Virginia. General was his given name. At the age of 17, he was among the first people to permanently settle in the wildness area of the Northwest Territory (1787–1803), in what is now Vincennes, Indiana. He read law in Louisville, Kentucky. In February 1799, he became the first man in the territory admitted to the bar. Johnston served in the Territorial Legislature during the 1807 and 1808 sessions, and he fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.