Captain Johnson was an English sea captain from Whitehaven, England. According to John Simpson, Johnson formed a plan with an enslaved African American man named Merrick to encourage enslaved people within the vicinity of Bath, North Carolina to rebel and attack their enslavers. Johnson then promised to return to North Carolina in the fall when he, along with the African Americans who had rebelled, would reside in the plantations along the Tar River that enslavers had once occupied. The rebellion was not successful and Johnson, if he did return, did not take on a prominent role in any further conflict.