Brigadier General William H. Jackson,
P.A.C.S.
Brigadier General William H. Jackson, one of the most prominent living [in
1899] soldiers of Tennessee, was born at Paris, Tenn., October 7, 1835.
At twenty-one years he was graduated at the United States military
academy (1856), and assigned as brevet second lieutenant to the mounted
riflemen. In December of the same y ear he was commissioned second
lieutenant while serving at the cavalry school for practice at Carlisle, Pa. he
was on frontier duty at Fort Bliss, Tex., 1857, and in December of that year
was engaged in a skirmish against the Kiowa Indians near Fort Craig, N.M.
In 1859 he was engaged in the scouting in the Navajo country, and took
part in the Comanche and Kiowa expedition of 1860. On May 16, 1861,
in obedience to the command of his State, he resigned his commission in
the United States army and entered the service of the Confederate States
as captain of artillery. In the battle of Belmont, November 7, 1861, he
acted as aide on the staff of General Pillow, and was seriously wounded
while executing that officer's orders. His name is flatteringly mentioned in
the reports of Generals Polk and Pillow and of Col. S. F. Marks, who, at the
request of Colonel Barrow, tendered the thanks of the Eleventh Louisiana
regiment to Capt. Wm. H. Jackson for valuable and gallant service rendered
them. This gallant young officer was in the field again early in 1862 as
colonel of the First Tennessee cavalry, winning compliments from his
superior officers in every affair in which he was engaged. His name is
mentioned in all the reports, and by his merit as chief of cavalry in
Pemberton's department he richly earned the commission of brigadier-
general, which was bestowed upon him December 29, 1862. He had acted
as chief of cavalry for Van Dorn and Price in the campaign which culminated
in the battle of Corinth. On the retreat from that disastrous field he had
well protected the rear of the Confederate army. He increased his already
high reputation throughout the Vicksburg campaign, and after its disastrous
close he was indefatigable in his labors and rendered invaluable assistance
to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. In the Meridian campaign of February, 1864,
Jackson commanded the cavalry of Polk's army, hanging upon the flanks
of the enemy and compelling his foragers to keep close to the main line.
During the Atlanta campaign, Jackson commanded the cavalry corps of the
army of the Mississippi, which participated in all the arduous labors and
many brilliant successes of the cavalry arm of the Confederate service.
When, after the brilliant cavalry victory at Newnan, Wheeler moved into the
rear of Sherman's army, Jackson's cavalry shared in the movements that
defeated Kilpatrick's raid against the Macon road. He led his division of
cavalry through the Nashville and Murfreesboro campaign, and then retiring
to Mississippi, was there, in February, 1865, assigned to command of all
Tennessee cavalry in Forrest's department, with other brigades, to form
Jackson's division, one of the two provided for in Forrest's reorganization.
His last military service was the cutting off of Croxton's brigade from the
main body of Wilson's expedition, April, 1865. Since the close of the war
General Jackson has engaged in stock raising, and is proprietor of the
celebrated Belle Meade stock farm near Nashville, Tenn.
Source: Evans, Clement, ed. Confederate Military History, Vol.
XII, Confederate Publishing Company, Atlanta, GA, 1899
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