Virginia lawyer, politician, slaveholder and jurist
William Lowther Jackson
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In office
December 7, 1857 ? January 1, 1860
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Governor
| Henry A. Wise
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Preceded by
| Elisha W. McComas
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Succeeded by
| Robert Latane Montague
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In office
December 2, 1850 ? January 11, 1852
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Preceded by
| James Cook
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Succeeded by
| John J. Jackson Jr.
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In office
January 12, 1852 ? 1852
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Preceded by
| n/a
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Succeeded by
| Montgomery Bottom
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Born
| February 3, 1825
Clarksburg
, Virginia, U.S. (now
West Virginia
)
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Died
| March 26, 1890
(1890-03-26)
(aged 65)
Louisville, Kentucky
, U.S.
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Resting place
| Cave Hill Cemetery
, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
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Political party
| Democratic
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Spouse
| Sarah Elizabeth Jackson (
nee
Creel)
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Profession
| Attorney, judge, soldier
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Allegiance
| Confederate States
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Branch/service
| Confederate States Army
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Years of service
| 1861–1865
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Rank
| Brigadier General
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Commands
| 31st Virginia Infantry
19th Virginia Cavalry
W.L. Jackson's Cavalry Brigade
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Battles/wars
| American Civil War
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William Lowther Jackson Jr.
(February 3, 1825 ? March 26, 1890) was an American lawyer,
Democratic
politician, slaveholder and jurist who became the
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
prior to the
American Civil War
, and later fought in the
Confederate States Army
, rising from his initial rank of private to General.
Early life
[
edit
]
Paternal ancestry
[
edit
]
His great-grandparents, John Jackson (1715 or 1719 ? 1801) and Elizabeth Cummins (also known as Elizabeth Comings and Elizabeth Needles) (1723?1828) emigrated to America as indentured servants after criminal convictions for larceny which otherwise could have led to their execution. A Protestant (Ulster-Scottish) from
Coleraine
,
County Londonderry
, Ireland, John Jackson had moved to London, England, where he was convicted of the capital crime of larceny for stealing £170; the judge at the
Old Bailey
sentenced him to seven years of
indentured servitude in America
. His wife, Elizabeth, a strong, blonde woman over 6 feet (180 cm) tall, had been born in London, England and was also convicted of larceny in an unrelated case (for stealing 19 pieces of silver, jewelry, and fine lace) and received a similar sentence. They were among 150 convicts transported on the prison ship
Litchfield
, which departed London in May 1749. John and Elizabeth met on board and were in love by the time the ship arrived at
Annapolis, Maryland
. Although initially sent to different locations in Maryland for their indentures, the couple married in July 1755.
[1]
The family migrated west across the
Blue Ridge Mountains
to settle near
Moorefield, Virginia
(now
West Virginia
) in 1758. In 1770, they moved further west to the
Tygart Valley
. They began to acquire large parcels of virgin farming land near the present-day town of
Buckhannon
, including 3,000 acres (12 km
2
) in Elizabeth's name, although trans-Appalachian settlement had been prohibited by the peace treaty at the end of the
French and Indian War
. John and his two teenage sons became early recruits for the
American Revolutionary War
, fighting in the
Battle of Kings Mountain
on October 7, 1780. John finished the war as
captain
, then served as a
lieutenant
of the
Virginia militia
after 1787. While the men were in the Army, Elizabeth converted their home into "Jackson's Fort," to serve as a refuge against attacks by Native Americans seeking to enforce their treaty rights.
[2]
Elizabeth bore John eight children. Their eldest son,
George Jackson
(1757?1831), became a colonel in the
Virginia militia
during the
Revolutionary War
and later
Congressman
from Virginia. George and his wife, Elizabeth Brake (1757?1812), daughter of Jacob and Mary E. (nee Cooper) Brake, had three children; their youngest was William's father, William Lowther Jackson Sr. (1798?1836), who also served in the Virginia militia. A cousin through another brother would be
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
, who would like William Lowther Jackson Jr. fight for the Confederate States of America (and receive the nickname "Mudwall" as an allusion to their relation and determination, as discussed below).
Childhood and personal life
[
edit
]
Jackson was born on February 3, 1825, in
Clarksburg, Virginia
(now West Virginia). Studying law he was admitted to the Bar of Virginia in 1847.
[3]
Jackson married Sarah Elizabeth Creel on December 19, 1849, and together they had two or three children. Jackson was a big man, standing about six feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds. He had a shock of dark red hair and piercing blue eyes like those of his famous cousin, Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson. Mudwall Jackson was not known as an eloquent speaker, but as a forceful one.
[4]
Prewar career
[
edit
]
Jackson later became the
Commonwealth's Attorney
for
Harrison County
. Entering politics he was elected into the
Virginia House of Delegates
two times, first representing Wood, Wirt, Ritchie and Doddridge counties Dec. 2, 1850-until Western Virginia received more representation after adoption of a new Virginia Constitution in 1851 after a convention the previous year, then
Benjamin W. Jackson
represented
Doddridge
and
Tyler Counties
,
John Jay Jackson Jr.
represented
Wood County
and this William L. Jackson
Pleasants
and
Ritchie Counties
.
[5]
Jackson and other family members retained their extensive business interests in all the various counties, however. He also became Virginia's Second Auditor, as well as superintendent of the state library fund. In 1857, Jackson won his first statewide elective office, becoming Virginia's third
Lieutenant Governor
. In that capacity he served as President of the Virginia Senate from 1857 until 1860 (during the Assemblies of 1857?1859 and 1859?1861).
[6]
Robert L. Montague
succeeded him in January 1860. The legislative then made W.L. Jackson a circuit judge for the 19th district (in which he had long practiced).
[7]
Civil War
[
edit
]
When Virginia seceded from the Union, Jackson, a proponent of slavery, resigned from his position as judge and enlisted in the
Confederate States Army
as a Private. Recommended to General
Robert E. Lee
, he quickly became an officer, then Lieutenant Colonel of the
31st Virginia Infantry Regiment
. Assigned to the command of Gen.
Robert S. Garnett
, he participated in the
Western Virginia Campaign
and the battles of
Rich Mountain
and
Cheat Mountain
. In July 1861 he was promoted to rank of Colonel. In early 1862 he became a Volunteer
Aide-de-camp
to his cousin, Maj. Gen.
Thomas J. Jackson
; and participated in his campaigns during the year.
[8]
[9]
William's younger brother George, who was a graduate of
West Point
(Class of 1856), resigned from the U.S. Army, and also became a colonel in the Confederate Army.
In February 1863, as West Virginia's constitutional convention adopted a new constitution with the provision abolishing slavery demanded by the U.S. Congress (and which President Lincoln had signed into law on December 31, 1862), Confederate authorities authorized William Jackson to organize a mounted regiment for service behind enemy lines. He thus recruited the
19th Virginia Cavalry
, which immediately joined the
Jones-Imboden Raid
, first under command of
Albert G. Jenkins
, then under
John D. Imboden
. Jackson stayed in western Virginia, promoted to command a cavalry brigade. He fought at the
Bulltown
and confronted Union Gen.
George Crook
returning into West Virginia following Crook's victory at the
Battle of Cloyd's Mountain
. In 1864 Jackson joined CSA Lt. Gen.
Jubal Early
in the
Valley Campaigns
from May to October. He received his promotion to brigadier general on December 19, 1864.
[9]
On April 15, 1865, six days after Gen. Lee surrendered the
Army of Northern Virginia
at
Appomattox Court House
, Jackson disbanded his brigade. Refusing to surrender, however, he headed westwards, finally receiving a parole in
Brownsville, Texas
, on July 26, 1865.
[4]
Later life and death
[
edit
]
Temporarily emigrating to Mexico, Jackson returned to what was now
West Virginia
, then learned that the new state barred former Confederate officers from practicing law in the state. He then moved to
Louisville, Kentucky
, where he was allowed to resume his practice of law. Jackson became a circuit judge again and kept this position for his remaining life.
He died on March 26, 1890, of
Bright's disease
in Louisville; and was interred there on
Cave Hill Cemetery
.
[4]
Nickname controversy
[
edit
]
William L. Jackson is one of three Confederate generals associated with the nickname "Mudwall", a reference to the "Stonewall" nickname given to his cousin Thomas.
[10]
While William Jackson has been known as such for a long time, it was found by noted historian Garry W. Gallagher that the nickname was originally given to fellow Confederate General
Alfred E. Jackson
from Tennessee (no family relation). It seems the two were mixed up in the
Southern Historical Society Papers
in 1906 and the error was involuntarily repeated afterwards. Sometimes the name is even attributed to another (likewise not related) Confederate Brigadier,
John K. Jackson
. It is also possible that at times the name was attributed to several of the Jacksons simultaneously.
[11]
[12]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Robertson, 1997, pp. 1?2
- ^
Robertson, 1997, pp. 2?3.
- ^
Wickline, John.
"The Other Gen. Jackson: William Lowther 'Mudwall' Jackson"
.
Connect-Clarksburg
. Archived from
the original
on 8 November 2017
. Retrieved
16 August
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Wittenberg, Eric J.
"Brig. Gen. William L. "Mudwall" Jackson"
.
Rantings of a Civil War Historian
. Retrieved
16 August
2015
.
- ^
Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619-1978 (Virginia State Library, 1978) pp. 446, 450
- ^
Leonard pp. 467, 472
- ^
Evans, 2004, p. 131
- ^
Webb, Kerry.
"Jackson, William Lowther "Mudwall"
"
.
Confederate Generals - J
. Retrieved
16 August
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Eicher, 2001, p. 317
- ^
Will the Real "Mudwall" Please Stand Up? (pdf)
- ^
"You Know of " Old Stonewall " Meet " Old Mudwall " Jackson"
.
Civil War Talk
. Retrieved
16 August
2015
.
- ^
Walden, 1990
References
[
edit
]
- Eicher, John H., and
David J. Eicher
,
Civil War High Commands.
Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
ISBN
978-0-8047-3641-1
.
- Evans, Clement A.
, ed.
Confederate Military History: A Library of Confederate States History
. 12 vols. Atlanta: Confederate Publishing Company, 1899.
OCLC
833588
. Retrieved January 20, 2011. Volume 2. Johnson, B. T.; Maryland. White, Robert; West Virginia. Online version: Evans, Clement A. (Clement Anselm), 1833?1911. Confederate military history. Atlanta, Ga., Confederate Pub. Co., 1899. (OCoLC)560915765.
- Robertson, James I. Jr.
Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend
. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997.
ISBN
978-0-02-864685-5
.
- Sifakis, Stewart.
Who Was Who in the Civil War.
New York: Facts On File, 1988.
ISBN
978-0-8160-1055-4
.
- Walden, Geoffrey R. (1990). "Will the Real "Mudwall" Jackson Please Stand Up?".
Blue & Gray
VIII (#1).
- Warner, Ezra J.
Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders.
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959.
ISBN
978-0-8071-0823-9
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Hardway, Ronald V.;
On Our Own Soil: William Lowther Jackson and the Civil War in West Virginia's Mountains
; Quarrier Press, Charleston WV; October 3, 2003;
ISBN
978-1-891852-27-5
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Other
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