William Hicks Jackson

William Hicks Jackson. October 1, 1835 -March 30, 1903. Jackson's parents migrated from Virginia. He was born in Paris, Tennessee, but his parents moved to Jackson when he was five. He graduated from West Point in 1856 and served in the U.S, Army. His service was primarily in what is now New Mexico, protecting settlers from raids, often launched by the Kiowa tribe. Once he learned Tennessee would secede, he resigned his commission as a lieutenant., Jackson entered Confederate service as a captain of artillery. He was seriously wounded at Belmont, Missouri in 1861. Having recovered the following March, he was promoted to colonel in command of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry. By the end of 1862, he commanded a brigade of Tennessee and Mississippi cavalry. His brigade was one of three in Earl Van Dorn's great raid that destroyed a U.S. supply base at Holly Springs, Mississippi. Jackson's gallantry and leadership led to his promotion to brigadier general., Private John Milton (7th Tenn. Cavalry) wrote, “Jackson was a trained soldier, and constantly grew in favor with officers and men. If Jackson did not apparently have the dash of some other officers, his impression on the soldiers was of solidarity, good sense, and firmness. He must have had the implicit confidence of Van Dorn and Forrest. More could not be said of any soldier.”, Jackson's leadership was probably peaked during the 1864 Atlanta campaign. His cavalry division was generally on the left of the Army of Tennessee. Though the army held its lines in successive battles, the larger U.S. Army repeatedly marched to the army's left to outflank them. Jackson's Division accurately provided intelligence on those marches. In July the Ú.S. cavalry attempted to cut the railroads supplying the C.S. base at Atlanta. It was Jackson's information and plan that annihilated them at Brown's Mill., After independence was lost, Jackson became a civilian for the first time in his adult life. His father brought him to visit his friend William Harding, owner of Belle Meade Plantation. Jackson was fond of Harding's daughter Selene. She had attempted to rally the Confederates as they fell back across the lawn during the Battle of Nashville. Jackson was invited back to a Christmas party at the Belmont Mansion and fell in love with Selene. They were married two Decembers later. William Harding and Jackson turned Belle Meade intro a great thoroughbred farm. When Jackson died in 1903 his funeral was conducted by Rev. David C. Kelley (buried in Sect. 15), a former Confederate cavalry lieutenant colonel.