Near Nicholasville in Jessamine County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)
Fort Jackson
Courtesy of Thomas P. Martin, February 4, 2019
1. Fort Jackson Marker
Inscription.
Fort Jackson. .
Defending Camp Nelson. Designed to hold the middle of Camp Nelson's northern line, Fort Jackson is 280 feet deep and 300 feet wide with breastworks ten feet high. It is a lunette , a four-sided, unenclosed fort. It is one of three forts on the northern line that mounted artillery. Although it had 13 gun platforms, it never mounted more than seven guns: six 12-pounder Napoleon cannons and one 30-pounder Parrott. The fort also had a powder magazine.,
A Nearly Impenetrable Fortification. Fort Jackson was braced, or revetted, on the inside wall by wooden planks. Bundles of sticks called facines braced the inside of the embrasures. Bedrock made it impossible to dig the ditch in front of the fort as deep as regulations specified. To compensate, engineers made the ditch wider and placed a barrier of felled trees in it. Made of cedar and thorn-locust trees, the barrier, called an abatis, was nearly impenetrable.,
Named for General James S. Jackson. Kentuckian James Streshly Jackson gave up his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to raise the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry (U.S.). Born September 27, 1823, in Fayette County, he attended Centre College in Danville and studied law at Transylvania University in Lexington. After serving in the Mexican War he returned to his law practice and entered politics. In 1861, he ran as a Unionist and won a seat in Congress. When the war began he resigned to serve in the Union Army. In July 1862, Jackson earned the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. He died at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862, as he tried to rally his men. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.,
“Fort Jackson is comparatively low, as a line from Nelson to Taylor passes about 15 feet above its crest. This allows Forts Nelson and Taylor to fire over it with safety in protecting each other. The guns on its faces protect the ground to the front while those on the flanks enfilade the abatis line from Fort Nelson to Battery Pope.” , Chief Engineer John R. Gilliss, September 15, 1864
Caption: Fort Jackson would have looked much like Federal Fort No. 9 outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
Defending Camp Nelson
Designed to hold the middle of Camp Nelson's northern line, Fort Jackson is 280 feet deep and 300 feet wide with breastworks ten feet high. It is a lunette — a four-sided, unenclosed fort. It is one of three forts on the northern line that mounted artillery. Although it had 13 gun platforms, it never mounted more than seven guns: six 12-pounder Napoleon cannons and one 30-pounder Parrott. The fort also had a powder magazine.
A Nearly Impenetrable Fortification
Fort Jackson was braced, or revetted, on the inside wall by wooden planks. Bundles of sticks called facines braced the inside of the embrasures. Bedrock made it impossible to dig the ditch in front of the fort as deep as regulations specified. To compensate, engineers made the ditch wider and placed a barrier of felled trees in it. Made of cedar and thorn-locust trees, the barrier, called an abatis, was nearly impenetrable.
Named for General James S. Jackson
Kentuckian James Streshly Jackson gave up his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to raise the 3rd Kentucky Cavalry (U.S.). Born September 27, 1823, in Fayette County, he attended Centre College in Danville and studied law at Transylvania University in
Lexington. After
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serving in the Mexican War he returned to his law practice and entered politics. In 1861, he ran as a Unionist and won a seat in Congress. When the war began
he resigned to serve in the Union Army. In July 1862, Jackson earned the rank of brigadier general of volunteers. He died at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, on October 8, 1862, as he tried to rally his men. He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
“Fort Jackson is comparatively low, as a line from Nelson to Taylor passes about 15 feet above its crest. This allows Forts Nelson and Taylor to fire over it with safety in protecting each other. The guns on its faces protect the ground to the front
while those on the flanks enfilade the abatis line from Fort Nelson to Battery Pope.” — Chief Engineer John R. Gilliss, September 15, 1864
Caption: Fort Jackson would have looked much like Federal Fort No. 9 outside of
Atlanta, Georgia.
Erected by Kentucky's Civil War Heritage Trail, Civil War Discovery Trail and National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
37° 47.913′ N, 84° 35.907′ W. Marker is near Nicholasville, Kentucky, in Jessamine County. Marker can be reached from Danville Road Loop 2, 0.4 miles south of Fitch Road. Marker is on Fort Trail in Camp Nelson National Monument. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6614 Danville Road Loop 2, Nicholasville KY 40356, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Courtesy of Thomas and Helen Martin, February 4, 2019
3. Fort Jackson Marker Detail
Public domain
4. Brig. Gen. James S. Jackson
Credits. This page was last revised on April 28, 2021. It was originally submitted on April 24, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 289 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 24, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
