William Hicks Jackson

JACKSON, William Hicks, soldier and capitalist, was born at Paris, Tenn., Oct. 1, 1835, son of Dr. Alexander and Mary W. (Hurt) Jackson. His parents early removed from Halifax county, Va., to Paris, and thence to Jackson, Tenn. They belonged to the best stock of Virginia, and bequeathed to their sons, Howell Edmunds and William Hicks, the high qualities which made them both eminent men. Descended from such ancestors and trained by such parents, William Hicks Jackson displayed in early life the strong impulses, and acquired the complete self-control, which have so distinguished his manhood. His preparatory education was received in the best schools of Jackson, and at West Tennessee College, where he evinced strong intellectual powers. He gained reputation among his schoolmates as the stout defender of the weak against the strong. In 1852 he was appointed a cadet to West Point. Although hard study and severe regulations were irksome to his fiery spirit, he was guided by his firm resolve to gratify the wishes of his father, and was graduated in 1856 with credit to himself. In his career at West Point he displayed the same traits that marked his boyhood, and was recognized as a leader among his comrades. After the usual furlough and some mouths spent at the barracks at Carlisle, Pa., he was sent, in 1857, to Fort Union, New Mexico, where, as an officer in the regiment of mounted rifles, he took an active part in the principal Indian fights in that territory with such men as Kit Carson, La Rue, and others as his guides. The adventurous character of this service was well suited to the bold and ardent temperament of tile young soldier. He was frequently complimented in orders from headquarters of both department and army for his gallantry and good judgment. Although not an advocate of secession, his intense loyalty to his native state induced him, when the first shot was tired in the civil war, to resign his commission in the U. S. regular army, and to offer his services to the Confederate States. After an adventurous journey in running the blockade at Galveston, he finally arrived in Tennessee, was appointed a captain of artillery by Gov. Harris, and summoned before the state military board at Nashville, which retained him two weeks in consultation on the subject of the equipment of cavalry and artillery. He then reported to Gen. Pillow at Memphis, and served on his staff in the campaigns of Missouri and Kentucky. He was assigned to the duty of organizing a light battery at Columbus, Ky., with which he reported to Gen. Pillow. On Nov. 7, 1861, followed the battle of Belmont, in which he performed the exploit of conducting three regiments of infantry to the rear of Grant's army, routing it until securing a Confederate triumph. For this service he was promoted to the rank of colonel. In this battle his horse was shot under him, and he received a minie-ball in the right side, which, inflicting a wound at the time supposed to be fatal, has never been extracted. He was placed by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in command of all the cavalry in western Tennessee, and was engaged in many severe minor battles there and in northern Mississippi. He led the brilliant dash on Holly Springs, Miss., Dec. 20, 1862, that resulted in the capture of 1,800 infantry, many cavalry, millions of dollars' worth of stores, and Gen. Grant's private papers. The loss of this secondary base of supplies compelled Gen. Grant to abandon his campaign by land against Vicksburg, caused him to return to Memphis and organize his river campaign. This brilliant service gained him promotion to the rank of brigadier-general, and the unique distinction of being mentioned in Gen. Grant's “Memoirs” as the only man who came near capturing him. Gen. Jackson was next assigned to the command of the second division of cavalry under Gen. Van Dorn, in Tennessee, the first division being commanded by Gen. Forrest, and soon after participated in the battle of Thompson's Station, which resulted in the capture of Col. Coburn's Federal brigade of 1.600 infantry. In the autumn, at the request of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, Gen. Jackson joined him at Canton, Miss., and commanded the cavalry of his army in the movement for the relief of Vicksburg. Later, at Johnston's request, he was transferred with him to the army of Tennessee, and during the Georgia campaign commanded the cavalry on the left wing. Among the gallant exploits during this period were the defeat of Kilpatrick at Lovejoy Station, and in connection with Gen. Wheeler, the capture at Newnan, Ga., of 1,500 Federal cavalrv. Gen. Jackson was selected by Gen. Hood to join him in the invasion of Tennessee. His division led the advance in pursuing Gen. Schofield's retreating forces, held them at bay for an entire night at Spring Hill, participated in the battle of Franklin, Nov. 30, 1864, and led the Confederate advance to a point only a few miles from the fortified city of Nashville. At Murfreesboro, Jackson defeated the Federals and drove them back to their intrenchments, and after the battle of Nashville, his division covered the retreat of Hood's army. He was now placed in command of Forrest's cavalry troop, and the Texas brigade, and was recommended for promotion by Gens. Dick Taylor, N. B. Forrest, Joseph E. Johnston, and previously by Polk and Hardee; but having incurred the displeasure of Pres. Davis on account of arresting a friend of the president's brother, Joseph, he failed to receive the promotion. Gen. Jackson next served in the Alabama campaign, defeating Gens. Croxton and McCook, and arrived at Marion Junction, where he learned of Forrest's defeat at Selma. Then came the final surrender at Gainesville, Ala., May 9, 1865. Gen. Jackson performed his last military service as Confederate commissioner in association with Gen. Dennis, Federal commissioner, for the parole of the troops at Gainesville and other points. Returning to his home at Jackson, Tenn., the retired soldier entered upon his peaceful career as a cotton planter. On Dec 15, 1868, he was married to Selene, daughter of Gen. W. G. Harding, a highly accomplished and lovely woman. She died Dec. 18, 1892, leaving three children: Eunice, wife of Albert D. Marks, a son of ex-Gov. Marks, and a prominent attorney of Nashville; Selene Harding, wife of William R. Elliston, and William Harding Jackson, who succeeds his father in the management of “Belle Meade,” and gives promise of emulating his father's usefulness. At the request of Gen. Harding, Gen. Jackson became his assistant in the management of the vast stock farm, “Belle Meade,” comprising 5,500 acres, where he found opportunity not only to indulge the tastes so firmly implanted in him as a boy on his father's plantation, but also to devote his mind to the development of scientific agriculture. He was the projector and moving spirit of the agricultural journal known as the “Rural Sun,” which was long the most popular agricultural publication in the South. He was president of the company with Col. J. B. Killebrew as chief editor. In his own language, “Agricultural journals, like almanacs, should be calculated for the latitudes they are designed to serve. . . . My observation has taught me that many young men of the South, in their efforts to apply the teachings of the northern journals to the conditions of the South, have led them into disastrous errors.” Refusing the highest political offices which his fellow-citizens desired to thrust upon him. preferring rather to be the power behind the throne than the shadow upon it, he has proved his public spirit and shown the highest attributes of citizenship by devoting his energies to contributing to the material development of the country, and has accepted positions tending to promote the public welfare. He has been president of the state association of farmers; was organizer and for many years president of the national agricultural congress, and state bureau of agriculture of Tennessee. In the latter capacity he was influential in creating the office of state commissioner of agriculture, and in promoting the publication of that notable work, "The Resources of Tennessee," of which the secretary of the board, Col. J. B. Killebrew, was editor. This work has been published in many different languages and scattered abroad, and, according to leading authorities, was the most eminent agency in first attracting immigration to Tennessee. As president and fiscal agent of the state bureau of agriculture, no money could be spent without his signature. So well was this duty discharged, that the whole work of the department was completed, including the publication of the “Resources of Tennessee” (1874), at a total cost of $13,500, leaving $6,500 out of an appropriation of $20,000 to be returned to the state treasury. In recognition of this distinguished service and economical expenditure, he was complimented by a vote of thanks by the general assembly of Tennessee. In addition to his work as an agriculturist, Gen. Jackson has been an active promoter of various public enterprises: as president of the Safe Deposit Trust Co., of Nashville, of the Nashville Gas Light Co., and of the Nashville street railway, which he took over when in the hands of a receiver in a disordered condition, and reorganized and rehabilitated, financially and materially. In no instance has his genius been more conspicuously displayed than in the perfection of the great “Belle Meade,” celebrated in poetry and song, which experts from England pronounce to be the best managed and most complete stock farm in the world. It is the home of Iroquois, the most famous race-horse, and now one of the most valuable stallions in the world, who won on the English turf an unequaled triumph. Here are also Luke Blackburn (imp.), Great Tom, Tremont, Loyalist (imp.), Clarendon, and other “kings of the turf”; as well as extensive herds of thoroughbred Jersey cattle, Shetland ponies, and the finest deer park in America. “Belle Meade” is a typical southern home, the frequent scene of true southern hospitality, and here Gen. Jackson has entertained Pres. and Mrs. Cleveland, cabinet officers, statesmen, authors, poets, and many foreigners, including members of the nobility from different countries. In many other ways, also, he has contributed to the material prosperity, and stimulated the progress, of his native state. He has erected at Nashville the finest office and apartment building in Tennessee, a model of architecture. He was a moving spirit in promoting the great Tennessee Centennial exposition of 1896-97, and declining the presidency served as chairman of its executive committee. Since the close of the war he has been the advocate of sectional conciliation, and has exerted his powerful influence at all times and at all places, but especially in the Confederate Veteran Association, in which he has long held high rank. By promoting such public enterprises and exerting an influence so salutary and potent, Gen. Jackson furnishes an illustrious example of the private citizen of public spirit who, declining political office, “does more than armies for the commonweal.” The well-known author and scientist, Col. J. B. Killebrew, who has known him over a quarter of a century, has well said: “Gen. Jackson is a strong man, mentally, physically and morally. He never does anything by halves. He never rests as long as there is an improvement to be made. Whatever he puts his hands on, prospers. He has an intuitive knowledge of men, and therefore his agents are always the best for accomplishing the purposes for which he selects them. In the organization and conduct of the many large enterprises with which his name is associated, he has acquired the habits of thought peculiar to all successful men. He goes directly to the point, and he has all the precision of a martinet, with the power of a conqueror. Broad, but accurate; diligent, but deliberate; patient, but prompt; kind, but firm; fearing no weight of responsibility, yet not careless of it, he always meets and overcomes difficulties.”

SOURCE: The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 9, p. 212-3