James Jackson (Medal of Honor)
Encyclopedia
James Jackson was an American
officer in the U.S. Army
during the mid-to late 19th century. He was a captain with the 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
during the American Civil War
and with the 1st U.S. Cavalry in the Indian Wars
. While fighting the Nez Percé at Battle of Camas Meadows in 1877, he risked his life to recover the body of another soldier preventing its mutilation by the enemy. For this act, he received the Medal of Honor
nearly 20 years later.
. At the beginning of the American Civil War
, Jackson actively recruited volunteers for the 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
. He attained this position from Colonel William B. Allison
, then an aide to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood
, who would go on to have a successful political career as a Congressman in Washington, DC. In 1862, he left Dubuque
with the 12th Infantry to join the Army of the Potomac
and saw action at Fredericksburg
, Chancellorsville
, Gettysburg
, the Wilderness
, Cold Harbor
and Spotsylvania. Jackson was cited for "gallant service" in several major engagements throughout the war and twice brevetted at the Battle of North Anna
and the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad in August 1864.
Jackson joined the Regular Army after the war's end. In 1867, he was assigned to frontier duty in Nebraska
where he protected Union Pacific Railway workers during the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad
. He was also stationed at various outposts in the Wyoming
and Colorado territories
during the next several years. Although he would have been forced to retire in accordance with federal law, Jackson was able to remain in the service though the use of political connections in the 1870s. He was assisted in this by Iowa Senator James Harlan
, via his brother-in-law C.W. Atkinson, who appealed to another Iowan, Secretary of War General William Belknap. In his letter to Belknap, Harlan wrote that Jackson,
Harlan's words helped persuade Belknap that Jackson should be exempted from the federal law and was allowed to remain in military service. Shortly afterwards, Jackson participated in the campaign against Captain Jack in the Modoc Indian War
and commanded troops at the Battle of Lost River
on November 28, 1872. He also made several trips to Iowa from time to time including an 1873 visit to his mother in Mason City
shortly before her death. Jackson also married Ida Jane Jackson, a woman eighteen years his junior, and had one child together.
. Under the overall command of General Oliver Howard, his unit participated in the pursuit of Chief Joseph
and the Nez Percé who attempted to escape to Canada
and joined Howard near the end of the Battle of the Clearwater
on July 10, 1877. A month later, Jackson's unit encountered Chief Joseph's warriors at Camas Meadows in the Idaho Territory
on August 20, 1877. His commanding officer, Captain Randolph Norwood, had moved ahead of the main force under orders to find and engage the renegades but were instead taken by surprise when the Nez Percé launched a frontal assault. In the first moments of battle, trumpeter Bernard Brooks was killed. Jackson and another nearby soldier dismounted while under heavy fire and risked their lives to take Brooks' with them and hid his body in a clump of bushes before rejoining their unit in retreat. The Nez Percé, wanting to return to Chief Joseph and their people as quickly as possible, escaped into the wilderness once the cavalry’s horses and mules were secured. Jackson and his men buried Brooks before returning to camp.
It was believed by the Nez Percé and other tribes that if they maimed captured or dead soldiers then they would be so in the afterlife as well. Consequently, the recovered bodies of soldiers would frequently be found badly mutilated and Jackson hoped to spare his fallen comrade a similar fate. It would be 18 years before Jackson's actions were recognized by the government. In 1895, Major Eugene Carr of the 8th U.S. Cavalry petitioned for Jackson to receive the Medal of Honor
.
Carr's request was initially declined by the then Acting Secretary of War who believed the incident occurred too long ago to merit issuing the award. Additional support from General Howard and other officers, however, made the War Department reconsider its position and a decision was made in April 1897 to give the award to Jackson who received the MOH via registered mail that same month.
including Fort Klamath and Fort Walla Walla
as well as a recruiter for the U.S. Army in New York City
, and later for the Oregon National Guard. He was also a professor of military science
and tactics
at Bishop Scott Academy
in Portland, Oregon
. Jackson retired from active service on November 21, 1897, however, several of his friends in Oregon sought, on his behalf, an appointment to the rank of brigadier general
to honor his long military service. Government bureaucracy and changing presidential administration delayed the process for well over a decade. Jackson died in Portland on October 21, 1916, at the age of 82. He was interred at River View Cemetery
. Thirteen days after his death, a telegram was delivered to his address notifying him of his promotion to brigadier general.
Citation:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
officer in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the mid-to late 19th century. He was a captain with the 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 12th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.- History :The 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry was organized at Dubuque in October and November 1861, and was mustered in at intervals during those two months. It left Iowa...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and with the 1st U.S. Cavalry in the Indian Wars
Indian Wars
American Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
. While fighting the Nez Percé at Battle of Camas Meadows in 1877, he risked his life to recover the body of another soldier preventing its mutilation by the enemy. For this act, he received the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
nearly 20 years later.
Early life and military career
James Jackson was born in New Jersey on November 21, 1833. Sometime after graduating from Philadelphia High School, he went west to the frontier and eventually settled in IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. At the beginning of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Jackson actively recruited volunteers for the 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 12th Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.- History :The 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry was organized at Dubuque in October and November 1861, and was mustered in at intervals during those two months. It left Iowa...
. He attained this position from Colonel William B. Allison
William B. Allison
William Boyd Allison was an early leader of the Iowa Republican Party, who represented northeastern Iowa for four consecutive terms in the U.S. House before representing his state for six consecutive terms in the U.S. Senate...
, then an aide to Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood
Samuel J. Kirkwood
Samuel Jordan Kirkwood , was an American politician best known as Iowa's American Civil War Governor. He also served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.-Early life and career:...
, who would go on to have a successful political career as a Congressman in Washington, DC. In 1862, he left Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....
with the 12th Infantry to join the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
and saw action at Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
, Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
, Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
, the Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
, Cold Harbor
Battle of Cold Harbor
The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864 . It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles...
and Spotsylvania. Jackson was cited for "gallant service" in several major engagements throughout the war and twice brevetted at the Battle of North Anna
Battle of North Anna
The Battle of North Anna was fought May 23–26, 1864, as part of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. It consisted of a series of small actions near the North Anna River in central Virginia, rather than a...
and the Second Battle of the Weldon Railroad in August 1864.
Jackson joined the Regular Army after the war's end. In 1867, he was assigned to frontier duty in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
where he protected Union Pacific Railway workers during the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
. He was also stationed at various outposts in the Wyoming
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital...
and Colorado territories
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....
during the next several years. Although he would have been forced to retire in accordance with federal law, Jackson was able to remain in the service though the use of political connections in the 1870s. He was assisted in this by Iowa Senator James Harlan
James Harlan (senator)
James Harlan was a member of the United States Senate and a U.S. Cabinet Secretary.-Biography:Harlan represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate as a member of the Free Soil Party in 1855. In 1857 the Senate declared the seat vacant because of irregularities in the legislative...
, via his brother-in-law C.W. Atkinson, who appealed to another Iowan, Secretary of War General William Belknap. In his letter to Belknap, Harlan wrote that Jackson,
Harlan's words helped persuade Belknap that Jackson should be exempted from the federal law and was allowed to remain in military service. Shortly afterwards, Jackson participated in the campaign against Captain Jack in the Modoc Indian War
Modoc War
The Modoc War, or Modoc Campaign , was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army in southern Oregon and northern California from 1872–1873. The Modoc War was the last of the Indian Wars to occur in California or Oregon...
and commanded troops at the Battle of Lost River
Battle of Lost River
The Battle of Lost River in November 1872 was the first battle in the Modoc War in the northwestern United States. The skirmish, which was fought near the Lost River along the California-Oregon border, was the result of an attempt by the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army to force...
on November 28, 1872. He also made several trips to Iowa from time to time including an 1873 visit to his mother in Mason City
Mason City, Iowa
Mason City is the county seat of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, United States. The population was 28,079 in the 2010 census, a decline from 29,172 in the 2000 census. The Mason City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Cerro Gordo and Worth counties....
shortly before her death. Jackson also married Ida Jane Jackson, a woman eighteen years his junior, and had one child together.
Battle of Camas Meadow
Jackson continued to serve on the frontier throughout the 1870s and took part in campaigns against the Plains IndiansPlains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
. Under the overall command of General Oliver Howard, his unit participated in the pursuit of Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, or Young Joseph was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain band of Nez Perce during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Nez Perce to a reservation in Idaho...
and the Nez Percé who attempted to escape to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and joined Howard near the end of the Battle of the Clearwater
Battle of the Clearwater
The Battle of the Clearwater was a battle between the Nez Perce and the United States army. Retreating from the battlefield, the Nez Percé began the long trek across Idaho and Montana before surrendering to Oliver Otis Howard near the Canadian border.-Background:After the defeat of United States...
on July 10, 1877. A month later, Jackson's unit encountered Chief Joseph's warriors at Camas Meadows in the Idaho Territory
Idaho Territory
The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 4, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho.-1860s:...
on August 20, 1877. His commanding officer, Captain Randolph Norwood, had moved ahead of the main force under orders to find and engage the renegades but were instead taken by surprise when the Nez Percé launched a frontal assault. In the first moments of battle, trumpeter Bernard Brooks was killed. Jackson and another nearby soldier dismounted while under heavy fire and risked their lives to take Brooks' with them and hid his body in a clump of bushes before rejoining their unit in retreat. The Nez Percé, wanting to return to Chief Joseph and their people as quickly as possible, escaped into the wilderness once the cavalry’s horses and mules were secured. Jackson and his men buried Brooks before returning to camp.
It was believed by the Nez Percé and other tribes that if they maimed captured or dead soldiers then they would be so in the afterlife as well. Consequently, the recovered bodies of soldiers would frequently be found badly mutilated and Jackson hoped to spare his fallen comrade a similar fate. It would be 18 years before Jackson's actions were recognized by the government. In 1895, Major Eugene Carr of the 8th U.S. Cavalry petitioned for Jackson to receive the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
.
Carr's request was initially declined by the then Acting Secretary of War who believed the incident occurred too long ago to merit issuing the award. Additional support from General Howard and other officers, however, made the War Department reconsider its position and a decision was made in April 1897 to give the award to Jackson who received the MOH via registered mail that same month.
Retirement and later years
After Camas Meadow, Jackson commanded several frontier posts in the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
including Fort Klamath and Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla
Fort Walla Walla is a fort located in Walla Walla, Washington. It was established in 1858. Today, the complex contains a park, a museum, and a hospital.Fort Walla Walla should be distinguished from Fort Nez Percés or Old Fort Walla Walla ....
as well as a recruiter for the U.S. Army in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and later for the Oregon National Guard. He was also a professor of military science
Military science
Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...
and tactics
Military tactics
Military tactics, the science and art of organizing an army or an air force, are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology over time have been reflected in changes to military tactics. In...
at Bishop Scott Academy
Bishop Scott Academy
Bishop Scott Academy was a school located in Portland, Oregon, United States. Affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the school was named for the Reverend Thomas Fielding Scott. The school opened in 1870 to educate young men in good citizenship and prepare them to enter the ministry...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Jackson retired from active service on November 21, 1897, however, several of his friends in Oregon sought, on his behalf, an appointment to the rank of brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
to honor his long military service. Government bureaucracy and changing presidential administration delayed the process for well over a decade. Jackson died in Portland on October 21, 1916, at the age of 82. He was interred at River View Cemetery
River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)
River View Cemetery in the southwest section of Portland, Oregon, United States, is a non-profit cemetery founded in 1882. It is the final resting place of many prominent and notable citizens of Oregon, including many governors and United States Senators...
. Thirteen days after his death, a telegram was delivered to his address notifying him of his promotion to brigadier general.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: Captain, 1st U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Camas Meadows, Idaho, 20 August 1877. Entered service at: ------. Birth: New Jersey. Date of issue: 17 April 1896.Citation:
Dismounted from his horse in the face of a heavy fire from pursuing Indians, and with the assistance of 1 or 2 of the men of his command secured to a place of safety the body of his trumpeter, who had been shot and killed.
See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Indian Wars
Further reading
- Thompson, Erwin N. Modoc War: Its Military History & Topography. Sacramento: Argus Books, 1971.