MO Bushwhacker Jim Jackson

[Patrick H]

I ran across this guy in period newspaper accounts and military communications recently. I had never heard of him previously. He was operating in Central Missouri during the winter of 1864-65, which was somewhat unusual, as most of the more well-known guerrillas wintered in Texas. BorderRuffian had a thread mentioning Jackson in 2011, but I'd like to launch a new thread which will include some online references that might not have been available in 2011.

Jackson was one of the "bad" guerrillas. When he came to my attention recently, it was because period newspaper accounts were reporting that he was lynching negroes as a warning to all black freed men that they should NOT work for white employers. Also, it served as a threat to any whites who might employ a freed black person.

Jackson apparently joined Clifton Holtzclaw's guerrilla band fairly early in the war. Holtzclaw, in fact, formed one of the first bands of MO guerrillas. Jackson appears to have risen steadily through the ranks in Holtzclaw's organization and was leading his own band by this time in 1865.

The first link, from the Columbia, Missouri Daily TRIBUNE, is a compilation of various items from January of 1865. The Jackson article is the first in the column. It's also worth reading the second item--dateline Macon, which describes Gen. Fisk's views on banishment, loyalty and militia service very clearly:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news...cle_99d09066-1025-58c8-a2a0-83b7dbc26829.html

Apart from his murderous ****, Jackson is somewhat interesting. He apparently led a raid into Iowa during Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. As I've followed Jackson's story, I've anticipated reading about his demise any night now. I was surprised to learn that he survived the war and was officially paroled. He did not pursue an outlaw career, but he came to a violent end, nonetheless. It is detailed and discussed at some length in this next article--well worth a read:

http://www.civilwarmonitor.com/fron...the-oxymoron-of-postbellum-missouri-1865-1866

 

[chellers]

I ran across this guy in period newspaper accounts and military communications recently. I had never heard of him previously. He was operating in Central Missouri during the winter of 1864-65, which was somewhat unusual, as most of the more well-known guerrillas wintered in Texas. BorderRuffian had a thread mentioning Jackson in 2011, but I'd like to launch a new thread which will include some online references that might not have been available in 2011.

Jackson was one of the "bad" guerrillas. When he came to my attention recently, it was because period newspaper accounts were reporting that he was lynching negroes as a warning to all black freed men that they should NOT work for white employers. Also, it served as a threat to any whites who might employ a freed black person.

Jackson apparently joined Clifton Holtzclaw's guerrilla band fairly early in the war. Holtzclaw, in fact, formed one of the first bands of MO guerrillas. Jackson appears to have risen steadily through the ranks in Holtzclaw's organization and was leading his own band by this time in 1865.

The first link, from the Columbia, Missouri Daily TRIBUNE, is a compilation of various items from January of 1865. The Jackson article is the first in the column. It's also worth reading the second item--dateline Macon, which describes Gen. Fisk's views on banishment, loyalty and militia service very clearly:

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news...cle_99d09066-1025-58c8-a2a0-83b7dbc26829.html

Apart from his murderous ****, Jackson is somewhat interesting. He apparently led a raid into Iowa during Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri. As I've followed Jackson's story, I've anticipated reading about his demise any night now. I was surprised to learn that he survived the war and was officially paroled. He did not pursue an outlaw career, but he came to a violent end, nonetheless. It is detailed and discussed at some length in this next article--well worth a read:

http://www.civilwarmonitor.com/fron...the-oxymoron-of-postbellum-missouri-1865-1866

Thanks, Patrick. This makes me want to renew my subscription to that excellent magazine.

 

[Buckeye Bill]

Good stuff, Pat!

I think the University of Missouri should change their name from the Tigers to the Bushwhackers.

Missouri : The Bushwhacking State

 

[dlofting]

Interesting read Patrick.....thanks for posting.

 

[hanna260]

What a fascinating figure and read, Patrick. Thanks for posting!

 

[Patrick H]

Good stuff, Pat!

I think the University of Missouri should change their name from the Tigers to the Bushwhackers.

Missouri : The Bushwhacking State

Bill,
Your suggestion is pretty amusing to me. Can't you just picture it?: The U of MO Bushwhackers versus the U of K Jayhawks? OMIGOSH! Alert the media! Call out the National Guard on that Saturday, too!!!

I think one of the early militia groups organized in and around Columbia, MO, called themselves the "Tigers", and I think that was the origin of the sports team's name. I doubt that very many college sports fans in Missouri or Kansas know much about this history between the two states. The exceptions to my statement will mostly be found right here on our board!

It really was one of the great college rivalries in the history of college football and I believe it was the second-oldest rivalry in the history of college football, too. That all went away when Missouri joined the SEC.

 

[dkr02]

I've been up to Bloomfield IA and viewed the marker for Jackson's raid there. Been hoping to learn further info on Jackson, as he is not as well known as the other Guerillas. Thanks for the new info, and keep up the good work!

slik

 

[Boonslick]

Confederate Advance In Civil War - Bloomfield, Iowa

 

[Patrick H]

Jackson is not well known at all. He was completely under my radar until I started reading about him in Rudi Keller's excellent nightly newspaper column in the Columbia, MO daily TRIBUNE (linked at the start of this thread). Unfortunately for the civilians in Boone County, MO, the squads sent into the Blackfoot Hills to search for Jackson committed about as much violence as Jackson himself. You can read of the day-by-day search for him by clicking into the Tribune's website and the using their internal search engine. Look for "Rudi Keller" and his nightly column will pop up.

...Oh... I don't mean to be mysterious about the Blackfoot Hills. They aren't called that today. If any of you have driven on Interstate 70 into Columbia, Missouri from the west, you have seen a bit of that region. As you cross the Perche Creek just west of Columbia, you can look to the north, up the creek valley. You'll see a heavily wooded ridges that stretch north on either side of the creek as far as the eye can see. Those ridges--and especially those on the west side of the valley--are the Blackfoot Hills.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

This is very interesting, thanks for sharing. On the flip side in MO,...oh no, wait, it was in Newton AR...my bad, well, Thomas Clark, my gggpa was a farmer, both sons in the army, when he was killed by Union bushwackers. Sadly, his son John was killed on 6/25/1862 (later th same year of Thomas' death) in Corinth with the 17th AR Infantry Regiment fighting there. Date of death is between both Battles 1 and 2, not a lot on his death, so, mabye died in an unmarked skirmish?
Again, good article!
Guys like him did NOT help the Southern cause by no means.

 

[Union_Buff]

Very interesting articles about an equally interesting man - thank you for posting them Patrick

 

[peteanddelmar]

Jackson was one of the "bad" guerrillas

Patrick, thanks for a great post. His actions in mid-Missouri were close to the time my ancestors farm was stripped and burned by southern partisans....sometime in 1864 is what I am always told. So maybe he got us on the way in or on the way back....who knows?
That was my ancestor's farm where my dad lived.

Now Carthage, my hometown, was supposedly burned twice by Jo Shelby and his men. They had help the first time. Little known Second Battle of Carthage was only Shelby and his men...supposedly. Burned the courthouse again.

Then Federals came through and burnt it all again late in the war.....? IDK why. Anyway your guy may have got dad's farm.

Carthage and Lamar MO were both reported by wars end as "laying in ashes" and abandoned.
(Quantrill got Lamar I believe)

 

[Patrick H]

Patrick, thanks for a great post. His actions in mid-Missouri were close to the time my ancestors farm was stripped and burned by southern partisans....sometime in 1864 is what I am always told. So maybe he got us on the way in or on the way back....who knows?
That was my ancestor's farm where my dad lived.

Now Carthage, my hometown, was supposedly burned twice by Jo Shelby and his men. They had help the first time. Little known Second Battle of Carthage was only Shelby and his men...supposedly. Burned the courthouse again.

Then Federals came through and burnt it all again late in the war.....? IDK why. Anyway your guy may have got dad's farm.

Carthage and Lamar MO were both reported by wars end as "laying in ashes" and abandoned.
(Quantrill got Lamar I believe)

I just checked my main source for eyewitness accounts of Quantrill's actions: John McCorckle's memoir. According to McCorckle, the Quantrill band was heading south in the fall of 1862 when they met up with another command near Lamar, Missouri. It was suggested that they attack the small union garrison in Lamar. However, the officer in charge of the garrison somehow found out the guerrillas were in the neighborhood, and he moved his men into the brick courthouse, where they took up a very strong defensive position. The guerrillas, indeed, attacked the courthouse, without effect. There was no way their revolver fire could penetrate those brick walls. A guerrilla named Jim Donohue was killed in this futile attack. The boys picked up his body and buried it on their way south to Texas.

One of the interesting things about this fight is McCorckle's account of John Noland's actions. Noland was a black man riding with the guerrillas and known to be a scout. Whether he was an actual combatant is one of those things that will forever be debated. McCorckle says Noland got close to the courthouse and issued more commands than anyone, calling for various units under various commanders to come up from one direction or another. Clearly, Noland was a clever man and was showing some real initiative--trying to bluff the small union garrison into surrendering. They did not take his bait. I choose to believe that Noland was probably an armed fighter in this action, but there is no way to prove that from McCorkle's account. Furthermore, there is a famous photo portrait of Noland, looking very much like an intimidating guerrilla soldier...but he is NOT armed in that photo. We will never know for sure.

After the Lamar raid, Quantrill never again endorsed an attack on a brick building. He had learned his lesson. He later argued against a famous raid in Fayette, Missouri, in which quite a number of guerrillas were killed attacking both the courthouse and winter barracks made of logs or railroad ties. Frank James later said: "The worst scared I ever was in the war was in the Fayette fight."

You can see the John Noland photo I referenced by going to this link, but, be advised: This site is a real pro-guerrilla, apologist site. Nevertheless, the photos are fascinating. Scroll down to the second still photo. That's John Noland.

http://quantrillsguerrillas.com/en/...myth-of-the-civil-war-black-confederates.html

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Wow

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Patrick,
I was just talking to one of our contract guys here at work, he's a southern (e. TX/LA), black, and retired CA Dept Corrections (looks hella young! Lol) I was showing him the link you attached on this topic. He just laughed and said "some people have no clue that there were blacks that either willingly followed their "master" or willingy took up arms for the south." He goes home every other weekend to check on his land and his neighbor takes care of his three horses. He found this topic interesting because it has some info that mirrors what his aunt has found in Geneology.
Thanks for the informative post on these Guerillas.

 

[Jesse]

This is a fascinating thread, thanks for the links and the information! I am very interested in the war in and around Missouri.

 

[Georgia Sixth]

Patrick,
I was just talking to one of our contract guys here at work, he's a southern (e. TX/LA), black, and retired CA Dept Corrections (looks hella young! Lol) I was showing him the link you attached on this topic. He just laughed and said "some people have no clue that there were blacks that either willingly followed their "master" or willingy took up arms for the south." He goes home every other weekend to check on his land and his neighbor takes care of his three horses. He found this topic interesting because it has some info that mirrors what his aunt has found in Geneology.
Thanks for the informative post on these Guerillas.

Yeller,
If your friend ever digs up some pertinent family records or local stories about blacks traveling with guerrilla bands, please share with us. This stuff is fascinating!

 

[Georgia Sixth]

Patrick,
This is a great thread and is very much appreciated.

 

[yellowthornoftexas]

Will do GA6th!!
More info all the time popping up through research proving many fought for the South.
I like the story I read about two brothers serving in the CSMC. The older brother was wounded, and his servant picked up the rifle and started shooting. In a letter home written by the younger brother, he stated how happy the servant was when he thought he'd "shot himself a Yankee".

 

[East Tennessee Roots]

Will do GA6th!!
More info all the time popping up through research proving many fought for the South.
I like the story I read about two brothers serving in the CSMC. The older brother was wounded, and his servant picked up the rifle and started shooting. In a letter home written by the younger brother, he stated how happy the servant was when he thought he'd "shot himself a Yankee".

Here's an old post I made last March, it's a report from the OR that tells of a similar incident as the one you mention :

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/official-records.110882/#post-1074782