372 THE GKOUNDSWELL. 



had with him stood the brunt of many an Indian onslaught, 

 or had participated with him in the fierce attack on savage 

 hordes, without hesitation he decided to go with his native 

 State in the conflict. Many of us now feel that the mere ac 

 cident of birth has more to do in shaping our destinies than 

 we might before have realized. The past has been fought 

 out, and the honest and earnest men of North and South 

 alike are. again united in fostering the true aims and integ 

 rity of the reunited nation, and in developing the resources 

 of the country. 



In pursuance of the resolve to aid his native State, Lieut 

 enant Jackson tendered his resignation, turned over to the 

 proper officer of the United States Army every cent of 

 government funds and every description of public property 

 in his possession, and, in company with Col. Crittenden, of 

 Kentucky, made his way into Texas, ran the blockade at 

 Galveston, arrived in New Orleans, sent in the tender of his 

 services through Major Longstreet, to the Confederate 

 Government, and was at once commissioned captain of ar 

 tillery by the governor of Tennessee. 



After performing various duties, he was assigned at New 

 Madrid, in 1861, to the command of a battery of light 

 artillery. At the battle of Belmont, his battery having been 

 disabled, Captain Jackson, by order of his general, led an 

 infantry charge against a portion of the United States troops 

 and was wounded in the side with a Minie ball, which he 

 still carries a striking reminiscence of the horrors of war. 

 After recovering from what at the time was supposed to 

 be a mortal wound, he was promoted to a colonelcy, and as 

 signed to the command of the Sixth Tennessee and First 

 Mississippi Cavalry, operating in West Tennessee and North 

 ern Mississippi. 



At the taking of Holly Springs, Col. Jackson, for gallant 



