Fayette-Christian County KyArchives Biographies.....Jackson, James S. September 27, 1823 - October 4, 1862
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Sandi Gorin http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00002.html#0000404 February 27, 2005, 8:31 am

Author: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky, J. M. Armstrong & Company, 1878

James S. Jackson, Lawyer, Soldier, and politician, was born September 27, 1823,
in Fayette County, Kentucky, and was the son of David Jackson, a farmer, and
Juliet Sthreshley, of Woodford County, Kentucky. He was thoroughly educated, and
graduated in letters at Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania. He studied
law, and graduated from the Law Department of Transylvania University, in 1845.
When the war with Mexico began, he volunteered and served for a time as a
lieutenant; but, having had an "affair of honor" with Thomas F. Marshall, who
belonged to the same regiment, and fearing court-martial, he resigned, and
returned home. He soon after located in Greenup County, and, in 1849, was a
candidate for election to the last Constitutional Convention, but was defeated.
He subsequently removed to Christian County, and, in 1859, was candidate for
Congress, on the Know-Nothing ticket, but was defeated. While residing at
Hopkinsville, in 1861, he was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from
the Second District. While serving in Congress, President Lincoln tendered
him the command of a regiment, and, accordingly, October 1, 1861, he took
command of the Third Kentucky Cavalry, and his regiment was mustered into
the service, December 13, in the same year. Immediately after organization,
his regiment was used on scout duty, in South-western Kentucky, a section of
the State then under the control of the Confederates. He was subsequently
assigned to the division of Gen. T. L. Crittenden; was engaged, with his
regiment, on the field of Shiloh; was at Corinth and Iuka, Mississippi; at
Florence and Athens, Alabama; and, at the latter place, his regiment passed
into the command of Col. Eli H. Murray, and himself promoted
Brigadier-General, August 13, 1862. From Decherd, Tennessee, at the head of
his brigade he commenced the pursuit of Bragg, who was then advancing into
Kentucky; at New Haven, Kentucky, he assisted in the capture of the Third
Georgia Cavalry; and fell, valiantly fighting at the head of his brigade, in
the battle of Perryville, October 4, 1862. This was the first engagement of
importance in which he had participated after his promotion, and he was thus
cut off in the beginning of a career that promised unusual brilliancy. Gen.
Jackson was a man of many peculiar, marked, and admirable traits. He was
distinguished for his graceful form and almost feminine beauty of
countenance. He had the manners of a Chesterfield; and was one of the most
knightly soldiers who ever drew a sword on the battle-field. Of his death,
Col. Forney wrote: "To die such a death, and for such a cause, was the
highest ambition of a man like James S. Jackson. He was the highest type of
the Kentucky gentleman. To a commanding person, he added an exquisite grace
and sauvity of manner, and a character that seemed to embody the purest and
noblest chivalry. He was a Union man for the sake of the Union; and now,
with his heart's blood, he has sealed his devotion to the flag. He leaves a
multitude of friends, who will honor his courage and patriotism, and mourn
his untimely and gallant end." From this earliest days, he was a politician,
and, although undoubtedly possessed of great ambition to arise to eminence,
his great love of justice and his warm nature led him to espouse a cause for
its own merits; and his love of country led him to buckle on the sword in a
cause for which he sacrificed his life. He began his political career in the
ranks of the Whig party, and, passing through the Know-Nothing excitement in
his State, in the final division of party ranged himself with the National
Republicans. He was brave, and his warm impulses may have led him to
rashness; yet he never sought personal difficulty, In 1846 he was led to
fight a duel with Sam. Patterson; but this, as his affair in Mexico,
terminated harmlessly. His remains were deposited in the cemetery at
Hopkinsville, March 24, 1863, after having lain in a vault in Cave Hill
Cemetery, Louisville, since October 8, 1862. Gen. Jackson was married,
February 22, 1847, to Miss Patty Buford, who, with their four children,
survived him.

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