“Who?” you ask. “Sure, I know ‘Stonewall,’ but who in hell is ‘Mudwall’ Jackson?”
On December 1, 1863, the 1st Tennessee Caverlry was serving under
Gen. Alfred Eugene Jackson.
Don’t feel bad if you can’t place him,
for his identity has been confused for over 125 years. Even Jeff Davis
wasn’t sure which of the several Jacksons he was, and “Mudwall” has been
misidentified in some prominent modern works. So read on as we solve
this little mystery of the real “Mudwall”. . . For the record, the one
and only “Mudwall” was Confederate Brig. Gen. Alfred Eugene Jackson of
Jonesborough in East Tennessee. A prominent businessman, farmer, and
slave holder, Jackson had amassed a large fortune by 1861. He cast his
lot with the South and joined Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer’s staff as
brigade quartermaster, later serving as paymaster at Knoxville.
Probably as a result of political motivation to advance the ever-shaky
Confederate cause in East Tennessee, an area of ardent Union sympathies,
Jackson was promoted to command a brigade in February 1863. Jackson’s
military service was, to put it mildly, mediocre. His “brigade” (rarely
numbering over 800) was a hodgepodge of home guards, irregulars, and
Thomas’ Cherokee Legion, occasionally reinforced with veteran units such
as the 4th Kentucky Cavalry. Jackson’s own troops were reported to be
poorly disciplined, in-efficient, and “utterly unreliable.”
That Jackson himself was not much of a
leader is demonstrated by the reports of those who served under him. He
put his officers on trial for imaginary infractions and constantly
reprimanded them in front of privates. The officers of Thomas’ Legion
became so irate that they petitioned President Davis to have Jackson
removed, citing his “irritable temper intensified by diseased nerves and
aggravated by being in a position for which the man is morally and
physically unfit.”
Jackson’s command spent most of its time
in the ridges and valleys northeast of Knoxville, guarding the vital
East Tennessee and Virginia rail link. Here Jackson won his only victory
of note, capturing a 300 man detachment of the 100th Ohio Infantry at
Limestone on September 8, 1863. Following the loss of Knoxville in
December 1863, and the Confederate withdrawal from East Tennessee the
following spring, Jackson took command of the forces guarding the
important salt works at Saltville in Southwest Virginia. At Saltville
Jackson’s command consisted of only a few hundred ineffective
irregulars, and he was relieved and ordered to the Army of Tennessee,
then fighting for Atlanta; however, there is no evidence that Jackson
ever assumed command of the brigade that awaited him, and September 1864
found him again in command at Saltville. This posting was short-lived,
as Jackson was found unfit for active field duty in November and was
ordered to light duty on Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge’s staff. Here
“Mudwall’s” war record ends. After the war he returned to Jonesborough
and largely rebuilt his fortunes, dying at his home in 1889 at age 83.
The origin of Alfred E. Jackson’s
nickname is not entirely clear. Some have stated it was to contrast him
with the more famous Thomas J. Jackson (no relation), and it seems clear
that “Stonewall” inspired the form of the Tennessean’s cognomen. While
it is probable that his personality had already earned him the derisive
sobriquet, the action at Limestone in September 1863 brought the nick
name into widespread use. Although outnumbering the Ohio troops by some
four to one, Jackson was extremely cautious in approaching them. While
he hesitated, his veteran troops chomped at the bit to attack. Finally,
unable to stand the delay any longer, Capt. Bart Jenkins rushed up to
“Mudwall” and suggested that while the artillery pinned the enemy down
in front, the 4th Kentucky Cavalry should ride around their flank and
attack them from the rear. In the words of one of Capt. Jenkins’
comrades, Jackson’s “slow, inferior, vacillating mind” finally saw the
wisdom of this course.
The Kentuckians beat the handful of
Buckeyes in a sharp fight, and finding themselves surrounded, the 300
men of the 100th Ohio surrendered. Jackson, however, decided better of
holding onto his gains, and he timidly ordered his command to fall back
some 20 miles and await support from Confederates in Southwest Virginia.
The story of Jackson’s role in the battle at Limestone spread
throughout the district and the nickname “Mudwall” was his for
posterity—if only the history books would get the facts straight.
Although infamous to the men who served
under him, Jackson was not well-known outside the East Tennessee area.
Indeed, Jefferson Davis was somewhat confused over his identity, as
shown in a report written by Col. William Preston Johnston in September
1863. Citing Jackson’s nervousness when under pressure, Col. Johnston
went into some detail to describe Jackson to Davis, because the
President “was not fully satisfied what General Jackson it was.”
To confuse the issue even further, E.
Porter Alexander, James Longstreet’s chief of artillery, heard a
slightly different version of t he nickname when Longstreet’s corps
spent the spring of 1864 in East Tennessee. Noting that Jackson had been
called “Mudwall” early in the war, Alexander stated that Jackson had
been “promoted” to “Brickwall” Jackson for success in battle. Alexander
undoubtedly heard the tale from locals, who were well aware of Jackson’s
war record, so his comment was probably facetious.
The confusion did not die with the end
of the war; instead, it has gotten worse. The first recorded instance is
in an article in Southern Historical Society Papers in 1906, in which
the nickname “Mudwall” is mistakenly applied to Brig. Gen. William
Lowther Jackson, a cousin of “Stonewall” Jackson. This case of mistaken
identity was continued in a series of letters appearing in Confederate
Veteran in late 1909, with the record being set straight in this
instance by one of N. B. Forrest’s cavalrymen.
The modern mix-up apparently started
with a revision of Ezra Warner’s Generals in Gray. The first printing of
the first edition (1959) correctly lists Alfred Eugene Jackson as
“Mudwall.” The second printing of this same edition, however, switches
the sobriquet to William Lowther Jackson. The entry in this edition for
Alfred makes no mention of “Mudwall.”
This confusion has continued in other
modern studies. Even well-known author and historian James Lee McDonough
has fallen prey, hanging the nickname “Mudwall” on yet another Jackson—
Brig. Gen. John K. Jackson—in McDonough’s Chattanooga — A Death Grip on
the Confederacy. Two recent massive compilations have continued the
mix-up, apparently based on the mistake in Warner’s work. Both the
Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War (1986) and
Stewart Sifakis’ Who Was Who in the Civil War (1988) identify William L.
Jackson as “Mudwall”; the Historical Times Encyclopedia even goes so
far as to say that Alfred Jackson “is sometimes confused with William
‘Mudwall’ Jackson.” In editing E. Porter Alexander’s Fighting for the
Confederacy, able historian Gary Gallagher discovered the confusion and
in a footnote correctly surmised that “Mudwall” must be Alfred E.
Jackson, although he seems reluctant to state this conclusively.
If for no other reason, respect for the
memory of the other Jacksons should demand the record be set straight.
As for Alfred E. Jackson, his nickname “Mudwall” was apparently well
deserved. The publishers of the aforementioned works should take note of
this article and correct the confusion in future editions. If they
don’t, at least all of us can now pick the real “Mudwall” out of the
Jackson line-up. . . .
