James Jackson (Medal of Honor)


James Jackson was an American officer in the U.S. Army during the mid to late19th 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 Perc 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 nearlyyears later.

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 Iowa. At the beginning of the 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.

Source: Wikipedia


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