William Hicks “Red” Jackson (October 1, 1835 – March 30, 1903) was a career United States Army officer who graduated from West Point. After serving briefly in the Southwest and resigning when the American Civil War broke out, he served in the Confederate Army, gaining the rank of brigadier general by the end of the war.
Afterward he became a major planter and horse breeder in Middle Tennessee. As a widower he married Selene Harding, daughter of the owner of the 5300-acre Belle Meade Plantation near Nashville. Jackson co-managed the operations with his father-in-law William Giles Harding. They expanded the raising of purebred horses, cattle, sheep, and goats.
Jackson and his wife inherited an interest in the plantation, and Belle Meade was known for the quality of horses he bred. He shared some decisions with his brother Howell Edmunds Jackson, who as a widower had married Selene’s sister Mary Harding in 1873; they also inherited an interest in Belle Meade.
Civil War
When word came of Tennessee’s secession, Jackson resigned from the Army on May 16, 1861, and returned to the South to enroll in the Confederate army. He was commissioned as a captain of artillery. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Gideon Pillow and at the Battle of Belmont in November. In early 1862, Jackson was appointed as colonel of the 1st Tennessee Cavalry and rose to be chief of cavalry, serving under John C. Pemberton, Earl Van Dorn, and lastly Sterling Price. On December 29, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general.
He served with distinction in the Vicksburg Campaign in early 1863. In February 1864, he commanded the cavalry of Leonidas Polk in the campaign around Meridian, Mississippi. During the Atlanta Campaign that summer, Jackson commanded the cavalry division of the Army of Mississippi. His troopers repeatedly skirmished in August with the Union cavalry of H. Judson Kilpatrick, which was attempting to destroy railroads south of the city. Jackson won a significant victory at the Battle of Brown’s Mill near Newnan, Georgia.
He continued to lead his division through the Nashville and Murfreesboro campaign before retreating to Mississippi. In February 1865, he was assigned command of all cavalry from Tennessee in the force of Nathan Bedford Forrest. He successfully isolated the Union brigade of John T. Croxton during Wilson’s Raid in April.
Content retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hicks_Jackson.