Ervin, Sara Sullivan. South Carolinians in the Revolution, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1965.)
Fort Sullivan Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. American Revolution Roster: Fort Sullivan, 1776-1780, (Charleston, SC: Fort Sullivan Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1976.)
Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army: During the War of the Revolution - April, 1775 to December, 1783, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.)
Jeter, Derrick G. "Founding Fathers' Friday: William Jackson", (derrickjeter.com, April 26, 2013.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: the Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Littell, Charles Willing. "Major William Jackson - Secretary of the Federal Convention", (The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. II, No. 4, pp. 353-369; 1878.)
Moss, Bobby Gilmer. Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.)
Revill, Janie, copier. Copy of the Original Index Book: Showing the Revolutionary Claims Filed in South Carolina Between August 20, 1783 and August 31, 1786, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.)
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. "William Jackson (secretary)", (en.cyclopedia.org, last edited on June 22, 2017.)
Wright, Robert K., Jr. and Morris J. MacGregor, Jr. Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution, (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1987.)
Pension Application of William Jackson W9072
William Jackson's next military endeavor was the siege and final assault at Savannah, GA in October 1779. This was the largest military engagement in which the youthful Jackson had participated to this date. Several of the brief articles that directly address the topic or subject of William Jackson state that he served admirably and with marked bravery but, the larger sources that address the actual siege itself do not refer to William Jackson at all. According to Wikipedia's article, "William Jackson (secretary)", page 1, it states that "...as Lincoln's aide he [Jackson] saw action at Stono Ferry and the Siege of Savannah in 1779.". If he was an aide to General Benjamin Lincoln, he may well have served in a non-combatant, administrative role and not been in the actual fighting per se. Littell's work, "Major William Jackson - Secretary to the Federal Convention", page 355, seems to confirm this point of fact:
"... and on the 9th of October, 1779, he was raised to the grade of captain, his staff appointment allowing him rank of major. On the very day on which his commission was signed by Samuel Huntington, President of Congress, he took part in the assault on Savannah, made by the combined forces of Gen. Lincoln and Count d'Estaing, in which the gallant Pulaski lost his life, which cost the assailants nine hundred men, killed and wounded, and ended in their repulse.".
Both the above cited sources state that at the time of the attack on Savannah, GA, William Jackson was already an aide-de-camp on General Benjamin Lincoln's staff. But, the second source states clearly that he did indeed take part in the final assault on the Spring Hill Redoubt on October 9, 1779. His home regiment, the 1st South Carolina Regiment of Foot, was prominently represented in this impossibly hopeless assault, sustaining heavy casualties as a result of their heroism and bravery in the face of British resistance. It is most likely that if he indeed took part in the actual assault on the Spring Hill Redoubt, Captain Jackson may have felt the need to participate in the attack with his original regiment and may well have charge forward in the ranks of the 1st South Carolina Regiment of Foot. This assault was a total disaster for the Franco-American forces, with them sustaining heavy casualties in excess of one thousand killed and wounded on that specific day. These losses are only intensified by the individual losses of Count Pulaski and Sergeant William Jasper of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment of Foot, the hero of a previous British assault on Fort Sullivan in which he heroically replanted the flag of South Carolina on the parapet of the fortification under heavy enemy fire after its pole had been severed by a British cannonball. As stated in Wright's and MacGregor's work, Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution, page 128, William Jackson would have also been party to the mutual recriminations of each of the commanders of the patriot forces as they retreated from Savannah, GA back to Charleston, SC.
William Jackson's military career had been highlighted with numerous engagements, both smaller-scale skirmishes as well as larger-scaled, pitched battles up to this point in time. But, his greatest challenge and prolonged period of enforced military inactivity - captivity with the British - was yet to come. According to Wright's and MacGregor's work, Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution, page 128:
"Worse reverses were to come in 1780. [British General] Clinton reacted to the Savannah counterattack by shifting additional forces to the south and launching a new attack on Charleston. This time adequate resources enabled the British to conduct a formal siege. Lincoln refused to withdraw and valiantly prolonged the siege for forty-two days, but finally had to surrender on May 12 [1780] in the worst American defeat of the war. Jackson was among the almost 5,000 captured. Because of his status as an aide, he escaped the horrors of the disease-ridden prisoner-of-war facilities and was sent instead on parole to Philadelphia. In November, he, along with Lincoln and others, was exchanged.".
Littell's work, "Major William Jackson - Secretary to the Federal Convention", pages 355-356, give a more detailed account of the role played William Jackson in the siege of Charleston, SC during the spring of 1780. Major William Jackson, still the aide-de-camp to General Benjamin Lincoln, was more actively involved in this siege than he possibly was in the actual assault on the Spring Hill Redoubt at Savannah, GA the previous year. According to the above referenced work:
"...the dark 'prospects' which, in the gloomy spring of 1780, gathered over the troops ordered to the defence of Charleston, and which preceded the bursting of the 'storm' foreseen by Washington, were brightened by their gallantry and fortitude. Well did Lincoln justify the 'greatest reliances' of Washington on his judgment, and his assurances 'that no exertion, prudence, or perseverance' would 'be wanting to defeat the attempts of the enemy;' and his aspirations 'may the issue be equally conducive to your personal glory, and to the advantage of these States.' Well was he in whom this trust was placed supported by his subordinates.".
The narrative continues with an actual account of the British approach and investment of Charleston in early April 1780 and terminates with the fall of the city to the British forces under Sir Henry Clinton:
"The successful passage of the British fleet over the bar of Charleston harbor, April 9, 1780, rendered the position of the city and its garrison critical in the extreme. The besiegers were stoutly resisted, and by none, within his sphere of duty, more vigorously than by Captain Jackson, who was frequently engaged in the hottest of the fight. He was in the only sortie from the beleaguered city, made by three hundred South Carolina and Virginia troops, commanded by Lt.-Col. John Laurens and Lt.-Col. Henderson, who, with unloaded muskets, attacked the men stationed in the most advanced part of the British entrenchments, drove them back with the sword and bayonet alone, and returned, after a fierce conflict, with a few prisoners, having killed some twenty of the enemy.
Sir Henry Clinton steadily advanced, and pushed his lines so close to the defences of the city that, on one occasion, when Major Jackson was in the act of delivering a message from Gen. Lincoln to Col. Parker of Virginia, the latter officer was killed. After a most stubborn resistance of six weeks, the provisions were exhausted, and the defences having been pronounced untenable by General Du Portail, on the 12th of May [1780] the town surrendered.".
At this point, the narrative becomes much more intensely personal as it begins to address the captivity of Captain William Jackson. It continues on page 356 of the above cited source:
"Major Jackson, on account of this unfortunate issue of affairs, found himself a prisoner of war. It was not, however, his fate to suffer a captivity as long as that of which many others were obliged to submit. An 'extensive exchange' took place in the fall of the year, and, on the 9th of November, Washington wrote to Lincoln, 'I have now the pleasure to congratulate you on your exchange. The certificate of it will be transmitted to you by the commissary of prisoners; Majors Baylies and Jackson are also exchanged.".
(Note: the writer of this blog has been aware that the events recorded immediately above concerning the military life and activities of William Jackson are all drawn from Littell's work, "Major William Jackson - Secretary of the Federal Convention". None of the other sources available to the writer of this blog gives so much detailed information on events and personal involvement in combats that this source gives. This source was published in 1878 and seems to be an adulation of William Jackson, frequently proved out by the very elaborate language used to describe the life of William Jackson. The source is footnoted, which would seem to lend more credence to the source's validity. Yet, the fact that other sources do not refer to these same events would seem to cast some of the claims of Littell's work into doubt. Thus, it may well be that Littell's source and citations on the life of William Jackson should be held suspect.)
Wright's and MacGregor's work, Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution, page 128, sums up the siege and fall of Charleston, SC on May 12, 1780 as it impacted Captain William Jackson personally. It simply states that:
"The fall of Charleston marked Jackson's last appearance on the battlefield. His skill as a staff officer and Lincoln's influence led shortly to his assignment as secretary to Lt. Col. John Laurens, Washington's aide. The two South Carolinians went to France to negotiate the shipment of vital war supplies.".
This assignment and subsequent voyage to France would provide all sorts of new and novel experiences for the still-youthful South Carolinian. Jackson was only twenty-two when he set sail for France and the highly important mission upon which both he and Lt. Col. John Laurens had embarked. But, the working out of this mission would also bring William Jackson into contact with another South Carolinian - Commodore Alexander Gillon, commanding officer of the Navy of South Carolina and ranking officer on board the frigate South Carolina.