{{Short description|American secessionist (1823–1861)}} {{about|the American secessionist from Virginia|other uses|James Jackson (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox person | name = James William Jackson | image = Death of Col Ellsworth.jpg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = James Jackson shooting Col. Ellsworth | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = March 6, 1823 | birth_place = Fairfax County, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1861|05|24|1823|03|06}} | death_place = Marshall House, Alexandria, Virginia, C.S.A. | death_cause = Gunshot wound | other_names = | occupation = Proprietor of the Marshall House | years_active = | known_for = Ardent secessionist | notable_works = }} thumb|The Marshall House, Alexandria, Virginia – the place where Elmer Ellsworth was shot to death by Jackson. (photo 1861) '''James William Jackson''' (March 6, 1823 – May 24, 1861) was an ardent secessionist and the proprietor of the Marshall House, an inn located in the city of Alexandria, Virginia, at the beginning of the American Civil War. He is known for flying a large Confederate flag – the "Stars and Bars" variant – atop his inn that was visible to President Abraham Lincoln from Washington, D.C., and for killing Col. Elmer Ellsworth in an incident that marked the first conspicuous casualty and the first killing of a Union officer in the Civil War. Jackson was killed immediately after he killed Ellsworth. While losing their lives, both gained fame as martyrs to their respective causes.
== The incident == {{See also|History of Alexandria, Virginia#American Civil War}} During the month that Virginia voters contemplated whether to follow the recommendation of the Virginia Secession Convention, President Abraham Lincoln and his Cabinet reportedly observed, through field glasses from an elevated spot in Washington, Jackson's large Confederate flag flying atop the Marshall House inn in Alexandria, across the Potomac River.<ref name=Snowden>{{cite book|last=Snowden|first=W.H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mThEAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA5|title=Alexandria, Virginia|work=Some Old Historic Landmarks of Virginia and Maryland Described in a Hand-book for the Tourist Over the Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Electric Railway|pages=5–9|location=Philadelphia|publisher=J.B. Lippincott Company|year=1894|oclc=681385571|lccn=rc01002851|access-date=2019-01-29|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bCPbnsUPhB0C&pg=PA280 Goodheart, p. 280.]</ref> Jackson had reportedly stated the flag would only be taken down "over his dead body".<ref name=Snowden/><ref name=Leepson>{{cite web|url=https://alexandriahistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2011_Fall_Chronicle.pdf|editor-first=Linda|editor-last=Greenberg|date=Fall 2011|title=The First Union Civil War Martyr: Elmer Ellsworth, Alexandria, and the American Flag|first=Marc|last=Leepson|work=The Alexandria Chronicle|publisher=Alexandria Historical Society, Inc.|location=Alexandria, Virginia}}</ref>
On May 24, 1861, the day after Virginia voters ratified the secession recommendation, federal troops crossed the Potomac and captured Alexandria.<ref name=Snowden/> One federal regiment was the famously flamboyant 11th New York Zouave Infantry, led by Col. Elmer Ellsworth, who was a close friend of Lincoln.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bCPbnsUPhB0C&pg=PA279 Goodheart, p. 279.]</ref> left|thumb|250x250px|Jackson's shotgun used to kill Col. Ellsworth When approaching the Marshall House, Ellsworth saw the flag, and went inside the building to seize it.<ref name=Snowden/> When questioned, a boarder at the house informed Ellsworth that he knew nothing about the flag.<ref name=murder/> Ellsworth then climbed the stairs and removed the flag from the flagpole.<ref name=Snowden/> As Ellsworth returned downstairs with the flag, Jackson suddenly appeared and shot him dead with an English-made double-barrel shotgun.<ref name=Snowden/><ref name=murder>(1) {{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/details/harpersweeklyv5bonn/page/357|title=The Murder of Colonel Ellsworth|journal=Harper's Weekly|volume=5|pages=357–358|number=232|date=1861-06-08|access-date=2019-01-28|via=Internet Archive}}<br />(2) {{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/details/harpersweeklyv5bonn/page/369|title=The Murder of Ellsworth|journal=Harper's Weekly|volume=5|number=233|page=369|date=1861-06-15|access-date=2019-01-28|via=Internet Archive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127201002/http://www.civilwar.si.edu/firstblood_shotgun.html|archive-date=2019-01-27|url=http://www.civilwar.si.edu/firstblood_shotgun.html|title=James W. Jackson's shotgun|work=CivilWar@Smithsonian: First Blood|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Smithsonian Institution: National Portrait Gallery|year=2004|access-date=2019-01-27}}</ref> Then Francis E. Brownell of Ellsworth's regiment shot and bayonetted Jackson, thus killing him.<ref name=Snowden/><ref name=murder/> Both men immediately became celebrated martyrs for their respective causes.<ref name=Snowden/><ref name=murder/><ref>(1) {{cite web|editor-first=J. J.|editor-last=Prats|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126165901/https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=159|archive-date=2019-01-26|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=159|title="Alexandria: Alexandria in the Civil War" marker|publisher=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2019-01-26}}<br />(2) {{cite web|first=Tom|last=Fuchs|date=2006-02-23|url=https://www.hmdb.org/Photos/0/Photo373o.jpg|format=photograph|title="Alexandria: Alexandria in the Civil War" marker|publisher=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2019-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126170148/https://www.hmdb.org/Photos/0/Photo373o.jpg|archive-date=2019-01-26}}<br />(3) {{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126154230/https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/info/default.aspx?id=101305|archive-date=2019-01-26|url=https://www.alexandriava.gov/historic/info/default.aspx?id=101305|title=Wayfinding: Marshall House|date=2018-03-28|publisher=City of Alexandria, Virginia|access-date=2019-01-26}}</ref>
== Legacy == [[File:Site of James W. Jackson's hotel, Alexandria, VA.jpg|thumb|The Hotel Monaco, now The Alexandrian, on the site of the Marshall House, seen in 2009. The Marshall House plaque is visible in the foreground, within a blind arch near a corner of the hotel.]] [[File:Site of James W. Jackson's hotel plaque, Alexandria, VA.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Marshall House plaque, within a blind arch near a corner of the Hotel Monaco before its removal (2009)]] In 1862, an account of his death was published in Richmond, Virginia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/lifeofjameswjack00rich/lifeofjameswjack00rich_djvu.txt|title=Life of James W. Jackson, The Alexandria Hero, The Slayer of Ellsworth, Martyr in the Cause of Southern Independence; Containing a Full Account of the Circumstances of His Heroic Death, and the Many Remarkable Incidents In His Remarkable Live, Constituting a True History, More Like Romance Than Reality. Published for the Benefit of His Family.|year=1862|location=Richmond, Virginia|publisher=West & Johnson|access-date=2019-01-27|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1863, Union officials established a contraband camp (for former slaves) on or adjacent to or land owned by Jackson's widow in Lewinsville.<ref>{{cite web|first=Ronald J. Jr.|last=Baumgarten|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127192902/http://dclawyeronthecivilwar.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-search-of-contraband-camps-of-mclean.html|archive-date=2019-01-27|url=http://dclawyeronthecivilwar.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-search-of-contraband-camps-of-mclean.html|work=All Not So Quiet Along the Potomac: The Civil War in Northern Virginia & Beyond|title=In Search of the Contraband Camps of McLean, Virginia, Part II: Camp Beckwith|date=2013-09-29|format=blog|via=Blogger|access-date=2019-01-27}}</ref>
In 1999, sociologist and historian James W. Loewen noted in his book ''Lies Across America'' that the Sons of Confederate Veterans had placed a bronze plaque on the side of a Holiday Inn that had been constructed on the former site of the Marshall House. Loewen reported that the plaque described Jackson's death but omitted any mention of Ellsworth.<ref>{{cite book|first=James W.|last=Loewen|author-link=James W. Loewen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRtFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA294|title=The Clash of the Martyrs: Virginia: Alexandria|work=Lies Across America: What Our Historic Markers and Monuments Get Wrong|pages=294–295|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2000|access-date=2019-01-26|isbn=9781595586766|oclc=892054466|lccn=99014212|via=Google Books}}</ref> Adam Goodheart further discussed the incident and the plaque (which was then within a blind arch near a corner of a Hotel Monaco) in his 2011 book ''1861: The Civil War Awakening''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bCPbnsUPhB0C Goodheart]</ref>
The plaque called Jackson the "first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence" and said he "was killed by federal soldiers while defending his property and personal rights ... in defence of his home and the sacred soil of his native state".<ref name=plaque>(1) [https://books.google.com/books?id=bCPbnsUPhB0C&pg=PA292 Goodheart, p. 292].<br />(2) {{cite web|editor-first=Bill|editor-last=Pfingsten|url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=65490|title="The Marshall House" marker|publisher=HMdb: The Historical Marker Database|access-date=2019-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126034243/https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=65490|archive-date=2019-01-26}}<br />(3) {{cite web|date=2017-10-23|first=Meg|last=Groeling|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125231408/https://emergingcivilwar.com/2017/10/23/battlefield-markers-monuments-colonel-elmer-ellsworth-and-the-marshall-house-hotel-plaque/|archive-date=2019-01-25|url=https://emergingcivilwar.com/2017/10/23/battlefield-markers-monuments-colonel-elmer-ellsworth-and-the-marshall-house-hotel-plaque/|title=Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and the Marshall House Hotel Plaque|work=Emerging Civil War: Battlefield Markers & Monuments|format=blog|access-date=2019-01-25|via=WordPress}}</ref> In full, it read: <div class="center">{{poemquote| THE MARSHALL HOUSE stood upon this site, and within the building on the early morning of May 24, JAMES W. JACKSON was killed by federal soldiers while defending his property and personal rights as stated in the verdict of the coroners jury. He was the first martyr to the cause of Southern Independence. The justice of history does not permit his name to be forgotten. –––––––––––––––– O ––––––––––––––– Not in the excitement of battle, but coolly and for a great principle, he laid down his life, an example to all, in defence of his home and the sacred soil of his native state. VIRGINIA}}</div>
In 2013, WTOP reported that some Alexandria residents were advocating the removal of the plaque, but that city officials had no control over the matter as the plaque was on private property.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wtop.com/news/2013/02/curious-plaque-tells-forgotten-story/slide/1|title=Curious plaque tells forgotten story|author=wtopstaff|date=2013-02-02|publisher=WTOP|access-date=2019-01-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126005604/https://wtop.com/news/2013/02/curious-plaque-tells-forgotten-story/slide/1/|archive-date=2019-01-26}}</ref> However, in December 2016, Marriott International purchased The Monaco, added it to its boutique Autograph Collection and renamed it as "The Alexandrian".<ref>{{cite news|first=Mary Ann|last=Barton|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126033800/https://patch.com/virginia/oldtownalexandria/hotel-monaco-sold-become-alexandrian|archive-date=2019-01-26|url=https://patch.com/virginia/oldtownalexandria/hotel-monaco-sold-become-alexandrian|title=Hotel Monaco Sold, to Become The Alexandrian|work=Patch: Old Town Alexandria|publisher=Patch Media|date=2016-12-14|access-date=2019-01-26|quote=As of Dec. 20, a boutique division of Marriott will manage Hotel Monaco and Morrison House in Alexandria, after sale of properties.}}</ref> By October 2017, Marriott had removed the plaque from The Alexandrian and had given it to the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.<ref>{{cite web|date=2017-10-23|first=Meg|last=Groeling|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125231408/https://emergingcivilwar.com/2017/10/23/battlefield-markers-monuments-colonel-elmer-ellsworth-and-the-marshall-house-hotel-plaque/|archive-date=2019-01-25|url=https://emergingcivilwar.com/2017/10/23/battlefield-markers-monuments-colonel-elmer-ellsworth-and-the-marshall-house-hotel-plaque/|title=Colonel Elmer Ellsworth and the Marshall House Hotel Plaque|work=Emerging Civil War: Battlefield Markers & Monuments|format=blog|access-date=2019-01-25|via=WordPress}}</ref>{{better source|date=November 2020|reason=This seems to be citing user-generated comments, not a reliable source.}}
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==References== {{cite book|title=1861: The Civil War Awakening|first=Adam|last=Goodheart|author-link=Adam Goodheart|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCPbnsUPhB0C|location=New York|publisher=Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc.|year=2012|oclc=973512612|isbn=9781400032198|lccn=2010051326|access-date=2019-01-25|via=Google Books}}
==External links== *{{commons category-inline|James W. Jackson}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, James W.}} Category:1823 births Category:1861 deaths Category:American innkeepers Category:19th-century American murderers Category:Civilians killed in the American Civil War Category:Deaths by firearm in Virginia Category:People of Virginia in the American Civil War