Slave in Jefferson Davis' home gave Union key secrets

[Sequoia]

William Jackson was a slave in the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. It turns out he was also a spy for the Union Army, providing key secrets to the North about the Confederacy.

Jackson was Davis' house servant and personal coachman. He learned high-level details about Confederate battle plans and movements because Davis saw him as a "piece of furniture" -- not a human, according to Ken Dagler, author of "Black Dispatches," which explores espionage by America's slaves.

"Because of his role as a menial servant, he simply was ignored," Dagler said. "So Jefferson Davis would hold conversations with military and Confederate civilian officials in his presence."

ttp://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/20/spy.slaves/index.html

[wryter2000]

1. Awesome

You rock, Mr. Jackson! :yourock:

[1monster]

2. K & R

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

3. You'd think Davis would have seen it coming.

Oh well.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

14. Davis wasn't a good leader

he promoted his friends and ignored good field commanders. That he treated his slaves as furniture doesn't surprise me in the least.

[RoyGBiv]

4. Women were ignored for the same reason ...

"Menial ..."

Imagine a black woman who, say, worked in Davis's home and just happened to know Elizabeth Van Lew.

There were lots of spies in the Confederacy, many of them slaves or former slaves who were able to do what they did because of the stupidity of the men who saw them as inherently inferior.

How so many in our nation still hold a similar opinion simply stuns me when I think about it.

[justinaforjustice]

18. Yup, Subpoena the Secretaries.

I've often thought that if Congress really wanted to get the low down on what is happening on issues they are investigating, such as Karl Rove and the firing of the 9 U.S. attorneys, they should forget about the principal actors and subpoena their secretaries. A good secretary knows everything that is going on, and then some. They are also likely to be too intimidated by a Congressional subpoena to even think about lying or claiming executive privilege.

[geardaddy]

5. K and R

Excellent!

[Ecumenist]

9. Off topic but I'm curious...are you Welsh?

[geardaddy]

17. What gave it away?

:rofl:

I'm of Welsh ancestry. I'm learning Welsh, since I'm into the whole language thing.

[Ecumenist]

33. I recognise the language. I am of a mixed ancestry..african

with alot of Scotch/Irish. English and so, I'm told, Welsh as well and that covers the UK part of my bloodline anyway.. A VERY interesting language, indeed. Where are you learning the language?

[geardaddy]

36. My grandmother

started me off with a few phrases. Then years later I started in a small local class. I've also used books and tapes. I spent three months in Bangor on an intensive course and have used the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/learnwelsh/. That site is comprehensive.

[WI_DEM]

6. A true hero

[ecstatic]

7. Great! thanks for posting nt

[Wickerman]

8. That is such poetry

Jeff Davis.

[Ecumenist]

10. I've always said that it works in your favour if people think

you're stupid because they never expect you to come at them with anything. It worked in his favour and for the countles faceless millions who were heroic and risked life and limb to do the right thing in the times he lived in.

[aquart]

11. I was going to ask what happened to him afterwards...

But I see that no one knows.

[aquart]

12. Okay, who should play Robert Smalls?

<http://www.robertsmalls.org/>

<>

Because there really needs to be a movie about this guy.


Great Reading!!!

Visit http://www.sc.edu/uscpress/ to order copies of the newly republished Gullah Statesman - Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress - 1839-1915 by Ed Miller in paperback.

In 1862 Robert Smalls, a 23-year-old mulatto slave, was employed by Confederates in Charleston, S.C. as pilot of Planter, area commander General Roswell Ripley’s transport steamer. In the early morning hours of May 13 the ship was loaded with armaments for the rebel forts. Contrary to regulations the white captain and crew were ashore for the night.

At about 3 a.m. Smalls commandeered the 147-foot vessel from a dock fronting General Ripley’s home and office. Smalls and his crew sailed to a nearby dock, collected family members from another ship and headed toward sea. Aboard Planter during its dash to the Union blockading squadron were Smalls’ wife, children and 12 other slaves.

Smalls donned the captain’s broad-brimmed straw hat and assumed the captain’s typical stance - arms akimbo - in the pilot house. As he passed each rebel fort he gave the correct whistle signal and was allowed to pass. Onward, the nearest Union blockading vessel, was preparing to fire on the approaching ship when Smalls raised a white flag and surrendered.

Union press hailed Smalls as a national hero, calling the ship “the first trophy from Fort Sumter.” A Congressional bill signed by President Lincoln awarded prize money to Smalls and his associates.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. That would make a great film

and it would be true, not something made up. The description of his passage through Confederate lines gave me goosebumps.

[aquart]

27. Didn't it? MEANT to be a movie.

[demodonkey]

25. Oh, wow, YESSSSS! Great story and would be a GREAT MOVIE! nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

16. Wonder if anyone has done any research to try and find out?

As a genealogist, my first thought would be the National Archives to see if there was anything in the war records there. Next would be the US Census for 1860 in VA, to ascertain his age when he was Davis's slave. Then jump to 1870 to see if he could be found there. His name is not unusual, though, so it would mean sifting through several documents to make sure you got the right one.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Thanks for this information!

I knew about Harriet Tubman, but had never heard of William Jackson until now. If he survived the war, perhaps his name can be found on US Census roles--a long shot, but perhaps worth a try.

[kestrel91316]

19. That is one of the most AWESOME stories I have ever heard.

Jackson: "I'll get YOU, white boy!" to Davis.

[kimmylavin]

20. Incredible.

Amazing stories, there.
And its about time they got some recognition!

[Spazito]

21. Fascinating!

Thanks for posting this, it is much appreciated.

Recommended.

[alcibiades_mystery]

22. It's only a shame Davis, Lee, and the rest of the leaders didn't swing from the nearest tree

Sherman had the right idea. Burn these fuckers to the ground, and build up with what's left.

[Thothmes]

28. That was something that Abraham Lincoln

worked very hard to see did not happen. The war was over, the rebels are our countrymen again. That was Lincoln's view. The Federal Government held Davis in prison for some years after the war. The Government was not sure they could make a winnable case of treason against him, so they eventualy let him go.

[loudsue]

32. Sounds like the South got "pardoned". Like Nixon. And walked...like Bush, Cheney et al.

If there were some people hung from the town square, we might have avoided some of the problems we've had subsequently.

Did anyone see Bill Maher last nite? He recommended hanging a couple of bankers in the town square...as an example. I think it's a good idea.

[Thothmes]

35. Yes, virtually every man that served in the Confederate Army.

There were some hangings afer the war. The Lincoln assissins, the Andersonville, GA prison camp commander, and some "guerillas" in western Virginia. Using your logic, if we had hung LBJ for the Vietnam war, maybe we would never have gone into Iraq?

[arcadian]

23. That's pretty damn cool.

n/t

[Sequoia]

24. Here's the book, or article from the CIA's website

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/black-dispatches/index.html

[eShirl]

31. thanks!

awesome

[Cha]

26. This is poignant..

Karma's a bitch.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

29. Just did some quick research

to see if I could find William Jackson in the 1870 census. There were 452 William Jacksons who were listed as black on that census. Interestingly enough, I couldn't find Jefferson Davis on the 1860 Mississippi census to find William there. I was hoping for an age and perhaps a place of birth; there are 86 William Jacksons in Virginia alone. I'm going to dig a bit more, but it looks like it might be rather difficult to trace this fellow.


Edited to add: found Davis in 1860 in Warren County MS (Vicksburg)--but none of his slaves were listed! So that means finding William Jackson will be harder. Hmmm....

Found a document from the Freedman's Bureau for a Hannah Brooks, widow of William Jackson--she's from VA. I'll let more dedicated researchers, with more resources, to this. But it might be possible to find out what happened to him.

[pleah]

30. I bet there are heads a spinning like Linda Blair down here in MS.

:rofl:

[BlooInBloo]

34. Jefferson Davis quoted: "I don't think anybody could have predicted this".