March 24, 1890: Confederate General William Lowther Jackson Dies at 65

On March 24, 1890, former Confederate General William Lowther Jackson died at age 65. Prior to the Civil War, the Clarksburg native had served as a Ritchie County judge, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, and president of the Virginia state senate.

When the Civil War began, he was serving as a circuit judge in Parkersburg. An ardent Southern sympathizer, he tried to gain control of the local militia and its three cannons for the Confederacy. He was eventually forced to leave Parkersburg, which was generally pro-Union.

Jackson quickly rose through the Confederate ranks—from private to colonel. While serving on the staff of his cousin “Stonewall” Jackson, his colleagues jokingly nicknamed him “Mudwall.” Unfortunately for him, the nickname stuck. “Mudwall” Jackson played an important role in the Jones-Imobden Raid in Western Virginia in 1863, and, as a brigadier general, he led the Southern forces at the Battle of Droop Mountain in Pocahontas County.

After the war, William Lowther “Mudwall” Jackson returned to Parkersburg but received a hostile reception due to his past support for the South. He moved to Louisville, where he served as a circuit judge until his death.