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William Jackson (March 9, 1759 – December 17, 1828) was a figure in the American Revolution, most noteworthy as the secretary to the United States Constitutional Convention. He also served with distinction in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. After the war he served as one of President George Washington's personal secretaries. ==Early life and military career== Born in the county of Cumberland in England, Jackson was sent to Charleston in South Carolina after the death of his parents. He was raised by a family friend and prominent merchant, Owen Roberts, who was the commander of a militia battalion. After the war broke out in 1775, Roberts joined the Patriot side, and the teenaged Jackson followed; Roberts probably helped Jackson to obtain a position as a cadet in the 1st South Carolina Regiment. In May 1776 Jackson was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Jackson first saw action near Charleston in June 1776, when his regiment fought off General Sir Henry Clinton's attempted attack on Fort Sullivan. The unit then spent a long period garrisoning the city of Charleston, during which Charles Cotesworth Pinckney assumed command of the 1st South Carolina. Late in 1777, Jackson was part of the detachment that made an ill-conceived and worse conducted expedition against St. Augustine in British East Florida under Major-General Robert Howe. The expedition was a colossal failure, and the American force was struck down by disease. Jackson survived, and returned to South Carolina in 1778. After the return from Florida, the Southern regiments were placed under the command of Major-General Benjamin Lincoln, from Massachusetts. Pinckney convinced Lincoln that as a Northerner, he needed an aide to assist him in relating to his Southern troops. Jackson was chosen for this position and was temporarily promoted to the rank of major. As Lincoln's aide he saw action in the Battle of Stono Ferry and the Siege of Savannah in 1779. In 1780 General Lincoln surrendered his troops after the lengthy Siege of Charleston. As a captured officer, Jackson was shipped to Philadelphia, then held by the British. After a few months he was returned to the Continental Army in an exchange of prisoners. A skilled staff officer, Jackson was then assigned to General Washington's staff, serving as secretary to the general's aide John Laurens, son of Henry Laurens of South Carolina. When Laurens was sent to France in 1781 to buy supplies with money loaned by the French Government, he took Jackson along, and the job was handed over to Jackson when Laurens returned to America after a short and undiplomatic stay in France; Jackson made extensive purchases, beyond his budget, and had a discussion with Benjamin Franklin after spending some of the money Franklin had reserved for unpaid bills. Jackson himself returned to the United States in February 1782, and was assistant secretary of war to Benjamin Lincoln. The Confederation's Department of War, like the British, was a financial liaison with the Army; Jackson helped settle the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783. In October 1783, he resigned his office, and his commission, to become Robert Morris's agent in England; when he returned the next year, he studied law with the Philadelphia lawyer William Lewis. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Jackson (secretary)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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