A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Jackson, George
JACKSON. (Lieut., 1815. f-p., 12; h-p., 32.)
George Jackson died 24 Nov. 1845.
This officer entered the Navy, in Feb. 1803, as Ordinary, on board the Puissant 74, Capt. John Irwin, lying at Spithead; and in May, 1804, became Midshipman of the Wasp 18, Capt. Hon. Fred. Wm. Aylmer; which vessel, when in convoy of a ship from Gibraltar in Feb. 1805, was attacked by a fleet of Spanish gun-boats, and only escaped capture by a breeze springing up and enabling her to bring her guns to bear on the enemy, two or three of whom were sunk. In the following Aug. the Wasp was chased by the celebrated Rochefort squadron; from which however she contrived to free herself by an effort of gallant perseverance, so marked that the Captain, John Simpson (the successor of Capt. Aylmer), his officers, and crew, received the public thanks of the Commander-in-Chief, and the strong approbation of the Admiralty. In Oct. 1808, Mr. Jackson, who until then had continued to serve with the last-named Captain in the Star and Wolverene sloops, on the Newfoundland and Halifax stations, obtained command of the Cuttle schooner, and was sent to Boston to await the President’s Message after the well-known affair of the Leander and Chesapeake. Joining next in the operations which led to the capture of Martinique in Feb. 1809, he was one of the first that landed on that island, where, it appears, he wrested a musket from the hands of a sentinel and hoisted the British flag. After the conquest he successively joined the Martin, Halifax, and Observateur sloops, Capts. John Evans, Alex. Fraser, and Wm. Simpson, under the last mentioned of whom we find him sharing in an action with a French corvette, who made off during the night. Immediately on passing his examination, on which occasion, 8 Feb. 1811, he produced certificates of his having had charge of a watch three years previously, Mr. Jackson was ordered on board the Aquilon 32, Capts. Hon. Wm. Pakenham and Wm. Bowles, employed at first off Leith, and then in the Channel. Towards the close of the same year he joined the Arethusa 38, flagship of Vice-Admiral Chas. Stirling, for a passage to the West Indies; on which and the North American station he served until 1815, as Mate and Acting Lieutenant, in the Thetis 38, Capt. Wm. Henry Byam, Brazen sloop, Capt. Jas. Stirling, Amelia 38, Capt. Hon. Fred. Paul Irby, Rivoli 74, Capt. Graham Eden Hamond, Niemen 38, Capt. Sam. Pym, Mohawk sloop, Capt. Henry Litchfield, and Cockchafer schooner, of 5 guns (4 12-pounder carronades and 1 long 12-pounder) and 22 men. While in the latter vessel, the command of which was given to him in March, 1814, he was employed in the performance of much valuable service. He was in the first place sent to Nassau, New Providence, for the purpose of affording protection to the coasting-trade, and of escorting convoys to the Havana and the Gulf of Mexico. He was also employed in negotiating with the Creek, Chocktaw, and other tribes of Indians at Pensacola, whom he induced to join the British against the Americans, conducting several of their chiefs to the officer in command at Apalatchabola, and thence back again with arms and ammunition, and a British Agent appointed to organise them, to Pensacola. He was then sent with despatches for the Commander-in-Chief in the Chesapeake, and on his arrival there he was ordered up the Potomac to assist the British in their descent of that river, after the capture of Alexandria. He subsequently led the starboard division in the attack upon Baltimore, on which occasion he took the soundings that are now laid down in Anthony Demain’s Chart. These operations over, Mr. Jackson returned to his station off New Providence, taking with him a brig laden with valuable government stores and presents for the Indian Chiefs. He afterwards had the good fortune, while yet in the Cockchafer, to effect the capture of six of the enemy’s vessels, two of which, were greatly his superiors, namely, the letters of marque Aurora of 10 long 9-pounders and 28 men, and Java, of 8 long nines and 22 men. In May, 1815, he took up a commission dated on 8 of the previous March, but he did not again go afloat.
Lieut. Jackson married, 15 Aug. 1839, Ann, daughter of the late John Shaw, Esq., of Idenshall Hall, co. Cheshire.