Sidney D. Jackman

Sidney Drake Jackman (March 7, 1826 or March 21, 1828 – June 2, 1886) was an American farmer, teacher, and soldier. He served as an officer in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, most noted for his performance in the early part of the Battle of Westport in 1864.

After the war, Jackman fled to Mexico, then returned to the United States. He again took up farming, served as a state legislator, and later entered law enforcement.

Early life and career Jackman was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky, in the spring of either 1826 or 1828, the son of Thomas Jackman and his wife Mary Drake. Sometime in 1830, the family moved to Howard County, Missouri, where Sidney Jackman was taught some basic schooling. By late in the 1840s he was living in Boone County, Missouri, where he look up work as a schoolteacher as well as farming. On February 18, 1849, Jackman married his first wife, Martha Rachael Slavin, in Boone County, and they had two daughters and four sons together. In the summer of 1862, was authorized to raise a cavalry regiment of Missourians in Arkansas. Finding this slow going, he obtained permission to recruit in Missouri. On August 16 Jackman fought at the Battle of Lone Jack, where he led troops that helped defeat the Union forces occupying Lone Jack, Missouri.

Jackman served in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War, mainly participating in irregular guerilla style tactics against Union targets. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Bartholow and then set up camp at Glasgow. On June 1, Jackman's small command encountered and defeated a group of Federal cavalry, where he reportedly shot the leader of the Union horsemen.

Postbellum With the collapse of the Confederate States in 1865, Jackman and some of his men decided not to surrender and headed for Mexico. Along the way, Jackman reunited with his now-released family in Shreveport, Louisiana, and proceeded with them toward Texas and the border. Near the end of 1865 they arrived in the city of San Marcos, located in Hays County, Texas. Jackman entered northern Mexico, leaving his family in Texas while he ascertained whether to relocate there. Deciding against it, he crossed back into the United States and surrendered to Federal authorities in San Antonio. Taken to New Orleans, Louisiana, took the loyalty oath to the U.S. Government, and was subsequently paroled. Jackman was appointed the U.S. Marshal for western Texas by U.S. President Grover Cleveland. He held this post until his death at his home in Kyle in June 1886. He is buried in the town's Kyle Cemetery.