Editing Jackson, Tennessee (section)

===Civil War through 19th century===

{{More citations needed section|date=April 2024}}

In 1862 Tennessee came under the control of Union forces and was occupied until General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] decided to concentrate his efforts to the South. Between December 11, 1862, and January 1, 1863, an engagement at Jackson occurred during [[Confederated States of America|Confederate]] Brigadier General [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]]'s expedition into West Tennessee. Forrest wanted to disrupt the rail supply line to Grant's army, which was campaigning along the route of the [[Mississippi Central Railroad]]. If Forrest destroyed the [[Mobile & Ohio Railroad]] running south from [[Columbus, Kentucky]] through Jackson, Grant would have to curtail or halt his operations altogether.

Forrest's 2,100-man cavalry brigade crossed the [[Tennessee River]] on December 17. Grant ordered a soldier concentration at Jackson under Brigadier General [[Jeremiah C. Sullivan]] and sent a cavalry force under Colonel [[Robert G. Ingersoll]]. Forrest's command defeated the Union cavalry in [[Lexington, Tennessee]] on December 18. As Forrest continued his advance the following day, Sullivan ordered Colonel Adolph Englemann to take a small force northeast of Jackson.

At Old Salem Cemetery, acting on the defensive, Englemann's two infantry regiments repulsed a Confederate mounted attack, then withdrew a mile closer to the city. The fight amounted to no more than a feint and show of force intended to hold Jackson's Union defenders in position, while two mounted Confederate columns destroyed railroad track to both the north and south of the town, then returned. Forrest withdrew from the Jackson area to attack Trenton and Humboldt after this mission was accomplished.<ref>[http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn009.htm Battles in Tennessee]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150201120601/http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn009.htm |date=February 1, 2015 }}</ref>

As a result of the destruction of the railroad, Grant abandoned his plans to invade Mississippi from Tennessee in favor of an attack on [[Vicksburg, Mississippi]], for control of the river. Federal troops left Jackson and moved to Memphis, which became a major center for Union troops for the duration of the war. Forrest returned to Jackson in early 1864 and used the city as his headquarters as his forces attacked Federal positions in northern West Tennessee and [[Fort Pillow Massacre|Fort Pillow]], a Union position on the Mississippi north of Memphis. Forrest returned to Jackson again later that year in preparation for an attack on Federal river traffic on the Tennessee River east of Paris and the supply base at Johnsonville.

With the emancipation of slaves and passage of US constitutional amendments granting suffrage to African-American males, Jackson's [[freedmen]] and formerly [[free people of color]] began to participate in the political system. But secret vigilante groups, such as the [[Ku Klux Klan]], developed chapters in Tennessee and throughout the South that intimidated and attacked freedmen in order to exercise [[white supremacy]]. As Reconstruction continued, they worked to suppress the black Republican vote.

In the late 19th century, the white-dominated state legislature passed several laws that made voter registration and voting more difficult, including payment of a [[poll tax (United States)|poll tax]], and resulted in reducing voting by many blacks and poor whites.<ref name="buch"/> After Reconstruction, white violence increased against blacks. In 1886, [[Lynching of Eliza Woods|Eliza Woods]], an African-American woman, was [[Lynching|lynched]] in Jackson after being accused of poisoning and killing her employer, Jessie Woolen. Woolen's husband later confessed to the crime.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30A1FFC3A5410738DDDA90A94D0405B8684F0D3 "A Woman Lynched"], ''The New York Times'', August 20, 1886.</ref><ref>Paula J. Giddings. ''Ida: A Sword Among Lions''. Harper Collins, 2009, [https://books.google.com/books?id=OFRGjgtNoZ4C&pg=PA117 pp. 117], [https://books.google.com/books?id=OFRGjgtNoZ4C&pg=PA152 152].</ref> Two other African Americans were known to have been lynched by whites in Madison County in this period that extended into the early 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |title=''Lynching in America/ Supplement: Lynching by County'', 3rd edition, Montgomery, AL: Equal Justice Initiative, 2017 |access-date=June 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063004/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>