Jack Hinson Legendary Sniper...

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
This guy Jack Hinson is as much folklore and wise tales, as truth. We will start with the folklore...

John W. “Jack” Hinson, better known as “Old Jack” to his family, was a prosperous farmer in Stewart County, Tennessee. A non-political man, he opposed secession from the Union even though he owned slaves. Friends and neighbors described him as a peaceable man, yet despite all this, he would end up going on a one-man killing spree.

Jack’s plantation was called Bubbling Springs, where he lived with his wife and ten children. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he was fiercely determined to remain neutral.

Grant had stayed at the Hinson estate after capturing Fort Henry and Fort Donelson.
In taking the last, he secured a vital gateway to the rest of the Confederacy. The Union’s victory at the Battle of Fort Donelson was also its first major one since the start of the Civil War.

Before the entire family, the heads were stuck on two gate posts as an example of Union justice. The lieutenant in charge wanted to arrest the Hinsons for their relationship to the two alleged bushwhackers but was informed about Grant’s stay on the property.


From here his sniping career takes off... So let us add some truth to Jack's story...

Long also discovered where Hinson had voted in 1861 for a resolution to separate from the Union, as well as voting for the Constitution of Confederate States and for a Confederate States president.

Sons maybe have lived...

In an 1863 document, which was months after his sons where supposedly killed, Long noticed some language about the sons was in present tense — “I know his sons” and “their names are,” which could indicate inaccuracies.

Long also found a possible motive for Hinson’s vendetta against Union soldiers in an Feb. 18, 1873, obituary for Hinson that erroneously appeared in the Nashville Union and American newspaper. In describing Hinson, who was apparently known throughout the region, it recounted that Union soldiers had burned his house and mistreated his wife and daughters.


His grave is in a dispute... it's on fine a grave...

Hinson’s actual obituary appeared in the Clarksville Weekly Chronicle in May of 1874, but a dispute continues until today about where he was actually buried, Long said...

Now we are back to what could be true or not...

The most spectacular story of his sniping career was when an entire boat of Union soldiers surrendered to him. After Jack fired on the boat, the captain thought he was being attacked by Confederate soldiers. To avoid further bloodshed, the captain beached his boat, raised a white tablecloth, and waited to be captured. But Jack couldn’t possibly handle them all, so he retreated and let them wait.

In November 1864, for example, he guided Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest to Johnsonville to attack its Union supply center.

Jack survived the war and cut 36 circles in the barrel of his rifle to mark the number of Union officers he killed. Union records, however, blame him for over 130 kills – though it’s believed that he may have killed “only” a little more than 100.


There are many links to him but most have the Folklore not the corrections...

Link Folklore: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/american-civil-war/jack-ninson-civil-war-sniper-hell.html

Link Correction: https://www.theleafchronicle.com/st...nson-legend-revised-via-old-records/88619060/

There is a book about him ...

 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here is the book... does not have the correction to the story...

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Jack-Hinsons-One-Man-Civil-Sniper/dp/1589806409



Book Summary:

The true story of one man's reluctant but relentless war against the invaders of his country.A quiet, wealthy plantation owner, Jack Hinson watched the start of the Civil War with disinterest. Opposed to secession and a friend to Union and Confederate commanders alike, he did not want a war. After Union soldiers seized and murdered his sons, placing their decapitated heads on the gateposts of his estate, Hinson could remain indifferent no longer. He commissioned a special rifle for long-range accuracy, he took to the woods, and he set out for revenge. This remarkable biography presents the story of Jack Hinson, a lone Confederate sniper who, at the age of 57, waged a personal war on Grant's army and navy. The result of 15 years of scholarship, this meticulously researched and beautifully written work is the only account of Hinson's life ever recorded and involves an unbelievable cast of characters, including the Earp brothers, Jesse James, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here is his fame rifle...

Link to another story about Jack: https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/the-story-of-civil-war-sniper-jack-hinson-and-his-rifle/247860

Captain Jack's first order of business was to acquire a .50-caliber, heavy-barreled rifle. The gun would be of the percussion-cap variety and completely subdued except for the German silver bead on the front sight that would be overlaid on many a Union target. This Kentucky rifle sported a 41-inch rifled barrel that would help him reach out to nearly a half-mile for his debt settlement with the unsuspecting Union enemy. Jack would be able to load Minie balls for added accuracy, as well as enhanced terminal performance. The Minie ball trumped the round lead ball for performance all the way around. These conical lead bullets became extremely popular during the Civil War, and they continue to dominate today with regard to the blackpowder rifle.

In the deadly game of sniping, Jack was a master. He not only settled the score, he also continued to cause fear among the Union Army as they braved the woods and waterways of Tennessee. Legend says that the 36 eighth-inch punch marks on his sniper rifle indicate the number of victims who fell to his deadly skill. Others say this was a primitive way of decorating a firearm by local craftsmen. Regardless of which is true, there is no second-guessing his sniping abilities.

Snip fate of his family...

When all was said and done, this Southern gentleman faded into obscurity. With more than 100 of the enemy eliminated by his sniper expertise, the war had taken a toll on his family as well. Captain Jack Hinson had lost seven children. Two had enlisted as Confederate soldiers, one of whom was wounded, then recovered, only to be killed later in the war, at Petersburg. The other Confederate soldier son made it through the war, surviving Appomattox, then he walked home, was paroled at Fort Donelson, then died soon after, apparently from malnutrition and exhaustion. Remember that Hinson lost two other sons, beheaded in Dover. Another son had fought as a guerilla in the mid-Tennessee area and was later killed in battle. Last, his two young daughters had succumbed to measles.


Jack's Rifle...


 
Last edited:

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
I am adding a teaser in: The Longest Sniper shot of the Civil War...

It happened at Fort Sumter...

Fort Sumter, South Carolina was famous for having suffered the first shots of the Civil War in April 1861. Over three years later, the two sides were still fighting over it. Confederate troops held the badly damaged fort while Union soldiers fired on it with artillery from batteries on nearby islands.

On Dec. 5 an unidentified Confederate soldier in Fort Sumter saw a Union soldier moving in Battery Gregg, 1390 yards away. The Southerner was likely using a Whitworth Rifle when he lined up his sights on the Union soldier and fired, killing him.

That's longer than any confirmed kill of World War I or II and only 400 yards shy of making a modern top 10 list. Wikipedia still ranks it as the 14th longest sniper kill in history.


Link to the rest of the story about it being an illegal shot and the firefight that happen... photos too...

link: https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/sniper-shot-record
 
Last edited:

Kirk's Raider's

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
2,251
Reaction score
922
I am adding a teaser in: The Longest Sniper shot of the Civil War...

It happened at Fort Sumter...

Fort Sumter, South Carolina was famous for having suffered the first shots of the Civil War in April 1861. Over three years later, the two sides were still fighting over it. Confederate troops held the badly damaged fort while Union soldiers fired on it with artillery from batteries on nearby islands.

On Dec. 5 an unidentified Confederate soldier in Fort Sumter saw a Union soldier moving in Battery Gregg, 1390 yards away. The Southerner was likely using a Whitworth Rifle when he lined up his sights on the Union soldier and fired, killing him.

That's longer than any confirmed kill of World War I or II and only 400 yards shy of making a modern top 10 list. Wikipedia still ranks it as the 14th longest sniper kill in history.


Link to the rest of the story about it being an illegal shot and the firefight that happen... photos too...

link: https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/sniper-shot-record
So did Hinson really off one hundred plus blue bellies? I also doubt a 1,300 yard kill.
Kirk's Raider's
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
I also doubt a 1,300 yard kill.
The 1300 kill shot is a separate tale I just added because it was interesting event... No one knows the name of the confederate sniper that made the 1300 plus shot...

If you read some of the article Jack Hinson would be up in the wood waiting for steamboat come down the river where there were rapids and have to stop before navigating them. He would then try to take out an officer on the deck of steamboat... He would steady his rifle on a branch or large rock...
 
Last edited:

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
So did Hinson really off one hundred plus blue bellies?
It mentioned in many places but with Jack what is lore and what is true is in the eye of the beholder... https://tomrizzo.com/avenger/

Hinson succeeded in evading all attempts to stop him. The Union even dispatched a specially-equipped amphibious force of marines. But it also failed to stop the avenging father.

Union military records credtit—or blame—Hinson for killing more than 130 Union soldiers.

After the war, he rejoined his family. According to the Clarksville Weekly Chronicle, Captain Jack Hinson died at his home on White Oak Creek on April 28, 1874.

He was only 67. A man who suffered painful heartbreak. But, in his way, tried to even the score in his role as an avenger.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Here is a sketch of Grant's Headquaters for Ft. Donelson ... I do think it was Jack's place...

https://books.google.com/books?id=_...t's headquarters during the ft harris&f=false

I found Bubble Sping, TN. and it's near Ft. Donelson... but I found this paper on the Hinson's of Bubble Springs even a phsyical desription of John "Jack" Hinson ... I learned his first name was John and he went by Jack... it is a good read... it has Photos...

Link: https://pelicanpub.com/content/9781589806405_ch 1.pdf

Snip...

Confederate major Charles W. Anderson, wartime adjutant general to Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, knew Jack Hinson and served with him on at least three occasions during the war. He has given us the only known surviving, complete physical description of Jack Hinson. Major Anderson described Hinson’s “clear, gray eyes, compressed lips, and massive jaws” and offered his opinion that Hinson’s natural appearance “clearly indicated that under no circumstances was he a man to be trifled with, or aroused.” His eyes were narrow, above high cheekbones, almost suggesting the oriental, but inclining slightly upward toward the center of his forehead. Known in the family as “Hinson eyes,” they are a strong genetic characteristic, which continues to appear in his descendants today.5

In 1853, Jack was issued a tavern-keeper’s license. At that time, such licenses were issued to those who had homes large enough to have extra bedrooms and the capacity to serve meals to overnight guests. Such large homes had to be located on or near the existing roads on the stagecoach routes, for there were few hotels in that time, and travelers depended on such places to stay overnight while traveling. Of course, by the unwritten protocols of the rural South, all farm families were expected to take in individual travelers overnight and feed them but not in the numbers of stagecoach loads of passengers.8


A little more of detail and much less lore in the link above...
 

Joshism

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Messages
488
Reaction score
587
Has anyone written an extensive review of the Hinson book and it's accuracy? Lots of discussion on CWT but the threads get long and often meandering.
 

5fish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
10,619
Reaction score
4,544
Has anyone written an extensive review of the Hinson book and it's accuracy? Lots of discussion on CWT but the threads get long and often meandering.
Here is a review of the Book...


Here some more details of his life...

 

Leftyhunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2020
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
302
Screw the Abby
Here is a review of the Book...


Here some more details of his life...

Screw the Abbyville Institute there a bunch of racists. Jack Hinson was not a peaceful man. Since court records confirm he wasn't it might be BS about Hinson offing so many Union soldiers.
Leftyhunter
 

Leftyhunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2020
Messages
1,303
Reaction score
302
I agree Abbeville has creditability issues... But it is a book review.. take it with a grain of salt...
Now that we know part of the Hinton story is BS in that he was not a peaceful man do we know if Hinson was actually an active sniper that accomplished amazing feats of daring do?
Leftyhunter
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Jack Hinson was definitely a man on a mission and picked the appropriate tool for that mission. Union records indicate he was suspected of between 100-130 deaths - we know for certain 36. That's the number of notches on his rifle. A very skilled sniper with a carefully selected nest could do a lot of damage - a specialty was gunboats. One had so many casualties it surrendered to him. He was surprised and didn't know what to do with it - after a time it shoved off, when no rebels came forth to take command of it!

Some have thought Jack was off his nut - maybe that was so. He gave his rifle to Forrest when he was finished with his revenge. Forrest quickly gave it to Charles Anderson and it is still with Anderson's descendants. The Union was out in full force looking for Hinson - the last thing Forrest needed was to be in possession of that gun!
 

O' Be Joyful

ohio hillbilly
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
3,491
Reaction score
3,136
As my E. Ken-tuck Gran-pappie woulda said when he heard such a "story" while fox hunting,

"Ack, ack": which stands in for bull-scat. ;)
 

diane

that gal
Joined
Mar 18, 2020
Messages
2,412
Reaction score
3,045
Jack Hinson's real story is true - he was indeed a one man killing squad out to drill every Union officer he could find. The kind of grief-stricken madness he had can be found in many of the extremely violent guerillas in Missouri, for example. Bloody Bill Anderson might have been less bloody if certain tragedies hadn't taken place before he stepped off that edge nobody should step off of. Many of the violent men of Missouri were teenagers like Jesse James, who was a cousin of Jack Hinson's wife.

However, certain quarters would like to exaggerate Hinson's exploits to make him the greatest Yankee killer of them all, a mighty avenger of the South, and other fantastic creatures. He was just a grief-stricken father who had a real talent for vengeance!
 
Top