Tulip James

James Robert Jackson
August 21, 1829- November 11, 1864

     In honor of Memorial Day weekend, I thought I would introduce one of the members of the Jackson family who served his country and gave the ultimate sacrifice to secure our freedoms.  James Robert Jackson, or "Tulip James" as we have come to call him, served as a pilot in the Union Navy during the Civil War.  He enlisted in the Union Navy on March 29, 1864 and served on his first vessel until July 17, 1864.  He then served on the Commodore Reed until August 18, 1864 and eventually served on the USS Tulip which proved to be disastrous.  On November 11, 1864, the USS Tulip exploded in the Potomac River off of Ragged Point.  The Tulip had a faulty starboard boiler and, fearing attack by Confederate snipers on shore, the Captain went against orders, fired up the boiler causing it to explode.  James, who served as Pilot, was one of 49 men killed out of 57.

USS Fuchsia sister ship to the USS Tulip

     In Virginia, where James was born and raised, most men chose to serve in the Confederate military to protect their home state.  I remember my dad asking Zelia "Sissy" Jackson, who was James' daughter-in-law, about James and why he served in the Union.  When she eventually decided to discuss James (most times she wouldn't), she stated he had no choice but to serve with the Union Navy because "the Confederates didn't want him".  This statement was rather absurd because the Confederates didn't turn anyone away.  It is possible, however, that James was forced to serve with the Union.  According to Dr. Bruce Thompson, an archaeologist who has done several dives on the wreck of the USS Tulip, pilots were extremely valuable to the Union Navy in the area of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries because the Confederates destroyed all the navigational aids in the area.  Pilots were sometimes forced by gunpoint to join the navy and pledge allegiance to the Union.

     It is unknown exactly how James Robert Jackson came to join the Union Navy.  In 1860, the census listed his occupation as oysterman. In 1861 at the start of the Civil War, he moved his family to Maryland.  Was the move a career change to become a pilot or was he really secretly a Union sympathizer?  Unfortunately, those questions will most likely remain unanswered.  

     Today the U.S. Navy still holds a memorial service for those men who were lost on the USS Tulip back on November 11, 1864.  At the small memorial along the Potomac and St Mary's River in St. Inigoes, MD, sailors from the Patuxent Naval Air Station gather with members of my family to pay their respects to the 49 lives that were lost all those years ago.  The memorial is still listed as the smallest US Federal cemetery.

     So on this Memorial Day weekend, when you're off work and enjoying your parades and BBQ's, take a moment to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country whether it was in the painful birth of our Nation in the 1700's and 1800's or conflicts of today.