Nathaniel J . Jackson Nathaniel James Jackson ( July 28 , 1818 – April 21 , 1892 ) was an American machinist and soldier . He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War , in which he was wounded three times . After the war Jackson operated a mine . Early life and career . Nathaniel J . Jackson was born in the coastal town of Newburyport located in Essex County , Massachusetts . When he was young he was taught " the machinist ' s trade " and by 1861 he was superintendent of the Hill mill in Lewiston , Maine . Jackson also was active in the Maine State Militia , and would command some of those militiamen early in the American Civil War during his first two commands . Civil War service . In 1861 Jackson chose to follow the Union cause . He was appointed commander of the 1st Maine Infantry Regiment on May 3 , with the rank of colonel . The 1st Maine did not participate in the opening campaigns of the Civil War , and the 90 - day regiment as well as Jackson were mustered out of the volunteer service in early August . Jackson re - entered the Union Army on September 3 , 1861 , as colonel of the 5th Maine Infantry . This regiment enlisted for 3 years service , and Jackson ' s appointment to command it was not popular . His assignment was announced on September 9 , " which led to a near mutiny in the regiment . Several officers resigned and General Henry W . Slocum had to act swiftly to prevent further mutinous acts by the members of the 5th Maine . " Jackson and the 5th then participated in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign . He fought during the Battle of Gaines ' Mill on June 27 , where Jackson was wounded in his right elbow . His regiment lost 10 killed , 69 wounded , and another 16 men missing in the battle . Upon recovering , Jackson participated in the 1862 Maryland Campaign . He fought at the Battle of Crampton ' s Gap on September 14 , and was present Battle of Antietam three days later . On September 19 Jackson was wounded in his knee in fighting again at Crampton ' s Gap . On September 23 at his camp near Williamsport , Maryland , Jackson submitted his official report concerning the battle on September 14 , saying : Jackson was promoted to brigadier general on September 24 , 1862 , and given brigade command in the XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac that October . His brigade and the XII Corps was stationed at Harper ' s Ferry during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December . Jackson was seriously wounded on April 17 , 1863 , in Spotsylvania County , Virginia , when his horse slipped and Jackson fractured his right thigh . The injury prevented him from participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville that May and was out of action until the fall . When Jackson was fit enough for light duty , he was given command of the Draft Depot in New York Harbor located on Rikers Island , and then on Hart ' s Island , posts he held for over a year . On November 11 , 1864 , Jackson was ordered to the Western Theater and given temporary command of a division of XX Corps in the Army of Georgia . He led it during Sherman ' s March to the Sea in November and December 1864 , in which Jackson was wounded when he was shot just above his right ankle . In 1865 he continued to lead his division in the Carolinas Campaign until April 2 , fighting at the Battle of Bentonville . Jackson was brevetted to the rank of major general in the Union Army on March 15 , due to his conduct at Battle of Gaines ' Mill nearly three years prior . Postbellum . Jackson was mustered out of the volunteer service on August 24 , 1865 , and returned to civilian life . By 1870 he had left Lewiston , Maine , and also worked as a coal mine operator after the war . Jackson died in the spring of 1892 in Jamestown , New York , at the home of one of his sons . His body was returned to Massachusetts and buried there in Newburyport . It was noted that neither of the local newspapers in Jamestown or Buffalo , the nearest major city , reported on Jackson ' s death .