The Civil War’s bloodiest sniper wasn’t a soldier. He wasn’t a hero. He was a Tennessee farmer pushed to the edge by an atrocity history tried to bury. While Grant and Sherman dominated headlines, Jack Henson—a grieving father with a custom 50-caliber rifle—stalked Union forces with a precision that rewrote the rules of war.
His weapon still bears the marks of over 100 kills… yet his name vanished from the record books. Why? Because the truth exposes a side of war they don’t teach you: one man’s vengeance, an army’s terror, and the shots that echoed long after Appomattox. h/t joe6pak.
Admirably effective vengeance against the murderers and desecrators of his teenaged sons. Also admirable is his return to a quiet life and an old-age death after such a bloody earlier episode.
You’ve got to respect a man like that!
Those heavy cap locks were incredibly accurate. IIRC a 12” group was shot at 1,800 yards with a Whitworth. The Whitworth, I believe, was larger than 50 cal. I think it was something like .577 and shot a 530 grain hexagonal bullet. This is all going on memory. This guys custom made 50 caliber rifle I’m not sure of the specs on.
FWIW there were a number of Union officers killed at well in excess a half mile using scoped Whitworth muzzle loaders during the Civil War. I think the longest one was damn near 1,400 yards. For reference a half mile is 880 yards.
I don’t blame him one bit.
Read a biography about Hinson several years ago. Literally stuck fear into Union troops in his AO. Never was caught. There are several graphic descriptions of his unsuspecting victims after being hit. Big gun and big bullets. He shot at passing gun boats and troop carriers, aiming primarily at officers.
He tried to stay out of the War but his 2 sons were accused of being guerrillas by Union troops stationed near his home. They were executed, decapitated and their heads were publicly displayed.
MMinWA, I have a copy of- and read- the bio you refer to– Jack Hinson’s One-Man War by Tom C. McKenney. It’s an excellent book that I highly recommend.
Compare and contrast that atrocity to the atrocity of slavery…
if gubmnt ******* don’t keep away from real humans, could happen again
He could become a role model soon.
The story could easily be a movie. Of course, you can’t say anything positive about a Confederate.
I found out a few years ago that one of my ancestors was a sniper in the War of 1812, The Kentucky Long Rifleman.
https://kentuckykindredgenealogy.com/2019/08/06/ephraim-mclean-brank-kentucky-hero-battle-of-new-orleans/
Geeknerd, the so-called Civil War wasn’t about slavery. It was about tariffs. 90% of the Fed Gov’s income came from imports in Southern ports. When the southern states declared independence from the banksters war was the response from the North. Of course Marxist German immigrants did a lot to rile up hatred of the South. Marx himself was in correspondence with Lincoln.
@Jay
Except for “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. The Hollywood machine let that one get by. Also, The Beguiled, where he played an unsympathetic Union Soldier whom a Confederate family kills with poison mushrooms.