John Walsh
Stewart County Public Library
102 Natcor Drive
Dover, Tn 37058
March 7th at 6:00PM
Lecture and Book Signing by the Author
“Jack Hinson’s One-Man War”
By Tom C. McKenney
The Biography of John S. “Old Jack” Hinson
Old Jack watched the start of the Civil War with impartial disinterest. A friend of Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate officers alike, Hinson was opposed to secession, focused instead on his personal affairs. After a unit of Union occupation troops moved in on his land and summarily captured, executed, and placed the decapitated heads of his sons on his gateposts, however, Hinson abandoned his quiet life for one of revenge.
Jack Hinson never planned to become a deadly sniper. A prosperous and influential Stewart County land owner in the
1850’s, Hinson was devoted to raising his growing family and working his land. Yet by 1865, Hinson had likely killed more than on hundred men and had single-handedly taken down an armed Union transport in his one-man war against Grant’s army and navy. By the end of the Civil War, the Union had committed infantry and cavalry from nine regiments and a specially equipped amphibious task force of marines to capture Hinson, who was by that time nearly sixty years old. They never caught him. Since then, the story of Jack Hinson has evaded astute historians, and until now, he has remained invisible in the history of sniper warfare.
About the Author
Lt. Col. Tom C. McKenney, USMC (Ret.) is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was an infantry officer and parachutist in the United States Marine Corps, serving in Korea and Vietnam. A student of military history, he has contributed articles to such magazines as Guideposts, the American Legion Magazine, Military, and Leatherneck. His books and activism for veterans’ issues have had him appearing on hundreds of radio and television programs including Fox news, the Today Show, and CBS Morning news. McKenney’s won war stories are featured in the book Spite house: The Last Secret of the War in Vietnam, by former 60 Minutes producer Monika Jensen-Stevenson, and the right to his life story have been purchased by Columbia Pictures.