Not to be confused with Texas Jack Vermillion, John (sometimes referred to as Jack) Baker Omohundro was born July 27, 1846, near Palmyra, Virginia. Growing up, he wasn’t much of a student, often skipping school to spend his days in the wilds hunting game or fishing the streams. These excursions into the Virginia wilderness would provide the best education for the young Jack in tracking and hunting game, as well as general knowledge of the countryside.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Jack’s older brother enlisted in the Calvary of Northern Virginia, but Jack was turned away due to his age. Instead, he worked as a headquarters courier for General Floyd, who was the Secretary of State under President Buchannan before the war. With General Floyd’s recommendation, he joined the 1st Virginia Calvary Corps in 1864 as a scout and spy under JEB Stuart.
Stuart often used Jack as a spy, where he would dress up as a peddler selling food in Union camps all while listening for important details of Union campaigns. Additionally, Jack often carried dispatches between Stuart and his commanders in the field thanks to his skill on horseback. The men of the unit gave Jack the nickname “Boy Scout of the Confederacy.” Jack fought in different battles of the war, including the largest all-calvary battle of the Civil War at Trevilian Station where he was shot in the leg.
His brother was also injured near the end of the war and was sent home. Once at home, he wrote to Jack and informed him that their mother had died of consumption, known now as Tuberculosis. At the battle of Appomattox Courthouse, Jack slipped through Union lines and headed home, knowing the war was over. Once the war had ended and with his mother gone, Jack didn’t feel the tether to stay in Virginia. He told his sister, “There isn’t much to do anymore in Virginia. I’m heading to Texas.”
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