At 15, he headed to Texas, where he wanted to become a cattleman. He got a job at a ranch, where he became very skilled with a rope. But then the Civil War broke out and Jack wanted to fight. He returned to Virginia to enlist in the army but he was too young. So he hired on as a civilian courier for the Virginia Militia, working for Major General John Buchanan Floyd. He eventually took on scouting duties as well.
When Major Floyd died, Jack was able to formally enlist in Company G, 5th Regiment Virginia Cavalry, under General J. E. B. Stuart. He acted as a scout and performed admirably. He was present at the battles of Todd's Tavern and Mitchell's Shop. He was injured in the Battle of Trevilian Station.
After the war was over, Jack returned home. But he was restless and soon left again for Texas. He was sidetracked for a year, when the ship he was sailing across the Gulf of Mexico got caught up in a storm. The ship grounded on the Florida coast. Jack stayed there and hunted and fished and taught school. He struck out again for Texas, but this time on land.
When he arrived he got a job on a large ranch. It was about this time that people started calling him Texas Jack. It was when he drove a herd of cattle to a meat market in Tennessee. When asked where he was from and what his name was, the grateful crowd there put Texas and Jack together and called him Texas Jack. The name stuck with him the rest of his short life.
Jack often found himself defending the ranch from Indians and rustlers. Some Comanches attacked the ranch one day and tried to drive off some horses and cattle. Jack shot several of them before they gave up. One time he rescued a small boy, whose parents had been killed by Indians. He also drove several herds of cattle up the famous Chisholm Trail.
