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Stonewall Jackson

Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee.[2] He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the war until his death, and had a key part in winning many significant battles. Military historians regard him as one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U.S. history.[3]

Stonewall Jackson
General Jackson at Winchester, Virginia, 1862
Birth nameThomas Jonathan Jackson
Nickname(s)
  • Stonewall
  • Old Jack
  • Old Blue Light
  • Tom Fool
Born(1824-01-21)January 21, 1824[1]
Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), U.S.
DiedMay 10, 1863(1863-05-10) (aged 39)
Guinea Station, Virginia
Buried
Allegiance
Service/branch
Years of service
  • 1846–1852 (USA)
  • 1861–1863 (CSA)
Rank
Commands held
Battles/wars
Alma materUnited States Military Academy
Spouse(s)
ChildrenJulia Laura Jackson, Mary Graham Jackson
Signature

Born in what was then part of Virginia (now in West Virginia), Jackson received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in the class of 1846. He served in the U.S. Army during the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848 and distinguished himself at Chapultepec. From 1851 to 1861, he taught at the Virginia Military Institute, where he was unpopular with his students.

When Virginia seceded from the Union in May 1861 after the attack on Fort Sumter, Jackson joined the Confederate Army. He distinguished himself commanding a brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run in July, providing crucial reinforcements and beating back a fierce Union assault. Thus Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. compared him to a "stone wall", which became his enduring nickname. He performed exceptionally well in the campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862. Despite an initial defeat due largely to faulty intelligence, through swift and careful maneuvers Jackson was able to defeat three separate Union armies and prevent them from reinforcing General George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac in its campaign against Richmond. Jackson then quickly moved his three divisions to reinforce General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in defense of Richmond. He performed poorly in the Seven Days Battles against McClellan's Army of the Potomac, as he was frequently late arriving on the field. During the Northern Virginia Campaign that summer, Jackson's troops captured and destroyed an important supply depot for General John Pope's Army of Virginia, and then withstood repeated assaults from Pope's troops at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Jackson's troops played a prominent role in September's Maryland Campaign, capturing the town of Harpers Ferry, a strategic location, and providing a defense of the Confederate Army's left at Antietam. At Fredericksburg in December, Jackson's corps buckled, but ultimately beat back an assault by the Union Army under Major General Ambrose Burnside. In late April and early May 1863, faced with a larger Union army now commanded by Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville, Lee divided his force into three parts. On May 2, Jackson launched a surprise attack against the Union right flank, driving the opposing troops back about two miles.

That evening, he was accidentally shot by Confederate pickets. He lost his left arm to amputation; weakened by his wounds, he died of pneumonia eight days later. His death proved a severe setback for the Confederacy, affecting not only its military prospects, but also the morale of its army and the general public. After Jackson's death, his military exploits developed a legendary quality, becoming an important element of the ideology of the "Lost Cause".[4]

Ancestry

Thomas Jonathan Jackson[5] was a great-grandson of John Jackson (1715/1719–1801) and Elizabeth Cummins (also known as Elizabeth Comings and Elizabeth Needles) (1723–1828). John Jackson was an Irish Protestant from Coleraine, County Londonderry, Ireland. While living in London, England, he was convicted of the capital crime of larceny for stealing £170; the judge at the Old Bailey sentenced him to seven years penal transportation. Elizabeth, a strong, blonde woman almost 6 feet (180 cm) tall, born in London, was also convicted of felony larceny in an unrelated case for stealing 19 pieces of silver, jewelry, and fine lace, and received a similar sentence. They both were transported on the merchant ship Litchfield, which departed London in May 1749 with 150 convicts. John and Elizabeth met on board and were in love by the time the ship arrived at Annapolis, Maryland. Although they were sent to different locations in Maryland for their bond service, the couple married in July 1755.[6]

The family migrated west across the Blue Ridge Mountains to settle near Moorefield, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1758. In 1770, they moved farther west to the Tygart Valley. They began to acquire large parcels of virgin farming land near the present-day town of Buckhannon, including 3,000 acres (12 km2) in Elizabeth's name. John and his two teenage sons were early recruits for the American Revolutionary War, fighting in the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780; John finished the war as captain and served as a lieutenant of the Virginia militia after 1787. While the men were in the Army, Elizabeth converted their home to a haven, "Jackson's Fort", for refugees from Indian attacks.[7]

John and Elizabeth had eight children. Their second son was Edward Jackson (1759–1828), and Edward's third son[8] was Jonathan Jackson, Thomas's father.[9] Jonathan's mother died on April 17, 1796. Three years later, on October 13, 1799, his father married Elizabeth Wetherholt, and they had nine more children.[10][11]

Early life

Early childhood

Thomas Jackson was born in the town of Clarksburg, Harrison County, Virginia, on January 21, 1824. He was the third child of Julia Beckwith (née Neale) Jackson (1798–1831) and Jonathan Jackson (1790–1826), an attorney. Both of Jackson's parents were natives of Virginia. The family already had two young children and were living in Clarksburg, in what is now West Virginia, when Thomas was born. He was named for his maternal grandfather. There is some dispute about the actual location of Jackson's birth. A historical marker on the floodwall in Parkersburg, West Virginia, claims that he was born in a cabin near that spot when his mother was visiting her parents who lived there. There are writings which indicate that in Jackson's early childhood, he was called "The Real Macaroni", though the origin of the nickname and whether it really existed are unclear.[12]

Thomas's sister Elizabeth (age six) died of typhoid fever on March 6, 1826, with two-year-old Thomas at her bedside. His father also died of a typhoid fever on March 26, 1827, after nursing his daughter. Jackson's mother gave birth to his sister Laura Ann the day after Jackson's father died.[13] Julia Jackson thus was widowed at 28 and was left with much debt and three young children (including the newborn). She sold the family's possessions to pay the debts. She declined family charity and moved into a small rented one-room house. Julia took in sewing and opened a private school to support herself and her three young children for about four years.

In 1830, Julia Neale Jackson remarried, against the wishes of her friends. Her new husband, Captain Blake B. Woodson,[14] an attorney, did not like his stepchildren. Warren, Julia's eldest son, moved to live with his uncle Alfred Neale near Parkersburg, and at the age of sixteen, he was hired to teach in Upshur County. Julia moved to Fayette County with her other two children, Thomas and Laura. Julia remained in such poor health, and caring for the children was such a strain on her strength, that she agreed to let their Grandmother Jackson take them to her home in Lewis County, about four miles north of Weston, where she lived with her unmarried daughters and sons. One of these sons was sent to Fayette County to care for the children by the grandmother. When he arrived and the purpose of his visit was revealed, there was quite a commotion among the children, who were very reluctant to leave their mother. Thomas, now six years old, slipped away to the nearby woods, where he hid, only returning to the house at nightfall. After a day or two of coaxing and numerous bribes, the uncle finally persuaded the children to make the trip, which took several days, with the help of their mother. When they arrived at their destination, they became the pets of an indulgent grandmother, two maiden aunts, and several bachelor uncles, all of whom were known for their great kindness of heart and strong family attachment. Thomas and Laura were indulged in every way, and to an extent well calculated to spoil them. In August, 1835, Thomas and Laura's grandmother died.

The following year, after giving birth to Thomas's half-brother Willam Wirt Woodson, Julia died of complications, leaving her three older children orphaned.[15] Julia was buried in an unmarked grave in a homemade coffin in Westlake Cemetery along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike in Fayette County within the corporate limits of present-day Ansted, West Virginia.

Working and teaching at Jackson's Mill

 
Jackson's Mill

As their mother's health continued to fail, Jackson and his sister Laura Ann were sent to live with their half-uncle, Cummins Jackson, who owned a grist mill in Jackson's Mill (near present-day Weston in Lewis County in central West Virginia). Their older brother, Warren, went to live with other relatives on his mother's side of the family, but he later died of tuberculosis in 1841 at the age of twenty. Thomas and Laura Ann returned from Jackson's Mill in November 1831 to be at their dying mother's bedside. They spent four years together at the Mill before being separated—Laura Ann was sent to live with her mother's family, Thomas to live with his Aunt Polly (his father's sister) and her husband, Isaac Brake, on a farm four miles from Clarksburg. Thomas was treated by Brake as an outsider and, having suffered verbal abuse for over a year, ran away from the family. When his cousin in Clarksburg urged him to return to Aunt Polly's, he replied, "Maybe I ought to, ma'am, but I am not going to." He walked eighteen miles through mountain wilderness to Jackson's Mill, where he was welcomed by his uncles and he remained there for the following seven years.[16]

Cummins Jackson was strict with Thomas, who looked up to Cummins as a schoolteacher. Jackson helped around the farm, tending sheep with the assistance of a sheepdog, driving teams of oxen and helping harvest wheat and corn. Formal education was not easily obtained, but he attended school when and where he could. Much of Jackson's education was self-taught. He once made a deal with one of his uncle's slaves to provide him with pine knots in exchange for reading lessons; Thomas would stay up at night reading borrowed books by the light of those burning pine knots. Virginia law forbade teaching a slave, free black or mulatto to read or write; nevertheless, Jackson secretly taught the slave, as he had promised. Once literate, the young slave fled to Canada via the Underground Railroad.[17] In his later years at Jackson's Mill, Thomas served as a schoolteacher.

 
First lieutenant Thomas J. Jackson sometime after West Point graduation in the late 1840s

Brother against sister

The Civil War has sometimes been referred to as a war of "brother against brother," but in the case of the Jackson family, it was brother against sister. Laura Jackson Arnold was close to her brother Thomas until the Civil War period. As the war loomed, she became a staunch Unionist in a somewhat divided Harrison County. She was so strident in her beliefs that she expressed mixed feelings upon hearing of Thomas's death. One Union officer said that she seemed depressed at hearing the news, but her Unionism was stronger than her family bonds. In a letter, he wrote that Laura had said she "would rather know that he was dead than to have him a leader in the rebel army". Her Union sentiment also estranged her later from her husband, Jonathan Arnold.[18]

Early military career

West Point

In 1842, Jackson was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. Because of his inadequate schooling, he had difficulty with the entrance examinations and began his studies at the bottom of his class. Displaying a dogged determination that was to characterize his life, he became one of the hardest working cadets in the academy, and moved steadily up the academic rankings. Jackson graduated 17th out of 59 students in the Class of 1846.[19] It was said by his peers that if he had stayed there another year, he would have graduated first.

U.S. Army and the Mexican War

 
Windows formerly in the Washington National Cathedral. At left top, Jackson reading the Bible in Confederate camp; left bottom, professor in Virginia Military Institute; bottom right, Mexican-American War; upper right, Jackson enters heaven. The windows were removed in 2017.[20]

Jackson began his United States Army career as a second lieutenant in Company K of the 1st U.S. Artillery Regiment, proceeding through Pennsylvania, down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, and from there the troops embarked for Point Isabel, Texas, and were sent to fight in the Mexican–American War from 1846 to 1848. Jackson's command was directed to report to General Taylor and proceed immediately via Matamoros and Camargo to Monterey and then to Saltillo. Prior to the Battle of Buena Vista, Lieutenant Jackson's command was ordered to withdraw from General Taylor's army and march to the mouth of the Rio Grande, where they would be transferred to Veracruz. He served at the Siege of Veracruz and the battles of Contreras, Chapultepec, and Mexico City, eventually earning two brevet promotions, and the regular army rank of first lieutenant. It was in Mexico that Thomas Jackson first met Robert E. Lee.

During the assault on Chapultepec Castle on September 13, 1847, he refused what he felt was a "bad order" to withdraw his troops. Confronted by his superior, he explained his rationale, claiming withdrawal was more hazardous than continuing his overmatched artillery duel. His judgment proved correct, and a relieving brigade was able to exploit the advantage Jackson had broached. In contrast to this display of strength of character, he obeyed what he also felt was a "bad order" when he raked a civilian throng with artillery fire after the Mexican authorities failed to surrender Mexico City at the hour demanded by the U.S. forces.[21] The former episode, and later aggressive action against the retreating Mexican army, earned him field promotion to the brevet rank of major.[19]

After the war, Jackson was briefly assigned to forts in New York, and then to Florida during the Second Interbellum of the Seminole Wars, during which the Americans were attempting to force the remaining Seminoles to move West. He was stationed briefly at Fort Casey before being named second-in-command at Fort Meade, a small fort about thirty miles south of Tampa.[22] His commanding officer was Major William H. French. Jackson and French disagreed often, and filed numerous complaints against each other. Jackson stayed in Florida less than a year.[23]

Lexington and the Virginia Military Institute

 
Stonewall Jackson

In the spring of 1851,[24] Jackson accepted a newly created teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), in Lexington, Virginia. He became Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, or Physics, and Instructor of Artillery. Parts of Jackson's curriculum are still taught at VMI, regarded as timeless military essentials: discipline, mobility, assessing the enemy's strength and intentions while attempting to conceal your own, and the efficiency of artillery combined with an infantry assault.

Though he spent a great deal of time preparing in depth for each class meeting, Jackson was unpopular as a teacher. His students called him "Tom Fool". He memorized his lectures and then recited them to the class; any student who came to ask for help was given the same explanation as before. And if a student asked for help a second time, Jackson viewed him as insubordinate and punished him. For his tests, Jackson typically had students simply recite memorized information that he had given them. The students mocked his apparently stern, religious nature and his eccentric traits. In 1856, a group of alumni attempted to have Jackson removed from his position.[25]

The founder of VMI and one of its first two faculty members was John Thomas Lewis Preston. Preston's second wife, Margaret Junkin Preston, was the sister of Jackson's first wife, Elinor. In addition to working together on the VMI faculty, Preston taught Sunday School with Jackson and served on his staff during the Civil War.[26]

Slavery

 
Stonewall Jackson in 1855

Little known as he was to the white inhabitants of Lexington, Jackson was known by many of the African Americans in town, both slaves and free blacks.[citation needed] In 1855, he organized Sunday School classes for blacks at the Presbyterian Church. His second wife, Mary Anna Jackson, taught with Jackson, as "he preferred that my labors should be given to the colored children, believing that it was more important and useful to put the strong hand of the Gospel under the ignorant African race, to lift them up".[27] The pastor, Dr. William Spottswood White, described the relationship between Jackson and his Sunday afternoon students: "In their religious instruction he succeeded wonderfully. His discipline was systematic and firm, but very kind. ... His servants reverenced and loved him, as they would have done a brother or father. ... He was emphatically the black man's friend." He addressed his students by name and they referred to him as "Marse Major".[28]

Jackson owned six slaves in the late 1850s. Three (Hetty, Cyrus, and George, a mother and two teenage sons) were received as part of the dowry at his marriage to Mary Anna Jackson.[29] Another slave, Albert, requested that Jackson purchase him and allow him to work for his freedom; he was employed as a waiter in one of the Lexington hotels and Jackson rented him to VMI. Amy also requested that Jackson purchase her from a public slave auction and she served the family as a cook and housekeeper. The sixth, Emma, was a four-year-old orphan with a learning disability, accepted by Jackson from an aged widow and presented to his second wife, Mary Anna, as a welcome-home gift.[30] After Jackson was shot at Chancellorsville, a slave "Jim Lewis, had stayed with Jackson in the small house as he lay dying".[31] Mary Anna Jackson, in her 1895 memoir, said, "our servants ... without the firm guidance and restraint of their master, the excitement of the times proved so demoralizing to them that he deemed it best for me to provide them with good homes among the permanent residents".[32] James Robertson wrote about Jackson's view on slavery:

Jackson neither apologized for nor spoke in favor of the practice of slavery. He probably opposed the institution. Yet in his mind the Creator had sanctioned slavery, and man had no moral right to challenge its existence. The good Christian slaveholder was one who treated his servants fairly and humanely at all times.[33]

Marriages and family life

 
House owned by Stonewall Jackson in Lexington

While an instructor at VMI in 1853, Thomas Jackson married Elinor "Ellie" Junkin, whose father, George Junkin, was president of Washington College (later named Washington and Lee University) in Lexington. An addition was built onto the president's residence for the Jacksons, and when Robert E. Lee became president of Washington College he lived in the same home, now known as the Lee–Jackson House.[34] Ellie gave birth to a stillborn son on October 22, 1854, experiencing a hemorrhage an hour later that proved fatal.[35]

After a tour of Europe, Jackson married again, in 1857. Mary Anna Morrison was from North Carolina, where her father was the first president of Davidson College. Her sister, Isabella Morrison, was married to Daniel Harvey Hill. Mary Anna had a daughter named Mary Graham on April 30, 1858, but the baby died less than a month later. Another daughter was born in 1862, shortly before her father's death. The Jacksons named her Julia Laura, after his mother and sister.

Jackson purchased the only house he ever owned while in Lexington. Built in 1801, the brick town house at 8 East Washington Street was purchased by Jackson in 1859. He lived in it for two years before being called to serve in the Confederacy. Jackson never returned to his home.

John Brown raid aftermath

In November 1859, at the request of the governor of Virginia, Major William Gilham led a contingent of the VMI Cadet Corps to Charles Town to provide an additional military presence at the hanging of militant abolitionist John Brown on December 2, following his raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry on October 16. Major Jackson was placed in command of the artillery, consisting of two howitzers manned by twenty-one cadets.

Civil War

 
The Colonel Lewis T. Moore house, which served as the Winchester Headquarters of Lt. Gen. T. J. "Stonewall" Jackson (photo 2007)

In April 1861, after Virginia seceded from the Union and as the American Civil War broke out, Jackson was ordered by the Governor of Virginia to report with the VMI cadet corps to Richmond and await further orders. Upon arrival, Jackson was appointed a Major of Engineers in the Provisional Army of Virginia, which was a short lived force commanded by Robert E. Lee, prior to Virginia fully augmenting into forces of the Confederacy. After Jackson protested such a low rank, the Virginia Governor appointed him a Colonel of Virginia Infantry which in May 1861 was augmented to a Colonel in the Confederate Army. Jackson then became a drill master for some of the many new recruits in the Confederate Army.

On April 27, 1861, Virginia Governor John Letcher ordered Colonel Jackson to take command at Harpers Ferry, where he would assemble and command the unit which later gained fame as the "Stonewall Brigade", consisting of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th, and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments. All of these units were from the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia, where Jackson located his headquarters throughout the first two years of the war. Jackson became known for his relentless drilling of his troops; he believed discipline was vital to success on the battlefield. Following raids on the B&O Railroad on May 24, he was promoted to brigadier general on June 17, 1861. Jackson continued to wear a blue Union Army uniform up to this point, having only access to his old VMI major's jacket, and would not be issued with a grey Confederate uniform until 1862.[36]

First Battle of Bull Run

 
General Jackson by Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau

Jackson rose to prominence and earned his most famous nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) on July 21, 1861. As the Confederate lines began to crumble under heavy Union assault, Jackson's brigade provided crucial reinforcements on Henry House Hill, demonstrating the discipline he instilled in his men. While under heavy fire for several continuous hours, Jackson received a wound, breaking the middle finger of his left hand about midway between the hand and knuckle, the ball passing on the side next to the index finger. The troops of South Carolina, commanded by Gen. Barnard Elliott Bee Jr. had been overwhelmed, and he rode up to Jackson in despair, exclaiming, "They are beating us back!" "Then," said Jackson, "we will give them the bayonet!" As he rode back to his command, Bee exhorted his own troops to re-form by shouting, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians!"[37] There is some controversy over Bee's statement and intent, which could not be clarified because he was killed almost immediately after speaking and none of his subordinate officers wrote reports of the battle. Major Burnett Rhett, chief of staff to General Joseph E. Johnston, claimed that Bee was angry at Jackson's failure to come immediately to the relief of Bee's and Francis S. Bartow's brigades while they were under heavy pressure. Those who subscribe to this opinion believe that Bee's statement was meant to be pejorative: "Look at Jackson standing there like a stone wall!"[38]

Regardless of the controversy and the delay in relieving Bee, Jackson's brigade, which would thenceforth be known as the Stonewall Brigade, stopped the Union assault and suffered more casualties than any other Southern brigade that day; Jackson has since then been generally known as Stonewall Jackson.[39] During the battle, Jackson displayed a gesture common to him and held his left arm skyward with the palm facing forward – interpreted by his soldiers variously as an eccentricity or an entreaty to God for success in combat. His hand was struck by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel and he suffered a small loss of bone in his middle finger. He refused medical advice to have the finger amputated.[40] After the battle, Jackson was promoted to major general (October 7, 1861)[36] and given command of the Valley District, with headquarters in Winchester.

Valley Campaign

In the spring of 1862, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac approached Richmond from the southeast in the Peninsula Campaign. Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell's large corps was poised to hit Richmond from the north, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's army threatened the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson was ordered by Richmond to operate in the Valley to defeat Banks's threat and prevent McDowell's troops from reinforcing McClellan.

Jackson possessed the attributes to succeed against his poorly coordinated and sometimes timid opponents: a combination of great audacity, excellent knowledge and shrewd use of the terrain, and an uncommon ability to inspire his troops to great feats of marching and fighting.

 
Historical marker marking the end of Gen. Stonewall Jackson's pursuit of the Federals after the Battle of McDowell, May 12, 1862

The campaign started with a tactical defeat at Kernstown on March 23, 1862, when faulty intelligence led him to believe he was attacking a small detachment. But it became a strategic victory for the Confederacy, because his aggressiveness suggested that he possessed a much larger force, convincing President Abraham Lincoln to keep Banks' troops in the Valley and McDowell's 30,000-man corps near Fredericksburg, subtracting about 50,000 soldiers from McClellan's invasion force. As it transpired, it was Jackson's only defeat in the Valley.

By adding Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's large division and Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's small division, Jackson increased his army to 17,000 men. He was still significantly outnumbered, but attacked portions of his divided enemy individually at McDowell, defeating both Brig. Gens. Robert H. Milroy and Robert C. Schenck. He defeated Banks at Front Royal and Winchester, ejecting him from the Valley. Lincoln decided that the defeat of Jackson was an immediate priority (though Jackson's orders were solely to keep Union forces occupied away from Richmond). He ordered Irvin McDowell to send 20,000 men to Front Royal and Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont to move to Harrisonburg. If both forces could converge at Strasburg, Jackson's only escape route up the Valley would be cut.

After a series of maneuvers, Jackson defeated Frémont's command at Cross Keys and Brig. Gen. James Shields at Port Republic on June 8–9. Union forces were withdrawn from the Valley.

It was a classic military campaign of surprise and maneuver. Jackson pressed his army to travel 646 miles (1,040 km) in 48 days of marching and won five significant victories with a force of about 17,000 against a combined force of 60,000. Stonewall Jackson's reputation for moving his troops so rapidly earned them the oxymoronic nickname "foot cavalry". He became the most celebrated soldier in the Confederacy (until he was eventually eclipsed by Lee) and lifted the morale of the Southern public.

Peninsula

McClellan's Peninsula Campaign toward Richmond stalled at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31 and June 1. After the Valley Campaign ended in mid-June, Jackson and his troops were called to join Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in defense of the capital. By utilizing a railroad tunnel under the Blue Ridge Mountains and then transporting troops to Hanover County on the Virginia Central Railroad, Jackson and his forces made a surprise appearance in front of McClellan at Mechanicsville. Reports had last placed Jackson's forces in the Shenandoah Valley; their presence near Richmond added greatly to the Union commander's overestimation of the strength and numbers of the forces before him. This proved a crucial factor in McClellan's decision to re-establish his base at a point many miles downstream from Richmond on the James River at Harrison's Landing, essentially a retreat that ended the Peninsula Campaign and prolonged the war almost three more years.

Jackson's troops served well under Lee in the series of battles known as the Seven Days Battles, but Jackson's own performance in those battles is generally considered to be poor.[41] He arrived late at Mechanicsville and inexplicably ordered his men to bivouac for the night within clear earshot of the battle. He was late at Savage's Station. At White Oak Swamp he failed to employ fording places to cross White Oak Swamp Creek, attempting for hours to rebuild a bridge, which limited his involvement to an ineffectual artillery duel and a missed opportunity to intervene decisively at the Battle of Glendale, which was raging nearby. At Malvern Hill Jackson participated in the futile, piecemeal frontal assaults against entrenched Union infantry and massed artillery, and suffered heavy casualties (but this was a problem for all of Lee's army in that ill-considered battle). The reasons for Jackson's sluggish and poorly coordinated actions during the Seven Days are disputed, although a severe lack of sleep after the grueling march and railroad trip from the Shenandoah Valley was probably a significant factor. Both Jackson and his troops were completely exhausted. An explanation for this and other lapses by Jackson was tersely offered by his colleague and brother in-law General Daniel Harvey Hill: "Jackson's genius never shone when he was under the command of another."[42]

Second Bull Run to Fredericksburg

 
Jackson and Little Sorrel, painting by David Bendann
 
Montage of Thomas J. Jackson and staff

The military reputations of Lee's corps commanders are often characterized as Stonewall Jackson representing the audacious, offensive component of Lee's army, whereas his counterpart, James Longstreet, more typically advocated and executed defensive strategies and tactics. Jackson has been described as the army's hammer, Longstreet its anvil.[43] In the Northern Virginia Campaign of August 1862 this stereotype did not hold true. Longstreet commanded the Right Wing (later to become known as the First Corps) and Jackson commanded the Left Wing. Jackson started the campaign under Lee's orders with a sweeping flanking maneuver that placed his corps into the rear of Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. The Hotchkiss journal shows that Jackson, most likely, originally conceived the movement. In the journal entries for March 4 and 6, 1863, General Stuart tells Hotchkiss that "Jackson was entitled to all the credit" for the movement and that Lee thought the proposed movement "very hazardous" and "reluctantly consented" to the movement.[44] At Manassas Junction, Jackson was able to capture all of the supplies of the Union Army depot. Then he had his troops destroy all of it, for it was the main depot for the Union Army. Jackson then retreated and then took up a defensive position and effectively invited Pope to assault him. On August 28–29, the start of the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), Pope launched repeated assaults against Jackson as Longstreet and the remainder of the army marched north to reach the battlefield.

On August 30, Pope came to believe that Jackson was starting to retreat, and Longstreet took advantage of this by launching a massive assault on the Union army's left with over 25,000 men. Although the Union troops put up a furious defense, Pope's army was forced to retreat in a manner similar to the embarrassing Union defeat at First Bull Run, fought on roughly the same battleground.

When Lee decided to invade the North in the Maryland Campaign, Jackson took Harpers Ferry, then hastened to join the rest of the army at Sharpsburg, Maryland, where they fought McClellan in the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg). Antietam was primarily a defensive battle against superior odds, although McClellan failed to exploit his advantage. Jackson's men bore the brunt of the initial attacks on the northern end of the battlefield and, at the end of the day, successfully resisted a breakthrough on the southern end when Jackson's subordinate, Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill, arrived at the last minute from Harpers Ferry. The Confederate forces held their position, but the battle was extremely bloody for both sides, and Lee withdrew the Army of Northern Virginia back across the Potomac River, ending the invasion. On October 10, Jackson was promoted to lieutenant general, being ranked just behind Lee and Longstreet and his command was redesignated the Second Corps.

Before the armies camped for winter, Jackson's Second Corps held off a strong Union assault against the right flank of the Confederate line at the Battle of Fredericksburg, in what became a Confederate victory. Just before the battle, Jackson was delighted to receive a letter about the birth of his daughter, Julia Laura Jackson, on November 23.[45] Also before the battle, Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, Lee's dashing and well-dressed cavalry commander, presented to Jackson a fine general's frock coat that he had ordered from one of the best tailors in Richmond. Jackson's previous coat was threadbare and colorless from exposure to the elements, its buttons removed by admiring ladies. Jackson asked his staff to thank Stuart, saying that although the coat was too handsome for him, he would cherish it as a souvenir. His staff insisted that he wear it to dinner, which caused scores of soldiers to rush to see him in uncharacteristic garb. Jackson was so embarrassed with the attention that he did not wear the new uniform for months.[46]

Chancellorsville

At the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Army of Northern Virginia was faced with a serious threat by the Army of the Potomac and its new commanding general, Major General Joseph Hooker. General Lee decided to employ a risky tactic to take the initiative and offensive away from Hooker's new southern thrust – he decided to divide his forces. Jackson and his entire corps went on an aggressive flanking maneuver to the right of the Union lines: this flanking movement would be one of the most successful and dramatic of the war. While riding with his infantry in a wide berth well south and west of the Federal line of battle, Jackson employed Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry to provide for better reconnaissance regarding the exact location of the Union right and rear. The results were far better than even Jackson could have hoped. Fitzhugh Lee found the entire right side of the Federal lines in the middle of open field, guarded merely by two guns that faced westward, as well as the supplies and rear encampments. The men were eating and playing games in carefree fashion, completely unaware that an entire Confederate corps was less than a mile away. What happened next is given in Fitzhugh Lee's own words:

 
General Jackson's "Chancellorsville" portrait, taken at a Spotsylvania County farm on April 26, 1863, seven days before he was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville
 
Lower right photograph of trees shattered by artillery shells near where Jackson was shot on the Orange Plank Road

So impressed was I with my discovery, that I rode rapidly back to the point on the Plank road where I had left my cavalry, and back down the road Jackson was moving, until I met "Stonewall" himself. "General", said I, "if you will ride with me, halting your column here, out of sight, I will show you the enemy's right, and you will perceive the great advantage of attacking down the Old turnpike instead of the Plank road, the enemy's lines being taken in reverse. Bring only one courier, as you will be in view from the top of the hill." Jackson assented, and I rapidly conducted him to the point of observation. There had been no change in the picture. I only knew Jackson slightly. I watched him closely as he gazed upon Howard's troops. It was then about 2 pm. His eyes burned with a brilliant glow, lighting up a sad face. His expression was one of intense interest, his face was colored slightly with the paint of approaching battle, and radiant at the success of his flank movement. To the remarks made to him while the unconscious line of blue was pointed out, he did not reply once during the five minutes he was on the hill, and yet his lips were moving. From what I have read and heard of Jackson since that day, I know now what he was doing then. Oh! "beware of rashness", General Hooker. Stonewall Jackson is praying in full view and in rear of your right flank! While talking to the Great God of Battles, how could he hear what a poor cavalryman was saying. "Tell General Rodes", said he, suddenly whirling his horse towards the courier, "to move across the Old plank road; halt when he gets to the Old turnpike, and I will join him there." One more look upon the Federal lines, and then he rode rapidly down the hill, his arms flapping to the motion of his horse, over whose head it seemed, good rider as he was, he would certainly go. I expected to be told I had made a valuable personal reconnaissance—saving the lives of many soldiers, and that Jackson was indebted to me to that amount at least. Perhaps I might have been a little chagrined at Jackson's silence, and hence commented inwardly and adversely upon his horsemanship. Alas! I had looked upon him for the last time.

— Fitzhugh Lee, address to the Association of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1879

Jackson immediately returned to his corps and arranged his divisions into a line of battle to charge directly into the oblivious Federal right. The Confederates marched silently until they were merely several hundred feet from the Union position, then released a bloodthirsty cry and full charge. Many of the Federal soldiers were captured without a shot fired, the rest were driven into a full rout. Jackson pursued relentlessly back toward the center of the Federal line until dusk. Darkness ended the assault.

As Jackson and his staff were returning to camp on May 2, sentries of the 18th North Carolina Infantry Regiment mistook the group for a Union cavalry force. The sentries shouted "Halt, who goes there?", but fired before evaluating the reply. Frantic shouts by Jackson's staff identifying the party were replied to by Major John D. Barry with the retort, "It's a damned Yankee trick! Fire!"[47] A second volley was fired in response. Jackson was hit by three bullets: two in the left arm and one in the right hand. Several of Jackson's men and many horses were killed in the attack. Incoming artillery rounds and darkness led to confusion, and Jackson was dropped from his stretcher while being evacuated. Hunter McGuire amputated Jackson's left arm, and Jackson was moved to Fairfield plantation at Guinea Station. Thomas Chandler, the owner, offered the use of his home for Jackson's treatment, but Jackson suggested using Chandler's plantation office building instead.[48]

Death

 
The plantation office building where Stonewall Jackson died in Guinea Station, Virginia

Lee wrote to Jackson after learning of his injuries, stating: "Could I have directed events, I would have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead."[49] Jackson died of complications from pneumonia on May 10, 1863, eight days after he was shot.

Dr. McGuire wrote an account of Jackson's final hours and last words:

A few moments before he died he cried out in his delirium, 'Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infantry to the front rapidly! Tell Major Hawks—' then stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished. Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an expression, as if of relief, 'Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.'[50]

Jackson's fatal bullet was withdrawn, examined, and found to be 67 caliber (0.67 inches, 17 mm), a type in service with the Confederate forces. Union troops in the area were using 58 caliber balls. This was one of the first instances of forensic ballistics identification derived from a firearm projectile.[51]

His body was moved to the Governor's Mansion in Richmond for the public to mourn, and he was then moved to be buried in Oak Grove Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia. The arm that was amputated on May 2 was buried separately by Jackson's chaplain (Beverly Tucker Lacy), at the J. Horace Lacy house, "Ellwood", (now preserved at the Fredericksburg National Battlefield) in the Wilderness of Orange County, near the field hospital.[52]

Upon hearing of Jackson's death, Robert E. Lee mourned the loss of both a friend and a trusted commander. As Jackson lay dying, Lee sent a message through Chaplain Lacy, saying: "Give General Jackson my affectionate regards, and say to him: he has lost his left arm but I my right."[53] The night Lee learned of Jackson's death, he told his cook: "William, I have lost my right arm", and, "I'm bleeding at the heart."[54]

Harper's Weekly reported Jackson's death on May 23, 1863, as follows:

DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON.

General "Stonewall" Jackson was badly wounded in the arm at the battles of Chancellorsville, and had his arm amputated. Jackson initially appeared to be healing, but he died from pneumonia on May 10, 1863.[55]

Personal life

 
In 1864 Jackson was memorialized on the Confederate $500 banknote.

Jackson's sometimes unusual command style and personality traits, combined with his frequent success in battle, contribute to his legacy as one of the greatest generals of the Civil War.[56] He was martial and stern in attitude and profoundly religious, a deacon in the Presbyterian Church. One of his many nicknames was "Old Blue Lights,"[57] a term applied to a military man whose evangelical zeal burned with the intensity of the blue light used for night-time display.[58]

Physical ailments

Jackson held a lifelong belief that one of his arms was longer than the other, and thus usually held the "longer" arm up to equalize his circulation. He was described as a "champion sleeper", and occasionally even fell asleep with food in his mouth. Jackson suffered a number of ailments, for which he sought relief via contemporary practices of his day including hydrotherapy, popular in America at that time, visiting establishments at Oswego, New York (1850) and Round Hill, Massachusetts (1860) although with little evidence of success.[59][60] Jackson also suffered a significant hearing loss in both of his ears as a result of his prior service in the U.S. Army as an artillery officer.

A recurring story concerns Jackson's love of lemons, which he allegedly gnawed whole to alleviate symptoms of dyspepsia (indigestion). General Richard Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor, wrote a passage in his war memoirs about Jackson eating lemons: "Where Jackson got his lemons 'no fellow could find out,' but he was rarely without one."[61] However, recent research by his biographer, James I. Robertson, Jr., has found that none of Jackson's contemporaries, including members of his staff, his friends, or his wife, recorded any unusual obsessions with lemons. Jackson thought of a lemon as a "rare treat ... enjoyed greatly whenever it could be obtained from the enemy's camp". Jackson was fond of all fruits, particularly peaches, "but he enjoyed with relish lemons, oranges, watermelons, apples, grapes, berries, or whatever was available".[62]

Religion

Jackson's religion has often been discussed. His biographer, Robert Lewis Dabney, suggested that "It was the fear of God which made him so fearless of all else."[63] Jackson himself had said, "My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed."[64]

 
Prayer in "Stonewall" Jackson's camp, 1866

Stephen W. Sears states that "Jackson was fanatical in his Presbyterian faith, and it energized his military thought and character. Theology was the only subject he genuinely enjoyed discussing. His dispatches invariably credited an ever-kind Providence." According to Sears, "this fanatical religiosity had drawbacks. It warped Jackson's judgment of men, leading to poor appointments; it was said he preferred good Presbyterians to good soldiers."[65] James I. Robertson, Jr. suggests that Jackson was "a Christian soldier in every sense of the word". According to Robertson, Jackson "thought of the war as a religious crusade", and "viewed himself as an Old Testament warrior—like David or Joshua—who went into battle to slay the Philistines".[66]

Jackson encouraged the Confederate States Army revival that occurred in 1863,[67] although it was probably more of a grass-roots movement than a top-down revival.[68] Jackson strictly observed the Sunday Sabbath. James I. Robertson, Jr. notes that "no place existed in his Sunday schedule for labor, newspapers, or secular conversation".[69]

Command style

 
A portrait of Stonewall Jackson (1864, J. W. King) in the National Portrait Gallery

In command, Jackson was extremely secretive about his plans and extremely meticulous about military discipline. This secretive nature did not stand him in good stead with his subordinates, who were often not aware of his overall operational intentions until the last minute, and who complained of being left out of key decisions.[70]

Robert E. Lee could trust Jackson with deliberately undetailed orders that conveyed Lee's overall objectives, what modern doctrine calls the "end state". This was because Jackson had a talent for understanding Lee's sometimes unstated goals, and Lee trusted Jackson with the ability to take whatever actions were necessary to implement his end state requirements. Few of Lee's subsequent corps commanders had this ability. At Gettysburg, this resulted in lost opportunities. With a defeated and disorganized Union Army trying to regroup on high ground near town and vulnerable, Lee sent one of his new corps commanders, Richard S. Ewell, discretionary orders that the heights (Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill) be taken "if practicable". Without Jackson's intuitive grasp of Lee's orders or the instinct to take advantage of sudden tactical opportunities, Ewell chose not to attempt the assault, and this failure is considered by historians to be the greatest missed opportunity of the battle.[71]

Horsemanship

Jackson had a poor reputation as a horseman. One of his soldiers, Georgia volunteer William Andrews, wrote that Jackson was "a very ordinary looking man of medium size, his uniform badly soiled as though it had seen hard service. He wore a cap pulled down nearly to his nose and was riding a rawboned horse that did not look much like a charger, unless it would be on hay or clover. He certainly made a poor figure on a horseback, with his stirrup leather six inches too short, putting his knees nearly level with his horse's back, and his heels turned out with his toes sticking behind his horse's foreshoulder. A sorry description of our most famous general, but a correct one."[72] His horse was named "Little Sorrel" (also known as "Old Sorrel"), a small chestnut gelding which was a captured Union horse from a Connecticut farm.[73][74] He rode Little Sorrel throughout the war, and was riding him when he was shot at Chancellorsville. Little Sorrel died at age 36 and is buried near a statue of Jackson on the parade grounds of VMI. (His mounted hide is on display in the VMI Museum.)[75]

Mourning his death

 
General Lee's Last Visit to Stonewall Jackson's Grave, painting by Louis Eckhardt, 1872

After the war, Jackson's wife and young daughter Julia moved from Lexington to North Carolina. Mary Anna Jackson wrote[76] two books about her husband's life, including some of his letters. She never remarried, and was known as the "Widow of the Confederacy", living until 1915. His daughter Julia married, and bore children, but she died of typhoid fever at the age of 26 years.[77]

Legacy

Many theorists through the years have postulated that if Jackson had lived, Lee might have prevailed at Gettysburg.[78] Certainly Jackson's discipline and tactical sense were sorely missed.

As a boy, General George Patton (of World War II fame) prayed next to two portraits of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, whom he assumed were God and Jesus.[79] He once told Dwight D. Eisenhower "I will be your Jackson."[80] General Douglas MacArthur called Robert L. Eichelberger his Stonewall Jackson.[81] Chesty Puller idolized Jackson, and carried George Henderson's biography of Jackson with him on campaigns.[82] Alexander Vandegrift also idolized Jackson.

His last words, "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees" were the inspiration for the title of Ernest Hemingway's 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees.

Descendants

Jackson's grandson and great-grandson, both namesakes, Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian (1888–1952) and Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian Jr. (1915–1944), both graduated from West Point. The elder Christian was a career US Army officer who served during both World Wars and rose to the rank of brigadier general. Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian's parents were William Edmund Christian and Julia Laura Christian. Julia was the daughter of Stonewall Jackson and his bride Mary Anna Morrison.

The younger Christian was a colonel in command of the 361st Fighter Group flying P-51 Mustangs in the European Theater of Operations in World War II when he was killed in action in August 1944; his personal aircraft, Lou IV, was one of the most photographed P-51s in the war.[83]

Commemorations

 
The Stonewall Brigade, Dedicated to the Memory of Stonewall Jackson, the Immortal Southern Hero, and His Brave Veterans, Sheet music, 1863

As an important element of the ideology of the "Lost Cause", Jackson has been commemorated in numerous ways, including with statues, currency, and postage.[4] A poem penned during the war soon became a popular song, "Stonewall Jackson's Way". The Stonewall Brigade Band is still active today.

 
Confederate Loan from March 2, 1863, Vignette with Jackson

West Virginia's Stonewall Jackson State Park is named in his honor. Nearby, at Stonewall Jackson's historical childhood home, his uncle's grist mill is the centerpiece of a historical site at the Jackson's Mill Center for Lifelong Learning and State 4-H Camp. The facility, located near Weston, serves as a special campus for West Virginia University and the WVU Extension Service.

During a training exercise in Virginia by U.S. Marines in 1921, the Marine commander, General Smedley Butler was told by a local farmer that Stonewall Jackson's arm was buried nearby under a granite marker, to which Butler replied, "Bosh! I will take a squad of Marines and dig up that spot to prove you wrong!"[84] Butler found the arm in a box under the marker. He later replaced the wooden box with a metal one, and reburied the arm. He left a plaque on the granite monument marking the burial place of Jackson's arm; the plaque is no longer on the marker but can be viewed at the Chancellorsville Battlefield visitor's center.[84][85]

Beginning in 1904 the Commonwealth of Virginia celebrated Jackson's birthday as a state holiday; the observance was eliminated, with Election Day as a replacement holiday, effective July 2020.[86][87]

Jackson is featured on the 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar.

A Stonewall Jackson Monument was unveiled on October 11, 1919,[88] in Richmond, Virginia. It was removed on July 1, 2020, during the 2020–2021 United States racial unrest.[89][90] The removal was live-streamed by news outlets and onlookers.

 
Stonewall Jackson with the flag of the Confederate States in art in a stained glass window of the Washington National Cathedral

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Eicher, High Commands, p. 316; Robertson, p. 7. The physician, Dr. James McCally, recalls delivering baby Thomas on January 20, 1809, just before midnight, but the family has insisted since then that he was born in the first minutes of January 21. The later date is the one generally acknowledged in biographies.
  2. ^ Compare: Jackson biography at Civil War Home "Next to Robert E. Lee himself, Thomas J. Jackson is the most revered of all Confederate commanders."
  3. ^ James I. Robertson, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend (1997).
  4. ^ a b Wallace Hettle, Inventing Stonewall Jackson: A Civil War Hero in History and Memory (Louisiana State University Press, 2011)
  5. ^ Farwell, p. xi, states that the overwhelmingly common usage of the middle name Jonathan was never documented and that Jackson did not acknowledge it; he instead used the signature form "T. J. Jackson." Robertson, p. 19, states that a county document on February 28, 1841, was the first recorded instance of Jackson's using a middle initial, although "whether it stood for his father Jonathan's name is not known." All of the other references to this article cite his full name as Thomas Jonathan Jackson.
  6. ^ Robertson, pp. 1–2.
  7. ^ Robertson, pp. 2–3.
  8. ^ Edward's second son was David Edward Jackson. Talbot, Vivian Linford (1996). David E. Jackson: Field Captain of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade. Jackson Hole: Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. p. 17.
  9. ^ VMI Jackson genealogy site; Robertson, p. 4.
  10. ^ Talbot, op. cit., p. 18
  11. ^ "Jackson Family Genealogy". Virginia Military Institute. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. ^ "Was Stonewall Jackson born in Parkersburg? – NewsandSentinel.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information – Parkersburg News and Sentinel". NewsandSentinel.com. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  13. ^ Robertson, p. 7.
  14. ^ Robertson, p. 8.
  15. ^ Robertson, p. 10.
  16. ^ Robertson, pp. 9–16. Robertson refers to multiple bachelor uncles in residence at the mill, but does not name them.
  17. ^ Robertson, p. 17.
  18. ^ . Civil War Women Blog. November 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  19. ^ a b George Cullum. "Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1846". Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  20. ^ Boorstein, Michelle (September 6, 2017). "Washington National Cathedral to remove stained glass windows honoring Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson". Washington Post.
  21. ^ Robertson, p. 69.
  22. ^ Eiedson, George T. (June 13, 1993). "Before He Was 'Stonewall,' Jackson Served in Florida". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  23. ^ Gwynne, S. C. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson. New York: Scribner, 2014, pp. 110–18.
  24. ^ Robertson, pp. 108–10. He left the Army on March 21, 1851, but stayed on the rolls, officially on furlough, for nine months. His resignation took effect formally on February 2, 1852, and he joined the VMI faculty in August 1851.
  25. ^ . Virginia Military Institute Archives. 2001. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  26. ^ Johnson, Clint (2002). In the Footsteps of Stonewall Jackson. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair. p. 122. ISBN 0-89587-244-7.
  27. ^ Jackson, Mary Anna, 1895, p. 78
  28. ^ Robertson, p. 169.
  29. ^ Knadler, Jessie (May 15, 2018). "New Research Sheds Light On Slaves Owned By Stonewall Jackson". www.wvtf.org. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  30. ^ Robertson, pp. 191–92.
  31. ^ Wessler, Brian Palmer, Seth Freed. "The Costs of the Confederacy". Smithsonian. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  32. ^ Jackson, 152.
  33. ^ Robertson, p. 191.
  34. ^ Isbell, Sherman. . Archived from the original on September 14, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
  35. ^ Robertson, p. 157.
  36. ^ a b Eicher, High Commands, p. 316.
  37. ^ Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, vol. 1, p. 82; Robertson, p. 264. McPherson, p. 342, reports the quotation after "stone wall" as being "Rally around the Virginians!"
  38. ^ See, for instance, Goldfield, David, et al., The American Journey: A History of the United States, Prentice Hall, 1999, ISBN 0-13-088243-7. There are additional controversies about what Bee said and whether he said anything at all. See Freeman, Lee's Lieutenants, vol. 1, pp. 733–34.
  39. ^ McPherson, p. 342.
  40. ^ Robertson, pp. 263, 268.
  41. ^ See, for instance, Freeman, R.E. Lee, vol. 2, p. 247.
  42. ^ Henderson, George Francis Robert (1903). Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War. Vol. II. New York: Longmans, Green. p. 17. OCLC 793450187.
  43. ^ Wert, p. 206.
  44. ^ "Origin of the Movement Around Pope's Army of Virginia, August 1862 by Michael Collie. Retrieved September 27, 2017 [1] and Archie P. McDonald, ed., Make Me a Map of the Valley: the Civil War Journal of Jackson's Topographer, (Dallas 1973) pp. 117–18; and James I. Robertson, Jr., Stonewall Jackson: the Man, the Soldier, and the Legend, (New York 1997) p. 547, n130 p. 887
  45. ^ Robertson, p. 645.
  46. ^ Robertson, p. 630.
  47. ^ Foote, Shelby, The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 2
  48. ^ Apperson, p. 430.
  49. ^ Robertson, p. 739
  50. ^ McGuire, pp. 162–63.
  51. ^ Grieve, Taylor Nicole (2013). Objective Analysis of Toolmarks in Forensics (MS thesis). Iowa State University. p. 6. hdl:20.500.12876/27203. from the original on May 1, 2019.
  52. ^ Sorensen, James. "Stonewall Jackson's Arm January 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine" American Heritage, April/May 2005.
  53. ^ Robertson, p. 746.
  54. ^ Hall, Kenneth (2005). Stonewall Jackson and religious faith in military command. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786420858.
  55. ^ "Death of Stonewall Jackson", Harpers Weekly, May 23, 1863
  56. ^ "Stonewall Jackson: Popular Questions". Virginia Military Institute. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
  57. ^ "Stonewall Jackson's Way". Retrieved December 24, 2011.
  58. ^ Gareth Atkins, review of Evangelicals in the Royal Navy, 1775–1815: Blue Lights and Psalm-Singers by Richard Blake (review no. 799). Retrieved December 24, 2011 at www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/799
  59. ^ Cartmell, Donald (2001). "The Legend of Stonewall". The Civil War Book of Lists. Franklin Lakes, New Jersey: The Career Press Inc. pp. 187–92. ISBN 1-56414-504-2.
  60. ^ Samaritan Medical Center (September 2008). "Stonewall Jackson and the Henderson Hydropath". (PDF). Vol. No.42. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  61. ^ Taylor, p. 50
  62. ^ Robertson, p. xi.
  63. ^ Dabney, Robert L. "True Courage: A Memorial Sermon for General Thomas J. "Stone-wall Jackson" (PDF). Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  64. ^ Selby, John Millin (2000). Stonewall Jackson As Military Commander. p. 25.
  65. ^ Sears, Stephen W. (March 16, 1997). "Onward, Christian Soldier". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  66. ^ White, Davin (October 15, 2010). "Stonewall Jackson biographer says religion drove Civil War general". The Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  67. ^ Duewel, Wesley L. (2010). Revival Fire. Zondervan. p. 128. ISBN 978-0310877097.
  68. ^ Summers, Mark. "The Great Harvest: Revival in the Confederate Army during the Civil War". Religion & Liberty. 21 (3). Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  69. ^ Robertson, James I. (PDF). Virginia Center for Civil War Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2013.
  70. ^ Robertson, p. xiv.
  71. ^ Pfanz, p. 344; Eicher, Longest Night, p. 517; Sears, p. 228; Trudeau, p. 253. Both Sears and Trudeau record "if possible".
  72. ^ Robertson, p. 499.
  73. ^ Robertson, p. 230.
  74. ^ "Little Sorrel, Connecticut's Confederate War Horse". ConnecticutHistory.org. Retrieved September 12, 2013.
  75. ^ "Little Sorrel Buried at VMI July 20, 1997" October 20, 2016, at the Wayback Machine; Robertson, p. 922, n. 16.
  76. ^ Jackson, Mary Anna, Jackson Memoirs, 1895
  77. ^ "Stonewall Jackson FAQ – Virginia Military Institute Archives". www.vmi.edu. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  78. ^ See, for instance, Sears, Gettysburg, pp. 233–34. Alternative theories about Gettysburg are prominent ideas in the literature about the Lost Cause.
  79. ^ Robert H. Patton, The Pattons: A Personal History of an American Family (New York: Crown Publishers, 1994), 90.
  80. ^ Matthew F. Holland (2001). Eisenhower Between the Wars: The Making of a General and Statesman. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-0-275-96340-8.
  81. ^ Major Matthew H. Fath (2015). Eichelberger – Intrepidity, Iron Will, And Intellect: General Robert L. Eichelberger And Military Genius. Verdun Press. pp. 21–. ISBN 978-1-78625-238-8.
  82. ^ Major Mickey L. Quintrall USAF (2015). The Chesty Puller Paragon: Leadership Dogma Or Model Doctrine?. Lucknow Books. pp. 18–. ISBN 978-1-78625-075-9.
  83. ^ "Thomas Jonathan Christian Jackson Christian Jr: American Air Museum in Britain".
  84. ^ a b Farwell, 1993, p. 513
  85. ^ Horwitz, 1999, p. 232
  86. ^ Vozzella, Laura (January 21, 2020). "Virginia Senate votes to eliminate Lee-Jackson Day, create new Election Day holiday". Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  87. ^ Virginia General Assembly SB 601 Legal holidays; Election Day
  88. ^ "General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson Equestrian, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  89. ^ Times-Dispatch, MARK ROBINSON Richmond. "UPDATE: Crews on scene preparing for removal of Jackson statue on Monument Avenue". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  90. ^ "Stonewall Jackson removed from Richmond's Monument Avenue". AP NEWS. July 1, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.

References

Further reading

  • Austin, Aurelia (1967). Georgia boys with "Stonewall" Jackson: James Thomas Thompson and the Walton Infantry. Athens: University of Georgia Press. ISBN 978-0820335230. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  • Chambers, Lenoir. Stonewall Jackson. New York: Morrow, 1959. OCLC 186539122.
  • Cooke, John Esten; Hoge, Moses Drury; Jones, John William (1876). Stonewall Jackson: A Military Biography. New York: D. Appleton and Company. OCLC 299589.
  • Cozzens, Peter. Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8078-3200-4.
  • Dabney, R. L. Life of Lieut.-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson). London: James Nisbet and Co., 1866. OCLC 457442354.
  • Douglas, Henry Kyd. I Rode with Stonewall: The War Experiences of the Youngest Member of Jackson's Staff. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1940. ISBN 0-8078-0337-5.
  • Gwynne, S. C. Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4516-7328-9.
  • King, Benjamin. A Bullet for Stonewall, Pelican Publishing Company, 1990,. ISBN 0882897683.
  • Lively, Mathew W. Calamity at Chancellorsville: The Wounding and Death of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie, 2013. ISBN 978-1-61121-138-2.
  • Mackowski, Chris, and Kristopher D. White. The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson: The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy's Greatest Icon. El Dorado Hills, California: Savas Beatie, 2013. ISBN 978-1-61121-150-4.
  • Randolph, Sarah N. (1876). The Life of General Thomas J. Jackson. Lippincott & Co.
  • Robertson, James I., Jr. Stonewall Jackson's Book of Maxims. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 2002. ISBN 1-58182-296-0.
  • Shackel, Paul A. Archaeology and Created Memory: Public History in a National Park. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2000. ISBN 978-0-306-46177-4.
  • White, Henry A. Stonewall Jackson. Philadelphia: G.W. Jacobs and Co., 1909. OCLC 3911913.
  • Wilkins, J. Steven. All Things for Good: The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-58182-225-1.

External links

  • Virginia Military Institute Archives Stonewall Jackson Resources
  • before-death-on-maryland Stonewall Jackson Original Letter as Lieutenant General, Near Fredericksburg, 1863 Shapell Manuscript Foundation
  • Jackson genealogy site
  • "Death of 'Stonewall' Jackson, Southern Confederacy, May 12, 1863. Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive. Digital Library of Georgia.
  • Fitzhugh Lee's 1879 address on Chancellorsville
  • Animated history of the campaigns of Stonewall Jackson December 4, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  • Details on John Jackson's larceny trial in the Court Records of the Old Bailey
  • Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters, Winchester VA
  • [3] Guinea Station, the place where Thomas Jackson died
Military offices
Preceded by
(none)
Commander of the Stonewall Brigade
April 27, 1861 – October 28, 1861
Succeeded by

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This article is about the Confederate general For other people see Stonewall Jackson disambiguation Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson January 21 1824 May 10 1863 was a Confederate general during the American Civil War considered one of the best known Confederate commanders after Robert E Lee 2 He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the Eastern Theater of the war until his death and had a key part in winning many significant battles Military historians regard him as one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U S history 3 Stonewall JacksonGeneral Jackson at Winchester Virginia 1862Birth nameThomas Jonathan JacksonNickname s StonewallOld JackOld Blue LightTom FoolBorn 1824 01 21 January 21 1824 1 Clarksburg Virginia now West Virginia U S DiedMay 10 1863 1863 05 10 aged 39 Guinea Station VirginiaBuriedOak Grove CemeteryLexington Virginia U S AllegianceUnited StatesConfederate StatesService wbr branchUnited States Army USA Confederate States Army CSA Years of service1846 1852 USA 1861 1863 CSA RankFirst Lieutenant USA Brevet Major USA Lieutenant General CSA Commands heldStonewall BrigadeSecond Corps Army of Northern VirginiaBattles warsMexican American War American Civil War Great Train Raid of 1861 Battle of Falling Waters First Battle of Bull Run First Manassas WIA Romney Expedition Battle of Hancock Jackson s Valley Campaign First Battle of Kernstown Battle of Front Royal First Battle of Winchester Battle of Port Republic Seven Days Battles Battle of Gaines s Mill Battle of Savage s Station Battle of White Oak Swamp Battle of Malvern Hill Northern Virginia Campaign Battle of Cedar Mountain First Battle of Rappahannock Station Manassas Station Second Battle of Bull Run Second Manassas Battle of Chantilly Maryland Campaign Battle of Harpers Ferry Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville DOW Alma materUnited States Military AcademySpouse s Elinor Jackson m 1853 died 1854 wbr Mary Anna Jackson m 1857 wbr ChildrenJulia Laura Jackson Mary Graham JacksonSignatureBorn in what was then part of Virginia now in West Virginia Jackson received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point and graduated in the class of 1846 He served in the U S Army during the Mexican American War of 1846 1848 and distinguished himself at Chapultepec From 1851 to 1861 he taught at the Virginia Military Institute where he was unpopular with his students When Virginia seceded from the Union in May 1861 after the attack on Fort Sumter Jackson joined the Confederate Army He distinguished himself commanding a brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run in July providing crucial reinforcements and beating back a fierce Union assault Thus Barnard Elliott Bee Jr compared him to a stone wall which became his enduring nickname He performed exceptionally well in the campaigns in the Shenandoah Valley in 1862 Despite an initial defeat due largely to faulty intelligence through swift and careful maneuvers Jackson was able to defeat three separate Union armies and prevent them from reinforcing General George B McClellan s Army of the Potomac in its campaign against Richmond Jackson then quickly moved his three divisions to reinforce General Lee s Army of Northern Virginia in defense of Richmond He performed poorly in the Seven Days Battles against McClellan s Army of the Potomac as he was frequently late arriving on the field During the Northern Virginia Campaign that summer Jackson s troops captured and destroyed an important supply depot for General John Pope s Army of Virginia and then withstood repeated assaults from Pope s troops at the Second Battle of Bull Run Jackson s troops played a prominent role in September s Maryland Campaign capturing the town of Harpers Ferry a strategic location and providing a defense of the Confederate Army s left at Antietam At Fredericksburg in December Jackson s corps buckled but ultimately beat back an assault by the Union Army under Major General Ambrose Burnside In late April and early May 1863 faced with a larger Union army now commanded by Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville Lee divided his force into three parts On May 2 Jackson launched a surprise attack against the Union right flank driving the opposing troops back about two miles That evening he was accidentally shot by Confederate pickets He lost his left arm to amputation weakened by his wounds he died of pneumonia eight days later His death proved a severe setback for the Confederacy affecting not only its military prospects but also the morale of its army and the general public After Jackson s death his military exploits developed a legendary quality becoming an important element of the ideology of the Lost Cause 4 Contents 1 Ancestry 2 Early life 2 1 Early childhood 2 2 Working and teaching at Jackson s Mill 2 3 Brother against sister 3 Early military career 3 1 West Point 3 2 U S Army and the Mexican War 4 Lexington and the Virginia Military Institute 4 1 Slavery 4 2 Marriages and family life 4 3 John Brown raid aftermath 5 Civil War 5 1 First Battle of Bull Run 5 2 Valley Campaign 5 3 Peninsula 5 4 Second Bull Run to Fredericksburg 5 5 Chancellorsville 6 Death 7 Personal life 7 1 Physical ailments 7 2 Religion 7 3 Command style 7 4 Horsemanship 7 5 Mourning his death 7 6 Legacy 7 7 Descendants 7 8 Commemorations 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksAncestryThomas Jonathan Jackson 5 was a great grandson of John Jackson 1715 1719 1801 and Elizabeth Cummins also known as Elizabeth Comings and Elizabeth Needles 1723 1828 John Jackson was an Irish Protestant from Coleraine County Londonderry Ireland While living in London England he was convicted of the capital crime of larceny for stealing 170 the judge at the Old Bailey sentenced him to seven years penal transportation Elizabeth a strong blonde woman almost 6 feet 180 cm tall born in London was also convicted of felony larceny in an unrelated case for stealing 19 pieces of silver jewelry and fine lace and received a similar sentence They both were transported on the merchant ship Litchfield which departed London in May 1749 with 150 convicts John and Elizabeth met on board and were in love by the time the ship arrived at Annapolis Maryland Although they were sent to different locations in Maryland for their bond service the couple married in July 1755 6 The family migrated west across the Blue Ridge Mountains to settle near Moorefield Virginia now West Virginia in 1758 In 1770 they moved farther west to the Tygart Valley They began to acquire large parcels of virgin farming land near the present day town of Buckhannon including 3 000 acres 12 km2 in Elizabeth s name John and his two teenage sons were early recruits for the American Revolutionary War fighting in the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7 1780 John finished the war as captain and served as a lieutenant of the Virginia militia after 1787 While the men were in the Army Elizabeth converted their home to a haven Jackson s Fort for refugees from Indian attacks 7 John and Elizabeth had eight children Their second son was Edward Jackson 1759 1828 and Edward s third son 8 was Jonathan Jackson Thomas s father 9 Jonathan s mother died on April 17 1796 Three years later on October 13 1799 his father married Elizabeth Wetherholt and they had nine more children 10 11 Early lifeEarly childhood Thomas Jackson was born in the town of Clarksburg Harrison County Virginia on January 21 1824 He was the third child of Julia Beckwith nee Neale Jackson 1798 1831 and Jonathan Jackson 1790 1826 an attorney Both of Jackson s parents were natives of Virginia The family already had two young children and were living in Clarksburg in what is now West Virginia when Thomas was born He was named for his maternal grandfather There is some dispute about the actual location of Jackson s birth A historical marker on the floodwall in Parkersburg West Virginia claims that he was born in a cabin near that spot when his mother was visiting her parents who lived there There are writings which indicate that in Jackson s early childhood he was called The Real Macaroni though the origin of the nickname and whether it really existed are unclear 12 Thomas s sister Elizabeth age six died of typhoid fever on March 6 1826 with two year old Thomas at her bedside His father also died of a typhoid fever on March 26 1827 after nursing his daughter Jackson s mother gave birth to his sister Laura Ann the day after Jackson s father died 13 Julia Jackson thus was widowed at 28 and was left with much debt and three young children including the newborn She sold the family s possessions to pay the debts She declined family charity and moved into a small rented one room house Julia took in sewing and opened a private school to support herself and her three young children for about four years In 1830 Julia Neale Jackson remarried against the wishes of her friends Her new husband Captain Blake B Woodson 14 an attorney did not like his stepchildren Warren Julia s eldest son moved to live with his uncle Alfred Neale near Parkersburg and at the age of sixteen he was hired to teach in Upshur County Julia moved to Fayette County with her other two children Thomas and Laura Julia remained in such poor health and caring for the children was such a strain on her strength that she agreed to let their Grandmother Jackson take them to her home in Lewis County about four miles north of Weston where she lived with her unmarried daughters and sons One of these sons was sent to Fayette County to care for the children by the grandmother When he arrived and the purpose of his visit was revealed there was quite a commotion among the children who were very reluctant to leave their mother Thomas now six years old slipped away to the nearby woods where he hid only returning to the house at nightfall After a day or two of coaxing and numerous bribes the uncle finally persuaded the children to make the trip which took several days with the help of their mother When they arrived at their destination they became the pets of an indulgent grandmother two maiden aunts and several bachelor uncles all of whom were known for their great kindness of heart and strong family attachment Thomas and Laura were indulged in every way and to an extent well calculated to spoil them In August 1835 Thomas and Laura s grandmother died The following year after giving birth to Thomas s half brother Willam Wirt Woodson Julia died of complications leaving her three older children orphaned 15 Julia was buried in an unmarked grave in a homemade coffin in Westlake Cemetery along the James River and Kanawha Turnpike in Fayette County within the corporate limits of present day Ansted West Virginia Working and teaching at Jackson s Mill Jackson s Mill As their mother s health continued to fail Jackson and his sister Laura Ann were sent to live with their half uncle Cummins Jackson who owned a grist mill in Jackson s Mill near present day Weston in Lewis County in central West Virginia Their older brother Warren went to live with other relatives on his mother s side of the family but he later died of tuberculosis in 1841 at the age of twenty Thomas and Laura Ann returned from Jackson s Mill in November 1831 to be at their dying mother s bedside They spent four years together at the Mill before being separated Laura Ann was sent to live with her mother s family Thomas to live with his Aunt Polly his father s sister and her husband Isaac Brake on a farm four miles from Clarksburg Thomas was treated by Brake as an outsider and having suffered verbal abuse for over a year ran away from the family When his cousin in Clarksburg urged him to return to Aunt Polly s he replied Maybe I ought to ma am but I am not going to He walked eighteen miles through mountain wilderness to Jackson s Mill where he was welcomed by his uncles and he remained there for the following seven years 16 Cummins Jackson was strict with Thomas who looked up to Cummins as a schoolteacher Jackson helped around the farm tending sheep with the assistance of a sheepdog driving teams of oxen and helping harvest wheat and corn Formal education was not easily obtained but he attended school when and where he could Much of Jackson s education was self taught He once made a deal with one of his uncle s slaves to provide him with pine knots in exchange for reading lessons Thomas would stay up at night reading borrowed books by the light of those burning pine knots Virginia law forbade teaching a slave free black or mulatto to read or write nevertheless Jackson secretly taught the slave as he had promised Once literate the young slave fled to Canada via the Underground Railroad 17 In his later years at Jackson s Mill Thomas served as a schoolteacher First lieutenant Thomas J Jackson sometime after West Point graduation in the late 1840s Brother against sister The Civil War has sometimes been referred to as a war of brother against brother but in the case of the Jackson family it was brother against sister Laura Jackson Arnold was close to her brother Thomas until the Civil War period As the war loomed she became a staunch Unionist in a somewhat divided Harrison County She was so strident in her beliefs that she expressed mixed feelings upon hearing of Thomas s death One Union officer said that she seemed depressed at hearing the news but her Unionism was stronger than her family bonds In a letter he wrote that Laura had said she would rather know that he was dead than to have him a leader in the rebel army Her Union sentiment also estranged her later from her husband Jonathan Arnold 18 Early military careerMain article Military career of Stonewall Jackson West Point In 1842 Jackson was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point New York Because of his inadequate schooling he had difficulty with the entrance examinations and began his studies at the bottom of his class Displaying a dogged determination that was to characterize his life he became one of the hardest working cadets in the academy and moved steadily up the academic rankings Jackson graduated 17th out of 59 students in the Class of 1846 19 It was said by his peers that if he had stayed there another year he would have graduated first U S Army and the Mexican War Windows formerly in the Washington National Cathedral At left top Jackson reading the Bible in Confederate camp left bottom professor in Virginia Military Institute bottom right Mexican American War upper right Jackson enters heaven The windows were removed in 2017 20 Jackson began his United States Army career as a second lieutenant in Company K of the 1st U S Artillery Regiment proceeding through Pennsylvania down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans and from there the troops embarked for Point Isabel Texas and were sent to fight in the Mexican American War from 1846 to 1848 Jackson s command was directed to report to General Taylor and proceed immediately via Matamoros and Camargo to Monterey and then to Saltillo Prior to the Battle of Buena Vista Lieutenant Jackson s command was ordered to withdraw from General Taylor s army and march to the mouth of the Rio Grande where they would be transferred to Veracruz He served at the Siege of Veracruz and the battles of Contreras Chapultepec and Mexico City eventually earning two brevet promotions and the regular army rank of first lieutenant It was in Mexico that Thomas Jackson first met Robert E Lee During the assault on Chapultepec Castle on September 13 1847 he refused what he felt was a bad order to withdraw his troops Confronted by his superior he explained his rationale claiming withdrawal was more hazardous than continuing his overmatched artillery duel His judgment proved correct and a relieving brigade was able to exploit the advantage Jackson had broached In contrast to this display of strength of character he obeyed what he also felt was a bad order when he raked a civilian throng with artillery fire after the Mexican authorities failed to surrender Mexico City at the hour demanded by the U S forces 21 The former episode and later aggressive action against the retreating Mexican army earned him field promotion to the brevet rank of major 19 After the war Jackson was briefly assigned to forts in New York and then to Florida during the Second Interbellum of the Seminole Wars during which the Americans were attempting to force the remaining Seminoles to move West He was stationed briefly at Fort Casey before being named second in command at Fort Meade a small fort about thirty miles south of Tampa 22 His commanding officer was Major William H French Jackson and French disagreed often and filed numerous complaints against each other Jackson stayed in Florida less than a year 23 Lexington and the Virginia Military Institute Stonewall Jackson In the spring of 1851 24 Jackson accepted a newly created teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute VMI in Lexington Virginia He became Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy or Physics and Instructor of Artillery Parts of Jackson s curriculum are still taught at VMI regarded as timeless military essentials discipline mobility assessing the enemy s strength and intentions while attempting to conceal your own and the efficiency of artillery combined with an infantry assault Though he spent a great deal of time preparing in depth for each class meeting Jackson was unpopular as a teacher His students called him Tom Fool He memorized his lectures and then recited them to the class any student who came to ask for help was given the same explanation as before And if a student asked for help a second time Jackson viewed him as insubordinate and punished him For his tests Jackson typically had students simply recite memorized information that he had given them The students mocked his apparently stern religious nature and his eccentric traits In 1856 a group of alumni attempted to have Jackson removed from his position 25 The founder of VMI and one of its first two faculty members was John Thomas Lewis Preston Preston s second wife Margaret Junkin Preston was the sister of Jackson s first wife Elinor In addition to working together on the VMI faculty Preston taught Sunday School with Jackson and served on his staff during the Civil War 26 Slavery Stonewall Jackson in 1855 Little known as he was to the white inhabitants of Lexington Jackson was known by many of the African Americans in town both slaves and free blacks citation needed In 1855 he organized Sunday School classes for blacks at the Presbyterian Church His second wife Mary Anna Jackson taught with Jackson as he preferred that my labors should be given to the colored children believing that it was more important and useful to put the strong hand of the Gospel under the ignorant African race to lift them up 27 The pastor Dr William Spottswood White described the relationship between Jackson and his Sunday afternoon students In their religious instruction he succeeded wonderfully His discipline was systematic and firm but very kind His servants reverenced and loved him as they would have done a brother or father He was emphatically the black man s friend He addressed his students by name and they referred to him as Marse Major 28 Jackson owned six slaves in the late 1850s Three Hetty Cyrus and George a mother and two teenage sons were received as part of the dowry at his marriage to Mary Anna Jackson 29 Another slave Albert requested that Jackson purchase him and allow him to work for his freedom he was employed as a waiter in one of the Lexington hotels and Jackson rented him to VMI Amy also requested that Jackson purchase her from a public slave auction and she served the family as a cook and housekeeper The sixth Emma was a four year old orphan with a learning disability accepted by Jackson from an aged widow and presented to his second wife Mary Anna as a welcome home gift 30 After Jackson was shot at Chancellorsville a slave Jim Lewis had stayed with Jackson in the small house as he lay dying 31 Mary Anna Jackson in her 1895 memoir said our servants without the firm guidance and restraint of their master the excitement of the times proved so demoralizing to them that he deemed it best for me to provide them with good homes among the permanent residents 32 James Robertson wrote about Jackson s view on slavery Jackson neither apologized for nor spoke in favor of the practice of slavery He probably opposed the institution Yet in his mind the Creator had sanctioned slavery and man had no moral right to challenge its existence The good Christian slaveholder was one who treated his servants fairly and humanely at all times 33 Marriages and family life House owned by Stonewall Jackson in Lexington While an instructor at VMI in 1853 Thomas Jackson married Elinor Ellie Junkin whose father George Junkin was president of Washington College later named Washington and Lee University in Lexington An addition was built onto the president s residence for the Jacksons and when Robert E Lee became president of Washington College he lived in the same home now known as the Lee Jackson House 34 Ellie gave birth to a stillborn son on October 22 1854 experiencing a hemorrhage an hour later that proved fatal 35 After a tour of Europe Jackson married again in 1857 Mary Anna Morrison was from North Carolina where her father was the first president of Davidson College Her sister Isabella Morrison was married to Daniel Harvey Hill Mary Anna had a daughter named Mary Graham on April 30 1858 but the baby died less than a month later Another daughter was born in 1862 shortly before her father s death The Jacksons named her Julia Laura after his mother and sister Jackson purchased the only house he ever owned while in Lexington Built in 1801 the brick town house at 8 East Washington Street was purchased by Jackson in 1859 He lived in it for two years before being called to serve in the Confederacy Jackson never returned to his home John Brown raid aftermath In November 1859 at the request of the governor of Virginia Major William Gilham led a contingent of the VMI Cadet Corps to Charles Town to provide an additional military presence at the hanging of militant abolitionist John Brown on December 2 following his raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry on October 16 Major Jackson was placed in command of the artillery consisting of two howitzers manned by twenty one cadets Civil War The Colonel Lewis T Moore house which served as the Winchester Headquarters of Lt Gen T J Stonewall Jackson photo 2007 In April 1861 after Virginia seceded from the Union and as the American Civil War broke out Jackson was ordered by the Governor of Virginia to report with the VMI cadet corps to Richmond and await further orders Upon arrival Jackson was appointed a Major of Engineers in the Provisional Army of Virginia which was a short lived force commanded by Robert E Lee prior to Virginia fully augmenting into forces of the Confederacy After Jackson protested such a low rank the Virginia Governor appointed him a Colonel of Virginia Infantry which in May 1861 was augmented to a Colonel in the Confederate Army Jackson then became a drill master for some of the many new recruits in the Confederate Army On April 27 1861 Virginia Governor John Letcher ordered Colonel Jackson to take command at Harpers Ferry where he would assemble and command the unit which later gained fame as the Stonewall Brigade consisting of the 2nd 4th 5th 27th and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments All of these units were from the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia where Jackson located his headquarters throughout the first two years of the war Jackson became known for his relentless drilling of his troops he believed discipline was vital to success on the battlefield Following raids on the B amp O Railroad on May 24 he was promoted to brigadier general on June 17 1861 Jackson continued to wear a blue Union Army uniform up to this point having only access to his old VMI major s jacket and would not be issued with a grey Confederate uniform until 1862 36 First Battle of Bull Run Main article Winchester Virginia in the American Civil War General Jackson by Augusto Ferrer Dalmau Jackson rose to prominence and earned his most famous nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run First Manassas on July 21 1861 As the Confederate lines began to crumble under heavy Union assault Jackson s brigade provided crucial reinforcements on Henry House Hill demonstrating the discipline he instilled in his men While under heavy fire for several continuous hours Jackson received a wound breaking the middle finger of his left hand about midway between the hand and knuckle the ball passing on the side next to the index finger The troops of South Carolina commanded by Gen Barnard Elliott Bee Jr had been overwhelmed and he rode up to Jackson in despair exclaiming They are beating us back Then said Jackson we will give them the bayonet As he rode back to his command Bee exhorted his own troops to re form by shouting There is Jackson standing like a stone wall Let us determine to die here and we will conquer Rally behind the Virginians 37 There is some controversy over Bee s statement and intent which could not be clarified because he was killed almost immediately after speaking and none of his subordinate officers wrote reports of the battle Major Burnett Rhett chief of staff to General Joseph E Johnston claimed that Bee was angry at Jackson s failure to come immediately to the relief of Bee s and Francis S Bartow s brigades while they were under heavy pressure Those who subscribe to this opinion believe that Bee s statement was meant to be pejorative Look at Jackson standing there like a stone wall 38 Regardless of the controversy and the delay in relieving Bee Jackson s brigade which would thenceforth be known as the Stonewall Brigade stopped the Union assault and suffered more casualties than any other Southern brigade that day Jackson has since then been generally known as Stonewall Jackson 39 During the battle Jackson displayed a gesture common to him and held his left arm skyward with the palm facing forward interpreted by his soldiers variously as an eccentricity or an entreaty to God for success in combat His hand was struck by a bullet or a piece of shrapnel and he suffered a small loss of bone in his middle finger He refused medical advice to have the finger amputated 40 After the battle Jackson was promoted to major general October 7 1861 36 and given command of the Valley District with headquarters in Winchester Valley Campaign Further information Valley Campaign This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed April 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message In the spring of 1862 Union Maj Gen George B McClellan s Army of the Potomac approached Richmond from the southeast in the Peninsula Campaign Maj Gen Irvin McDowell s large corps was poised to hit Richmond from the north and Maj Gen Nathaniel P Banks s army threatened the Shenandoah Valley Jackson was ordered by Richmond to operate in the Valley to defeat Banks s threat and prevent McDowell s troops from reinforcing McClellan Jackson possessed the attributes to succeed against his poorly coordinated and sometimes timid opponents a combination of great audacity excellent knowledge and shrewd use of the terrain and an uncommon ability to inspire his troops to great feats of marching and fighting Historical marker marking the end of Gen Stonewall Jackson s pursuit of the Federals after the Battle of McDowell May 12 1862 The campaign started with a tactical defeat at Kernstown on March 23 1862 when faulty intelligence led him to believe he was attacking a small detachment But it became a strategic victory for the Confederacy because his aggressiveness suggested that he possessed a much larger force convincing President Abraham Lincoln to keep Banks troops in the Valley and McDowell s 30 000 man corps near Fredericksburg subtracting about 50 000 soldiers from McClellan s invasion force As it transpired it was Jackson s only defeat in the Valley By adding Maj Gen Richard S Ewell s large division and Maj Gen Edward Allegheny Johnson s small division Jackson increased his army to 17 000 men He was still significantly outnumbered but attacked portions of his divided enemy individually at McDowell defeating both Brig Gens Robert H Milroy and Robert C Schenck He defeated Banks at Front Royal and Winchester ejecting him from the Valley Lincoln decided that the defeat of Jackson was an immediate priority though Jackson s orders were solely to keep Union forces occupied away from Richmond He ordered Irvin McDowell to send 20 000 men to Front Royal and Maj Gen John C Fremont to move to Harrisonburg If both forces could converge at Strasburg Jackson s only escape route up the Valley would be cut After a series of maneuvers Jackson defeated Fremont s command at Cross Keys and Brig Gen James Shields at Port Republic on June 8 9 Union forces were withdrawn from the Valley It was a classic military campaign of surprise and maneuver Jackson pressed his army to travel 646 miles 1 040 km in 48 days of marching and won five significant victories with a force of about 17 000 against a combined force of 60 000 Stonewall Jackson s reputation for moving his troops so rapidly earned them the oxymoronic nickname foot cavalry He became the most celebrated soldier in the Confederacy until he was eventually eclipsed by Lee and lifted the morale of the Southern public Peninsula McClellan s Peninsula Campaign toward Richmond stalled at the Battle of Seven Pines on May 31 and June 1 After the Valley Campaign ended in mid June Jackson and his troops were called to join Robert E Lee s Army of Northern Virginia in defense of the capital By utilizing a railroad tunnel under the Blue Ridge Mountains and then transporting troops to Hanover County on the Virginia Central Railroad Jackson and his forces made a surprise appearance in front of McClellan at Mechanicsville Reports had last placed Jackson s forces in the Shenandoah Valley their presence near Richmond added greatly to the Union commander s overestimation of the strength and numbers of the forces before him This proved a crucial factor in McClellan s decision to re establish his base at a point many miles downstream from Richmond on the James River at Harrison s Landing essentially a retreat that ended the Peninsula Campaign and prolonged the war almost three more years Jackson s troops served well under Lee in the series of battles known as the Seven Days Battles but Jackson s own performance in those battles is generally considered to be poor 41 He arrived late at Mechanicsville and inexplicably ordered his men to bivouac for the night within clear earshot of the battle He was late at Savage s Station At White Oak Swamp he failed to employ fording places to cross White Oak Swamp Creek attempting for hours to rebuild a bridge which limited his involvement to an ineffectual artillery duel and a missed opportunity to intervene decisively at the Battle of Glendale which was raging nearby At Malvern Hill Jackson participated in the futile piecemeal frontal assaults against entrenched Union infantry and massed artillery and suffered heavy casualties but this was a problem for all of Lee s army in that ill considered battle The reasons for Jackson s sluggish and poorly coordinated actions during the Seven Days are disputed although a severe lack of sleep after the grueling march and railroad trip from the Shenandoah Valley was probably a significant factor Both Jackson and his troops were completely exhausted An explanation for this and other lapses by Jackson was tersely offered by his colleague and brother in law General Daniel Harvey Hill Jackson s genius never shone when he was under the command of another 42 Second Bull Run to Fredericksburg Jackson and Little Sorrel painting by David Bendann Montage of Thomas J Jackson and staff The military reputations of Lee s corps commanders are often characterized as Stonewall Jackson representing the audacious offensive component of Lee s army whereas his counterpart James Longstreet more typically advocated and executed defensive strategies and tactics Jackson has been described as the army s hammer Longstreet its anvil 43 In the Northern Virginia Campaign of August 1862 this stereotype did not hold true Longstreet commanded the Right Wing later to become known as the First Corps and Jackson commanded the Left Wing Jackson started the campaign under Lee s orders with a sweeping flanking maneuver that placed his corps into the rear of Union Maj Gen John Pope s Army of Virginia The Hotchkiss journal shows that Jackson most likely originally conceived the movement In the journal entries for March 4 and 6 1863 General Stuart tells Hotchkiss that Jackson was entitled to all the credit for the movement and that Lee thought the proposed movement very hazardous and reluctantly consented to the movement 44 At Manassas Junction Jackson was able to capture all of the supplies of the Union Army depot Then he had his troops destroy all of it for it was the main depot for the Union Army Jackson then retreated and then took up a defensive position and effectively invited Pope to assault him On August 28 29 the start of the Second Battle of Bull Run Second Manassas Pope launched repeated assaults against Jackson as Longstreet and the remainder of the army marched north to reach the battlefield On August 30 Pope came to believe that Jackson was starting to retreat and Longstreet took advantage of this by launching a massive assault on the Union army s left with over 25 000 men Although the Union troops put up a furious defense Pope s army was forced to retreat in a manner similar to the embarrassing Union defeat at First Bull Run fought on roughly the same battleground When Lee decided to invade the North in the Maryland Campaign Jackson took Harpers Ferry then hastened to join the rest of the army at Sharpsburg Maryland where they fought McClellan in the Battle of Antietam Sharpsburg Antietam was primarily a defensive battle against superior odds although McClellan failed to exploit his advantage Jackson s men bore the brunt of the initial attacks on the northern end of the battlefield and at the end of the day successfully resisted a breakthrough on the southern end when Jackson s subordinate Maj Gen A P Hill arrived at the last minute from Harpers Ferry The Confederate forces held their position but the battle was extremely bloody for both sides and Lee withdrew the Army of Northern Virginia back across the Potomac River ending the invasion On October 10 Jackson was promoted to lieutenant general being ranked just behind Lee and Longstreet and his command was redesignated the Second Corps Before the armies camped for winter Jackson s Second Corps held off a strong Union assault against the right flank of the Confederate line at the Battle of Fredericksburg in what became a Confederate victory Just before the battle Jackson was delighted to receive a letter about the birth of his daughter Julia Laura Jackson on November 23 45 Also before the battle Maj Gen J E B Stuart Lee s dashing and well dressed cavalry commander presented to Jackson a fine general s frock coat that he had ordered from one of the best tailors in Richmond Jackson s previous coat was threadbare and colorless from exposure to the elements its buttons removed by admiring ladies Jackson asked his staff to thank Stuart saying that although the coat was too handsome for him he would cherish it as a souvenir His staff insisted that he wear it to dinner which caused scores of soldiers to rush to see him in uncharacteristic garb Jackson was so embarrassed with the attention that he did not wear the new uniform for months 46 Chancellorsville At the Battle of Chancellorsville the Army of Northern Virginia was faced with a serious threat by the Army of the Potomac and its new commanding general Major General Joseph Hooker General Lee decided to employ a risky tactic to take the initiative and offensive away from Hooker s new southern thrust he decided to divide his forces Jackson and his entire corps went on an aggressive flanking maneuver to the right of the Union lines this flanking movement would be one of the most successful and dramatic of the war While riding with his infantry in a wide berth well south and west of the Federal line of battle Jackson employed Maj Gen Fitzhugh Lee s cavalry to provide for better reconnaissance regarding the exact location of the Union right and rear The results were far better than even Jackson could have hoped Fitzhugh Lee found the entire right side of the Federal lines in the middle of open field guarded merely by two guns that faced westward as well as the supplies and rear encampments The men were eating and playing games in carefree fashion completely unaware that an entire Confederate corps was less than a mile away What happened next is given in Fitzhugh Lee s own words General Jackson s Chancellorsville portrait taken at a Spotsylvania County farm on April 26 1863 seven days before he was wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville Lower right photograph of trees shattered by artillery shells near where Jackson was shot on the Orange Plank Road So impressed was I with my discovery that I rode rapidly back to the point on the Plank road where I had left my cavalry and back down the road Jackson was moving until I met Stonewall himself General said I if you will ride with me halting your column here out of sight I will show you the enemy s right and you will perceive the great advantage of attacking down the Old turnpike instead of the Plank road the enemy s lines being taken in reverse Bring only one courier as you will be in view from the top of the hill Jackson assented and I rapidly conducted him to the point of observation There had been no change in the picture I only knew Jackson slightly I watched him closely as he gazed upon Howard s troops It was then about 2 pm His eyes burned with a brilliant glow lighting up a sad face His expression was one of intense interest his face was colored slightly with the paint of approaching battle and radiant at the success of his flank movement To the remarks made to him while the unconscious line of blue was pointed out he did not reply once during the five minutes he was on the hill and yet his lips were moving From what I have read and heard of Jackson since that day I know now what he was doing then Oh beware of rashness General Hooker Stonewall Jackson is praying in full view and in rear of your right flank While talking to the Great God of Battles how could he hear what a poor cavalryman was saying Tell General Rodes said he suddenly whirling his horse towards the courier to move across the Old plank road halt when he gets to the Old turnpike and I will join him there One more look upon the Federal lines and then he rode rapidly down the hill his arms flapping to the motion of his horse over whose head it seemed good rider as he was he would certainly go I expected to be told I had made a valuable personal reconnaissance saving the lives of many soldiers and that Jackson was indebted to me to that amount at least Perhaps I might have been a little chagrined at Jackson s silence and hence commented inwardly and adversely upon his horsemanship Alas I had looked upon him for the last time Fitzhugh Lee address to the Association of the Army of Northern Virginia 1879 Jackson immediately returned to his corps and arranged his divisions into a line of battle to charge directly into the oblivious Federal right The Confederates marched silently until they were merely several hundred feet from the Union position then released a bloodthirsty cry and full charge Many of the Federal soldiers were captured without a shot fired the rest were driven into a full rout Jackson pursued relentlessly back toward the center of the Federal line until dusk Darkness ended the assault As Jackson and his staff were returning to camp on May 2 sentries of the 18th North Carolina Infantry Regiment mistook the group for a Union cavalry force The sentries shouted Halt who goes there but fired before evaluating the reply Frantic shouts by Jackson s staff identifying the party were replied to by Major John D Barry with the retort It s a damned Yankee trick Fire 47 A second volley was fired in response Jackson was hit by three bullets two in the left arm and one in the right hand Several of Jackson s men and many horses were killed in the attack Incoming artillery rounds and darkness led to confusion and Jackson was dropped from his stretcher while being evacuated Hunter McGuire amputated Jackson s left arm and Jackson was moved to Fairfield plantation at Guinea Station Thomas Chandler the owner offered the use of his home for Jackson s treatment but Jackson suggested using Chandler s plantation office building instead 48 Death The plantation office building where Stonewall Jackson died in Guinea Station Virginia Lee wrote to Jackson after learning of his injuries stating Could I have directed events I would have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead 49 Jackson died of complications from pneumonia on May 10 1863 eight days after he was shot Dr McGuire wrote an account of Jackson s final hours and last words A few moments before he died he cried out in his delirium Order A P Hill to prepare for action Pass the infantry to the front rapidly Tell Major Hawks then stopped leaving the sentence unfinished Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face and he said quietly and with an expression as if of relief Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees 50 Jackson s fatal bullet was withdrawn examined and found to be 67 caliber 0 67 inches 17 mm a type in service with the Confederate forces Union troops in the area were using 58 caliber balls This was one of the first instances of forensic ballistics identification derived from a firearm projectile 51 His body was moved to the Governor s Mansion in Richmond for the public to mourn and he was then moved to be buried in Oak Grove Cemetery Lexington Virginia The arm that was amputated on May 2 was buried separately by Jackson s chaplain Beverly Tucker Lacy at the J Horace Lacy house Ellwood now preserved at the Fredericksburg National Battlefield in the Wilderness of Orange County near the field hospital 52 Upon hearing of Jackson s death Robert E Lee mourned the loss of both a friend and a trusted commander As Jackson lay dying Lee sent a message through Chaplain Lacy saying Give General Jackson my affectionate regards and say to him he has lost his left arm but I my right 53 The night Lee learned of Jackson s death he told his cook William I have lost my right arm and I m bleeding at the heart 54 Harper s Weekly reported Jackson s death on May 23 1863 as follows DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON General Stonewall Jackson was badly wounded in the arm at the battles of Chancellorsville and had his arm amputated Jackson initially appeared to be healing but he died from pneumonia on May 10 1863 55 Personal life In 1864 Jackson was memorialized on the Confederate 500 banknote Jackson s sometimes unusual command style and personality traits combined with his frequent success in battle contribute to his legacy as one of the greatest generals of the Civil War 56 He was martial and stern in attitude and profoundly religious a deacon in the Presbyterian Church One of his many nicknames was Old Blue Lights 57 a term applied to a military man whose evangelical zeal burned with the intensity of the blue light used for night time display 58 Physical ailments Jackson held a lifelong belief that one of his arms was longer than the other and thus usually held the longer arm up to equalize his circulation He was described as a champion sleeper and occasionally even fell asleep with food in his mouth Jackson suffered a number of ailments for which he sought relief via contemporary practices of his day including hydrotherapy popular in America at that time visiting establishments at Oswego New York 1850 and Round Hill Massachusetts 1860 although with little evidence of success 59 60 Jackson also suffered a significant hearing loss in both of his ears as a result of his prior service in the U S Army as an artillery officer A recurring story concerns Jackson s love of lemons which he allegedly gnawed whole to alleviate symptoms of dyspepsia indigestion General Richard Taylor son of President Zachary Taylor wrote a passage in his war memoirs about Jackson eating lemons Where Jackson got his lemons no fellow could find out but he was rarely without one 61 However recent research by his biographer James I Robertson Jr has found that none of Jackson s contemporaries including members of his staff his friends or his wife recorded any unusual obsessions with lemons Jackson thought of a lemon as a rare treat enjoyed greatly whenever it could be obtained from the enemy s camp Jackson was fond of all fruits particularly peaches but he enjoyed with relish lemons oranges watermelons apples grapes berries or whatever was available 62 Religion Jackson s religion has often been discussed His biographer Robert Lewis Dabney suggested that It was the fear of God which made him so fearless of all else 63 Jackson himself had said My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed 64 Prayer in Stonewall Jackson s camp 1866 Stephen W Sears states that Jackson was fanatical in his Presbyterian faith and it energized his military thought and character Theology was the only subject he genuinely enjoyed discussing His dispatches invariably credited an ever kind Providence According to Sears this fanatical religiosity had drawbacks It warped Jackson s judgment of men leading to poor appointments it was said he preferred good Presbyterians to good soldiers 65 James I Robertson Jr suggests that Jackson was a Christian soldier in every sense of the word According to Robertson Jackson thought of the war as a religious crusade and viewed himself as an Old Testament warrior like David or Joshua who went into battle to slay the Philistines 66 Jackson encouraged the Confederate States Army revival that occurred in 1863 67 although it was probably more of a grass roots movement than a top down revival 68 Jackson strictly observed the Sunday Sabbath James I Robertson Jr notes that no place existed in his Sunday schedule for labor newspapers or secular conversation 69 Command style A portrait of Stonewall Jackson 1864 J W King in the National Portrait Gallery In command Jackson was extremely secretive about his plans and extremely meticulous about military discipline This secretive nature did not stand him in good stead with his subordinates who were often not aware of his overall operational intentions until the last minute and who complained of being left out of key decisions 70 Robert E Lee could trust Jackson with deliberately undetailed orders that conveyed Lee s overall objectives what modern doctrine calls the end state This was because Jackson had a talent for understanding Lee s sometimes unstated goals and Lee trusted Jackson with the ability to take whatever actions were necessary to implement his end state requirements Few of Lee s subsequent corps commanders had this ability At Gettysburg this resulted in lost opportunities With a defeated and disorganized Union Army trying to regroup on high ground near town and vulnerable Lee sent one of his new corps commanders Richard S Ewell discretionary orders that the heights Cemetery Hill and Culp s Hill be taken if practicable Without Jackson s intuitive grasp of Lee s orders or the instinct to take advantage of sudden tactical opportunities Ewell chose not to attempt the assault and this failure is considered by historians to be the greatest missed opportunity of the battle 71 Horsemanship Jackson had a poor reputation as a horseman One of his soldiers Georgia volunteer William Andrews wrote that Jackson was a very ordinary looking man of medium size his uniform badly soiled as though it had seen hard service He wore a cap pulled down nearly to his nose and was riding a rawboned horse that did not look much like a charger unless it would be on hay or clover He certainly made a poor figure on a horseback with his stirrup leather six inches too short putting his knees nearly level with his horse s back and his heels turned out with his toes sticking behind his horse s foreshoulder A sorry description of our most famous general but a correct one 72 His horse was named Little Sorrel also known as Old Sorrel a small chestnut gelding which was a captured Union horse from a Connecticut farm 73 74 He rode Little Sorrel throughout the war and was riding him when he was shot at Chancellorsville Little Sorrel died at age 36 and is buried near a statue of Jackson on the parade grounds of VMI His mounted hide is on display in the VMI Museum 75 Mourning his death General Lee s Last Visit to Stonewall Jackson s Grave painting by Louis Eckhardt 1872 After the war Jackson s wife and young daughter Julia moved from Lexington to North Carolina Mary Anna Jackson wrote 76 two books about her husband s life including some of his letters She never remarried and was known as the Widow of the Confederacy living until 1915 His daughter Julia married and bore children but she died of typhoid fever at the age of 26 years 77 Legacy Many theorists through the years have postulated that if Jackson had lived Lee might have prevailed at Gettysburg 78 Certainly Jackson s discipline and tactical sense were sorely missed As a boy General George Patton of World War II fame prayed next to two portraits of Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson whom he assumed were God and Jesus 79 He once told Dwight D Eisenhower I will be your Jackson 80 General Douglas MacArthur called Robert L Eichelberger his Stonewall Jackson 81 Chesty Puller idolized Jackson and carried George Henderson s biography of Jackson with him on campaigns 82 Alexander Vandegrift also idolized Jackson His last words Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees were the inspiration for the title of Ernest Hemingway s 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees Descendants Jackson s grandson and great grandson both namesakes Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian 1888 1952 and Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian Jr 1915 1944 both graduated from West Point The elder Christian was a career US Army officer who served during both World Wars and rose to the rank of brigadier general Thomas Jonathan Jackson Christian s parents were William Edmund Christian and Julia Laura Christian Julia was the daughter of Stonewall Jackson and his bride Mary Anna Morrison The younger Christian was a colonel in command of the 361st Fighter Group flying P 51 Mustangs in the European Theater of Operations in World War II when he was killed in action in August 1944 his personal aircraft Lou IV was one of the most photographed P 51s in the war 83 Commemorations Main article List of memorials to Stonewall Jackson The Stonewall Brigade Dedicated to the Memory of Stonewall Jackson the Immortal Southern Hero and His Brave Veterans Sheet music 1863 As an important element of the ideology of the Lost Cause Jackson has been commemorated in numerous ways including with statues currency and postage 4 A poem penned during the war soon became a popular song Stonewall Jackson s Way The Stonewall Brigade Band is still active today Confederate Loan from March 2 1863 Vignette with Jackson West Virginia s Stonewall Jackson State Park is named in his honor Nearby at Stonewall Jackson s historical childhood home his uncle s grist mill is the centerpiece of a historical site at the Jackson s Mill Center for Lifelong Learning and State 4 H Camp The facility located near Weston serves as a special campus for West Virginia University and the WVU Extension Service During a training exercise in Virginia by U S Marines in 1921 the Marine commander General Smedley Butler was told by a local farmer that Stonewall Jackson s arm was buried nearby under a granite marker to which Butler replied Bosh I will take a squad of Marines and dig up that spot to prove you wrong 84 Butler found the arm in a box under the marker He later replaced the wooden box with a metal one and reburied the arm He left a plaque on the granite monument marking the burial place of Jackson s arm the plaque is no longer on the marker but can be viewed at the Chancellorsville Battlefield visitor s center 84 85 Beginning in 1904 the Commonwealth of Virginia celebrated Jackson s birthday as a state holiday the observance was eliminated with Election Day as a replacement holiday effective July 2020 86 87 Jackson is featured on the 1925 Stone Mountain Memorial half dollar A Stonewall Jackson Monument was unveiled on October 11 1919 88 in Richmond Virginia It was removed on July 1 2020 during the 2020 2021 United States racial unrest 89 90 The removal was live streamed by news outlets and onlookers Davis Lee and Jackson on Stone Mountain The Thomas Jonathan Jackson sculpture in downtown Charlottesville Virginia Statue of Gen Stonewall Jackson in downtown Clarksburg West Virginia Bust of Jackson at the Washington Wilkes Historical Museum Stonewall Jackson statue in Richmond Virginia being removed on July 1 2020 Stonewall Jackson with the flag of the Confederate States in art in a stained glass window of the Washington National CathedralSee also American Civil War portal Biography portalWilliam B Ebbert 1st Lt W Virginia Infantry Union Army 1923 quote recalling battle of Winchester March 1862 List of American Civil War generals Confederate Stonewall Jackson s Headquarters Museum List of memorials to Stonewall Jackson Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials Stonewall BrigadeNotes Eicher High Commands p 316 Robertson p 7 The physician Dr James McCally recalls delivering baby Thomas on January 20 1809 just before midnight but the family has insisted since then that he was born in the first minutes of January 21 The later date is the one generally acknowledged in biographies Compare Jackson biography at Civil War Home Next to Robert E Lee himself Thomas J Jackson is the most revered of all Confederate commanders James I Robertson Stonewall Jackson The Man the Soldier the Legend 1997 a b Wallace Hettle Inventing Stonewall Jackson A Civil War Hero in History and Memory Louisiana State University Press 2011 Farwell p xi states that the overwhelmingly common usage of the middle name Jonathan was never documented and that Jackson did not acknowledge it he instead used the signature form T J Jackson Robertson p 19 states that a county document on February 28 1841 was the first recorded instance of Jackson s using a middle initial although whether it stood for his father Jonathan s name is not known All of the other references to this article cite his full name as Thomas Jonathan Jackson Robertson pp 1 2 Robertson pp 2 3 Edward s second son was David Edward Jackson Talbot Vivian Linford 1996 David E Jackson Field Captain of the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Jackson Hole Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum p 17 VMI Jackson genealogy site Robertson p 4 Talbot op cit p 18 Jackson Family Genealogy Virginia Military Institute Retrieved September 4 2018 Was Stonewall Jackson born in Parkersburg NewsandSentinel com News Sports Jobs Community Information Parkersburg News and Sentinel NewsandSentinel com Retrieved September 12 2013 Robertson p 7 Robertson p 8 Robertson p 10 Robertson pp 9 16 Robertson refers to multiple bachelor uncles in residence at the mill but does not name them Robertson p 17 Laura Jackson Arnold Sister of General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackon Civil War Women Blog November 29 2010 Archived from the original on December 23 2010 Retrieved June 24 2015 a b George Cullum Register of Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1846 Retrieved November 1 2014 Boorstein Michelle September 6 2017 Washington National Cathedral to remove stained glass windows honoring Robert E Lee Stonewall Jackson Washington Post Robertson p 69 Eiedson George T June 13 1993 Before He Was Stonewall Jackson Served in Florida Orlando Sentinel Retrieved August 8 2016 Gwynne S C Rebel Yell The Violence Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson New York Scribner 2014 pp 110 18 Robertson pp 108 10 He left the Army on March 21 1851 but stayed on the rolls officially on furlough for nine months His resignation took effect formally on February 2 1852 and he joined the VMI faculty in August 1851 Stonewall Jackson Frequently Asked Questions VMI Archives Virginia Military Institute Archives 2001 Archived from the original on December 31 2006 Retrieved September 7 2015 Johnson Clint 2002 In the Footsteps of Stonewall Jackson Winston Salem North Carolina John F Blair p 122 ISBN 0 89587 244 7 Jackson Mary Anna 1895 p 78 Robertson p 169 Knadler Jessie May 15 2018 New Research Sheds Light On Slaves Owned By Stonewall Jackson www wvtf org Retrieved July 1 2020 Robertson pp 191 92 Wessler Brian Palmer Seth Freed The Costs of the Confederacy Smithsonian Retrieved December 5 2018 Jackson 152 Robertson p 191 Isbell Sherman Archibald Alexander Travelogue Archived from the original on September 14 2005 Retrieved December 17 2008 Robertson p 157 a b Eicher High Commands p 316 Freeman Lee s Lieutenants vol 1 p 82 Robertson p 264 McPherson p 342 reports the quotation after stone wall as being Rally around the Virginians See for instance Goldfield David et al The American Journey A History of the United States Prentice Hall 1999 ISBN 0 13 088243 7 There are additional controversies about what Bee said and whether he said anything at all See Freeman Lee s Lieutenants vol 1 pp 733 34 McPherson p 342 Robertson pp 263 268 See for instance Freeman R E Lee vol 2 p 247 Henderson George Francis Robert 1903 Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War Vol II New York Longmans Green p 17 OCLC 793450187 Wert p 206 Origin of the Movement Around Pope s Army of Virginia August 1862 by Michael Collie Retrieved September 27 2017 1 and Archie P McDonald ed Make Me a Map of the Valley the Civil War Journal of Jackson s Topographer Dallas 1973 pp 117 18 and James I Robertson Jr Stonewall Jackson the Man the Soldier and the Legend New York 1997 p 547 n130 p 887 Robertson p 645 Robertson p 630 Foote Shelby The Civil War A Narrative Vol 2 Apperson p 430 Robertson p 739 McGuire pp 162 63 Grieve Taylor Nicole 2013 Objective Analysis of Toolmarks in Forensics MS thesis Iowa State University p 6 hdl 20 500 12876 27203 Archived from the original on May 1 2019 Sorensen James Stonewall Jackson s Arm Archived January 15 2012 at the Wayback Machine American Heritage April May 2005 Robertson p 746 Hall Kenneth 2005 Stonewall Jackson and religious faith in military command McFarland ISBN 978 0786420858 Death of Stonewall Jackson Harpers Weekly May 23 1863 Stonewall Jackson Popular Questions Virginia Military Institute Retrieved May 6 2009 Stonewall Jackson s Way Retrieved December 24 2011 Gareth Atkins review of Evangelicals in the Royal Navy 1775 1815 Blue Lights and Psalm Singers by Richard Blake review no 799 Retrieved December 24 2011 at www history ac uk reviews review 799 Cartmell Donald 2001 The Legend of Stonewall The Civil War Book of Lists Franklin Lakes New Jersey The Career Press Inc pp 187 92 ISBN 1 56414 504 2 Samaritan Medical Center September 2008 Stonewall Jackson and the Henderson Hydropath in Samaritan Medical Center Newsletter PDF Vol No 42 Archived from the original PDF on August 7 2020 Retrieved December 13 2009 Taylor p 50 Robertson p xi Dabney Robert L True Courage A Memorial Sermon for General Thomas J Stone wall Jackson PDF Retrieved February 26 2013 Selby John Millin 2000 Stonewall Jackson As Military Commander p 25 Sears Stephen W March 16 1997 Onward Christian Soldier The New York Times Retrieved February 26 2013 White Davin October 15 2010 Stonewall Jackson biographer says religion drove Civil War general The Charleston Gazette Archived from the original on April 12 2013 Retrieved February 26 2013 Duewel Wesley L 2010 Revival Fire Zondervan p 128 ISBN 978 0310877097 Summers Mark The Great Harvest Revival in the Confederate Army during the Civil War Religion amp Liberty 21 3 Retrieved February 26 2013 Robertson James I Stonewall Jackson Christian Soldier PDF Virginia Center for Civil War Studies Archived from the original PDF on September 28 2013 Retrieved February 26 2013 Robertson p xiv Pfanz p 344 Eicher Longest Night p 517 Sears p 228 Trudeau p 253 Both Sears and Trudeau record if possible Robertson p 499 Robertson p 230 Little Sorrel Connecticut s Confederate War Horse ConnecticutHistory org Retrieved September 12 2013 Little Sorrel Buried at VMI July 20 1997 Archived October 20 2016 at the Wayback Machine Robertson p 922 n 16 Jackson Mary Anna Jackson Memoirs 1895 Stonewall Jackson FAQ Virginia Military Institute Archives www vmi edu Retrieved January 5 2020 See for instance Sears Gettysburg pp 233 34 Alternative theories about Gettysburg are prominent ideas in the literature about the Lost Cause Robert H Patton The Pattons A Personal History of an American Family New York Crown Publishers 1994 90 Matthew F Holland 2001 Eisenhower Between the Wars The Making of a General and Statesman Greenwood Publishing Group pp 98 ISBN 978 0 275 96340 8 Major Matthew H Fath 2015 Eichelberger Intrepidity Iron Will And Intellect General Robert L Eichelberger And Military Genius Verdun Press pp 21 ISBN 978 1 78625 238 8 Major Mickey L Quintrall USAF 2015 The Chesty Puller Paragon Leadership Dogma Or Model Doctrine Lucknow Books pp 18 ISBN 978 1 78625 075 9 Thomas Jonathan Christian Jackson Christian Jr American Air Museum in Britain a b Farwell 1993 p 513 Horwitz 1999 p 232 Vozzella Laura January 21 2020 Virginia Senate votes to eliminate Lee Jackson Day create new Election Day holiday Washington Post Retrieved January 23 2020 Virginia General Assembly SB 601 Legal holidays Election Day General Thomas J Stonewall Jackson Equestrian sculpture Smithsonian Institution Retrieved July 1 2020 Times Dispatch MARK ROBINSON Richmond UPDATE Crews on scene preparing for removal of Jackson statue on Monument Avenue Richmond Times Dispatch Retrieved July 1 2020 Stonewall Jackson removed from Richmond s Monument Avenue AP NEWS July 1 2020 Retrieved August 22 2020 ReferencesAlexander Bevin Lost Victories The Military Genius of Stonewall Jackson New York Holt 1992 ISBN 978 0 8050 1830 1 Apperson John Samuel Repairing the March of Mars The Civil War diaries of John Samuel Apperson hospital steward in the Stonewall Brigade 1861 1865 Macon GA Mercer University Press 2001 ISBN 0 86554 779 3 Bryson Bill A Walk in the Woods New York Broadway Books 1998 ISBN 0 7679 0251 3 Cleary Ben Searching for Stonewall Jackson A Quest for Legacy in a Divided America 2019 Description and arrow searchable amp scrollable preview Reviews at Kirkus amp Publishers Weekly Grand Central Publishing Eicher David J The Longest Night A Military History of the Civil War New York Simon amp Schuster 2001 ISBN 978 0 684 84944 7 Eicher John H and David J Eicher Civil War High Commands Stanford California Stanford University Press 2001 ISBN 978 0 8047 3641 1 Farwell Byron Stonewall A Biography of General Thomas J Jackson New York W W Norton and Co 1993 ISBN 978 0 393 31086 3 Freeman Douglas S Lee s Lieutenants A Study in Command 3 vols New York Scribner 1946 ISBN 978 0 684 85979 8 Freeman Douglas S R E Lee A Biography 4 vols New York Charles Scribner s Sons 1934 35 ISBN 978 0 684 15485 5 Henderson G F R Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War New York Smithmark 1995 ISBN 0 8317 3288 1 First published in 1898 by Longman Greens and Co The 1900 version has an introduction by Field Marshal Viscount Wolseley Hettle Wallace Inventing Stonewall Jackson A Civil War Hero in History and Memory Louisiana State University Press 2011 Jackson Mary Anna 1895 Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson Louisville Ky Prentice Press Courier Journal job Print Co Johnson Robert Underwood and Clarence C Buel eds Battles and Leaders of the Civil War 4 vols New York Century Co 1884 1888 OCLC 2048818 McGuire Dr Hunter Death of Stonewall Jackson Southern Historical Society Papers 14 1886 McPherson James M Battle Cry of Freedom The Civil War Era Oxford History of the United States New York Oxford University Press 1988 ISBN 978 0 19 503863 7 Pfanz Harry W Gettysburg The First Day Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 2001 ISBN 978 0 8078 2624 9 Robertson James I Jr Stonewall Jackson The Man The Soldier The Legend New York Macmillan Publishing 1997 ISBN 0 02 864685 1 Sears Stephen W Gettysburg Boston Houghton Mifflin 2003 ISBN 978 0 395 86761 7 Sharlet Jeff Through a Glass Darkly How the Christian Right is Reimagining U S History Harpers December 2006 Taylor Richard Destruction and Reconstruction Personal Experiences of the Late War Nashville Tennessee J S Sanders amp Co 2001 ISBN 1 879941 21 X First published 1879 by D Appleton Trudeau Noah Andre Gettysburg A Testing of Courage New York HarperCollins 2002 ISBN 978 0 06 019363 8 Wert Jeffry D General James Longstreet The Confederacy s Most Controversial Soldier A Biography New York Simon amp Schuster 1993 ISBN 978 0 671 70921 1 Jackson genealogy site at Virginia Military InstituteFurther readingAustin Aurelia 1967 Georgia boys with Stonewall Jackson James Thomas Thompson and the Walton Infantry Athens University of Georgia Press ISBN 978 0820335230 Retrieved February 20 2018 Chambers Lenoir Stonewall Jackson New York Morrow 1959 OCLC 186539122 Cooke John Esten Hoge Moses Drury Jones John William 1876 Stonewall Jackson A Military Biography New York D Appleton and Company OCLC 299589 Cozzens Peter Shenandoah 1862 Stonewall Jackson s Valley Campaign Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 2008 ISBN 978 0 8078 3200 4 Dabney R L Life of Lieut Gen Thomas J Jackson Stonewall Jackson London James Nisbet and Co 1866 OCLC 457442354 Douglas Henry Kyd I Rode with Stonewall The War Experiences of the Youngest Member of Jackson s Staff Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press 1940 ISBN 0 8078 0337 5 Gwynne S C Rebel Yell The Violence Passion and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson New York Simon amp Schuster 2014 ISBN 978 1 4516 7328 9 King Benjamin A Bullet for Stonewall Pelican Publishing Company 1990 ISBN 0882897683 Lively Mathew W Calamity at Chancellorsville The Wounding and Death of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson El Dorado Hills California Savas Beatie 2013 ISBN 978 1 61121 138 2 Mackowski Chris and Kristopher D White The Last Days of Stonewall Jackson The Mortal Wounding of the Confederacy s Greatest Icon El Dorado Hills California Savas Beatie 2013 ISBN 978 1 61121 150 4 Randolph Sarah N 1876 The Life of General Thomas J Jackson Lippincott amp Co Robertson James I Jr Stonewall Jackson s Book of Maxims Nashville Tennessee Cumberland House 2002 ISBN 1 58182 296 0 Shackel Paul A Archaeology and Created Memory Public History in a National Park New York Kluwer Academic Plenum Publishers 2000 ISBN 978 0 306 46177 4 White Henry A Stonewall Jackson Philadelphia G W Jacobs and Co 1909 OCLC 3911913 Wilkins J Steven All Things for Good The Steadfast Fidelity of Stonewall Jackson Nashville Tennessee Cumberland House Publishing 2004 ISBN 1 58182 225 1 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to Stonewall Jackson Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stonewall Jackson Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article Jackson Thomas Jonathan Wikisource has original text related to this article Stonewall Jackson s Last Battle Virginia Military Institute Archives Stonewall Jackson Resources before death on maryland Stonewall Jackson Original Letter as Lieutenant General Near Fredericksburg 1863 Shapell Manuscript Foundation Jackson genealogy site Death of Stonewall Jackson Southern Confederacy May 12 1863 Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive Digital Library of Georgia Fitzhugh Lee s 1879 address on Chancellorsville The Stonewall Jackson House Animated history of the campaigns of Stonewall Jackson Archived December 4 2014 at the Wayback Machine Details on John Jackson s larceny trial in the Court Records of the Old Bailey 2 Stonewall Jackson s Headquarters Winchester VA 3 Guinea Station the place where Thomas Jackson diedMilitary officesPreceded by none Commander of the Stonewall BrigadeApril 27 1861 October 28 1861 Succeeded byRichard B Garnett Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Stonewall Jackson amp oldid 1138293623, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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