Thomas
Stonewall Jackson was born in Clarksburg, Virginia, on 21st January,
1824. After graduating 17th in his class at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point he was commissioned as
a second lieutenant. He served with distinction in the Mexican
War and won two brevets. While in Mexico Jackson became a devout
Presbyterian. A friend later commented that "he never smoked,
he was a strict teetotaler and never touched a card."
In 1851 Jackson was recruited to teach at the Virginia Military Institute.
Jackson was a devout Presbyterian. A friend later commented that "he
never smoked, he was a strict teetotaler and never touched a card."
His students called him Deacon Jackson while others compared him to
Oliver Cromwell.
On the outbreak of the American Civil War
Jackson was commissioned as colonel and was given the task of organizing
volunteers into the new Confederate Army.
Promoted to the rank of brigadier general he took part in the first
battle at Bull Run (July, 1861) against
the Union Army led by Irvin
McDowell. The Confederate troops led by Joseph
E. Johnston, Jeb Stuart, Jubal
Early and Pierre T. Beauregard
easily defeated the inexperienced Union troops. It was during this
battle that Brigadier General Barnard E. Bee said Jackson's troops
stood against the Union forces "like a stone wall". After
this he was known as Stonewall Jackson.
By the summer of 1862 the main Union Army
under George McClellan were ready
to march on Richmond. McClellan and
his 115,000 men encountered Confederate Army
at Williamsburg on 4th May. McClellan moved his troops into the
Shenandoah Valley and along with John
C. Fremont, Irvin McDowell and
Nathaniel Banks surrounded Jackson and
his 17,000 man army.
Jackson was ordered by President Jefferson
Davis to try and delay the attack on Richmond.
First Jackson attacked John C. Fremont
at Cross Keys before turning on Irvin
McDowell at Port Republic. Jackson then rushed his troops east
to join up with Joseph E. Johnston
and the Confederate forces fighting George
McClellan.
In June, 1862 Major General John Pope
was given command of the new Army of Virginia. Pope was instructed
to move east to Blue Ridge Mountains towards Charlottesville. It was
hoped that this move would help George
McClellan by drawing Robert E. Lee
away from defending Richmond. Lee's
80,000 troops were now faced with the prospect of fighting two large
armies: McClellan (90,000) and Pope (50,000)
Joined by Jackson , the Confederate troops constantly attacked George
McClellan and on 27th June they broke through at Gaines
Mill. Convinced he was outnumbered, McClellan retreated to James
River. Abraham Lincoln, frustrated by
McClellan's lack of success, sent in Major General John
Pope, but he was easily beaten back by Jackson.
In July, 1862, John Pope decided to try
a capture Gordonsville, a railroad junction between Richmond
and the Shenandoah Valley. Pope
selected Nathaniel Banks to carry out
the task. Robert E. Lee considered Gordonsville
to be strategically very important and sent Jackson to protect the
town. On 9th August, Jackson defeated Banks at Cedar Run. Pope now
ordered George McClellan army based
at Harrison's Landing to join the campaign to take the railroad junction.
When Lee heard this news he brought together all the troops he had
available to Gordonsville.
On 29th August, troops led by Jackson and James
Longstreet, attacked Pope's Union Army
at Manassas, close to where the first
battle of Bull Run had been fought.
Pope and his army was forced to retreat across Bull Run. The Confederate
Army pursued the Army of Virginia until they reached Chantilly
on 1st September.
The following month George McClellan
faced Jackson again at Antietam. On
17th September, McClellan and Major General Ambrose
Burnside attacked with over 75,300 troops against 37,330 Confederate
soldiers. Lee held out until Ambrose Hill
and reinforcements arrived. It was the most costly day of the war
with the Union Army having 2,108 killed,
9,549 wounded and 753 missing. The Confederates, who were now have
serious difficulty replacing losses, had 2,700 killed, 9,024 wounded
and 2,000 missing.
Jackson also led his men at Fredericksburg
(November/December, 1862) and Chancellorsville
(May 1863). However, after returning from the battlefield he was accidentally
shot by one of his own men. Jackson's left arm was successfully amputated
but he developed pneumonia and he died
at Guinea Station on 10th May, 1863.
(1)
Thomas Stonewall Jackson watched the execution of John
Brown on 2nd December, 1859. That night he wrote a letter to his
wife about what he had witnessed.
John Brown was hung today. He behaved with unflinching firmness.
The gibbet was erected in a large field, south-east of the town. Brown
rode on the head of his coffin from the prison to the place of execution.
He was dressed in a black frock-coat, black pantaloons, black waistcoat,
black slouch hat, white socks, and slippers of predominating red.
The open wagon in which he rode was strongly guarded on all sides.
Brown had his arms tied behind him, and ascended the scaffold with
apparent cheerfulness. After reaching the top of the platform, he
shook hands with several who were standing around him. The sheriff
placed the rope round his neck, then threw a white cap over his head.
In this condition he stood for about ten minutes on the trap-door.
Colonel Smith then announced to the sheriff "already", which
apparently was not comprehended by him, and the colonel had to repeat
the order. Then the rope was cut by a single blow, and Brown dropped
several inches, his knees falling to the level occupied by his feet
before the rope was cut. With the fall, his arms below the elbows
flew up horizontally, his hands clenched; but soon his arms gradually
fell by spasmodic motions. There was very little motion for several
moments; then the wind started to blow his lifeless body too and fro.
(2)
General Pierre T. Beauregard, report
on the battle of Bull Run (June, 1861)
The conduct of General Jackson also requires mention as eminently
that of an able, fearless soldier and sagacious commander, one fit
to lead his efficient brigade. His prompt, timely arrival before the
plateau of the Henry House, and his judicious disposition of his troops,
contributed much to the success of the day. Although painfully wounded
in the hand, he remained on the field to the end of the battle, rendering
valuable assistance.
(3)
Robet Dabney, who served under Thomas Stonewall Jackson, wrote
about him in his book Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant-General
Thomas Jackson (1866)
A part of the men of the 27th Regiment, in the Stonewall Brigade,
who had volunteered for twelve months, now found their year just expired.
Assuming that the application of the last conscription act was a breach
of faith to them, they demanded their discharge, and laying down their
arms refused to serve another day. Their Colonel, Grigsby, referred
the case to General Jackson for instructions. On hearing it detailed,
he exclaimed, his eye flashing, and his brow rigid with a portentous
sternness, "What is this bit mutiny? Why does Colonel Grigsby
refer to me to know what to do with a mutiny? He should shoot them
where they stand." He then turned to his adjutant, and dictated
an order to the Colonel to parade his regiment instantly, with loaded
muskets, to draw up the insubordinate companies in front of them,
disarmed, and offer them the alternative of returning to duty, or
being fusiladed on the spot. The order was obeyed, and the mutineers,
when confronted with instant death, promptly reconsidered their resolution.
(4)
Stonewall Jackson developed a reputation as a strict disciplinarian.
G. G. Henderson wrote about one incident in his book Stonewall
Jackson (1900)
Once on the march, fearing lest his men might stray from the ranks
and commit acts of pillage, he had issued an order that the soldiers
should not enter the private dwellings. Disregarding the order, a
soldier entered a house, and even used insulting language to the woman
of the family. This was reported to Jackson, who had the man arrested,
tried by court-martial, and shot in twenty minutes.
(5)
Nelson
Miles, Personal
Recollections and Observations (1896)
Then occurred a long delay
of several weeks preparing for what seemed to be an indefinite siege
of Richmond. The hostile forces strengthened their position by the
slashing of timber, constructing abatis, lines of earthworks, etc.
During this delay there
appeared another element in the great drama, that great genius of
war, Thomas J. Jackson. He had acquired the name of "Stonewall"
by his personal bravery and fortitude at the battle of Bull Run, where
he commanded his brigade to stand like a stone wall. He was a graduate
of West Point, but later had resigned from the
army and became a professor at the Military Institute at Lexington,
Virginia. He was a strange man, an eccentric religious enthusiast.
Being a native of Virginia, he was quite familiar with the topography
of the country; and, being given an independent command, he moved
with great secrecy and celerity against the Union forces occupying
separate positions, and then moved by a rapid forced march to the
left flank of Lee's
army in front of Richmond, Lee having succeeded to the command after
the disabling of Johnston at the battle of Fair Oaks.
(6)
General Robert E. Lee, report on the battle
of Fredericksburg in December,
1862.
To Longstreet and Jackson great praise is due for the disposition
and management of their respective corps. Their quick perception enabled
them to discover the projected assaults on their positions, and their
ready skill to devise the best means to resist them. Besides their
services in the field - which every battle of the campaign from Richmond
to Fredericksburg has served to illustrate - I am also indebted to
them for valuable counsel, both as regards the general operations
of the army and the particular measures adopted.
(7)
Carl Schurz
fought at Bull Run and later wrote
about it in his autobiography published in 1906.
Stonewall Jackson, with a force of 26,000 men, had worked his
way through Thoroughfare Gap to the north of us, had swooped all around
Pope's flank, having made a march of fifty miles in thirty-six hours
and pounced upon Manassas Junction, where Pope's supplies and ammunition
were stored, helping himself to whatever he could use and carry off,
and burning the rest. Jeb Stuart's troopers, accompanying Jackson,
had even raided Pope's headquarters at Catlett's Station. It was a
brilliant stroke, but at the same time most hazardous, for Pope's
largely superior forces might have been rapidly concentrated against
him, with Longstreet, his only support, still far away.
(8)
Joseph Morrison, Thomas Stonewall Jackson's brother-in-law, was with
him when he was shot at Chancellorsville
(2nd May, 1863)
Jackson was hit by three balls at once. One penetrated the palm
of his right hand, and was later cut out from the back of the hand;
a second passed around the wrist of the left arm and out through the
left hand. A third ball passed through the left arm, half-way from
shoulder to elbow. The large bone of the upper arm was splintered
to the elbow-joint, and the wound bled freely.
(9)
General Oliver
Howard
took part in the battle of Chancellorsville
in May, 1863. He later wrote about the death of Thomas Stonewall Jackson
in his autobiography published in 1907.
What a roar of cannon pouring their volleys into the forest, now
black with the growing night! It was in the forest that the brave,
energetic, and successful injurious to the Confederate cause than
would have been that of 10,000 other soldiers, so great was the confidence
he had won, so deep was the reverence of citizen and soldier for his
character and ability!
(10)
Mary Boykin Chesnut,
Richmond, Virginia, diary entry (1st January, 1864)
One more year of "Stonewall" would have saved us. Chickamauga
is the only battle we have gained since "Stonewall" died,
and no results follow as usual. "Stonewall" was not so much
killed by a Yankee; he was shot by his own men; that is hard. General
Lee can do no more than keep back Meade. "One of Meade's armies,
you mean," said I, "for they have only to double on him
when Lee whips one of them." If General Lee had had Grant's resources,
he would have bagged the last Yankee or have had them all safe back
in Massachusetts.
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