Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson Biography

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Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson Image

JACKSON, Thomas Jonathan, generally known as Stonewall Jackson (1824–63). A famous American soldier, born Jan. 21, 1824, of Scotch-Irish-English stock, at Clarksburg in western Virginia (now West Virginia). At an early age he was left to the care of an uncle, a farmer and miller, under whom he was trained in business methods and received some opportunity for study. When only 18, he became sheriff of the county, and soon after was admitted to West Point, where in 1846 he graduated No. 18 in a class of 70, which included McClellan, Reno, Gibbon, Pickett, Maury, A. P. Hill, and Wilcox. He was assigned as second lieutenant to the First Artillery, ordered to join Magruder’s Battery (then serving in Mexico), almost immediately achieved prominence in the operations under General Scott, and was brevetted captain and major for gallantry at Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec. From 1848 to 1851 he was stationed at Fort Hamilton and first became noted for that strong religious tendency which afterward caused him to be known as the Havelock of the Confederate army. On March 27, 1851, he resigned from the army and became professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery tactics in the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Va. He was not a good teacher, but his influence on his students and on those with whom he was closely associated was profound. In 1856 he visited Europe. On April 21, 1861, soon after the outbreak of the Civil War, Jackson was ordered by direction of the Governor of Virginia to report with his corps of cadets at Richmond for active service. He was commissioned a colonel, was placed in command of the Virginia forces, and was sent to Harper’s Ferry. In July of the same year his troops were organized into a brigade (afterward the Stonewall Brigade), and he was appointed a brigadier general. When the Confederates under Johnston moved from Harper's Ferry towards Manassas, Jackson's brigade was in the van and among the first to get into position. In the first battle of Bull Run the South Carolinians were sorely pressed, and their commander, General Bee, seeking to encourage them, is said to have cried out, "Look at Jackson—there he stands like a stone wall," thus originating the historic sobriquet. In September Jackson was promoted to be major general and was assigned to command the Confederate forces in the lower Shenandoah valley. The duty assigned him is thus described by General Johnston: "After it became evident that the valley was to be invaded by an army too strong to be encountered by Jackson's division, that officer was instructed to endeavor to employ the invaders in the valley, but without exposing himself to the danger of defeat, by keeping so near the enemy as to keep him from making any considerable detachment to reënforce McClellan, but not so near that he might be compelled to fight." In pursuance of this plan Jackson fell back up the valley before Banks, who occupied Winchester. Late in March, 1862, the Federal forces were withdrawn to Manassas, as an outpost of the defenses of Washington, and were closely followed by Jackson. Underestimating the strength of the Federal rear guard under General Shields, he made a sharp attack (March 23) upon that officer's position at Kernstown, 3 miles south of Winchester, but after a severe struggle of three hours was repulsed, retiring in good order, with the loss of several hundred men and one piece of artillery. While this affair was a reverse to the Confederates, the boldness shown by Jackson confirmed the Federal authorities in the determination to retain McDowell in front of the capital in spite of McClellan's protest. Jackson finally retired to Staunton, from which point (having increased his available force to 16,000 men) he confronted 30,000 men under Banks and Frémont with three columns, attacked the Federal detachments in detail, and succeeded in outmanœuvring them, particularly in the affair at McDowell (May 8). Banks, finding his communications threatened, fell back across the Potomac, closely followed by Jackson. Soon afterward Jackson reoccupied Winchester. About May 30, finding his communications with Richmond threatened by a fresh Federal force under McDowell, he began a rapid and masterly retreat up the valley, halting at certain favorable points and engaging his pursuers successfully, particularly at Cross Keys and Port Republic (June 6, 8, and 9). Jackson's valley campaign was a conspicuous illustration of his characteristics as a leader, the extraordinary mobility of his infantry earning for it the title of foot cavalry.

Early in April, 1862, the Confederate army, under Gen. J. E. Johnston, was lying in front of Richmond. McClellan, at the head of the Army of the Potomac, was marching up the peninsula to invest that city, meeting with but little opposition save at Yorktown and Williamsburg (qq.v.). Gen. R. E. Lee was placed in command of the Confederate forces after the battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks (May 31–June 1), in which Johnston had been severely wounded, and one of his first acts was to order General Jackson to join him with his corps. The junction was effected with Jackson's customary promptness and skill, and he suddenly appeared (June 26) at Mechanicsville, upon the right flank of the Federal army, which fell back after a smart engagement to Gaines's Mill, where on the following day the battle was renewed. Jackson's corps took part in the movements attending McClellan's "change of base" and was especially prominent at Malvern Hill (July 1). Soon afterward Jackson confronted General Pope, who with the combined forces of Banks, Shields, and Frémont was assuming the offensive in northern Virginia. He first defeated Banks at Cedar Mountain, near Culpeper, Va., on August 9, and by a rapid and daring flank movement gained Pope's rear and his depot of supplies at Manassas Junction. On August 29–30 the Confederates under Lee and Jackson achieved a decisive victory over Pope in the second battle of Bull Run, which forced him to fall back upon the Potomac. In Lee's invasion of Maryland, which immediately followed, Jackson was detached to capture Harper's Ferry, which fell into his hands, together with more than 11,500 prisoners and considerable material of war. At Antietam, on September 17, he commanded the Confederate left wing, his corps bearing the brunt of the battle. At Fredericksburg, December 13, Jackson, who had recently been promoted to be lieutenant general, commanded the right of the Army of Northern Virginia and repelled the attack made by Burnside's left grand division under Franklin. In the following spring the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, General Hooker, crossed the Rappahannock and attempted to interpose his command between Lee and Richmond, sending nearly all his cavalry under Stoneman to cut the Confederate communications with Richmond. The Federal forces, drawn up at Chancellorsville, were greatly superior in strength and were strongly intrenched, excepting on the extreme right of their line. Taking advantage of this weakness, Jackson, on May 2, with Lee's consent, withdrew his corps from the front, made a long and rapid detour, came in unobserved on the enemy's right flank (Howard's corps), and, screened by the dense wood, advanced in three lines and burst like a tornado upon the unsuspecting Federals. After a slight effort at resistance the greater part of Howard's corps fled panic-stricken to the rear, hotly pursued by Jackson's men, who were, however, greatly impeded by the underbrush and lost their formation. With a small escort Jackson advanced in front of his lines, between eight and nine o'clock p.m., to reconnoitre. As he was returning, his party was mistaken for Federal cavalry and was fired upon by the Confederates. Jackson was severely wounded in the left arm and right hand. On the following day his left arm was amputated, and he seemed in a fair way to recover; but pneumonia set in, from which he died at Guinea Station, May 10, 1863. Jackson was conspicuous not only for his military ability but also for his personal virtues. Like Cromwell, he blended the devoutness of the Puritan with the severity of the soldier. He never began a battle without a prayer and after a victory publicly gave thanks to God. He was very gentle in his social relations, and he believed in making war with consideration for all noncombatants, but to the bitter end, relentlessly, against all enemies of his cause. He resembled Sheridan in the soundness of his judgment, quickness to seize an advantage, and personal magnetism, but, like that general, the full measure of his capasity was never tested. When Lee heard of his wounds, he exclaimed: "General Jackson has lost his left arm; I have lost my right arm."

In accordance with his own wishes, he was buried at Lexington, Va., where a statue and a memorial hall commemorate his connection with the place. There is a monument to his memory in one of the public parks in Richmond, erected by his English admirers; and the spot where he received his death wound is marked by a plain granite shaft bearing his name. Jackson was twice married—first to Miss Eleanor Junkin (died 1854), and second to Miss Mary A. Morrison.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 518-519.