This Day In History | Civil War May 10, 1863 Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson dies

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This Day In History | Civil War

May 10

1863 Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson dies

The South loses one of its boldest and most colorful generals on this day. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson died of pneumonia a week after losing his arm when his own troops accidentally fired on him during the Battle of Chancellorsville. In the first two years of the war, Jackson terrorized Union commanders and led his army corps on bold and daring marches. He was the perfect complement to Robert E. Lee.

A native Virginian, Jackson grew up in poverty in Clarksburg, in the mountains of what is now West Virginia. Orphaned at an early age, Jackson was raised by relatives and became a shy, lonely young man. He had only a rudimentary education but secured an appointment to West Point after another young man from the same congressional district turned his appointment down. Despite poor preparation, Jackson worked hard and graduated 17th in a class of 59 cadets.

Upon graduating, Jackson served as an artillery officer during the Mexican War, seeing action at Vera Cruz and Chapultepec. He earned three brevets for bravery in just six months and then left the service in 1850 to teach at Virginia Military Institute. He was known as a difficult and eccentric classroom instructor, prone to strange and impromptu gestures in class. He was also a devout Presbyterian who refused to even talk of secular matters on the Sabbath. In 1859, he led a group of VMI cadets to serve as gallows guards for the hanging of John Brown.

When war broke out in 1861, Jackson became a brigadier general in command of five regiments raised in the Shenandoah Valley.

[cowboyway]

"Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees . . ."

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

That was so sad to read about Jackson. And the worst part is, if he hadn't been moved from one place to another for recouping, he wouldn't have died then. Still can't figure out who got the bright idea to move him...