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| | Jackson was America's finest general in the 19th century, while [[George Patton]] was the finest of the 20th century. Jackson's brilliant and fearless battlefield maneuvers scored a series of victories over superior Union forces into May 1863, when Jackson met his untimely death from pneumonia after losing his left arm due to a gunshot. It was said that Jackson merely lost his left arm, but General [[Robert E. Lee]] lost his right arm with Jackson's demise. | | Jackson was America's finest general in the 19th century, while [[George Patton]] was the finest of the 20th century. Jackson's brilliant and fearless battlefield maneuvers scored a series of victories over superior Union forces into May 1863, when Jackson met his untimely death from pneumonia after losing his left arm due to a gunshot. It was said that Jackson merely lost his left arm, but General [[Robert E. Lee]] lost his right arm with Jackson's demise. |
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| | + | In 2024, the Shenandoah County school board voted to restore the name of Stonewall Jackson High School (and Ashby Lee Elementary School), <ref>https://www.aol.com/news/confederate-names-comeback-triggering-lawsuits-130000108.html</ref> after having replaced those names as part of caving into the [[liberal media]]. |
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| | ==Early life== | | ==Early life== |
| | He was born in Clarksburg, a mountain town in one of Virginia's western counties, the son of a lawyer who got himself involved in a series of bad investments and dying of typhoid in 1826 when Thomas was two, leaving his family deep in debt. After their mother died five years later, Thomas, his brother Warren, and sister Laura, spent the remainder of their childhoods between several different relatives (TL 6, pg. 22). Thomas (later "Stonewall") Jackson was thereby essentially [[homeschooled]]. | | He was born in Clarksburg, a mountain town in one of Virginia's western counties, the son of a lawyer who got himself involved in a series of bad investments and dying of typhoid in 1826 when Thomas was two, leaving his family deep in debt. After their mother died five years later, Thomas, his brother Warren, and sister Laura, spent the remainder of their childhoods between several different relatives (TL 6, pg. 22). Thomas (later "Stonewall") Jackson was thereby essentially [[homeschooled]]. |
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| − | During his childhood Thomas developed a supposedly quirky personality. He complained of a stomach malady for which no doctor could find a cause. Later, while at West Point, he sat bolt upright in his seat, never allowing his spine to touch the back of his chair; the reason supposedly being that he needed to keep his internal organs in alignment, thus aiding digestion. He convinced himself that the use of pepper in his food made his left leg itch, and he was often seen sucking on lemons. When in battle his men, seeing his left arm raised, often assumed he was praying to his Maker; Thomas had a different explanation: his left arm was heavier than his right, and by lifting it “the blood might run back into his body and lighten it” (TL 6, pp. 23–24). | + | During his childhood, Thomas developed a supposedly quirky personality. He complained of a stomach malady for which no doctor could find a cause. Later, while at West Point, he sat bolt upright in his seat, never allowing his spine to touch the back of his chair; the reason supposedly being that he needed to keep his internal organs in alignment, thus aiding digestion. He convinced himself that the use of pepper in his food made his left leg itch, and he was often seen sucking on lemons. When in battle his men, seeing his left arm raised, often assumed he was praying to his Maker; Thomas had a different explanation: his left arm was heavier than his right, and by lifting it “the blood might run back into his body and lighten it” (TL 6, pp. 23–24). |
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| − | Despite having little in the way of a formal education while growing up (he had the equivalent of a fourth grade education), he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842. Although his start was slow, he made up for it by intense study, often reading his books by the dim light of the coal fire long after his classmates were asleep; he was able to significantly improve his class standing, and was 17th in his class of 59 by the time he graduated in 1846 (TL 6, pg. 25). | + | Despite having little in the way of formal education while growing up (he had the equivalent of a fourth-grade education), he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842. Although his start was slow, he made up for it by intense study, often reading his books by the dim light of the coal fire long after his classmates were asleep; he was able to significantly improve his class standing, and was 17th in his class of 59 by the time he graduated in 1846 (TL 6, pg. 25). |
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| | ==Early military career== | | ==Early military career== |