Thomas J. Jackson

Thomas Jonathan Jackson Lieutenant General, CSA
Born	January 21, 1824
Died	May 10, 1863

Lieutenent General Thomas Jonathan Jackson was a United States Army officer who later joined the Confederate States Army and fought in the American Civil War, where during the First battle of Bull Run he earned his famous nickname "Stonewall". His battlefield tactics and maneuvers are still studied as part of military curriculum.

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 when Thomas was two, leaving his family deep in debt. Five years his mother died, and Thomas, his brother Warren, and sister Laura, would spent the remainder of their childhoods among several different relatives (TL 6, pg. 22).

It was during his childhood that Thomas would develop a 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, allowing his spine to never touch the back of his seat; the reason being 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, 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).

Despite not having much of a formal education while growing up (he had the equivalent of a fourth grade education), he did receive 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 would claw his way up the class standings, and graduate 17th in a class of 59 by the time he graduated in 1846 (TL 6, pg. 25).

Early military career

He joined his new regiment, the First Artillery, in Mexico, where the United States was engaged in war. Here he would distinguish himself at Veracruz, serving with the most advanced batteries while constantly under Mexican fire; he would earn promotion to first lieutenant for “gallant and meritorious conduct.” Then he had heard that fellow officer John B. Magruder was in command of a captured enemy battery, and was looking for officers. Knowing Magruder would soon be involved in battle, Jackson pushed to join him, and became involved in the thick of the fighting at Churubusco. He would leave the war as a brevet major, amid public praise by General Winfield Scott. It was in Mexico that Jackson learned qualities that he would take advantage of in the coming Civil War, abilities which would help make him famous: resourcefulness, a clear mind when the enemy fire was at its hottest, and sheer bravery (TL 6, pg. 25).

His peacetime service in the army rather tedious, he resigned his commission in August 1851 and became a professor of artillery tactics and natural philosophy at the Virginia Military Institute. Though he worked hard at his new duties, he never became a popular or highly successful teacher. A stern man, his devotion to his cadets’ education coupled with his religious beliefs, earned him the derisive titles “Deacon Jackson,” “Old Jack,” and “Fool Tom” (TL 6, pg 29).

V.M.I. also offered him the opportunity to meet, and marry, Elinor Junkin, daughter of the Reverend Dr. George Junkin, at the time the president of nearby Washington College. The marriage took place on August 4, 1853, and the union was “a great source of happiness,” as Jackson would write to his sister; indeed, the Jacksons were already expecting their first child. Fourteen months after the marriage, Jackson would bury his wife, along with her stillborn child. Despite never belonging to a church, he was a deeply religious man, and his religion gave him comfort. He wrote to Laura “I am reconciled for my loss and have joy and hope of a future reunion where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest” Jackson would remarry by 1857, the new bride being Mary Anna Morrison; although they were deeply in love, she had to put up with his strict regimon, which included early morning walks and morning family prayers on time; if one was late, Jackson would simply begin without him (TL 6, pp. 29-32).

The Civil War

The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, and within days Jackson offered his services to Virginia; he was then ordered to bring his corps of cadets from V.M.I. to Richmond, where he was commissioned as a colonel in the state forces and charged with organizing volunteers into an effective fighting brigade. His first assignment was to fortify and defend Harper’s Ferry, and hold it if possible. This was the entry to the Shenandoah Valley, and soon Jackson would withdraw to the more defensible position at Winchester when General Joseph E. Johnston took over command of the Confederate forces in the valley.

In July 1861 Federal forces moved south from Washington into Virginia, and Johnston moved south to unite with General P.G.T. Beauregard near Manassas to meet the advance of General Irvin McDowell's Federal army. It was here that Jackson stationed his brigade in a strong line, withholding the enemy against overwhelming odds; a nearby brigade commander, General Bernard Bee, would rally his own men by saying “There stands General Jackson like a stone wall,” thus earning the sobriquet that would remain for the rest of his life.

By the spring of 1862 Jackson was again in the Shenandoah Valley, his diversionary tactics preventing reinforcements being sent to Major General George B. McClellan, the Union commander waging the Peninsular Campaign against the Confederate capitol of Richmond. Jackson's strategy and ultimate victory in the valley quite possibly accounted for Lee's later victory later in the Seven Days' Battles. By rapid movement of his First Division (his “Foot Cavalry”), Jackson engaged with several Federal units separately and defeated them. By the end of May he had attacked General Nathaniel P. Banks, driving him out of Winchester and the Valley, and back to the Potomac River.

He then quickly moved to the southern end of the valley, defeating the Union at Cross Keys on June 8, then at Port Republic the following day. Lee then brought Jackson's troops by road and railroad to Richmond to attack the right flank of McClellan's army. But Jackson arrived a day late, possibly because of a lack of experience in large-scale action; despite this mild tarnish to his reputation, McClellan was beaten back severely and was ordered to evacuate the peninsula.