Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was one of the greatest and most virtuous commanders in the Civil War. He led his men valiantly and fearlessly and left a legacy of great nobility and honor. Despite the fact that Jackson fought under the Stars and Bars, he viewed slave’s as eternal souls and started a Sunday school for them. He educated his own slaves, which was against the law. Jackson was a strong Christian leader who was nicknamed “Old Blue Lights” by his men for his Presbyterian religious zeal. He supported the revival which broke out in the Confederate army during the Civil War and led a rigorously Christian lifestyle. Like Robert Lee, Jackson was a man of noble character, profound leadership and strong Christian principles. He was a Southern hero and an exemplary American.
Thomas Jackson was born in 1824 to Jonathan and Julia Jackson. Historians are unsure exactly where he was born but many historians agree that it was somewhere in what is now West Virginia. Jackson’s mother died and he and his sister Laura were sent to their uncle to live with him and work at his mill. In 1842, at the age of eighteen, Jackson entered West Point, the American military academy.
In 1846 the United States went to war with Mexico and Jackson served in that war. He led troops at the battles of Chapultepec and Mexico City, among others. During the Mexican-American War, Jackson met Lee and others who would join him on the battlefield years later. Some of his comrades in the war with Mexico would face him in battle as his opponent in the Civil War.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, the Jackson family was torn apart. Thomas Jackson joined the South but his sister Laura supported the North. Immediately, Jackson began to display his great leadership and abilities as a commander. At the famous First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run), Jackson led a charge by the Virginians and standing tall amidst the battle, earned the nickname ‘Stonewall’. Thomas’ nickname could be applied to his military skill as well as his religious fervor. He hated to fight on Sundays and avoided doing so as much as possible.
Jackson not only contributed to the Southern victory at Manassas in 1861 but also proved to be an invaluable commander at other engagements such as the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Fredericksburg and the invasion of the Shenandoah Valley. It was in 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, “Lee’s Perfect Battle” that Jackson was shot. A group of North Carolina infantry mistook Jackson and his officers for Union cavalry and mortally wounded their own commander. Jackson died days later, saying “Let us cross over the River and rest in the shade of the trees.”
Stonewall Jackson was a religious and military stone wall. He believed in God’s providence and in God’s mercy. He believed in liberty and worked to educate his slaves so that they could experience, even in a small way, the liberty which God provides through His Word: the Bible. When Lee learned of the terrible fate of Jackson he declared that he had lost his right arm. Indeed, Jackson was an invaluable military commander, an extraordinary Christian leader and a man of outstanding personal integrity and character.
The following are quotes by Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson.
“Yesterday we fought a great battle and gained a great victory, for which all the glory is due to God alone…My preservation was entirely due, as was the glorious victory, to our God, to whom be all the honor, praise, and glory.”
“Nothing justifies profanity.”
“…my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me.”
Quotes found on wikiquote.com