Stonewall Welcome to the Stonewall Jackson Forum!

James N.

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Asst. Regtl. Quartermaster Antietam 2021
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lord-of-the-valley-dan-nance.jpg


Lord of the Valley by Dan Nance depicts a favorite subject, Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of Spring, 1862.

This is as of this writing a brand new forum here at CivilWarTalk, and though there are already two pages of posts they have been assembled from other already-existing threads. Of course 2013 marks the Sesquicentennial of Jackson's untimely death following the Battle of Chancellorsville, but I hope we will focus not only on that sad event but on his entire life and military career. I do not presume to put myself forward as any kind of ultimate authority on General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, but rather someone who has enjoyed studying and reading about his life and career now for the past half-century.

My first significant exposure to the subject was probably in the memorable summer of 1961, The Civil War Centennial, when my long-suffering but unbelievably supportive mother drove the two of us all the way to see my very first reenactment, that of First Bull Run, staged actually ON Henry House Hill! All the way there and back in the almost unbearable heat and humidity of late July, with NO car air conditioning ( ! ) and before completion of the then-new Interstate Highway System we traveled roads all the way from Texas to Gettysburg and back. That long ago it was positively "cool" to revel in our Confederate heritage, unlike our now more enlightened ( read "politically correct" ) times. I especially remember visiting all the Jackson-related sites in the Shennandoah Valley, from his grave and home in Lexington to his office in Winchester, and of course the major NPS Jackson-related sites like Antietam, Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville.

I hope that you will forgive me if in the past fifty-two years my memory of certain particulars has gotten a bit rusty; I look forward to the help of other members of the forum, and especially Donna, whose apparently encyclopedic knowledge of personal minutia regarding the general is truly impressive! Below, July, 1961 and my first visit to Jackson's Winchester headquarters, as photographed by my mother.

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James, I am new to this site as of yesterday and found your forum this morning. I have had a keen interest in the Civil War for a long time and like you I can trace that interest back to my youth. I have read several accounts of Jackson's wounding and the more I read the more questions are raised. Since I am new I want to ask if this forum is the appropriate place to pose questions or raise issues about this issue. Thank you.
 
James, I am new to this site as of yesterday and found your forum this morning. I have had a keen interest in the Civil War for a long time and like you I can trace that interest back to my youth. I have read several accounts of Jackson's wounding and the more I read the more questions are raised. Since I am new I want to ask if this forum is the appropriate place to pose questions or raise issues about this issue. Thank you.

Welcome, oldman - absolutely!

I encourage anything Jackson-related, including his battles, battlefields, subordinates, life, legend, etc. I began my own posts in the forum with photos from my last visit to Shenandoah National Park and VMI, and soon plan to add to those McDowell, Cross Keys, and Port Republic. I hope to see you posting more soon!
 
i just picked up james robertsons book on jackson.it is a monster work and when i get done with it i hope to contribute especially about the seven days battle when jackson was of little use to RE Lee.
 
i just picked up james robertsons book on jackson.it is a monster work and when i get done with it i hope to contribute especially about the seven days battle when jackson was of little use to RE Lee.

Robertson is considered the premier expert on the life of Jackson. It's a big book indeed but it's full of little obscure tidbits as well as nice meaty chunks! (He also did an excellent bio of A P Hill, lots of interesting stuff you'll never find anywhere else.)
 
i just picked up james robertsons book on jackson.it is a monster work and when i get done with it i hope to contribute especially about the seven days battle when jackson was of little use to RE Lee.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/a-stonewall-jackson-bookshelf.82361/

Welcome nitrofd!

As you can see if you follow the link above, I devoted a good bit of space in my Bookshhelf to Dr. Robertson's massive biography. I welcome and look forward to your contributions!
 
Amazon has a new "Jackson" book due out at the end of May. Just FYI for everyone.

  • 51vLkHFWK5L._SY100_.jpg
    CALAMITY AT CHANCELLORSVILLE: The Wounding and Death of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
    Lively, Mathew
 
I'm throwing in my old standby as must reading...Dr. Frank Vandiver's great biography, which is the first thing I read on Jackson, before Robertson.....it's readable and stands up well next to Robertson....Mighty Stonewall.

And you can't leave out Henry Kyd Douglas. I Rode With Stonewall may be a bit iffy in spots, but he was a terrific writer, and Stonewall's personality really shines through. You might even want to hang out with him after you read these two books.
 
Amazon has a new "Jackson" book due out at the end of May. Just FYI for everyone.
  • 51vLkHFWK5L._SY100_.jpg
    CALAMITY AT CHANCELLORSVILLE: The Wounding and Death of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
    Lively, Mathew

oldman, you should add this to the Bookshelf, which I'd like to make a pinned thread; additions are most welcome and encouraged.


I'm throwing in my old standby as must reading...Dr. Frank Vandiver's great biography, which is the first thing I read on Jackson, before Robertson.....it's readable and stands up well next to Robertson....Mighty Stonewall.

And you can't leave out Henry Kyd Douglas. I Rode With Stonewall may be a bit iffy in spots, but he was a terrific writer, and Stonewall's personality really shines through. You might even want to hang out with him after you read these two books.

Both are mentioned in the Bookshelf; I asked for comments there on the Vandiver, which I've never read. Douglas heads the list, pictorally anyway.
 
Jackson was certainly odd but a lot of it was his crazy childhood. I happen to believe he was also an aspie, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for a general. He could sure focus! He had a photographic memory - he studied by memorizing whole books. He'd read a few pages then stand in front of a blank wall and read them from what he'd seen until it was memorized. That's why he once marked a student wrong for getting a series of items for artillery out of the order they were in in the book! The cadet had it all right, just not in the precise order of the writer. But if you were into religion, you definitely got along with Jackson. I think that's why he and Stuart hit it off well. Stuart was the exact opposite - outgoing, fun-loving, dearly loved to eat anything in large quantities, not concerned about his health - but he was deeply religious. (And, he was an aggressive commander just like Jackson.) Jackson considered everything in his life, right down to a mosquito bite, to be ordered by God. The only battlefield he visited while he was in Europe was Waterloo - somebody asked him why he thought Napoleon lost that crucial battle. "Because God stopped him right there!" said Jackson with firmness. I'm certain he felt that way about Chancellorsville.
 
I have a question I have gotten different answers to----After Jackson was shot he was placed on a litter and was being carried out when a shell exploded and he was dropped----Getting dirt etc. in the wound. I was told that it was common in the ACW to carry litters on one's shoulder, up high and this may have contributed to additional injury vs. carrying it lower. A small thing and a huge thing if true---Do not know the answer? Also heard the Officer who's men shot Jackson later after the war committed suicide---Could not live with it as the story goes---Do not know if this is true either. Thanks in advance and I look forward to your posts.
 
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