Stonewall Stonewall Jackson ate lemons like apples?

I'm sure Jackson would be in favor of meditation, as long as he got his way in the end :wink: Part of what's defines greatness in an officer is their ability to handle stress and make unpopular decisions. Meditation in peace time is one thing. I would venture to say meditation has no place on a battlefield. BTW the whole lemon thing is controversial.

Interesting read. Thank you for posting.
 
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I'm sure Jackson would be in favor of mediation, as long as he got his way in the end

I'm absolute sure he was. Praying is a form of meditation and he prayed a lot before a battle.
I do agree that meditation in the form of sitting cross-legged on a rug saying "Oooommm" has no place on the battlefield. And in the heat of a firefight I think a warrior simply has no time to think of anything else than loading, taking aim, firing, and taking cover again. But in preparation of it I think it is a great way to get focused. Special Forces will do it most probably. If your experienced, you can sharpen your concentration to the important things through meditation and probably afterwards cope with what you saw and what you had to do. In my opinion it can even help fight back PTSD if you deal once more with your fears and decisions instead of just pushing it away into the back of your head. I think that approach is really very good. And in Civil War times, praying before and after a battle would probably have fulfilled the same goal.
Something different are these most popular paint books for adults the cadets understandably refused. I could hardly bring myself to do that either, but the goal is to get your thoughts focused on something - and don't let yourself be distracted by outward troubles. Keeping your hands busy can free your mind, hence the enormous popularity of knitting/crotcheting/needlework or gardening or doing car repairs etc.

Oh yes, the lemon thing - in the Jackson house they told us in reality he craved for peaches...
 
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When I toured his headquarters in Winchester, VA, the guide said he actually loved peaches. She said his love for lemons is mostly a myth. Interestingly enough, his grave was strewn with lemons when I visited the site in Lexington, VA.

Thanks @J. Horace for posting the link. It was a great read.

His grave was strewn with soon-to-be rotten fruit? Yuck!
 
The lemon myth lives on.

Well his reputation and fame is largely mythological anyway. Hell, the guy was a corps commander, and no more capable a one than less famous people such as Longstreet, Wright, Logan and Hancock. And Jackson is more famous than corps commanders who became able army commanders---Thomas, McPherson, Slocum, Meade and Howard come to my mind.

It's probably a good thing for his fame and reputation that he was killed. I'm in mind of Jimi Hendrix, a fella I think died in time to save his reputation as his performances, once tight and very focused ( in 1968 I saw the Jimi Hendrix Experience perform) degenerated into long aimless noodling sessions.
 
When I toured his headquarters in Winchester, VA, the guide said he actually loved peaches. She said his love for lemons is mostly a myth. Interestingly enough, his grave was strewn with lemons when I visited the site in Lexington, VA.

Thanks @J. Horace for posting the link. It was a great read.
Thanks @Eleanor Rose for the heads up on the lemons as post mortem offerings....Very interesting. Edgar Allen Poe gets a rose and a very nice bottle of cognac left on his grave every year on his birthday.
 
My mum was a huge Poe fan, so she follows the anniversary reports. She was disappointed that the mystery had stopped.
Love Poe. I particularly enjoyed the fictional character author Seth Grahame Smith created portraying Poe in his book. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Very entertaining :smile:
 
It was probably one of the more unusual movies I have seen. I was just blown away that the ANV was a vampire army at Gettysburg......That might explain some of the behaviors during the battle. :biggrin::roflmao:
Read the book my friend. The movie is good. The book is excellent :smile:
 
Henry Kyd Douglas is the main source for the idea that Jackson was a lemon lover. He wrote an account in his book of Jackson eating a lemon and using it as if it were a baton to give emphasis to his orders during a battle.

And also included the story about Jackson up the Persimmon tree...which was a result of his climbing for persimmons. :smile:
 
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