Stonewall An account of the wounding of Stonewall Jackson

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Honored Fallen Comrade
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Location
Laurinburg NC
by Alfred H.H. Tolar, Captain Company K, Eighteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops.

"As an eyewitness to the affair I desire to make some statement of facts as they have impressed themselves on my mind and to call as witnesses for concurrence the gallant Major T.J. Wooten, of the Eighteenth North Carolina Troops, the chivalrous Captains V.V. Richardson and Thomas L. Lewis, of the Eighteenth North Carolina Troops, and other officers of that regiment who were in line at the time this sad affair was enacted.

Under the circumstances it would have been utterly impossible for anyone to know who fired the fatal bullet or bullets. That the wounds were from the firing of the Eighteenth North Carolina Troops, officers and men of that regiment will testify with regret. If memory serves me true, the Eighteenth regiment was the only regiment on the left of the Turnpike, the remainder of the brigade (Lane's) being on the right of the road as we faced Chancellorsville. About dark, General Jackson and staff, accompanied by General A.P. Hill and staff, rode down the Turnpike in advance of our line of battle, and, coming closer to the enemy's line than they expected, were fired on from a regiment of infantry; and then some batteries of artillery turned loose with a heavy firing, sending shot and shell down the pike. The General and staff left the road, and the two Generals (Jackson and Hill), with staffs and couriers, came down on the Eighteenth at a rapid gait.

The night was calm and the tramp of thirty horsemen advancing through a heavy forest at a rapid gait, seemed to the average infantryman like a brigade of cavalry. Noting the approach of horsemen from the front, with no line of pickets intervening to give the alarm, the brave Colonel Purdie gave the order 'Fix bayonets; load; prepare for action!' as fast as the command could be given. When the supposed enemy was within 100 yards, perhaps, of our line, the Colonel gave the command, 'Commence firing,' and from that moment until notified by Major Holland (or Harris) of General Jackson's staff, that we were firing on our own men, the firing was kept up by the entire regiment with great rapidity. The horse of Major Harris (or Holland) was knocked down with a blow from the butt of a gun in the hands of Arthur S. Smith, Company K, Eighteenth North Carolina Troops, and at that moment we were notified by the Major of the sad mistake that had been made.

It was during this continuous firing that General Jackson received his wounds, and if any other troops except the Eighteenth fired a shot I did not hear it. The soldier on the firing line knows how impossible it would be for anyone to know who fired the fatal shot, and the man who would attempt to set up such a claim would certainly presume on the intelligence of the average Confederate soldier."
 
The 18th seemed to be hexed after that, even though as a unit they fought well. Major Berry became severely depressed over Stonewall's death and committed suicide; Purdie was killed right the next day at Chancellorsville; a soldier - can't think of the name right now - became a hermit and a character, some said wild man, because he came to believe it was his bullet that did in Jackson. How he figured that, I don't know! Wonder if there were any others of that unit who believed something similar?
 
I don't want to find any relatives of mine in the 18th North Carolina Infantry, no offense to the regiment, but I really don't want to be possibly related to the man who could of shot Stonewall Jackson.
 
I originally joined this forum about a year ago due to interest in this incident. In fact it was my first thread and though it had been mulled over quite a bit, several people were very helpful with their responses. I also did some extra reading on the regiment and specifically on the shooting of General Jackson. I visited the spot, at least the claimed spot, right behind the Chancellorsville VC last May.

This quote has some interesting observations. 1. All the sources I can think of have Major John D. Barry as the officer who ordered the regiment to open fire. I cannot recall any mention of an order to 'fix bayonets'. 2. Lane had put the NC 33rd Inf out as pickets. General Jackson's party went the furthest way out on Plank Road never reached Lane's pickets. General Jackson did get close enough to hear the Union solders talk and could make out that they were busy building defensive positions. 3. General Jackson and his party had turned back and were returning to his own lines when fire erupted to the south (left) of Plank Road. This supposedly caused Jackson to turn off the road to get into the woods on the right where there was a smaller trail on which he was actually shot. Then his horse took off back toward the Union lines, but he was able to regain control of Little Sorrel and was heading back before he fell off the horse.

His falling from a stretcher at least twice and maybe three times is a story in and of itself. A somewhat recent book by Mathew W. Lively goes into detail about the wounding and the medical treatment provided General Jackson. Lively is an MD who is also a Civil War enthusiast. According to Lively the amputation actually went well but General Jackson developed pneumonia. Dr. Lively thinks the treatment given Jackson for his pneumonia lead to the actual death.

The 18th continued to fight and was part of the "Charge" on day 3 at Gettysburg and had 94 men present to receive their paroles on April 12th.
 
What actually killed him is still up for debate. James Robertson wrote the biography of him in the 90s and he talked to enough doctors to be convinced that Jackson had pneumonia, and they could diagnose it, but at that time they could not cure it.
 
I don't want to find any relatives of mine in the 18th North Carolina Infantry, no offense to the regiment, but I really don't want to be possibly related to the man who could of shot Stonewall Jackson.
Does Stonewall catch any of the blame for putting himself in a position to be mistaken for an enemy soldier or spooking jumpy confederate soldiers after a long day of battle?
 
Dr. Lively thinks the treatment given Jackson for his pneumonia lead to the actual death.

Did the Doctor state what the actual treatment was that Jackson received?
Do any of the forum members know what the standard treatment for pneumonia was in 1863?
 
Does Stonewall catch any of the blame for putting himself in a position to be mistaken for an enemy soldier or spooking jumpy confederate soldiers after a long day of battle?

I'm not sure the word 'blame' really applies to this case of "Killed by Friendly Fire"…a series of events that can occur "In the Fog of War."
Defintly carelessness on Jackson's part but understandable given the General's nature in combat of pressuring the enemy & wanting first hand knowledge of the 'lay of the land' he would be facing latter that night or early the next morning.
 
Dr. Lively thinks the treatment given Jackson for his pneumonia lead to the actual death.

Did the Doctor state what the actual treatment was that Jackson received?
Do any of the forum members know what the standard treatment for pneumonia was in 1863?
I do recall a 'blister pack' was put over the injured lung. Dr. McGuire correctly diagnosed the lung had been injured in one of the falls from the litter. That led to the pneumonia. According to Dr. Lively the recognition of pneumonia was widely known but at that time no effective treatment was known. Dr. McGuire was one of the best physicians of his time. He was elected both president of the American Surgical Association and the American Medical Association.

As I read Dr. Lively is saying that General Jackson was given the best treatment known at time, but "when the available evidence from primary sources is analyzed, Jackson's illness, or underlying cause of desth, is most consistent with the diagnosis of pneumonia. It is the disease that likely initiated the train of events leading to sepsis and eventual death. " p 155 Calamity at Chancellorsville.
 
I'm not sure the word 'blame' really applies to this case of "Killed by Friendly Fire"…a series of events that can occur "In the Fog of War."
Defintly carelessness on Jackson's part but understandable given the General's nature in combat of pressuring the enemy & wanting first hand knowledge of the 'lay of the land' he would be facing latter that night or early the next morning.
This is true, but then anyone not wanting to be related to a member of the 18th NC because their friendly fire injured Jackson is a bit much.

No offense to Seth, just giving my opinion.
 
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I do recall a 'blister pack' was put over the injured lung. Dr. McGuire correctly diagnosed the lung had been injured in one of the falls from the litter. That led to the pneumonia. According to Dr. Lively the recognition of pneumonia was widely known but at that time no effective treatment was known. Dr. McGuire was one of the best physicians of his time. He was elected both president of the American Surgical Association and the American Medical Association.

As I read Dr. Lively is saying that General Jackson was given the best treatment known at time, but "when the available evidence from primary sources is analyzed, Jackson's illness, or underlying cause of desth, is most consistent with the diagnosis of pneumonia. It is the disease that likely initiated the train of events leading to sepsis and eventual death. " p 155 Calamity at Chancellorsville.

Jackson really believed in hydrotherapy, which was the going thing at that time. He'd been introduced to it on his European tour, in Germany. After hunting high and low he finally found a practitioner in West Virginia, so he and his wife often used this method. Unbeknownst to his doctors, he was using wet packs and water therapy but I don't think it made a difference at that point. He was just recovering from one of his heavy colds when he was shot - chances are the lethal bacteria were already at work. Read one interesting article that claimed the water from Jackson's neck of the woods was responsible for his death - it was full of bugs which lived in the guts of everybody. A trauma, such as Jackson experienced, would kick the little critters into high gear and that would include pneumonia. Maybe but I do know pneumonia was often a by-product of amputations.
 
I originally joined this forum about a year ago due to interest in this incident. In fact it was my first thread and though it had been mulled over quite a bit, several people were very helpful with their responses. I also did some extra reading on the regiment and specifically on the shooting of General Jackson. I visited the spot, at least the claimed spot, right behind the Chancellorsville VC last May.

This quote has some interesting observations. 1. All the sources I can think of have Major John D. Barry as the officer who ordered the regiment to open fire. I cannot recall any mention of an order to 'fix bayonets'. 2. Lane had put the NC 33rd Inf out as pickets. General Jackson's party went the furthest way out on Plank Road never reached Lane's pickets. General Jackson did get close enough to hear the Union solders talk and could make out that they were busy building defensive positions. 3. General Jackson and his party had turned back and were returning to his own lines when fire erupted to the south (left) of Plank Road. This supposedly caused Jackson to turn off the road to get into the woods on the right where there was a smaller trail on which he was actually shot. Then his horse took off back toward the Union lines, but he was able to regain control of Little Sorrel and was heading back before he fell off the horse.

His falling from a stretcher at least twice and maybe three times is a story in and of itself. A somewhat recent book by Mathew W. Lively goes into detail about the wounding and the medical treatment provided General Jackson. Lively is an MD who is also a Civil War enthusiast. According to Lively the amputation actually went well but General Jackson developed pneumonia. Dr. Lively thinks the treatment given Jackson for his pneumonia lead to the actual death.

The 18th continued to fight and was part of the "Charge" on day 3 at Gettysburg and had 94 men present to receive their paroles on April 12th.

I hadn't heard of Purdie either, until recently. That is likely because he was KIA almost immediately after - in fact, he was buried the very day Jackson died. He never knew the general had been killed by his troops. Major Berry was the one who ordered the men to keep firing, as he believed the group was a Union brigade. If that is how the sequence of command went, then I can see why Berry might become so depressed he eventually did himself in. (It's not certain he did, by the way.)

I don't think Jackson ever fell off Little Sorrel...and it's a wonder he didn't! When Little Sorrel stopped, Jackson seemed to be very dazed and confused and muttered, "Wild fire, sir! Wild fire!"
 
"Whatever may have been the origin of this volley, it came, and many of the staff and escort were shot, and fell from their horses. Jackson wheeled to the left and galloped into the woods to get out of range of the bullets; but he had not gone twenty steps beyond the edge of the turnpike, in the thicket, when one of his brigades, drawn up within thirty yards of him, fired a volley in their turn, kneeling on the right knee, as the flash of the guns showed, as though prepared to guard against cavalry. By this fire Jackson was wounded in three places. He received one ball in the shoulder joint, shattering the bone and severing the chief artery. A second ball passed through the same arm between the elbow and wrist, making its exit through the palm of the hand; and a third ball entered the palm of his right hand about the middle, and passing through, broke two of the bones. At the moment when he was struck, he was holding his rein in his left hand, and the right was raised, either in the singular jesture habitual to him at times of excitement, or to protect his face from the boughs of trees. His left hand immediately dropped to his side, and his horse, no longer controlled by the rein, and frightened at the firing, wheeled suddenly and ran from the fire in the direction of the Federal lines. Jackson’s helpless condition now exposed him to a distressing accident. His horse ran violently between two trees, from one of which a horizontal bough extended at about the height of his head, to the other; and, as he passed between the trees, this bough struck in the face, tore off his cap, and threw him violently back on his horse. The blow was so violent as nearly to unseat him, but it did not do so, and rising erect again, he caught the bridle with the broken and bleeding fingers of his right hand, and succeeded in turning his horse back into the turnpike. Here, Captain Wilbourn, of his staff, succeeded in catching the reins and checking the animal, who was almost frantic with terror, at the moment when, from loss of blood and exhaustion, Jackson was about to fall from the saddle."

From an 1865 newspaper account.
Jamie
 
I don't want to find any relatives of mine in the 18th North Carolina Infantry, no offense to the regiment, but I really don't want to be possibly related to the man who could of shot Stonewall Jackson.

I'm sure you know how religious Jackson was. He believed everything that happened was the will of God and was content to submit himself to it. He would probably be the last one to want any of his soldiers to feel guilty or be punished for serving as God's instrument.
 
I'm sure you know how religious Jackson was. He believed everything that happened was the will of God and was content to submit himself to it. He would probably be the last one to want any of his soldiers to feel guilty or be punished for serving as God's instrument.

Jackson isn't noted for his sense of humor, and it was mighty dry when it appeared, but one joke got a laugh out of him. Someone asked him if he was a Calvinist, and he affirmed he agreed with their doctrine more than anybody else's. So, the visitor said he had a story: An armed man was walking through the woods one day and met a friend. The friend said, "Why do you have that gun?" "Protection." "But aren't you a Calvinist? Don't you believe that God has already decided when your time will come? Why do you need the gun?" "Because I might meet an Indian whose time has come!" Jackson chuckled at that all day!

The belief that only God knows the manner and hour of your death makes for a completely fearless warrior and one who blames nobody for the finish. Jackson was such a soldier. Everything is God's will, as far as Jackson was concerned.
 
Jackson would never drink,smoke,dance,curse,play cards,or attend the theater. Neither would he send a letter if it meant that it would travel on a Sunday. He regarded fighting on a Sunday as one of the chief reasons for his only major defeat at Kernstown.
 
I don't want to find any relatives of mine in the 18th North Carolina Infantry, no offense to the regiment, but I really don't want to be possibly related to the man who could of shot Stonewall Jackson.
If Jackson was able to forgive the poor unknown man who, while doing his duty, had the bad luck to shoot one of the ablest commanders of the time, you should be able to forgive him, too. As the French have it: “A la guerre comme a la guerre“ !
 
Does Stonewall catch any of the blame for putting himself in a position to be mistaken for an enemy soldier or spooking jumpy confederate soldiers after a long day of battle?

True! He should have given his troops a heads up he might be in their front. Still, even if he had said so, the situation would make them so jumpy it probably wouldn't have mattered. Would they wait to see if that racket was enemy or friend under the tense circumstances? The thing is, he shouldn't have been there at all. However, Stonewall was a fighter and his blood was up. He could just feel super victory in his bones and needed to see for himself if it could really be done.
 
THE DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON
AGAIN. — That gallant soldier and excellent gentleman, Capt. V.V. Richardson, of Columbia county, addressed a letter to the editor of the Wilmington Review, some weeks ago, concerning the death of Jackson, which escaped our notice at the time. As the statement of one who may almost be termed an "eye witness," Capt. Richardson’s letter is a valuable contribution to the discussion of this subject, revived by the unexpected statement of Mr. Capps that the wounding was before dark, instead of after night as we think has been abundantly proven.
The following is Capt. Richardson’s letter:
WHITEVILLE, N.C., Jan. 18, 1884.

http://petersburgbreakthrough.org/18thNCrichardson.html
 
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