Stonewall Pay Jackson Tribute

Well, the fish took the bait! Professor Robertson, you say? The author of the acclaimed Stonewall Jackson The Man, The Soldier, The Legend ? I obtained my autographed copy of that widely lauded book in its year of publication, 1997, at its official debut in Blacksburg, VA, and have read and reread it. I also have had occasion in the past to communicate with Bud Robertson about other Civil War projects of mine, and he has always been extremely gracious. I may hold this fellow Virginian in even higher esteem than you, and you are correct that he is universally recognized as the expert on General Thomas Jackson.

On June 15, 2015 (that would be yesterday) I sent an E mail to Professor Robertson. I copy it here for you:

"Dear Mr. Robertson,

You have kindly assisted me in the past with a query about my ancestors in Company E, 2nd VA Cav. I wonder if I might solicit your brief comments on a different topic.

I have attached my article about the etiology of Gen. Jackson’s monikers of “Old Blue Light” and “The Blue Light Elder.” For years, I have scoffed at the explanation that it was because of the color of his eyes, confident that the obvious etymology was based upon his religious faith. I believe that modern historians have wrongly linked the period descriptions of his flashing eyes with the nicknames, and I find no Jackson contemporaries who claim anything but his fervent Christianity as the inspiration for these monikers.

I concede that this is a minor point, and changing the modern narrative will have no impact upon how Jackson is viewed. It is only a niggling detail which I would like to see corrected. Should you have a minute or so to scan my article, I would be grateful for any comments on the subject."

Best regards,

Christopher Rucker, MD
Spartanburg, SC

Professor Robertson replied to me on June 16 (today). I copy his E mail here for you:

"Dr. Rucker:

I agree completely with your deduction. "Old Blue Light" referred to the depth of Jackson's faith. In research on my book, I remember encountering a source suggesting the name came from the eye color of Calvinist Oliver Cromwell.

Until your essay, I never thought any debate existed over the origin of "Blue Light." Thanks for adding your voice to the correct choir.


James I. Robertson, Jr

And thank you, Mr. Robertson. I'm offering this as the last word on the subject. Stonewall Jackson was called "Old Blue Light" and "The Blue Light Elder" because of his religious faith, and not because of his eye color.

Although I agree with you about James Robertson being a gentleman of the first order - at least he appeared so to me the only time I ever met him, and like you I plied him with a question - I think it would have moved this discussion along more smoothly to have simply quoted this correspondence in the first place rather than attempting to "bait" others like long-time member cash into foolish arguments which reflect credit on no one.
 
Well, the fish took the bait! Professor Robertson, you say? The author of the acclaimed Stonewall Jackson The Man, The Soldier, The Legend ? I obtained my autographed copy of that widely lauded book in its year of publication, 1997, at its official debut in Blacksburg, VA, and have read and reread it. I also have had occasion in the past to communicate with Bud Robertson about other Civil War projects of mine, and he has always been extremely gracious. I may hold this fellow Virginian in even higher esteem than you, and you are correct that he is universally recognized as the expert on General Thomas Jackson.

On June 15, 2015 (that would be yesterday) I sent an E mail to Professor Robertson. I copy it here for you:

"Dear Mr. Robertson,

You have kindly assisted me in the past with a query about my ancestors in Company E, 2nd VA Cav. I wonder if I might solicit your brief comments on a different topic.

I have attached my article about the etiology of Gen. Jackson’s monikers of “Old Blue Light” and “The Blue Light Elder.” For years, I have scoffed at the explanation that it was because of the color of his eyes, confident that the obvious etymology was based upon his religious faith. I believe that modern historians have wrongly linked the period descriptions of his flashing eyes with the nicknames, and I find no Jackson contemporaries who claim anything but his fervent Christianity as the inspiration for these monikers.

I concede that this is a minor point, and changing the modern narrative will have no impact upon how Jackson is viewed. It is only a niggling detail which I would like to see corrected. Should you have a minute or so to scan my article, I would be grateful for any comments on the subject."

Best regards,

Christopher Rucker, MD
Spartanburg, SC

Professor Robertson replied to me on June 16 (today). I copy his E mail here for you:

"Dr. Rucker:

I agree completely with your deduction. "Old Blue Light" referred to the depth of Jackson's faith. In research on my book, I remember encountering a source suggesting the name came from the eye color of Calvinist Oliver Cromwell.

Until your essay, I never thought any debate existed over the origin of "Blue Light." Thanks for adding your voice to the correct choir.


James I. Robertson, Jr

And thank you, Mr. Robertson. I'm offering this as the last word on the subject. Stonewall Jackson was called "Old Blue Light" and "The Blue Light Elder" because of his religious faith, and not because of his eye color.

One wonders, then, why Professor Robertson didn't include it in his biography of Jackson.
 
Although I agree with you about James Robertson being a gentleman of the first order - at least he appeared so to me the only time I ever met him, and like you I plied him with a question - I think it would have moved this discussion along more smoothly to have simply quoted this correspondence in the first place rather than attempting to "bait" others like long-time member cash into foolish arguments which reflect credit on no one.

I apologize for any perceived insult. Long-time membership seems to have its privileges and it isn't my place as an infrequent contributor to dictate the tone and tenor of a forum's discussions. I think that providing Professor Robertson's response within two hours of its receipt was commendably prompt.

I believe that this discussion has been settled. At least, I have nothing further to offer.
 
I apologize for any perceived insult. Long-time membership seems to have its privileges and it isn't my place as an infrequent contributor to dictate the tone and tenor of a forum's discussions. I think that providing Professor Robertson's response within two hours of its receipt was commendably prompt.

I believe that this discussion has been settled. At least, I have nothing further to offer.

The forum doesn't discourage differences of opinion or appropriate give-and-take, especially where possible differences in interpretation of long-held views or supposed "facts" are concerned, and I for one welcome input regardless of the pedigree of the member posting. As far as long-time membership here is concerned, I think that goes for little too: everyone has to start from somewhere at some time. However, with some prior posting history also comes recognition whether or not a member can be considered a reliable member of the community. It's an unfortunate fact that the Civil War has partisans from all shades of the social and political spectrum and that this site and its many forums attract a number of what are usually termed trolls, most of whom have a short "shelf life" here due to the diligence of the moderators. ( I'm not one, only the host of this particular forum, which I therefore take an understandable interest in. )
 
Wow! This is a first since I've been a member here. Thanks for clearing that up. Maybe you can clear up the lemon deal too.

It's generally recognized that Stonewall was particularly partial to fresh fruit, whether lemons or persimmons! According to Robertson, peaches were probably his favorite. The lemon legend probably received its biggest boost from the colorful description of one "wiggling in his beard" found in Richard Taylor's delightful reminiscence in his memoir Destruction and Reconstruction. I just finished Robert Tanner's Stonewall in the Valley, and though he doesn't opine on this particular issue, he does describe the mountains of supplies and material captured from Banks' army in the Valley which included a huge number of lemons! It makes sense that there would've been a lot of lemons because they keep longer and can be transported fairly easily without damaging them, unlike more delicate fruit like peaches and pears.
 
915hzB1bCDL._SL1500_.jpg


As has been quoted here already, print the legend might also mean paint the legend; here are two by Bradley Schmehl and Dale Gallon, each portraying the first meeting of Taylor and Jackson as recounted in Taylor's book.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wow! This is a first since I've been a member here. Thanks for clearing that up. Maybe you can clear up the lemon deal too.

Dr. Robertson has stated that he documented in his book that on two occasions that Jackson received lemons. He also stated the the lemon myth was fabricated by two people: one was a novelist and the other was a general that never let facts get in the way of a good story when he wrote his memoirs. Dr. Robertson discusses the lemon myth in the following program. You can listen to it starting around the 31:00 minute mark in the program.

 
Dr. Robertson has stated that he documented in his book that on two occasions that Jackson received lemons. He also stated the the lemon myth was fabricated by two people: one was a novelist and the other was a general that never let facts get in the way of a good story when he wrote his memoirs. Dr. Robertson discusses the lemon myth in the following program. You can listen to it starting around the 31:00 minute mark in the program.

I have no idea who the novelist was, but I'm pretty sure the general Robertson referred to was Richard Taylor!
 
Back
Top