Stonewall Stonewall Brigade dissing Jackson?

[JerryD]

Reading Earl Hess' "Picket's Charge" and he makes the claim that the Stonewall Brigade liked Richard Garnett better than Jackson since he treated them better than Jackson did, and to show this it would refuse to salute Jackson when he rode by. He also claims that this irritated Jackson and possibly led to his ill treatment of Garnett following Kernstown. Unfortunately, even though Hess provides footnote in the book, he provides no source for this claim.

I am having a hard time buying this. For starters, I was always under the impression that the Stonewall Brigade revered Jackson. But I also have a hard time believing that Jackson, who to my understanding did not have a huge ego, would be offended by this action, unless it was due to a purely military point of view of the necessity of saluting a superior officer. But I have a very hard time believing that his ego was so wounded by this that he would want to take it out on Garnett.

Has anyone ever heard of this before, or know the source?

 

[nc native]

Richard Garnett had a reputation for treating his men humanely and being considerate of the feelings of his soldiers. Jackson on the other hand was hard and asked what seemed impossible of his men sometimes. One of Jackson's men put it this way "Old Jack gave us a gum blanket and forty rounds and drove us like hell." If I'm not mistaken, the court marshal of General Garnett started with a dispute over a rest period that Garnett's men were to receive during one of Jackson's famously long and fast marches. Jackson was also not pleased when Garnett had withdrawn the Stonewall Brigade he was in command of without orders at Kernstown when his men ran out of ammunition. I could see the incident referred to in the earlier post getting under Jackson's skin but I believe it was more of a difference of command styles regarding the welfare of the men in the ranks that led to the hard feelings between Jackson and Garnett.

 

[JerryD]

Richard Garnett had a reputation for treating his men humanely and being considerate of the feelings of his soldiers. Jackson on the other hand was hard and asked what seemed impossible of his men sometimes. One of Jackson's men put it this way "Old Jack gave us a gum blanket and forty rounds and drove us like hell." If I'm not mistaken, the court marshal of General Garnett started with a dispute over a rest period that Garnett's men were to receive during one of Jackson's famously long and fast marches. Jackson was also not pleased when Garnett had withdrawn the Stonewall Brigade he was in command of without orders at Kernstown when his men ran out of ammunition. I could see the incident referred to in the earlier post getting under Jackson's skin but I believe it was more of a difference of command styles regarding the welfare of the men in the ranks that led to the hard feelings between Jackson and Garnett.

That is exactly what Hess was saying, even to the point about the dispute over the rest period. And I know ol Jack drove his men hard. I just find it hard to believe the Brigade would diss him like that, and that he would be so thin skinned that he would be offended and take it out on Garnett.

 

[ErnieMac]

There were hard feelings over Garnett's removal, but they were mostly directed at his successor BG Charles Winder. That is not to say Jackson didn't take some heat from the men, but he pretty much ignored it. When the victories started to roll in feelings changed.

 

[JerryD]

There were hard feelings over Garnett's removal, but they were mostly directed at his successor BG Charles Winder. That is not to say Jackson didn't take some heat from the men, but he pretty much ignored it. When the victories started to roll in feelings changed.

Keep in mind, though, that Hess was talking about prior to Garnett's removal.

 

[NedBaldwin]

Reading Earl Hess' "Picket's Charge" and he makes the claim that the Stonewall Brigade liked Richard Garnett better than Jackson since he treated them better than Jackson did, and to show this it would refuse to salute Jackson when he rode by. He also claims that this irritated Jackson and possibly led to his ill treatment of Garnett following Kernstown. Unfortunately, even though Hess provides footnote in the book, he provides no source for this claim.

I am having a hard time buying this. For starters, I was always under the impression that the Stonewall Brigade revered Jackson. But I also have a hard time believing that Jackson, who to my understanding did not have a huge ego, would be offended by this action, unless it was due to a purely military point of view of the necessity of saluting a superior officer. But I have a very hard time believing that his ego was so wounded by this that he would want to take it out on Garnett.

Has anyone ever heard of this before, or know the source?

What I have read is that it was Jackson's ill treatment of Garnett that led to the men behaving that way, not the other way around.

I recall reading about this in Stonewall Jackson by James Robertson and Mighty Stonewall, Frank E. Vandiver

 

[James N.]

Remember also that these were citizen soldiers and not professional military men and therefore they were very susceptible to taking things personally and to venting their feelings about it, something Jackson himself sometimes forgot in his single-mindedness. This was especially evident in his pursuit of Banks from Staunton to Winchester following Front Royal; one of his colonels had to beg Jackson to halt for at least a couple of hours, well after midnight.