Barrycdog
Major
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
- Location
- Buford, Georgia
Stonewall Jackson's Last Command.
The last command that Stonewall Jackson would ever utter fell upon the ears of North Carolina Brigadier General William Dorsey Pender. After the wounding of Jackson at Chancellorsville three men and an officer placed Jackson on a litter and started on a slow journey to the rear. The party was struggling through thick woods a few feet south of the Plank Road when, Leigh reported, one of the bearers "got his foot entangled in a grape vine and fell." Jackson again hit the ground, this time directly on the broken arm. "He must have suffered excruciating agonies" at this second fall, Leigh thought. Whatever the pain, one or both of these accidents tore the artery in the left arm and triggered heavy bleeding.
As the men replaced Jackson on the litter, he uttered one long groan. Smith bent over. "General are you hurt?" he asked. Jackson, fighting mentally to overcome physical agony, responded, "Never mind me, Lieutenant, never mind me." A moment later, Jackson mumbled something about winning the battle first and attending to the wounded later.
The party was preparing to resume its torturous trek when General Dorsey Pender rode up and dismounted. "Oh, General," he said with feeling, "I hope you are not seriously wounded." Quickly turning to the urgency of the moment, Pender declared, "I will have to retire my troops to re-form them, they are so much broken by this fire."
Jackson stirred; he looked sternly at the North Carolina brigadier and exclaimed in a strong voice: "You must hold your ground, General Pender! You must hold your ground, sir!" It was Jackson's last field command. As the morning light broke next day, Pender's brigade would fight valiantly.
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The last command that Stonewall Jackson would ever utter fell upon the ears of North Carolina Brigadier General William Dorsey Pender. After the wounding of Jackson at Chancellorsville three men and an officer placed Jackson on a litter and started on a slow journey to the rear. The party was struggling through thick woods a few feet south of the Plank Road when, Leigh reported, one of the bearers "got his foot entangled in a grape vine and fell." Jackson again hit the ground, this time directly on the broken arm. "He must have suffered excruciating agonies" at this second fall, Leigh thought. Whatever the pain, one or both of these accidents tore the artery in the left arm and triggered heavy bleeding.
As the men replaced Jackson on the litter, he uttered one long groan. Smith bent over. "General are you hurt?" he asked. Jackson, fighting mentally to overcome physical agony, responded, "Never mind me, Lieutenant, never mind me." A moment later, Jackson mumbled something about winning the battle first and attending to the wounded later.
The party was preparing to resume its torturous trek when General Dorsey Pender rode up and dismounted. "Oh, General," he said with feeling, "I hope you are not seriously wounded." Quickly turning to the urgency of the moment, Pender declared, "I will have to retire my troops to re-form them, they are so much broken by this fire."
Jackson stirred; he looked sternly at the North Carolina brigadier and exclaimed in a strong voice: "You must hold your ground, General Pender! You must hold your ground, sir!" It was Jackson's last field command. As the morning light broke next day, Pender's brigade would fight valiantly.
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