The Smithsonian
Collections
Timeline
Resources
Slavery & Abolition
Abraham Lincoln
First Blood
Soldiering
Weapons
Leaders
Cavalries
Navies
Life & Culture
Appomattox
Winslow Homer
Mathew Brady
Home
Site Index
Comments
     
 


See more

Jackson, 1855







Jackson, circa 1862







Jackson, 1863







Jackson, circa 1863




Lieut. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson and His Family, engraving 1866
 

 




 

Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (1824–1863)


At the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861, the unrelenting vigor with which Confederate General Thomas Jonathan Jackson held his position inspired a general nearby to rally his troops with the cry, “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.” From that moment on, Jackson became “Stonewall,” a name that he repeatedly lived up to, fighting under the command of General Robert E. Lee.

The deeply religious Jackson believed intensely in the righteousness of the Southern cause, and a key to his success was his ability to instill in his men his own fighting fervor. One of his most brilliant victories came at Chancellorsville in the spring of 1863, where his flanking maneuvers sent the Union troops into a rout. Tragically for Jackson and the South, this would prove to be his last battle. Jackson died of wounds accidentally inflicted by his own men. On hearing of his death, Lee lamented, “I know not how to replace him.”


J. W. King (lifedates unknown)
Oil on canvas, 1864
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Given in memory of Lieselotte Richardson

 

Home SI