Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (21 January 1824 – 10 May 1863) was a Lieutenant-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, commanding the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Jackson, one of the greatest generals of the Civil War, met an unfortunate end when he was killed by friendy fire at the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville.
Biography[]
Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1824, and he graduated from West Point in 1856, 17th of 59 students in his class. Jackson served in the US Army during the Mexican-American War, fighting at the Battle of Contreras and the Battle of Churubusco; he met Robert E. Lee during this war. After the war, he taught at the Virginia Military Institute, and he was beloved by African-Americans for organizing Sunday School classes for them. In 1861, he decided to side with Virginia and join the Confederate States Army, and he commanded a brigade at the First Battle of Bull Run. During the battle, Barnard E. Bee remarked that he held his position like a "stone wall", leading to Jackson being nicknamed "Stonewall". He would become known for his discipline and for his talent as a commander, and he led the great "Valley Campaign" of 1862, clearing Union forces from the Shenandoah Valley despite suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Port Republic. Jackson would then assist Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in repelling the Peninsula Campaign, and he was promoted to corps command. Jackson later excelled at Second Bull Run, Antietam, and Fredericksburg in 1862, and he led a corps at the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. During the battle, he was mistakenly shot by his own pickets while returning to his camp, and he died of pneumonia days later.
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