They Called Him Stonewall

by Davis, Burke;

  Prologue, Book Three

  The account of Lincoln’s visit to his army before Chancellorsville is drawn chiefly from Noah Brooks in Washington in Lincoln’s Time.

  Chapters 22 and 23

  There is hardly a reasonable doubt that Jackson was slain by his own men, and it is almost certain that the fatal shots were fired by men of the Eighteenth North Carolina.

  A North Carolina story, scarcely more than a legend, is that two young riflemen of the Eighteenth North Carolina, Stuart Dixon and Robert Smith, fired the fatal shots. Kerr Scott, an ex-governor of the state, on whose farm Dixon’s home still stands, recalls stories from a hunting companion of the two men—stories which always ended: “I wonder which one of us really killed him.”

  The sketch of the Federal panic at Chancellorsville, limited almost entirely to the Eleventh Corps, is based chiefly on Bigelow’s Campaign of Chancellorsville, General O. O. Howard’s autobiography, and Livermore’s Days & Events.

  The narrative of Jackson’s wounding is a composite from myriad sources and is fuller than most because, with minor exceptions, all testimony is weighed and used in the light of companion sources. There are conflicts of long standing over the details, but these seem of little importance. The narrative of Jackson’s last hours does not halt to consider these controversies. A typical example: Captain R. E. Wilbourn and Captain James Power Smith each claimed to have slit Jackson’s sleeve and tended his wound.

  The indispensable source is D. S. Freeman, in both Lee’s Lieutenants, Volume 2, and R. E. Lee, Volume 2; this synthesis, though it does not attempt to underline the drama of the situation, reliably sifts and clarifies earlier testimony.

  The death mask of Jackson, now in the Valentine Museum, Richmond, was made by the sculptor, Frederick Volck, with the probable assistance of one Pietro Zamboggi. The museum has correspondence between Volck and Edward V. Valentine in which Volck writes of the mask: “It is the same I took at the Governor’s Mansion when the body of Jackson was brought thither.… The mask … is the only one in existence.” In Valentine’s papers, however, is a note: “Pietro Zamboggi, the man who made the cast of Jackson’s face.” Museum researchers have concluded that the two men worked together.

  Volck’s brother, Adalbert, a caricaturist, may have made the drawing of Jackson after the battle of Fredericksburg, though Jackson’s aide, Captain J. P. Smith, identified the artist only as “Sculptor Volke”—which would seem to point to his brother Frederick.

  Though no liberties have been taken with testimony on Jackson’s last hours, an effort has been made to reduce the air of pious unreality which marks the recollections of attending ministers and other friends. This was done for no other reason than that these ring falsely in modern ears, and the use of all the original conversation (or purported conversation) robs Jackson of some natural dignity and his death of its moving drama.

  The Missing Anecdotes

  No character on the Civil War stage seemed to attract as many anecdotes as did Jackson, and veteran hobbyists of the war will note many of the most familiar stories of Stonewall are not included in this narrative. Almost invariably, the decision to omit was based on probable fact—external evidence proved or hinted that the tale was untrue. In many instances, omission was a matter of taste or intuition.

  Dr. Hunter McGuire, Jackson’s physician, left as many interesting stories of his commander as any officer; yet his tales and their versions seem to vary over the years and, like the recollections of most soldiers, are often demonstrably inaccurate. An example of his testimony which is not questioned seems in order:

  “Listening to Jackson talk of Napoleon Bonaparte, as I often did, I was struck with the fact that he regarded him as the greatest general that ever lived. One day I asked him something about Waterloo. He had been over the field, inspected the ground, and spent several days in studying the plan of battle. I asked who had shown the greatest generalship there, Napoleon or Wellington.… He said, ‘Decidedly, Napoleon.’ I said, ‘Well, why was he whipped, then?’ He replied, ‘I can only explain it by telling you that I think God intended him to stop right there.’”

  McGuire also left unique accounts of Jackson at the first battle of Bull Run, including one of the wounding of Jackson’s hand:

  “On his way to the rear the wound pained him so much that he stopped at the first hospital he came to, and the surgeon there proposed to cut the finger off; but while the doctor looked for his instruments and for a moment turned his back, the general silently mounted his horse, rode off, and soon afterwards found me.”

  Though these have the ring of truth, and come from a generally reliable witness, they are not so compelling as to lead the narrative from the safer ground of already full reports.

  Select Critical Bibliography

  Allan, Elizabeth Preston, The Life & Letters of Margaret J. Preston.

  Allan, William, Jackson’s Valley Campaign.

  Arnold, T. J., Early Life & Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson.

  Avirett, J. B., Memoirs of General Turner Ashby & His Compeers.

  Bigelow, John, Jr., The Campaign of Chancellorsville.

  Brooks, Noah, Washington in Lincoln’s Time.

  Casler, John O., Four Years In The Stonewall Brigade.

  Chesnut, Mary Boykin, A Diary from Dixie.

  Cooke, John E., Stonewall Jackson.

  Dabney, R. L., Stonewall Jackson.

  Freeman, D. S., R. E. Lee, four volumes.

  Goss, Warren Lee, Recollections of A Private.

  Hamlin, Percy G., Old Baldhead.

  Hamlin, Percy G., The Making of A Soldier; The Letters of R. S. Ewell.

  Henderson, G. F. R., Stonewall Jackson & The American Civil War.

  Howard, McHenry, Recollections of A Maryland Soldier & Staff Officer.

  Hunter, Alexander, Johnny Reb & Billy Yank.

  Longstreet, James, From Manassas to Appomattox.

  Lonn, Ella, Foreigners in the Confederacy.

  Moore, Edward A., The Story of A Cannoneer Under Stonewall Jackson.

  Owen, William M., In Camp & Battle with the Washington Artillery of New Orleans.

  Polley, J. B., A Soldier’s Letters to Charming Nellie.

  Russell, William Howard, My Diary North and South.

  Sherman, William T., Memoirs.

  Stiles, Robert, Four Years Under Marse Robert.

  Taylor, Richard, Destruction & Reconstruction.

  von Borcke, Heros, Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence.

  Welch, S. G., A Confederate Surgeon’s Letters to His Wife.

  Wiley, Bell I., The Life of Johnny Reb.

  In addition these major sources gave help beyond quotation of passages, and were invaluable as guides and interpreters of background:

  Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.

  Blackford, W. W., War Years with Jeb Stuart.

  Douglas, Henry Kyd, I Rode With Stonewall.

  Freeman, D. S., Lee’s Lieutenants.

  Jackson, Mary Anna, Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson.

  Southern Historical Society Papers.

  Townsend, G. A., Rustics in Rebellion.

  Image Gallery

  THE MEN AROUND JACKSON

  Military amateurs, most of them young, chosen for gifts in their fields, worked with Jackson through his Civil War career of 21 months. They ranged from the stern and unpopular chief of staff, The Rev. Dabney, to the gay young lawyer-biographer Kyd Douglas, and from the transplanted Yankee map-maker Hotchkiss to McGuire, who became a nationally famous physician. Some important photos are missing from this post-war composite, chief among them those of John Harman, whose wagons moved Jackson’s troops, and Stapleton Crutchfield, a fine young gunner.

  Confederate Museum, Richmond, Va.

  The West Point Graduate: The open, sensitive countenance of Jackson in his twenties became almost unrecognizable in the bearded portraits of 1861–63. Here is the Jackson newly graduated from West Point, probably in 1846, when he was 22.

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  The Veteran Turned Teacher: Here, the face becoming firmer, is a photograph of 1851, when Jackson, a veteran of the Mexican War and long months of barracks life, reported to Virginia Military Life.

  Library of Congress

  Jackson’s second wife, Mary Anna Morrison, taken near the end of the war, when she was a young widow.

  Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va.

  Federal work parties clear the wreckage of Manassas Junction where, in August, 1862, Jackson’s slashing march to the rear of Pope’s army imperiled Union forces, destroyed $1,000,000 in supplies, and crippled Pope.

  Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society, NYC

  Helpless Union sick and wounded, abandoned in the swamps below Richmond on June 30, 1862. Jackson swept them up, capturing 2,500 on the edge of White Oak Swamp, incidentally contributing to the chief failure of his military career.

  Library of Congress

  JACKSON’S COMRADES IN BATTLE

  A. P. Hill, proud, sensitive, able, squabbled with Jackson in the last ten months of Stonewall’s life; their quarrel cost the Confederacy dearly.

  Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va.

  John Imboden, artillerist, who was close to Jackson from the battle at Bull Run, witnessed his wounding there and advanced his experiments in battle.

  Southern Historical Collection

  Richard “Dick” Ewell began thinking Jackson insane, and ended his loyal and most able lieutenant.

  Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va.

  D. H. Hill, Jackson’s brother-in-law, ambitious, thin-skinned, but a capable fighter.

  Confederate Museum, Richmond, Va.

  BLOODIEST DAY OF THE YEAR

  Fateful Antietam, or Sharpsburg, where loss of a general order cost the Confederates a chance to strike the heart of the North. A rare action scene, looking into the haze of Union guns raining upon Southern lines (far right), a quarter mile below the watchful Federal soldier.

  Library of Congress

  Next day’s scene at the Dunkard Church, where Jackson’s 19,000 held against a Federal corps, and where Old Jack calmly collected his remnants for counter-attack. An important engagement in Jackson’s development, Antietam cost 23,500 casualties in two armies.

  Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society, NYC

  Jackson’s death mask, made in Richmond by the sculptor, Frederick Volck, two days after the general succumbed to pneumonia.

  Valentine Museum, Richmond, Va.

  Part of the cost of the terrible engagement at Chancellorsville, whose greatest loss to the Confederate cause was Jackson, but where many hundreds of wounded men, on both sides, were burned in the blazing thickets at night in the wilderness.

  Courtesy of the New-York Historical Society, NYC

  Index

  Allan, Col. Wm., C.S.A., 170, 243

  Anderson, Gen. R. H., C.S.A., 319, 333, 405

  Aquia Creek, 378

  Ashby, Gen. Turner, C.S.A., 10, 24, 29–30, 37, 43–47, 49, 61, 64, 67–69, 72–74, 161, 167–169, 174–176

  Ashland, Va., 216–217, 266, 449

  Banks, Gen. N. P., U.S.A., 14, 19, 31, 37–38, 44–45, 47, 51, 53–54, 56, 66, 166, 168, 174

  Barksdale, Gen. Wm., C.S.A., 354

  Bath, W. Va., 161

  Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., C.S.A., 141, 146, 147

  Beaver Dam Creek, 216, 221

  Beaver Dam Station, 208, 210, 214

  Bee, Gen. Barnard E., C.S.A., 141, 149

  Benjamin, Judah P., 162–165

  Black, Dr. Harvey, 430–32

  Blackford, Col. W. W., C.S.A., 222, 252, 253, 274, 290, 294–295, 365–366, 417

  Bloss, Sgt. J. M., U.S.A., 324

  Booth, J. Wilkes, 6

  Boswell, Capt. J. K., C.S.A., 70, 176, 289, 407–408, 424, 427

  Boteler, Col. A. R., C.S.A., 62–64, 161, 165, 170, 197, 261–262, 362, 363, 394

  Boyd, Belle, 32–33, 36

  Branch, Gen. L. O’B., C.S.A., 25, 209, 211, 218, 281, 310, 315, 323, 336, 344–345

  Brooks, Noah, 374–376, 378–380

  Brown, John, 3–8, 131

  Brown, Capt. Wm. F., C.S.A., 63

  Burnside, Gen. A. E., U.S.A., 287, 337–338, 350, 353, 355, 361, 393

  Butterfield, Gen. Daniel, U.S.A., 378

  Casler, Pvt. John O., C.S.A., 236, 257, 280, 423

  Casualties:

  Cedar Mountain, 282; Chancellorsville, 446; Cross Keys, 80; Fredericksburg, 361–362, 365; Front Royal, 36; Gaines Mill, 227–228; Groveton, 295–296; Kernstown, 169; McDowell, 179; Malvern Hill, 253–254; Manassas, 150–152, 302, 309–310; Mechanicsville, 220; Seven Days, 258; Sharpsburg (Antietam), 335, 338–339; Valley Campaign, 56, 193; Year 1862, 388

  Catherine Furnace, 406, 409

  Catlett’s Station, 286

  Cedar Mountain, 277–283

  Cedarville, Va., 35, 43

  Cerro Gordo, 98

  Chamberlain, J. L., 361

  Chamberlayne, Ham, 301

  Chancellorsville, 401, 402–429

  Chandler Farm, 438, 440, 448

  Chantilly (Ox Hill), 310–311

  Chapultepec, 103–104

  Charlottesville, Va., 74

  Chickahominy, 208, 212, 220, 230

  Chilton, Col. R. H., C.S.A., 321, 324

  Coleman, Dr. R. T., 431

  Colston, Gen. R. E., C.S.A., 405, 411, 412

  Conner, Col. Z. T., C.S.A., 63–64, 270

  Conrad’s Store, W. Va., 20, 22

  Corbin, Janie, 392, 394–395

  Corbin, Richard, 367–368

  Couch, Gen. D. M., U.S.A., 371, 382

  Cross Keys, 70–80

  Crutchfield, Col. S., C.S.A., 47, 68, 76, 77, 238, 249, 412, 429, 430

  Culpeper, Va., 266, 273–274, 276–278

  Dabney, Capt. C. W., C.S.A., 213

  Dabney, Maj. R. L., C.S.A., 10, 14, 47, 76, 79, 85, 178, 201, 203, 204, 210, 216, 226–227, 231, 234, 236, 244, 263

  Davis, Jefferson, 19, 71, 146, 150–151, 156, 187–188, 254, 262, 271, 450

  Dawes, Maj. Rufus, U.S.A., 332

  Dilger, Capt. Hubert, U.S.A., 414

  Douglas, Maj. H. K., C.S.A., 33, 36–37, 45–46, 49, 51, 53, 57, 59, 65, 157, 176–177, 300, 301, 303, 307, 342, 348–349, 357–358, 437, 448, 449, 450

  Dowdall’s Tavern, 421

  Early, Gen. Jubal A., C.S.A., 247, 250, 277, 360, 363, 400, 401, 404, 406, 434

  Elzey, Gen. A., C.S.A., 53, 61, 79, 149, 151, 154, 228

  Ewell, Thomas, 101

  Ewell, Gen. R. S., C.S.A., 18, 20, 22, 23–25, 32, 36, 43, 50, 51, 52, 55, 59, 65, 67, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, 86, 87, 101, 141, 146, 174, 190, 191, 192, 199, 201, 202, 214, 218, 224, 225, 251, 256, 268–269, 277–279, 281, 286, 295

  Fairfax, Capt. J. W., C.S.A., 241

  Falling Waters, 143–144

  Faulkner, Col. C. J., C.S.A., 384

  First Manassas, 144–153

  Flournoy, Col. T. S., C.S.A., 43, 67

  Fort Hamilton, 108

  Fort Meade, 110

  Frayser’s Farm, 242

  Frederick, Md., 315, 318, 321, 323

  Fredericksburg, Va., 352–362, 379, 404

  Fremont, Gen. J. C., U.S.A., 19, 60, 66, 70–71, 75–81, 87, 178

  Front Royal, 28, 29–39, 41, 63, 66, 67, 71

  Fulkerson, Col. Sam, C.S.A., 50, 168, 228

  Gaines Mill, 223–229

  Garnett, Gen. R. S., C.S.A., 168–172, 270, 272–273, 313, 449

  Garnett, Col. T. S., C.S.A., 280

  Gibbon, Gen. John, U.S.A., 295

  Gordon, Gen. John B., C.S.A., 250, 333

  Gordon, Gen. G. H., U.S.A., 38

  Gordonsville, Va., 204, 205, 266, 267, 273, 285

  Goss, Warren L., 303

  Gould, John M., 308

  Graham, Rev. James, 55, 160, 167

  Graham, Mrs. James, 347

  Grapevine Bridge, 230, 231

  Gregg, Gen. Maxcy, C.S.A., 223, 300–301, 314, 363–364

  Grimes, Co
l. Bryan, C.S.A., 364

  Groveton, 293–296

  Guiney’s Station, Va., 356, 362, 397, 438, 448

  Hagerstown, Md., 319, 320

  Hampton, Gen. Wade, C.S.A., 241–242

  Hancock, Md., 161

  Harman, Maj. John, C.S.A., 42, 48, 175, 194–195, 204, 226, 276

  Harpers Ferry, W. Va., 4, 8, 16, 60–61, 137–139, 319, 320, 323, 326, 327–328

  Haskell, Capt. Alex, C.S.A., 406, 407

  Hawks, Maj. W. J., C.S.A., 170, 391, 445

  Henry, A. G., 374, 378

  Henry, Judith, 148

  Hill, Gen. Ambrose Powell, C.S.A., 206, 208, 218, 220, 221, 269–270, 277, 293, 298–301, 314–315, 317, 323, 328, 336, 337, 344, 345, 356, 367, 393, 406, 411, 421, 424, 426–428, 445

  Hill, Gen. Daniel Harvey, C.S.A., 97, 110, 122, 129, 142, 205, 206, 208, 213–214, 220–221, 238, 240, 243, 246–247, 250–252, 258, 321, 325–327, 333, 351, 364, 389

  Hoge, Rev. Moses D., 264, 442

  Hoge, Mrs. Moses D., 442, 448

  Hood, Gen. John B., C.S.A., 204, 329, 330, 331–332

  Hooker, Gen. Joseph, U.S.A., 103, 330, 371–373, 377–382, 393, 402–405, 412–414, 418–419, 422, 446–447

  Hotchkiss, Major Jedediah, C.S.A., 71, 72, 84, 173, 199, 200, 201, 209, 213, 405, 409, 410, 438

  Howard, McHenry, 273–274, 280

  Howard, Gen. O. O., U.S.A., 413, 418, 422

  Huger, Gen. Benjamin, C.S.A., 240, 258

  Hundley’s Corner, 214

  Hunter, Alexander, 305

  Indian Head, Md., 377

  Imboden, Gen. J. B., 82–84, 138–139, 147

  Jackson, Anna M., 122–124, 155–156, 160, 165–166, 397–399, 400, 403, 436, 442, 445

  Jackson, Cummins, 90, 91

  Jackson, Eleanor J., 118, 120

  Jackson, “Jim,” 25, 26, 76, 302, 346, 401, 442, 444

  Jackson, Jonathan, 88, 89

  Jackson, Julia, 349–350, 395–399, 436, 451

  Jackson, Julia Neale, 89, 90

  Jackson, Gen. Thomas Jonathan, C.S.A.:

  Aggressiveness, 77, 336–337, 357, 425

  Ambition, 89, 203