Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson: Born January 21, 1824 Virginia.
His father died when he was two, at age seven, his mother sent him to live with his Uncle Cummins (Stonewall Jackson House, 2008, p. 1). Although he only got three years of formal schooling, he attended West Point and graduated in 1846 seventeenth in his class of fifty-nine graduates (SJH, 2008, p. 1). As a U S soldier, Thomas Jackson committed great acts of bravery during the Mexican War (SJH, 2008, p. 1).
After the war he moved to Lexington, Virginia where he became a Christian and a member at the Lexington Presbyterian Church (Dabney, 1983, p. 83; SJH, 2008, p. 2). Although greatly opposed and against state law, he founded a Sunday School for free and enslaved African Americans (Johnson, 1999, p. 476; SJH, 2008, p. 2). There were often more than one hundred in his class and he set high standards for himself and his students (Williams, 2002, para.4).
Although Jackson disagreed with slavery, he also felt strongly about states’ rights and served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. (Johnson, 1999, p. 476; Sons of the South, 2003-2008, para. 5). During the war he remained interested in his class for African Americans and sent monetary contributions (Williams, 2002, para. 6).
Before the war ended, he was wounded by friendly fire in Chancellorsville, Virginia (SOS, 2003-2008, para. 5). Jackson died after a few days. He was survived by his wife, greatly bereaved by his people (Dabney, 1983, p. 729). The love he poured into his Sunday school class and the love they held for him was displayed when a young African American boy placed a flag and hymn stanza at his grave (Williams, 2002, para. 7).
References
Williams, R.G. Jr. (2002). Stonewall Jackson, Champion of Black Literacy. Retrieved from http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/williams1.html
Dabney, R. L. (1983). Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant General Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson.
Harrisonburg, Virginia: Sprinkle Publications.
Johnson, P. (1999). A History of the American People. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Stonewall Jackson House Staff. (2008, December). Discovering Thomas J. “Stonewall”
Jackson: A Biography (Stonewall Jackson House Undergraduate Intern, Revised). Retrieved from Stonewall Jackson House website
http://www.stonewalljackson.org/edu2.mgi
(2003-2008). Thomas Jonathan Jackson: Biography. Retrieved from Sons of the South
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/Stonewall_Jackson.htm
U.S. National Park Service. VMI. 'Confederate General Stonewall Jackson
1824-1863 "You may be whatever you resolve to be"'. Retrieved from
http://americancivilwar.com/south/stonewall_jackson.html
4 comments:
It always interests me to read about men like Jackson who felt so strongly that slavery was wrong, yet were torn between that issue and wanting to fight on their state's side. What a bind of loyalties they were in!
Great essay!
Yes I know. I don't think people realize how strong the sense of state rights was in those days.
I absolutely LOVE Stonewall Jackson!!!!! I studied the Civil War quite in depth for two years of high school and loved every minute of it. I wrote so much about Stonewall. Funny how quickly what you learned fades, though...it was fun to be reminded. :)
thanks for posting abbie! So excited you were able to stop in. Yes, stonewall and Robert E. Lee were both such exemplary men!in one class we did a "tea party" where everyone had to "meet" people and answer some questions. We had little biographies of different leaders and I got to slip this one in! So exciting to have him honored so many years later!
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