Stonewall Jackson & the American Civil War

THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, best known by his nickname "Stonewall," rose from obscure beginnings to the front rank of the officers of the Confederacy. Known for his daring and strategic prowess, Jackson, early in the War Between the States, became a hero of the South.

In 1861, an unknown major in the Virginia Militia, he was sent to Richmond and made a colonel of Confederate Infantry. By June, 1861 he was made a Brigadier General. With the Battle of Bull Run-where he got his name when it was said "There is Jackson, standing like a stone wall."-he made Major General.

From thereon, nothing could stop the fearless Jackson. Soon a close confidant of Lee, his ideas, especially in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, dramatically altered the methods of warfare for the remainder of the Civil War. His mastery of tactics and strategy was an enormous boon to the South.

His two-part attack, with Lee, on Hooker's troops at Chancellorsville and the subsequent routing of the Federal XI Corps was one of the most stirring and striking victories of the war. It was also to Jackson's swan song when, in the dim light at sunset, he was accidentally wounded by some of his troops, and succumbed on May 10, 1863. Only two years into the war, the Confederacy lost a brilliant commander.

Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War is the definitive biography of the man and the most complete history of his military career, philosophy and strategies.