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JACKSON, Stonewall, real name THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON (1824-63), American soldier, considered by military authorities an outstanding leader, a skilled tactician, and one of the ablest Confederate commanders.
Jackson was born on Jan. 21, 1824, in Clarksburg, Va. (now in W.Va.), and was educated at the U.S. Military Academy. Following his graduation (1846) from West Point he participated in the Mexican War until 1848. He became an instructor at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in 1851, and the next year he resigned from the army.
The Stonewall Jackson House, at 8 East Washington Street, in Lexington, Virginia, is the only home that Jackson ever owned. It is a modest brick townhouse, built in 1801, with a mid-century stone addition at the back. Jackson and his wife, Mary Anna Morrison, moved to the house early in 1859, and shared two years there before he rode off to war on April 21, 1861, never to return alive. During those brief, happy years the Jacksons furnished their home, tended their garden, and involved themselves in the life of the community
First Battle of Bull RunThe first battle of Bull Run (or first battle of Manassas) was the first major engagement of the Civil War. On July 16, 1861, the Union army under Gen. Irvin McDowell began to move on the Confederate force under Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction, Va. Gen. Robert Patterson's force at nearby Martinsburg was to prevent the Confederate army under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston at Winchester from uniting with Beauregard but failed, and by July 20 part of Johnston's army had reached Manassas. On July 21, McDowell, turning Beauregard's left, attacked the Confederates near the stone bridge over Bull Run and drove them back to the Henry House Hill. There Confederate resistance, with Gen. Thomas J. Jackson standing like a “stone wall,” checked the Union advance, and the arrival of Gen. E. Kirby Smith's brigade turned the tide against the Union forces. The unseasoned Union volunteers retreated, fleeing along roads jammed by panicked civilians who had turned out in their Sunday finery to watch the battle. The retreat became a rout as the soldiers made for the defenses of Washington, but the equally inexperienced Confederates were in no condition to make an effective pursuit. The South rejoiced at the result, while the North was spurred to greater efforts to win the war
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1863 May 10 - Jackson died at 3:15 p.m. His last words were "Let us
cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees."
His
death as described by his wife.
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The "Stonewall" Jackson Shrine is the plantation
office building where General Jackson died. The office was one of several
outbuildings on Thomas C. Chandler's 740-acre plantation named
"Fairfield." This typical frame structure saw use primarily by the men
for recreation as well as for work. Chandler kept records in the office and one
of his sons once practiced medicine there, but with three of the Chandler boys
away serving in the Confederate Army, the building no longer witnessed its
ante-bellum level of activity.
The office stood bare, except for a few items in storage, when Jackson's ambulance arrived. Although offered the use of the Chandler house, Jackson's doctor and staff officers chose the quiet and private outbuilding as the best place for Jackson to rest after his long ambulance ride. I all went well, the general would soon board a train at Guinea Station and resume his trip to Richmond and the medical expertise available there.
Today, the office is the only plantation structure remaining. The Chandler
house burned at some point after the Civil War, and its shell was dismantled in
the early 1900's. Once established as an historic "shrine," the office
underwent restorations in the 1920's and the 1960's, and still retains about 45%
original fabric. The National Park Service has augmented some of the items used
during Jackson's stay with other pieces from the era, along with a few
reproductions, to recreate the scene of those tragic last days of his life.
Waiting Room
Jackson's doctors and staff officers both worked and
relaxed in this room during the General's stay. Five different physicians
examined Jackson, and these men probably discussed their conclusions here over
cups of coffee. Jackson's chief surgeon, Dr. Hunter H. McGuire, was the only
physician present the entire six days. McGuire had performed the surgery on
Jackson in a field hospital near Chancellorsville where he amputated Jackson's
twice wounded left arm and removed a ball from the General's right hand. 
Jackson's chaplain, B. Tucker Lacy, had a brother who owned a house near the
hospital, and took "Stonewall's" severed limb to his brother's family
cemetery for burial. Lacy comforted the pious Jackson, holding devotions with
him for the first two days spent at Guinea Station, but the chaplain soon
returned to army headquarters. He requested that General Lee send another doctor
to relieve the weary McGuire, who tried to provide round-the-clock care. In
their conversation about Jackson's condition, Lee told Lacy, "He has lost
his left arm, but I have lost my right arm."
Small Room
Mrs. Jackson and baby daughter Julia arrived at Guinea Station on on May 7. No space remained in the office, this small room probably housing the baggage for Jackson and his entourage, so the General's wife and child found lodging in the Chandler home.
Mrs. Jackson spent most of her time, however, at her husband's bedside in the office. The poignancy of her vigil increased when compared with the happy nine-day reunion interrupted barely a week earlier by the renewal of fighting. Mary Anna had not seen her husband for more than a year prior to that, and she wrote that their latest tryst was all the more joyful because of "the additional charm and the attraction of the lovely child that God had given us."
To provide a keepsake of the happy occasion, Mrs. Jackson persuaded the
General to sit for a photograph. While Jackson posed at his headquarters eight
miles north of Guinea Station, Mary Anna recalled that, "he sat in the hall
of the house where a strong wind blew in his face causing him to frown."
The men who served under Jackson preferred this picture of their general to all
others, but Mrs. Jackson never shared their opinion. It lent " a sternness
to his countenance that was not natural," she wrote. Unbeknownst to any
eyes viewing the newly developed image, it would be the last photograph of
Jackson ever taken.
Entrance Hall
After a 27-mile ambulance ride, Jackson's aides carried "Stonewall" through this hallway to a room prepared for him by the Chandlers. Jackson endured the long journey remarkably well, and despite the ordeal, remembered his manners when apologizing to Mr. Chandler for being unable to shake hands with his host.
Jedediah Hotchkiss, Jackson's topographical engineer, had helped ease his commander's trip by preceeding the ambulance with a crew of "pioneers" who removed obstructions from the country roads. While treading the wide boards of the Chandler office, Hotchkiss grieved the death of J.K. Boswell, a fellow staff officer killed by the same volley which felled Jackson.
Other losses from the Battle of Chancellorsville deeply touched Jackson and
those dear to him. General E.F. Paxton, a neighbor and friend of the Jacksons
from their years in Lexington, Virginia, was killed at Chancellorsville on May
3rd, while leading Jackson's old "Stonewall" Brigade. Just moments
before the doctors allowed Mrs. Jackson to see her wounded husband for the first
time, she learned of Paxton's death. She had barely recovered from this shock
when she was escorted to the General's side to discover that he had taken a turn
for the worse. Dr. McGuire had diagnosed pneumonia and Jackson's condition
became critical.
Death Room
The Chandlers prepared this room using the same bed
frame and one of the same blankets exhibited today. They also added the clock on
the mantel with the hope that it would make the room look more homelike and
cheerful, but furnishings could not dictate the mood of the room. Despite the
efforts of pneumonia specialists, nothing seemed to bring relief to the General.
Jackson observed, "I see from the number of physicians that you think my
condition dangerous, but I thank God, if it is His will, that I am ready to
go." On Sunday, May 10, 1863, the doctors lost all hope of Jackson's
recovery, and the General was notified of his condition. But as Jackson grew
physically weaker, he remained spiritually strong. "It is the Lord's Day;
my wish is fulfilled," said Jackson. "I have always desired to die on
Sunday." Jackson realized that desire at 3:15 p.m. with Dr. McGuire
carefully noting Jackson's last words: 
"A few moments before he died he cried out in his delirium, 'Order
A.P. Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infantry to the front rapidly! Tell
Major Hawks' -- then stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished. Presently a smile
of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly,
and with an expression, as if of relief, 'Let us cross over the river, and rest
under the shade of the trees.'"
