The History Place - This Month in History

Portrait of Confederate Army General "Stonewall" Jackson (1824-1863) a West Point graduate who served in the Mexican War then resigned to teach at the Virginia Military Institute. He sided with the South in the Civil War and became a Brigadier General, earning his nickname at the first battle of Bull Run as his troops held firm while others wavered. "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall," a fellow general commented. He was shot in 1863 by a Confederate lookout who had mistaken him in the dark. "I have lost my right arm," lamented General Lee upon his death.