Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
One of the best generals of the Confederacy, Thomas Jackson grew up as an orphan and was a dark, strange man. Like most other generals, he went to the Military Academy at West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War. He was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute at the beginning of the war, and wasn't popular: he was strict and had no sense of humor. But when he began to command an army, everything was different.
His troops were in awe of him, but its rather hard to understand why. Jackson always kept apart from other officers and was rather stern with his troops. But he was a winner, and that was all that mattered. He was intelligent, daring, and religious- which is why many claimed he wasn't scared of anything. He received his nickname "Stonewall" Jackson during the Battle of Bull Run when one man cried out, "Look! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!" The man soon fell mortally wounded, but the name stuck.
Stonewall Jackson kept doing things that couldn't be done. He marched his army farther and farther than they could. He had them beat armies much greater than his. He had his men win battles described as "un-winnable." Once he captured 400 Yankee railroad cars, and threw most into the river, but had some hitched to horses and pulled to Southern tracks. Jackson's presentation wasn't the best. He looked awkward and rumpled, and enjoyed sitting on his little horse named Sorrel, sucking on a lemon. His face was angular, and during the Civil War, bearded. His men followed him, did what he ordered, and knew that he would accept nothing lower than a victory. He was an unflinching fighter who "saw the hand of God in everything he did," and much of it seemed miraculous too. He marched a small army over 400 miles in over a month, kept a large Northern army off balance, seized supplies, inflicted careful casualities, and inspired confidence within his troops. He could, along with Robert E. Lee, be arguably one of the best commanders of the South, or possibly the entire nation.
His troops were in awe of him, but its rather hard to understand why. Jackson always kept apart from other officers and was rather stern with his troops. But he was a winner, and that was all that mattered. He was intelligent, daring, and religious- which is why many claimed he wasn't scared of anything. He received his nickname "Stonewall" Jackson during the Battle of Bull Run when one man cried out, "Look! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!" The man soon fell mortally wounded, but the name stuck.
Stonewall Jackson kept doing things that couldn't be done. He marched his army farther and farther than they could. He had them beat armies much greater than his. He had his men win battles described as "un-winnable." Once he captured 400 Yankee railroad cars, and threw most into the river, but had some hitched to horses and pulled to Southern tracks. Jackson's presentation wasn't the best. He looked awkward and rumpled, and enjoyed sitting on his little horse named Sorrel, sucking on a lemon. His face was angular, and during the Civil War, bearded. His men followed him, did what he ordered, and knew that he would accept nothing lower than a victory. He was an unflinching fighter who "saw the hand of God in everything he did," and much of it seemed miraculous too. He marched a small army over 400 miles in over a month, kept a large Northern army off balance, seized supplies, inflicted careful casualities, and inspired confidence within his troops. He could, along with Robert E. Lee, be arguably one of the best commanders of the South, or possibly the entire nation.