Stonewall Jackson - 1851

This image depicts Thomas Jonathon Jackson, known later in his life as “Stonewall Jackson.”  He often signed his name as "T.J. Jackson."

For ten years before the Civil War, Jackson was a rather unpopular professor of artillery tactics and natural/experimental philosophy at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

It wasn’t until he was a general in the field, away from the repetitive tedium and occasional controversy of his classroom, that Jackson’s true talents emerged.

He catapulted from relative obscurity to national prominence after General Robert E. Lee relied on him almost more than any other officer.

When Jackson was injured by friendly fire in May of 1863, after a stunning victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, he was dropped by his aides who were carrying him on a stretcher. That fall further injured the General, causing him to get pneumonia. 

Although Jackson survived the partial amputation of his left arm—which was buried in a grave near the battlefield—he did not survive the pneumonia which developed as a result of his fall from the stretcher.

Not long after Jackson's death, in May of 1863, General Robert E. Lee decided to attack the North (instead of just defending Southern territory). To this day, historians debate whether Lee would have fought at Gettysburg had Jackson remained by his side.

This image depicts Jackson as he appeared in 1851, ten years before the U.S. Civil War began.