Why Stonewall Jackson

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A. Thomas Jonathan Jackson, Confederate soldier, was given the nickname at a battle in 1861. Somebody said: 'Look, there stands Jackson like a stone wall,' and it stuck.< xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

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Q.� Who was he

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Q.� How did he become a soldier

A.� His father, a lawyer, died when young Thomas was six. His mother remarried and Thomas went to live with relatives. As a young man, he joined the US Military Academy at West Point. The Mexican War broke out as he was graduating, and he served there for two years. In peacetime he resigned his commission and became a teacher at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. He was still working the when the Civil War started and was then ordered to drill new recruits. Within a few weeks he was promoted from colonel to brigadier-general.

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Q.� And battle glory

A.� That came at the Battle of First Manassas. Jackson had a formidable physical presence - tall, full-bearded and with piercing eyes. He became an inspiration to his men. Jackson and his Virginian troops, so the story goes, were standing up to the Union soldiers' onslaught, when General Bernard Bee shouted: 'There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.' Whether he actually said this due to Jackson's determination in battle or because Jackson stubbornly refused to move forward, will never be known. Soon afterwards, General Bee was killed - so he never got his chance to explain. The Union troops were routed.

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Q.� And Jackson continued in victory

A.� To begin with. After First Manassas, Jackson was promoted to major-general and put in charge of the Shenandoah Valley, where he had several other brilliant victories - including Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys and Port Republic - in May and June 1862. Then his powers went into decline.

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Q.� What happened

A.� Fresh from his successes, he was ordered to join General Lee in the Peninsula - Eastern Virginia - for what became known as the Seven Days Battles. Strangely, Jackson displayed ineffective leadership, a stark contrast to the brilliance of the Shenandoah Valley campaign. To this day, this uncharacteristic military failure is still debated among Jackson scholars.

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Q.� And downhill from then on

A.� Oh no - he rallied and showed some of his old brilliance again. In the invasion of Maryland, Jackson was detached to capture Harpers Ferry and showed distinguished leadership at Antietam with Lee. He was promoted to lieutenant-general ... and then disaster struck at the Battle of Chancellorsville.

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Q.� The Yankees got him

A.� No. He was returning to his own lines on the night of 2 May, 1863, when he was accidentally shot by his own men. He was badly injured and his left arm amputated. General Lee wrote of him: 'He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm.' Jackson died of complications eight days later.

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Q.� A summary of the great general

A.� An oddity, certainly. He wasn't a great personnel manager and never delegated enough. He also disobeyed orders if they didn't suit him. There's also a story that might give an insight into his military and religious mind: One day, during the Shenandoah campaign, a messenger with orders from Jackson didn't get through. When Jackson was told that the man had been killed in the line of duty, the general hesitated, then said gravely: 'Very commendable ... very commendable.'

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To his men, however, he was an inspiration and if he had survived, the Civil War’s result might have been a different matter.

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Steve Cunningham