Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson - Facts

Full Name:

• Thomas Jonathan Jackson

Birth Date:

• January 21, 1824

Birth Location:

• Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia)

Parents:

• Jonathan and Julia Beckwith (Neale) Jackson

Education:

• United States Military Academy (1846)

Occupation:

• Military officer, professor

Career Summary:

• VMI professor, Major (USA), Lieutenant General (CSA)

Spouse:

• Eleanor Junkin (1853), Mary Anna Morrison (1857)

Nickname:

• Stonewall

Place of Death:

• Guinea Station, Virginia

Date of Death:

• May 10, 1863

Place of Burial:

Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

Significance:

• Thomas Jackson’s parents were Jonathon Jackson (1790-1826) and Julia Beckwith Neale (1798-1831).
• Thomas Jackson’s father died of typhoid fever in March 1826.
• Thomas Jackson was orphaned when his mother died on December 4, 1831.
• Thomas Jackson spent most of his childhood living with his uncle, Cummins Jackson.
• Thomas Jackson attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1846, 17th in his class of 59.
• Thomas Jackson served with distinction during the Mexican War, earning promotions up to the rank of major.
• Thomas Following a religious awakening in Mexico, Jackson became a pious Presbyterian for the remainder of his life neither drinking nor smoking.
• Thomas Jackson was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute from August 13, 1851 to 1861.
• Thomas Jackson married Eleanor Junkin (1825-1854) on August 4, 1853.
• Thomas Jackson’s first wife died in childbirth on October 22, 1854.
• Thomas Jackson married Mary Anna Morrison (1831-1915) on July 16, 1857.
• Thomas When Virginia seceded from the Union (April 17, 1861), Governor John Letcher ordered Jackson and his VMI cadets to Richmond on April 21, 1861, to serve as drillmasters for new army recruits.
• On April 27, 1861, Virginia Governor John Letcher ordered Jackson to take command at Harpers Ferry, where he organized the troops that would soon comprise the famous “Stonewall Brigade.”
• Thomas Jackson earned the name of “Stonewall” when his brigade stoutly withstood a Union assault of
• Thomas Henry Hill during the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.
• Thomas Jackson was promoted to brigadier general on June 17, 1861.
• Thomas Jackson was promoted to major general on October 7, 1861.
• Thomas Jackson was promoted to lieutenant general on October 10, 1862.
• During the spring of 1862, Thomas Jackson conducted his famous Shenandoah Valley Campaign, where he successfully engaged three Union armies, preventing them from reinforcing the Union offensive against the Confederate capitol, Richmond.
• Thomas Jackson’s leadership abilities were instrumental in Confederate successes at the Seven Days’ Battle, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Battle of Chancellorsville.
• At the battle at Chancellorsville (May 2-4, 1863), Thomas Jackson was wounded by his own soldiers on May 2, 1863. His left arm was amputated and he died a week later, of pneumonia.