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Published: September 9th 2019
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JACKSON EARNS HIS BONES
Jackson's Monument on Henry Hill. There was not much cover there. STONEWALL Thomas Johnathan Jackson was a school teacher at VMI and highly regarded as a soldier by Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, when the War of Northern Aggression began in 1861. A fellow named Pierre Beauregard was the rascal who opened fire on Fort Sumter that opened the war, and Pierre was given command of the Confederate Army of the Shenandoah. Jackson was given command of a brigade in that new army. Another brigade commander was a fellow named Barnard Bee from South Carolina. On July 21, 1861 the confederate army and the federal Army of the Potomac collided at a place called Manassas in Virginia. A fellow named Irvin McDowell was in command of the federal army. Manassas was about midway between Washington DC and Richmond and an important rail junction. For that reason it was of strategic importance to both armies. Both armies were peopled by green troops full of youthful exuberance about the infallibility of their cause. The Battle at Manassas would likely determine the outcome of the war. It started out well for McDowell. The opening rounds were fired from a place called Stone Bridge, and the federals soon carried the Confederate position at Matthews
STONEWALL'S LEFT ARM HAD TO BE AMPUTATED AND WAS BURIED HERE.
The monument marks the spot where Stonewall's arm was buried. The rest of him was buried in Lexington, VA. Hill. After that McDowell did not know where the rebels were concentrating, so he did nothing for two hours. By then the rebels were in strength on Henry Hill. To drive them off McDowell ordered Ricketts Battery to a position on the west side of the hill. They were not given infantry support to hold the position. All day the federals attacked with only one regiment at a time. All day the rebels drove them back. A fellow named Griffin was in command of a part of Rickett’s Battery and moved his guns a bit further to the right where they could bear on the rebel artillery positions better. General Jackson was right in the middle of that artillery duel. Steadfast as always. General Bee was trying to control his men. He ordered them to “Form. Form. There stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians”. A few moments later Bee was killed by musketry. Jackson was forever known as Stonewall after that. Griffin noticed some men gathering on his flank, and turned his guns on them, loaded with canister. He was ordered not to fire on them because they might be the infantry support. When those soldiers
came within a hundred yards of Griffin’s guns they opened fire, killed all of Griffins men and captured the guns. It was the turning point of the battle. A short while later the 7
th Georgia charged Rickett’s position across open ground and captured those guns too. It was the first time anyone had ever heard the lusty Rebel Yell. In the meantime General Sherman sent one of his regiments, the 2
nd Wisconsin, to support Ricketts. The 2
nd Wisconsin had the misfortune of being attired in grey uniforms and were being fired on by everyone. They scurried off like jackrabbits, and Sherman’s whole brigade went with them. It ended Sherman’s career in the Army of the Potomac. Later in the afternoon the rebels drove the remaining federals off of Chinn’s Ridge and the federal retreat began in earnest. It was an orderly retreat at first until they reached Centreville and found the roads clogged with civilian spectators fleeing in panic. Then it became a rout. In the midst of all of that devastation and mayhem an old lady named Judith Henry became the first civilian casualty of the war. She was 84 years old. Her house was shelled by the federals
STONEWALL DIED AT THE CHANDLER PLANTATION NEAR GUINEA
There is a monument where he was shot, and another monument where his arm is buried, and another near where he died, and another where the rest of him is buried, He has several battlefield monuments too. who did know there were civilians residing there. In July of 1865 the first war memorial was erected in her backyard. It is noteworthy that the federal soldiers who erected that monument chose Henry Hill for that honor. Five thousand Americans died there and every one of them thought the war would quickly be over.
Stonewall had to chew that same dirt again during the Second Battle of Manassas in 1862. It was still an important strategic location for both armies. He soldiered along and became the most trusted of Lee’s generals. At Chancellorsville in May of 1863 he was returning from a night reconnaissance of the federal position when he was fired on by men of the 18
th North Carolina. He was hit twice in his left arm and once in his right hand. They took him to a hospital at Elwood’s Farm and his arm was amputated. There is a monument there where his arm was buried. Ten days later he died at Chandler’s Plantation near Guinea Station. Following Stonewall’s battle plan at Chancellorsville the rebels assaulted the right flank of General Oliver Otis Howard’s newly formed XI Corps. The assault came through a heavily wooded area
and drove all manner of furry beasts before it. The first federal regiment that the assault encountered got a big laugh and whooped with glee when the furry beasts entered the camp. They were mostly from German families in New York. Then turned and ran like jackrabbits themselves when they saw what was driving the furry beasts. Forever after that regiment has been known as the Flying Dutchmen.
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