Stonewall Jackson traces Thomas J. Jackson’s career from the Mexican-American War and teaching at the Virginia Military Institute to his rise as one of the Confederacy’s most successful field commanders. It explains how his stand at First Bull Run produced the nickname that became central to his reputation.
The biography follows the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, the Seven Days, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. It concludes with Jackson’s wounding by his own men and death, while assessing the strengths, costs and later mythology of his demanding style of command.
Jackson’s reputation was built especially during the Shenandoah Valley campaign, where rapid marches and concentration against separated Union forces made a smaller command unusually effective. The biography also follows the limits of that success, including uneven battlefield performance and the friendly-fire wound after Chancellorsville that led to his death. His later Confederate legend is considered separately from the record of his campaigns.
Peter Ackroyd
1 book
Alison Weir
35 books
Saul David
3 books
Antonia Fraser
7 books