Stonewall Jackson — Profile, Rankings & Fame Trend

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

A Confederate general whose battlefield brilliance earned him a nickname at Bull Run and a place in tactical textbooks — then an accidental shot by his own men ended the war's most effective Southern commander.

Biography

About

Born January 21, 1824, in what's now West Virginia, Thomas Jonathan Jackson graduated from West Point in 1846 and distinguished himself at Chapultepec during the Mexican–American War. He taught at the Virginia Military Institute from 1851 until Virginia's secession in May 1861, when he joined the Confederate army. At the First Battle of Bull Run in July, his brigade's reinforcements and defense against a Union assault prompted Barnard E. Bee's comparison to a "stone wall" — the nickname stuck. Over the next two years he commanded with exceptional skill in the eastern theater. On May 2, 1863, C…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

said13 Jun 1862

The only true rule for cavalry is to follow the enemy as long as he retreats.

— Statement to Colonel Thomas T. Munford (13 June 1862); as quoted in Stonewall Jackson and the American Civil War (1904) by George Francis

Stonewall Jackson

said24 Mar 1862

Our men fought bravely, but the enemy repulsed me. Many valuable lives were lost. Our God was my shield. His protecting care is an additional cause for gratitude.

— Letter to his wife from Mt. Jackson after the First Battle of Kernstown (24 March 1862), as quoted in Life and Campaigns of Lieut.-Gen.

Stonewall Jackson

said4 Oct 1861

In the Army of the Shenandoah, you were the First Brigade! In the Army of the Potomac you were the First Brigade! In the Second Corps of this Army, you are the First Brigade!

— Farewell address to his brigade, as he left to receive his promotion to Major General (4 October 1861)

Stonewall Jackson

said24 Jul 1861