Stone Wall?

Robert K. Krick’s article “Stonewall Jackson’s Deadly Calm” in the December 1996 issue of American Heritage portrays its subject as an imperfect icon who excelled strategically. While I would agree that Jackson was a very, very good general, I do not feel that he is deserving of the icon status bestowed upon him.

As to Jackson’s acquisition of his nom de guerre , “Stonewall,” there is scholarly, if not popular, debate. According to the account of Col. J. C. Haskell, a Major Rhett was with Gen. Barnard Bee, the South Carolinian Krick probably refers to, at First Manassas soon after Bee was mortally wounded. He stated that Bee complained that, instead of coming to the relief of his hard-pressed troops, Jackson just “stood there like a stone wall.” Haskell says that this version was also confirmed to him by Gen. W. H. C. Whiting.