"…Like a Stone Wall"

On the brow of the hill, Brig. Gen. Bernard Bee was desperately trying to rally his men when he caught sight of Thomas J. Jackson with fresh troops at the edge of the pine thicket. Bee shouted, "Look! There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!" The nickname spread rapidly through the Confederate Army and throughout the South, and "Stonewall" Jackson was on his way to becoming a legend. At this position, Jackson's line held thirteen pieces of artillery, with infantry on the ground behind the cannon and concealed in the woods. Along the rise left and right of Henry House, Ricketts' and Griffin's Union batteries were beginning to duel Jackson's artillery, while two hundred yards to the left the 33rd Virginia Infantry was preparing the charge that would ignite the day's most violent fighting.

Sudley, Virginia · United States