Jackson at Harpers Ferry

Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, born in Clarksburg, Virginia, now West Virginia, graduated from West Point, distinguished himself in the Mexican-American War, and left the army to teach natural and experimental philosophy and artillery at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. In 1859 he led cadets to Charles Town to provide security at John Brown’s execution. After the war began in April 1861, his first command was at Harpers Ferry, where he formed and trained the Stonewall Brigade, and both he and the brigade earned their nickname at the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861. While there he also acquired Little Sorrel, his favorite mount for the rest of his life. Jackson returned to Harpers Ferry in September 1862 and captured the town and 12,500 Union soldiers, removing a potential Union threat to the rear of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s army in Maryland. He rejoined Lee on September 17 in time for the Battle of Antietam, a technical draw that gave President Abraham Lincoln sufficient political capital to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, a turning point in the war.

Lovettsville, Maryland · United States