The big battle reenactment and other activities out at Manassas National Battlefield this past sweltering weekend brought to mind a book I read not long ago about the inimitable General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, hero of Bull Run. It made me see him in a different light from only the brilliant commander and man on a horse.The book is about Jackson’s beliefs as he sought to bring the word of God to the slaves of the antebellum era, furnishing the fuel for the fire of salvation. "Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man’s Friend" was written by Richard G. Williams, Jr. with a foreword by James I. Robertson, Jr.
Historians and history buffs alike have long struggled with the ambivalence of a man of Jackson’s moral fiber, who came from a slave holding family, owned slaves himself, and yet broke the prevailing laws of Virginia to conduct a weekly Colored Sabbath School, where slaves were taught to read and write while bringing them to a personal knowledge of the Christ.
Contradictory as that may seem to many, Williams’ book reconciles the contradiction. It begins with the uncertain years of Jackson’s orphan-like childhood and his devotion to “Miss Fanny,” who raised him from childhood into his teenage years and then on to his years at West Point and the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. Each aspect of his life showed his relationships with and care for the slave families he was exposed to.
General Stonewall Jackson: "Black man's friend
Jackson was my role model and, I believe, blacks built a church in Roanoke dedicated to him and has a cut glass battle scene behind the pulpit. It reads underneath Jackson's last words. "I will now cross the river and lay down in the shade" I am very glad he has influenced my life.
ReplyDeleteRob
A excellent model indeed.
ReplyDeleteHere are two posts concerning the church.
http://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/2011/01/stonewall-jackson-memorial-at-black.html
http://www.namsouth.com/viewtopic.php?t=168&highlight=stonewall+church