Thursday, May 3, 2012
Stonewall
On the tragic second of May 1863, at the height of his power and moment of his greatest victory, Confederate Genl. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was wounded in the dark by his own men in the Battle of Chancellorsville. He died 8 days later. Jackson got his wishes: he died on a Sunday, & he did not live to see the death of his country's independence.
His body lay in state at the Virginia capitol. At the end of the day Governor Letcher ordered the doors closed. Shortly there came a great pounding on the door, and when it was opened there stood a one-armed soldier. When they asked him what he wanted, he raised his stump and said, 'By this right arm that I gave for my country, I demand to see my commander one last time!" When Governor Letcher heard all this, he escorted the veteran to Jackson's bier himself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment