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Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend
Traces Jacksons life from his humble beginnings, through his military career, to his untimely death in 1863, discussing his military campaigns and strategies, religious beliefs, personal eccentricities, and more.
976 pages, Hardcover
First published February 18, 1997
67 people are currently reading
2012 people want to read
About the author
James I. Robertson Jr.
74 books52 followersJames I. Robertson Jr. is an Alumni Distinguished Professor of History at Virginia Tech. He published the definitive adult biography of Stonewall Jackson, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend, and also wrote Standing Like a Stone Wall for young adults. He lives in Blacksburg, Virginia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
April 26, 2016
I was hesitant to read a book about Stonewall Jackson for the simple reason that I hate the guy. At this point, I’m sure you’re saying, But Matt, what about all those Hitler books you read? You don’t like him, do you? And you make a good point. I do read a lot of Hitler books. Arguably too many. And I do not like Hitler. The difference, though, is that a Hitler book is generally not supportive of the man. Meanwhile, a Stonewall Jackson book runs a strong chance of being a fawning hagiography.
(This is a good time to state unequivocally: I’m not comparing Stonewall Jackson to Adolf Hitler. No one is like Hitler except Hitler).
It was with this anti-Jackson mindset that I read James Robertson’s massive one-volume life of Jackson, imaginatively titled Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend. Generally, as a life rule, I tend to avoid books with subtitles featuring “the [blank], the [blank], the [blank]," since I find them untrustworthy. In this case, though, Robertson’s book came highly recommended, including a New York Times review written by Stephen Sears, one of our preeminent Civil War scholars.
My one line conclusion: this is a great book about a huge jerk.
Robertson’s biography is a heavily-researched, vividly-detailed, boot-level recounting of Jackson’s life, from his orphan upbringing in Virginia (modern day West Virginia) to his fever-addled, post-arm-amputation death at age 39. In 762 dense pages, relying heavily on Jackson’s correspondence, you get a visceral feel for this man, and are left free to make your own judgments on his character and his generalship.
Since this book is so tightly focused, it does not have the space to give a broader context to Jackson’s life. You don’t get a lot of information about supporting players in the Jackson drama, or much background to the crucial events in which he participated. This can make the Civil War battles that Robertson recreates a bit hard to follow for the uninitiated. I mention this not as criticism but as warning, since in all other respects, this biography is so good that it transcends its genre. It is a book that can be enjoyed beyond those with a niche interest in the Civil War.
Robertson crams his story with details, creates a potent sense of Jackson’s physical and internal world, and manages to do this while proving that being an academic and being a good writer are not mutually exclusive.
Having some facility with Jackson’s Civil War exploits, I was most interested in his early life. The solitary upbringing amongst extended family; his middling exploits as a cadet at West Point; his solid (if somewhat exaggerated) performance in the Mexican War; and his below-average tenure as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute.
Jackson’s road to everlasting fame (or infamy) did not follow a straight trajectory. It was dotted with personal tragedies, including the death of his first wife. Robertson is a skillful enough writer to make you feel the emotions of these long-ago deaths, and to elicit human sympathy for a man who has been turned into marble. It’s hard to take historical figures and make them into once-living men and women, but Robertson joins a small list (Massey, Caro, Goodwin) who have that ability.
Stonewall Jackson is told mostly in narrative fashion. Much of it reads like a novel, and like a novel, it has some plot holes. (For instance, Jackson’s favorite horse disappears and is never “found” until Jackson is riding it a few pages later).
Based on reviews I’d read, I expected Robertson to explode some cherished myths or reframe our understanding of Jackson. I didn’t see much of that at all. To be sure, there are some places where Robertson disrupts his story to analyze the historical record. For instance, we learn that Jackson didn’t suck on lemons, but preferred peaches. I know what you’re thinking: Stop the presses! We also discover that Jackson never once acted as the only sentry while his entire army slept. That’s nice to know. But it’s worth mentioning that if you ever thought Jackson acted as the only sentry for his sleeping army, you are an idiot.
Most biographers have some sympathy for their subjects, if not outright adoration. Robertson is too much a professional to pound the drum for Jackson; however, it is quite evident that he is a Jackson champion.
Exhibit one: slavery.
In a book this big, about the Civil War, you might expect a few mentions of slavery. And that’s what you get. A few mentions of slavery. Like, maybe three paragraphs.
The slavery issue is swept under the rug in the most regressive way possible. Jackson was a slave owner, but in Robertson’s view: “He probably opposed slavery.” What’s the evidence for this? Nothing. He never said he opposed it. He never freed his slaves. And he fought with desperate ferocity to protect the institution. Robertson’s supposition comes from this: I like the guy so he must have been opposed to slavery.
Certainly, Robertson makes sure to mention Jackson’s black Sunday school. He holds this up as evidence of Jackson’s enlightenment. I hold this up as evidence of Jackson being a demented d-bag. By starting a Sunday school, you are acknowledging the humanity of black people; that they, unlike animals, are people, capable of thought, faith, and prayer. Yet despite this acknowledgment, you keep them in chains.
To Robertson’s credit, all of Jackson’s lesser characteristics are on full display. He was prickly, obnoxious, oft-rude, and a whiny hypochondriac. One of the more entertaining sections of this book is a richly-detailed encounter in Florida between a young Jackson and his commanding officer over perceived slights. It was a classic “nothing fight” that both men seemed churlishly willing to fight to the grave.
The overriding theme that runs through Jackson’s life is his religion. Of all other facets, this gets the most attention. On countless pages, Robertson plays up the Christian soldier angle while strongly endorsing Jackson’s faith.
Fortunately, Robertson gives you enough information to make your own judgment, which I did. What struck me about Jackson’s faith was how its outward humility (leaving everything to the hands of God) actually manifested itself in an insufferable arrogance. Did Jackson really walk around thinking his every trip to the outhouse was God’s command? Didn’t his God have other things to worry about? This is not an attack on religion, only a commentary on Jackson’s small-minded concept of his Creator as a narrowly-focused micromanager.
Unsurprisingly, since it filled every corner of his life, Jackson’s Christianity dovetailed with his slaveholding tendencies. As Robertson explains, Jackson believed that because God willed slavery no man had the right to challenge that will. (This worked out quite well for white slaveholding Christians, but hey, they didn't make the rules. God did). This kind of hypocrisy is startling in the 21st century but…Well, it was also noxious in the 19th century, as demonstrated by less-famous contemporaries of Jackson such as Douglass, Tappen, Garrison, Stowe, Tubman, Beecher, et. al.
Jackson never had the self-awareness to recognize his own crap. Indeed, he was boldly ignorant of it. In a letter that Robertson excerpts, Jackson states that the chief “sin” of the Confederate States of America is Sunday mail delivery. Yup. That’s our Jackson! Four million people treated as chattel – chained and whipped and beaten and raped – but our real moral shortcoming is delivering letters on the Sabbath.
It almost leads one to wonder whether Jackson – after he’d been struck down by his own troops on the night of his greatest victory – ever considered that God had watched him all along. That God had judged him all along. And that God had been displeased. Probably not.
All that aside, the chief thing you learn in this biography – perhaps any good Civil War biography – is that good generals get too much credit and bad generals get too much blame. The Civil War was modern in many ways – weaponry, transportation, even communication – but battlefield command-and-control remained the same as it had for centuries.
Unable to see the whole field at once, and unable to receive instantaneous updates, a general’s direct influence waned the higher up the ranks he went. He could devise the most ingenious plan imaginable, but all of that could unravel due to a mistranslated order, a lazy subordinate, or a wrong turn.
At Chancellorsville, the scene of Jackson’s great victory and fatal wounding, the Union General Joseph Hooker had a marvelous plan. It looked so good on paper it should’ve been framed. But in reality, when Hooker stopped his march into the Wilderness, he didn't know where his own troops were positioned, much less his enemies. He didn't know that General Oliver Otis Howard had left his flank dangling in midair.
Stonewall Jackson’s lasting feat is that he found Howard’s dangling flank and smashed it to pieces. Things might have been different had Howard taken basic precautions to anchor his flank and to entrench. It also might have turned out differently if the Union commanders – including Dan Sickles, who nearly lost the battle of Gettysburg – who actually saw Jackson’s supposedly-secret flanking movement had interpreted it correctly.
It wasn’t God who made Jackson a great general. It was ruthlessness, decisiveness, courage, ego and luck. Lots and lots of luck.
(This is a good time to state unequivocally: I’m not comparing Stonewall Jackson to Adolf Hitler. No one is like Hitler except Hitler).
It was with this anti-Jackson mindset that I read James Robertson’s massive one-volume life of Jackson, imaginatively titled Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend. Generally, as a life rule, I tend to avoid books with subtitles featuring “the [blank], the [blank], the [blank]," since I find them untrustworthy. In this case, though, Robertson’s book came highly recommended, including a New York Times review written by Stephen Sears, one of our preeminent Civil War scholars.
My one line conclusion: this is a great book about a huge jerk.
Robertson’s biography is a heavily-researched, vividly-detailed, boot-level recounting of Jackson’s life, from his orphan upbringing in Virginia (modern day West Virginia) to his fever-addled, post-arm-amputation death at age 39. In 762 dense pages, relying heavily on Jackson’s correspondence, you get a visceral feel for this man, and are left free to make your own judgments on his character and his generalship.
Since this book is so tightly focused, it does not have the space to give a broader context to Jackson’s life. You don’t get a lot of information about supporting players in the Jackson drama, or much background to the crucial events in which he participated. This can make the Civil War battles that Robertson recreates a bit hard to follow for the uninitiated. I mention this not as criticism but as warning, since in all other respects, this biography is so good that it transcends its genre. It is a book that can be enjoyed beyond those with a niche interest in the Civil War.
Robertson crams his story with details, creates a potent sense of Jackson’s physical and internal world, and manages to do this while proving that being an academic and being a good writer are not mutually exclusive.
Having some facility with Jackson’s Civil War exploits, I was most interested in his early life. The solitary upbringing amongst extended family; his middling exploits as a cadet at West Point; his solid (if somewhat exaggerated) performance in the Mexican War; and his below-average tenure as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute.
Jackson’s road to everlasting fame (or infamy) did not follow a straight trajectory. It was dotted with personal tragedies, including the death of his first wife. Robertson is a skillful enough writer to make you feel the emotions of these long-ago deaths, and to elicit human sympathy for a man who has been turned into marble. It’s hard to take historical figures and make them into once-living men and women, but Robertson joins a small list (Massey, Caro, Goodwin) who have that ability.
Stonewall Jackson is told mostly in narrative fashion. Much of it reads like a novel, and like a novel, it has some plot holes. (For instance, Jackson’s favorite horse disappears and is never “found” until Jackson is riding it a few pages later).
Based on reviews I’d read, I expected Robertson to explode some cherished myths or reframe our understanding of Jackson. I didn’t see much of that at all. To be sure, there are some places where Robertson disrupts his story to analyze the historical record. For instance, we learn that Jackson didn’t suck on lemons, but preferred peaches. I know what you’re thinking: Stop the presses! We also discover that Jackson never once acted as the only sentry while his entire army slept. That’s nice to know. But it’s worth mentioning that if you ever thought Jackson acted as the only sentry for his sleeping army, you are an idiot.
Most biographers have some sympathy for their subjects, if not outright adoration. Robertson is too much a professional to pound the drum for Jackson; however, it is quite evident that he is a Jackson champion.
Exhibit one: slavery.
In a book this big, about the Civil War, you might expect a few mentions of slavery. And that’s what you get. A few mentions of slavery. Like, maybe three paragraphs.
The slavery issue is swept under the rug in the most regressive way possible. Jackson was a slave owner, but in Robertson’s view: “He probably opposed slavery.” What’s the evidence for this? Nothing. He never said he opposed it. He never freed his slaves. And he fought with desperate ferocity to protect the institution. Robertson’s supposition comes from this: I like the guy so he must have been opposed to slavery.
Certainly, Robertson makes sure to mention Jackson’s black Sunday school. He holds this up as evidence of Jackson’s enlightenment. I hold this up as evidence of Jackson being a demented d-bag. By starting a Sunday school, you are acknowledging the humanity of black people; that they, unlike animals, are people, capable of thought, faith, and prayer. Yet despite this acknowledgment, you keep them in chains.
To Robertson’s credit, all of Jackson’s lesser characteristics are on full display. He was prickly, obnoxious, oft-rude, and a whiny hypochondriac. One of the more entertaining sections of this book is a richly-detailed encounter in Florida between a young Jackson and his commanding officer over perceived slights. It was a classic “nothing fight” that both men seemed churlishly willing to fight to the grave.
The overriding theme that runs through Jackson’s life is his religion. Of all other facets, this gets the most attention. On countless pages, Robertson plays up the Christian soldier angle while strongly endorsing Jackson’s faith.
Fortunately, Robertson gives you enough information to make your own judgment, which I did. What struck me about Jackson’s faith was how its outward humility (leaving everything to the hands of God) actually manifested itself in an insufferable arrogance. Did Jackson really walk around thinking his every trip to the outhouse was God’s command? Didn’t his God have other things to worry about? This is not an attack on religion, only a commentary on Jackson’s small-minded concept of his Creator as a narrowly-focused micromanager.
Unsurprisingly, since it filled every corner of his life, Jackson’s Christianity dovetailed with his slaveholding tendencies. As Robertson explains, Jackson believed that because God willed slavery no man had the right to challenge that will. (This worked out quite well for white slaveholding Christians, but hey, they didn't make the rules. God did). This kind of hypocrisy is startling in the 21st century but…Well, it was also noxious in the 19th century, as demonstrated by less-famous contemporaries of Jackson such as Douglass, Tappen, Garrison, Stowe, Tubman, Beecher, et. al.
Jackson never had the self-awareness to recognize his own crap. Indeed, he was boldly ignorant of it. In a letter that Robertson excerpts, Jackson states that the chief “sin” of the Confederate States of America is Sunday mail delivery. Yup. That’s our Jackson! Four million people treated as chattel – chained and whipped and beaten and raped – but our real moral shortcoming is delivering letters on the Sabbath.
It almost leads one to wonder whether Jackson – after he’d been struck down by his own troops on the night of his greatest victory – ever considered that God had watched him all along. That God had judged him all along. And that God had been displeased. Probably not.
All that aside, the chief thing you learn in this biography – perhaps any good Civil War biography – is that good generals get too much credit and bad generals get too much blame. The Civil War was modern in many ways – weaponry, transportation, even communication – but battlefield command-and-control remained the same as it had for centuries.
Unable to see the whole field at once, and unable to receive instantaneous updates, a general’s direct influence waned the higher up the ranks he went. He could devise the most ingenious plan imaginable, but all of that could unravel due to a mistranslated order, a lazy subordinate, or a wrong turn.
At Chancellorsville, the scene of Jackson’s great victory and fatal wounding, the Union General Joseph Hooker had a marvelous plan. It looked so good on paper it should’ve been framed. But in reality, when Hooker stopped his march into the Wilderness, he didn't know where his own troops were positioned, much less his enemies. He didn't know that General Oliver Otis Howard had left his flank dangling in midair.
Stonewall Jackson’s lasting feat is that he found Howard’s dangling flank and smashed it to pieces. Things might have been different had Howard taken basic precautions to anchor his flank and to entrench. It also might have turned out differently if the Union commanders – including Dan Sickles, who nearly lost the battle of Gettysburg – who actually saw Jackson’s supposedly-secret flanking movement had interpreted it correctly.
It wasn’t God who made Jackson a great general. It was ruthlessness, decisiveness, courage, ego and luck. Lots and lots of luck.
December 4, 2013
After reading James I Robertson's biography of Stonewall Jackson, I am convinced that his death created such a hole in the command structure of the Army of Northern Virginia, there was no longer a cohesive army that could defeat the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, or subsequent battles in the Spring of 1864.
The incredible energy and leadership of subordinate generals under his command was the key to much of the armies success in spite of his failure to make a key assault at White Oak Creek in the 7 Days Campaign.
Finally, the seeds of his own death were there in the war years in the manner he lived his military life maintaining secrecy to such an extent he jeopardized the outcome of key battles, notably Cedar Mountain and the 7 Days Peninsula campaign.
This is a long 762 page read, but it is worth the length and detail to understand one of the greatest military minds in American history.
The incredible energy and leadership of subordinate generals under his command was the key to much of the armies success in spite of his failure to make a key assault at White Oak Creek in the 7 Days Campaign.
Finally, the seeds of his own death were there in the war years in the manner he lived his military life maintaining secrecy to such an extent he jeopardized the outcome of key battles, notably Cedar Mountain and the 7 Days Peninsula campaign.
This is a long 762 page read, but it is worth the length and detail to understand one of the greatest military minds in American history.
December 4, 2013
On May 2, 1863, the legendary Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men in the dark at the Battle of Chancellorsville and died on May 10, 1863 in the presence of his loving wife and close staff. Exactly 150 years later, I finished this brilliant biography of Stonewall Jackson by my favorite Virginia Tech professor, Dr. James I. "Bud" Robertson. Dr. Robertson began work on the biography soon after I took his courses while at Tech. Dr. Robertson is known as the "preeminent scholar on Stonewall Jackson" (per Wikipedia) and served as the key historical resource for the 2003 movie Gods and Generals. Dr. Robertson spent years researching, compiling historical details and writing this large, detailed biography of one of the greatest military leaders in United States history. More than just a great military leader, Stonewall was a serious, quirky, but compassionate man who had suffered many great losses in life. He became orphaned as a young boy after losing the mother that he adored. He lost two babies and his first wife in childbirth. He and his second wife, Anna, that he loved dearly had one baby girl, Julia, to survive. Stonewall Jackson loved children but was only able to spend about a week with his baby girl before he was fatally wounded. Through it all, Stonewall Jackson had tremendous, unwavering faith in his Heavenly Father. One of his favorite verses was Romans 8:28:
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. King James Version (KJV)
It was this faith that made him ferocious and fearless on the battlefield and yet concerned about the spiritual well-being and salvation of his family, his soldiers and the black (slave) Sunday School class that he taught back in Lexington, VA while a professor at VMI.
I truly feel that I know Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and will be forever influenced by his life. Seldom is one brought to tears at the end of an historical biography. Thanks to Dr. Robertson for wonderful research and a great book that brings Stonewall Jackson to life.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. King James Version (KJV)
It was this faith that made him ferocious and fearless on the battlefield and yet concerned about the spiritual well-being and salvation of his family, his soldiers and the black (slave) Sunday School class that he taught back in Lexington, VA while a professor at VMI.
I truly feel that I know Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and will be forever influenced by his life. Seldom is one brought to tears at the end of an historical biography. Thanks to Dr. Robertson for wonderful research and a great book that brings Stonewall Jackson to life.
April 11, 2024
It’s one of the first lessons we learn in school. A good story has a beginning, middle, and end.
The beginning in this case is fantastic. Robertson’s narrative of young Thomas Jackson’s life is thorough—eminently thorough—without falling into the trap of being a drab drudgery of facts (born here, moved here, did this, did that). Roberston is truly able to close the distance, transporting us not only back to the time and place in which Jackson grew up, but into the man himself—his heart, his mind, his trials, his piety, his unwavering faith in the Sovereign God—and how these conspired to forge a resolve within that never left him. And the account of how Thomas became Stonewall at the First Battle of Manassas is riveting.
The middle, objectively, is an elaborate chronicle of military movements. Subjectively, that might interest some. I am not one. Though a slog for me at times, what comes through is Jackson’s military brilliance and unrivalled aggressiveness. These are essential to understanding his role in history.
The end finds Robertson awakened again. It’s as if he senses the weight of the impending climax, and his writing rises to meet the moment.
Some biographies tell you what someone did, but not who they were. While this one is up and down, that charge cannot be leveled against it.
The beginning in this case is fantastic. Robertson’s narrative of young Thomas Jackson’s life is thorough—eminently thorough—without falling into the trap of being a drab drudgery of facts (born here, moved here, did this, did that). Roberston is truly able to close the distance, transporting us not only back to the time and place in which Jackson grew up, but into the man himself—his heart, his mind, his trials, his piety, his unwavering faith in the Sovereign God—and how these conspired to forge a resolve within that never left him. And the account of how Thomas became Stonewall at the First Battle of Manassas is riveting.
The middle, objectively, is an elaborate chronicle of military movements. Subjectively, that might interest some. I am not one. Though a slog for me at times, what comes through is Jackson’s military brilliance and unrivalled aggressiveness. These are essential to understanding his role in history.
The end finds Robertson awakened again. It’s as if he senses the weight of the impending climax, and his writing rises to meet the moment.
Some biographies tell you what someone did, but not who they were. While this one is up and down, that charge cannot be leveled against it.
September 12, 2022
What a masterpiece of biography! As a lover of history and particularly of the Civil War, I was very pleased to have picked up with biography on General Jackson. Regardless of your views on the causes and sins of the Civil War, this book is a in-depth look at a man devoted to his country, his home, and the people he served. Jackson was a man of deep faith rooted in his trust over the sovereignty of God. He lived as an inspiration to devotion and faith that many generations from now should study and understand. Robertson does a masterful work in combining primary and secondary source material in piecing together the many aspects of Jackson's life and the events of the war that Jackson participated in. I greatly appreciated out throughout the book Robertson returned to Jackson's character and Christian faith as an underlying motivation for all that Jackson sought to accomplish in defending his home and people. Regardless of your views of the South, the Civil War, and the history of slavery in America, this is a biography worth picking up.
September 9, 2022
I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading this to discover that, thanks to the style in which the author writes, it was remarkably easy to understand what was being said & what was occurring! I thoroughly enjoyed this book & felt acquainted with Stonewall by the end. I admire him as a person (though some may disagree...) & believe that he one of the greatest men this country has seen. I would definitely recommend this piece to anyone who is interested in this phenomenal man or anyone who has to do a project specifically on Stonewall Jackson. In fact, I selected this book for an English honors project, & it goes into a wonderful amount of depth that the reader who is more interested in solely Jackson's campaigns during the Civil War may not appreciate, as there is a good portion dedicated to his life up until the Civil War. However, his campaigns are also brilliantly covered. It provides a ton of insight that made me understand exactly who Jackson was, & it was awesome to feel myself connect to him that way! It is a long read but definitely worth the time it takes. I was hysterical when Jackson died! Now, I am addicted to the Civil War & just want to learn more & more, particularly about other Confederate generals! Great, great, great!
December 11, 2019
This must be the definite biography of Stonewall. A very comprehensive study it is nevertheless a tremendous read. The only thing missing is a final chapter on the Jackson's legacy and the view of history on this great general.
October 3, 2014
Excellent biography! Definitely #1 on my list for recommended books about General Jackson. I learned so much in this book and can't wait to get my own copy for my Virginia Civil War history shelf.
The writing style is superb. Action and information packed, I was never bored while reading this book. I loved all the quotes from primary sources and how they blended into the text easily and complimentary. Robertson allows the history to tell the story, but his writing makes it come alive.
The ending was simple - no deep philosophy about Jackson's final days or words, just the facts. I appreciate that, and the final two chapters were very "real" and moving because of that simplicity.
I cannot wait to read this book again, and again, and again. The book presents the historical truth about Thomas J. Jackson - his faith, military career, family life, friends, "enemies"... His legacy as a Christian man and daring commander are well-preserved in this inspiring biography.
The writing style is superb. Action and information packed, I was never bored while reading this book. I loved all the quotes from primary sources and how they blended into the text easily and complimentary. Robertson allows the history to tell the story, but his writing makes it come alive.
The ending was simple - no deep philosophy about Jackson's final days or words, just the facts. I appreciate that, and the final two chapters were very "real" and moving because of that simplicity.
I cannot wait to read this book again, and again, and again. The book presents the historical truth about Thomas J. Jackson - his faith, military career, family life, friends, "enemies"... His legacy as a Christian man and daring commander are well-preserved in this inspiring biography.
August 4, 2023
Stonewall Jackson was the most compelling figure of the Civil War. James Robertson has found, and accepted, the key to understanding Stonewall: his profound Christian Faith and his steadfast duty to doing the will of God. Without understanding this, Stonewall is just an eccentric genius. Robertson imports this understanding of Stonewall‘s faith primarily through devout passages from letters to his wife Anna. We truly are brought to know the man Stonewall through anecdotes on every page. There is also cogent military analysis of his campaigns, all within the context of Stonewall being a Soldier of God.
This is no hagiography, though. Certain myths are dispelled, and Stonewall’s difficult relations with subordinates, especially AP Hill, is detailed. His reticence in sharing his plans with subordinates and how that at times hampered the Army is also addressed.
I can’t imagine a more powerful biography of a more compelling military figure.
This is no hagiography, though. Certain myths are dispelled, and Stonewall’s difficult relations with subordinates, especially AP Hill, is detailed. His reticence in sharing his plans with subordinates and how that at times hampered the Army is also addressed.
I can’t imagine a more powerful biography of a more compelling military figure.
June 29, 2023
A brilliant biography written in a modern style that read well. The research was detailed and doesn’t contain much of the myths that I heard as a child. My great great grandfather was captured in 1863 and spent the rest of the war in Libby Prison. Yes, he was a Pennsylvanian. My family moved to Virginia when I was a young child. The South had the better generals , but the North had an unlimited number of soldiers. Jackson was a strange man. He was a devout Christian. He was known for long marches and was a brilliant strategist. However, his key to victory was his lack of fear of defeat. I wonder why the greatest soldiers have quirks in their personalities? This is a good biography of one of the greatest generals this country has produced.
November 23, 2020
One of the finest biographies I've read, and I've read a bunch of them. This is a monster of a book. Over 700 pages of text. If you're really interested in Jackson, it is a must read. If not, it might weigh you down with so much information. It also presents a great deal about the war, both North and South. Jackson's life is shown very well amidst and in context of the time in which he lived. Highly recommend for Civil War enthusiasts.
April 24, 2008
This was one of the best biographies I have ever read. Not knowing much about T.J.Jackson(Stonewall) except the bare facts, Robertson brought to life this very complex man. Shy, reserved, self-educated, West Point Graduate who struggled early in his education, he rose to supreme prominence. Not well liked among his peers, his troops loved him and as he slowly proved himself, he gained the respect eventually of his fellow commanders, especially Robert E. Lee. His performance in the Shenandoah Valley earned him wide acclaim. A very religious man, he viewed the civil War and his role in it as a "mission" in the service of his God. It is a well-documented work, and although challenging, the author brings him to life in ways I would never have imagined. A great read for the interestd Civil War buff.
May 24, 2023
Possibly one of the best books I’ve read, certainly one of the best biographies.
Thomas J Jackson fits the description well of a ‘great man’, though he would always stress to point to his Heavenly Father as the reason.
Robertson seeks to bring us into Jackson’s mind, to understand how the man viewed life and reacted to it. Unsurprisingly to any familiar with Jackson’s life, it was seen through the dual lenses of his Christian faith and his sense of duty.
Robertson writes brilliantly, making sure that his subject never becomes bogged down. As a result of his consultation of a myriad of sources, a well rounded picture emerges of the Virginian.
A must read. I’ve already recommended it to several friends!
Thomas J Jackson fits the description well of a ‘great man’, though he would always stress to point to his Heavenly Father as the reason.
Robertson seeks to bring us into Jackson’s mind, to understand how the man viewed life and reacted to it. Unsurprisingly to any familiar with Jackson’s life, it was seen through the dual lenses of his Christian faith and his sense of duty.
Robertson writes brilliantly, making sure that his subject never becomes bogged down. As a result of his consultation of a myriad of sources, a well rounded picture emerges of the Virginian.
A must read. I’ve already recommended it to several friends!
December 7, 2010
The reason I became a historian! Robertson is an excellent writer and some day I hope to achieve his level.
So good a book I took with me on our honeymoon!
So good a book I took with me on our honeymoon!
December 31, 2021
This is going to be a very hard review for me to write, and there's a part of me that thinks I should just skip it...
My biggest concern in writing my review of this book is that the political climate today is such that any veneration of Confederate leaders is viewed as racist. Racism is incredibly hard for me to teach because something I absolutely don't understand. It makes no sense to me how someone can view someone else as being "less" because of the color of their skin. The hardest things I have to teach are slavery and the treatment of the Native Americans in our history.
So, I hope that no one will misunderstand when I say that I have a deep admiration for Stonewall Jackson. His faith and relationship with God makes me want to improve my own relationship with God. He was truly a deeply faithful man. I had first become interested in him when I read a short synopsis about him in the book "The Other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff". Reading this clearly highlighted why he was one of those men.
My heart ached for him as a lonely little boy and I was impressed with his determination and ability to overcome his difficult growing up years. It was so interesting for me to read about the last parts of his life, knowing what was coming. (Teaching history provided major spoilers...) I often thought about how much time he had left and how he didn't know what was coming. (It also made me think about things like that in my own life -- who knows what tomorrow will bring?) Towards the end of the book, I felt as I often do when I'm reading fiction books and thought about it often when I was away from it. (That could also be because it had taken me a long time to read, but I wanted to finish it this year, so I read about 200 pages in the last 3 -4 days...)
My biggest complaint with this book -- and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars -- was that there was way too much detail about the battles. One of my fellow history teachers would likely be shocked to hear me say that, because I do love teaching about the battles in both the Revolution and the Civil War, however the book got bogged down a bit because of all the detail. Someone explaining the battles can tell me what happened without giving so much information about troop movements. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
My biggest concern in writing my review of this book is that the political climate today is such that any veneration of Confederate leaders is viewed as racist. Racism is incredibly hard for me to teach because something I absolutely don't understand. It makes no sense to me how someone can view someone else as being "less" because of the color of their skin. The hardest things I have to teach are slavery and the treatment of the Native Americans in our history.
So, I hope that no one will misunderstand when I say that I have a deep admiration for Stonewall Jackson. His faith and relationship with God makes me want to improve my own relationship with God. He was truly a deeply faithful man. I had first become interested in him when I read a short synopsis about him in the book "The Other Eminent Men of Wilford Woodruff". Reading this clearly highlighted why he was one of those men.
My heart ached for him as a lonely little boy and I was impressed with his determination and ability to overcome his difficult growing up years. It was so interesting for me to read about the last parts of his life, knowing what was coming. (Teaching history provided major spoilers...) I often thought about how much time he had left and how he didn't know what was coming. (It also made me think about things like that in my own life -- who knows what tomorrow will bring?) Towards the end of the book, I felt as I often do when I'm reading fiction books and thought about it often when I was away from it. (That could also be because it had taken me a long time to read, but I wanted to finish it this year, so I read about 200 pages in the last 3 -4 days...)
My biggest complaint with this book -- and the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars -- was that there was way too much detail about the battles. One of my fellow history teachers would likely be shocked to hear me say that, because I do love teaching about the battles in both the Revolution and the Civil War, however the book got bogged down a bit because of all the detail. Someone explaining the battles can tell me what happened without giving so much information about troop movements. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
July 22, 2020
James Robinson (JR) has written an amazing book. It is a biography of a larger than life hero of the South, Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson. It is also an almost day to day narrative of the Civil War in Virginia and Maryland during 1862 and 1863.
Using letters, official reports and the postbellum writings of the participants, JR provides amazing detail such as what Jackson had for breakfast on a given day. Exhaustive research, remarkable detail and objectivity are the strengths of this book; this is his Magnum opus.
JR has taken us from the Jackson’s family ancestral roots in Ireland to his death in Chancellorsville, Virginia, and all points in between; a very thorough job indeed!
JR’s description of Jackson’s early life is quite revealing, and I believe it formed the man who would become Stonewall. Rural Virginia in the nineteenth century was an isolated place populated by hard people who had a difficult life living off the land, where death caused by disasters, childbirth, and disease was always close by.
Jackson lost both his parents early in his life, and he never got over the loss. As the only siblings, He and his sister clung to each other, yet, they were split up and placed amongst family in different and remote parts of the Shenandoah Valley; they did not see each other again for many years. While the extended families provided food and shelter, He was a young and lonely boy. These pressures may have helped in the creation of his introverted nature and ideocracies in later years. The loss of a wife and child to early death were also devastating blows and were the catalyst for his embrace of religion.
JR is an acclaimed historian with an emphasis on the Civil War and his professionalism shines through in this work. Reading a 900 plus page effort can become a little tedious, yet, JR’s style and focus keeps his readers captivated.
One of the primary precepts of writing a biography is to be objective, while describing the virtues and faults of the subject. Many authors become devotees of their subjects and blind to their failings. While this reviewer does not indict JR for this fault, I do believe that his Southern roots are present in his narrative.
JR does criticize this icon. In his summaries of battles won and lost, he points to Jackson’s genius and errors of commission and omission. He criticizes Jackson’s refusal to share plans with subordinates, and this practice of keeping everyone in the dark about strategy and destinations, at times caused confusion in battle resulting in the unnecessary loss of life. JR paints a picture of Jackson that has resulted in this reader never sure of his real nature.
Jackson’s genius for war is interesting, and I wonder what character traits make for a great warrior chief? Historians have compared Jackson to Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as a proponent of the Art of War by Sun Tzu and all these comparisons are appropriate. How did Jackson become a great warrior chief? Did he study these things at West Point? If he did why didn’t the other cadets learn the same lessons? His genius was in knowing how to pick the right terrain to fight his battles, how to pick the right spot to attack and always getting there first with the most. Grant and Sheridan on the Federal side had these traits but not many other leaders. Was Jackson a student of war? Was he well read on the subject? Or was it just instinct! This book does not discuss the subject of where Jackson’s genius came from, it only points to it.
What is presented quite clearly in this narrative is the fact that Jackson at times is maniacal. He is driven by his love for his native land and his deep family roots in that land. On several occasions, it is stated by him and other Southerners that the reason we fight was…” we were invaded!” He is driven by a furious religious faith that makes him feel personally invincible and on a mission for God.
This reviewer has difficulty in accepting this religious fervor in Jackson probably because of my own views on religion and the inability to forsake my twenty-first century perspective for a nineteenth century viewpoint. The fact that Jackson felt that he had a personal relationship with his God is somewhat of a self-centered arrogance. That his God’s guiding hand helped him to kill his enemies is insane! Didn’t Jackson understand that the Federal soldiers also prayed for victory and to be protected in battle by God?
Didn’t Jackson understand that this war was fought for only one reason ……. the issue of slavery! This religious fanatic owned slaves and he bought and sold slaves. He rented slaves out to provide for his comfortable lifestyle. Then, he states, that slavery is God’s will! So, if I am a slave, I should accept that God wants me to be a slave to enrich this man, I think not! As I stated previously this is a nineteenth century mind that I cannot understand. JR’s southern roots are evident in this issue of slavery. He is not the thorough historian on this subject, he does a dance through this mine field to go on describing Jackson’s genius for war.
Jackson ate little and slept even less. He was cold and insensitive to others even as a teacher at VMI. In military matters, he had extraordinarily little discussion with his staff concerning strategy and objectives. He was constantly arresting his subordinate officers for in many cases minor issues. These were southern patriots, they were men of education and accomplishment, some even General officers; yet, Jackson criticized and belittled them. Here is a very poignant comment made by General Alexander Lawton about Jackson, “Old Jack holds himself as the god of war, giving short sharp commands distinctly rapidly and decisively, without consultation or explanation and remonstrances. Being himself absolutely fearless, he goes ahead on his own hook, asking no advice and resenting inference. He places no value on human life, caring for nothing so much as fighting, unless it is praying. Illness, wounds, and all disabilities he defines as inefficiency and indications of a lack of patriotism. Suffering from insomnia, he often uses his men as a sedative, and when he cannot sleep calls them up to march them out a few miles, then marches them back. He never praises his men for gallantry, because it is their duty to be gallant and they do not deserve credit for doing their duty. This is quite an indictment and maybe a little too strong, yet. it says to me that after 900 pages, we do not know this man.
Another aspect of this book that I could not understand was the devotion of the common soldier to Jackson; He was viewed as a God of War. Obviously, because of his many victories and demonstrated genius in those victories. My twenty-first century mind has trouble relating to these soldiers who cheered him at every sighting. They were mostly boys who were usually partially naked, shoeless, and starving. They matched incredible distances through sun, rain, sleet, snow, ice, and knee-deep mud. Then upon arrival at the destination went into battles so ferocious that thousands were killed and wounded. Only to repeat the process of exhausting march into another blood bath. Didn’t these people understand PSTD? Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that develops following frightening, stressful, or distressing life events. Characterized by intense fear, helplessness, and stress, PTSD affects normal life and functioning of the patient. Were these boys immune to this twenty first century condition? Jackson drove them hard and seemed to not see the suffering of his army, maybe this was part of his genius. It was once said of another great warrior of World War II George Patton, that he was “Old blood and guts, the soldier’s blood and his guts”. In the case of U.S. Grant, he found the enemy and stuck to them like a bulldog while the casualties on both sides zoomed all great warriors seem to have these same traits. As previously stated, JR does provide balance in another quote he say’s, “the stillness of that winter afternoon vanished as regiment after regiment, battery after battery, squadron after squadron, exploded spontaneously into whoops and shouts. Each unit took up the loud cheering and continued as long as the general was in sight, before long and from courtesy, Jackson removed his cap as little Sorrel pranced and snorted while making its way through the long column. Men suffering from cold, hunger and weariness forgot their miseries at the sight of Old Jack and added their voices to the acclamation”. Jackson didn’t seem likable to me, yet, I agree that likability is not a criteria for a great General, I don’t like him, yet, if we must have wars, we surely thank God that men like him are on your side.
Aside from describing Jackson’s many victories in battle, our author makes a gallant attempt to capture the essence of the man and at times he is successful. JR supplies quotes from the people closest to him, subordinates and those who have run afoul of him, so you get so much commentary going in some many directions that I find it difficult to know this man. At times, he is mad, other times he is a brilliant warrior, other times a brutal task master, and at other times, a church elder, sophisticated business man, and a man who is a welcomed guest to the homes of the South’s elite citizens.
When the Army went into winter quarters, after Antietam, JR presented a softer Jackson. He visited homes and was gracious and witty. His wife came to visit with the new baby Julia, and he was a proud father. During this period, we saw the humanity in the man, and it did provide some balance to the harsh strict demanding persona of a General Stonewall Jackson.
The battle of Chancellorsville is described superbly in hour by hour detail. Jackson, Lee, and Stewart develop a desperate plan that could bring defeat to the South, if it failed. Jackson quietly moved his second corps around the Federal army and inflicted a punishing blow to the Federal right flank. This could be Jackson’s greatest feat in his fighting career, he says as such from his death bed. Beginning in darkness, He moved the second Corps approximately 13,000 in number, ten miles in lighting speed, all the while riding up and down the long line encouraging and cajoling. What amazed this reviewer was that his Corps sensed what Jackson was doing and to a man were “all in”, at times they were running during the 10-mile march to get onto the federal right flank. This one fact speaks volumes about how the Second Corps felt about Jackson, and volumes about Jackson as a God of War and a inspirational leader of men. These men sensed that Old jack was up to his brilliant self and about to do the impossible. They just knew he was pursuing greatness and they were going to be part of it.
Jackson is wounded in an after dark reconnaissance and here again JR’s narrative becomes captivating. In minute detail from the time Stonewall is hit three times by the large 57 caliber bullets fired by his own men, the description of the scene is surreal. How the wounds were inflicted, how Jackson suffered in silence even when dropped by litter bearers twice! His final hours on this earth are captured by the words of the men and doctors at his side. JR with his attention to detail ably puts the reader right next to Jackson in his final hours.
The epilogue traces the trip to Jackson’s final resting place in the cemetery at Lexington and the outpouring of emotion at every point along the way. The whole spectacle reminded this reader of the pageantry displayed by our nation at the death of President Kennedy in 1963. Many Generals perished in the Civil War; none were mourned like Jackson.
In finality, one can only speculate about later battles if Jackson was present. What would Gettysburg have been like if Old Jack had been on the field? We can only guess.
Richardson deserves a world of credit for this master piece.
September 3, 2014
This book was my first introduction - and what an introduction it was to Stonewall Jackson. I found the book a little slow to get into at first but at the end I was balling like a baby.
Jackson basically grew up as an Orphan and the one sister who he was close to became estranged at the end of his life. He was full of love and quite tender with Children and both of his wives. I found him to be quite quirky which is probably why I feel in love with him. He complained that one arm was heavier than the other and it was not unusual for Jackson to lift that one arm in the air so the blood could run back down and relieve the excess weight. He highly believed in Water Therapy and enjoyed going to Spring resorts. He also had a sensitive stomach and I loved the fact that he would attend dinner parties but not eat what was being served. He had a very strict diet and did not fray.
Fun fact: Jackson loved bookstores and could spend hours going through the shelves, military books were big. He never read a newspaper, especially during the Civil War.
After the Mexican War, Jackson became a professor at VMI (southern equivalent to West Point). Probably not the most loved, he was strict and stern. Practical jokes were played on Jackson and he received his nickname of "Old Jack" from his teaching years. Jackson taught several hundreds cadets the study of artillery and in a sense gave the best lesson of guns to future confederate soldiers. Many cadets that Jackson taught ended up becoming outstanding Confederate soldiers.
His stance on slavery was not an issue much discussed. He did have a "slave" per say in Jim Lewis. He did purchase Slaves, generally they were "free" under Jacksons' eyes because they bought back their freedom to him.
Jackson was not in favor of the Civil War. Per Anna Jackson, Stonewall would have preferred for the South to fight for her political rights in the Union rather than out of it. Jackson was a believer in States rights. Virginia was his home. Jackson believed that in serving the Confederate Army that he was glorifying God. The Civil war was not only a political battle but a religious crusade as well. He would do the Lord's work the best way he could as a soldier.
General Stonewall Jackson energized his troops. He was stern but seemed to care for all his troops serving under him. Jackson gave the Confederate Army his life but also the most famous nickname in Military History. Henry Hill was quoted "Look men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall." Jackson also had this weird face twitch that would happen before battle and a saying became "Old Jack is making faces at the yankees."
The General did not receive all fabulous praise during the civil war. Madness, physical and mental fatigue, his secretive ways, not informing his subordinates all were complaints during the Generals time.
Jacksons highest point during the Civil War was in Harpers Ferry. Jackson had bagged 435 Officers and 12,085 soldiers - the largest surrender of Federal Troops. 73 useable cannons fell into the Artillery loving General's hands as well as wagons, clothing, food and mules. Harpers Ferry was the most complete victory the South had.
Jackson was finally blessed with a child, from wife Anna. The love Jackson displayed and showed Anna was tender and would leave most women jealous. He lost 2 previous babies before Julia.
Bullets from friendly fire is what ended Stonewall Jackson. He was shot 3 times, once in the hand and twice in the arm which had to be amputeed. Jackson was noted asking for liquor for the pain, which is something he never touched because he liked the taste. 4 surgeons operated on Jackson, including his good friend McGuire. Anna would be by his side when he died. The grief was unbearable and for the first time the Southern cause seemed doubtful.
Stonewall Jackson was a wonderful solider, doting husband, god-loving man.
Jackson basically grew up as an Orphan and the one sister who he was close to became estranged at the end of his life. He was full of love and quite tender with Children and both of his wives. I found him to be quite quirky which is probably why I feel in love with him. He complained that one arm was heavier than the other and it was not unusual for Jackson to lift that one arm in the air so the blood could run back down and relieve the excess weight. He highly believed in Water Therapy and enjoyed going to Spring resorts. He also had a sensitive stomach and I loved the fact that he would attend dinner parties but not eat what was being served. He had a very strict diet and did not fray.
Fun fact: Jackson loved bookstores and could spend hours going through the shelves, military books were big. He never read a newspaper, especially during the Civil War.
After the Mexican War, Jackson became a professor at VMI (southern equivalent to West Point). Probably not the most loved, he was strict and stern. Practical jokes were played on Jackson and he received his nickname of "Old Jack" from his teaching years. Jackson taught several hundreds cadets the study of artillery and in a sense gave the best lesson of guns to future confederate soldiers. Many cadets that Jackson taught ended up becoming outstanding Confederate soldiers.
His stance on slavery was not an issue much discussed. He did have a "slave" per say in Jim Lewis. He did purchase Slaves, generally they were "free" under Jacksons' eyes because they bought back their freedom to him.
Jackson was not in favor of the Civil War. Per Anna Jackson, Stonewall would have preferred for the South to fight for her political rights in the Union rather than out of it. Jackson was a believer in States rights. Virginia was his home. Jackson believed that in serving the Confederate Army that he was glorifying God. The Civil war was not only a political battle but a religious crusade as well. He would do the Lord's work the best way he could as a soldier.
General Stonewall Jackson energized his troops. He was stern but seemed to care for all his troops serving under him. Jackson gave the Confederate Army his life but also the most famous nickname in Military History. Henry Hill was quoted "Look men, there is Jackson standing like a stone wall." Jackson also had this weird face twitch that would happen before battle and a saying became "Old Jack is making faces at the yankees."
The General did not receive all fabulous praise during the civil war. Madness, physical and mental fatigue, his secretive ways, not informing his subordinates all were complaints during the Generals time.
Jacksons highest point during the Civil War was in Harpers Ferry. Jackson had bagged 435 Officers and 12,085 soldiers - the largest surrender of Federal Troops. 73 useable cannons fell into the Artillery loving General's hands as well as wagons, clothing, food and mules. Harpers Ferry was the most complete victory the South had.
Jackson was finally blessed with a child, from wife Anna. The love Jackson displayed and showed Anna was tender and would leave most women jealous. He lost 2 previous babies before Julia.
Bullets from friendly fire is what ended Stonewall Jackson. He was shot 3 times, once in the hand and twice in the arm which had to be amputeed. Jackson was noted asking for liquor for the pain, which is something he never touched because he liked the taste. 4 surgeons operated on Jackson, including his good friend McGuire. Anna would be by his side when he died. The grief was unbearable and for the first time the Southern cause seemed doubtful.
Stonewall Jackson was a wonderful solider, doting husband, god-loving man.
February 8, 2016
An exhaustively detailed biography of Stonewall Jackson, this book is impressive in its scholarship, depth, and the time taken to correct and sort out competing claims of previous biographers. That being said, this biography didn't work for me on a few accounts.
The most distracting part for me was the reverential tone that the author employed towards his subject. I understand that for any biographer to spend this much time with a subject, one has to find that subject fascinating and worthy of telling the story of. But Robertson seemt to go beyond the usual authorial distance, and that bled over into the second problem: that of analysis.
At times the analysis consumes more pages than the historical reportage. While some analysis is always welcome, when the author dismisses all human frailties of his subject as being merely symptoms of the grander and nobler impulses at work in Jackson's life. The author also takes each historical anecdote as another opportunity to reiterate his underlying claims about the greatness of Jackson's character, and how this small incident can foreshadow this man of destiny. I'm of the opinion that Stonewall Jackson is a remarkable figure because of his significant flaws, and what he was able to accomplish in spite of them. In this view, the biographer and I part ways markedly.
In summary: An undoubtedly important work that set the historical record straight and sorted out myth and legend from what can be known of fact, the book's analysis and tone didn't work for me.
The most distracting part for me was the reverential tone that the author employed towards his subject. I understand that for any biographer to spend this much time with a subject, one has to find that subject fascinating and worthy of telling the story of. But Robertson seemt to go beyond the usual authorial distance, and that bled over into the second problem: that of analysis.
At times the analysis consumes more pages than the historical reportage. While some analysis is always welcome, when the author dismisses all human frailties of his subject as being merely symptoms of the grander and nobler impulses at work in Jackson's life. The author also takes each historical anecdote as another opportunity to reiterate his underlying claims about the greatness of Jackson's character, and how this small incident can foreshadow this man of destiny. I'm of the opinion that Stonewall Jackson is a remarkable figure because of his significant flaws, and what he was able to accomplish in spite of them. In this view, the biographer and I part ways markedly.
In summary: An undoubtedly important work that set the historical record straight and sorted out myth and legend from what can be known of fact, the book's analysis and tone didn't work for me.
April 14, 2019
"Bud" Robertson has been a friend for more than 30 years, so, yes, I have a certain bias. This is Bud's best and most exhaustive book. The first half of this 900+-page book focuses on Jackson's early life and the forces that would make him a ferocious Confederate soldier and a deeply religious man. It explores the conundrum of Jackson's acceptance of slavery as God's will, and his willingness to teach slaves to read and write, a practice outlawed in Virginia at the time.
The second half focuses on his war career, discussing how he drove his men into seemingly impossible accomplishments, and how he approached each battle that lay before him. I can easily recommend the first part for those interested in the man's evolution, and the second half for those most interested in the strategy of war.
Bud, with the help of his late wife Libba, researched the book for most of a decade, even locating Jackson's Book of Maxims, his personal instructions on how he should behave in life. Bud wrote the book by hand, a practice he says kept his prose direct and succinct. And the most significant observation about Bud writing the book is, that after he wrote the last few words of it, he hugged his wife, and they both cried over the breadth of this achievement.
The second half focuses on his war career, discussing how he drove his men into seemingly impossible accomplishments, and how he approached each battle that lay before him. I can easily recommend the first part for those interested in the man's evolution, and the second half for those most interested in the strategy of war.
Bud, with the help of his late wife Libba, researched the book for most of a decade, even locating Jackson's Book of Maxims, his personal instructions on how he should behave in life. Bud wrote the book by hand, a practice he says kept his prose direct and succinct. And the most significant observation about Bud writing the book is, that after he wrote the last few words of it, he hugged his wife, and they both cried over the breadth of this achievement.
May 29, 2017
A fabulous biography on Old Jack from a Civil War historian second to none! Dr. Robertson is an expert and lifelong student of Jackson (his dissertation was on the Stonewall Brigade) and he has done exhaustive research in writing this biography.
It is scholarly yet easy to read and understand. I got the feeling that I was right there next to Jackson as he worked, lived and fought. Robertson debunks a number of myths about Jackson and his tactics that were propagated by early biographers and gives a comprehensive picture of the man - warts and all.
Having lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for five years, I felt I already knew a good deal about General Jackson - not true! If you really want the definitive biography on Stonewall Jackson, look no further! I did not want the book to end!
It is scholarly yet easy to read and understand. I got the feeling that I was right there next to Jackson as he worked, lived and fought. Robertson debunks a number of myths about Jackson and his tactics that were propagated by early biographers and gives a comprehensive picture of the man - warts and all.
Having lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for five years, I felt I already knew a good deal about General Jackson - not true! If you really want the definitive biography on Stonewall Jackson, look no further! I did not want the book to end!
September 17, 2016
You have to really, really be obsessive about the minutae of the civil war, to love this book. An in depth look at what drove this great man into fearless battle, including an often overlooked section on his early life. Fearless, relentless, an iron spine, with a deep love of his family, Jackson put his beliefs first and foremost into preservation of the south's way of life and paid the ultimate price for it! He is, in my opinion, an American hero in the truest sense, which comes through in this richly detailed, beautifully written book. After visting his home in Lexington, "Stonewall" came alive for me, and continues to resonate long after the turn of the final page. A must read, for any true scholar of the civil war.
March 21, 2012
I think this is the best biography of Jackson ever published. It's a big book, but it flows fast and examines all aspects of Jackson's life. Robertson was one of the preeminent Jackson scholars until his retirement from Virginia Tech. His style of writing makes this a pleasure to read as the narrative flows well throughout the entire book.
March 26, 2016
As is anything by Professor Robertson, this work was accurate, informative and meticulously researched. So much information, in fact, that it overwhelmed my reptilian brain. While excellent at times, this Bio is too dry and dusty too often in too many places to make it a fun or relaxing book to read. For hard-core Civil War and History buffs.
September 1, 2008
The author clearly is pro-Jackson. I guess you should write about people you like but by the end it really started to take away from the story. I think what I most learned is that the Unions' early ineptitude was far more a reason for the length of the war than any Southern gallantry.
February 25, 2010
Awesome life.
Awesomely written
Awesomely written
August 1, 2016
Excellent, masterpiece! James I. Robertson presents the real Stonewall Jackson and leaves all the other books on Jackson to collect dust. Well done Mr. Robertson.
July 30, 2024
This is an excellent, in-depth biography of the famous general in the army of the Confederate States of America. This biography of Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson goes far beyond the commonly known caricature of this man. It examines his entire life from childhood to his death at the age of 39 during the American Civil War. The reader will better understand his motivations and character, as opposed to the simple understanding that comes from common knowledge about the man and the times in which he lived. Jackson certainly had the good fortune to live in interesting times. He was a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he met and came to know many other men who became important players in American history. The same is true about his service in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War and the Confederate Army during the American Civil War as well as his experiences living most of his life in the slave state of Virginia. This bio provides his views and impressions of the people and times because Jackson was a prolific letter writer to friends and family. Much of that correspondence survived and became valuable reference material for this biography. He was a deeply religious man who had no objection to war and the issue of slavery. Jackson owned very few slaves himself. In his view, since the bible often spoke of slavery in the natural course of life in various cultures; and, God’s own chosen people were at times held in slavery, he saw nothing inherently evil about slavery. Jackson was also a relentless prosecutor of war. He was convinced that killing the enemy was required and necessary to bring about an ultimate peace. The descriptions of Jackson’s leadership, strategy and tactics during the Civil War are excellent and useful in gaining an understanding of the man. The author’s analysis of the major battles that Jackson participated is also very descriptive and provides much useful information.
March 13, 2023
A very in-depth look at a man devoted to his country (Confederacy), his home, and the people he served. Jackson was a man of deep faith rooted in his trust over the sovereignty of God. Everything he did was based upon his faith in God. In a sense, he was fighting for God and country and his belief he was in God's favor, as was the Confederacy. As much as he is revered as one of the best generals of the war, he had his flaws: low tolerance for anyone who did not display the same level of dedication or following orders as he did; he kept his battle plans secret from the officers commanding the corps under his control so that they never had a complete picture so often messed up; and his many vaunted military campaign marches were often chaotic and seldom went smoothly.
The book is so packed with details that, at times, it becomes mind numbing and a slog of a read. It has 750 pages of narration: the first 250 pages covers his childhood to the start of the Civil War; the next 250 pages cover the first year or so leaving the remaining pages to cover the final 10 or so months of his life!
The book is so packed with details that, at times, it becomes mind numbing and a slog of a read. It has 750 pages of narration: the first 250 pages covers his childhood to the start of the Civil War; the next 250 pages cover the first year or so leaving the remaining pages to cover the final 10 or so months of his life!
July 4, 2024
In his book Stonewall: The Man, the Myth, the Legend, Dr. "Bud" Robertson states that his goal was not merely to write a biography of a great general, but to capture "the life of an extraordinary man who became a great general...The intent here is to see life as Jackson saw it, to hear his words, to read his thoughts, to walk beside him and know more than he knew at a given time and place."
Dr. Robertson achieves this goal masterfully, not only detailing what Stonewall Jackson did, but revealing who he was. As someone who attended Dr. Robertson's classes at Virginia Tech, I vividly recall how his lectures were both heart-wrenching and entertaining. Reading this 900-plus-page biography was a poignant reminder of why there was always a long waiting list to get into his classes.
Dr. Robertson achieves this goal masterfully, not only detailing what Stonewall Jackson did, but revealing who he was. As someone who attended Dr. Robertson's classes at Virginia Tech, I vividly recall how his lectures were both heart-wrenching and entertaining. Reading this 900-plus-page biography was a poignant reminder of why there was always a long waiting list to get into his classes.
July 23, 2017
This very lengthy and very detailed biography of Gen. Jackson is not the type of book I would typically read. I have to say that if James Robertson weren't such a good writer, I wouldn't have come close to finishing the book. I was particularly impressed with his description of Jackson's battles. I have often found histories of battles confusing, but these Civil War battles were not only clearly described, but were extremely exciting.
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