The Wounding & Death

of Stonewall Jackson

 

As Told by

Don Nall

Where did Jackson die?

Where is Jackson's gravesite? 

Where is his amputated arm buried?

 

Jackson died on May 10, 1863, at a field hospital near Guiney Station, VA, approximately 30 miles from the battlefield at Chancellorsville. The hospital was located in an office building on the estate of Thomas and Mary Chandler.  Jackson's body was returned to Lexington, Virginia, for burial. He had spent almost ten years in the town while he was a Professor at the Virginia Military Institute. The funeral took place on May 15, 1863. He was buried in what is now known as the Stonewall Jackson Cemetery, located on Main Street. The gravesite is today a popular tourist attraction.

 

Jackson's amputated arm was buried by the Rev. Beverly Tucker Lacy in his family burial plot at "Ellwood," the Lacy family estate (15 miles west of Fredericksburg) that was located about one mile from the field hospital where Jackson was initially treated. The National Park Service now owns the land and there is a marker noting the location of the arm.

 

Don brings pictures to tell us the whole story. Don comes to us from Camden by way of a number of pastoral assignments throughout the state. He is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and holds a Doctor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His retirement has brought him to Little Rock to be closer to his two hobbies; grandchildren and the civil war. A longtime Civil War Buff, he has presented many programs before roundtables in the area.

 

 

 

COMING PROGRAMS

January 24 : Don Nall

Stonewall's Wounding and Death

 

Feb 28: Brian Brown

Stone's River

 

March 28: John_C_Scott, NPS –

The Pea Ridge Story and

Dr. Doug Scott 's  recent archeological survey of the battlefield

 

April 25: Don Hamilton

A Day at Shiloh

 

May 23: Cal Collier

TBA

 

June 27:

TBA

 

July 25:

TBA

 

August 22:

TBA

 

September 26:

TBA

 

October 24:

TBA

 

November 28:

TBA

 

Election of Officers

 

December 2006 –

 

No meeting Scheduled in December

 

We Who Study Must Also Strive To Save!

 

 

A reminder about your 2006 dues:

The dues are $15.00 for a family membership. If you would like to pay, your dues contact Brian:

Brian Brown, Treasurer

Civil War Roundtable of Arkansas

P.O. Box 25501

Little Rock, Ark. 72221

The dues are used to support the CWRT and help bring you dynamic speakers and other special presentations.

 

New Officers for 2006

In November you elected a new set of officers for the Roundtable. After a hard fought battle you elected: 

Immediate past Pres. Randy Baldwin

rbaldwin63@comcast.net

 

President   Jan Sarna

jcsarna@aol.com

 

Vice President Ron Kelly

rkelley225@aol.com

 

Treasurer .Brian Brown

BrianB1578@aol.com

 

Secretery/Editor  Chas. Durnett

milhistory@aristotle.net

 

Chair CACWHT   Mike Loum

61shelbysmule65@comcast.net

 

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Central Arkansas

Civil War Heritage Trails

 

Parents must teach their children about Confederate history because they will not hear an accurate portrayal of it at public schools or through the media, said the keynote speaker at David O. Dodd Memorial Service January 7.

More than 100 people attended the graveside service at Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock where 40 Confederate re-enactors fired a gun salute.

Others laid red carnations and white alstroemeria at the grave of David O. Dodd, known as the Boy Martyr of the Confederacy.

Coordinated by the Robert C. Newton Camp of the SCV, the memorial included a march of a unit of Confederate soldiers from MacArthur Park to Mt. Holly.

Keynote speaker Ron Casteel of Jefferson City, Mo., is chief of staff for the Tennessee-based Sons of Confederate Veterans, a nonprofit organization composed of male descendants of Confederate soldiers. Casteel formerly lived in Arkansas and was news director of KAAYAM radio station in the early 1980s.

Casteel said the Civil War is not over today, but instead of fighting on the battlefield, supporters are fighting to save Confederate heritage. “We’re losing our young because they are taught in schools that are politically correct,” Casteel said.  Casteel said he is planning to produce a documentary about David O. Dodd.

Charissa Bratcher of Little Rock attended the service with her 2-year-old son.

 “I like to support the people who come here”, said Bratcher, whose father participated as a commander in the Sons of Confederate Veterans. “It’s important to understand history.”

The above includes excepts from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and from the story was published Sunday, January 08, 2006

Clebrating the Birth of Robert E. Lee

HdQrs Army of No VA

10th April 1865

General Order No 9

After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.

I need not tell the brave survivors of so many hard fought battles who have remained steadfast to the last that I have consented to this result from no distrust of them; but feeling that valour and devotion could accomplish nothing that would compensate for the loss that would have attended the continuance of the contest, I determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their Countrymen.

By the terms of the Agreement officers and men can return to their homes and remain there until exchanged.

You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a Merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection.

With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your country and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you all an affectionate farewell.

R. E. Lee

Genl

After the War

Lee’s notarized oath of allegiance to the United States was forwarded to William H. Seward, Secretary of State, who should have then forwarded it to President Johnson. But the President never received the pledge, so the pardon process could not be completed. Without the oath of allegiance no action could be taken on Lee’s pardon application.

Then, in 1970, a Civil War buff obtained permission to research old State department files stored in the National Archives. During his research, he came across a cardboard box labeled "Virginia." While rummaging through this box, he spied an aged sheet of paper containing a faded pen and ink inscription. Upon examination, he was stunned to learn that he was actually holding the notarized pledge of allegiance to the United States that Robert E. Lee had executed in 1865.

Upon learning of the discovery of the lost pledge, Virginia Senator, Harry F. Byrd proposed a congressional resolution for a posthumous pardon and restoration of citizenship for Robert E. Lee. Congress, to its credit, overwhelmingly voted in favor of the resolution and President Gerald Ford indicated his willingness to sign it. The signing ceremony took place on August 5, 1975, at Arlington House, the former home of General Lee’s family.

These excerpts from the comments President Ford made at the signing ceremony are a fitting tribute to Robert E. Lee.

"I am very pleased to sign Senate Joint Resolution 23, restoring posthumously the long overdue, full rights of citizenship to General Robert E. Lee. This legislation corrects a 110-year oversight of American history. It is significant that it is signed at this place.”

 

A NOTE ABOUT ROBERT E. LEE

Lee was born at Stratford, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, son of Revolutionary War hero Henry Lee ("Lighthorse Harry") and Ann Hill Carter Lee. He entered the United States Military Academy in 1825. When he graduated (second in his class of 46) in 1829 he had not only attained the top academic record but was the first cadet (and so far the only) to graduate the Academy without a single demerit. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers.

Lee served for seventeen months at Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island, Georgia. In 1831, he was transferred to Fort Monroe, Virginia, as assistant engineer. While he was stationed there, he married Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington. They lived in the Custis mansion, located on the banks of the Potomac River in Arlington, just across from Washington, D.C.. They eventually had three sons and four daughters.

Lee distinguished himself in the Mexican War 1846-1848. He was one of Winfield Scott's chief aides in the march from Vera Cruz to Mexico City.

He was promoted to Major after the battle of Cerro Gordo in April, 1847. He also fought at Contreras, Cherubusco and Chapultepec, and was wounded at the latter. By the end of the war he had been promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel.

In 1855, Lee became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Cavalry and was sent to the Texas frontier. There he helped protect settlers from attacks by the Apache and the Comanche.

These were not happy years for Lee as he did not like to be away from his family for long periods of time, especially as his wife was becoming increasingly ill. Lee came home to see her as often as he could. He happened to be in Washington at the time of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1859, and was sent there to arrest Brown and to restore order. He did this very quickly and then returned to his regiment in Texas. When Texas seceded from the Union in 1861, Lee was called to Washington, DC to wait for further orders.

 

BOOKS and VIDEOS OF INTEREST

For Love and Liberty

The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter

If you were among the millions who fell in love with Ken Burns's documentary The Civil War back in 1990, today there's probably only one moment you remember from it: "The Letter." Read as the music soared at the end of the first episode, the letter from unsung Rhode Island soldier Sullivan Ballou to his wife on the eve of battle—and likely death—brought a nation of viewers to tears for its eloquence and passion.

This is Ballou's story. At the age of thirty-four, less than ten years after meeting the love of his life, Sarah Shumway, Ballou left his law practice and budding political career, his wife and two young sons, and took a commission as a major in the Union Army. He served in the army for almost two months but was struck down at the First Battle of Manassas-Bull Run. Civil War enthusiasts will devour the detailed depiction of the battle in which Ballou participated, and romantics will be absorbed in Sarah and Sullivan's love story.

For Love and Liberty brings the war to life with startling detail, depicting not only the heroism of its soldiers, but also the courage of the families they left behind.

Excerpt:
"The Letter"

July 14,1861

Camp Clark, Washington DC

 

Dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days - perhaps tomorrow. And lest I should not be able to write you again I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I am no more.

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing - perfectly willing - to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this government, and to pay that debt.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but omnipotence can break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly with all those chains to the battlefield. The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me, and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you, that I have enjoyed them for so long. And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes and future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and see our boys grown up to honorable manhood around us.

If I do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I loved you, nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name...

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been!...

But, 0 Sarah, if the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love, I shall always be with you, in the brightest day and in the darkest night... always, always. And when the soft breeze fans your cheek, it shall be my breath, or the cool air your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again...

Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the 1st Battle of Bull Run.

 

 

"Lincoln and Lee At Antietam

- The Cost of Freedom"

Told by Ron Maxwell

The latest film from Inecom Entertainment Company is "Lincoln and Lee at Antietam - The Cost of Freedom," part of the "MINUTES OF HISTORY®"series, will be distributed to public broadcasting stations nationwide in May 2006.

Narrated by Ronald F. Maxwell, director of "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals," the feature documentary is presented by Penn State Public Broadcasting (PSPB). The special will air on stations beginning in May 2006, and will be broadcast in standard and high definition formats. (Check local listings for dates/times in your area).

Written, directed and produced by multiple-award winner Robert Child ("Gettysburg: Three Days of Destiny," "Gettysburg: The Boys in Blue and Gray"), "Lincoln and Lee at Antietam - The Cost of Freedom" vividly brings to life the story of America's fight for freedom in a battle that changes the course of the Civil War.

It's September 17, 1862, and President Abraham Lincoln needs a victory in order to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. But General Robert E. Lee has other plans -- invade the North. When Lee's strategy, known as Special Order 191, falls into the hands of the Union Army, the result is the single bloodiest day in American history at the Battle of Antietam in Sharpsburg, Maryland.

Inecom's newest title will be on sale at video stores, Internet retailers, educational and institutional distributors and retail chains on January 31, 2006. Many retailers are currently accepting pre-orders.

 

VISIT THE BATTLEFIELDS

WHEN YOU CAN...WHILE YOU CAN

SEE YOU TUESDAY NIGHT

 

for  Don Nall and Stonewall Jackson