Thursday, May 10, 2012

May 10, 1863: Death of General "Stonewall" Jackson



          In what was General Robert E. Lee’s greatest campaign victory, that of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in the spring of 1863, was also his greatest loss, for it was in that battle that he lost the services of General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known as Stonewall Jackson.
          Wounded several times in the early hours of May 2, Jackson was shot by his own men who thought that the small group on horseback were Federal cavalry. His arm was amputated back at the field hospital. Taken by wagon to Guinea Station, he was to eventually contract pneumonia and die. But before he died, he had this conversation with his Presbyterian chaplain, Rev. Lacy:
          “You see me severely wounded, but not depressed, not unhappy. I believe it has been done according to God’s holy will, and I acquiesce entirely in it. You may think it strange, but you never saw me more perfectly contented than I am today; for I am sure that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied that, either in this life, or in that which is to come, I shall discover that what is now regarded as a calamity is a blessing. And if it appears a great calamity, as it sure will be a great inconvenience, to be deprived of my arm, it will result in a greater blessing. I can wait until God, in his own time, shall make known to me the object He has in thus afflicting me. But why should I not rather rejoice in it as a blessing, and not look on it as a calamity at all? If it were in my power to replace my arm, I would not dare to do it, unless I know it was the will of my Heavenly Father.”
          Stonewall Jackson was a Christian Presbyterian, a deacon in the Presbyterian church back in Lexington, Virginia. He had learned the Shorter Catechism in his married life, repeating it word for word to his beloved wife, one Sabbath afternoon. And, he lived an outstanding Christian life in peace and in war.
          It was said that just before his death on Sunday, May 10, 1863, he uttered the last sentence on this side of glory, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.” His wife, Mary Anna, said, knowing him intimately, “Was he reaching forward across the river of death, to the golden streets of the Celestial City, and the trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations? It was to these that God was bringing him, through his last battle and victory; and under their shade he walks, with the blessed company of the redeemed.”

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