Stonewall Jackson Research Paper

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Stonewall Jackson was an important figure in the Civil War. Stonewall Jackson got his nickname at the Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. When he was shooting, Confederate General Barnard E. Bee said, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall." The soldiers under his command came to admire his stubborn courage and started calling him "Stonewall'' Jackson. He went to West Point Military Academy and graduated 17th in his class. As a US Army officer, he fought in the Mexican War. He had some quiet years after that, teaching military tactics and physical science at the Virginia Military Institute. After the Virginia Convention voted to secede on April 17, 1861, Jackson was appointed a major of topographical engineers in the state's forces. But after he was ranked as a colonel, he had gained the ability to command soldiers at Harpers Ferry. …show more content…
Marching his 17,000 troops rapidly over long distances, he defeated superior Union forces at Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic. In the spring of 1862, Jackson ordered a vigorous offensive that diverted thousands of Federal troops from their massive advance against the Confederate capital at Richmond. With the US General. George B. McClellan advancing on Richmond with about 100,000 soldiers, Jackson had orders to cause a strategic distraction in the Shenandoah Valley. Using aggressive tactics and knowledge of the Valley's terrain, Jackson fought and beat several Federal commanders up and down the Valley from late March to early June. The Federals' retreat from Shenandoah Valley let Jackson's army join Gen. Robert E. Lee's besieged army near the Confederate capital at