Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind them!" And so, Jackson received his nickname "Stonewall" for his brave stand at Bull Run (Wheeler 45, 46).
Jackson was no doubt a brave fighter, and one of the smartest generals in the war, but not until later was he recognized as so. He believed strongly in God and his faith made him the hero of the war for the Confederates. He believed that this was his calling from God, and nothing was going to stop him from accomplishing it. No doubt he was one of the best generals, if not the best in the Civil War, yet he could not have accomplished all this without God.
Clarksburg, Virginia (later to become West Virginia), January 21, 1824, the Jackson family was blessed by a new member of the family, Thomas. Tragically, both of his parents had died by the time he was seven. His siblings and himself were separated and sent to live with different relatives willing to take them in. He was plagued with lifelong sicknesses, some may have been just in his mind, but he exercised regularly to keep the sickness from overpowering him (Comptons). Although not required to, he worked in the fields with the slaves raising crops and livestock. He sheared sheep, learned to make sugar from maple sap, and he helped to run his uncles gristmill and sawmill and even worked as a lumberman in the forest. His activities were wide and varied including hunting, fishing, horse racing, playing the violin, and he required a love to read which counterbalanced his small amount of schooling (Wheeler 1, 2). .
Morality and Christianity soon became a large part of his life. Although not committed to a certain church, he would walk three miles to attend either a Baptist or a Methodist church and sat attentively listening to the sermon. He became such a well-respected person, that at age seventeen he was given a job as a district constable. He did not like the job though, as seriously as he took it, so through the congressmen of the area and other respected friends he was nominated to go to West Point, one of the most well sought after and respected high education academies in the nation.
