Uniform worn by "Stonewall" Jackson
Item
- Legacies Classification
- Memorial Type
- Memorial Context
- Memorialized Subject
- Title
- Background and Context
- Physical Description
- Memorial Inscription
- Date created, installed or dedicated
- Historical Period
- Location: Institution, City, State
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Memorial Object
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Object
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General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson
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Uniform worn by "Stonewall" Jackson
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Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was a professor at Virginia Military Institute, Confederate general, and Lost Cause icon. Before the Civil War, Jackson taught at the Virginia Military Institute. He became famous during the Civil War as a Confederate general, earning the nickname “Stonewall" and winning several unlikely victories. After his death in 1863, Jackson became a central figure in the “Lost Cause” movement, which lionized his allegedly infallible generalship and Christianity.
On January 21, 1926, VMI held a ceremony to formally receive Jackson's uniform and other relics from Julia Jackson Preston, Stonewall Jackson's granddaughter. The Corps of Cadets assembled for a 15-gun salute in Jackson's honor followed by the formal presentation of the relics in Jackson Memorial Hall. Representative Thomas Connally of Texas gave a speech commemorating Jackson's life and Confederate military service. The Cadet newspaper described Connally's speech: "it was demonstrated how Jackson chose to defend his native state and its right to secession.” Connally’s focus on Jackson’s military service and his “real genius” is typical of the Lost Cause, which minimized slavery’s centrality to the Civil War.
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The uniform comprises a blue Model 1851 U.S. Army officer’s wool frock coat. The buttons contain the Virginia State Seal.
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"Jackson was wearing this VMI professor's uniform when he earned his nickname Stonewall at the Battle of Manassas, 21 July 1861, and also at the Battle of Port Republic, 8 June 1862, when he narrowly escaped capture by federal Ohio cavalrymen. In a letter to his wife the day after Manassas, Jackson mentioned that the coat had been "wounded" in the right hip. The repair is still visible. This is the only known Jackson uniform to survive the war. Gift of Julia Jackson Preston, granddaughter of T.J. Jackson. Model 1851 U.S. Army Officer's Frock coat, wool, 1926.0012 a&b"
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21 January 1926
Position: 808 (8 views)