General Bee supposedly inspired his men by pointing to Jackson's Brigade and saying "There stands Jackson like a stone wall."

Bee used a figure of speech--in technical terms it is called "synedoche"--in which a part stands in for a whole.  Bee used "Jackson" to stand for the longer, more cumbersome, and less inspirational "Jackson and the soldiers under his command."  The longer string of words is of course what he meant, but had he said it that way, it would likely not have been as effective for inspiring his own men.

So I don't think it is really correct to say that Bee left out the bravery and sacrifice of Jackson's men--and the expression certainly does not refer *just* to the men of his command.  In the civil war, good officers lead from the front, and fully shared the danger with the soldiers they commanded.  Indeed, since in the early part of the war many of them lead from horseback (and since the kick from a civil war rifled musket, and the relatively slow burning powder, meant that bullets notoriously tended to fly high) one might argue plausibly that such officers were in greater danger than the men they lead.  The carnage of every Civil War battlefield took a disproportionately heavy toll on officers, all the way through the war.

General Bee's words referred both to Jackson AND to the men of his command.  I do not mean any slight to Jackson's soldiers by saying this--but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater either.  Effective officers in the Civil War were men of surpassing bravery and courage, and a good many of them in both armies paid the last full measure for their devotion.
___________________________
Kevin R. Hardwick
Associate Professor
Department of History, MSC 8001
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
________________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Melinda Skinner [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 04, 2011 5:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: News from Virginia's Executive Mansion 08041932Z11

Great comment. It's always been too easy for the history writers to ignore the cannon fodder



----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Waddell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, August 4, 2011 4:36:08 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] News from Virginia's Executive Mansion 08041932Z11

As much as I admire Jackson; I must correct all of you to my opinion; it
wasn't Jackson standing like a stonewall: it was his men! Few understand -
they being the ones that have had the "experience".

Regards, Ray
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