-- Stonewall Jackson's dying words
When most people pass away, they're typically laid to rest or cremated and that's the end of it. There are some occasions however, when the deceased will have more than one final resting place. This was the case for both Judy Garland and Anton Yelchin, both previously covered in this blog.
In both of those cases, family members had the final remains moved from one cemetery to another, in order to better accommodate grieving fans. Yelchin even got a statue! Like those two Hollywood notables, Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson also has two graves, but he's actually buried in both of them!
On May 2, 1863, Jackson was wounded by friendly fire at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. He took three bullets to the arm, which necessitated its amputation. Regiment Chaplain Beverly Tucker Lacy buried the limb in a field behind Ellwood Manor in Fredericksburg. A stone marker was set in place, which still welcome visitors to this day.
Jackson died of his wounds eight days later on May 10th. He was 39 years old. He was laid to rest at Oak Grove Cemetery in Lexington, about 120 miles away.
Rest in peace.
Trivia
Trivia
- If you want to learn more about Stonewall Jackson, take a voyage to Amazon. It's all in books.
- Jackson earned his nickname during the Battle of Bull Run, where General Barnard Bee noted "there is Jackson standing under a stone wall."
- Legend tells that the arm was exhumed by the military in 1921, but this has never been substantiated. Whatever the truth may be, the marker remains as a local tourist attraction.
- Several museums honoring Jackson can be found in Virginia. They include Stonewall Jackson's Headquarters in Winchester, the Jackson House Museum in Lexington, and the Jackson Death Site in Woodford.
- In recent years, several memorials to Jackson have been removed, including a monument in Richmond, Virginia and a stained-glass window at Washington National Cathedral.
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