| Jackson, born in what is today West Virginia in 1824 | | | | internal organs were properly aligned. He was also |
| became an orphan as a boy and was raised by his | | | | deeply religious, following the rules of the Bible as if |
| uncle. Although his education was scanty, he obtained | | | | they were a set of military regulations. He established |
| an appointment to West Point, but because of his | | | | a Sunday school for slave children in town.He married |
| rudimentary education, found that he had to apply | | | | twice, his first wife dying in childbirth - not an |
| himself mightily to pass his courses. Here he gained a | | | | uncommon occurrence in nineteenth century America. |
| reputation as a quiet, almost withdrawn, young man | | | | He remarried and bought a house in Lexington and |
| who had within him a deep resolve to make | | | | was very happy with his situation. Jackson and the |
| something of himself.Jackson was commissioned as | | | | VMI corps provided a military presence for the |
| an office in the artillery and soon found himself in a | | | | execution of John Brown. John Brown was not the |
| war. The United States was involved in a war with | | | | end, but only the beginning of sectional strife that |
| Mexico, where many prominent Civil War officers | | | | would lead to war. When the war came, Jackson, like |
| learned about fighting firsthand. Jackson certainly did. | | | | so many others living quiet, contented lives, joined |
| In several important engagements in and around | | | | the colors when his home was threatened. Taking a |
| Mexico City, the young officer distinguished himself | | | | detachment of cadets to Richmond to assist with |
| while expertly and courageously employing his cannon | | | | drilling new recruits, Jackson was dispatched to |
| against the enemy. General Winfield Scott, the | | | | Harper's Ferry to train new soldiers there.Jackson had |
| commanding general himself, made note of Jackson's | | | | no time for the relaxed atmosphere of sunshine |
| accomplishments.Jackson stayed in Mexico for a while | | | | soldiers. He drilled the men hard and established firm |
| and served in various Army posts, including Florida, | | | | discipline. Jackson had a full beard and piercing blue |
| where his exacting sense of duty and strict | | | | eyes. He was awkward in his manner, careless in his |
| adherence to regulations and orders brought down | | | | dress, wearing the military coat he wore in Mexico |
| the wrath of his lackadaisical post commander. This | | | | and he wore a battered cap pulled low over his eyes. |
| experience soured Jackson on the peacetime army | | | | He had no interest in the pomp and circumstance of |
| and he accepted an appointment as a college | | | | the parade ground or the privileges of rank that |
| professor of natural philosophy (physics) and artillery | | | | some officers sought. Quiet, serious, seemingly |
| tactics at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. | | | | preoccupied, Jackson always put his duty as a soldier |
| Lexington was a small, tidy town at the end of the | | | | first above everything else and was |
| Shenandoah Valley.As an instructor, Jackson earned | | | | uncomprehending when others did not do the |
| the cadets' respect over time, but his methods and | | | | same.Although thoroughly disliked by his new |
| personality were hard to get used to. Each night | | | | trainees, Jackson cared not a whit. War was serious |
| after supper, Jackson would laboriously memorize his | | | | business and called for stern measures. He would |
| lesson for the next day. In class, he would repeat | | | | follow his orders and do his duty. Jackson did his job |
| the lesson verbatim. If interrupted by a cadet's | | | | well. The same unit he trained at Harpers Ferry he |
| question, he would simply repeat word for word the | | | | led on the Manassas battlefield in the first major |
| last section he had just spoken. Needless to say, he | | | | action of the war. The brigade stood out as calm and |
| became a legend. Cadets called him "Tom Fool" | | | | ordered amid the confusion and terror of battle - a |
| Jackson.He was also a hypochondriac, always | | | | direct result of Jackson's stern and demanding |
| imagining some imbalance in his body. As a result, he | | | | discipline. As a reward for his exceptional |
| ate only milk and corn or whole wheat bread to | | | | performance at the Battle of Manassas, Jackson was |
| assist his digestion and sat bolt upright in his chair, like | | | | given command of a small army of 4,200 men with |
| a sculpture of an Egyptian pharaoh, to ensure his | | | | the mission of defending the Shenandoah Valley. |