Stone Wall Brigade

On April 17, 1861, Virginia decided to secession, but this was temporarily silent. It was required to take the strategically important city of Harpers Ferry as soon as possible, and Governor called on the Virginia militia to defend the city. Companies began to form throughout the Shenandoah Valley and transfer to Harpers Ferry. It soon became clear that the recruits needed an experienced commander and General Lee sent Thomas Jackson there ^[2] .

Jackson took command of what was then called the "Shenandoah Army." These were 4,500 untrained Virginians, armed with what they had to, down to hunting knives. Jackson immediately began to restore order and bring individual companies into shelves. Five regiments and a battery were brought into the First Virginia Volunteer First Brigade. There were 49 companies in this brigade. The 27th Virgin Regiment was the smallest, in fact a battalion, because it did not have 10 companies. The battery was the so-called "Rockbridge Artillery", which was commanded by William Nelson Pendleton ^[3] .

The brigade was formed by Jackson at Harpers Ferry on April 27, 1861 . It consisted of the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 27th and 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiments and an artillery battery from Rockbridge County. 13 brigade companies were recruited in the western counties, which later became part of West Virginia . The brigade was included in the Virgin Army, then, on May 15 , in the Shenandoah Army , and on July 20 - in the Valley Army.

At first, the Jackson brigade was called the “First Virginia Brigade” and with that name participated in the First Battle of Bull Run , where it had the following composition:

• 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment James Allen
• 4th Virginia Infantry Regiment James Preston
• 5th Virginia Infantry Regiment Kenton Harper
• 27th Virginia Infantry Regiment John Echols
• 33rd Virginia Infantry Regiment Arthur Cummings, Sub. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee
• Rockbridge Artillery Leith. John Brockenbrough

During the battle, both Jackson and the brigade received the nickname "Stone Wall." The brigade owes this name to South Carolina General Bernard B. His exact words were not written down, but he allegedly said: “Jackson is standing there, like a stone wall! Join him! Get up for the Virginians! ”This moment was a turning point during the first battle of the Civil War, when the federal army was stopped and put to flight. Jackson received a promotion, but from time to time commanded this brigade. His first deputy as a brigadier commander was Richard Garnett .

Having received the order to lead the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley , Jackson to the end delayed the moment of parting with his brigade. When this became inevitable, he rode out in front of the ranks, and, rising in his stirrups, exclaimed: “In the army of Shenandoah you were the First Brigade!” In the Potomac Army, you were the First Brigade! In the Second Army Corps, you are the First Brigade! You are the First Brigade for the love of your general! And I hope that you will forever remain the First Brigade in our second War of Independence. Farewell! ^[four]

On March 13, 1862, the Valley Army became part of the North Virginia Army of General Joseph Johnston . Jackson and his team operated in the Shenandoah Valley, providing the left flank of Johnston's army. During the campaign in the valley , Jackson's first and last defeat for that war occurred - the first battle of Kernstown on March 25, 1862.

Focusing on false intelligence, Jackson ordered the brigade to attack a numerically superior federal army. When the brigade ran out of ammunition and was threatened by the environment, General Garnett ordered a retreat, revealing the flank of the Falkerston brigade, which was also forced to withdraw. Jackson was furious at this action taken without his permission, Garnett was removed from command and put on trial. He subsequently died at the Battle of Gettysburg during the Pickett Attack . Charles Winder was appointed commander of the brigade. In four weeks, the team traveled over 400 miles, participated in six successful battles and helped Jackson achieve a strategic victory at the Oriental Theater . For their exceptional mobility (in particular, for the march when it passed 57 miles in 51 hours), Jackson's brigades were nicknamed "Jackson's Cavalry on Foot" .

After the campaign in the valley, the brigade was deployed to strengthen General Lee's army on the Virgin Peninsula. During the Seven Day Battle , at the Battle of Gains Mill , the brigade stormed the right flank of the federal army.

In the North Virginia campaign, the brigade suffered heavy losses on August 9, 1862 in a battle near Cedar Mountain when General Winder was killed. Jackson personally put things in order in his team and he himself led her into battle. The brigade suffered even more serious losses during the second battle of Bull Run . On August 30, the brigade repulsed the attack of the federal Iron Brigade and itself went on the counterattack. The brigade commander, William Baylor, was killed.

Colonel Andrew Grigsby took command - with him, the brigade participated in the Maryland campaign and in the battle of Entity . The brigade defended Westwood and came under attack from the enemy for the first minutes of the battle.

Grigsby was never approved for reasons unknown now. His place was appointed Brigadier General Elisha Paxton , former commander of the 27th Virgin Regiment , then - Jackson Staff Officer. Under the command of Paxton, the brigade participated in the battle of Fredericksburg . In this battle, being part of the Tagliaferro division, the brigade stood on the right flank of the army and participated in the attack on the George Meade federal division, but was generally not actively involved.

In total, in 1862, the team lost more than 1,200 people.

During the Battle of Chancelorsville, the brigade operated as part of Isaac Trimble’s division and took part in Jackson’s famous flanking maneuver on May 2, 1863 . On May 3, the brigade took part in the battle for the Fairview Heights, during the third assault on the heights, it broke into the enemy’s trenches, but was knocked out by a counterattack. Of the 2,000 people, about 600 were lost, including General Paxton himself.

The commander of the 13th Virgin Regiment , Colonel James Walker , was promoted to brigadier general and took command of the brigade. At that time, the brigade consisted of five regiments:

• 2nd Virgin : Regiment. John Nadenbusch
• 4th Virgin : May. William Terry
• 5th Virgin : Regiment. John funk
• 27th Virgin : Sub. Daniel Shriver
• 33rd Virgin : Cap. Jacob Galledey

During the Battle of Gettysburg, the brigade was part of Johnson's division from the Ewell Corps. The division entered the battlefield on the evening of July 1 , when the federal army retreated to Cemetery Hill. The division could be used to develop success and attack the Cemetery Hill, but for a number of reasons this was not done. On July 2 , when Johnson's division stormed Culps Hill, the Stone Wall Brigade was in the rear. She was involved in the attack on Culps Hill the next day , July 3 , but was unable to take the position of the northerners.

In this battle, Private Wesley Kalp, who died in this battle, a few hundred meters from his own home, fought in the ranks of the 2nd Virginia Regiment ^[5] .

The losses of the brigade near Gettysburg were relatively small: 2 officers and 33 privates were killed, 20 officers and 188 privates were wounded, 6 officers and 81 privates were missing, totaling 330 people ^[6] .

During the Overland Campaign, the team participated in the battle in the Wilderness , fighting on the Orange-Courthouse-Turnpike Highway. At the Battle of Spotsilvaini, the brigade stood on the left flank of the “horseshoe mule”, in the area known as the “blood corner”, where Winfield Hancock’s 2nd Corps launched a massive attack. In a bloody hand-to-hand combat, the brigade lost about 200 people killed, wounded or captured among 6 thousand southerners captured by northerners that day. Jackson, the division commander, was also captured, and Walker was seriously injured. The Battle of Spotsilvaini was the end of the Battlefield of the Stone Wall Brigade. It was disbanded, and the few surviving soldiers were consolidated into one small regiment, included in the William Terry brigade. The regiment participated in the campaign in the Valley (1864), led by General Jubal Earley . The regiment proved itself in the battle of Monokashi on July 9, 1864, when it broke through enemy positions and opened the way to Washington . Earley’s army was later defeated by Philip Sheridan and joined General Lee’s North Virginia Army, participating in the siege of Petersberg and the Apomatox Campaign. Of the 6,000 people who served in the Stone Wall Brigade, by the time of the surrender under Appomattox, only 219 remained, with no higher captain.

Out of the ranks of the Stone Wall brigade, eight generals of the North Virginia Army came out: , Elisha Paxton , James Walker , William Terry , William Pendleton , John Echols and John McCausland. Colonel James Allen was recommended for promotion to brigadier general, but died under Gaines Mill before promotion. Abram Spengler practically became a general in 1865, but they forgot about him in the bustle of Richmond's evacuation ^[7] .

Robert Lee the Younger , the son of General Lee, also served in the brigade - he was an ordinary Rockbridge artillery. His nephew William Fitzhugh Lee was a lieutenant colonel of the 33rd Virgin Regiment and died of wounds received at the Battle of Bull Run. The Rockbridge artillery even served two sons of Federal Admiral David Porter ^[8] .

Among the company commanders was Samuel Letcher, the brother of the Governor of Virginia. Colonel Frederick Halliday commanded the 33rd Virgin Regiment and left the army due to illness. In 1878, he became governor of Virginia. ^[9]

Currently, the US 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is descended from the 5th Virginia Infantry Regiment, one of the five regiments of the Jackson Brigade. The regiment’s banner depicts individual scenes from the history of the Stone Wall Brigade.

At the opening in July 1891 at the grave of Jackson at the Lexington Cemetery, an imposing statue of the “Stone Wall”, 30 thousand people gathered. The focus of the entire city was on the surviving veterans of the Stone Wall brigade, dressed in faded and tattered gray uniforms. On the night before the unveiling of the monument, all of Jackson's former soldiers suddenly disappeared. The search led to the cemetery, where the soldiers settled on their blankets around the statue of Jackson. Requests to leave this raw haven and take advantage of the hospitality of the townspeople had no effect. ^[four]

• Cozzens, Peter. Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. - Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008 .-- 640 p. - ISBN 978-0-8078-3200-4 .
• Robertson, James. The Stonewall Brigade. - Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univ Pr, 1977 .-- 271 p. - ISBN 0807103969 .
• Steven M. Smith, Patrick Hook, The Stonewall Brigade, Zenith Imprint 2009 ISBN 9780760330500

• Stonewall Brigade - Virginia Encyclopedia article