Are we to suppose that Jackson was referring to a previous incident? Or just making clear that his offer expires.
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Ironically, he was one of the deserters who was shot later on in the movie. He refused to go to Pennsylvania choosing instead to stay in the Confederate Army. Yet two years later he would desert the same army. Just goes to show you how war can be so terrible it can break even the most determined men.
shareUnless someone can provide documentation on it, I'm guessing that the characters of Private Jenkins and his minister father were fictional and so was the scene. I think the scene was crafted to illustrate Jackson's priorities of God and country (i.e., the statehood of Virgina), in that order.
Jackson did have men shot for desertion. But let's just say for a minute that the scene was 100% accurate and Jenkins had already had a record of desertion by the time of the meeting with Jackson and his dad. If I were Jackson, I don't think I'd want to have a man in my ranks who already deserted before. Could he be counted on not to do it again?
UPDATE- I looked in the index of my copy of Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend by James I Robertson. I found no reference to anyone named Jenkins. This further convinces me that the characters were fictional and so was the scene.
Jackson did have men shot for desertion.