'There Is Jackson, Standing Like a Stone Wall...'
Great timing for this post, for today is the 151st anniversary of these words and the legend they created. As the story goes, Genereal Barnard Bee, trying to rally his retreating and demoralized troops, pointed out General Thomas J. Jackson, on horseback, remaining calm and unnerved by explosions and bullets around him- or as one soldier put it, moving "about in that shower of death as calmly as a farmer about his farm when the seasons are good." At that moment, Bee said something to his troops, which may have been these words: “Look, men! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer! Rally behind the Virginians!”
Something must obviously have been said, for that moment bolstered the Confederates and changed the course of the battle to a southern victory. But I wonder... how many actually heard whatever Bee said?
Bee was wounded shortly after he spoke and died a day or so later- with the priority of trying to save his life, no one asked him to clarify his words (or maybe they were trying to save him just so he COULD clarify them, haha). But I was just reading about another battle (Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862, also involving Jackon) and a soldier's account talks about the noise of the battlefield, with similar conditions as 1st Bull Run:
"... [General Jackson] met his men falling back in considerable disorder... and called on his men to rally and follow him [and he] would lead them. This all may be true, but how he could have been heard is a mystery to me. The rattle of musketry, the shouting, the cheering, and yelling was deafening."
I'm not questioning the integrity of whatever Bee said. I believe the intent was to speak tyhe best of Jackson at Bull Run and rally the troops. I know the real answer will never be known but I'm just wondering if the story rwally happened according to the legend.