There He Stood

Like a stone wall.
On 21-January-1824, Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born. Today he would be 184 years old.
The nickname Stonewall came from Confederate Brigadier General Barnard Elliot Bee, Jr., during an attempt to rally his troops.
A deeply religious man possessing many idiosyncrasies. He was a graduate of West Point and was Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Instructor of Artillery at VMI when the Civil War started. Proof of his conviction is in the following quotation:

My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me. That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.

On May 2, 1863 Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot in the and immediately had the left arm amputated. Eight days later he died of pneumonia. When he heard that Jackson had died Robert E. Lee told his cook:

William, I have lost my right arm and I'm bleeding at the heart.

• Besides being the holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama continue as the only states to honor the birthday of Robert E. Lee as a holiday.