Thomas Jackson

Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson

The smoke and the cannon shots swirled around the desperate troops. There seemed to be no way out. They couldn’t run, but they couldn’t fight. Step by step they were being forced to retreat. Their courage and strength were leaving them. With each step back, everything looked a little more hopeless. The troops were about to give up and run when they heard their general shout. “There is Jackson standing like a stonewall. Let us determine to die here and we will conquer.”

That was the setting of my hero’s grand entrance. The weary Confederate soldiers at Manassas had been fighting all day and had been desperately waiting for Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson to arrive. When Jackson arrived, his own small brigade certainly didn’t look like enough to hold the entire federal army. Yet there Jackson and his brigade stood holding their ground and fighting with their hearts as well as their rifles. Jackson’s wall of men gave the Confederate troops a new hope and strength. The Confederates won the Battle of Manassas through the courage and strength of one man. Jackson and his brigade became one the elite fighting forces of the Confederate army. Jackson became one of the most influential leaders of the Confederate army all because of his courageous stand at Manassas.

Jackson’s courage and bravery became renowned through out the whole nation because he stood fast. He didn’t give up when things got tough; he just kept fighting. It takes a lot of heart to stand like that in the face of almost certain death. Jackson didn’t think about dying, he thought about what needed to be done. The lesson I take away from his stand is that even when things get tough or seem hopeless, I need to take a leap of faith and do the right thing. Jackson thought about the future of his cause and not his own personal safety when he made his stand. That is what a hero should do.