Thomas Stonewall: A Brief Biography

"Never take counsel of your fears," said Thomas Jackson showing his truly fearless side. Stonewall was a brave Confederate general who was born on January 21, 1824, to his mother and father, Jonathan Jackson and Julia Beckwith Neale. Both his father and sister got very sick and died of typhoid fever before he was the mere age of five. His mother was not able to provide for her family alone, so Thomas was sent to live with his uncle, Cummins Edward Jackson. He helped him at his grist mill and had an almost normal childhood. At the age of eighteen, he decided to go to West Point Military Academy. He struggled all throughout and finally finished 17th in his