Mystery of Stonewall Author Says Hollywood Won't Understand Confederate General

BY GEITNER SIMMONS
SALISBURY POST

Tragedy hovered over Stonewall Jackson's life like an obstinate demon.

The famed Confederate general endured a childhood of misery and neglect, then as an adult, he endured the deaths of several loved ones. It's a powerful story, a genuine rags-to-riches tale fully worthy of a movie - but Jackson biographer James I. Robertson says the general's life is probably beyond Hollywood's ability to comprehend.

''He was a man motivated totally by faith ... Hollywood won't have a clue as to what to do with him,'' Robertson, a historian at Virginia Tech, said during a United Daughters of the Confederacy luncheon here Monday.

Jackson saw the Civil War as ''a scourge that God put upon America,'' and he went into battle believing completely that the side with the most faith would win.

The Confederate commander, a complex figure not easily understood in today's terms, earned the respect of Northern forces for his stunning cavalry attacks, yet, because of the emotional scarring he suffered as a child, he also was profoundly sensitive to children and their needs, Robertson said.

Hollywood producers have bought the movie rights to Robertson's book. But he told members of the Daughters' Robert F. Hoke Chapter: ''If they can't handle Jackson correctly, I'd rather not see them handle him at all.''

Robertson, whose book ''Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend'' is generally considered the most comprehensive study of the Confederate general, spoke mainly about Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee during his remarks at the United Daughters' luncheon. The historian gave an extensive presentation on Jackson Monday night at Catawba College as part of the school's Community Forum series. A packed audience of about 250 people attended the Catawba event.

Biographers shouldn't get emotionally involved with their subjects, but maintaining that distance from Jackson over the course of five years of research was simply impossible, Robertson said. The depth of pain in Jackson's early life was just too overpowering.

''You will not find a human being who suffers as many hard knocks,'' Robertson said.

Robertson's research involved receiving materials from a vast variety of sources, but the highlight came the day the historian was in an obscure library collection at Tulane University and uncovered a book listing the moral prescriptions Jackson used to guide his life.

''I opened the box of manuscripts, and there on top was the little black book that Jackson carried early in his life,'' Robertson said. ''I cried.'' The book opened a door to understanding Jackson's attitude toward life. It showed how he committed himself to overcoming the effects of his deprived childhood, Robertson said.

''I've never met someone I respected more,'' the historian said.

The numerous tragedies in Jackson's life were capped by the general's own death at the age of 39: fatally shot by his own men by mistake. Jackson's death was a painful blow to the Confederate military, robbing it of its remarkable mobility. After Jackson's death, Lee's men had to stand up and engage Northern forces in a series of head-on confrontations. That approach amounted to a ''losing battle,'' Robertson said.

The historian also talked about lemons. Jackson did not suck them, Robertson said.

It's long been claimed by both admirers and detractors of Jackson that he went into battle waving lemons like a magic charm. In reality, Robertson said, Jackson tried to improve his digestive problems by eating lemons as well as other, more common fruits found in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. From that fruit fixation arose the curious legend of the lemons.

In his luncheon remarks about Lee, Robertson noted that in the 1830s and '40s Lee had traveled extensively throughout the eastern United States, from Savannah, Ga., to New York Harbor, overseeing the construction of dams and fortifications as a skilled military engineer. The Mississippi River, for example, was slowly moving away from the city of St. Louis. ''Lee went out and he stopped the Mississippi from leaving St. Louis,'' Robertson said.

Robertson cited several ''secrets of success'' for Lee: his audacity in launching attacks, his kindness toward individuals, his great religious faith, the love he had for his men and the love they displayed toward him.

A factor too little appreciated in analyzing Civil War military performance is health, Robertson said. Lee enjoyed robust health for most of his life, but he developed a serious heart condition over the course of the Civil War. Those health problems were bound to affect his ability to carry out his responsibilities, Robertson said.

Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill suffered spectacular health problems stemming from gonorrhea he had contracted years earlier as a young cadet, Robertson said. While defending against Northern forces at Petersburg, Hill continually urged on his men by riding through their ranks on horseback. Robertson once asked a medical expert whether it would have been difficult for Hill to ride, given his medical problems. The expert said it was amazing that Hill would have even been able to mount a horse in the first place.

What spurred Hill to endure the pain? Gallantry, Robertson said - the same sense of intense devotion that also motivated Jackson and Lee.

Dr. Gary Freeze of the Catawba College faculty contributed to this article.