7. Stonewall Jackson also fell to friendly fire
During 1862 through May, 1863, Stonewall Jackson rose from command of a brigade to senior corps commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. Instrumental in several of Lee’s notable victories, Jackson became the Confederacy’s most feared field commander. His Valley Campaign in 1862 defeated three separate Union Armies, helping to relieve the pressure on Lee before Richmond. That campaign remains one studied closely by students of military tactics. He stressed speed of movement, and the use of terrain to screen troops from the enemy. Though never beloved by his men, he earned their respect and prompt obedience. At Chancellorsville, widely regarded as Lee’s tactical masterpiece, Jackson proposed and executed the flanking maneuver which drove back the Union right and disheartened their commander, Joseph Hooker.
Following the attack on May 2, 1863, Jackson and his retinue of aides reconnoitered the Union position, planning a follow-up attack the next day. Confederate troops, hearing his party in the dark but not identifying it, opened fire. Jackson, hit three times, had his left arm amputated. Eight days later he died of complications including pneumonia. Following Jackson’s death, Lee’s army embarked on its ill-fated invasion of Pennsylvania which culminated in defeat at Gettysburg. Although Lee won additional victories in 1864, he never again demonstrated the tactical brilliance on the battlefield his army had displayed when Jackson served as a corps commander. The friendly fire which killed Jackson changed the manner in which the army fought for the rest of the war.
