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dragoon

Greetings,

Haven't had the pleasure of corresponding with you in quite some time. Hope everything is well.

I make no pretense at being an expert on this particular subject, however, IMHO, I tend to think General Bee may have been complaining that Jackson was not coming quickly enough to his support, which could be a criticism of his tactic's. However, on closer examination, I'm not sure the "facts" would support such criticism.

General Jackson's reputation isn't one which maintains that Jackson was known for the stubborn holding of a position (i.e., stalling) or for an unwillingness to enter the fray. Thus I discount any version which implies that Jackson was deliberately stalling and/or not trying to engage the enemy.

IMHO, the nickname stems from what would become Jackson's reputation for displaying a normally unperterbable temperament under fire.

Such "calmness" can be misinterperted as stalling tactics by someone who is depending on Jackson for quick immediate action to relieve enemy pressure on their particular unit. Misinterpretation is even more likely when such conduct is seen for the first time in a battle thats happening during the early stages of a conflict.

I think a reaction to that "calmness" is what Bee was referring to when he saw Jackson that day. I feel Bee felt Jackson's actions underfire were too slow in coming to his relief. Bee became frustrated because, in his viewpoint Jackson wasn't rapidly moving to support him.

Couple this with an observation that the individual you (Bee) are depending on to move to your asssistance doesn't seem to be aware of how badly you need those reinforcements, and it is not too hard to see why Bee was frustrated.

Thus, Bee states the by now famous phrase. In that type of scenario Bee would indeed be criticising Jackson, and given the old adage that perception is reality, would have been perfectly justified in doing so, even if ultimately Bee's judgement turned out to be erroneous.

I agree whole-heartedly with your assessment of how confusing the contemporary accounts of the battle are, and not just on this particular subject. Seems as times that the after action accounts are exceeded only by the actual battle itself in the confusion area.

Regards,

Missouri Brigade

dragoon

Greetings,

I'm in complete agreement with you about Bee's statement not being complimentary when uttered, and also that it became an example of excellent spin to turn it into a "positive" reflection on Jackson versus a negative.

If I gave the impression I was disputing your position I apologize because I was actually trying to support your argument.

My only "tweaking" of what you posted is to theorize that had Bee lived, and become apprised of the entire situation, his "anger" would have dissipated, IMHO, and he would have looked more favorably upon Jackson than what his very understandable quote appears to demonstrate.

However, this "tweaking" is pure speculation on my part, and bigger fueds have resulted from much smaller incidents than what Bee experienced from Jackson in this instance.

Regards,

Missouri Brigade