July 2026 Meeting Summary

At our dinner meeting on July 15th, Dr. Chris Mackowski, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War, gave a very dramatic and highly entertaining
program about the last days of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Attendance at the dinner meeting was 57. Following the program, Round Table members Deb Buckner and Gary Nevius presented Dr. Mackowski with the Harry S. Truman Award, our Round Table’s highest honor.

Dr. Mackowski said one of Stonewall Jackson’s maxims was: “You may be whatever you resolve to be.” What made Jackson successful was his dedication and commitment to resolve. Jackson used sheer willpower to achieve his goals. Jackson attended West Point but was unprepared. His resolve drove him to succeed. At the Virginia Military Institute, Jackson taught physics and artillery tactics. He was a terrible professor. He had a hard time because he was not prepared. However, Jackson was a genius as an artillery professor. The students loved him.

During the Civil War, Jackson earned his nickname “Stonewall” at the first battle of Manassas in July 1861. Jackson formed his brigade in a strong line on Henry House Hill, which helped the Confederates check the Union advance. Brigadier General Barnard Bee shouted to his men: “There is Jackson standing like a stone wall.” 

Jackson teamed up with General Robert E. Lee and became one of the most famous people in America. On May 2, 1863 Stonewall Jackson led an audacious flank attack that delivered a crushing blow against Major General Joseph (“Fighting Joe”) Hooker’s unsuspecting Union Army at Chancellorsville. Then disaster struck. Jackson was accidentally shot by his own men while he was reconnoitering the Union position that night.

Dr. Mackowski went into great detail covering the Battle of Chancellorsville, the resolve of Jackson to defeat Hooker’s army, the wounding of Jackson by his own men, the transportation of Jackson to Guinea Station VA, and his death on Sunday, April 10, 1863. Dr. Mackowski said General Lee doesn’t see that resolve again until General U.S. Grant shows up at the Wilderness on May 5, 1864. Grant resolved to win the war. Lee never gets resolve again from anyone.

Dr. Mackowski offered some final thoughts:

• This resolve of Jackson, was it Jackson’s fatal flaw?
• You are maybe what you resolve to be?

Photos from the meeting