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==== How Thomas Became "Stonewall" ====
After Virginia officially seceded from the United States, Colonel Jackson was ordered to Harpers Ferry to organize the rapidly growing number of volunteers into a coherent fighting unit. Proving his capabilities as a leader, Jackson was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of the 1st Virginia Brigade. After the heroics of the Brigade and those of its general, after the 1st Battle of Bull Run, the 1st Virginia forever became the Stonewall Brigade. Confederate General Bernard Bee gave Jackson the moniker "Stonewall" in 1861 at Manassas.
[[File:Stonewall1 firstbullrun.jpg|thumbnail|left|250px|Portrait depicting Jackson at the 1st Battle of Bull Run, July 1861.]]
On July 21, Jackson rode along his men and ordered them to hold fire until the enemy was within 30 paces. The New York Zouaves, notable for their conspicuous red uniforms and tasseled hats, began their attack on Henry House Hill. Artillery was raining down, and the entire Confederate left flank was under heavy fire. While troops from Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina were falling back as ordered, Jackson’s men held their ground. According to Private John O. Casler:
''General Bernard E. Bee, riding up to General Jackson, who sat on his horse calm and unmoved, though severely wounded in the hand, exclaimed in a voice of anguish: “General, they are beating us back.” Turning to General Bee, he said calmly: “Sir, we’ll give them the bayonet.” Hastening back to his men, General Bee cried enthusiastically, as he pointed to Jackson: “Look yonder! There is Jackson and his brigade standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here and we will conquer. Rally behind them!"''<ref>John O. Casler, ''Four Years in the Stonewall Brigade'', 2nd ed., 1906 (Endeavour Press, 2016), location 137, Kindle. This is a riveting and honest account of a Confederate Private. Many low-ranked Southern soldiers was unable to read due to the unavailability of education, thereby making the number of memoirs and journals from such men limited. Northern soldiers, in general, had a higher level of education and produced a greater number of accurate and well-written works.</ref>
Like many myths it may not be entirely true, some accounts state that Bee was irritated by Jackson's inactivity and angrily gestured, “Look at Jackson standing there like a damned stone wall!”<ref>Douglas Southall Freeman, ''Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command'', 3 vols. (New York: 1943-44), 1:733-34.</ref> What is apparent is that it was, in fact, Bee who labeled Jackson as Stonewall yet the context under which he spoke is enigmatic and was never able to be discerned as Bee was killed during the battle.
==== The March to Chancellorsville ====
