My opinion is:
When he was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad,... he was at the "7 Days Battles."
He was a genuine eccentric and probably borderline crazy.
From wikipedia, short summaries to keep it short:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">By adding Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's large division and Maj. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's small division, Jackson increased his army to 17,000 men. He was still significantly outnumbered, but attacked portions of his divided enemy individually at McDowell, defeating both Brig. Gens. Robert H. Milroy and Robert C. Schenck. He defeated Banks at Front Royal and Winchester, ejecting him from the Valley. Lincoln decided that the defeat of Jackson was an immediate priority (though Jackson's orders were solely to keep Union forces occupied away from Richmond). They ordered Irvin McDowell to send 20,000 men to Front Royal and Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont to move to Harrisonburg. If both forces could converge at Strasburg, Jackson's only escape route up the Valley would be cut.
After a series of maneuvers, Jackson defeated Frémont's command at Cross Keys and Brig. Gen. James Shields at Port Republic on June 8–9. Union forces were withdrawn from the Valley.
It was a classic military campaign of surprise and maneuver. Jackson pressed his army to travel 646 miles (1,040 km) in 48 days of marching and won five significant victories with a force of about 17,000 against a combined force of 60,000. Stonewall Jackson's reputation for moving his troops so rapidly earned them the oxymoronic nickname "foot cavalry". He became the most celebrated soldier in the Confederacy (until he was eventually eclipsed by Lee) and lifted the morale of the Southern public.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
When his 17,000 men outmarched and outfought 60,000, you can say that his opposing Union generals were boobs, but that is like saying that Babe Ruth got most of his homeruns off mediocre pitchers. Babe Ruth is still celebrated for his "victories."
Now for the bad stuff during the 7 Days Battles:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Jackson's troops served well under Lee in the series of battles known as the Seven Days Battles, but Jackson's own performance in those battles is generally considered to be poor. He arrived late at Mechanicsville and inexplicably ordered his men to bivouac for the night within clear earshot of the battle. He was late and disoriented at Gaines' Mill. He was late again at Savage's Station, and at White Oak Swamp, he failed to employ fording places to cross White Oak Swamp Creek, attempting for hours to rebuild a bridge, which limited his involvement to an ineffectual artillery duel and a missed opportunity. At Malvern Hill, Jackson participated in the futile, piecemeal frontal assaults against entrenched Union infantry and massed artillery and suffered heavy casualties, but this was a problem for all of Lee's army in that ill-considered battle. The <font color="yellow">reasons for Jackson's sluggish and poorly coordinated actions during the Seven Days are disputed, although a severe lack of sleep after the grueling march and railroad trip from the Shenandoah Valley was probably a significant factor. Both Jackson and his troops were completely exhausted</font id="yellow">.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I think that the summary is too kind. From accounts that I have read, Jackson lay down with his back against a tree and slept, although the sounds of battle could be heard and subordinates were suggesting that they continue to march.
Even if his troops and he were exhausted and unable to launch a strong attack, had they shown up on a flank, that might have been enough to get the federals to withdraw.
As it was, it left A. P. Hill's troops attacking at severe disadvantage, which they called off when Jackson did not appear.
The main value of Jackson to Lee, IMNSHO, was 1. his ability for independent command as in the Valley Campaign, and 2. his ability to aggressively lead troops in attacks which helped establish Lee's early reputation as an invincible commander. Lee realized his importance as in the quote at Chancellorsville, "Give General Jackson my affectionate regards, and say to him: he has lost his left arm but I my right."
BG Ross McDaniel
2nd Bde, 3rd Div, III Corps, AoG, CSA
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain-20th Maine-
(At the end of the first day's fighting at Fredericksburg...)
But out of that silence rose new sounds more appalling still; a strange ventriloquism, of which you could not locate the source, a smothered moan, as if a thousand discords were flowing together into a key-note weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and bear, yet startling with its nearness; the writhing concord broken by cries for help, some begging for a drop of water, some calling on God for pity; and some on friendly hands to finish what the enemy had so horribly begun; some with delirious, dreamy voices murmuring loved names, as if the dearest were bending over them; and underneath, all the time, the deep bass note from closed lips too hopeless, or too heroic, to articulate their agony...It seemed best to bestow myself between two dead men among the many left there by earlier assaults, and to draw another crosswise for a pillow out of the trampled, blood-soaked sod, pulling the flap of his coat over my face to fend off the chilling winds, and still more chilling, the deep, many voiced moan that overspread the field.
Gen Wm. Tecumseh Sherman
"I am sick and tired of war. Its glory is all moonshine.
It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard
the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation.
War is hell."
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