"Stonewall" Jackson: The Black Man's Friend

Just when you thought there was nothing left to write about Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, along comes this book by Richard G. Williams Jr.

It is the story of Jackson's desire to bring the word of God to the slaves of the antebellum era.

Historians have long struggled with the mystery of a man who came from a slaveholding family, owned slaves himself, and yet broke the prevailing law of Virginia to conduct a weekly Colored Sabbath School, where slaves were taught to read and write while also being brought to a personal knowledge of the Christ of Jackson's heart and soul.

Mr. Williams' book follows Jackson through an orphanlike childhood and his devotion to "Miss Fanny," a slave who raised him; to his teenage years; and on to West Point and the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. Each aspect of his life demonstrates his relationships with the slave families to which he was exposed. more...

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