Stonewall Jackson
Preserved but no longer current.
Thomas J. Jackson (1824-63), one of the Confederate generals in the American Civil War; so called because at the Battle of Bull Run (1861) General Bee, of South Carolina, observing his men to waver, exclaimed, "Look at Jackson's men; they stand like a stone wall!
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Stonewall Jackson” mean?
Thomas J. Jackson (1824-63), one of the Confederate generals in the American Civil War; so called because at the Battle of Bull Run (1861) General Bee, of South Carolina, observing his men to waver, exclaimed, "Look at Jackson's men; they stand like a stone wall!
Is “Stonewall Jackson” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.