The Alabama in the Civil War Message Board - Archive

Re: 4th Alabama Captain Porter King

Well, anything is possible. I was trying to respond to the question as to the 'actors' involved in the 'stonewall' comment. However, James I. Robertson, jr., wrote a biography of Stonewall Jackson in 1997 and speaks directly to the 'darker' possibility in a footnote on p. 835:

"Exactly what Bee meant in his war cry has created negative interpretation among a few writers. The origin of this viewpoint began with two staff officers: Maj. Chase Whiting, whose resentment of Jackson at Winchester in the spring escalated in time to open dislike, and Maj. Thomas G. Rhett, who graduated sixth in the West Point class of 1845 but never progressed beyond staff assignments. These two men, with Whiting by far the more outspoken, told another South Carolina officer that Jackson refused to advance to Bee's relief. 'In a passionate expression of anger [Bee] denounced him for standing like a stone wall and allowing them to be sacrificed.' [John Cheve Haskell Memoir, Duke.] No established facts support any part of that statement. One of Bee's own aides, William P. Shingler, wrote a little-known account that refutes all negative overtones placed on the origin of the nickname. See New Eclectic Magazine, 4 (1869): 745-46."

However, I agree that Bee and his 3rd Brigade were heroes at that moment.

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4th Alabama Captain Porter King
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