17. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, United States Army, Confederate States Army
Born in Clarksburg, Virginia (now West Virginia) Thomas J. Jackson was raised by an uncle following the death of his father. Though a violation of Virginia law at the time, the young Jackson taught a slave owned by his uncle to read and write. The slave successfully escaped via the Underground Railroad after becoming literate. Though Jackson himself was mostly self-educated he successfully completed the entrance examination to West Point, and entered the class of 1846. He fought with the United States Army in Mexico, remained with the army for a short time following the war, and in the 1850s accepted a position as a professor at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington.
Although Jackson supported the idea of educating blacks, both slave and free, he also owned slaves. During the Civil War, he famously supported the Confederacy as one of Lee’s most able battlefield commanders and tacticians. Jackson was known for his various eccentricities, such as sucking on lemons in battle and standing for long periods to align his internal organs. No general or Confederate corps generated more fear in the Union troops opposing him than his. His tactics and leadership resulted in several major Union defeats, including First and Second Bull Run, the Valley Campaign, and Chancellorsville, though wounds received during the latter led to his death in May, 1863.