Did Stonewall Jackson “cross” or “pass” over the river?

Jackson

The story is familiar to many. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson lies dying in an outbuilding near Guiney Station, Virginia. After being wounded in a friendly fire accident at the battle of Chancellorsville on May 2,1863, Jackson survives amputation of his left arm only to develop a deadly pneumonia four days later. With his wife, Anna, and members of his staff gathered near his bed, Jackson drifts in and out of delirium, muttering disconnected words and sentences. Then, suddenly and clearly, Jackson utters his famous last words: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” A short time later that day, May 10, 1863, Jackson breathes his last.

Although Jackson’s final words have become legendary, the exact phrasing of his statement is not without some controversy. In 1888, a large obelisk-style monument was placed on the Chancellorsville battlefield to commemorate the approximate location of Jackson’s wounding. His “last words” are engraved on one side: “Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.” Furthermore, in the first authorized biography of Stonewall Jackson, Life and Campaigns of Lieut-Gen. Thomas J. Jackson (1866), author Robert L. Dabney also quotes Jackson as saying: “Let us pass over the river….”

Jackson Mounument

 

In contrast to Dabney’s book, a slightly earlier biography by John Esten Cooke, Stonewall Jackson: A Military Biography (1866), documents Jackson’s last words as being “Let us cross over the river….”

So, did Jackson “cross” or “pass” over the river? The answer is not entirely clear. Dabney’s apparent source for the quote was Anna Jackson, who provided the author with a detailed account of the event. In her narrative, Anna states her husband’s last audible words were:  “Let us pass over the river….” As she was likely in the closest proximity to Jackson when he made the statement, her testimony carries considerable weight. But Anna would later use the phrase “Let us cross over the river…” when recounting the event in her own two books, the Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (1892) and Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson by his Widow Mary Anna Jackson (1895).

Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, Jackson’s chief physician, is credited with writing the most famous and eloquent description of the general’s final moments. McGuire’s account – the most oft-cited source of Jackson’s last words – records the general as saying “Let us cross over the river….” Complicating the matter, however, is the fact that McGuire admits in an early handwritten account that he was not actually present at the time Jackson uttered the words.

 

Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly and with an expression as if of relief, “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees “; and then, without pain or the least struggle, his spirit passed from earth to the God who gave it.

 – Hunter Holmes McGuire

 

On the other hand, the general’s meticulous aide-de-camp – Lieut. James Power Smith – was a witness to Jackson’s final moments. Smith wrote several post-war narratives, each time quoting Jackson as using the verb “cross.” Additionally, within one to two weeks of Jackson’s death, several period newspapers, including the Richmond Sentinel, the Richmond Daily Dispatch, and the Central Presbyterian, reported Jackson’s final words as being: “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

Despite the discrepancy in the exact wording, several primary accounts confirm the fact that Jackson did voice some form of the phrase before he died. Although we may never know with certainty whether he actually used the word “pass” or “cross,” the expression “Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees” has become the most widely accepted version of Stonewall Jackson’s last words.

10 Comments

  1. I found the article interesting. Some who say Stonewall said: ” Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the apple tree” feel he was thinking about his childhood at Jackson Mill. If this is the case, cross over would probably be more correct then “pass over”. As far as I know there was just a ford for crossing the West Fork. My Aunt Ethel Swisher use to tell a family story about Stonewall crossing the river to go to a dance. The river was higher then usual and Thomas was concerned about getting his suit wet. Cummins said to his nephew Thomas: ” Well Thomas that is no problem. I will carry you across.” Cummins stopped in the middle of the river and said: “Thomas, I’m tired. I need to rest.” At that point, he dropped Thomas into the river. Cummins was a prankster. Dr. Lively, looking forward to meeting you at our Jackson Brigade reunion in July at Jackson Mill. See jacksonbrigade.com Nancy Jackson, 4th and 5th cousin to Stonewall.

  2. He and his sister built a raft with the aid of a slave at his grandmother’s house , with his uncles at the same estate.
    the 2 of them would crossed the river to the other side where they had a fort where they would play.
    shady trees. And at times he would cross alone.
    during the war his sister didn’t agree with him being a confederate.
    his last words were of the happy times he and Laura Ann had at more peaceful times .

    • That’s certainly one of several theories as to what Stonewall meant by his words. But much of what goes on in the mind of a person on the brink of death is a mystery.

    • No harm in believing that since no one actually knows to what he was referring or saw at the moment of death.

  3. Jackson’s early life was unpleasant. A quiet respite away from his childhood troubles may have indeed been across the West Fork river. Jackson’s spiritual life would have been well acquainted with the earthly struggles of sin and pain being separated from heaven’s joy and peace. The river Jordan, the physical boundary separating the Israelites from their 40 year wanderings in the harsh wildnerness and the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, was and remains viewed as death that divides a Christian’s mortal and immortal life. Childhood experiences, rightly or wrongly, influence our views of God and His judgements. Therefore, I assert that the childhood peace Jackson enjoyed across the West Fork became the imagary the adult Jackson anticapted as he prepared to cross the deathly Jordan into the eternal peace of Heaven.

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