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Astronomers have now weighed in on Stonewall Jackson's unfortunate death resulting from his illness after being shot by his own side in 1863. They blame it on visibility conditions resulting from the moon's trajectory:
They also scoured historical accounts and battle maps to work out exactly where the 18th North Carolina regiment and General Jackson's party were placed at the time of the shooting – about 9pm.Professor Olson told SPACE.com: 'Once we calculated the compass direction of the moon and compared that to the detailed battle maps published by Robert Krick, it quickly became obvious how Stonewall Jackson would have been seen as a dark silhouette, from the point of view of the 18th North Carolina regiment.'
It was dark and Jackson was roaming about the picket lines. Picket lines are right on the front. He had no business being out there to begin with, and that is what got him killed.
So then how does this mesh with your other statement that he was “greatest general of the Civil War”? Brilliant strategist with no common sense?
In the Army we said “S&*t Happens,” Stonewall Jackson's death was an example of that. He was in the wrong place at the right time. The shooting was just one of those things that happens in war. Oh yeah, Picket Lines were actually in front of the front lines, they acted as early warning, today we call pickets OPs or Observation Posts.By the way, I read that article in last month's Sky & Telescope (I have a subscription) and while it presents a good case I did not find it definitive.
That struck me as well. Merely showing the moon's course that night can we come to circumstantial evidence about Jackson's death. If it were corroborated with testimony suggesting the same kind of thing, then it would be a more solid case.
The article in Sky & Telescope did have some corroborating testimony from the men who were there that night. The problem is that the testimony comes fro papers written well after the event and even if true the fact remains that even under a full moon it is difficult to distinguished uniform colors. It could just as easily have been a Union patrol riding down the road. There is also the fact that the location where Jackson was shot is in the middle of a forest which would tend to attenuate any illumination. I have been to the spot and it is relatively unchanged in the middle of thick woods. It was simply one of those things that happen in war. Let us not forget that war is inherently dangerous, just look at the bombings prior to Operation Cobra in Normandy in July 1944 where short bombing killed quite a few Americans to see how badly things can go even when everything is apparently done right.
