Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson was returning from a reconnaissance with a party of soldiers down the Mountain Road. Confederate muskets fired from south of Plank Road (Route 3) across Jackson’s path. The archives state that a Confederate officer yelled, “Cease firing! You are firing into your own men!” But, in the darkness and confusion, a voice shouted back, “Who gave that order? It’s a lie! Pour it into them, boys!” The darkness was briefly illuminated by the flash from many rifles. Three bullets found their mark, all three for Gen. Jackson. Two bullets hit Jackson’s left arm and the third pierced his right hand.
Later in the
night, Gen. Jackson’s left arm would be amputated. On May 10, 1863, Gen.
Jackson passed away in the farm office at Guinea Station.
Gen. Jackson’s
horse panicked and bolted for the woods, but officers stopped the animal and
lowered Jackson to the ground on the very spot we are standing in. Gen.
Jackson was carried to a field hospital behind the lines where 27-year-old Dr.
Hunter McGuire, the medical director of the Jackson’s corps, amputated his left
arm just below the shoulder where one bullet had entered his arm, splintering
his humerus to the elbow. The entire operation took place in a tented field
hospital near Wilderness Tavern, about 4.5 miles west from the place where Jackson
was wounded.
The surgical
kit with which Dr. McGuire operated on Gen. Jackson is displayed in the museum.
Dr. Hunter McGuire was a very tall young man, 6’4,’’ who towered over Gen.
Jackson. According to the museum archives, despite the thousands of procedures
performed by Dr. McGuire during his career, none was more famous or scrutinized
than the amputation of Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson’s arm in the morning hours of
May 3, 1863. He died apparently from pneumonia, which he acquired while being transported from the field hospital to a more secure location. His arm and body are buried separately.
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