As my father, brother, sons, friends, and I travel from Lexington to the valleys of the Shenandoah as part of our private “2003 Stonewall Jackson Tour,” several key principles of leadership have emerged from the life testimony of Jackson that are worthy of mention.
Jackson eschewed vice. He knew that the servant of God must be self-disciplined, must set the highest example, and must not introduce weakness into his physical or spiritual constitution so as to render him less effective as a warrior of Christ. Furthermore, because a leader is observed at all times, he must understand that his behavior will be ruthlessly scrutinized, sometimes mimicked, and other times mocked. He was aware of the power of the flesh to rule over a man and sap him of his will power, self discipline, and resolve, so though he believed the use of neither to be inherently sinful in and of themselves, he purposed to rid himself of two things his flesh craved: tobacco and alcohol.
Jackson prioritized character and faith as the defining attributes in the selection of “inner circle men,” those men who worked most closely with him. He worked with many different types of men, both saints and sinners, but he placed around him in his inner circle only those who were devout Christian men of unflappable loyalty. He was more concerned about character than he was about the military resumé of his inner circle.
Jackson was absolutely intolerant of disobedience to orders. Disobedience to orders was disobedience to God, because it was an assault on God’s ordained chain of command and authority structures. Because God is just, those who disobey Him or His lawfully-constituted delegated authorities, have no assurance of the blessing of God on their cause. In Jackson’s view, disobedience to orders was tantamount to spiritual rebellion before the Lord. It was his regular practice to place under arrest and relieve from command those generals who refused to follow orders precisely as given. His own rise to fame and opportunity was borne out of his reputation from the Mexican War as a man who would never abandon his post. It was this steely commitment to discipline and authority structures which earned him his infamous sobriquet, and propelled him to fame for his ability to arguably get more out of his men than any other general of the War.
Jackson not only knew how to give orders, he knew how to take them. He was an authority who was able to be under authority even when he disagreed with the command decisions of those over him. He easily moved from authority to subordinate because his view of God enabled him to understand with precision the doctrine of jurisdictions.
Jackson trained his subordinates to follow him, even when they did not understand his mind or direction. Even generals under his command would often march without a clear direction of where they were heading. He shared his counsel primarily with the few, not the many, and the few were usually Christian counselors within his inner circle.
Jackson was confident and decisive. Few military leaders acted with the supreme confidence that Jackson brought to the field. He was aggressive and absolutely convinced of both the righteousness of the cause and the ultimate victory that would be secured if the South did not break the Law of God. His confidence stemmed neither from arrogance, nor from an innate sense of self-worth and wisdom, but from a confidence in God. Jackson believed that he was acting under authority in a righteous cause and could thus presume victory as a norm. He was God’s minister of justice on the battlefield, and thus acted and spoke with a higher authority. This confidence was bolstered by a full-bodied Calvinism which taught him to trust in the sovereignty of God for every outcome in life.
Jackson rejected the doctrine of victory at all cost, choosing instead to hold the doctrine of victory by God’s methods. He believed war must be fought using biblical methods. This meant the total annihilation of the enemy, but not the harassment or persecution of non-combatants. This was even manifest in his philosophy of the Sabbath. If battle were forced upon Jackson on Sunday by the providence of God, he could assume it to be his duty to respond, but with respect to every choice within his jurisdiction or that of the Confederate leadership, Jackson believed there was no flexibility to violate God’s law of the Sabbath.