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JACKSON, THOMAS J.

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:7,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
JACKSON, THOMAS J.
(1824 - 1863) ""Stonewall"", Confederate lieutenant general and a brilliant yet somewhat eccentric tactician, he gained his nickname from his stand at Bull Run and served as Lee's right hand in the Seven days, in Maryland and at Chancellorsville where he was accidentally shot by Confederate pickets while riding between lines. An extremely rare D.S., 1p. folio, [n.d., ca. 1852-56], a Virginia Military Institute diploma captured during the war and bearing, among others, the signatures of ""T. J. Jackson"", as professor, and two of his future staff officers ""John T. L. Preston"" and ""Ths. H. Williamson"". Not engrossed, as the diploma had been pre-signed so as to be easily issued to a student upon graduation. Other famous signatures include those of future Confederate general RALEIGH COLSTON (1825-1896), Virginia Governor JOSEPH JOHNSON (1785-1877), and Virginia militia officer DOUGLAS B. LAYNE. Interestingly, the document was captured during the Union occupation of Lexington, Va. in 1864, by a soldier who was most likely Pvt. William Hayes 2nd Ohio Cavalry. A great piece of Civil War history held in the vaults of VMI only to be carried home by a pillaging Union soldier! Some traces of prior paper mount on verso, minor foxing and toning with signatures just a tad light, overall good to very good.