BEVERLY, W.Va. — Most Civil War enthusiasts are familiar with the name Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the iconic Confederate hero who died in the middle of the war from wounds received during the Battle of Chancellorsville.
But few are aware of the story of Jackson’s Unionist sister, Laura Jackson Arnold. The siblings grew up in challenging circumstances in what is now West Virginia. Having lost their father to typhoid fever, they mostly grew up under the care of relatives.
received scant attention.
By all accounts, they were close. But when the American Civil War broke out, they chose different sides. Jackson supported the Confederacy and became one of its most famous generals, while his sister's decision to become a vocal supporter of the Union made her a minor celebrity.
“I was a Union woman from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet,” she reflected in an interview years later.
Laura Arnold did what she could to support the Union effort, notably spending long days caring for the wounded after the Battle of Rich Mountain. Throughout the conflict, she welcomed Union officers into her home, some of whom visited because they were curious to meet the loyal Union sister of the famous rebel Stonewall.
The frequent visits from Union officers grated on her husband, Jonathan, who began the war as a tepid Unionist but became a copperhead after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
In October of 1863, Johnathan Arnold exploded into a rage and threatened “to blow her brains out,” then he physically assaulted Laura. About a week later, possibly motivated by a desire to protect her from further abuse, Union officials arrested Jonathan for spying for the Confederacy. They placed him under house arrest in Clarksburg.
This was the effective end of her marriage, although an ugly legal divorce followed in 1870, with Jonathan charging her with infidelity during the war. These accusations made their way to her sister-in-law Anna Jackson, who confronted Laura about them in a letter.
Anna wrote that she was “grieved to say that I have heard some things of you which have surprised & disturbed me beyond measure, & if they are true, I never want to see you again.”
Anna asked Laura to deny these stories, but it appears she had already made up her mind about her sister-in-law, mainly based on the political stance she took during the war. Anna reminded Laura that she had “disapproved of my precious Husband’s cause, & differed with him in the conviction that he was doing his duty in defending his home & State from invasion, & turned all your sympathies from him in what he believed was a holy & righteous cause . . . I do not want to see you. There could be no congeniality of feeling between us . . .”
In Anna’s mind, Laura had twice failed in her womanly duties—to support the two most important men in her life, and to support the righteous cause of the Confederacy.
The conflict and the attention she received took a toll on Laura’s health, and she spent several years in a sanitarium in Columbus, Ohio. In her last years, she returned to West Virginia. In recognition of her unwavering support and the medical care she provided wounded soldiers, the 5th West Virginia Cavalry proclaimed her to be “The Mother of the Regiment” at their 1905 reunion.
While her brother Stonewall is commemorated in countless statues and historical markers across Virginia, West Virginia, and beyond, Laura’s selfless dedication to the Union receives scant attention.
A historical marker in front of the Jackson Arnold home in Beverly, West Virginia, and a few lines on a marker in the Heavner Cemetery in Buckhannon, West Virginia, where she is buried, are among the few exceptions.
For more information on the Laura Jackson Arnold Home and Beverly, contact the Beverly Heritage Center.
Stonewall's cousin "Mudwall" led a failed attack on fort at Bulltown
During the first years of the U.S. Civil War, marauding bands of guerrillas roamed the hills in what's now central West Virginia. Most were loyal to the Confederacy, though they often acted in their own interests, raiding towns and farms at will. To counter their activities, the Union established a fort on the old Weston-and-Gauley Turnpike near Bulltown on the Little Kanawha River. READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
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Thank you for illuminating the life of Laura Jackson. I had no idea if her history.
Thank you for reading it. She was a fascinating woman.
I was unaware of Laura Jackson's role in the Civil War.
She cared and took care of US soldiers. Her brother did his best to.kill them.
Stonewall Jackson is no longer revered as before. A number of his statues, if not all, have been taken down and some have even been destroyed and melted to be used in other statues as is the case in Charlottesville, VA.
I grew up in Elkins and Parsons, WV and the Battle of Rich Mountain was common knowledge and Stonewall was a hero to all of us young kids in the 1950s and '60s so it has been hard to see the statues, wonderful works of art being destroyed.
I highly recommend Steven Cody Straley’s book, *A Constant Reminder to All: Stonewall Jackson, the Lost Cause, and the Making of a West Virginia Idol.* He does a great job explaining the different ways West Virginians have remembered Jackson over time.