have looked to the world one day before the civil war began. he is 37 years old you recall him gaunt and a six-foot tall about 5 inches taller than the adult manner -- man today is the lips that already seem to be tightly pressed. you'll find him shy but his silence is the most fracking thing about it. you find it difficult to engage him because he would

refuse to go along with the most routine conventions every day conversation. to say if anything was different or even an accident had not happened. but to instantly kill the conversation. he would not say anything bad about anyone else. that meant he could not participate even the most rudimentary forms of gossip. he refused to talk about himself and could be mattingly liberal is someone would say you know, he would point out that he did not. he was even worse in large groups. in a public forum he would stammer and would force to sit down and then would rise

again and try again and then even failed more miserably and sit down again red-faced and embarrassed royal everyone looked away. wherever he was a precisely 9:00 p.m. he would excuse himself and go home even if someone was in the middle of a sentence. these were the mild cases. he was obsessed drinking and smoking in the healing waters often ate nothing more than cold water or stale bread or buttermilk. to bring his own spoon to a dinner party in his throat and liver and kidneys and nervous system and he swallowed ammonia he became

convinced one side of him was heavier than the other and did exercises to do even that out. he did have some genuine physical elements his brother-in-law believe to was a hypochondriac. in spite of this he managed to hold the job as a college professor at a military school called virginia military institute in lexington virginia. he taught a course the natural and experimental philosophy that included the most difficult science and mathematical concepts including magnetics, acoustics, optics , astronomy with the eccentricity with sometimes differ there is no disagreement he was one of the worst features anybody had seen. he would just have brutally difficult assignments then

have the students to the recitations at the blackboard and insisted on rote memorization then he would recites the precise words from the textbook the key is committed to memory. being a stickler for detail also for discipline but it is the reverse the glasses were pure pandemonium when he turned his back spitballs would fly and cadets would walk behind him to mimic his step and in military class they would remove the linchpin from the canon so the pieces would go down the hill with the professor in pursuit. he was not a loser but something close to it. the he had distinguished service in the mexican war 15 years before but he was

just not good he it was part of the yen differentiated mass and then a decade that he caught before the yankees got it it adapted himself to him it was a harmless and decent church building and even with a sunday school for slaves. in his own way lexington got used to him and it came to appreciate him. he was a curiosity. leawood the i have known'' walking the streets of virginia this is what it looks like immediately prior to the war his church is a little that way april 1960

- - 1861 all descriptions of jackson are in complete and does not begin to describe him. they would not begin to capture he really was. while with the kindu the caricature the unbending professor and the social bore with high christian principles, the women of his life his two wives and sister knew someone else entirely. this is his first wife he lost her in childbirth giving birth to his still born son. this is hearses see maggie that he was in love with what could not marry that later to become one of the most haute -- avis poets in america. this is his second wife anna and his daughter julia would be borne during the war later. concealed behind the social

front was a deeply sensitive man. he loved shakespeare and the architecture of gothic cathedrals he paid almost no attention to battlefields. self-taught been completely fluent in spanish a first-rate gardener with the 19th century romantics of duty and nature in the almost mystical sense of god that he consecrated every act of his life in behind closed doors he would joke and laugh love to play with children on the floor space in lexington or planet earth knew any of this about him. it all happened behind closed doors it was ingeniously cloaked and neighbors would have been astonished to go its existence.

now imagine n thomas jackson as he would have looked to the world 1862 exactly 14 months later as the train he rides bulls and into virginia. in the previous 80 days jackson known by his nickname stonewall had turned the civil war upset among the rebel army's going to the mississippi jackson had taken a small force been deployed with such dazzling skill that he is beaten the 52,000 there. and fighting five major battles unknown soldiers of

the day appearing out of nowhere and from concealed bellies trained in a way never seen before in tactical warfare striving for union armies from the shenandoah valley with 5,000 casualties it 9,000 small arms in a huge quantity of stores and supplies and had a massive movement personally by abraham lincoln to destroy him them and everybody on both sides thought he had no choice comintern novel sides and beat them in succession. but do it more than driving them from the valley to put that union offensive against richmond off-balance. that lieutenant jackson was so dire that he created a

minor panic. the owners made him famous whether techniques were being reinvented hour by hour his speed and aggression with the wonders of the north and the south. and his campaign was already compared as legendary. in june 1962 the most famous military man in the world. in case you're wondering robert e. lee at this point is a glorified military sidekick to president jefferson davis. it was les partnership that change the civil war with any other single factor but

for now he is another general with a sketchy record. jackson won his battles when hopes were at their lowest with the confederacy needed in a war it was losing proof the notions of the southern character were not just romantic dreams with inferior resources jackson with his brilliant campaign give that to them. and 120,000 union soldiers muscled their way up near the 55,000 confederates. but jackson was coming on the train to save the city and the confederacy. that is what people in the south saw.

with unrealistic expectations to put on two divisions of exhaustive men as exhausting as the campaign may have been. into a month after his arrival in the summer of 1862 the capital being threatened a defeated union army with the greatest military disaster with the battle of manassas. people would ask what got me interested in stonewall jackson. i rest my case with the apparent ordinary man may be

that is slightly eccentric in less than 40 months. of course, the war transformed many people. ulysses s. grant when the war began working as the clerk in the league the illinois tecumseh sherman a failed baker was teaching and a tiny military school when the war started. jackson's rise to fame and power was as transfiguring as the two union generals. but it happened much faster. quadratic the effect on the first two years of the civil war more whether they write songs about you while you're still alive but one that is

very popular called stonewall jackson and i will play just a little bit. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you get the etf. many verses and the soldiers and news of all. [laughter] so how does such a thing happen to someone that at the start of the war looks like a very ordinary man? start with the battle of manassas after they named a

the battles after watercourses for gold bull run. in the summer of 1861 a few clashes between north and south but nothing big everybody knew the battle would be fighting in northern virginia every variable size that it would be definitive. there would be much glory mumble sides were convinced they would win. a union army and a confederate army bases to other across a bull run. at that critical rail crossroads and 30 miles due west of washington and. there is manassas junction

the reason the bottle was fought there and washington over your 30 miles away with the meandering bull run here and essentially the union troops in confederates on this side. you're about to see a primitive one i realize they made some mistakes so please do not hold me to this but it is meant to suggest how works real we will fix this but basically the union executed a brilliant and largely undetected march around the confederate left they had no idea it was happening. with 18,000 troops are down here. i'm pretty good for an

amateur. [laughter] here they go. [laughter] this is interesting. it is a military disaster to have that flank movement. so what happens is interesting. so the pieces of brigades detects the of movement and they move to stop the advance your. when 4,000 confederates but then what happens is the fierce battle but it does not last that long. now interjects in.

in this area here also news this way to intercept the oncoming union. what is interesting when jackson arrived in late morning, what he sees is a full-scale plug the confederate retreat. was a full-blown military disaster union troops were no confederate artillery moving this scene was complete chaos. in he and the wounded men went past. and also a characteristic of the man. he would give them a the bayonet. it was old-fashioned and napoleonic hardly anyone would die in the civil war.

that is the intense way to kill someone put the first concern is that if he should retreat or how to be reinforced and how it would stop by a juggernaut that swept 4,000 confederate soldiers from the field. and hold the line. now looks them turned to face the union troops. [laughter] he has arrived here it's very steep but on top of this is flat. it was an unorthodox the

textbook move that they would have taught at west point was to move forward at the northern edge of henry hill bohai ground to look down the slope to the bike but instead jackson chose the south eastern edge the reverse flow. but here even though the top of the hill was flat on this side it was thick with braintree's the was under siege by the federal cannons. and then be carried back to safety on the slope they would be hard to see to offer a wide and unobstructed feel the fire those on this side of henry

hill have to cross 300 yards is very proximate. zero raging up and down the line is putting them into place. around this time the federal high command finally figured out the battle was not in front in them but behind them kasell quite a long time to figure this out. but as soon as they did they grasped the brilliance of his position and immediately began to build the battle around him it would not take place your but back here is essentially a battle for the top of henry hill and now the brigade. he became the center of the fight to.

union troops were not only routed trebling over senators and congressman but he was one of the clear hero's for jackson has started to become stonewall jackson and hear that they began into action in this is how it happened. while the battle for the top of the hill had after hours of searching caught up to the brigade exhausted from the morningside. 500 yards behind where jackson was fighting.

but then up the slope where he stood fighting. on the edge of henry hill. then he stands like a stone wall. at that time the statement that was overheard sounded like a metaphor for language and became was the most utterances of the war those and other less then an hour to live. with the also gave birth to a name and a legend. something else interesting happened. jackson ordered his men until the enemy came within 50 yards.

then fire and give them the bayonets. and when you charge yell. and is not clear what the men took this to mean or how many did is seriously. but they made a noise no one had heard before and exact inspiration is the node although there are many theories we implausible result between the bark of the fox and the screech of the bird. the stuff of nightmares of the union for years to come been described like a corkscrew going up your spine. but historically it was from the early 20th century but

it does sound like a corkscrew up the spine the museum of confederates battle hold of a couple of individuals they said just do it. what does it sound like? then the museum where did the sounds to create the way it would sound as many more people. and by the way i have the cd if you're interested. it is great. [laughter] ♪ ♪

>> that would have scared me. [laughter] but that changes the perception but back to the mechanisms the victory went to beauregard even though that rest substantially with those acting without orders to the central role went unnoticed this light was so obvious that his wife even wrote to complain and he replied it should say more about your husband and. it should not be regarded that way. but then something interesting began to happen.

but that home town paper meant detailed stories of the exploits and as it turns out bruise under the most influential of the confederacy and reprinted all over the south. through the gallant move to the beleaguered jackson the man standing like a stone wall. and attaches to the fate of the dead but the men in the army all knew what jackson did in spread the word. that made a nice ring to with a. stone wall.

and if you union soldiers died humorously wrong has given to understand that is the history but the title of my book would be different but that nickname is stonewall brigade the most famous fighting units of the confederacy. one of the most raking transformations of occurred of that life jackson remade himself as an instant legend with the stunning victories cedar mountain and second manassas against of a larger flow of antietam he also

felt other ambitions after losing his first wife to the birth of the stillborn sign of losing a daughter in infancy in the second marriage jackson was orphaned at seven finally became a father when his wife anna reassemble the family he had lost he was deeply religious and i believe had the had any kind of social or personal skills which he did not wear any public speaking skills he almost certainly would have been a presbyterian minister but then he realized he could not do this and was right about that but curiously enough he became a driving force of the enormous wave of what slept through the confederate army.

can transform to anyways going back to the first photograph from the late '50s their remarkable physical transformation but then that's hearsay a remarkable physical changes and a very short period of time. and then with robbery lee and stonewall jackson marched out with 60,000 men and drove the i - - and tighter army into the river the single most brilliant march robbery either the had the greatest victory.

with the first day of the battle all that could ever be given. and then he was dead of accidental shooting of his own men and the pneumonia that said it afterwards. he was shot by his own and he was traveling pretty well until the new willingness said in the winter were quickly. is fascinating to look at but also will look like. wood is in need of american history with other if

historians have failed to notice that jackson's death triggered the first great national outpouring of grief for fallen leader in american history. that may sound odd. national grief? but to be sure there are some state funerals and 100,000 came out after zack taylor but franklin guided 84 he was sick and obese is-- surpassed washington died at 67 quietly with no fanfare as was jefferson dying and 83 john adams at 90 the same year to 4,000 to the church that could have been washington's death in

1781. but with remarkable parallels'' overshadowed his death of abraham lincoln for the similarities are striking starting all that wild grief not just for the leaders it embrace the death of all soldiers on battlefields faraway. been standing in for the hundreds of thousands of the dead soldiers. what happened after abraham lincoln's death in confederate terms he was also. in the achievement at the

high water marks of the country's non-ferrous thousands of grieving americans. richmond was not chicago but the intensity was the same. also notable differences. "in-depth" -- is in death and understood correctly to be treated in the aftermath of the war. never and expressions of admiration. and deeply mixed feelings about it. and as it came to the cause the yen in my soldiers are

to see the best soldier of all the war and cream puff of his untimely death. thank-you. [applause] i would be happy to take questions. please come to the microphone. >> you describe from the beginning of the war that why didn't robert e. lee become the commander instead of the other way around? >> because of his record before the war. jackson was not well thought of. but leave was extremely well thought of the jackson was originally gave a

commissioner's major and he had to fight his way up the lincoln started him as head of the union armies. so it was largely that. but he did not have those skills to space it executive officer the sun ever shown talking at dinner tonight as a brilliant general as eisenhower. >> he makes a great march from the valley and then sits down to take a nap under of tree.

what is your opinion as to what happens? been a good question. this is a big historical controversy. over seven days right after the valley campaign jackson did not perform at his best the seven days with the bumbling performance from the staff on down but how badly did he want? but this seven days that affects the big picture to

go clear across the peninsula and then went to cowered behind mother's skirts. the details are variously. i will just say what i say he has been challenged but of those he is guilty of only one the rest of it was bad staff work the least till the not know what to do with the army but jackson was not responsible for three of the four which is the actual opportunity to destroy mcclellan's army

where he sprung out halfway across the peninsula and jackson failed. but my interpretation because he became not aggressive seven argue the most that america has ever produced suddenly becomes completely passive behalf of the union army and he sits down and does not sent a messenger but it is a list on his face. the only explanation the

behavior that is completely consistent except one time something changed jackson had almost no sleep in 10 days. he was quite sick with something that may have been the flu. he fell asleep with the biscuit in his mouth that night he did not do anything. we're looking at a person in the middle of a complete physical breakdown. that is his fault he should have recused himself to let somebody take over. that was a mistake on his part in he should be held responsible but to say that he screwed up is not really true. because the big picture is a small confederate army that is the way the nation saw

it. not as terrible communication problems and logistical progress - - problems but from the moment of the valley campaign with the army is driven back into washington is still only two months. with seven days a spectacular victory than shortly after they drive the union army back into washington. mostly something that is litigated in the post years it was not an issue. very good question.

>> i have three questions. how long did your research take? >> for years. >> when you do research there is a point where you are excited because it comes together. and how old was stonewalled when he died? >> 39. when it all came together i cannot think of the single moment. it is also a gradual over long periods of time. it is always a pleasure to me i like civil war battles. there were some moments of understanding in antietam

when understand why the check the ground with the unfinished railroad cut at manassas those are cool. this understanding of the personal side was much more gradual that did not come in a blinding flash spirit you mentioned at the start that jackson was very innovative could to expand upon that? >> in the early war he did things that was extraordinary one thing he does not get credit for people would put the artillery with the brigade

they figured out that is not a good idea. the very early in march of 1860's to but nobody in washington had declared anyone could move that quickly even to jettison the supply chain they would take off and that speed is almost as though your friend is in cleveland than one hour later he is thin tokyo you think it is not physically possible to go that far. that is our washington saw the of valley campaign. net was up puff of smoke he

made the rna disappear and then they disappeared but then brought the soldiers back to the valley. and then may reappear in than a puff of smoke. nobody knows how to fight the war. but it doesn't work just the use of supply trains run every army had does zillion wagons. and the supply chain?

as a shirt tactical genius and into them was a masterpiece. it was a maneuver to get the army faster and quicker to find a smaller force just beating their faster and more effectively then somebody else. before anybody ever shocked a rifle. >> i have not read the book and i am curious with you to come up with in sight who's lost before into the?

>> no. is about the famous battle orders to become into them including dispatched to harpers ferry and all of movements of the troops came into the hands. and then mclellan gets it. but it's it is just a great moment. >> i was just wondering what type of data you gathered to form your argument about the relationship with his wife? because obviously that is the subjective topic that you gather that.

>> weld doing research on the wives the first answer is anna rd. an amazing book very well done and had help but very well done. it gives great insight into their relationship. to see half of that correspondence. looking at well after the war so there are other ways that his sister wrote extensively but the basic answer is to read her book about jackson it is pretty good stuff.

>> here is what happened is shortly before gettysburg people say thank god because senate and have to do the research for gettysburg for my book. thank god. but he dies before that. so jackson at gettysburg would have held the high ground by the confederates so therefore of those fighting for high ground would not have happened. but then what have been

surveyed don't know but let's just say that we did not pursue with said the confederates won the battle band-aid continue the campaign. what would rayburn? but on some level that are may loose to say barry famously that they fought the of war with one arm behind the back with the other arm comes out but jackson wanted to burn pittsburgh all the way to the great lakes.

it is interesting growing up in connecticut sarah not a lot of big battles during the civil war. [laughter] but i write about the shenandoah valley if you lived there you lost your house or your farm or fence rails or every pig or every crop or all of your sons were dead and finances and confederate dollars. it is interesting to compare the feeling with the most of them like that now let's flips that to put a confederate army at war.

and to do it for political reasons they want to specifically bring the north to its knees. imagine the philadelphia area experiencing what that man ted did. i don't know you would unleash the demons of the almost unimaginable and the resources of the north verso overwhelming view of the way the south ever could is to bring the north to the table. that the confederate army although a was very hypothetical. but thank you. [applause]

>> from the national safety council with 1.5 million but those are our estimates and the reason we don't know is because it is very hard to track for police agencies and hard to get the information. people why indeed just dirt to collect the data. so to know how many crashes there are just for one example of how we know the official numbers are so far off 2011 is the latest data of a death with phone use

tennessee marks 93 and the state of new york marks one it is impossible. they're not tracking accurately short answer we don't know long answer all science say it is a big in growing problem. >> host: talk about this story with a very important problem even though we're not quite sure tell me about this story it is a very gripping model "rebel yell" when i talk about the science what interests me is character and narrative and conflict but could not have invented or imagined in the story that i discovered that

starts with a young man 19 years old 2006 and driving to work at 6:30 a.m.. . .