Photography by Jennifer Matthews
Lost Love Letters of Stonewall Jackson
May 2, 1863, Chancellorsville, Virginia
It was odd to think a Confederate general
could write love letters, or be named after a stone wall.
His words in blood on crumpled pages laid out
on the hospital bed in Chancellorsville, where
a wide-eyed physician was told to read them.
Picture this bearded commander bent over a page,
not the fierce man who led his beloved soldiers
at Bull Run to victory; of loving words for his wife,
Esposita, he kept on his tongue while riding Little Sorrel,
into battles more than any Civil War horse.
His eyes scoured the field for the enemy’s weakness;
it was his seventh day of dying and he wanted
somebody to mail his love letters to Esposita..
He cited Biblical passages, praising his cause
and knew God supported him in spite of the dead.
His belief in his men was deeply rooted
in his love for his beloved Esposita,
a redemptive force that was made up of love.
His rucksack carried them into battle
for that final surge at Chancellorsville.
“Let us cross over the river and rest under
the shade of the trees” would be his final words.
It was not an enemy’s bullet that cut him down,
but one from a Rebel scout mistaking him for a Union
man on a night of concussions and broken lines.
His physician sent word to Robert E. Lee
that his warrior lay dying, not from a bullet
as much as ennui, hunger and fatigue.
Stonewall Jackon, a former West Point cadet,
lay hindered by bandages on the small cot;
his love letters would be read by others.
His wife knew they were penned
only for her, and watched his fleeting soul
escape from his mouth and consume her.
Russell Thorburn lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The first poet laureate for the Upper Peninsula in 2013 and a recipient for a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, he has published five books of poetry, including And the Heart Will Not Quicken, Cornerstone Press, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is an independent manuscript editor and consultant whose clients have published books in the U.S. and Canada.
Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.