Historic research proved otherwise, Dr. James Robertson Jr., the acclaimed Civil War scholar and the foremost authority on "Stonewall" Jackson, confirmed the results of my research: the real last meeting was nothing like the popular Julio painting. The two were not on horseback when they met for the last time. Jackson was mounted, but Lee was on foot. The meeting occurred early in the morning as Jackson was moving his troops through Virginia's Wilderness region on his famous flank march at Chancellorsville, Lee and his staff were standing near the road when Jackson passed. "Stonewall" rode over to confer briefly with his commanding officer, so Lee was on foot and Jackson remained mounted.
To me, it was almost as if Lee were the father, sending his favored son off to battle.
Lee would never see Jackson again. "Stonewall" would be mortally wounded in the coming battle, which was his most spectacular success and Lee's greatest victory. The dead trees, old stumps and broken branches in the the painting are not only typical of Virginia's Wilderness at that time, but to me they also convey the somber mood of two great friends and commanders meeting for the last time.
Lee and Jackson met on the north side of the road, which gave me the opportunity to look further to the east and obtain a dramatic lighting effect by having Jackson silhouetted against a dawn sky. The puddles are a reminder that it had rained the night before. Jackson's raincoat is painted from the one he actually wore that day, which is on display today at the Virginia Military Institute. Jackson's staff, in the right background, waits for their commander. Shown, left to right, are: Capt. Jedediah Hotchkiss, Dr. Hunter McGuire, Lt. Col. Alexander H. Pendleton, Maj. Wells J. Hawks, Capt. James Powers Smith and Maj. Henry Kyd Douglas. In the left background are Traveller and some of Lee's staff.
By: Mort Kunstler
