But what killed Stonewall Jackson's Arm?

This article was the first thing to catch my attention this morning, after the comics and the Target ad.

SURGEON: ‘STONEWALL’ JACKSON DEATH LIKELY DUE TO PNEUMONIA

Stonewall Jackson's death has been making a lot of news lately. Recently, astronomers figured out the position of the moon and concluded that since the general was backlit, his troops didn't recognize him and they opened fire (read the story here). He was hit three times and it took his men two hours to get him to a hospital (considering it was a Civil War hospital, one wonders if getting him there any faster would have helped). On the way to the hospital, the people carrying him dropped him a couple of times. It wasn't a good night for the hero of the South and he eventually died of his wounds, but not before they amputated his arm and buried it. You can visit the grave of his arm at Ellwood Manor, VA, if you are so inclined.

However, what caught my attention about the above article was the interest in how Jackson died. After being shot, then dropped, then treated in a field hospital where sanitation was more of a suggestion than a rule, one would think the cause of death would be obvious. Apparently, it wasn't and a great many modern doctors and historians have taken the time to prove it. It seems the death blow was dealt by pneumonia as opposed to blood loss, septicemia, gangrene, or the embarrassment of being shot by your own men then dropped a few times on the way to the doctor. Although I found the article interesting, I had to wonder, does it matter how he died? Apparently, to a great many people it does, especially to Mr. Jackson and his arm.