Stonewall Jackson's Death

[Jim Garrett]

Jackson was wearing a black oilcloth raincoat. The coat is at the museum at VMI. They also have Little Sorrel, the general's horse. The VMI museum is an excellent repository of military, Civil War and VMI history. It is one of the oldest museums in Virginia and has two facilities, Lexington and New Market. It is under the management of Col. Keith Gibson, a great historian and administrator.

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The traditional cause of death for "Old Rough N Ready" has been food poisoning or Cholera. Taylor had attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850. It was a blisteringly hot day (usual for a July day in Washington), and an exhausted Taylor returned to the White House. He may have been suffering from heat stroke as well. He had a bowl of fruit (some accounts say cherries) with iced milk. He fell gravely ill and died on the 9th.

Taylor was completely apolitical, having never voted in an election, including his own, and not belonging to any political party until drafted by the Whigs.