This has long been debated. Did General Bee perhaps mean that Jackson and his men were too stationary, that they should come down the hill to assist him? Or did he mean, as we usually interpret, that Jackson and his Virginians were the exemplars for the rest of the army?

Most historians, perhaps even ninety percent, lean to the second of the two possibilities. We will never know for certain, however, because General Bee was killed about an hour later. What we do know beyond the shadow of a doubt is that this is where Thomas Jackson became Stonewall Jackson and that his reputation would only increase.