Stonewall Jackson and the Uppity Spy

Jim Lewis attended to Stonewall Jackson and astutely gauged Jackson’s needs and desires, often before the general expressed them. Many accounts tell of “faithful, brave, big-hearted Jim” who adapted well to Jackson’s odd behaviors and mercurial temperament. Alexander Boteler, who briefly served on Jackson’s staff in 1861, left an interesting description of Jim in a post-war account, comparing his service to that of Jackson’s horse, Little Sorrel. Lewis was a black man and a Lexington resident.

Some historians concluded he was a freedman, But a good case can be made that Lewis was a slave whom Jackson hired from his owner.” That assumption was based upon entries in Jackson’s wartime account book for payments to William C. Lewis of Lexington, Virginia, for the “hire of Jim William Cook Lewis