Stonewall Jackson, who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, had to have his arm amputated after he was accidentally shot by fellow Confederate troops.
Jackson was so liked and respected that no one dared to toss his arm on a pile of limbs that lay outside the medical tents. Thus, it was given its own burial!
The arm was buried in a private cemetery at Ellwood Manor, not far from the field hospital where it was amputated. Soon after, Jackson died of pneumonia, and his body was transported to his family in Lexington, Virginia.
Jackson's arm, however, was never reunited with the rest of his remains.
Rumor has it that Union soldiers dug up the limb in 1864 and reburied it at an undisclosed location, but this has never been confirmed.
In 1903, one of Jackson's staff officers set up a granite stone in the small cemetery that today bears a simple inscription: "Arm of Stonewall Jackson May 3, 1863.
It's unclear if the stone marks the arm's exact location, or if it signals that the burial occurred somewhere nearby.
It's an interesting story, to say the least. Who would have thought that reverence for an army general would prompt the burial of his arm?
What's your take?
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