Video: 'Stonewall Jackson | Full Documentary | Biography'

(Saturday, May 2, 1863, at about 9:30 p.m. local time; during the Battle of Chancellorsville, part of the American Civil War) — Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded tonight by his own men tonight at Chancellorsville, Virginia.

Jackson, 39, had ridden out onto the Plank Road tonight to determine the feasibility of a night attack by the light of the full moon, traveling beyond the farthest advance of his men. When one of his staff officers warned him about the dangerous position, Jackson replied, “The danger is all over. The enemy is routed. Go back and tell A.P. Hill to press right on.”

Video: 'Ken.Burns.The.Civil.War.4of9.Simply.Murder.' (May 2, 1863, at 45:37)

As he and his staff started to return, they were incorrectly identified as Union cavalry by men of the 18th North Carolina Infantry, who hit Jackson with friendly fire. Jackson’s three bullet wounds were not in themselves life-threatening, but his left arm was broken and had to be amputated.

While recovering, he contracted pneumonia and died on May 10, 1863. His death was a devastating loss for the Confederacy. Some historians and participants—particularly those of the postbellum Lost Cause movement—attribute the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg two months later to Jackson’s absence.