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As the story is told, determined to inspire his men to take the offensive, Jackson suddenly rode into the battlefield and attempted to brandish his sword, but the man who had once warned his VMI cadets to be ready to throw the scabbards of their swords away found that due to the infrequency with which he had drawn it, it had rusted in its scabbard.Β Undaunted, he unbuckled the sword from his belt--scabbard and all--and waved it over his head.Β Β Then he grabbed a battle flag from a retreating standard bearer and called for his men to rally around him.Β Heartened by their commanderβs zeal, the Stonewall Brigade set fiercely into the Union troops, quickly driving them back.Β And although Union forces were subsequently able to regroup and attack, the Stonewall Brigade had given the Confederate front line time to reform and A. P Hill's troops time to come up and fill in the gaps. Almost
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Charles River Editors (The Stonewall Brigade: The History of the Most Famous Confederate Combat Unit of the Civil War)