Mexican War Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

April 26, 1816: General Alexander Welch Reynolds Born in Lewisburg

General Alexander Welch Reynolds was born in Lewisburg on April 26, 1816. After graduating from West Point in 1838, he served as an army officer in the Seminole War, the Mexican War, and in the West.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Reynolds joined the Confederate army and saw considerable combat.

In September 1861, he led a regiment at the Battle of Carnifex Ferry in Nicholas County. The battle, which was fought on the banks of the Gauley River, left him with the nickname “Old Gauley.”

He quickly rose to the rank of brigadier general and led brigades at the Siege of Vicksburg, where he was captured, and in the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns.

After the war, on the recommendation of fellow West Virginian and Confederate general John McCausland, Reynolds accepted a commission as a colonel in the forces of the khedive of Egypt, which ruled the country under the Ottoman Empire.

Reynolds served in various posts in Egypt, including adjutant general from 1870 until his death in 1876 at age 60. Alexander Welch Reynolds is buried in Egypt and is honored with a monument in Lewisburg.

January 20, 1824: Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Born

Thomas Jackson was born in Clarksburg around midnight on the evening of January 20, 1824. He was raised by an uncle at Jackson’s Mill in Lewis County and then attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

He fought gallantly during the Mexican War but resigned from the army after the war.

He spent the next 10 years teaching philosophy and artillery at the Virginia Military Institute.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Virginia seceded from the Union, and Jackson was appointed a Confederate brigadier general. At Harpers Ferry, he oversaw the transfer of equipment from the former U.S. armory to the South. Weeks later, he earned the nickname “Stonewall” for his valor during the Battle of First Manassas. The next year, his lightning-quick troop movements in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign made military history. As Robert E. Lee’s top general, he also played key roles in Confederate victories at Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas, and Fredericksburg.

His brilliant military career ended abruptly at the Battle of Chancellorsville, when he was accidentally shot by his own troops. “Stonewall” Jackson died on May 10, 1863, at the age of 39.

November 18, 1846: Governor William Smith Calls Troops to Fight in the Mexican-American War

On November 18, 1846, Virginia Governor William Smith called for state troops to fight in the Mexican-American War. The two-year war followed the United States’ annexation of Texas. The conflict was primarily fought over the disputed southern border of Texas, which was claimed by both the United States and Mexico. The war was largely opposed in this country by the Whig Party, including a young Congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, who saw it as an effort to pilfer territory from Mexico.

A higher percentage of men volunteered from Western Virginia than from other Virginia counties. However, most Western Virginians never made it into combat. The leading companies that saw conflict were from Berkeley, Jefferson, Monongalia, and Harrison counties.

The Harrison County recruits included 22-year-old Clarksburg native and Second Lieutenant Thomas Jackson, who would become known as “Stonewall” during the Civil War. During the Mexican-American War, Jackson took part in the Siege of Veracruz and the battles of Contreras, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. He earned two brevet promotions in Mexico and first met Robert E. Lee, under whom he would later serve in the Confederate Army.