The first event organized by the Society was a lecture on the famous American Civil War general Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson which was delivered at the Birches on March 27th.

The event, which was introduced by the Birches “Stonewall Jackson Appreciation Society” chairman Victor McAdam, drew a large attendance of people from the locality and further afield, among them direct descendants of General Jackson, whose 18th century family forebears came from the Birches / Tartaraghan area of Co Armagh, near the shores of Lough Neagh.

Author Billy Kennedy, in the hour-long lecture, spoke of “Stonewall” Jackson’s Ulster family links dating back to the 17th century, his life growing up the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, his committed Christian faith and his distinguished military career from West Point military college to the battle fields in the Civil War, where he was tragically killed in action in 1864, aged only 39. General Jackson got his nickname from a Confederate Army colleague, who said: “There stands Jackson like a stone wall”. Two members of the group John Tate and Andrew Gaskin were attired in full Confederate Army regalia. A collection of memorabilia and historic artefacts from the American Civil War and the military career of General Jackson, under the supervision of John Tate, were on display at the Centre.

During the Summer the Society attended the 4^th of July celebrations at the Ulster American Folk Park.  We were there for two full days and with thousands of visitors coming through the Park we had a tremendous opportunity to promote the Jackson Society.  We were particularly popular with the visitors from the Southern states of America and many were keen to find out more and to visit the remains of the Jackson ancestral home.

The Secretary, John Tate, was invited to attend both the Drumcree Church fete and the Bluegrass festival, again at the Ulster American Folk Park.  The photo below shows the Secretary as Stonewall Jackson, flying the flag at the Drumcree fete.

Another important event in the area is ‘The Country Comes to Town’ which is held in Portadown on an annual basis.  On the Saturday the town is completely closed to traffic and all sorts of country crafts, tractors, vintage vehicles, animals etc come to town.  Of course we couldn’t miss an opportunity like that to promote our cause and so, once again, we set up camp in the large marquee in Portadown.

Once again we had a lot of interest in the Society and in the exhibits.  The exhibits on show are authentic Confederate items from the Secretary’s own collection.  We generally find that people are fascinated to see original, everyday items which were actually used by the men who fought in the War between the States and to actually be able to read newspapers from the period detailing the progress of the War is especially interesting.

The Stonewall Jackson Society are determined to push ahead with a programme to tell people in the Birches area and further afield of the importance of the link between ourselves and the Civil War.  We will be planning a programme for the coming months which will consist of various events.  The meetings are open to anyone with an interest in Jackson and the Civil war. 

Perhaps the last word should be left to one of the men who served under Jackson.  The poem reproduced below, "Stonewall Jackson's Way," is said to have been written within hearing of the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, and was found in the coat of a dead soldier of the "Stonewall Brigade," after one of Jackson's battles in the Shenandoah Valley. It became very popular, but its authorship was unknown until almost twenty-five years later.