Stonewall Jackson Death Site

After being wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville, General Stonewall Jackson was taken to the Chandler Plantation in Virginia and placed in an outbuilding.

His arm was amputated and he developed pneumonia. After his wife and baby arrived, he passed away on a Sunday afternoon in one of the small plantation buildings.

He is buried in the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington, Virginia.

Stonewall Jackson Death Site history

Guinea Station, Virginia where the Confederacy lost one of its most prominent generals in May of 1863. Lieutenant General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was brought here after he was wounded by friendly fire at Chancellorsville.

Jackson’s shattered arm was amputated in a battlefield hospital and Jackson was evacuated to Guinea Station, next to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad. The railroad to Richmond had been torn up by raiding Federal cavalry, but Guinea Station was considered a safe place for Jackson to recover until the tracks could be reopened. Jackson rode 12 hours in an ambulance over the 27 miles of rough road to the railhead.

A patient with a contagious disease was already in the main house, so Jackson was moved into the plantation office building. It had room for Jackson and his doctors, staff and servant to be undisturbed. Jackson would linger there for six days until he died of pneumonia on May 10, 1863.

In 1909, William White, president of the RF&P, purchased the office building and surrounding five acres. A former Virginia Military Institute cadet who fought at New Market, Va., in May 1864, White wanted to preserve the location where Jackson died because of the general’s service on the VMI faculty.

By 1926, a ladies memorial organization began an extensive rehabilitation project at the site and in 1937 the site was taken over by the National Park Service. In the late 1970s, it changed the name of the site from “Jackson Shrine” to “Stonewall Jackson Shrine” to prevent confusion with other prominent Jacksons.

In late summer 2019, the NPS roadside signs along Interstate 95 were changed to “Stonewall Jackson Death Site,” as the name ‘Jackson Shrine’ was not helpful to visitors.

Stonewall Jackson Death Site today

At the site, you can see four wayside markers, a monument, and the house where Jackson died.

The building where Stonewall Jackson died is the only civil war structure remaining at the site. The room where he died still contains the original bed frame, blanket and clock.

The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad bought the property in 1909. They restored the farm office, calling it the “Jackson Shrine.” The railroad donated the site to the National Park Service in 1937, and today it is part of the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. The grounds of the site are open from dawn to dusk, but entry to the house is not always available.

Getting to Stonewall Jackson Death Site

To reach Guinea Station from I-95 take exit 118 onto Route 606 east. Continue about 4.5 miles. You will see the National Park sign for the “Stonewall Jackson Shrine” on the left just past the railroad tracks.