Stonewall Jackson's military feats had elevated him to near-mythical proportions in both North and South, when in the midst of one of his most brilliant maneuvers he was mistakenly shot by his own men on the night of May 2, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee decided that his indispensable and most capable subordinate should recuperate at a safe place well behind friendly lines. Doctors moved Jackson to Guinea Station, intending to evacuate him to Richmond by railroad. Union cavalry, however, had cut the rail line, compelling Jackson and his party to wait near Guinea Station until the line was restored.

The "Stonewall Jackson" Shrine is the plantation office building where General Jackson spent the final six days of his life. The office was one of several outbuildings on Thomas C. Chandler's 740-acre plantation, "Fairfield." The Chandler family used the unpretentious frame structure for recreation as well as for work. Chandler kept records in the office, and one of his sons once practiced medicine there, but with three of the Chandler boys away serving in the Confederate army, the building no longer witnessed its antebellum level of activity.
 
The office stood bare, except for a few items in storage, when Jackson's ambulance arrived. Chandler offered his house to Jackson and other Confederate wounded, but Jackson's attendants chose instead the quiet privacy of the outbuilding as the best place for the general to rest. Once Confederate authorities regained control of the rail line, Jackson would board a train at Guinea Station and resume his trip to Richmond.
 
Today the office is the only plantation building remaining. The Chandler house burned after the Civil War, and its shell was dismantled in the early 1900's. Established as an historic "shrine," the office underwent restorations in the 1920's and 1960's. It still retains 45% of its original fabric. The National Park Service has augmented some of the items used during Jackson's stay with other pieces from the era, along with a few reproductions, to recreate the scene of those tragic last days of his life.

Courtesy of NPS "Stonewall" Jackson Shrine tour guide

(July 2006) Guinea Station
 
Interpretive Marker:  Guinea Station (1864)
 
Webmaster photo

(October 2001) Stonewall Jackson Shrine. This is the small frame office building where General Jackson was taken to after his arm was amputated at a field hospital. This building was located at Chandler�s Plantation at Guinea Station, which was approximately a 27 mile ambulance ride. He arrived here on May 4th, pneumonia set in and he died here May 10th with his wife and baby at his side