academic terms. The challenge suited him, however, and he "pursued academic improvement with single-minded devotion, zealous determination, and relentless study." Though he was not unpopular, Jackson's relentless studiousness mad him aloof and gruff," and his ambition earned him his first nickname, "The General." By the time he graduated from West Point, Jackson was seventeenth in a class of 59.
Jackson then served under General Winfield Scott and Major Magruder in the Mexican War. He achieved great distinction in the artillery and, only 18 months after joining his regiment, Jackson was breveted major. This promotion was "phenomenal even in the Mexican War, and none of his West Point comrades made so great a stride."
Following the war, however, Jackson's career did not progress. Uninteresting postings and a cantankerous disposition, due largely to his growing hypochondria and genuine poor health, led to unfortunate conflicts with fellow officers. These were finally resolved when Jackson resigned from the army and accepted a teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. His time there (1851-1861) was quite unhappy. Jackson's reputation, as one friend noted, was that of "a quiet, eccentric, but hard-working professor, whom [the cadets] called 'Old Jack,' or 'Fool Tom Jackson,'" and made the butt of practical jokes.
Certainly Jackson was an easy figure of fun. In addition to his seriousness and hypochondria, he subscribed to a number of strange beliefs about his own body. He believed that one leg and arm were heavier than those on the other side of his body, and acquired the lifelong habit of holding the heavier arm aloft, to allow the blood to run back into his body and lighten it. He also believed that one side of his body did not perspire, "and was less well nourished than the other, and he would spend long hours rubbing it." He also sucked on lemons constantly, believing this was a me...