Barnard Elliott Bee , Jr . Barnard Elliott Bee Jr . ( February 8 , 1824 – July 22 , 1861 ) was a career United States Army officer and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War . He was mortally wounded at the First Battle of Bull Run , one of the first general officers to be killed in the war . During that battle , he was responsible for inspiring the famous nickname for Brig . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson . Early life . Bee was born in Charleston , South Carolina , the son of Barnard Elliott Bee , Sr . , and Ann Wragg Fayssoux , both of whom came from prominent Charleston families of English descent . In 1833 , the Bee family moved to Pendleton , South Carolina , where Bee attended the Pendleton Academy . In 1836 , Bee ' s parents moved to Texas , but Bee remained in Pendleton living with his mother ' s three sisters to pursue his education . Bee graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1845 , thirty - third in his class and assigned to the 3rd U . S . Infantry . He accumulated many demerits while at West Point , including several for chewing tobacco while on duty . Bee ' s first posting was to serve in the military occupation of Texas . He was twice brevetted for gallantry in the Mexican - American War , first at Cerro Gordo , where he was wounded , and then at Chapultepec . After the Mexican - American War , Bee was posted to garrison duty at Pascagoula , Mississippi , where he served as adjutant . From 1849 to 1855 , he was on frontier duty in New Mexico . Most of his time was spent at Fort Fillmore near Las Cruces , New Mexico . In 1855 , Bee was promoted to captain of Company D of the Tenth Infantry and posted to Fort Snelling , Minnesota . While at Fort Snelling , he met and married Sophia Elizabeth Hill , the sister of a fellow officer . In 1857 Bee ' s company took part in the Utah War , where he was placed in command of the Utah Volunteer Battalion and brevetted to the rank of lieutenant colonel . In 1860 , Bee was posted to Fort Laramie , Wyoming , and briefly served as the fort ' s commanding officer . Civil War . Upon the start of the Civil War , Bee , like many Army officers from the South , was torn between loyalty to his home state or to the federation of the United States . He struggled with the decision , but opted to stay with the South . On March 3 , 1861 , Bee resigned from the United States Army and returned to Charleston where he was elected lieutenant colonel of the 1st South Carolina Regulars . On June 17 , 1861 , Bee was appointed brigadier general of a brigade mobilized at Manassas Junction . He was given command of the third brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah , under Brig . Gen . Joseph E . Johnston . During the subsequent battle , later known as the First Battle of Bull Run , Bee is said to have used the term " stone wall " in reference to Brig . Gen . Thomas J . Jackson and his men , giving rise to the name " Stonewall Jackson " and his Stonewall Brigade . ( There has been debate over whether this was meant in admiration or as an insult over Jackson ' s men not advancing , ' stone wall ' in this case , symbolises being immobile . ) Bee was mortally wounded as the Confederates began to gain the upper hand in the battle . He died the following day and is buried in Pendleton , South Carolina . As a result , it could not be determined whether his naming of Stonewall Jackson was intended as praise , a condemnation , or whether it was simply a misattributed quote . Bee was the younger brother of Hamilton P . Bee , who was also a Confederate Army general .