Dr. Randy Folks (left) is congratulated by new Torch Club member Harold Talbert. William “Randy” Folks is an esteemed professor of international business at USC. When not in the classroom, he travels the world setting up relationships with foreign universities. Just this year he has visited Brazil, Finland, Abu Dhabi, and China. Last week he returned to his roots and gave a presentation on Stonewall Jackson to the Columbia Torch Club.

Dr. Folks grew up in a mill village in Lancaster. The first real book he read was

They Called Him Stonewall

by Burke Davis that was assigned by his seventh grade South Carolina History teacher, Nancy Crockett. From that point on, through The Hill School and Harvard University, Gen. Stonewall Jackson was a great influence on his life. At every opportunity, he studied Jackson and his Civil War battles.

Stonewall Jackson was a military genius. Using his professorial skills, Folks analyzed each of Jackson’s battles and graded the general’s performance. His conclusion contradicts the accepted opinion of Jackson by historians, which says he was “one of the most gifted tactical commanders in U.S. history.”

Folks presented detailed maps of Jackson’s battles from Kernstown on March 23, 1862, to Chancellorsville on May 1–2, 1863, when Jackson was accidently shot by his own men. The accepted conclusion: one defeat, nine victories, and one draw. The professor’s grades: one D, four Cs, four Bs, and two As. The Folks’ analysis: Stonewall Jackson was a better strategist than tactician. Jackson was adept at delivering more men to the battle than the enemy. Jackson knew how to win, but he failed to finish the fight. Nevertheless, Folks concluded, “Stonewall Jackson was a military genius because he commanded steadiness of his troops, always outnumbered his enemy, and mastered the mobility of his troops…I have always admired his courage and his virtue in spite of the unimaginable horror of war.”

The Columbia Torch Club meets monthlyFor information, Ed Latimer at 803-776-4765.