Winchester’s storybook Gothic Revival cottage served as the headquarters of Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson from November 1861 to March 1862. Jackson’s firm stand during the battle of First Manassas earned him his nickname and the rank of major general with the task of defending the Shenandoah Valley. He established his headquarters in Winchester, and the following spring began a series of diversions to take pressure off Confederate forces in the east. His headquarters was built in 1854 for William McP. Fuller. With its diamond-pane windows and scrolled bargeboards, the house follows the Gothic mode popularized by the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing. Mrs. Jackson, who resided here during the winter of 1861-62, described the dwelling as being in the cottage style and papered with elegant gilt paper. The Thomas J. Jackson Headquarters building is owned by the city and operated as a museum by the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.