From the rainy northern border of Vermont to the sunny Florida panhandle, men and women still get together to reenact the American Civil War, as combatants, nurses, and medics.

And physicians have long reenacted the role of medical examiner, debating whether legendary Confederate hero Stonewall Jackson, shot in 1863 while scouting enemy lines in Virginia, died of pneumonia or infection.

On Friday, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Jackson's death, a prominent trauma surgeon from Maryland confirmed the original diagnosis of Hunter H. McGuire, a renowned Confederate battlefield doctor: pneumonia. "It's a matter of great historical argument among medical providers. The diagnosis that actually Hunter McGuire had initially is the most likely diagnosis," said Dr. DuBose, a surgeon and professor at the University of Maryland.

"You would be hard-pressed to find someone more qualified than him for the treatment of this injury and taking care of Stonewall Jackson," he said. "I do defer to him in some regard. I kind of have to. He's not only the treating physician; he's also the only source of information."

Dr. DuBose reviewed reports of Jackson's death as well as the medical notes McGuire recreated from memory three years after losing the originals when captured by Union soldiers. According to the reports, Jackson was shot three times by friendly forces, and then dropped twice while being carried away by stretcher to have his arm was amputated. Jackson had gained the moniker "Stonewall" early in Civil War and was heralded for his military boldness.

Jackson was celebrated at an annual conference Friday held by the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, which annually reviews medical diagnoses of historical figures, like Alexander the Great, Edgar Allen Poe, Abraham Lincoln, and others.

Jackson suffered his fatal injuries in a moment of confusion while scouting territory in the Virginia wilderness, shot by soldiers from North Carolina late at night. Dr. DuBose said that after Jackson had been shot by his fellowmen, their bumbling rescue attempt may also have contributed to this death.

"If he had been dropped and had a pulmonary contusion, or bruise of the lung, it creates an area of the lung that doesn't clear secretions real well, and it can be a focus that pneumonia can start in," Dr. Dubose said. "That's probably what happened in this particular instance."

Historians say pneumonia, common during the Civil War, was the third most fatal disease for soldiers.