 Benjamin had difficulty in managing the Confederacy 's generals . He quarreled with General P.G.T. Beauregard , a war hero since his victory at First Manassas . Beauregard sought to add a rocket battery to his command , an action Benjamin stated was not authorized by law . He was most likely relaying Davis 's views , and when challenged by Beauregard , the president backed Benjamin , advising the general to " dismiss this small matter from your mind . In the hostile masses before you , you have a subject more worthy of your contemplation " . In January 1862 , Thomas J. " Stonewall " Jackson 's forces had advanced in western Virginia , leaving troops under William W. Loring at the small town of Romney . Distant from Jackson 's other forces and ill @-@ supplied , Loring and other officers petitioned the War Department to be recalled , and Benjamin , after consulting Davis , so ordered , using the pretext of rumored Union troop movements in the area . Jackson complied , but in a letter to Benjamin asked to be removed from the front , or to resign . High @-@ ranking Confederates soothed Jackson into withdrawing his request . 
