STONEWALL JACKSON, A Character Sketch of Thomas Jonathan Jackson ***************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.rootsweb/~usgenweb/ Submitted by Mary Love Berryman - marylove@tyler.net 30 August 2001 ***************************************************************** STONEWALL JACKSON A Character Sketch "You may be what you resolve to be.: Duty is ours, consequences are God's. --Stonewall Jackson By H. H. Smith, Blackstone, Virginia Price 15 Cents (Five or more copied 10 cents each.) THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON A Brief Sketch Emphasizing the Character of Our Great Military Hero. Colonel Henderson, an eminent English military authority, whose two volumes on Stonewall Jackson are among the best books on the life of our great Southern General, says: "So upright was his life, so profound his faith, so exquisite his tenderness, that Jackson's many victories are almost his least claim to be ranked amongst the world's true heroes." And thus it is said of Stonewall Jackson as Charles Frances Adams said of Robert E. Lee, that he was "essentially a man of character." The object of this brochure is to give a brief sketch of the character of this great military leader, "whose religious zeal was as constant and unflinching as his personal courage." Both young and old should profit by the contemplation of such a lofty character. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born at Clarksburg, Va. (now West Virginia), January 21, 1824. He was of Scotch-Irish descent. His great-grandfather John Jackson, fought in the Revolutionary War. The ancestors of Stonewall were men of note, "filling places of high dignity and public trust." Just before the War Between the States, Jackson wrote to his cousin, Judge William L. Jackson: "I am most anxious to see our family enjoying that high standard and influence which it possessed in days of yore," says White's biography of Jackson, an admirable work, from which we have gleaned many facts for this brochure. Edward Jackson, grandfather of Stonewall Jackson, "was marked by soundness of judgement and by great energy." Jonathan Jackson, the father of Stonewall Jackson, was "a man of short stature, had clear, blue eyes, and was possessed of a genial and affectionate disposition." He attended Clarksburg Academy and was spoken of as a "noble and highly promising young man." At the age of seven, Jackson found himself an orphan, having lost father and mother within a few years. He was only three years old when his father died, and a few years later his mother married again. Her second husband's means "were so slender that it became necessary to send Thomas to live with one of his uncles. The parting of mother and child was a sore trial to both; the tenderness and the tears were never forgotten by the son." A year later he was called to stand by her death-bed and to see the triumph of her faith. "She was an earnest Christian and her last hours were filled with peace. The prayers which she offered at that time in behalf of her children remained as a sweet influence in the memory of Thomas Jonathan Jackson to the end of his life. Thoughtout his entire career he continued to speak of his mother as the embodiment of beauty, grace and tenderness." He named his daughter, Julia, in honor of his mother. HIS CHILDHOOD Very early in his life he became an adventurer. "When Thomas was about ten years of age he was persuaded by his brother, who was two years older, to leave the home given them by the uncle. The lads made their way down the Ohio River to the Mississippi and spent the summer on a little island, cutting wood for passing steamers. In the autumn they came back, their clothes ragged and their systems filled with malarial fever.: It seems that the uncle did not oppose the departure of these two young adventurers. As a boy, Jackson was "slender and delicate in physique,: but spending his early life in the open air he steadily grew stronger. He was very industrious, working hard upon his uncle's plantation, managing the logging of a saw-mill with skill and wisdom. He was fond of sports and took delight in fox-hunting and horse-racing. He was noted for truthfulness and honesty under all circumstances and "kept himself free from all that was impure and degrading." His character as a young man is described as follows: "He was a youth of exempllary habits, of indomitable will and of undoubted courage. He was not what is nowadays termed brilliant, but he was one of those untiring, matter-of-fact persons who would never give up an undertaking until he accomplished his object. He learned slowly, but what he got into his head he never forgot. He was not quick to decide, except when excited, and then, when he made up his mind to do a thing, he did it on short notice and in quick time. Once while on his way to school, an overgrown rustic behaved rudely to one of the schoolgirls. Jackson fired up and told him he must apologize at once or he would thrash him. The big fellow, supposing that he was more than a match for him, refused, whereupon Jackson pitched into him and gave him a severe pounding." (From Life of Jackson, by his wife.) His health being somewhat frail, when he was seventeen years of age "his friends secured for him an appointment as a constable of the county . . . . During a period of about two years he discharged the responsibilities of his position with great energy and faithfulness. He was punctual in meeting every engagement, his accounts were kept with strict accuracy. He manifested in a high degree the qualities of firmness, patience and tact. Moreover, his physical strength was re-established. But he was making little progress in the training of his mind and this fact disturbed him. He had a strong desire for self-improvement. He wished to show himself worthy of those men of his own blood who had, for nearly a hundred years, dominated that part of the country in which he lived. To accomplish this, he knew he must secure an education." THE WEST POINT CADET About this time a vacancy occurred at the West Point Military Academy, and Jackson, endorsed by many influential friends who knew his promising traits, hurried to Washington to see the Secretary of War. "The secretary plied Jackson with questions and he was so much pleased with the directness and manliness of his replies that he then and there gave him the appointment. 'You have a good name,' he remarked. 'Go to West Point, and the the first man who insults you, knock him down and have it charged to my account.'" He would not tarry in the Capital city for even a few days, although invited to do so by friends. "Climbing to the roof of the Capitol he contented himself with one look at the growing city and the Potomac River and the hills of Virginia beyond." Then he was off for West Point, filled with high aims and hopes. The following description of him at this time is interesting: "He was clad in Virginia homespun and all the rest of his clothing was carried in the pair of saddle-bags that he had brought with him from his native mountains. He had a small, firm mouth, a high forehead, well-cut features, and a fresh, ruddy complexion. His frame was strong and angular, his feet and hands were large and his movements were marked by awkwardness. In manner he was shy and had little to say. When the other cadets saw the country youth enter the parade ground, they supposed that he would furnish them fine sport as the victim of their practical jokes. Very quickly they learned their mistake. Jackson was so well endowed with courage, good temper and other native resources that the mischievous cadets soon abandoned their attempts to persecute him." He was poorly prepared for entrance into the Academy, but his "unbending determination to make progress in his studies: won the day. In Maury's "Recollections of a Virginian," we read: "We were studying algebra and analytical geometry that winter, and Jackson was very low in his class standing. All lights were put out at 'taps,' and just before the signal, he would pile up his grate with anthracite coal and lying prone before it on the floor, would work away at his lessons by the glare of the fire, which scorched his very brain, till a late hour of the night. This evident determination to succeed not only aided his own efforts directly, but impressed his instructors in his favor and he rose steadily year by year, till we used to say, 'If we had to stay here another year, 'Old Jack' would be at the head of the class.'" He was full of sympathy. "If he found any comrade sick or bearing a great burden, he was ready to offer help with a tenderness that seemed like that of a woman . . . Though no one made more light of pain on his own account, no one could have more carefully avoided giving pain to others except when duty demanded it; and one of his classmates testifies that he went though the trying ordeal of four years at West Point withoug ever having a hard word or bad feeling for or from cadet or professor." One of his classmates says: "While there were many who seemed to surpass him in intellect, in geniality, and in good fellowship, there was no one of our class who more absolutely possessed the respect and confidence of all; and in the end 'Old Jack,' as he was always called, with his desperate earnestness, his unflinching straightforwardness, and his high sense of honor, came to be regarded by his comrades with something very like affection." While at West Point he drew up a series of maxims containing the following: "Say as little of yourself and friends as possible." "It is not desireable to have a large number of intimate friends." "Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve." "Sacrifice your life rather than your word." "Through life let your principal object be the discharge of duty." "You can be what you resolve to be." At the age of twenty-two he was graduated at West Point, and given the brevet rank of second lieutenant of artillery. The Mexican war had just begun, and he was ordered to join his regiment, the First Artillery, in Mexico. He took part in the siege of Vera Cruz, and was promoted to the brevet rank of first lieutenant, "for gallant and meritorious conduct at the siege of Vera Cruz." THE YOUNG SOLDIER When he landed in Mexico he was eager to go to the front, and said, "I envy you men who have been in battle. How I should like to be in one battle." "I wanted to see active service." he said afterward, "to be near the enemy in the fight; and when I heard that John Magruder had got his battery, I bent all my energies to be with him, for I knew if any fighting was to be done, Magruder would be 'on hand.'" And Magruder was not dissappointed in Jackson, for soon the roar of Magruder's guns was heard and Jackson "advanced in handsome style and kept up the fire with equal briskness and effect. His conduct was equally conspicuous during the whole day," wrote Magruder, "and I cannot too highly commend him to the major-general's favorable con- sideration." For his gallantry in the battle of Contreras he was promoted to brevet rank of captain, and a little later on for his heroic conduct at Chapultepec he received the brevet rank of major. Magruder's report said that "if devotion, industry, talent and gallantry are the highest qualities of a soldier, then is he entitled to the distinction which their possession confers." It was not until the close of the Mexican war, when he was twenty-five years of age, that he became a Christian. He was baptized by an Episcopal clergyman, but was not "confirmed," as he was uncertain as to the denomination with which he preferred to unite. In March, 1851, he was appointed "Professor of Artillery Tactics and Natural Philosophy" at the Virginia Military Institute. Soon after entering upon his duties there he became a member of the Presbyterian Church. Two years later he was united in marriage with Eleanor Junkin, daughter of Dr. George Junkin, President of Washington College, which was also located at Lexington. "The moulding influence exerted by the young wife over Jackson was strong. Her childlike Christian faith called for daily imitation on his part." Eighteen months after his marriage his wife and infant child were taken from him. This was a most severe trial. "My tears have not ceased to flow, my heart to bleed," he wrote some time afterward, "but one upward glance of the eye of faith gives a return that all is well and that "I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.' Are not His promises wide enough?" In 1857 he married Mary Anna Morrison, daughter of Dr. Robert Morrison, a Presbyterian minister and President of Davidson College, North Carolina. This was a most happy union. HIS ABHORRENCE OF WAR When the war clouds were gathering Jackson was anxious for the maintenance of peace. "He held, however, that the responsibility for peace or war rested upon the administration at Washington. He believed in the right of the States to secede. During this period he signed his name to an 'Appeal' that was sent out to the Christians of the country, urging them to pray and work for peace. In this paper it was proposed to ask the North . . . . 'whether she would yield to us a generous and fair construction of our equal rights, and in the future punctually observe it, or whether she would force us to an unwilling but necessary self-defence outside the Union.'" When all compromises were rejected, and it "became more evident that Lincoln's administration intended to use force against the Southern Commonwealths, Jackson said that if the Federal Government at Washington should persist in the meassures now threatened, there must be war. It is painful to discover with what unconcern they speak of war and threaten it. They seem not to know what its horrors are. I have had an opportunity of knowing enough of the subject to make me fear war as the sum of all evils. Should the step be taken which is now threatened, we shall have no other alternative: we must fight. But do you not think that all Christian people of the land could be induced to unite in a concert of prayer, to avert so great an evil? It seems to me that if they would unite thus in prayer, war might be prevented and peace preserved." Jackson's wife says: "However it may surprise those who knew him only as a soldier, yet it is true that I never heard any man express such utter abhorrence of war. I shall never forget how he once exclaimed to me, with all the intensity of his nature, 'Oh, how I do deprecate war!'" Writing to his wife during the war, he said: "To destroy so many fine locomotives, cars and railroad property was a sad work, but I had my orders, and my duty was to obey. If the cost of the property could only have been expended in disseminating the gospel of the Prince of Peace, how much good might have been expected!" While others were excited when war appeared inevitable, Jackson was undisturbed. Says a friend who visited him a few days before he was called into the field of war: "Walking with God in prayer and holy obedience, he reposed upon his promises and providence with a calm and unflinching reliance beyond any man I ever knew." When called to Richmond with his cadets at the breaking out of the war, he first went to his home and held worship. "There, in the presence of his wife only, he read the fifth chapter of Second Corinthians, beginning thus: 'For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' He then knelt and with a voice almost choked with tears, prayed that 'If consistent with His will, God would still avert the threatening danger and grant us peace.'" SOME PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS "Look at the portraits of Jackson," says Col. Henderson, "and ask if the following description is not exactly applicable? "Strength is the striking attribute of the countenance, displayed alike in the broad forehead, the masculine nose, the firm lips, the heavy jaw and wide chin. The look is grave and stern almost to grimness. There is neither weakness nor failure here. It is the image of the strong fortress, of a strong soul buttressed on conscience and impregnable will.'" Speaking of his leaving home when a child, Dr. Moses D. Hoge says: "He displayed the self-reliance and hardihood of a man, at a period of life when children are ordinarily scarcely out of the nursery. This inflexibility of purpose and defiance of hardship and danger in the determination to succeed, was displayed in all his subsequent career." "In Jackson, even as a cadet." says Henderson, "self was subordinate to duty. Pride was foreign to his nature. He was incapable of pretence, and his simplicity was inspired by that disdain of all meanness which had been his characteristic from a child. His brain was disturbed by no wild visions; no interperate ambition confused his sense of right and wrong. "The essence of his mind,' as has been said of another of like mood, 'was clean clearness, healthy purity, incompatibility with fraud in any of its forms.' It was his instinct to be true and straightforward as it was Napoleon's to be false and subtle. And if, as a youth, he showed no trace of marked intellectual power; if his instructors saw no sign of masterful resolution and a genius for command, it was because at West Point, as elsewhere, his great qualities lay dormant awaiting the emergency that should call them forth." "He was considered 'eccentric' by some." says Dr. J. William Jones, "but his eccentricities all leaned to a rigid performance of what he deemed right. He waited ten minutes in the pelting rain in front of the quarters of the superintendent, that he might not deliver his report one minute before the time ordered, and wore thick woolen clothes in the summer 'because he had received no orders to change his uniform.' upon precisely the same principal. He wanted to set the cadets an example of unquestioning obedience to orders." "His respect for truth was of the most scrupulous character. An unintentional misstatement of fact on his part gave him great uneasiness until it was corrected. 'Why, in the name of reason, do you walk a mile in the rain for a perfectly unimportant thing?' To this question he replied, "Simply because I have discovered that it was a mistatement, and I could not sleep comfortably unless I put it right.'" John Esten Cooke says "Truth was with him the jewel beyond all price-- and nothing discomposed him more than the bare suspicion that accuracy was sacrificed to effect. He disliked all glowing adjectives in the narratives of his battles, and presented to the members of his staff and all around him, a noble example of modesty and love of truth. He seemed, indeed, to have a horror of anything pressed or implied . . . When the publishers of an illustrated periodical wrote to him requesting his daguerreotype and some notes of his battles for an engraving and a biographical sketch, he wrote in reply that he had no picture of himself and had never done anything." On account of some weakness of his eyes he made it a rule never to read by artificial light. And such was his power of concentration that he would sit with his face to the wall for two hours, mentally reviewing the lessons for the coming day, often holding in mind complex diagrams and solving difficult problems in higher mathematics. "It will be surprising to many to hear that Jackson was a man of the highest ambition." says Hon. John W. Daniel. "He aspired to eminence in whatever he undertook. He had that characteristic of elevated minds, and is inconceivable to others; and he used every honorable exertion to win it. At the battle of Chapultepec, where his section had lost severely, his friends asked him if he felt no trepidation when so many were falling around him. He replied, 'No, that the only anxiety of which he was concious in any engagement was a fear lest he should not meet danger enough to make his conduct under it as conspicuous as he desired; and as the fire grew hotter he rejoiced in it as his coveted opportunity.' But his ambition was never overweening, envious, selfish or ill-regulated." "YOU CAN BE WHAT YOU RESOLVE TO BE" Dr. Gamaliel Bradford says: "In short, he was a man with a soul of fire. Action was his life. To do something, to do high, heroic things, to do them with set lip and strained nerve and unflinching determination --to him this was all the splendor of existence. In his youth he had not learned Latin well and it was questioned whether he could do it in age. He said he could. He was set to teach metters that were strange to him and some doubted whether he could do it. Extempors prayer came to him with difficulty, and his pastor advised his not attempting it, if he could not do it. He said he could. 'As to the rest, I knew that what I willed to do I could do.' . . . Pure intelligence sees insurmountable difficulties, too many and too plain. Jackson, if ever any man, come near to being pure will." "He had the magnetic faculty of extending to others his own furious determination. He could demand the impossible of them because he performed it himself. 'Come on,' he cried in Mexico, 'you see there is no danger.' And a shot passed between his legs spread wide apart. His soldiers marched to death when he bade them. What was even worse, they marched at the double through Virginia mud, without shoes, without food, without sleep. 'Did you order me to advance over the field, sir?' said an officer to him. 'Yes,' said Jackson. 'Impossible, sir! My men will be annihilated! Nothing can live there! They will be annihilated!' General--,' said Jackson, 'I always endeavor to take care of my wounded and to bury my dead. You have heard my order-- obey it.'" STRENGTH AND TENDERNESS Dr. Hoge says: "This admirable commingling of strength and tenderness is his nature is touchingly illustrated by a letter now for the first time made public. An officer under his command had obtained leave of absence to visit a stricken household. A beloved member of his family had just died; another was seriously ill, and he applied for an extension of his furlough. This is the reply: "My Dear Major: I have received your and letter and wish I could relieve your sorrowing heart, but human aid cannot heal the wound. From me you have a friend's sympathy, and I wish the suffering condition of our country permitted me to show it. But we must think of the living and of those who are to come after us, and see that, with God's blessing, we transmit to them the freedom we have enjoyed. What is life, without honor? Degradation is worse than death. It is necessary that you should be at your post immediately. Join me tomorrow morning. Your sympathizing friend, Thomas J. Jackson." Co. Henderson says: "Never was there a more striking contrast than between Jackson the general, and Jackson off duty. During his sojourn at Moss Neck, Mr. Corbin's little daughter, a child of six years old, became a special favorite. Her pretty face and winsome ways were so charming that he requested her mother that she might visit him every afternoon, when the day's labors were over. He had always some little treat in store for her--an orange or an apple--but one afternoon he found that his supply of good things was exhausted. Glancing round the room his eye fell on a new uniform cap, ornamented with a good band. Taking his knife he ripped off the braid, and fastened it among the curls of his little playfellow. A little later the child was taken ill, and after his removal from Moss Neck, he heard that she had died. 'The general,' writes his aide-de-camp, 'wept freely when I brought him the sad news.' Yet in the administration of discipline Jackson was far sterner than General Lee, or indeed than any other of the generals in Virginia. He never failed to confirm the sentences of death passed by court-martial on deserters," says Henderson. "On one occasion four men were to be executed for desertion to the enemy. The firing party had been ordered to parade at four o'clock in the afternoon, and shortly before the hour a chaplain, not noted for his tact, made his way to the general's tent, and petitioned earnestly that the prisoners might even now be released. Jackson, whom he found pacing backwards and forwards, in evident agitation, watch in hand, listened courteously to his arguments, but made no reply, until at length the worthy minister, in his most impressive manner, said, 'General, consider your responsibility before the Lord. Your are sending these men's souls to hell!' With a look of intense disgust at such empty cant, Jackson made one stride forward, took the astonished divine by his shoulders, and saying, in his severest tones, 'That, sir, is my business---do you do yours!' thrust him forcibly from the tent." What was the effect of such discipline upon his soldiers? "It did not, however, alienate in the smallest degree the confidence and affection of his soldiers. They had full faith in his justice. They were well aware that to order the execution of some unfortunate wretch gave him intense pain. But they recognized, as well as he did himself that it was sometimes expedient that individuals should suffer." When petitioned to pardon a man who was to be shot for striking an officer, Jackson said, "I will review the whole case and no man will be happier than myself if I can reach the same conclusions as you have done." His verdict was: "It is unquestionably a case of great hardship, but a pardon at this juncture might work greater hardship. Resistance to lawful authority is a grave offense in a soldier. To pardon this man would be to encourage insubordination throughout the army, and so ruin our cause. The soldier was shot. Dr. McGuire, his medical director, says: "His consideration for his men was very great, and he often visited the hospital with me and spoke some words of encouragement to his soldiers. The day after the fight at Kernstown as we were preparing to move further up the Valley, as the enemy was threatening to attack us, I said to him, "I have not been able to move all our wounded.' And he replied, 'Very well, I will stay here until you do move them.' . . . . I have seen him stop while his army was on the march to help a poor, simple woman find her son, when she only knew that this son was in 'Jackson's company.' He first found out the name of her county, then the companies from that county, and by sending couriers to each company he at last found the boy and brought him to his mother. . . . Indeed, as I look back on the two years that I was daily, indeed hourly, with him, his gentleness as a man, his great kindness, his tenderness to those in trouble or affliction--the tenderness indeed of a woman--impress me more than his wonderful prowess as a great warior." MILITARY GENIUS Mrs. Margaret Preston, accompanied Major Jackson and his bride, who was her sister, on a bridal tour. "At Quebec, on the Heights of Abraham, Jackson stood by the monument of Wolfe. And to her amazement he seemed transfigured. He stood erect and thrilled with passion, when he read aloud the inscription, the dying words of Wolfe, 'I die content,' and cried with a passionate movement of the arm. 'To die as he died, who would not be content?' Long and well she had known him, and now came the revelation of a war spirit, which slumbered within, and was awakened by this monument to a herotic soldier and his noble daring." "A military genius of the highest order," said Lord Welseley, referring to Jackson's Valley compaign. "These brilliant successes appear to me models of the kind both in conception and execution." Speaking of Jackson's campaign in the Valley, Dr. Hunter McGuire says: "One British officer, who teaches strategy in a great European college, told me that he used this campaign as a model of strategy and tactics, and dwelt upon it for several months of each session in the schools of Germany; and that Von Moltke, the great strategist, declared it was without a rival in the world's history." Col. Henderson says: "He appears to have thought out and to have foreseen--and here his imaginative power aided him--every combination that could be made against him, and to have provided for every possible emergency. He was never surprised, never disconcerted, though on some occasions his success fell short of his expectations, the fault was not his; his strategy was always admirable, but fortune, in one guise or another . . . interfered with the full accomplishment of his designs." He made such careful and thorough study of the elaborate maps prepared by his engineer--which marked even the foot-path and mountain rivulets-- that his men declared that Jackson "knew every hole and corner of the Valley as if he had made it himself." "The greatest general," said Napoleon, 'is he who makes fewest mistakes.' i.e., he who neither neglects an opportunity nor offers one. Thus tested, Jackson has few superiors. During the whole of two years he held command he never committed a single error." --(Henderson.) Major-General Heth says: "Quick as lightning to take in the situation confronting him, he knew exactly when, where and how to strike, and when he did strike he was as irrestible as a tornado--he swept all before him. Never excited, he was as cool under fire as he would have been if attending to his devotions in his church." Col. Henderson says: "When Jackson fell at Chancellorsville, his military career had only just begun, and the question, what place he takes in history, is hardly so pertinent as the question, what place he could have taken had he been spared. So far as his opportunities had permitted, he had shown himself in no way inferior to the greatest generals of the century, to Wellington, to Napoleon or to Lee." After the surrender of Harper's Ferry, "the Federal soldiers lined both sides of the road in their eagerness to catch a glimpse of the famous Confederate leader. A number of them took off their caps as he passed; in every case he returned the salute. 'Boys,' said a soldier to his comrades, 'he's not much for looks, but if we'd had him, we wouldn't have been caught in this trap.'" JACKSON'S "FOOT'CALVARY" The claim was made for Jackson's foot-soldiers that "none ever marched faster or held out longer." "Above others, on either side," says Gen. Fitz Lee, "Jackson understood the great value of celerity in military movements, and his infantry was termed 'foot-calvary.'" His men used to say: "Old Jack always moves 'at early dawn' except when he starts the day before, and, says a writer, it was a glorious sight to witness the cheerful alacrity with which the 'foot cavalry,' often with bare and blistered feet, responded to every call of their iron chief, and marched with him to an immortality of fame." "When forces amounting to 60,000 men were advancing on three sides in the morning of May 30th, this Army of the Valley marched nearly sixty miles in the days and carried the vast train through the midst of the enemy without the loss of a wagon." Of this campaign it is said: "With scarcely any rest for himself and with little food during the entire period, Jackson carefully planned every movement. Nearly every detail was carried out under his own eye. He was present everywhere to guide and to give encouragement. During the brief intervals of rest, while his men sought sleep, Jackson in prayer sought the aid of the God of battles." HIS AGGRESSIVENESS General Ewell said: "I never saw one of Jackson's couriers approach without expecting an order to assault the North Pole." In the very severe engagement at Chantilly, fought during a heavy thunder-storm, when the voice of the artillery of heaven could scarcely be told from that of the army, an aide came up with a message from A. P. Hill that his ammunition was wet and that he asked leave to retire. 'Give my compliments to General Hill, and tell him that the Yankee ammunition is as wet as his; to stay where he is.'" "His idea of strtegy was to secure the initiative, however inferior his force; to create oportunities and to utilize them; to waste no time, and to give the enemy no rest. 'War,' he said, 'means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight. Armies are not called out to dig trenches, to throw up breast-works, to five in camps, but to find the enemy and strike him; to invade his country and to do him all possible damage in the shortest possible time. To move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of victory is the secret of successful war.'" At the first battle of Manassas, General Bee rode up to Jackson and cried out, "General, give them the boyonet," was the answer, Jackson's coolness and quietness restored Bee's confidence, and riding back among his men he cried in loud tones: "Look! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!" "The soldiers repeated General Bee's cry and it rang across the field. Many who heard it took heart again. The change in the fortunes of the day may be dated from that hour." Fitz Lee says that Jackson's Valley Campaign "produced a panic at the Federal Capital. The Secretary of War issued a call to the governors of the loyal States for militia to defend the city." He also said: "the brilliant Valley tactics of Stonewall Jackson saved Richmond." After Port Republic, Jackson said: "If the President will give me 60,000 men, I will be in Harrisburg, Penna., in two weeks. I will undertake it with 40,000." After Cold Harbor, he again wished to advance, exclaiming, "The Scipio Africanus policy is the best." After the first battle of Manassas he said, "Give me 10,000 men, and I will be in Washington tonight." "One male a week, and three foights a day,: said an Irishman, "was the rule in Jackson's army." When some person about the staff, after the development of Hooker's plan, expressed his anxiety and fear lest the army should be compelled to retreat before him, General Jackson replied sharply, 'Who said that?' No, sir, we shall not fall back; we shall attack them.'" John W. Daniel said: "Whenever the majority of the generals in the late war started on an expedition a commissary pulled them back by the coat tail. When Jackson started he kicked the commissary out of the way and went without him." On his way to Richmond to join Lee against McClellan, he spent the night near Frederick Hall. Mrs. Nat Harris sent him an invitation to take breakfast with her the next morning, and he courteously thanked her and said, "If I can I will be happy to do so." But when the good lady sent to summon him to breakfast, his body servant, Jim, said to the messenger with a look of astonishment: "Lor', you surely didn't 'spec' to find the Gineral here at dis hour, did you? You don't know him den. Why he left here at one o'clock dis mornin', and I spec' he is whippin' de Yankees in de Valley agin by now." HIS POLICY OF "SECRECY" Jackson maintained the strictest secrecy concerning his militry plans, and his generals sometimes chafed under such a procedure. When informed of the irritation of his officers, he said: "if I can deceive my own friends, I can make certain of deceiving the enemy." He often quoted Frederick the Great's maxim" "If I thought my coat knew my plans, I would take it off and burn it." General Ewell was inclined to critise Jackson for keeping his officers in the dark concerning his plans, and it is reported he said concerning the Valley compaign: "Well, sir, when he commenced it I thought him crazy; before he ended it I thought him inspired." "The manner in which he mystified his enemies is a masterpiece." "I don't like Jackson's movements," wrote McClellan to Halleck, "he will suddenly appear when least expected." "This misgiving found many echoes," says Henderson. A wag sent him a letter addressed: "Stone W. Jackson, Esqr., somewhere or somewhere else." "In some of his most brilliantly successful movements, such as his march against Fremont and then against Banks, his march to 'seven days around Richmond,' to Pope's rear at Second Manassas and to Hooker's flank and rear at Chancellorsville, the element of secrecy entered largely into his success." When he left the Valley to go to Richmond, he was exceedingly anxious to keep the enemy in the dark concerning his movements. During the march one of Hood's men left the ranks and was moving toward a cherry-tree near the roadside. "Where are you going?" asked Jackson, as he rode by. "I don't know," said the soldier. "To what command do you belong?" "I don't know." What is the meaning of all this?" Inquired Jackson of another soldier. "Well," replied the man, "Old Stonewall and General Hood gave orders yesterday that we were not to know anything until after the next fight." Jackson laughed and rode forward. But this secrecy accomplished wonders. Henderson says: "On June 26th, when Jackson suddenly appeared on the Chickahominy, Banks, Fremont and McDowell, were still guarding the roads to Washington, and McClellan was waiting for McDowell. One hundred and seventy-five thousand men absolutely paralyzed by 16,000! Only Napoleon's campaign of 1814 affords a parallel to this extraordinary spectacle." THE VICTORIOUS LEADER Summing up the results of the Valley campaign, White says: "Jackson's fame as a military leader was most surely established in his own country and in Europe by the operations of the forty-two days from April 29th to June 9th. During that period his army marched more than four hundred miles, fought five battles and numerous combats, and won all of them. With only 16,000 men he had kept 70,000 Federal troops-- those of Banks, Fremont and McDowell, engaged in the Valley, and thwarted their movements and had kept them from aiding McClellan at Richmond. He had taken 3,500 prisoners, great quantities of stores, nine guns and 10,000 rifles, while 3,500 Federal soldiers had been disabled. These results were all accomplished at comparatively small cost to the Confederates. To this campaign there is no parallel in history, unless it be Napoleon's campaign in 1796. 'And it may even be questioned,' writes Colonel Henderson. 'whether in some respects, it was not more brilliant. The odds against the Confederates were far greater than against the French.'" His great victory at the first battle of Mannassas is given elsewhere. When the vainglorious Pope issued his address to his soldiers: "I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies; from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and to beat him when he was found," etc., some one said to Jackson, "This new general claims your attention." "And, if it please God, he shall have it." was the reply. Summed up in a word, the result of Jackson's attention to Pope in the battle of Second Manassas: "During these movements, the Confederates captured thirty guns, 7,000 prisoners and 20,00 rifles, and they inflicted a loss upon the Federals of 13,500 in killed and wounded. The Confederate loss was about 10,000. Pope's army of 80,000 men had been defeated and ddriven into Washington by a Confederate force of not more than 55,000." Concerning Sharpsburg, White says: "Thus Jackson defeated a force which was more than double the strength of his two divisions. When the fighting began, he sent Early's brigade to assist the cavalry on the left. Thus with only 4,200 men he repulsed Hooker's corps of 12,500." So fierce was his attack with only 3,000 men against the enemy at Kernstown, which had a force three times the strength of Jackson, that the Federal officer reported to Washington: "The enemy's strength was about 15,000!" JACKSON IN BATTLE To be under heavy fire, he said, filled him with a "delicious excitement." He declared "that the danger of battle always had an exalting effect upon his spirit, and that he was conscious of a more perfect command of all his faculties and of their more clear and rapid action, when under fire, than at any other time." "There is no measuring the intensity with which the very sould of Jackson burned in battle," says Dr. McGuire. Dr. Dabney, his chief of staff, stays: "It was not unusual to see him pale and tremulous with excitement at the firing of the first gun of an opening battle. But the only true courage is moral courage, and this was so perfect in him, that it had absolutely changed his corporal nature. No man could exhibit a more calm indifference to personal danger, and more perfect self-possession and equanimity in the greatest perils. The determination of his spirit so controlled his body that his very flesh became impassive; the nearesst hissing of bullets seemed to produce no quiver of the nerves; and when cannon balls hurled across his path, there was no involuntary shrinking of the bridle-hand. This power of concentration was of unrivaled force in his mind, and when occupied in profound thought, or inspired with some great purpose, he seemed to become almost unconscious of external things. This was the true explanation of that seeming reclessness with which he sometimes exposed himself on the field of battle." "When a connon-ball tore into splinters the tree beneath which he was writing a dispatch, not a muscle of his body moved and he went on writing as if nothing had happened." A correspondent, as quoted in Dr. Bennett's "Great Revival," says: "I saw something today which affected me more than anything I ever saw or read on religion. While the battle was raging and bullets wer flying, Jackson rode by, calm as if he were at home, but his head was raised toward heaven, and his lips were moving, evidently in prayer." "Meeting a chaplain near the front in the heat of a battle, the general said to him, 'The rear is your place, sir, now, and prayer your business.' He sid to a colonel who wanted worship, 'All right, colonel, but don't forget to drill.'" JACKSON AND HIS SOLDIERS Few generals ever enjoyed the love and confidence of their soldiers as did Stonewall Jackson. "The common soldier loved him. It was not for any jolly comradeship, nor for any facinating magnetism of personal charm or heroic eloquence. He was a hard task-master, exacting and severe. . . . But the men had confidence in him. He had got them out of many a difficulty and something in his manner told them that he would get them out of any difficulty. The sight of his old uniform and scrawny sorrel horse stirred all their nerves and made them march and fight as they could not have done for another man. And then they knew that though he was harsh, he was just. He expected great things for them. He would slaughter them mercilessly to win a victory; but when it was won he would give them the glory, under God, and would cherish the survivors with a parent's tenderness. 'We do not regard him as a severe disciplinarian,; writes on of them 'as a politician, as a man seeking popularity--but as a Christian, a brave man who appreciates the condition of a common soldier, as a fartherly protector, as one who endures all hardship in common with his followers, who never commands others to face danger without putting himself in the van.'" - (Bradford). During a forced march to the First battle of Manassas, his soldiers, tired and worn, threw themselves on the ground and were soon fast asleep. When an officer called Jackson's attention to the fact that no pickets had been posted, he said: "Let the poor fellows sleep; I will guard the camp myself." This he did until an hour before daybreak when a member of his staff insisted on taking his place as sentinel. When the sound of distant cheering was heard along the line, the soldiers would say, "Boys, look out! here comes 'Old Stonewall' or an old hare!" "They laughed at his worn uniform, his faded cap, and his politeness, but they had implicit confidence in his integrity and capacity. Where are you going'? some of his men were asked as they were called on suddenly to make a quick march. "We don't know but 'Old Jack' does'" was the ready answer. Around the camp-fires, Jackson's men invented ingenious stories to illustrate his great skill as a military leader. "It took Moses forty years." ran one story, "to lead the children of Israel through the wilderness, 'Old Jack' would have double-quicked them through in three days on half rations." "His hold on the devotion of his troops was very sure. 'God knows,' said his adjutant-general, weeping the tears of a brave man. 'I would have died for him!' and few commanders have been followed with more implicit confidence or have inspired a deeper and more abiding affection." At the unveiling of a bronze statue of Jackson at his grave in Lexington, "two well known officers, who had served under Jackson, were sitting near each other on their horses. Each remarked the silence of the other, and each saw that the other was in tears. 'I'm not ashamed of it, Snowden!' 'Nor I, old boy," replied the other, as he tried to smile." John Esten Cooke says: "It is a well-known fact that the Federal troops, instead of regarding their conqueror with a sentiment of hatred, exhibited the liveliest admiration for him and curiosity to see him. Many desired to shake hands with him and did so. This feeling of the Northern troops was displayed on many occasions. A gentleman of Culpeper was offered by a Federal soldier $500.00 in green-backs" for Jackson's autograph, but refused it; and a Federal officer said to be a member of General Longstreet's staff, whilst a prisoner in Washington: "I believe if we were to capture Stonewall Jackson, our troops would cheer him as he passed along." LEE AND JACKSON Mr. Charles Francis Adams, who was an officer in the Union Army, said: "Lee and Jackson made an extraordinary, a most exceptional combination. They outclassed McClellan and Burnside, Pope and Hooker: outclassed them terribly, sometimes ludicrously, always hopelessly, and results in that case always followed accordingly." "How these two men loved and trusted each other!" says Dr. McGuire. "Where in all history shall we find a parallel to their mutual faith and love and confidence? I can find none. Said Jackson, "Lee is a phenomenon. I would follow him blindfold,' And Lee said to an aid-de-camp of Jackson's, who reported that Hooker had crossed the river, 'Go back and tell General Jackson he knows as well as I what to do with the enemy.'" On hearing of Jackson's being wounded, Lee sent the following message: "General: I have just received your note, informing me that you were wounded. I can not express my regret at the occurrence. Could I have directed events, I should have chosen for the good of the country to be disabled in your stead. I congratulate you upon the victory, which is due to your skill and energy." With charteristic modesty Jackson said: "General Lee is very kind but he should give the glory to God." A day or so later Lee sent him a warm message: "Give him my affectionate regards, and tell him to make haste and get well and come back to me as soon as he can. He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." And later he wrote: "Any victory would be dear at such a price--I know not how to replace him." "The regret of General Lee at this deplorable event was indeed poignant," says Cooke. "The sould of the great commander was moved to its depths; and he who had so long learned to conceal emotion, could not control his anguish. 'Jackson will not--be cannont die!' General Lee exclaimed in a broken voice, and waving every one from him with his hand--he cannot die!" Lee said: "if I had had Stonewall Jackson at Gettysburg, I should have won that battle." "Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I have but to show him my design, and I know that if it can be done it will be done. THE NEGRO'S BEST FRIEND In all his dealings with the colored race, Jackson showed himself to be their sincere friend, and for their uplift he gave of his time, his talents and his means. The first slave owned by Jackson was allowed to buy his freedom in the following manner: He worked for wages in a hotel and turned over his earnings to Jackson until the latter received a sum equal to the amount given for the servant. The next servant under Jackson's control was an aged woman who appealed to him to purchase her. After the war began this woman became an invalid, but Jackson sent money from the field to pay for medical attendance and every physical comfort. She died a Christian, her last message being an expression of gratitude for the kindness of her benefactor." From 1855 to 1861, he conducted a Sunday School for the negroes of Lexington, and the surrounding country. "Every Sunday afternoon he and his wife were in their places giving instruction to the colored people." "It was pleasant," writes Mrs. Preston, "to walk about the town with him and see the veneration with which the negroes saluted him, and his unfalling courtesy toward them. To the old gray-haired negro who bowed before him he would lift his cap as courteously as to his commander-in- chief. Dr. J. William Jones says: "During the six years I resided in Lexington, I found that the negroes held in highest esteem the memory of Jackson, and always spoke with grateful affection of his work among them. It is very pleasing incident that the first contribution towards the errection of the beautiful bronze statue, which now decks the hero's grave, was from the negro Baptrist Church of Lexington, whose pastor and some of whose prominent members belonged once to Jackson's negro Sunday School." The following incident will show with what veneration Jackson war regarded by the colored people of Lexington and the surrounding community: "When Hunter's army was marching into Lexington, the Confederate flag which floated over Jackson's grave was hauled down and concealed by some of the citizens. A lady who stole into the cemetery one morning while the Federal army was occupying the town, bearing fresh flowers with which to decorate the hero's grave, was surprised to find a miniature Confederate flag planted on the grave with a verse of a familiar hymn pinned to it. Upon inquiry she found that a colored boy, who had procured the flag, gotten some one to copy a stanza of a favorite hymn which Jackson had taught him, and had gone in the night to plant the flag on the grave of his beloved teacher." "I am very confident," says his wife, "that he would never have fought for the sole object of perpetuating slavery . . . He found the institution a responsible and troublesome one, and I have heard him say that he would prefer to see the negroes free, but he believed that the Bible taught that slavery was sanctioned by the Creater Himself, who maketh all men to differ, and instituted laws for the bond and free. He therefore accepted slavery, as it existed in the South, not as a thing desired in itself, but as allowed by Providence for ends which it was not his business to determine." "At the same time," says his wife, "the negroes had no truer friend, no greater benefactor. Those who were his servants in his own house he treated with the greatest kindness, and never was more happy or more devoted to any work than that of teaching the colored children in his Sunday School." On the day following the great struggle at the First battle of Manassass, he wrote to his pastor as follows: "My Dear Pastor, in my tent last night, after a fatiguing day's service, I remembered that I had failed to send you my contribution to our colored Sunday School. Enclosed you will find my check for that object, which please acknowledge at your earliest convenience, and oblige. Yours faithfully," etc. HIS DOMESTIC LIFE Colonel Henderson says: "It was only within the portals of his house that his real nature disclosed itself. The simple and pathetic pages in which his widow has recorded the story of their married life unfold an almost ideal picture of domestic happiness, unchequered by the faintest glimpse of austerity or gloom. That quiet home was the abode of much content; the sunshine of sweet temper flooded every nook and corner; and although the prevading atmosphere was essentially religious, mirth and laughter were familiar guests." In her "Memoirs" of her husband Mrs. Jackson writes: "In the household the law of love reigned: his own pattern was the chief stimulus to duty; and his sternest rebuke, when he beheld any recession from gentleness or propriety, was to say, half tenderly, half sadly: 'Ah! that is not the way to be happy!" Bayard Taylor's beautiful lines 'The bravest are the tenderest, The loving are the daring.' found a true exemplification in him, of which his letters will be the best proof." During the war he wrote his wife as follows: "Yesterday I received the baby's letter with its beautiful lock of hair. How I do want to see that precious baby, and I do earnestly pray for peace. Oh! that our country was such a Christian, God-fearing people as it should be. Then might we very speedily look for peace. . . . . It is better for me to remain with my command so long as the war continues, if our gracious Heavenly Father permits. The army suffers immencely by absentees . . . And while it would be great comfort to see you and our darling little daughter and others in whom I take special interest, yet duty appears to require me to remain with my command. It is important that those at headquarters set an example by remaining at the post of duty." When the baby was about five months old, Mrs. Jackson visited him at Guiney's Station. All were impressed with the father's devotion to the child. "When she went to sleep," his wife says, "he would often kneel over her cradle and gaze upon her little face with the most rapt admiration." JACKSON, THE CHRISTIAN When Mrs. Margaret Junkin Preston heard of the death of Jackson she wrote these words in her journal: "Never have I known a hollier man. Never have I seen a human being as thoroughly governed by duty. He lived only to please God; his daily life was a daily offering up of himself." In his introducation of Henderson's great work on Stonewall Jackson, General Wolseley says: "The most reckless and irreligious of the Confederate soldiers were silent in the presence, and stood awestruck and abashed before this great God-fearing man; and even in the far-off Northern States the hatred of the formidable 'rebel' was tempered by an irrepressible admiration of his piety, his sincerity, and his resolution . . . . The fame of Stonewall Jackson is no longer the exclusive property of Virginia and the South; it has become the birth- right of every man privileged to call himself an American." Dr. James Power Smith says: "Free from prejudice and all narrowness of spirit, he was seeking light as to faith and duty. In Lexington he went from Church to Church, until he found the gentle saintly and venerable Presbyterian pastor, Dr. William S. White, to be the guide he needed. Slowly, through doubts, with some honest difficulties honestly dealt with, he came to a personal faith, simple, direct, loving, strong, that took hold of his whole being. The Psalmist says of the wicked man. 'God is not in all his thoughts.' The supreme fact in the character of Stonewall Jackson was that 'God was in all his thoughts.' He believed in and realized the providence and presence of God, and so believed in and practiced prayer, and prayer that was not so much stated and occasional, as it was continuous and intimate. The thought of God seemed never absent. 'God has given us a brilliant victory at Harper's Ferry today.' And that was the model of all his dispatches." "It was not only that he was a religious man, but he was that rare man among men, to whom religion was everything." "During the Valley Campaign, it became apparent to the soldiers of his army that Jackson was a man of unusual piety. This fact was forced upon the knowledge of the men, not by Jackson's words but by his conduct. They were all impressed with the sincerity and consistency of his Christian faith. All knew that he was a man of prayer and all believed in him. He made no parade of his religious faith. Whenever possible, he sought a private place for prayer. He did not pose as a Christian who had attained unto perfection. His conversation was as much devoid of cant as his uniform was free from gold-braid . . . . . He had an intense sense of God's presence with him. The Word of God was ringing in his ears continually day and night, and his letters are filled with quotations from it. In every incident of life he saw the visible finger of God." Hon. John W. Daniel says: "His religion tinged all the acts of his life. It wsa to him the key of the morning and the bolt of the night. It was no shining Sunday garment, but his uniform at home and abroad; his cloak in bivouac, his armor in battle." HIS CONCERN FOR THE SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF HIS SOLDIERS He was deeply concerned for the spiritual welfare of his soldiers, and labored to secure suitable chaplains for his army. At his suggestion, "many of the brigades erected log chapels which were used regularly as houses of worship. The Sunday following its completion, this church in the woods was formally set apart to the worship of God. This chapel was near the quarters of Jackson and the general himself often came there to worship with his favorite brigade. In the church he laid aside all official dignity and selected a seat among the rough, weather-beaten privates. . . . When he was told of the fraternal love which reigned among the chaplains, of the devout spirit manifested in their worship, and of the news of ingathering of souls which they brought from their several charges, his eyes were filled with happy tears, and he blessed God for the grace. The result of all these labors was a revival of religion which spread throughout the Army of Northern Virginia, and hundreds of Confederate soldiers became earnest Christians." "It was his chief desire, he said, to command a converted army." To a colporter Jackson said: "You are more than welcome to my camp, and I shall be delighted to do what I can to promote your work. I am more anxious than I can tell that my men shall be good soldiers of the cross as well as good soldiers of their country." Dr. J. William Jones, his chaplain, says Jackson was urging him one day to try to induce some of the leading preachers to come as chaplain, "and then he began to talk on his favorite theme, growth in grace, the obstacles to it in the army and how to overcome them, and I confess that I had, for the time, to lay aside my office of 'teacher in Israel,' and be content to sit at the feet of the stern warrior, and learn of him lessons in the divine life." Dr. Dabney, describing a Communion service, says: "At this solemnity the general was present as a worshipper, and modestly participated with his men in the sacred feast. The quiet diffidence with which he took the least obtrusive place and received the sacred emblems from the hands of a regimental chaplain, was in beautiful contrast with the majesty and authority of his bearing in the crisis of battle." ACKNOWLEDGING THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE During the battle of Second Manassas, at the close of a day of hard fighting, "the medical director, McGuire, came in from the scene of suffering on the battle-field and said, 'General, this day has been won by nothing but stark and stern fighting.' 'No,' replied Jackson, in quiet tones, 'It has been won by nothing but the blessing and protection of providence.'" "God blessed our arms with victory," was his uniform way of reporting his successes in battle. "It has been asserted," says Henderson, "that he was a fatalist, and therefore careless of a future over which he believed he had no control. Not a word, however, either in his letters or in his recorded conversations warrants the assumption. . . . He prayed without ceasing under fire as in the camp; but he never mistook his own impulse for a revelation of the divine will. . . . He also knew that prayer is not always answered in the way which man would have it. He went into battle with supreme confidence, not, as has been alleged, that the Lord had delivered the enemy into his hands, but that whatever happened would be the best that could happen." After the First Battle of Manassas, he wrote to his wife: "Yesterday we fought a great battle and gained a great victory, for which all the glory is due to other parts of our gallant army, God made my brigade more instrumental than any other in repulsing the main attack. This is for your information only--say nothing about it. Let others speak praise, not myself." Dr. Moses D. Hoge, a Presbyterian minister, writes as follows about his sojourn in Jackson's quarters at Moss Neck: "It seems hardly possible to be long in the society of that noble and honorable general, that simple-hearted, straightforward, laborious, devoted man of God, without catching something of his spirit--the spirit of toil, of patience, of modesty, of careful conscientiousness, of child-like dependence on God, of fervent, believing prayer. . . .How anxious he was for his army, how anxious for himself! How manifest it was that he is a man whose great desire is to be right in all things, and especially to be right before God. In our whole intercourse I could not detect the slightest trace of self-importance, ostentation, or seeking after vainglory. To glorify God possessed all his thoughts." "Sunday was his busiest day of the week," says his wife, "as he always attended church twice a day and taught in two Sabbath Schools! He refrained as much as possible from all worldly conversation, and in his family, if secular topics were introduced, he would say with a kindly smile, "We will talk about that tomorrow.'" His literal interpretation of the Scriptures and his rigid observances of the Sabbath, were open to criticism. He would not post a letter during the latter part of the week if it could not reach its destination before Sunday. But those who critise him for "straining out gnats," should remember also that he never "swallowed camels"; if he "tithed mint, anise and summin," he did no neglect the "weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy and faith"; if he kept the letter of the law, he never failed to keep the spirit of it also. An officer entered Jackson's tent during the Fredericksburg Campaign and said: "General Gregg is dying, General, and sent me to say to you that he wrote you a letter recently, in which he used expressions he is now sorry for. He says that he meant no disrespect by that letter, and was only doing what he considered to be his duty. He hopes you will forgive him." Jackson was greatly moved and replied: "Tell General Gregg I will be with him immediately." Summoning Dr. McGuire to minister to the wounded man, Jackson went to the farmhouse, where he lay wounded. A misunderstanding had arisen between the two generals over a question of discipline, and Gregg had preferred charges against Jackson. "Now the latter bent in tender sympathy over the bed of his dying comrade, and spoke of the Christian's faith and hope. The two soldiers were thus completely reconciled. Before leaving, Jackson tenderly kissed Gregg on the forehead." A MAN OF PRAYER From a sense of duty he felt that he should undertake to pray in public, though he feared that he should not be able to pray to the edification of the congregation. His first several attempts were very embarrassing to all concerned, and his pastor said to him one day, "Major, we do not wish to make our prayer meetings uncomfortable to you, and if you prefer it, I will not call on you to lead in prayer again." The prompt and emphatic reply was: "My comfort has nothing in the world to do with it, sir: you as my pastor, think that it is my duty to lead in public prayer--I think so too--and by God's grace I mean to do it. I wish you would please be so good as to call on me more frequently." His pastor saw tht he was determined to succeed and he did call on him more frequently until "he became one of the most gifted men in prayer whom he had in his Church." Dr. J. William Jones said: "It was my privilege to hear him pray several times in the army, and if I have ever heard a 'fervent, effectual pary,' it was offered by this stern soldier." A man once remarked: "The truth is, 'old Jack' is crazy. I can account for his conduct in no other way. Why, I frequently meet him in the woods walking back and forth muttering to himself incoherent sentences and gesticulating wildly, and at such times he seems utterly oblivious of my presence and everything else." Jackson said he found it helpful in fixing his mind and quickening his devotions to give articulate utterance to his prayers, "and hence," he said, "I am in the habit of going off into the woods, where I can be alone and speak audibly to myself the paryers I would pour out to my God; and the exercise has proven to me very delightful and profitable." This is the explanation of the conduct which was cited to prove that "old Jack is crazy." His soldiers said "he was always praying when he was not fighting. Just before the great struggle at Chancellorsville, "Jackson rode up for the last time to his own quarters. Throwing the rein of his horse to his servant, he entered his tent. A moment later, Jim (his servant) raised his hand with a warning gesture, 'Hush!' he said 'the General is praying.' Those standing near remained silent for a quarter of an hour. At the end of that time they saw Jackson come forth from behind the curtain. He face was glowing with the light that indicated firm resolve and strong confidence." He was present at the exection of John Brown in 1859, as a guard around the scaffold. "I sent up the petition that he might be saved," he wrote about the condemned man. "I hope that he was prepared to die, but I am doubtful." General Ewell was not a religious man at the beginning of the war, but Jackson's fine example of Christian manhood deeply impressed him, and one day he unexpectedly came upon Jackson praying in his tent. When he heard the fervent pleading of the great soldier for God's guidance and blessing, he stepped back and said to a comrade, "if that's religion, I must have it." Later on he attributed his conversation to Jackson's example. Jackson's old colored servant, Jim, said he could always tell when there was going to be a battle. "The Genereal is a great man for praying, night and morning---all times. But when I see him get up several times in the night besides, to go off and pray, then I know there's going to be something to pay; and I go straight and pack his haversack, because I know he will call for it in the morning. "IT IS ALL RIGHT" He called his chaplain, Beverly T. Lacy, to him the day after he received his mortal wound and said: "You see me severely wounded, but not depressed; not unhappy. I believe that it has been done according to God's holy will, and I acquiesce entirely in it. You may think it strange, but you never saw me more perfectly contented than I am today; for I am sure that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied, that either in this life, or in that which is to come, I shall discover that what is now regarded as a calamity is a blessing. I can wait until God, in His own time, shall make known to me the object he has in thus afflicting me. If it were in my power to replace my arm, I would not dare to do it, unless I could know it was the will of my Heavenly Father." When he was told he had but two hours to live, he said, "Very good; it is all right." After lying for a time in a state of unconciousness, he suddenly cried out: "Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action! Pass the infantry to the front! Tell Major Hawks--." Then, he stopped and remained silent for several moments. A little later, in quiet, clear tones, he said, "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees." "From his boyhood onward, until he died on the Rappahanock, he was the very model of a Christian gentleman: 'E'en as he trod that day to God, so walked he from his birth. In simpleness, and gentleness, and honor, and clean mirth.'" -------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Copied in June 2000 at the Confederate Research Center at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. Mary Love Berryman