Cf- /, "!^0^- O •^<<. 8 1^ .-v> V S - ■■\*'^ , ^-U "••'NO' U .<\\" ^ ,\^^ ■■'■ - :■ ■'■•■-. KT -. ^""^ r V ,0 o^ "^^, v-^^ .^:^ ^^ .."^ .^ -n.^ ,0 0^ ^^^ -^ \ X » , ^ «? -*^\^ ,f^ '^ V '/>_ ^^^"% .-^^^ oo' o xOO. -?-• ■>■_ \ ^ <^^ ^^^ x^^^-^ >\' * ' a\ ^^^ .y o-'^' /\ 1° '^ - V '« . '^; ■■■^^ ^ V ' ^-, " U 1 V _s . .^^' ,-i:2^^x'^:4*.''°. '■■>^ ^' ^>' .v -^• ^<:. v^' ^ " >0 o. •^^c,^ ■-.. ^'^ "STONEWALL JACKSON" A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF LIEUT-GENERAL THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, C. S. A. BY ELIHU S. RILEY, I . H. D. author of "The National Debt that American Pkotestants Owe to Their Brethren of the Roman Cathouc Church ;" ''An American Satyr — The Morbid Misconstruction and Male- volent Misrepresentation of American Catholics a Menace TO THE Republic;" "MARYL^ND — The Pioneer of Religious Liberty;" "The Ancient City — A History of Annapolis in Maryland;" ''First Citizen and Antilon;" "A History of the General Assembly of Maryland;" "Ye Antient Capital of Maryland;" "Riley's Historic Map of Annapolis;" "Yorktown;" a Historic Drama; Co-Editor of "The Bench AND Bar of Maryland;" Author of "A History of Anne Arundel County, Maryland." Copyrighted by Elihi: S. Riley, 1920. In Paper, $1.00; Postage to be added. In Cloth, S2.00; Postage to be added. Address Riley's Historic Series, P. O. Box 34, Annapolis, Md. 1920. AXNAPOUS, MARYLAND. E d f-i .JisT^ST OCT 26 rj20 ©CU60i058 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON Confederate Stales Army PREFACE. What a mail says and what a man does are the indices of his worth, cliaracter and accomplishments. Hence, biography is the most inter- esting and instructive of literary work. It informs us of men — the highest type of creation on earth and the companions of our daily life — the custodians, in an exalted degree, of our happiness, and the friends or foes, as our intercourse makes them, of our progress, our success and our liberties. These anecdotes of, and incidents in the life of. General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, of the Confederate States Army, present the reflex of his life. He is the vital force in them, and his real character is displayed by them in the strongest and yet the simplest language possible. They are living words. They show him acting in the moving drama of life. They are what he was. Numbers of these anecdotes and incidents about him have never before seen the light of print. They were gathered by the author from the lips of men who belonged to the invincible band of that immortal Corps that he in life commanded — ^he Stonewall Brigade. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was a product of the American people. His fadeless renown is the legacy of all America. The family quarrel is over. It has strengthened the bonds of Union. All martial deeds and prowess exhibited in that mighty contest, belong to every patriotic citizen. The presers-ation of the wonderful annals of Stonewall Jack- son's brilliant achievements is a sacred duty to the South, the Union and to all mankind. It is the hope of the author of this volume that the facts and inci- dents in the splendid life and lustrous career of Thomas Jonathan Jack- son, related in this book, may prompt the youth who read them to emulate the glowing virtues and to imitate the noble example of the Christian warrior of whom they are written. EIJHU S. RILEY. Annapolis. Md. May 17, 1920. "STONEWALL JACKSON" CHAPTER ONE. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MAXIMS OF MILITARY STRATEGY. Description of Jackson's Maxims of Military Strategy, by Gen. John M. Imboden, C. S. A. — Statement of Jackson's View of War by Dr. Hunter McGuire — Jackson's Knowledge of the Operations of the Enemy— Jackson Made Himself the Master of the Topog- raphy of the Country in Which He Was Operating — Jackson's Tac- tics — Account of in Lecture by One of His Staff, Capt. James Power Smith. Stonewall Jackson's Maxims of Military Strategy.— "Jackson's military operations were always unexpected and mysterious. In my per- sonal intercourse with him in the early part of the war, before he had become famous, he often said there were two things never to be lost sight of by a military commander — 'x\lways mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy, if possible; and, when you strike and overcome him. never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow ; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can thus be destroyed by half their number. The other rule is, never fight against heavy odds, if, by any possible manoeuvring, you can hurl your own force on only a part, and that the weakest part, of your enemy and crush it. Such tactics will win every time, and a small army may. thus destroy a large one in detail, and repeated vic- tory will make it invincilile.' His celerity of movement was a simple matter. He never broke down his men by too-long-contiiuied march- ing. He rested his whole column very often, but only for a few minutes at a time. I remember that he liked to see the men lie down flat on the ground to rest, and would say, 'A man rests all over when he lies down'." — General John M. Imboden, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, \o\. 2. pp. 297-8. 8 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOIES'OF AND INCIDENTS IN "His (Jackson's) view of war and its necessities was of the sternest. 'War means fighting; to fight is the duty of a soldier; march swiftly, strike the foe with all your strength and take away from him every- thing you can. Injure him in every possible way, and do it quickly'." Jackson's words as recorded by his Surgeon-General, Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson's Knowledge of the Operations of the Enemy. — "Jackson's knowledge of what the enemy were doing or about to do was some- times very wonderful. I have already stated what he said to Presi- dent Davis at the first Manassas, 'Give me twenty thousand fresh troops tomorrow, and I'll capture Washington', and it turned out afterward that he was right and that with the number he asked he could easily have captured Washington." — Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson Made Himself the Master of the Topography of the Coun- try in Which He was Operating. — "He (Jackson) kept the most mi- nute knowledge of the topography of the country in which he was campaigning, and the roads over which he might move, and often when his men were asleep in their bivouac, he was riding to and fro inspect- ing the country and the roads. * * * "But when he began to ask me which side of certain creeks were the highest, and whether there was not a 'blind road,' turning off at this point or that, and showed the most perfect familiarity with the country, and the roads, I had to interrupt him by saying : 'Excuse me, General. I thought I knew not only every road, but every footpath in that region, but I find that you really know more about them than I do, and I can give you no information that would be valuable to you'." — Chaplain J. Wm. Jones, C. S. A., South. Hist. Mag., Vol. 35, p. 91. Jackson's Tactics. — "He mystified and deceived his enemy by concealment from his own generals and his own staff. We were led to believe things very far from his purpose. Major Hotchkiss, his topo- graphical engineer, told me that the General would for hours study the map in one direction, and would at daylight move in the opposite direction." — James Poivcr Smith, a member of his staff, in a lecture. It has been handed down orally that General Jackson also said, "You must do something that the other fellow thinks nobody but a fool would do." THE LIFE OF STONEWAIJ, JACKSON', LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. CHAPTER TWO. JACKSON'S APPOINTMENT TO WEST POINT. A Village Blacksmith Opened the Way to Stonewall Jackson's Great Military Career — A Leading Lawyer in His Family Gave Jackson a Special Letter — Jackson Resolved to Go to Washington Immediately — The Secretary of War Gives Jackson the Appoint- ment — Jackson Illy Prepared, But Passed the Examination — Jack- son Stood Low in His Studies in the First Term — Studies Gunfire by the Light of the Grate — He Rose Steadily in His Class — None of the Classes Possessed More Than Jackson the Respect and Con- fidence of All — Jackson Was Surprised That He Passed the First Exam. — Jackson Had a Ready Word in Answer, and Presented a Fine Soldiery Appearance — Graduated in 1846, at the Age of 22. Jackson's Appointment to West Point. — It was the village black- smith who opened the way to Stonewall Jackson's great military career. A youth, from the same Congressional district in which Jackson lived, had resigned from West Point because he found the demands of its curriculum too severe for him. It was the talk of the neighborhood. One day while shoeing the horse of young Jackson's uncle, the thoughtful smithy said to him: '"Now here is a good chance for Tom Jackson, as he is so anxious to get an education." Plis Uncle Cummins was pleased at the suggestion, and, on reaching home, in- formed Thomas of the opportunity to obtain an appointment to West Point. Thomas received the pro])osition with enth.usiasm, and imme- diately commenced to secure the open cadetship. Legion were the friends of this manly and independent young man, and all were ready to aid him. They joined in a letter to the Hon. Samuel Hays, the member of the House of Representatives from the district, petitioning him to have Thomas appointed. A leading lawyer, connected with his own family, Thomas asked to give him a special letter. This friend, for he proved his friendship in the end. asked him "if he did not fear that his education was not sufficient to enable him to enter and sustain himself at Wegt Point?" Jackson's countenance momentarily fell ; but quickly recovering him- self, he answered: 'T know that I shall have the application necessary to succeed : I hope that I have the capacity ; at least, I am determined to try, and I want you to help me." His friend gave him a strong 10 A THESAURUS OF \NECDOTES QF AND INCIDENTS IN letter of endorsement, in which he particularly dwelt upon the appli- cant's boldness of spirit and determination. Mr. Hays promised to do all that he could to secure the appointment for him, on which Jackson resolved to go to Washington immediately. Packing his wardrobe into a pair of saddle-bags, Jackson started off to Clarksburg to meet the stage. Missing it. he pushed on until he came up with it. Arriving at Washington, Jackson went at once to Mr. Hays, who took him immediately to the Secretary of War. "The Secretary plied him with questions," and the parley was described as "gruff and heroic ; but, with the grit of Old Hickory, this young Jackson was neither to be bluffed nor driven from his purpose," and such a favorable impression did the ambitious young man make on the Secretary that he gave him the appointment, and added : "Sir, you have a good name. Go to West Point, and the first man who insults you, knock him down and have it charged to my account !" Denying himself the invitation to be the guest of the secretary for a few days, Jackson gave himself the one pleasure of ascending the dome of the Capitol, and left with a letter of introduction from Mr. Hays to the Faculty of West Point, giving him a good character, and an endorsement of his brave spirit, and requesting that due allowance might be made for his defects of education. The examination was lenient and Thomas Jonathan Jackson became a cadet at West Point, in 1842. Jackson was illy prepared theoretically to proceed with his studies ; but mentally, morally and physically he was well equipped for the arduous task before him. "We were," says an old classmate, "study- ing algebra, and maybe 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." By determination he rose steadily in his class, and it was said of him by his fellow-cadets, "If we had to stay here another year, 'Old Jack' would be at the head of his class." Jackson was surprised that he passed his first examination safely, for he had so fully anticipated failing that he had prepared his answer to the gibes of his associates at home : "If they had been there, and found it as hard as he did, thev would have failed, too." His name THE LIFE OF STONEVV ALI, JACKSON, LIEIJT.-GEN., C. S. A. 11 was the last on the safe side when the pen was drawn between tlie successful and unsuccessful cadets of his class. Jackson, in the last year of his cadetship, wore a moustache, and had as his chief friend Cadet Thompson, with whom he was con- stantly to be found. The classmate above quoted said of Jackson : "T believe he went through the very trying ordeal of the four years at West Point with- out ever having a hard word or a bad feeling from cadet or professor ; and while there were many who seemed to surpass him in graces of intellect, in geniality and in good fellowship, there was no one of our class who more absolutely possessed the respect and confidence of all." Jackson's sense of humor was touched later in life when he con- sidered how much importance he then gave to the opinions and com- panions of his youth. Jackson became erect under the discipline of West Point and presented a "fine, soldierly appearance." He graduated frorn West Point June 30th. 1846, at the age of twenty-two years, and received the brevet rank of second lieutenant in the artillery. 12 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER THREE. THE SERVICES OF STONEWALL JACKSON IN THE MEXICAN WAR. Jackson Applied for the Position of Second Lieutenant in Captain John Bankhead Magruder's Battery — Jackson Complimented by Captain Magruder in His Official Report in the Action of Cheru- busco— In the Battle of Chapultepec, General Wirth Referred to Jackson as "The Gallant Jackson"— Of the First Number of Double Brevets Jackson Was Among the Number and Was Brevettera Cruz. Their enthusiasm and the splendor of the military pageant impressed the young officer greatly. The city was taken in a few days. In the attack Captain John Bankhead Magruder. as commander of a battery of light field artillery, notably distinguished himself. Pie was a vef-y strict disciplinarian, and when the post of second lieutenant in his battery became vacant, few wanted to serve under him. Lieutenant Jackson applied for the position, for he saw its advantages, and was accepted. With such a daring officer, Jackson had the opportunity of displaying his gallantry. In the action of Cherubusco, Capt. Magruder lost his first lieutenant early in the fight, and Jackson was advanced to his place. In his official report. Captain Magruder stated: — "In a few moments. Lieutenant Jackson, commanding the second section of the battery, who had opened fire upon the enemy's works from a position on the right, hearing our fire still further in front, advanced in handsome style, and being as- signed by me to the post so gallantly filled by Lieut. Johnstone, kept up the fire with great briskness and effect. His conduct was equally conspicuous during the whole day, and I cannot too highly commend TITIC LIFE OF STONEWAIJ, JACKSON. IJEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 13 him to the Major-General's favorable consideration." For his gallantry in this engagement, Lieut. Jackson received the brevet of captain. Of Jackson in the assault on the Castle of Chapultepec, Captain Ma- gruder said : — "I beg leave to call the attention of the major-general commanding to the conduct of Lieutenant Jackson of the First Artil- lery. If devotion, industry, talent and gallantry are the highest qualities of the soldier, then is he entitled to the distinction which their pos- session confers. I have been ably seconded in all operatio;is of the battery by him ; and upon this occasion, when circumstances placed him in command for a short time of an independent section, he proved himself eminently worthy of it." Oi Jackson in this battle, General Pillow reported: — "The advanced section of the battery, under the command of brave Lieutenant Jackson, was dreadfully cut up, and almost disabled — Captain Magruder's battery, one section of which was served with great gallantry by himself and the other by his brave lieutenant, Jackson, in face of a galling fire from the enemy's position, did invaluable service." General \\^orth referred to him as "the gallant Jackson, who, al- though he had lost most of his horses and many of his men, continued chivalrously at his post, combatting with noble courage." After the castle of Chapultepec had been captured by assault and the Mexicans were retreating, Jackson came up with two pieces of artil- lery and joined Lieutenant D. H. Hill and Bernard Bee. They pressed on rapidly. Captain Magruder now reached them and said that he feared losing Jackson's two guns, as the division of Gen. Worth was far behind ; but his enthusiastic young officer's pleadings allowed the artillerymen to continue to march. General Ampudia, with two thou- sand cavalrymen, made as if he would charge the Americans. The guns were unlimbered, and a heavy fire was opened upon the Mexicans, who immediately retreated. It was not prudent to proceed further without support. The work the Battery executed later in the day at the Garita of San Cosme became a part of the official reports. At the storming of Chapultepec Jackson received the brevet of ]\fajor. Of the first number of double brevets, five or six, Jackson was amongst the number, and there were no others distributed in his class. The United States forces left Mexico in the summer of 1848 and ]\Iajor Jackson's command was stationed at Fort Hamilton, on Long Island. 14 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTESIDF AND INCIDENTS IN At the close of his two years of service at Fort Hamilton^ Mijor' Jackson was ordered to Fort Meade, near Tampa Bay, in Florida. Here he remained six months. On March 27th, 1851, Major Jackson was elected Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Artillery Tactics in the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Va. This election came about in a very singular manner. There were both difficulty and differences in filling the vacancy that had occurred in this chair. Colonel F. H. Smith, the President of the Institute, and the Faculty were not in accord. x\fter several efforts to fill the seat, Colonel Smith asked his friend. Major Hill, to help him. Major Hill recalled that, during the Mexican War, Captain Taylor, of the Artil- lery, had said to him while making a call upon him : — "Here comes Lieutenant Jackson. He was constantly rising in his class at West Point, and if the course had been a year longer, he would have gradu- ated at the head of his class. He will make his mark in this war." Major Hill proposed Jackson's name, and as it was agreeable to the President of the institute, Jackson was elected to the vacant Profes- sorship. Jackson resigned from the service, and so ended Major Jackson's career in the United States Army. General Jackson's Zeal in Battle Makes Him Compromise the Truth. — It was at the battle of Chapultepec in Mexico, in 1847, when he commanded with bravery and brilliancy a battery of artillery, that Jackson made the only compromise with truth in his life. The fight was bitter and the odds in numbers against the x\mericans. At the moment when a cannon ball passed between Jackson's legs, he stepped out and assured his men, "there ivas no danger." A Strange Intruder. — During the Mexican campaign. Lieut. Jack- son was asked by some one to take care of a treasure. He rook it to his room and placed it under his bed. In the night he felt his bed rise up and the Lieutenant arose and looked under his bed : but could see no one. He went back to his couch. Then he felt it lifted up again. This time he took his sword and poked it under the bed. and still could discover no intruder. At that moment he had the mystery unravelled by hearing people in the street talking about an earthquake in progress. Jackson was Afraid that the First Battle He Was in Would Not be Hot Enough for Him to Distinguish Himself in it. — General THE LIFE OF STONEWAJ.L JACKSON, MEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 15 Jackson was a man of intense temporal ambitions. When asked what were his feelings when first under fire in Mexico, he said : — 'Afraid the fire would not be hot enough for me to distinguish myself." and yet to the same one who had put this question, has warm friend, Dr. Hunter McGuire, he said, in talking one dreary winter night in the doctor's tent, that "he would not exchange one moment of his life hereafter, for all the earthly glory he could win." Stonewall Jackson Second in a Duel. — "While serving in the Valley of Mexico, he (Jackson), acted as second in a duel between two officers of the new infantry regiments — the 10th I believe. General Birkett Fry told me the incident as follows : "Lieutenant Lee, of Virginia, was the Adjutant of the Regiment, who, feeling himself aggrieved by Captain , of Philadelphia, sent him a challenge. The Captain was an avowed duelist, and an expert rifle shot, and accepted Lee's challange. They were to fight rifles at forty paces. Jackson and Fry were seconds to Lee. Jackson won the word, which he delivered, standing in the position of a soldier, in stentorian tones, audible over a forty-acre lot. The rifles cracked together, and Jackson, astounded that his man was still standing, said to Fry : 'What shall we do now ? They will demand another shot.' 'We will grant it with pistols at ten paces,' said Fry, and, as he said, the second of the Captain came forward and demanded another shot. 'We agree,' said Jackson, 'and we will fight with pistols at ten paces.' The Captain declined the terms. The men were never reconciled. The Captain died many years afterward, regretting that he had not killed hee.— General Davney H. Maury, in S. H. Mag., Vol. 25, pp. 312-3. M 16 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER FOUR. THE FIRST STAGES OF THE CIVIL WAR WITH STONEWALL JACKSON. Jackson Would Only Engage in Military Services at the Approval of His Conscience — Jackson Calm Under the Rising Cloud of War — Jackson Studying Problems of War — Jackson a Debater — How General Jackson Met the Approaching Storm of War. General Jackson Would Only Engage in Military Service With the Approval of His Conscience. — "\Mien General Jackson men- tioned the project (that of securing a Professorship in the University of Virginia) to his friend Colonel Robert E. Lee, of ^■irginia, then Super- intendent at West Point, Lee said to him : — "Have you not departed here from what you told me, upon coming to this military school, was the purpose of your life?" (He referred to Jackson's belief that war was his proper vocation.) Jackson, who seemed never to forget his own most casual remarks, or to overlook the obligation to maintain con- sistency with what he had once said, replied : — 'I avow that my views have changed.' He then proceeded to explain, while he should ever retain the same conviction concerning his own adaptation to the sol- dier's life, his convictions concerning war as a pathway to distinction were greatly modified, and that he would now by no means accept a commission in any war which the United States might wage, irre- spective of its morality. He had never, he said, while an ungodly man, been inclined to tempt Providence by going in advance of his duty; he had never seen the day when he would have been likely to volun- teer for a forlorn hope, although indifferent to the danger of a service to which he was legitimately ordered. F>ut now that he was endeavor- ing to live the life of faith, he would engage in no task in which he did not believe he should enjoy the Divine approbation ; because, with this, he should feel perfectly secure under the disposal of the DiA'ine Provi- dence ; without it, he would have no right to be courageous. If, then, his country were assailed in such a way as to justify an appeal to defensive war in God's sight, he should desire to return to military life, but, un- less this happened, he should continue a simple citizen. But as such he regarded it as every man's duty to seek the highest cultivation of his powers, and the widest sphere of activity within his reach; and, THE LITE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 17 therefore, he desired to be transferred to the State University." — Dabncy's Life of Jockson. p. 69-70. Jackson Calm Under the Rising Cloud of War. — "A Christian friend, in whose society he greatly deHghted, passed a night with him (just before the beginning of the Civil war), and, as they discussed the startling news which every day brought with it, they were impelled to the conclusion that the madness of the Federal Government had made a great and disastrous war inevitable. The guest retired to his bed, depressed with this thought, and, in the morning, arose harass- ed and melancholy, but, to his surprise, Jackson met him at the morn- ing worship, as calm and cheerful as ever, and when he expressed his anxiety, replied, 'Why should the peace of a true Christian be disturbed by anything which man can do unto him? Has not God promised to make all things work together for good to those who love Him?"'—Dabney's Life. p. 210. Studying Problems of War. — General Jackson, when it became ap- parent that there would be war between the .States, would sit for hours before a blank wall, and gaze at it intently. It is believed he was then mapping out problems of war, and was preparing for those campaigns that confused his foes and added immortal lustre to his name. General Jackson a Debater. — "It was currently reported that just before the beginning of the struggle Major Jackson sat up all night in the hopeless endeavor to convert his father-in-law (Dr. Junkin), to the doctrine of States' rights." — Shepherd's Life of Roht. E. Lee, p. 69. How General Jackson Met the Approaching Storm of War. — On the eve of the Civil \\'ar. Major Jackson proposed that the Christian people of the land should agree to pray to a\ert hostilities, saying: — '"It seems to me, that if they would unite thus in prayer, war might be pre- vented and peace restored." To this his pastor })roniptly assented, and promised to do what he could to bring a])Out the concert of prayer that he proposed. In the meantime, he said. "Let us agree thus to pray.' And henceforward, when he was called on to lead the devotions of others one petition, ])romincntly presented and fervently pressed, was that God would preserve the whole land from the evils of war." — Dabney, Page 179-180. "The bursting of the storm which Jackson had so long foreseen found him calm, but resolved." 18 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER FIVE. HOW STONEWALL JACKSON MARCHED OFF TO THE CIVIL WAR. How Jackson Started Out With His Command at the Commence- ment of the Civil War. — "He (General Jackson), sent a message to his pastor, Dr. White, requesting him to come to the barracks and offer a prayer with the command before its departure. All the morn- ing he was engaged at the Institute (The Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, \^a.), allowing himself only a short time to return to his home, about eleven o'clock, when he took a hurried breakfast, and completed a few necessary preparations for his journey. Then, in the privacy of our chamber, he took his Bible and read that beautiful chapter in Corinthians beginning with the sublime hope of the resur- rection — 'For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;' and then, kneeling down, he committed himself and her whom he loved to the protecting care of his Father in Heaven. Never was a prayer more fervent, tender and touching. His voice was so choked with emotion that he could scarcely utter the words, and one of his' most earnest petitions was that 'if consistent with His will, God would stTll avert the threatened danger and grant us peace !' So great was his desire for peace that he cherished the hope that the polit- ical difficulties might be adjusted without bloodshed, until he was convinced by stern reality that this hope was vain. * * * When Dr. W^hite went to the Institute to hold the short religious service which Major Jackson had requested, the latter told him the command would march precisely at one o'clock, and the minister, knowing his punctu- ality, made it a point to close the service at a quarter before one. Everything was then in readiness, and after waiting a few moments an officer approached Major Jackson, and said : 'Major, everything is now ready. May we not set out?' The only reply he made was to point the dial-plate of the barrack's clock, and not until the hand pointed to the hour of one (April 21st, 1861) was his voice heard to ring out the order, 'Forward, march !' "—il/;'.y. Jackso)i's Life of Jackson, pp. 14.S-6. THE JJFE OF ST()NM:VV.\I,T< j XCKSoX. LIEUT.-GEN.. C. S. A. 19 CHAPTER SIX. JACKSON AS A DISCIPLINARIAN. Jackson Prompt in Discipline — Stonewall Jackson Ready for The Unexpected — Jackson Required Promptness From His Subordi- nates — Jackson's Vigor in Enforcing an Order — Jackson Unmov- able by Reasons Given for Impromptitude — Jackson Suspends an Officer for Giving His Own Fence Rails to be Burned — Jackson Has an Officer Arrested for not Fighting — No Military Order Im- possible With Jackson of Execution — Jackson Dealing With Muti- neers — With Jackson Difficulties Were Merely Discipline. Jackson Prompt in Discipline. — The following-, by request of the author, was furnished by Col. D. G. Mcintosh, of Baltimore County, Maryland, Captain of Mcintosh's Battery, Confederate Army ; *T have seen Gen. Jackson a number of times, but never had any conversation with him. He put me under arrest once," said the Colonel with a cheerful smile illuminating his face. "We had come out under an alarm of battle, which proved false. We had to pass over a very rough turnpike, near Rapidan. While we were returning on rhis road, one of the shells in its cassion. by reason of this roughness, exploded, singed the wheel-horse, and nearly scared the driver out of his wits. Fortunately it did no other damage. In twenty minutes an officer, sent by Gen. Jackson, rode and said : — 'The captain of this battery is plhced under arrest.' I remained so until rhe next battle, a few days later. The arrest was right. The gunners, the sergeants, and other ofti^ers up to the Captain should see that their ammunition is properly packed so that they will not prematurely exjilodc. If we had had more • discipline like that which General Jackson gave me. it would have been better for the army. I never heard p.nything more of ihe arrest after the battle." Stonew^all Jackson Ready for the Unexpected. — On one occasion 'General Jackson was marching his army, under his orders, twenty minutes at a time, with a rest of ten at the expiration of each marching • period. When one of the twenty-minute marches had expired. General A P. Hill, with himself and stafT ahead, evidently seeking a shady ■ place for themselves, kept his division marching. General Jackson rode to the rear of the division, and asked "Who is in command here?" ^General Gregg replied: — '"I am." "Then," said General Jackson, "halt 20 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN this division." It was done. General A. P. Hill, observing that his command had halted without his order, came thvmdering down the road to learn why his division had been stopped without his authority. "I did it," answered General Gregg "but General Jackson told me to do it." General A. P. Hill drew his sword, and exclaimed: — "General Jackson, accept my resignation." Stonewall Jackson said : — "General Hill, consider yourself under arrest !" General Kill sheathed his sword and marched to the rear of his division. There he remained until ten days before the battle of Chancellorsville, when the matter was settled, and A. P. Hill took command of his division. General Robert E. Lee was the mediator between the two generals. (It has been many years since this incident ivas related to me. My best recollection is that my informant zvas Major Jedidiah Hotchkiss. C. S. A.) Jackson Required Promptness from His Subordinates. — "I never had but one conversation with General Jackson. We were on the Rappahannock and I was sent down from the artillery to obtain from him an order for ammunition. After he had given me the order, I said to the General, it now being near night, "T suppose to-morrow will do to get this?" "No, sir," he replied, "go noiv:" As the ammunition was down on the Rapidan, I had to ride thirty miles that night. General Jackson did every tiling promptly himself, and he expected his men to do the same." — C. A. Fonerden, of Carpenter's Battery, Stoneivall Brigade. Jackson's Vigor in Enforcing an Order. — Having issued an order on February 25, 1862, to prevent liquor coming into Camp, which had been done by means of boxes sent to soldiers by their friends, he further directed that "every wagon that came into Camp should be searched, and, if any liquor were found, it was to be spilled out, and the wagon and horses to be turned over to the Quartermaster." — HolcJikiss's Diary Jackson Immovable by Reasons Given for Impromptitude. — Colo- nel Munford, the capable commander who .succeeded Ashby at his death, states that he parted with General Jackson on the evening of June 30th, 1862, in the Peninsula Campaign. He told Colonel Munford to report the next morning at sunrise, ready to precede the troops. A most violent thunderstorm came up that night, and Colonel Munford's company was scattered by the blasts of the night. When the first grey streak appeared. Colonel Munford sent out his Adjutant and Officers to gather up his broken regiment ; but, at sunrise, only fifty had re- THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 21 ported. They were a half mile from the cross-road. To Colonel Mnn ford's horror he found General Jackson sitting there and waiting for him. In Colonel Mnnford's own words — Jackson "was in a bad humor," and said to him : — "Colonel, my orders to you were to be here at sunrise." Colonel Munford said in reply that the command had no provisions, and the storm and the night had joined against him. Jack- son's reply was: — "Yes. sir; but Colonel, I ordered you to be here by sunrise. Move on with your regiment. If you meet the enemy drive in his pickets, and, if you want artillery, Colonel Crutchficld will fur- nish you." Colonel ]\Iunford started with his half hundred. As other cavalry- men came straggling on to join in the marching body, Jackson observed it, and sent two couriers to tell their commander that his men were straggling badly. Colonel Munford rode back and repeated his former story. Jackson listened, but answered, "Yes, sir; but I ordered you to be here at sunrise, and I have been waiting for you for a quarter of an hour." Colonel Munford then made the best of the situation, re-formed his men, drove in the Federal pickets, captured a number of wounded and secured a large amount of stores, and did it all so rapidly that tlie Federal battery, on the other side of the White Oak Swamp, could not fire on the Confederate Cavalrymen without endangering their own friends. Jackson rode up smiling. In about an hour he ordered Colonel Munford to move his regiment over the creek to capture some Fed- eral cannon. He rode with Colonel Munford to the Swamp, where they saw the bridge torn up and the timbers lying in a tangled mass. Colonel Munford said he did not think they could pass ; but Jackson looked at him, waved his hand, and said : — "Yes, Colonel, try it." He went in and struggled and floundered over, even l)efore Colonel Munford could form his men. Jackson called on him to move on the guns. Colonel Breckinridge went forward with what men had already crossed, and Colonel Munford, followed with another squadron. An infantry- supported to the batttery was encountered and a hitherto unseen battery on the right flank of the Confederates opened on them, and the little band of horsemen had to retreat along the bank of the swamp for a quarter of a mile, and then, with great difticulty. recross by a co\v])atlT. Jackson Suspends an Officer for Giving His Own Fence Rails to be Burned. — While on the march to Romney, during the winter of 1861-2, General Jackson gave an order to burn no fence rails. During 22 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN the bitter nights of January, 1862, the captain of a certain command camped on his own lands, and gave permission to his troops to burn the fence rails. General Jackson suspended the officer from his command because he had not asked permission first to give away his own goods and chattels to his suffering men. Jackson Arrests an Officer for not Fighting. — "It is said that when the (Confederate) officer in command (at Front Royal. May 30th, 1862, when the town was re-captured by the Federals), reported to Gen- eral Jackson, in the evening, and gave an account of the re-capture of Front Royal, and the repulse of his own Regiment, General Jackson looked up, and, in his quick, nervous way, asked : — 'Colonel, how many men had you killed?' 'None, I am glad to say. General.' 'How many wounded?' 'Few, or none, sir.' 'Do you call that fighting, sir?' asked Jackson, and a few minutes afterward the Colonel was put under arrest." — Allen's Campaign, Note on page 131. Jackson Dealing With Mutineers. — In the Valley Campaign, on the way to Mt. Solon, several companies of the 27th Mrginia Regiment, who had volunteered for a year, asked their discharge because their term of service had expired. This was denied them. They thereupon threw to the ground their guns, and refused to serve. Colonel Grigsby sent to General Jackson for directions. Jackson received the explana- tions with the grim countenance of the warrior. "Why," he asked, "does Colonel Grigsby refer to me to learn how to deal with mutineers? He should shoot them where they stand." The remainder of the Regi- ment was commanded to march with wea[>ons loaded. The rebellious companies were tendered the alternatives of immediate death or im- mediate surrender. The insurgents surrendered. This was the last effort at organized disobedience in the Valley Army." No Military Orders Impossible With Jackson of Execution. — Oti February 11th, 1862, General Jackson wrote to Colonel Sincindiver :— 'T regret to hear from an officer that it is impassable to execute an order. If your cavalry will not obey your orders, you must make them do it, and, if necessary, go out with them yourself. I desire you to go out and post your cavalry where you want them to stay, and arrest any man who leaves his post, and prefer charges and specifications against him that he may be court-martialed. It will not do to say your men can- not be induced to perform their duty. They must he made to do it. When you hear of marauding parties, send out and bring them in as prisoners of war." — Allen's Campaigns, pages 34-35. THE LlFi; OF STOXKWALU JACKSOX. I.l F.rT.-C.EN., C. S. A. 23 Difficulties to Jackson Were Merely Discipline for Him. — "His (Jackson's), domestic tastes led liini, wlienever his duties confined him to the town (Romney), to take his meals with the family of a con- genial friend. To them there appeared, during these trials (those con- sequent upon the interference at Richmond with his plan of campaign), the most beautiful display of Christian temj^er. His dearest relaxations from the harrassing cares of his commanrl were the caresses of the children, and the prayers of the domestic altar. When he led in the latter, as he was often invited to do, it was with increasing humility and tenderness. A prevalent petition was that they 'would grow in gentle- ness :' and he never spoke of his difficulties except as a kind discipline, intended for his good by his Heavenly Father." — Danbey's Life, Vol. I p. 329. JKT 24 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER SEVEN. STONEWALL JACKSON IN CAMP AND IN THE FIELD. How and Where General Jackson Received His Soubriquet of "Stonewall" Jackson on the Field — Jackson Orders One of His Commanders to Hold His Ground With Wet Ammunition — Jack- son's Confidence in His Corps — Jackson's Horsemanship and Jack- son in a New Uniform — Jackson as a Rider — Jackson Was Not Much for Looks — Jackson Shares the Deprivations of War With His Men — Stonewall Jackson Teaches Old Sorrel Tricks — Jack- son's Coolness in Commanding — Jackson on the March to Hooker's Rear at Chancellorsville — Jackson's Orders in Battle — Jackson at the Battle of Kernstown — Jackson's Personal Efforts Saves the Day at Cedar Run — For the First Time Jackson Showed Symptoms of Uneasiness — Stonewall Jackson Excited — Jackson's Enthusiasm at the Battle of Winchester — General Jackson Stands Sentry — A Tableware Campaign that Captured Jackson but did not Materi- alize in Battle. How and Where General Jackson Received His Soubriquet of ^'Stonewall." — It was at the first battle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, that Thomas Jonathan Jackson received the name of "Stone- wall." General Bee's Brigade, consisting of the 7th and 8th Georgia, the 4th Alabama, and the 2nd Mississippi, flanked by superior numbers, had broken and was retreating in disorder. Their general had at- tempted, in vain, to stem the stampede and to retire in military align- ment. At this moment General Jackson, commanding the First Bri- gade, appeared on the field of battle. As he moved quickly to the front, the disorganized troops of Bee dashed past him towards the rear. At this moment Bee approached General Jackson at a full gallop. In bitterness. Bee exclaimed to Jackson : — "General, they are beating us back !" Jackson replied : — -"Sir, we will give them the bayonet." "These words," says John Esten Cooke, "seemed to act upon Bee like the ring of a clarion." He galloped back to his men, and. pointing with his sword to Jackson, shouted, "Look, there is Jackson standing like a stonewall ! Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Rally behind the Virginians !" Bee's command partially responded to his ap- peal, and took their position on the right, and Jackson's line pressed steadily forward. In a twinkling the condition of the field changed. THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN.. C. S. A. 25 The Federal troops that were rushing on in pursuit of the fleeing Confederates of Bee's command, found themselves suddenly in front of 2.600 bayonets. Their advance was at once stopped. In the afternoon the decisive turn of battle came, when General Beauregard ordered an advance of his whole line, and Jackson com- manded that the bayonet be used by his Brigade, by which he pierced and broke the Federal centre, and the retreat of the Federal Army began. Jackson on the Field. — "Outwardly, Jackson \\-as not a Stonewall, for it was not in his nature to be stable and defensive, but vigorously active. He was an avalanche from an unexpected quarter. He was a thunderlx)lt from a clear sky. And yet he was in character and will more like a stonewall than any man I have known. "On the field his judgment seemed instinctive. No one of his staff ever knew him to change his mind. There was a short, quick utterance like a flash of the will from an inspired intelligence, and the command was imperative and final. He was remarkable as a commander for the care of his troops, and had daily knowledge about the work oi all staff departments— supply, medicine, ordnance. He knew well the art of marching and its importance. His ten minutes' rest in the hour was like the law of the Medes and Persians, and some of his generals were in direst trou]:)le from the neglect of it. Of such things he was care- ful, until there came the hour for action, and then, no matter how many were left behind, he must reach the point of attack with as large a force as possible. He must push the battle to the bitter end until he had reaped the fruits of victory. Over and over again he rode among his advancing troops, with his hand uplifted, crying 'Forward, men, forward, press forward'." — James Poivcr Smith, Lecture in Bos- tO)i, pp 14-15. Jackson Ordered One of His Commanders to Hold His Ground With Wet Ammunition. — "At Chantilly, our division commander sent word to him (Jackson), that he was not sure that he could hold his position, as his ammunition was wet. 'My compliments to General Hill and say that the enemy's ammunition is as wet as his, and to hold his ground,' was Jackson's reply." — .-lllen C. Redwood, Vol. 10, p. 112. Phtogh. History. Jackson's Confidence in His Corps. — "General Jackson would order some other General to hold some position at all hazards, and the General would rej)ly that he was afraid he could not hold it if the enemy 26 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN should press him. Jackson would say, 'You must hold it; my men sometimes fail to drive the enemy, but the enemy always fail to drive my men'." — Casler's History, p. 232. Jackson's Horsemanship and Jackson in a New Uniform. — Charles E. Owens, captain in the Confederate Army, and a member of Ashby's Cavalry, furnished the author with the following data:— "I have seen Jackson a thousand times. He was neither a graceful nor an ungrace- ful rider ; but one day I did see him riding elegantly. I had often greeted General Jackson with 'Good morning,' and passed the usual friendly amenities on the weather, but this day I did not know him. I saw some one coming galloping through camp at a furious rate, mounted on a brown horse, not 'Old Sorrel,' and at first, I could not make him out, for this officer was dressed in a new uniform of gray, and wore a felt hat with a black feather in it. Then I recognized Gen- eral Jackson. He had discarded his old faded cap and uniform." This new uniform was, probably, the one presented to him by General J. E- B, Steuart. Jackson as a Rider. — Mr. George G. Higgins, who was a member of Captain Snowden Andrews' Battery, Confederate Army, informed the author: — "Stonewall Jackson was a superb rider, in or out of action. In battle the very spirit of battle shone in his face and ani- mated his whole body. His men loved him. They would go anywhere he ordered them, for they believed, as I have often heard them say, that when he took them in he could take them out. They not only were w'illing to do what he said, but loved to carry out his orders. No man ever had the love of his soldiers like Stonewall Jackson. I have seen him many a time. When the cheering began that indicated that General Jackson was about, the soldiers along the whole line, whether they saw him, or not, in battle as well, would cheer for him as they fought." Jackson "Not Much for Looks." — When General Jackson was in Maryland, in 1862, "a crowd gathered near his headquarters to see him. They expected epaulettes, gold lace, feathers, ornamented cords, cap, and numerous items of display. Presently General Jackson step- ped out of his tent alone, and told a sentinel to keep the crowd at a distance. 'What shabby looking chap is that ?' inquired several. 'That's old Stonewall,' answered one of his men. 'That Stonewall Jackson ! Well, I guess he's no great shakes after all,' said some of the bystand- ers, 'he's not much for looks anyhow'." — John W. Daniels. THE I IFK OF STONEWALL JACKSON. LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. 27 Stonewall Jackson Teaches "Old Sorrel" a Trick. — The autlior is indebted to Mr. Harry M. Tongue, of Annapolis, Md., who was a cour- ier for lackst)n. from February to May 2. 1863, for the following in- cidents and observations : "The Confederate soldiers would always cheer when either General Lee or (^.eneral Jackson appeared. The Federals, finding this out. would immediately shell that part of the line where the cheering was going. This made no difference to the Confederate soldiers, such was their enthusiasm for Lee and Jackson, and come what would, nothing could stoj) them. They could not help cheering. Stonewall Jackson, observing that the enemy shelled where the cheering was, taught Old Sorrel as .soon as she heard cheering to run as fast as she could, and I have seen Jack.son, as the cheering went on, take his hat off, and put it under his arm. while < )ld Sorrel dashed down the line. "Jackson was awkward in this way — he shuff'led along on foot, like a Professor, but. on horseback, he was a fine rider. "The whole time that I was with him I never saw him laugh, or engage in conversation with any one except General Lee. I have seen him talk a half hour with him. His mind was on the business of war. "T was with him when he turned Pope's flank. 1 rode a few yards behind him the whole night. He never said a word, except he may have spoken to his engineer." "At the second battle of Fredericksburg, General Jackson rode out on the field with a few couriers. He would not take a crowd with hitn because it attracted fire from the enemy. He took his glass and looked at the Federals. Then, because I was the nearest courier, he asked me to look and tell him what I saw. I took the glasses and said : — T see two batteries, three lines of battle, and a party of officers.' General Jackson observed : 'That's what I see'." "Just before he was wounded (May 2. 186.S). he said: — Tf I had three more hours of daylight, I would drown half of them (the Fed- erals) in the Rappahannock.' " Jackson Shares the Deprivations of War With His Men. — Gen- eral Jackson shared the hardships and dejM-ivations of war with his men. When his troops had orders to march at four in the morning, at that hour, mounted on his horse. General Jackson would turn out of the side road where they had encamped for the nighl, to lead them. Private 28 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Richard G. Killman, of the First Maryland, C. S. A., says that once only he himself had mutinous thoughts. It was after days and miles of marching and deprivation, the privates were apportioned one small cake of corn bread and one piece of salt pork, each about two inches square. Incensed at such rations, and convinced that the officers were faring better than the privates, he determined to make a survey for himself. He made his way to the rear of General Jackson's tent, in which there was an opening large enough for him to see through into the tent, and, at that moment, the cook of the general came in and placed his supper on the table. Private Killman declared, if he had not known better, he would have made an affidavit that it was the identical rations themselves that had been dealt out to him and which lay uneaten in his quarters. Filled with indignation at himself, Pri- vate Killman confessed that with anathemas upon his own head and calling upon Heaven to visit the direst punishment upon him if ever he had another rebellious thought, he went back to his tent. Related by private Killman to Mr. P. Ukvood Porter, ivho informed the author of the incident. Jackson's Coolness in Commanding. — On August 25th, 1862, Tack- son was in the rear of Pope's Army at Manassas. He was awaiting the arrival of Longstreet through Thoroughfare Gap. His own position, with the whole of Pope's Army in front of him in overwhelming numbers, was perilous. Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, commanding a Brigade composed of Mrginia Regiments, had sent forward an un- armed vidette to watch the movements of the Federal Army, and to report any manoeuvring to him at once. The vidette hid himself in the woods. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon, ''the vidette was started by a long line of skirmishers stepping out of the wood in his front and advancing. Jumping to his feet, he made for Colonel Johnson. He had only got a short distance when he saw their line of battle follow- ing. Now, that fellow just dusted (evidently he and the writer were one), and made his report to Colonel Johnson, who at once called the line to attention; the command was given, "Right face; double quick, march," and away we went through the woods. All of us were won- dering what had become of old Jack. (He had not been seen for a long time.) When we got through the woods, he was the first man we saw, and, looking beyond, we could see his command was massed in a large field ; arms stacked, batteries parked, and everything resting. THE LIFl': OF STONKWAI.L JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 29 "Colonel Joiinson rode up to General Jackson, and made his report, when General Jackson turned to his staff, gave each an order, and in a moment the field was a perfect hubbub — men riding in all directions, infantry getting to arms, cannoniers to their guns and the drivers mounting. But you could see the master-hand now ; even while I am telling this you could hear the sharp command of an officer, Right face ; forward, march,' and a body of skirmishers marched out of that con- fused mass right up to old Jack, when the officer gave the command to 'file right,' and the next instant to deploy, and the movement was done in a twinkle, and forward they went to meet the enemy. General Jackson had waited to see this. He then turned to Colonel Johnson, and told him to let his men stack arms and rest, as they had been on duty since the day before ; he would not call them if he could do without them, and off' he went with the advance skirmishers." — One of Jack- son's Foot Cavalry, in \o\. 32, p. 82. South Hist. Mag. Jackson on the March to Hooker's Rear at Chancellorsville. — "During the winter preceding Chancellorsville. in the course of a con- versation at Moss Neck, he (Jackson), said; — 'We must do more than defeat their armies ; we must destroy them.' He went into this cam- paign filled with this stern purpose ; ready to stretch to the utmost every energy of his genius, and push to the limit also his faith in his men in order to destroy a great army of the enemy. J know that was his purpose, for, after the battle, when still well enough to talk he told me that he had intended, after breaking into Hooker's rear, to take and fortify a suitable position, cutting him off" from the river and so hold him, until between himself and General T-ee, the great Fed- eral host should be l)roken to pieces. He had no fear. It was then that I heard him say : — "We sometimes fail to drive them from posi- tions ; they always fail to drive us'." "Never can I forget the eagerness and intensity of Jackson on that march to Hooker's rear. His face was pale, his eyes flashing. Out from his thin, compressed lips, came the terse command: — 'Press for- ward, press forward.' In his eagerness, as he rode, he leaned over the neck of his horse, as if in that way the march might be hurried. 'See that the column is kept closed and that there is no straggling,' he more than once ordered, and 'Press on, press on,' he repeated again and again. Every man in the ranks knew we were engaged in some great flank movement, and they eagerly responded and pressed on at a rapid gait. Fitz Lee met us and told Jackson he could show him the 30 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN whole of Hooker's army if he went with him to the top of a hill near by. They went together and Jackson carefully inspected through his glasses the Federal command. He was so wrapped up in his plans, that on his return he passed Fitz Lee without saluting or even thank- ing him, and when he reached the column, he ordered one aide to go forward and tell General Rodes. who was in the lead, to cross the Plank Road and go on straight to the Turnpike, and another aide to go to the rear of the column and see that it was kept closed up, and all along the line he repeatedly said: — 'Press on, press on'." "The fiercest energy possessed the man, and the fire of battle fell strong upon him. When he arrived at the Plank Road, he sent this, his last message, to Lee: " 'The enemy has made a stand at Chancellorsville. I hope as soon as practicable to attack. I trust that an ever kind Providence will bless us with success.' "And as this message went to Lee, there was flashing along the wires, giving brief joy to the Federal Capital, Hooker's Message: — 'The enemy must ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." "Contrast the two, Jackson's modest, confident, hopeful relying on his cause and his God, Hooker's frightened, boastful, arrogant, vain- glorious. The two messages are characteristic of the two men — Dr. Hunter McGiiirc, South Hist. Mag., \o\. 25 pp 109-10-1 L Jackson's Orders in Battle. — "Jackson was noted for the quick- ness of his decisions, and his short orders on the battle field." "At Winchester in the "^/alley Cam.paign he said to Colonel Patton, who commanded a brigade: — 'The enemy will presently plant a battery on that hill ; when they do, vou zeize it at once ; clamp it immediately, sir !' "During one of the battles around Richmond a stafif officer galloped up to him and reported :— 'General Ewell says, sir. that he cannot well advance until that battery over there is silenced.' Turning to one of his staff he said : — 'Gallop as hard as you can, and tell Major Andrews to bring sixteen guns to bear on that battery, and silence it immedi- ately.' THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 31 "Soon Andrews was in position; his guns opened, and before long the battery was silenced. When this was reported to Jackson, he said, with a quiet smile: — 'Now, tell General Fiwell to drive them'." "In the afternoon at Gaines' Mail, June 27, 1862, the progress seemed to have been as rapid as he expected, and gallant Fitz John Porter made a heroic defense, and Jackson exclaimed to one of his staff: — 'This thing has hung fire too long; go rapidly to every brigade commander in my corps and tell him if the enemy stands at sundown, he must advance his brigade regardless of others, and sweep the field with the bayonet'." Jackson received coolly Chaplain Jones' statement, on one occasion that he had seen the enemy. ■■ 'Are you certain they arc the enemy?' asked Jackson. " 'Yes, sir, I am.' " 'How close did you get to them?' " 'I suppose about 1,000 yards. I could plainly see their blue uniforms and the United States flag which they carried. They shot at me, and cut the ear of my horse bringing me.' I expected that he would now send staff officers in every direction with orders to meet this new move- ment, but Jackson coolly replied : — 'I am very much obliged to you, sir, for the information you have given me, but General Trimble will at- tend to them. I expected this movement, and ordered Trimble posted there to meet it'." "He rode off, seemingly as unconcerned as if nothing had happened. Trimble did 'attend to them,' and after a severe fight drove them back." ---Chaplain J. JVm. Jones, C. S. A., South Hist. Mag:, Vol. 35. p. 91-2. Jackson at the Battle of Kernstown. — This was the sole engage- ment in which General Jackson, during the war between the States, suft'ered a decided check to his aims, lost the battle, had more casualties and left the enemy in possession of the field of battle. He attributed his misfortune to the order of Gen. Garnett, who, without Jackson's knowledge, gave the order for the Stonewall Brigade to fall back from the line from which they were, to a place of greater protection, as their ammunition had failed them. Five distinct times Jackson led his troops in charges upon his gallant foes, who with double Jackson's numbers, fought with Ameican heroism and determination. Xight was now about to fall and would end the fierce terrific engagement at Kernstown. March 2nd, 1862. 32 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN General Jackson was watching the battle from a position close tO' the Brigade of his delight and confidence. Vvithout warning, he ob- served to his horror the Stonewall Brigade give way. He turned Old Sorrel towards the command, angered, inflexible, threatening, — and ordered, with imperious spirit. General Garnett to hold his ground, and then pressed on and commanded his men to stop and rally. Observing a drummer in the retreat with the soldiers, he grasped him by the shoulders, pulled him to a rise in the ground, and com- manded him, in his short, rapid speech to "Beat the rally!" the drum- mer obeyed, and, with his hands on the scarred drummer's body, amidst the tempest of bullets about him, Jackson saw the broken lines were newly aligned, and thus by his presence and orders brought the com- mand into some military shape. The re-adjustment, however, was too late. The die of defeat had been cast. The alert and aggressive Federal officers had perceived im- mediately their opportunity. They did not delay to take advantage of the break in the Confederate ranks. With victorious cheers the foe rushed onward. They entered the breach flanked Fulkerson's right wing, and he was thrown backward in confusion. At that disastrous instant, the sounds from the artillery of Ashby announced that here, too, the Federals were on the vantage ground, and were thundering down on the Confederate right. The Confederates were entrapped. General Jackson would not retreat. His sternness was immovable. With the overwhelming numbers pushing him on both sides, he would not give up the fight. Under the fiercest orders and the most ardent appeals to his devoted men, the 5th Virginia, though with almost empty cartridge-boxes, re-aligned itself under the severe volleys of the Fed- erals, stood directly in front of the advancing foenien, and held them in check, without any help whatever, until the 42nd Virginia, under Colonel Langhorne, came up. This command had hurried up and had taken position on the right of the 5th. Nothing, now, not the almost superhuman courage of the outnumbered and valiant Confed- erates, could redeem the day. Jackson saw his trooj^s being surrounded, his centre broken, his left encompassed and his cavalry retreating. He was helpless to continue the struggle, but he gave no command to re- treat. He merely permitted the sullen withdrawal of his forces from the field of battle. Jackson did not forgive General Garnett. He preferred charges against him. Garnett finally left Jackson's command, though the THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON. LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 33 charges were never pressed. Jackson's remedy f^r the lack of ammuni- tion for the Stonewall Brigade was, "They should have given them the baxonet." With the rebel yell, and the vSonthern charge, the Federal line was still in jeopardy. Jackson's Personal Efforts Saves the Day at Cedar Run. — On August 9th. 18()2, the battle of Cedar Run was fought. Turning the Confederate left flank, the Federals poured a heavy and efl^ective volley into Jackson's rear. 'I'lie movement was so sudden that finding them- .selves almost surrounded, the Confederates fell back to a new position. The Federals pressed forward with victorious yells, and delivering a deadly fire as they rushed onward. The battle seemed lost. In vain the Confederate officers endeavored to keep their lines solid. The artillery to escape capture was rushed to the rear, and as it passed out of sight, the Federals increased their efforts, and doubled their fire, pushing the fleeing Confederates with all the animation of certain success. "At this moment," says John Esten Cooke, "of disaster and impend- ing ruin. Jackson appeared, amid the clouds of smoke, and his voice was heard rising above the uproar and the thunder of the guns. The man, ordinarily so cool, silent and deliberate, was now mastered by the genius of battle. In feature, voice, and bearing, burned the gaiidium certam'mis — the resolve to conquer or die. Galloping to the front, amid the heavy fire directed upon his disordered lines, now rapidly giving away — with his eyes flashing, his face flushed, his voice rising and ringing like a clarion on every ear, he rallied the confused troops and brought them into line. At the same moment the old Stonewall Brigade and Branch's Brigade advanced at a double-quick, and shout- ing, 'Stonewall Jackson! Stonewall Jackson!' the men poured a galling fire into the Federal lines. The presence of Jackson, leading them in ])erson, seemed to ])roduce an indcscri]>al>le influence on tlie troops, and. as he rode to and fro, amid the smoke, encouraging the troops, thev greeted him with resounding cheers. This was one of the few occasions when he is reported to have been mastered by excitement. He had forgotten apparently that he commanded the whole field, and imagined himself a simple colonel leading a regiment. Everywhere in the thickest of the fire, his form was seen and his voice heard, and his exertions to rally the men were crowned with success. The Federal advance was checked, the repulsed troops re-formed, and led once 34 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN more into action, and with Jackson in front the troops swept forward and re-established their lines upon the ground upon which they had been driven. "Those who saw Jackson when he thus galloped to the front, and thus rallied his men in the very jaws of destruction, declare that he resembled the genius of battle incarnate. "The advance of the Federal forces were thus checked. They were forced to retire still more rapidly, and the Stonewall Brigade closed in on their right, and drove them with terrible slaughter through the woods." — Jackson's report. For the First Time Jackson Showed Symptoms of Uneasiness. — It was on the morning of June 27, 1862, when General Jackson was in the rear of General McClellan's Army, that Major Goldstorough, of the First Maryland Regiment, Confederate, who was there, says that the general "appeared for the first time to fear that the gods of battle had forsaken him." Major Goldsborough says : "As we neared the field tlie artillery and infantry fire increased in volume, and it was evident that the ad- vanced troops of Jackson were hotly engaged, as were those of Hill on our right. Steadily the rattle of musketry swelled as Jackson for- wardefd reinforcements, until it became almost deafening. But as hour after hour passed, and that awful fire did not recede, he began to show symptoms of uneasiness. Upon his success on the left de- pended everything. Should he fail the splendidly conceived plans of General Lee would fail also, and Richmond would be at the mercy of the invader. Was it a wonder then, that he rode nervously to and fro, and appeared for the first time to fear that the gods of battle had forsaken him? Every eye was upon the great chieftain as he galloped along the lines of the troops held in reserve, and the anxious expression upon that heretofore immovable countenance was observ- able to all." The right of General McClellan's Army was finally turned and the Federal troops were put to flight. Stonewall Jackson Excited. — "I saw General Jackson excited, I may say, but once. This was at the second battle of Manassas, when w^e were in the rear of the Federal forces, and Pope had turned on us his whole army. Our lines, step by step, were giving way. In the dis- tance, we could tell bv the dust and movement of trains that Longstreet THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEL^T.-GEN., C. S. A. 35 was coming through Thoroughfare Gap. General Jackson rode out in front of our lines, and I saw him draw, as I never witnessed him do before, his sword, and, waving it in the air, he drew himself to his feet in the stirrups and said something that I was not able to hear, but what seemed to be from the circumstances : — 'Men, if ever you held vour lines, hold them now.' Longstreet finally came up and struck the Federal Army a heavy blow. — C. A. Foncrden, of Carpenter's Battery, Stonewall Brigade. Jackson's Enthusiasm at the Battle of Winchester. — General Jack- son loved the people of Winchester. It was with agony of soul that he left it, vowing that he would never hold another council of war, since the attitude of his subordinates, whom he consulted, prevented him from making the night attack on the Federals by which he had hoped to roll back the advance of the Federal Amiy upon the imperilled town. This was in March, 1862 ; scarce two months had passed and the enemy that he had been prevented by the lack of ardor of his friends from attacking, w^ere now fleeing for their lives before his victorious troops, and the town of W^inchester was delivered for the time from the hands of the invader. Jackson had swept down upon the advance of Banks's Army at Front Royal, two days before, and defeated it, when his enemies did not dream that he was within fifty miles of them; he had captured the entire vanguard of his foes ; he had chased Banks' fugitive army a day and a night, and now with the people of Win- cliester about him wild with joy at their deliverance, Jackson on the early morning of May 25, Sunday, 1862, saw from the hill-top on which he stood the 27th and 29th Pennsylvania of his foes break into disorder and retreat before his victorious soldiers. Then the Second Wisconsin turned, and. finally, the heroic 2nd Massachusetts, that had given valiant fight during the night against his army as it advanced upon Winchester, began to retire. The whole Federal Army was flying before his soldiers. Seeing this, Jackson, for the first time in the war, in the enthusiasm and expectations of the moment, rose to his feet in his stirrups, and drawing his sword, waved it around his head and shouted :— "ON TO THE POTOMAC !" There was, however, no force to make the order eflfective. The infantry were worn out by excessive marching and long fighting, Ashby's men had not yet come upon the field of battle, and Steuart, with his cavalrv, was still three miles in the rear. 36 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN General Jackson Stands Sentry. — On the way to the first Bull Run battle the troops, under Jackson, marched twenty miles on the 18th of July, 1861, and fell exhausted on the ground and were soon all asleep. An officer came to the general and told him there were no pickets out. Jackson replied: — "Let the poor fellows sleep. I will guard the camp myself." So through the long, silent watches of the night, General Jackson stood guard over his slumbering soldiers. A Tableware Campaign That Captured Jackson But Did Not Materialize in Battle. — When General Winder was holding Fremont back on the morning of Sunday, June 1, 1862, near Strasburg, that Jackson's rear guard might pass through that town and join the main army, the sounds of battle were heard at Front Royal, twelve miles away. There were then seated around the breakfast table of Mr. Ashby in that place, his family. Colonel Carroll and wife, and General Dur3'ea and staff, of the Federal Army, and Dr. Mercer, an uncle of Mrs. Car- roll. During the meal conversation was lively. The steady firing of artillery at Cedar Creek was heard in the distance. The parties at the breakfast table soon rightly located the place of battle, and decided correctly that the forces of Jackson and Fremont were engaged in battle. As Colonel Carroll had orders to join his own forces, at nine that day, and to march to Strasburg, he explained the military condi- tions. He said that General Shields would go to Strasburg and locate him- self behind Jackson, who, with his advance, at this time was at Win- chester. As a matter of fact, Jackson with his main army was already through Strasburg, having arrived there the night before on a wonder- ful forced march in which some of his troops on that day covered, on foot. 36 miles. Shields, continued Colonel Carroll, had only 12 miles to march, while Jackson had 19. and with an army greatly divided. The artillery firing, he vouchs a Fed to say, with confidence born of faith in, and lack of information of, the true situation, was betweea the cavalry of Jackson and the advance of Fremont, whom the Confederates were trying to prevent reaching the Valley turnpike. He observed with harshness and pomposity, that Fremont and Shields v;ould combine by noon, and thus the Confederates would be cut off. His words were ex- plained by a diagram of the tableware before him. Facing Mrs. Ashby, he said : "This means, Mrs. Ashby, that before midday we will have Jackson bagged, and the backbone of the Confederacy will be broken." THE IJFE OK STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. '^7 This was too much for the Southern heart to stand. The idea of Jackson being captured was unbearable. Mrs. Ashby's eyes filled with tears and she desired to be excused and left the table. General Carroll, till the suggestion of General Duryea that he had hurt Mrs. Ashby's feelings, offered an apology to her husband. Soon after Colonel Carroll, afterward General Carroll, and General Duryea mounted their horses and left for their respective commands. A few days after the Battle of Port Royal, General Carroll, the brave, brusque and boastful, but good-hearted seer, who had prophe- sied to Mrs. Ashby the overthrow of Jackson, returned from the front and passed near that lady's house. He was worn out. His clothes were tattered and soiled, and his high spirit had fallen. In his dis- tressed state he had not the heart to come into the home of the woman he had aggrieved nor to face his sorrowful wife, though less than a quarter of a mile from Mrs. Ashby's house. He had, however, the splendid manliness and gallant courtesy in all his discomfiture to make amends for his boastful remark that had wounded Mrs. Ashby's feel- ings while he was at her table. He sent this generous dual message to the two ladies — his wife and the mistress of the house : "Tell Mrs. Carroll to join me in Washington. Tell Mrs. Ashby that old Jackson eave us hell." il^ 38 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER EIGHT. JACKSON WAS ALWAYS IN FAVOR OF THE SOUTH STRIKING VIGOROUS BLOWS. General Jackson Wanted to Strike at Once After the Battles of the Peninsula — Jackson Groaned Aloud When Lee Determined to Postpone an Attack — Jackson's Opinion of What the Campaign of the Winter of 1862 Should Be — General Jackson Was Always of Aggressive Purpose — Jackson's Only Council of War. General Jackson Wanted to Strike at Once After the Battles of the Peninsula. — After the battles of the Peninsula General Jackson wanted the Confederate Army to strike a decisive return blow. He argued that McClellan's Anny was disorganized and incapable of active operations until it had had a reorganization. It was the only w^ay, he argued, to bring the North to its senses. Before even the Con- federate forces had returned to Richmond, General Jackson laid his views before Mr. Boteler, the member of Congress from the Richmond district. Mr. Boteler asked : "Why do you not urge your views on General Lee?" "I have done so," replied Jackson." "And what does he say to them?" "He says nothing," was the replv ; "but do not understand me to complain of this silence ; it is proper that General Lee should observe it. He is wise and pru- dent. He feels that he bears a fearful responsibility, and he is right in declining a hasty expression of his purpose to a subordi- nate like me." — Dabney, YoX. ii, pp. 230-1. The Gettysburg Campaign was Jackson's proposition in the abstract ; but it was executed a year late, when there was no Jackson there to act his part in making the movement a success. In the memorable quarrel between the Confederate officers on the night of July 3rd, about taking possession of Cemetery Ridge, Major Henry Kyd Douglas, formerly of Jackson's staff, in his indignation at General Ewell's refusal to hold the hill, exclaimed that "Cieneral Lee had forgotten that General Jackson is dead !" The decision of the Confederate authorities not to undertake a campaign immediately after the battles of the Peninsula gave Gen- eral Jackson great pain. THE UFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, I.IKUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 39 Jackson Groaned Aloud, — On Auj^ust 17. 1862, near Clark's JMountain, Va., not tar from Brandy Station, where there was a large magazine of Federal supplies, when there was every prospect of making a successful attack; on Pope, General Lee determined to postpone what seemed to him, at that time, a hazardous under- taking. Jackson, it has transpired, groaned outright at the deci- sion, and with such emphasis of meaning that Longstreet called the attention of the Confederate Commander-in-Chief to [ackson's open disrc'^pect. Jackson's Opinion of What the Campaign of the Winter of 1862 Should Be. — When General Jackson had been given the command of the Shenandoah Valley, in the fall of 1861, he sought an interview with General G. W. Smith, stating that he desired to confer with him on an important subject. General Smith was ill, but received General Jackson with great courtesy and listened to his statement. General Jackson, seated on the ground near the cot of the sick officer, then gave in detail his views, saying that McClellan with his new recruits would not attack the Confederates, and if the South did not make an aggressive movement at once, the Federal Army, with its greatly superior forces, would be in better condi- tion than the Confederate. He urged an invasion of the North, to take possession of Baltimore, cut off travel to the Federal capital, defeat McClellan in the open field, destroy railroad lines, shut up manufactories, hinder commerce, and strike at the lines of com- munication as far as Lake Erie and Pittsburg, and prosecute unre- lenting warfare on the industries of the North, and thus show the Northern people what it would cost to keep the South under Fed- eral authority. General Jackson desired General Smith tc urge upon Generals Beauregard and Johnston to take this step. General Smith assured General Jackson that his opinion would have no weight. Jackson was urgent and said he believed that General Smith agreed with him Then General Smith told Jackson that this plan had already been discussed by President Davis and Generals Johnston and Beau- regard, and General Smith told him to what opinion they had come. Jackson rose, shook hands, and said. "I am sorry, very sorry." and left. 40 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN General Jackson Was Always of Aggressive Purpose.— In the Spring of 1862, wlien the affairs of the South were very forlorn, when their Atlantic ports were beginning to drop, one by one, into the meshes of the Federal net cast, about them, and when their Western armies were retreating before the victorious foe, General Jackson, on March 7th. wrote to General Johnston: "And now. General, that Hill has fallen back, can you not send him over here? (Jackson w-as then in the Shenandoah Valley.) I greatly need such an officer ; one who can be sent off. as occasion may offer against an exposed detachment of the enemy for the purpose of capturing it. I believe that if you can spare Hill and let him move here at once, you will never have occasion to regret it. The very idea of reinforcements coming to Winchester would, I think, be a damper to the enemy, in addition to the fine effect it would produce on our own troops, already in fine spirits. But if you cannot spare Hill, can you not send me some other troops? If we cannot be successful in defeating the enemy should he advance, a kind Providence may enable us to inflict a terrible wound and effect a safe retreat in the event of having to fall back. I will keep myself on the alert with respect to communications between us, so as to be able to join you at the earliest possible moment, if such a movement becomes necessary." — 1 O. /?.. Vol. 5, p. 1094. The military sense of the Confederate authorities, always too dull to comprehend Jackson's greatness while he lived, failed also to take full advantage of his phenomenal talents while he could use them, and did not send him reinforcements until he had Avon the field at McDowell. Jackson's Only Council of War. — There has been left to us a most graphic account of the effect of the abandonment of Winchester, Va., in the Spring of 1862 by Stonewall Jackson. It was forced upon him. not so much by General Banks, of the Union Army, as it was by the opposition of his own official family to the plans their resourceful commander had conceived to defend the town. On March 11th. the night of the retreat. General Jackson unbos- omed himself to his friend, the Rev. James P. Graham, at whose house he had been a guest. This gentleman states that : "At dinner we thought it doubtful if w^e would see the General (Jackson) again; but he came to supper, and, to our surprise, all THE LIFE OF STONEVVALI, JACKSON, I.IEUT.-GEN'., C. S. A. 41 aglow with pleasant excitement, because of the splendid behavior of his troops and their eagerness to meet the enemy, who had been seen; but, without offering battle, had gone into camp at Washington Springs. Some ladies had come in and were in the depths of gloom. Ijecause, as they understood, the army was to leave us that night. To this view the General gave no assent ; but, as if to dispel it, showed an unusual cheerfulness. After our evening worship, which he conducted in his usual impressive and delightful way. he still sat with us, manifesting no hurry to leave, and by the tone of his conversation trying to direct the minds of all from the gloom they were in. When he did go, in answer to some tears which he probably saw. he said to us, who thought we were bidding him 'Good-bye, ' 'Oh. I'll see you again,' and then suddenly, as if not meaning to say so much, he added: 'I don't expect to leave.' Returning, however, within an hour, and finding us out, he de- spatched a servant after us with a message that he wanted to see me at once at his ofifice. Hurrying there, I found him walking the floor under more excitement than I had ever seen him exhibit before. He had undergone in the brief space of time a surprising change. His countenance betrayed deep dejection, and his spirit was burdened with an inexpressible weight of sadness. At tnrst he did not seem to know what to say, but, collecting himself at length, he said he did not mean to deceive us by giving a wrong impression, but that he had been made to change his plans. He constantly expressed the grief that he had experienced in giving up Winchester without striking a blow for its liberty. \\'ith a slow and desperate earnestness he said: 'Let me think — can I yet carry my plan into execution?' As he spoke this question to him- self, he seized the hilt of his sword, and a strange, fierce light lit his wonderful eyes. The next instant his head fell and his hand relaxed its grasp on his sword, and he exclaimed : 'No, I may not do it ; it may cost the lives of too many of my brave men. I must retreat and wait for a better time.' " The Council of War that Jackson had called with his officers was the cause of his change of plans. He had proposed a night attack on the foe and they had all disagreed with his plans. He did not feel at liberty to act without their full concurrence and in the face of their open objections. 42 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Later in the night the Confederate forces retreated from Win- chester. Hunter McGuire, his friend and medical director, rode off with General Jackson, and says, "as they reached a point over- looking Winchester, they both turned back to look at the town left to the mercy of the Federals. I think." continued Dr. Mc- Guire. "that a man may sometimes yield to overwhelming emo- tions. I was utterly overcome by the fact that I was leaving all that I held dear on earth ; but my emotion was arrested by one look at Jackson. His face was fairly blazing with the fire of wrath that was burning in him. Presently he cried out in a tone almost savage : 'That is the last council of war I will ever hold.' And it was." THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 43 CHAPTER NINE. FIRST SIGHTS OF STONEWALL JACKSON. The First Time Colonel George H. MofFatt Met Jackson — Dr. Mc- Guire's First Sight of Jackson — General Dick Taylor's First Sight of Jackson — Private Higgins' First Glimpse of Jackson — First Im- pressions of General Jackson Formed by His Second Wife, Miss Anna Morrison — The Appeau-ance of Stonewall Jackson to Privates Robert H. Welch, Daniel Duvall and James S. Owens — First Con- tact With Jackson by Lieutenant A. D. Warwick — Jackson Seen First at Coal Harbor by John Esten Cooke — First View of Jack- son by an English Captain — First Sight of Jackson at Fredericks- burg by a Confederate Artillerist — General Bradley T. Johnson's First Interview With Jackson — An Arrival at West Point — Orderly John F. Hiskey's Only Meeting With Jackson — Captain McHenry Howard's First Sight of Jackson. "The First Time I Met Him."— "I shall never forget the first time I met him ( Jackson). At V. M. I. as a boy I had heard of his struggles as a cadet at West Point and his services with General Scott in Mexico. In imagination I had created an ideal which made my first meeting with him a keen disappomtment. Instead of the hand- some, polished gentleman I had pictured, I found him awkward in appearance, severely plain in dress, and stiff and constrained in bear- ing, but when he began to talk my disappointment passed away. His voice was soft, musical and singularly expressive, while in conversa- tion his eyes of gray would light up in a way that showed through the man's nature ran a vein of sentiment tender as that of a woman's. Listening to his terse, well-rounded sentences, always instructive and full of meaning, boy that I was, I felt that he possessed power, which, in stirring times, would make him a leader among his fellows. When in later years I have seen his appearance on the battle-field give courage to veterans who had faced death in a dozen forms, I knew that my con- viction was not a mistaken one." — Colonel George H. Moffaff. South. Hist. Mag., Vol. 22. p. 161. Dr. McGuire's First Sight of Jackson. — Dr. Hunter McGuire, Jack- son's surgeon-general, gave a correspondent of the Richmond Dispatch 44 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTE^ OF AND INCIDENTS IN an account of the first time he saw General Jackson, which description was published in that journal on July 19, 1891. Dr. McGuire said: "I went to Harper's Ferry as a member of Co — , Second Virginia Regiment, and soon after, for the first time in my life, saw Jackson. At that time he was a colonel. He was then commanding the array at Harper's Ferry, which was known as the Army of the Shenandoah. Soon after reaching Harper's Ferry I was commissioned by Governer Letcher, who then commanded the Virginia forces, as medical director of that army. \\'hen I reported to General Jackson for duty he looked at me a long time without speaking a word, and presently said : 'Go back to your quarters and wait there until you hear from me.' "I went back to my quarters and didn't hear from him for a week, when one evening I was announced at dress parade as medical director of the army. "Some months afterwards, when I asked the General the cause of the delay, he said that I looked so young that he had sent to Richmond to see if there wasn't some mistake." • General Dick Taylor's First Sight of Jackson. — General Jackson's meagre Army now received a splendid addition--both in numbers and morale. On the 21st of May, 1862, there arrived in the \'alley four regiments and one battalion, from I,ouisiana, under General Dick Taylor, to join Jackson. The battalion was Wheat's Louisiana Tigers. His force was 3,000 strong, "neat in fresh clothing of grey with white gaiters, bands playing at the head of their regiment — not a straggler, but every man in his place, stepping jauntily as if in parade, though it had marched twenty miles or more — in open column, with the rays of the declining sun flaming on polished bayonets, the brigade moved down the hard pike, and wheeled on to their camping ground. Jackson's men, by thousands, had gathered on either side of the road (o see us pass. "After attending to necessary camp details, I sought Jackson, whom I had never met. The mounted officer who had been sent on in advance pointed out a figure perched on the topmost rail of a fence overlooking the road and field, and said it was Jackson. Approaching, I saluted and declared my name and rank, then waited for a response. Before this came I had time to see a pair of cavalry boots covering feet of gigantic size, a mangy cap with visor drawn low, a heavy, dark beard of weary eyes, eyes that I afterwards saw filled with intense. THE LIFE OF STONEWALIv JACKSON, MEt'T.-GEN., C. S. A. 45 but never brilliant light. A low, gentle voice inquired the road and distance marched that day. 'Keezleton road., six and twenty miles.' 'You seem to have no stragglers.' 'Never allow straggling.' 'You must teach my people, they straggle badly.' A bow in reply. Just then my Creoles started their band for a waltz. After a contemplative suck at a lemon. 'Thoughtless fellows for serious work-,' came forth. I expressed the hope that the work would not be less well done because of the gaiety. A return to the lemon gave me the opportunity to retire." — General Taylor. First Glimpse of Jackson on the Peninsula. — Mr. George G. Hig- gins, private in the Confederate Artillery, told the author that he saw Jackson for the first time on the Peninsula, on horseback, leading his forces into battle. "He looked elegant." First Impression of General Jackson Formed by His Second Wife, Miss Anna Morrison. — General Jackson met his second wife. Miss Anna Morrison, before he had been first married. This meeting was in Lexington, Ya., where Miss Morrison was on a visit. She gives this description of him : "My first impression was that he was more soldierly-looking than anyone else, his erectness and military dress being quite striking; but, upon engaging in conversation, his open, animated countenance, and his complexion, tinged with the ruddy glow of health, were still more pleasing. * * * fjjg head w^as a splendid one, large and finely formed, and covered with soft dark brown hair, which, if allowed to grow to any length, curled ; but he had a horror of long hair for a man, and clung to the conventional style, a la militaire, of wearing very close-cut hair and short side-whiskers. After he was persuaded to turn out a full beard it was much more becoming to him, his beard being a heavy and handsome brown, a shade lighter than his hair. His forehead was noble and expansive, and always fair from its protection by a military cap. His eyes were blue-gray in color, large and well- formed, capable of wonderful changes in varying emotions. His nose was straight and finely chiseled, his mouth small and his face oval. His profile was very fine. All his features were regular and symmet- rical, and he was at all times manly and noble-looking, and, when in robust health, he was a handsome man. "His manners were rather stiff, but they had a certain dignity which showed that he was not an ordinary man." — Mis. Jaek.wji's Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson, p. 96. 46 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES, OF AND INCIDENTS IN Stonewall Jackson's Appearance. — "I never saw Jackson but once. He was on horseback. He was neither striking nor awkward in his appearance." — Private Robert H. Welch, First Md. Regt., C. S. Army. "I was at Winchester, Mrginia, one day, at the railroad station, where great numbers of cattle were constantly brought. The day was a cool October one and it was raining. I saw a man on horse- back, covered with a great coat, and trying to protect himself by this coat from the rain. A number of soldiers were around him. I took him to be a cattle dealer. Presently this man with the overcoat on rode off and all the soldiers followed after him. I was then told that the one leading the soldiers was Stonewall Jackson." — Private Daniel Duvall, C. S. Army. "I have seen General Jackson bowing to the soldiers who were cheering him. You could hear, as he came along, away down the line the cheering, and it gradually approached you with a great swell as Jackson rode by. I have heard the soldiers say as they heard the cheers : 'Here comes Jackson, or they have started a rabbit.' He would take off his hat and acknowledge the cheers with a salute, though he did not like to be cheered. Sometimes he would hold his cap in his hand while the cheering was in progress as he rode by. He was most graceful in this movement, and gracious in his manner." — • Private James W. Owens, Confederate Artillery. First Glimpse of Jackson. — "I had never seen General Jackson, though we had come down the Valley with him. I at once turned my picket (a Federal that had been recently captured) to the next com- mand and hurried to my first sight of the general commanding, T. J. Jackson. I had not very far to go, as Jackson always kept well up to the front. I found the different commands all awake, having been aroused by my first courier sent back. John T. Smith, with the prisoner, had no difficulty in finding the General's headquarters, under a tree on top of a high hill. I rode up, saluted, and asked was this General Jackson. On receiving an affirmative reply, I told him I was the officer-in-charge of the picket at Halltown ; had received orders from him to report at once. His first question was : 'What is your rank?' (I had no marks on me, in fact, had no coat on.) My reply was: 'First Lieutenant, Company B, 2nd Virginia Cavalr}^' 'How many men have you in picket with you?' 'Thirty,' I replied. 'Are you acquainted with the country?' 'Never was here until last night,' was my reply. He expressed no surprise at there being no one on THE LIFE OF STONEWAIJ^ JACKSON, IJEUT.-C.EN., C. S. A. 47 duty that night on picket before I came. After a moment or two he told me to go back to Halltown, to take a man with me, and make a reconnoisance to the left of the Federal picket, going through a farm road up a rather steep hill, (this hill was out of the view of the Federal l)icket at the railroad crossing), not to threaten the picket, but watch closely, and to return to him and report what I saw." * * + "We were almost in the rear of the Federal picket. * * * j j^m-, ried to General Jackson to report, found him in the same place. The infantry troops were called to attention, and forming in column on the pike, the artillery all hitched up and the men at the guns ready to move at a moment's notice ; I saw we were on the eve of something very important. I hastened on to General Jackson and made my report of the situation as I saw it. He listened very attentively. The first question he asked in regard to the farm road was, 'Could you get artillery up it?' 'Oh, yes,' I answered, 'easily.' 'Could ym get it back?' was the next question. 'Certainly,' I replied, 'easy enough.' 'But if you were in a great hurry, could you do it so easily?' I told him I did not know so well about that. He then asked me how many guns I saw in the fortifications. On my reply to him — for I had counted them — he asked me how did I "know they were real cannon or 'shams.' I told him I could not be sure of that, but they looked exactly like real ones. It struck me that he was examining me as much to see if I had really been where he sent me. as to determine how far he could use me in the future, for General Jackson knew all that country thoroughly. After I was through with my report, almost immediately, he said. 'We will not go that way,' meaning, of course, up the hill road. "He then told me to go back to my picket, form my men in columns of fours, and drive the Federal picket in. 'I will support you.' I re- turned immediately to Halltown, finding the troops all on the pike in the same direction. T moved my reserve up to where my one man was on duty facing the Federal picket, he joining up, and without more ado charged the picket. He fired his carbine and fled for his reserves. We followed him so closely that we did not give the reserves time to form, and scattered them in all directions in the woods, some leaving their horses and arms in and around the stone schoolhouse. We gathered up the arms and accoutrements, etc. I halted to con- sider what next. I had done v/hat General Jackson ordered, driven 48 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN the picket to reserve, and also driven off and scattered the 'reserve/ breaking up the station, capturing horses and arms. "I wanted to hear of our support, when I caught the welcome sound of tramp, tramp, tramp, which I knew was infantry, and soon old Stonewall, at the head of his old brigade, came up on cjiiick time. I reported to the General what I had done and showed the result to him. His only reply was, 'I wish you and your men to stay with me as cour- iers, and assigned me with four men to go with Colonel Baylor, com- manding the Stonewall Brigade, who was to make the advance on the works. "We advanced through the woods to the top of the same ridge I had been on in the morning, but further to our right, and came in full view of the heights, threw our troops in line of battle, v/ith skirmishers out well to the front, and reported to Stonewall (who was back hurry- ing up our troops) that we were ready to advance. The order came, 'Advance.' Colonel Baylor gave the order, 'Forward !' The skir- mishers moved across the field, the line of battle following. The enemy were not yet seen, but we expected to meet them in the next field. Not a shot was fired. Just as our skirmishers got over the fence, and, as we with the line of battle got to the fence, here came a courier to Colonel Baylor to halt. There we stood, possibly fifteen minutes, when another courier came from Jackson ordering the line of battle to fall back to the ridge on which we had first formed, and the skirmishers fell back over the fence. We remained during most of the day and built fires as if we were going into camp. That night the Army was in full motion up the Valley." — A. D. JVancick, 1st Lieut., 2nd Va. Kegt., S. Hist. Mag., Vol. 25, pp. 344-5-6-7. Lieutenant Warwick had been stationed near Halltown by Colonel Munford of the cavalry, during the night of May 29th, close to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to establish a picket. It was the next day, May 30th, that he had the interview with Jackson and received orders from him. Lieutenant Warwick rejoined his regiment at Strasburg, which Jackson passed through between Shields and Fremont •on Saturday, May 31st. A First Sight of Jackson. — "The present writer (John Esten CoOke) first saw General Jackson on the field of Cold Harbor, and it seemed hard to realize that the plainly dressed, awkward-looking person on the giant sorrel horse, with the faded cap, and the abstracted air; was THE LIFE OF STOXEWAIJ, J ACKSOX , LIEUT. -vIEN'., C. S. A. 49 the soldier who liad foiled ever\- adversary, and won at Port Republic those laurels which time cannot wither." — Cooke, pp. 197-8. First View of Jackson by an English Captain. — An English cap- tain visited (icneral Jackson while he was at Moss Neck. The oflicer says that the General rose when he appeared and greeted him cordially. He found Jackson to be tall, handsome and thin, but strongly built. His hair and beard were brown. His mouth expressed great deter- mination. His lips were thin and close together. His eyes were dark blue and had a strong glance. At the dinner Jackson said grace in a pious and unostentatious manner that made no little impression on the guest. When the Englishman went to the General's tent to give him "Good-bye," he found Jackson trying to dry out his guest's overcoat. First Sight of Jackson at Fredericksburg, October 11, 1862. — A Confederate artillerist describes General Jackson as he first caught sight of him at Fredericksburg, October 11, 1862: "A general officer, mounted upon a superb bay horse, and followed by a single courier, rode up through our guns. Looking neither to the right nor the left, he rode straight to the front, halted, and seemed gazing intently on the enemy's line of battle. The outfit before me, from top to toe. cap, coat, top-boots, horse and furniture, were all of the new order of things. But there was something about the man that did not look so new after all. He appeared to be an old-time friend of all the turmoil around him. As he had done us the honor to make an afternoon call on the artillery, I thought it becoming in someone to say something on the occasion. No one did, however, so, although a somewhat bashful and weak-kneed youngster, I plucked up courage enough to venture to remark that those big guns had been knocking us about pretty considerably during tlie day. He quickly turned his head, and I knew in an instant who it was before me. The clear-cut, chiselled features; the thin, compressed and determined lips; the calm, steadfast eye ; the countenance to command respect, and, in time of war, to give the soldier that confidence he so much craves from a superior officer, were all there. He turned his head quickly, and lo<:)king me all over, rode up the line, and was away as quickly and silently as he came, his little courier hard upon his heels; and this was my first sight of Stonewall Jacksc^n." General Bradley T. Johnson's First Interview With Jackson. — General Bradlev T. Johnson, of Marvland. tells of his first interview 50 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN with Jackson in May, 1861, at Harper's Ferry. He had come down from Frederick, Md., to offer his services and a company of soldiers that he had to join the Confederacy. He met first Colonel Agnus McDonald, who took him to see the Colonel Jackson. After a close examination as to the movements of the Federal Forces at Chambcrsbiirg, Pa., about forty miles distant, he questioned him as to the availability of estab- lishing a-farmhouse-to-farmhouse chain of communication, from Chambersburg to Frederick, and, from thence word could be passed to the Confederates as to the movements of the Union forces. The con- versation lasted about an hour. Colonel Jackson listened but never broke the silence he maintained throughout the conversation. An Arrival at West Point. — In the year 18-4-2. a youth at the age of eighteen years arrived at West Point. There was the air of a man from the rural districts about him that attracted the attention of two of the cadets. The newcomer was dressed in home-spun and carried on his arm a pair of saddle-bags. One asked the other : — -"Who is that gawk?" The second cadet replied: — ''Pll wager that that gazvk makes a success of it here." The first speaker was A. P. Hill and the second J. E. B. Stewart. The country lad was Stonewall Jackson. — This anecdote zvas handed dozvn from West Point through the zvell-known ministerial Kinsotring family, and was given to the author by a mem- ber of it. Orderly John F. Hiskey*s First Sight of General Jackson. — This incident was given to the author of this volume by John F. Hiskey, of Hyattsville, Md., on November 30, 1919 — "About the first of November, 1862, Company B, Captain George M. Emack, commanding, of the First Maryland Regiment, C. S. Cavalry, was picketing on the 'North West Grade,' a macadamized pike con- necting Winchester and the Shenandoah Valley with Moorefield, Romney, and probably Cumberland. About 20 members of Company B, under Lieutenant Edward McKnew, had returned from an un- successful attempt to capture a notorious spy and deserter from a Virginia Regiment. Our orders were not to injure him, otherwise he would have been shot, for he passed on the opposite side of a fence from me and not five feet distant. His escape and our location was communicated to General Averill in command at Romney, who sent a large body of Cavalry in our pursuit and with an effort to cut us off from our picket post ; but our sagacious Lieutenant foiled the intent, THIC I.IKE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN.. C. S. A. 51 and extricated our little hand of 20, and we reached our post without exchanging a shot. "The next night our picket post was changed and tive or six of our company were taken prisoners, just about daylight. Captain Emack, feeling that his company was in imminent danger of being annihilated, ordered me to go to Winchester, about 15 miles away, and report oc- currences and conditions to General Jackson, who was holding Win- chester after the return of the Confederate i\.rmy to the West bank after the Antietam Campaign. "When about two miles from Winchester, after a very rapid ride, I met an officer, riding a sorrel horse, and also riding fast. I saluted him, and was passing, when he asked me where I was going. Upon tell- ing him I was seeking General Jackson, at Winchester, he informed me that Jackson's Army had crossed the Ridge at Snicker's Gap, and would join General Lee's Army, and, further, that the Federal forces had entered Winchester, and that I should turn back, and ride with him. I narrated the episode of the night previous. He listened very attentive- ly, and asked me many questions as to Captain Emack's experience as an officer, the number of men in the company. He asked my name, where I was from. He said he had heard of my father, and had used his book, 'Hiskey's Constitution of the United States.' This officer took a decided fancy for my mount, requested me to gallop ahead. He compli- mented me on my riding, and then suggested that we speed on, as the enemy would send out scouting parties in all directions. I expressed apprehension for Captain Emack's safety, and bade him good day. But he said : — 'I think it best that we both gallop along. I will give you orders for Captain Emack, when we separate a little further up the road.' We galloped along for about thirty minutes, when he reined up and said : — 'Tell Captain Emack to proceed immediately to Stras- burg, and join Major Ridgely Brown and look out for the road at the foot of the mountain leading from Capon Springs, as by that road the Captain could be intercepted.' He also said : — 'I will give Major Brown commanding the Maryland Cavalry, at Strasburg, more definite instruc- tions.' I said, 'Sir, from whom shall I tell Captain Emack, I've re- ceived these orders?' ''I'ell him your orders are from General Jack- son ; good day,' he spurred his horse into a lively gallop, on a road leading towards Strasburg, and I following the North West grade to join my company. 52 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN "During my journey with this officer, I saw no insignia of rank or any indication of rank, save an officer's higli crown cap, fastened down to the visor in front. As soon as he said he was General Jackson, I immediately recognized him from pictures I had seen of him in Rich- mond. "I narrated the above meeting to his widow, Mrs. Stonewall Jackson, at a reception tendered her by the Stonewall Jackson Chapter. United Daughters of the Confederacy, in Washington, some few years ago. 'Oh,' she said, 'that surely was my husband. That was just his way'." Captain McHenry Howard's First Sight of Jackson. — McHeniy Howard, of Jackson's staff, saw General Jackson for the first time on April v3, 1862, and gives a description of his unique compared to others that have been made of him. He states that Jackson was above the usual height. His beard was thick and very brown. He was strongly and compactly knit. His eyes were steel blue. His hair was dark brown. His hair and beard were wavy. His whiskers were thick over the lower part of his face. The forehead was broad and white. His speech was brief, his manners courteous, and a deafness in one ear muffled sounds to him. His tones were generally distinct, but sometimes his words muffled. He seemed generally to be absorbed in his own thoughts, and seldom spoke to others imless he was himself addressed. His mouth was firm, his nose well-shapen, but not un- pleasantly large. He had an unusual fullness of temples. Jackson had on at this time a blue uniform, understood to have been the one he wore when Major at the Virginia Military Institute when he was Si Professor there. He wore high boots and had on a small, round top cap, that fell over the front and quite covered his eyes. The cap was high- Senator John T. Bond's First Meeting With Stonewall Jackson. — In Annapolis, in Maryland, on Marcli 31, 1920, Ex-Senator John T. Bond, of the Maryland Senate, gave the author of this volume the main facts of this statement. He said : "I saw Stonewall Jackson first in Richmond, in April. 1861. Several citizens of Calvert County, Maryland, one of them being myself, had gone to Richmond, Mrginia, to join the Confederate Army. vStonewall Jackson was then a Professor in the Mrginia Military Institute, and he would come down to Richmond to drill us. We were then not THE LIFE OF STONEWAIX JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 53 armed, and drilled witli wooden guns. Jackson did not make a favor- able impression upon me by his appearance. ''The next time I saw General Jackson was at Winchester in the fall of 1861, when Colonel Bradley T. Johnson was organizing the First Maryland Confederate Regiment. Colonel Ilerbert's Company, and ours. Captain Billy Murray's, were among the companies that joined this regiment there. "I served all through the Shenandoah Valley Campaign tuidcr Jack- son. As we approached Front Royal, Virginia, on May 23, 1862, Jackson made a speech to the regiment, the First Maryland Confed- erate. He said : '' 'Gentlemen, I have halted the whole army that you might come to the front. The First Maryland Federal Regiment is below— (that is at Front Royal). I want you to give them a hearty reception.' "The men cheered." In the battle that followed, the Marylanders and Louisianians, Poague and Carpenter's batteries, and the Maryland and Virginia Cavalry, in spite of four stubborn and gallant stands, and a brave and determined fight made by Colonel John R. Kenly and his First Mary- land Federal Regiment, which lasted four hours, captured, killed or Avounded nearly every man in the command. "Mounted on horseback, and in military dress," continued the Con- federate veteran, "General Jackson's appearance was not improved." So the great hero was many-sided in his looks to the eyes of his devoted soldiery. 54 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER TEN. NARROW ESCAPE OF STONEWALL JACKSON FROM CAPTURE. A Narrow Escape of General Jackson at Port Republic — A Close Avoidance by General Jackson from Capture near Boonsboro, Md. Jackson's Narrow Escape from Capture at Port Republic. — When the Confederate army reahzecl the situation on the morning of June the 8th, 1862, at Port Republic, Jackson with his 15,000, between Fremont with his 20,000 and Shields with his 8.000 troops, their hearts sank within them, and, for once, they lost faith in their leader. "Jackson is surrounded," went round and round the camp, and he alone, says Major Dabney, his chief of staff, ''was cheerful He knew what he was going to do." That was done the next day, in holding Fremont on a feint, while he defeated Shields and then burned the bridge so that Fremont could neither unite with Shields nor pursue Jackson. Early on the morning of the 8th an incident occurred that came near ending the Shenandoah Valley Campaign in overwhelming disaster for the Confederates. A small body of Confederates had been sent out on the night of the 7th to ascertain the position of the Federal army under General Alger, who was with the vanguard of Shields' forces. On the morning of the 8th, this cavalry force came galloping into Port Republic with discreditable haste. Ashby was dead, and his spirit was no longer amongst these horsemen. They declared that the Federals were advancing upon Port Republic and were almost in sight. It was more than true. General Jackson, who with his staff" Vv'as on the south side of the river, saw that not a moment was to be lost. The design of the enemy was evident. It was to make a sudden attack upon the town, burn the bridge, and thus cut off Jackson's army and get in its rear. Jackson to defeat this well-conceived strategy, sent rapidly to Talia- ferro and Winder to get their men under arms for the defense of the bridge, and to take position on the north bank of the river dominating the south side and the road leading along it to the bridge, and imme- diately opposite, and to command it with their batteries. Before these orders could be executed, the Federal advance, under Colonel Carroll,, THE LIFE OF STONEWAT.I, JACKSON, IJEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 55 dashed into Port Republic and took possession of the south end of tlie bridge with one part of his detachment and sent the others forward towards Jackson's ammunition trains. The Confederates saw with horror their ammunition, without whicli success was impossible, at the mercy of the foes. While these stirring events were in progress about him, General Jackson, knowing that the act pre-eminent for him to do, was to rejoin his command on the north bank of the river, dashed ahead to- ward the bridge already in the hands of the enemy. As the Federal cavalry held the southern end of the bridge, the only means for Jack- son to reach his army was through the guards of the foe. The danger and the necessity of the situation gave another opportunity for General Jackson to display his daring and sagacity. He galloped forward into the squad of Federals holding the bridge, followed by his staff, and he and part of his staff' safely passed the ordeal, but two of his official family being captured. Rushing up to the heights, Jackson found one of Colonel Poague's guns ready to move. He directed him to hasten toward Port Republic, he himself going along and posting it in a field overlooking and com- manding the bridge. Colonel Poague said: — "I was surprised to see a gun posted on the farther end of the bridge; for I had just come from army headquarters, and, although I had met a cavalryman who told me the enemy were advancing up the river, still I did not think it possible they could have gotten any guns in place in so short a time. It, there- fore, occurred to me that the gun at the bridge might be one of Carring- ton's (Confederate), who was on that side and whose men had new uniforms — something like those we saw at the bridge. Upon my sug- gesting this to the General, he reflected a moment, and then riding a few paces to the left and in front of our piece, he called out in a tone loud enough to be heard by them : — 'Bring that gun up here !' But getting no reply, he raised himself in his stirrups and in a most authoritative and angry tone, he shouted : — 'Bring that gim up here, / say.' Major Dabney, who was present, said that the last order was given in a voice of the profoundest authority and command that could be possible. The Federal gunners were in mood to obey, and says Captain Poague, 'they began to move the trail of the gun so as to bring it to bear on us, which, when the General perceived, he quickly turned to the offfcer- in-charge of my gun, and said in his sharp, quick way : — 'Let 'em have it.' The word had scarcely left his lips, when Lieutenant Brown, who 56 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN had charge of the piece, charged and aimed, sent a shot right amongst them, that so disconcerted theirs in reply that it went far above us." While these pivotal events were transpiring at the bridge the other section of the Federal forces that was dashing towards the ammunition trains, was nearing their goal. The heart of the chief ordnance officer of Jackson sank within him as he saw their wagons and ammunition trains on the eve of certain destruction by their daring and courageous enemies. All was lost if the ammunition was captured. Here, however, that initiative that is inherent in the breast of the American soldier, came to the rescue of the alarming situation and the safety of the jX)ssession of wagons and the ammunition. vSome unnamed and capable hero gathered together a few sick and invalid soldiers and stragglers in camp, formed them into a platoon of infantry, posted them at a turn in the street where the Federal cavalry would have to pass on their way to the ammunition trains, and, as the galloping horsemen circled the corner, the improvised riflemen poured a leaden volley into their ranks. At the same decisive moment, a detachment of Con- federate cannoniers, who belonged to a battery whose old-fashioned guns had been declared unfit for use, by the Chief Ordnance Inspector of Jackson's army, unlimbered their cannon, loaded them and delivered a round of solid shot into the halted Federals. At that they turned and fled. Jackson's trains and army were saved. As the Confederate infantry on the north side of the Shanandoah reached the bridge. General Jackson placed himself at the head of the leading regiment — the 37th X'irginia, Colonel Fulkerson commanding — and rushed it at a double-quick toward the all-important causeway still in the enemy's possession. When Jackson approached the bridge, he saw the village of Port Republic crowded with Federal cavalry, but now checked in the pursuit of his trains, and while one of their two- field pieces was yet replying to the Confederate artillery, the other was still at the mouth of the bridge, prepared to sweep it with a murderous discharge of grape. One lightning glance Was enough to decide him. "Ordering Captain Poague to engage v/ith one of his pieces, the gun at the southern end of the bridge, he led the 37th aside from the high road so that they descended to the declivity obliquely against the upper part of the structure, m.arching by flank, \\ithout pausing to wheel them into line, as they came within effective distance, he commanded them in a tone and one of inexpressible authority, to deliver one round upon the enemy's artillery, and then rush through the bridge upon the TTIK LU-'E (IF STON i:\V.\LL JACKSON. LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 57 foe with the bayonet. They fired one strong volley, and then dashed with a yell through the narrow avenue. As soon as Jackson uttered his command, he drew up his horse, and, dropping the reins upon his neck, raised both hands towards the heavens, while the fire of battle in his face changed into a look of reverential awe. Even while he prayed, the God of Battles heard : or ever he had withdrawn his uplifted hands, the bridge was gained, and the enemy's gun was captured." — Dahucy's Life of Jackson, \o\. I, p. 417. Narrow Escape of General Jackson from Capture. — General jack- son had many narrow escapes from capture during the war as well as from death before his mortal wounding came at Chancellors v^ille. Dur- ing the Maryland Campaign of 1862. Colonel Henry Kyd Douglas, of the General's Staff, went forward, with the escort of one cavalryman toward the town of Boonsboro, in Washington County, to secure in- formation. In the village he encountered a squadron of Federal cav- alry, "who without ceremony." stated the Colonel, "proceeded to make war" upon them. The two lone Confederates made a hasty retreat from the village, followed as rapidly by the Federal dragoons. Colonel Douglas turned and tried a couple of "Parthian shots" at their pursuers, to which they responded with a volley that sent a bullet through the flying Colonel's hat, and it and its beautiful plume — the gift of a lady in Frederick — rolled off into the dust, and the Colonel admitted that he did not take time to recover his chapeau and feathers. At the end of the burg the two Confederates saw General Jackson afoot slowly leading his horse. Realizing something daring had to be done to save their General, righting about, the two gave command as if they had received reinforcements, and charged the foe. Happily the chase had become less vigorous and the Federals deceived l)y the ruse, fled before the brave seen and unseen, jiut suspected, foes. General Jack- son was saved from capture and Colonel Douglas recovered his hat and plume. — Leaders and Battles of flie Civil War, \o\. 2, pp. 22- .S. 58 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER ELEVEN, STONEWALL JACKSON'S PERSONAL CONTACT WITH HIS COMMAND. General Jackson a Strict Disciplinarian — Jackson's Humanity to His Men — General Jackson does Manual Labor to Forward a Move- ment — Jackson Thanks an Officer for Performing a Delicate Duty in a Trying Situation — Jackson Was Silent and Reserved Under Complaints — How General Jackson Wrote His Dispatch About the Battle of McDowell — Generals Jackson and Johnson Drive Away a Federal Sentry — A Heroic Sign Proposed by General Jackson at Fredericksburg — What Gave Stonewall Jackson's Command Suc- cess — Jackson Called His Men by the Name of Their Regiments — Jackson Asked a Brave Officer to Come on His Staff — Treatment by Jackson of a Former Student — General Jackson Was a Great Stickler for Obedience to His Orders — Jackson at the Battle of Port Republic — Religious Services Held Under Fire — A Look from Jackson SHences a Burst of Profanity — Jackson Called the Battle of Port Republic Delightful Excitement — Winder and Jackson Not Alyaws Harmonious. General Jackson a Strict Disciplinarian.- — Jackson's sentiments in regard to military discipline were made apparent early in the war. He issued an order that prohibited all officers from passing the pickets around the camps, except upon passes from headquarters, and it was required that those passes should specify whether the officer was upon public or private business. On this the following note was sent to Gen- eral Jackson's Adjutant-General : "Camp near Winchester, Ya., November 16, 1861." "Major : — The undersigned, having read General orders, No. 8, transmitted from the headquarters of the Army of the Valley, so far as it includes and relates to officers of their rank, respectfully submit: That it is an unwarranted assumption of Authority and in\'olves an improper inquiry into their private matters, of which, according to the official usage and courtesy of the Army, the Major-General command- ing has no right' to inquire information; it implies their abuse of their privileges accorded in every other department of the Army to officers of their rank, which there has been nothing in their conduct to jitstify; THK IJFK OF STONEWAIX JACKSON, MP:i;T.-C.KN., C. S. A. 59 it disparages the dignity of the otfices whicli they have the honor to hold, and, in consequence, detracts from that respect of the force under their command whicli is necessary to maintain their authority and en- force obedience. Therefore, they complain of the order, and ask that it may be modified." "Respectfully submitted." (Sigiied l)y all the Regimental Commanders of the Brigade.) "Major A. H. Jackson, A. A. Genl." To this General Jackson replied : "Headquarters Valley District, November 17, 1861." "The major-general commanding desires me to say that the within- combined protests are in violation of the Army Regulations and sub- versive of military discipline. He claims the right to give his pickets such instructions as, in his opinion, the interests of the ptiblic service require. "Colonels . on the day that their Regiments arrived at their present encampments, either from incompetency to control their commands or from neglect of duty, so permitted their command to become disorganized and their ofifcers and men to enter Winchester without permission, as to render several arrests of officers necessary. "li officers desire to have control over their commands, they must remain habitually with them, and industriously attend their * * * and comfort, and in battle lead them well, and in such a manner as to command their admiration. "Such officers need not apprehend loss of respect resulting from in- serting in a written pass the words, 'On duty,' or 'on private business,' should they have occasion to pass the pickets." By command of Major-General Jackson, A. A. Genl." Jackson's Humanity to His Men. — General Winder, of General Jackson's command, "bucked" his men for straggling. This was a punishment that consisted of tying a soldier's haiids together at the wrists and slipping them down over his knees and then running a stick between his arms and legs. "I told my captain that I did not intend to answer roll-call that evening, and, if I was bucked again for strag- gling, it would be the last time ; that I would never shoulder my musket again for a cause that would treat soldiers in that manner. Some of our officers then went to General Jackson and made complaint about 60 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN • Winder's order. He sent Winder word that he did not want 'to hear of any more bucking in that Brigade for straggHng.' — That was the last of it." — Caslers History, pp. 142-3. General Jackson Works at Manual Labor to Forward a Move- ment. — On the route to McDowell, in April, 1862, when Jackson be- gan his Valley Campaign, and started to strike Generals ]Milroy and Schenck, near Franklin, West \'irginia, the roads were so bad from re- cent rains, "that a whole day was spent helpingtrains through the mud." "Long details were made to mend the road to keep it in passal:)le condi- tion as train after train moved along. The General (Jackson) took part in the work. He urged on the laborers, encouraged the soldiers, and, having dismounted, assisted in carrying rails and stones." — Allen's Campaigns, p. 70. Jackson Thanks an Officer for Performing a Delicate Duty in a Trying Situation. — Colonel John D. Imboden, afterward General Im- boden, was the mustering officer at the beginning of the war. The question was, when he went to muster in the Staunton Artillerymen, whether their enlistment should be for one year or for the war. Colonel Imboden urged for the war. The men imanimousl}' shouted, "For the war, for the war." "Before they were dismissed, the ceremony of mustering was completed, and I (Colonel Imboden), proudly took the roll down to Colonel Jackson (Stonewall), with the remark: — 'There, Colonel, is the roll of your first company mustered in for the war.' He looked it over, and, rising, shook my hand, saying: — 'Thank you, Captain — thank you; and please thank your men for me.' He had heard that there was dissatisfaction in camp, and asked me to act as mustering ofticer for two other artillery companies present." — Bat- tles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 1, p. 121. Jackson Was Silent and Reserved Under Complaints. — During the winter of 1861-2, Jackson, by a campaign of two weeks of suf- fering for his men in cold and snow, had, with trifling loss, placed the Federal "troops opposed to him on the defensive, had expelled them virtually from his district : had liberated three counties from their rule, and secured the supplies in them for the subsistence of his own troops." These sufferings caused great complaint amongst his soldiers, especially amongst the new recruits of General Loring's command. "They com- plained bitterly of the campaign which had been conducted at the ex- pense of so much suffering, a campaign now suspended, they said, only THE LIFli OV STOXKWAr.L JACKSOX, LIEUT. -GEN'., C. S. A. 61 to leave them, in the midst of an inhospitable mountain region (in and near Romney, \a.), out of reach of adequate supplies and of timely succor. They declared their position untenable in case of an attack, and even attril)utcd the removal of the 'Stonewall' (Garnett's) Bri- gade to Winchester, to favoritism. Jackson, silent and reserved in manner, never taking counsel even with his next in command as to his plans, most rigid and exacting as a commander, had not yet ac- ([uired that wonderful control over his soldiers which, a few months later, would have rendered such murmuring impossible. Indeed, it is difficult to realize the feeling of distrust then manifested, when we con- sider the unbounded enthusiasm and dexotion with which many of these same men afterward followed Jackson to victory and to death."— Allen's Valley Campaign, p. 29. This confidence was illustrated by the fact that his men would nc\'er falter even when flanked — a time when veterans know it is the rule to fall back to save themselves from capture. Afrer the men, under vStonewall Jackson, had discovered his remarkable military ability, when bullets would begin to fly on their flank, doing what they would for no other general, they would hold their ground and say with perfect con- fidence in their commander : — "General Jackson knows all about that." How General Jackson Wrote His Despatch About the Battle of McDowell. — "The morning after the battle of McDowell (the first of Jackson's victories in the celebrated \'alley Campaign), I called very early on Jackson, at the residence of Colonel George W. Hull, of that village, where he had headquarters, to ask if I could be of any service to him, as I had to go to Staunton, forty miles distant, to look after some companies that were to join my command. He asked me to wait a few minutes, as he wished to prepare a telegram to be sent President Davis from Staunton, the nearest post-ofifice to McDowell. He took a seat at a table and wrote nearly a half page of foolscap ; he rose and stood before the fire-place pondering it for some minutes, then he tore it in pieces and wrote again, but much less, and again destroyed what he had written, and paced the room several times. He suddenly stopped, seated himself, and dashed off two or three lines, folded the paper, and said : — 'Send that ofi^ as soon as you reach Staunton.' As I bade him 'Goodbye.' he remarked, 'I may have other telegrams today or tomorrow, and I will send them to you for transmission. I wish yf)u to have two or three well-mounted couriers. to bring me the re- plies promptly.' I read the message he had given me. It was dated 62 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN 'McDowell' and read about: — 'Providence blessed our arms with vic- tory at McDowell yesterday.' That was all. A few days after I got to Staunton, a courier arrived with a message to be telegraphed to the vSecretary of War. I read it and sent it off, and ordered the mes- senger to be ready with his horse while T waited at the telegraph office for the reply. The message was to this effect : — 'Think I ought to attack Banks, but under my orders do not feel at liberty to do so.' In less than an hour a reply came, but not from the Secretary of War. It was from General Joseph E. Johnson, to whom I suppose the Secre- tary had referred General Jackson's message. I have a distinct recol- lection of its substance, as follows : — 'If you think you can beat Banks, attack him. I only intended my orders to caution you against attack- ing fortifications.' Banks was understood to have fortified himself strongly at Strasburg and Cedar Creek and he had fallen back there. I started the courier with this reply, as I suppose to McDowell ; but, lo, it met Jackson only twelve miles from Staunton, to which he had marched his little army, except Ashby's cavalry, which, under an in- trepid leader. Captain Sheetz, he had sent from McDowell to menace Fremont, who was concentrating at Franklin in Pendleton County, where he remained in blissful ignorance that Jackson had left Mc- Dowell, till he learned by telegraph nine days later that Jackson had fallen upon Banks at Front Royal and driven him through Winchester and across the Potomac." — General John D. Imboden. C. S. A. Jn Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 2, pp. 287-8. Generals Jackson and Johnson Drive Away a Federal Sentry. — In making his move at McDowell against Generals Milroy and Schenck, Generals Jackson and Johnson, in order to obtain a good view of the enemy, ascended the mountain, and coming up with a Federal sentry drove him away, as they advanced. They then proceeded to the western ridge of the pasture lands on the left, and passed the morning in ex- amining the position of their foes. — Dahney's Life of Jackson, p. 342. A Heroic Sign. — The defeat of General Burnside, on the 11th of December, 1862, at Fredericksburg, had been so easily accomplished that the Confederates could not realize that the repulse of the gallant and vigorous assault that the Federal Army had made, had been so readily accomplished and General Lee, in this state of uncertainty, called a council of his officers for advice. It was night when the council was in session. After General Lee had heard from a number of his THE IJFE OF STONEWALE JACKSON, LIEUT. -GEN'., C. S. A. b?> officers, he turned to General Jackson, who had, for an hour, in tlie midst of the council, been pacing silently up and down the floor, and asked, "General Jackson, what do you think of it?" To this Jackson immediately replied. "Strip our men to the waist, and kill every man that has a shirt on !" The significance of this advice is enhanced by calling to mind that the great danger in night-assaults is that friend and foe cannot be told apart, and this was Jackson's means of furnishing proof as to which side a soldier belonged. The wintry weather appeared not to deter this masterful spirit from suggesting so heroic a sign to the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac. This anecdote was given the author by Caleb Alston, of the Virginia Military Institute, who received it from General W. E. Stevens, who was present at the council. What Gave Stonewall Jackson's Command Success. — "\\ hen Stonewall Jackson's command received the order to move, the men, as well as General Jackson, expected a victory over the enemy. That's what gave it its success." — C. A. Poncrden, of Carpenter's Battery, Stonezvall Brigade. Jackson Called His Men by the Name of Their Regiments. — It was General Jackson's habit, when having occasion to speak to one of his command in the private ranks, to call him by the name of his regi- ment. During a battle. Private Fleming, of Company K, 13th Vir- ginia, was observed by General Jackson to have one of the Pennsyd- vania Buck Tails as his prisoner. The General said: — "Hello, 13th! You've got him?" "What shall I do with him?" asked the captor. "Put him in that pen," answered Jackson. This was a temporary en- closure made by brush. — Related to flie author by Priz'ate Flemiufi. Stonewall Jackson Asked a Brave Officer to Come on His Staff. — At the battle of Fredericksburg, General Jackson rode up in front of Captain William F. Dement's Battery and said: — "I want an officer to carry a message for me. All my orderlies are gone. General Gregg's lines have been broken, and I want to send to General Doles for rein- forcements." Captain Dement volunteered and was given a verbal message to deliver. Fie rode down the line of battle, the bidlets flying thickly about him and piercing his clothes, but I)oth horse and rider escaped. When he had delivered the message, and had returned, Gen- eral Jackson said to him : — "Captain Dement, I would like to have you on mv staff." 64 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN "What position liave yoil to offer?" "I will make you inspector of my army, with the rank of captain." "General Jackson," replied Captain Dement, "1 will have to decline that. My men will give me promotion quicker." The authority, for this incident ivere Messrs. James JV Oivens and Eugene IV. JJ'orthington, zvho ivcre in Captain Dement's Battery and heard the conversation. Treatment by Jackson of a Former Scholar. — \\ hen in the fall of 1862, the Confederate Army was retreating from the disastrous Mary- land Campaign into Virginia and crossing the Potomac at Shepherds- town, the Richmond Artillery was encamped near where Jackson was superintending the repair of the road so that his trains might pass over it Two former pupils of Jackson when at the \^irginia Military Insti- tute were in the battery, and one of them proposed that they would go over to see their distinguished teacher and general, the suggestor of the visit thinking to have with Jackson a sociable friendly talk about old times. The one who had received the invitation, said that he knew old Jack and declined to go. Several hours afterward the cadet who had gone to see Jackson returned, looking most woe-bcgone and filled with mud from head to foot. 'Did you see Jackson?' asked the stay- in-camp. 'Yes,' replied Jackson's visitor, 'and he put me to carrying stones to mend the road !' The author of the History of the Richmond Artillery, from which this incident is taken, who was the cadet who de- clined to visit Jackson with his comrade, observed that when Jackson * saw his old pupil the only thought he had for him was, 'Here's another man to help me'." Jackson Called the Battle of Port Republic a Delightful Excite- ment. — "Jackson." says General Richard Taylor, "was in the road (Monday, June 9th, at Port Republic)," a little in advance of his line, where the fire was hottest, with reins on his horse's neck, seemingly in prayer. Attracted by my approach, he said in his usual voice, "Delight- ful excitement." I replied that it was pleasant to learn he was enjoying himself, but thought that he might have indigest:ion from such fun if the 6-inch gun was not silenced. He summoned a young officer from his staff, and pointed up the mountain. The head of my approaching column was turned short up the slope, and speedily came to a path running parallel with the river. We took the path, the guide leading the way." THE IJFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON. l.TErT.-GEN., C. S. A. 65 A Look from General Jackson Silences a Burst of Profanity. — The author of this was told tliis incident on vSepteniber 4, 1919, at a Confederate Veteran Reunion, near BurHngton, in West Virginia, by Private William H. Parrill, a member of Comf)any F, 7th V^irginia Cavalry. C. S. A. : "One stormy night I wrapped myself in my gum blanket, and took refuge under a wagon. There I slept until morning. There was a de- pression in the ground where I slept and the water trickled into it little by little, and in such small quantities that my body kept it warm and I was not awakened by it. When I arose, I found that I was wet from my thighs down. I made the air blue imprecating the misery of a man living such a life as that. A man on the other side of a rail fence, two or three yards from me, arose from two rails on which he had been sleeping, and looked at me. It was General Jackson. My swearing ceased at once." Religious Services Held Under Fire. — While the religious service, near Franklin, the Sunday after the battle of McDowell, was in pro- gress, an incessant skirmish fire was kept up. Captain (Tarry Gilmor, in his "Four Years in the Saddle," says: "Every shot could be heard distinctly, and, occasionally, a stray bullet would come whizzing by. Major Dabney (who preached), stood on the ground unav.'ed ; General Jack.son a few paces in front, resting on one foot, with his hat off, shading his face from the sun. I watched him closely and saw not a muscle change during the whole service. The sturdy soldiers, browned in many a hard fought field, were lying around in bundles of hay, that had been taken from the stacks near by, and, although an incessant fire was going on, all listened attentively, with every eye fastened on the great chief. Few have ever seen such un- flinching nerve, and it was this will that won for us many a stubborn fight. W' hile I was sitting near him the day previous, with my company in the rear to act as couriers, a shell came crashing through the trees and cut under a large white oak within -a few feet of the general. It fell, and fortunately, it fell from him ; otherwise, he would have been crushed to death. "My gracious. General !" I exclaimed. "You have matle a narrow escape !" "He was then a little hard of hearing; and, thinking he had not heard me, I repeated : — 'You had a narrow escape, sir'." 66 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN "Ah, you think so, sir. You think so?' And. turning to my men, he said, 'You had better shelter them in a ravine near by,' but he did not move himself until he was called to another part of ihe field." Jackson at the Battle of Port Republic. — The sounds of battle re- ceded in the hearing of General Taylor and his troops, and a Federal cheer showed that Jackson was being hard pressed, and. although not ready, because his command was not yet all up with him on the moun- tain, General Taylor charged from the rear upon the Federal battery that was doing so much damage to the Confederates below them on the plain and contributing so greatly to the Federal success that was fast turning the action into a rout for their foes. "The fighting," says General Taylor, "in and around the battery was hand to hand, and many fell from bayonet wounds. Even the artillery used their rammers in a way not laid down in the manual, and died at their gund. As Calvin said to the devil : — ' 'Twas claw for claw.' I called for Hays, but he, the promptest of men, and his splendid regiment could not be found. Something unexpected had happened ; but there was no time for speculating. With a desparate rally, in which I believe the drummer boys shared, we carried the battery for the third time and held it." The battery was turned on the fleeing Federals, and Ewell, who had come up with his staff, served as one of the gunners. Jackson now arrived, and, with an intense light in his eyes, grasped General Taylor's hand, and said that his brigade should have the cap- tured cannon. "I thought," said General Taylor, "the men would go. mad with cheering, especially the Irishmen. A large fellow with one eye closed, and half his whiskers burned by powder, was riding cock- horse on a gim, and, catching my attention, yelled out : — 'We told you to bet on 3'our boys.' Their success against their brother Irishmen in Shields' army seemed doubly welcome to them." Jackson had been so hard pressed that he had stopped Colonel Hays' regiment to help him. Hays and others were severely wounded, and numbers of the regiment were killed. Lieutenant English, of Harper's Ferry, who had guided General Taylor to his place on the mountain, was one of the first to reach the Federal battery in a charge, and the gallant young officer was killed. General Jackson a Great Stickler for Obedience to His Orders. — General Jackson was a very great stickler for strict obedience to his THE LIFE OK STONEWALL JACKSON , LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. 67 orders. On the pursuit of the Federals from McDowell to Franklin, on the morning of the 10th of May, General Charles Winder with his Brigade came to a fork in the road and having no instructions as to which road to take, he stopped his command, and sent back to General Jackson to know which fork of the road to pursue. Arms were stacked along the narrow road. A battery soon appeared" from the rear, and the musket stacks had to be broken for the cannon to pass on. Soon after (icneral Jackson arrived. General Winder mounted with flushed face, and when Jackson reached him, he said that he (Winder) had heard a report that General Jackson had put him under arrest for not having his troops up at the battle of McDowell, and Winder asked if Jackson had said anything to warrant it. General Jackson replied that he had not. General Winder then declared that he had always obeyed the orders he had from him. Jackson immediately said : — "But General AVinder, you are not obeying orders now. My order is that 'Whenever there is a halt, the men shall 'stack arms." To this General Winder replied : — 'I did obey your order, but had to break the stacks to let a battery pass.' and added that he intended to have his rank as second in the command respected by everybody. Captain McHenry Howard, who was close by and heard the whole colloquy, expected General Jack- son to put Winder under immediate arrest. Just then a courier ar- rived from Richmond and gave General Jackson a despatch, who, after reading it, handed it to General Winder, wliich greatly suppressed the fears of Captain Howard, who took Jackson's act as one of friend- ship for General Winder. Winder and Jackson not Always Harmonious. — (^n June 12th, while the anny was still encamped near Port Republic, General Charles Winder came to General Richard Taylor saying that he had asked leave to go to Richmond, and having been refused his request, had re- signed. "He," says General Taylor, "commanded Jackson's old bri- gade, and was aggrieved by some interference. Holding Winder in high esteem, I hoped to save him to the army, and went to Jackson, to whose magnanimity I appealed, and to drive this home dwelt on the rich harvest of glory he had reaped in his brilliant (the Shenandoah) campaign. Observing him closely, I caught a glimpse of his inner ration. ( ?) It was but a glimpse. The curtain closed and he was absorbed in prayer. Yet in that moment, I saw an ambition as bound- less as Cromwell's, and as merciless. The latter character was ex- hibited in his treatment of Garnett. * =i= * j have never met an 68 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN officer or soldier, present at Kernstown, who failed to condemn tlie harsh treatment of General Garnett after that action. * * * "No reply was made to my effort for Winder, and I rose to take my leave, when Jackson said he would ride with me. We passed silently along the way to camp, where he left me. That night a few lines came from Winder to inform me that Jackson had called on him, and his resignation was withdrawn." *If General Taylor's opinion of the mercilessncss of Gener.al Jackson rests oa his treatment of General Garnett, it stands on unstable ground. Jackson was a soldier learned in the arts of war far above his fellows; he knew the necessity of winning Kernstown; he knew there was in the midst of the terrible ordeal in which Garnett and his brigade was placed, one military remedy. Until that was tried Jackson believed the last piece on the board had not been played that could have brought him victory — the rebel veil, the bayonet charge, and the death grip of battle between man and man. General Garnett gave the order to fall back while yet his hand held the winning card, Jackson knew. THE LIFE OF STCJN'EWAM. JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 69 CHAPTER TWELVE. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MILITARY SAGACITY. AND STRATEGY. Jackson's Military Strategy at the RappzJizunnock — Jackson and Ewell Delay to Obey an Order to Secure a Victory — Jackson's Ability to Anticipate the Movements of the Enemy — With Stone- wall Jackson it Was: — "This One Thing I Do" — Jackson Proposes a Night Attack at Fredericksburg — Jackson and Lee Planned the Detour to the Rear of Pope's Army — A Summary of the Shenan- doah Valley Campaign. Jackson's Military Strategy. — Short!}- before General Jackson made his flank movement at Manassas around General Pope's Army, he undertook a manoeuvre that required him to cross the Rappahannock, at Warrenton Springs, on August 22, 1S62, which was bridgeless and swollen to a degree almost impassible. Six pieces of artiller}^, with the water almost over their cassions, belonging to the Maryland and Chesa- peake batteries, forded the river, followed by a!)out fifteen hundred troops under the command of General Early. At that point, the river, rising all the time, became unfordable. A large body of Federal troops was directly before this isolated couimand. Calling to Early to cross the river, Jackson told him to plant his guns on the highest hill he could find, and to fire at anything he saw, and to march his infantry around the lowlands, in sight of the enemy, so as to make it appear that a large force was present. The infantry was then placed in line along the edge of a wood, hidden in the grass near it, and General Jackson directed General Early, the next day, to form his line of battle ahead of the skirmish line, and, if obliged to retreat, to follow the course of the river until he could find a place where his army could ford it. That evening a Federal soldier who came into the woods near the Confederates to discover something about them, was captured and cjuestioned as to the strength of the Federal troops. He told the Confederates that the woods were full of Union troops, and that a hundred thousand were encamped beyond in the open. The next day. Early did as Jackson had directed him, reversed the order of battle, by putting the line of battle in front of the skirmishers, but hidden in the grass. As the Federals came through the wood in an attack, the Confederate skirmishers retreated before 70 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN them. Unsuspecting an ambush, the Federals advanced to within fifty feet of the Confederate Hnes, when they rose up and fired. The astonished Federals gave way and retreated. The Confederates charged and their batteries opened on the flying Federals with canister. By the night of the second day, Jackson had succeeded in having a pontoon bridge thrown across the river, and the isolated segment of his com- mand, under the cover of darkness, rejoined the main army. The cannon had to be dragged over 1)y hand on tlie improvised structure, while the horses waded the river, as the bridge was too slight in its construction to bear the weight of both horses and great guns. The Confederates felt themselves in such peril during the two days they were cut off from the rest of their forces that not a harness was taken off a horse and the horses were only led to water two at a time, so that the artillerymen might lose no time in getting away in case of necessity. The morning after the escape, by dawn, a hundred pieces of Federal artillery opened on the hill that had been occupied by the Confederates the evening previous, and tore it to pieces. — The authority for this incident zva^ Mr. George G. Higgins, who zvas in the Maryland Battery and ivho heard General Jackson call his orders over the Rap- pahannock to General Early. Jackson and Ewell Delay to Obey an Order to Secure a Victory. — Any occurrences, if they carried good in the happening, were blessings from on high to General Jackson. Soon after the Reverend Dr. Dabney joined his staff ; General Jackson wrote : — "Dr. Dabney is here, and I am very thankful to God for it, He comes up to my high- est expectations as a staff officer." When he had driven back Milroy and Schenck from Franklin, he wrote to Mrs. Jackson : — "My precious darling, I telegraphed you on the that God had blessed us with a victory at McDowell. * * * We have divine service at ten o'clock today (Monday), to render thanks to Almighty God for having crowned our arms with success, and to implore his continued favor." On May 19th, he wrote Mrs. Jackson: — "Yesterday Dr. Dabney preached an excellent sermon from the text : — 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' It is a great privilege to have him with me." W^hen General Jackson was about to make his second great movement in the famous Valley Campaign, and to attack Banks, and had received orders from General Johnston calling him with his forces back to Gordonsville, he concluded that this, too, was an act of Providence. He THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. 71 said regretfully to General Evvell : — "''rhen Providence denies me the privilege of striking a decisive blow for my coimtry, and I must be satisfied with the humble task of hiding my little army among these mountains to watch a superior force." Yet in Jackson's last analysis is another proof how narrow is man's vision in determining what are the final acts of Providence in any unfinished event. Jackson and Ewell, at Ewell's proposal, delayed to obey the order until Jackson had heard from General Johnston again, and had secured permission to strike the final blow he had intended that routed Banks's army. He called then the conclusion of the whole matter, "the hand of Provi- dence in the brilliant successes of the last three days." Jackson's Ability to Anticipate the Movements of the Enemy. — "Many incidents of Jackson's career prove that he possessed the in- tuitive power to know the plight, and to foretell the purposes of the Federal army and its commanders. To describe the first that I recall, while dressing his wounded hand at the First Manassas at the field hospital of the brigade at Young's Branch, near the Lewis House^ I saw President Davis ride up from Manassas. He had been told by strag- glers that our army had been defeated. He stopped his horse in the middle of the little stream, stood up in his stirrups (the palest, sternest face I ever saw), and cried to the great crowd of soldiers: — 'I am President Davis. Follow me back to the field.' General Jackson did not hear distinctly ; I told him who he was and what he said. He stood up. took ofif his hat and cried : — 'We have whipped them — they ran like sheep. Give me ten thousand men, and I will take Washington City to-morrow.' Who doubts now that he could have done so?" — Dr. Hunter McGuirc, in The Confederate Cause, p. 196-7. Jackson Divines McCIellan's Movements at Marvel Hill. — "Dr. B. L. Dabney, one of the best known members of the Presbyterian Church, in the South, and, at the time referred to, associated with Jackson's staff, in the capacity of chaplain, narrates an incident which illustrates how vividly Jackson realized what modern writers term the psycho- logical moment' in the progress of an engagement. During the fury of the struggle at Malvern Hill. Jackson was roused with great difficulty from a heavy slumber, and informed of the situation. Those around him were apprehensive of the result, for attack after attack on our part had been repulsed with severe loss. Jackson, upon recovering his con- sciousness, merely said, 'McClellan is only fighting to get away. In the morning, he will be gone.' He immediately resumed his nap, and 72 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTE^ OF AND INCIDENTS IN Dr. Dabney adds that, upon liearing his opinion, he at once followed his example. When the morning light dawned upon this scene of blood, every trace of the enemy had disappeared." — Shepherd's Life of Lee, p. 71. With Stonewall Jackson it Was :--"This One Thing I Do."— When General Jackson entered the military service of the Confederate States it was with him : "This One Thing I Do " An officer relates that on one occasion during the war he had to ride with General Jackson, each on horseback, a distance of twenty miles. The companion of Jackson had felicited himself upon the anticipated pleasures of a day's con- versation with a great man. As they set out the officer commenced to talk to General Jackson, but he soon found out that the General was in no mood for conversation and he at once desisted, and so i;hey rode together almost all day without a word passing between them. Sud- denly as the evening began to close and their journey was near its end. General Jackson, with dramatic expression and gesture to suit, cried out as if he were clinching an argument, which no doubt he had carried on mentally to its conclusion:— "It can be done!" Then collecting himself, he appeared to see the awkwardness of the situation, and, pointing to a farm house they were passing, observed that it was "a very fine dwelling." This was the extent of the day's talk. Jackson's mind was evidently deep in the martial problems that he was endeavor- ing to solve. Jackson Proposed a Night Attack at Fredericksburg. — General Jackson asked his Surgeon-General, Dr. Hunter McGuire, on the even- ing of December 13, 1862, how many yards of bandages he had. The Surgeon-General said that he did not know, but that he had enough for another fight. At this General Jackson appeared a little worried at this want of exact information. Dr. McGuire repeated that he had enough for another battle, and then asked the General : — "Why do you want to know how much bandaging I have ?" Jaclcson replied : — "I Avant a yard of bandaging to put on the arm of every soldier in this night attack, so that our men may know each other from the enemy." This plan of attack was never executed. General Lee thought the stratagem too uncertain of success. Jackson and Lee Planned Jackson's Detour to the Rear of Pope's Army. — General Lee said that in the council of war between himself and Jackson on the question of the attack on Pope, a plan was deter- THE LIFI-: OF STONKWAI.I, JACKSON, LIEUT. -OEN., C. S. A. 7i mined upon. Who j)ro[)oscd the strategem that cuhiiinated in Jack- son's making thirty-two miles in a single night with his whole corps to the rear of Pope's army, and tlius placing himself between the Federal forces and Washington, is not known. Jackson and Lee were seen together with Jackson quite excited and making a diagram in the sand with the toe of his boot. General Lee listened and now and then moved his head in assent, apparently. It was on this detour was heard the frecjuent ejaculation of Jackson to "Press on! Press on!" as he rode up and down alongside his moving columns. His presence was a signal for enthusiastic cheers always, but this day Jackson wished no greetings, lest the enemy should know he was near. So the word was passed down the line, "No cheering for Jackson," but as he rode by the enthusiastic troops could not en- tirely repress their feelings, so lifting their war-grimed hats, the soldiers held their caps aloft in token of their love, admiration and confidence in their unconqurable leader. Jackson was greatly moved by this ex- hibition of respect and afrection, and turning to his staff he said : — "Who could fail to win battles with such men as these?" Summary of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. — It was on Sun- day morning, June 1, 1862, that Oeneral Shields had started from Front Royal, twelve miles distant, to intercept (jcneral Jackson at Strasburg; but the game was already lost. Jackson was through Strasburg. Winder was coming on about fi^'e miles behind with the rear-guard, and checking, as he passed the gates, Fremont and his belated command. This was the firing that McDowell and Shields had heard. The two Federal commanders were capable men. Fremont was an old ex- plorer of the west. It was a battle royal between American skill and valor on one side and American valor and skill on the other. The twelve miles that Shields was behind Jackson was made longer by the difficulties of the way — the road lay through a hilly country — the same impediment that prevented Ewell from being up with Jackson at Front Royal when he had come up the \'alley. Beside, Shields had a river to cross. The day and its possible success in checking Jackson's retreat had been lost practically when General Shields, under wrong- information given him by one of his aides, that Jackson had returned toward Winchester, had turned off the Strasburg road to the W^in- chester pike. General Shields finally took his chosen road, south of th.e Shenandoah, to follow Jackson, believing that he could cut him off before he reached 74 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN • Port Republic. Thus the race, after Jackson and for the possession of three bridges across the Shenandoah, began. Shields had a longer and rougher road than Jackson, but Jackson was impeded in his prog- ress by his numerous prisoners, and his long train of wagons with the stores that he had captured at Winchester, which he was trymg to save to the Confederate army. Meanwhile, after General A\'inder had held back Fremont until Jackson's rear-guard had passed through Strasburg, Winder then, at the close of this action and at the proper moment, passed on and joined Jackson's main body. Fremont fell in the rear of the Confederate army, to nag and fight them at every step in their retreat towards Port Republic. Shields, having a longer route than Fremont, made a slower but a most detennined march to catch up with Jackson and to defeat his plans. The movements of Jackson had been most extraordinary, consider- ing his impedimenta. On Friday morning, May 30th, Jackson was in front of Harpers Ferry, 50 miles from Strasburg. Fremont was en- camped at Moorefield, 38 miles from the same place, with his advance miles farther on the way to Strasburg. Shields was 20 miles from the town of Strasburg, with his vanguard by the noon of Friday at Front Royal, only 12 miles from Strasburg. General McDowell fol- lowed with two divisions. General Shields and was within supporting distance of him. By Sunday night, encumbered with twelve miles of captured trains and three thousand prisoners, Jackson had marched, since Friday, 60 miles, run safely the gauntlet at vStrasburg, and was far in front of his enemies, and was enabled to take the time he needed to deliver his booty and his prisoners to places of safety, and at the same moment ward oflf the blows at his heels and, finally, face about and defeat his pursuers. Every point was apparently noted and covered by Jackson. Tn retreating towards Port Republic, Jackson secured the shortest route to the Virginia Central Railroad, in case it was necessary to leave the Valley, while the terrain in which his movement lay, through Brown's Gap, gave him an almost unassailable position, if he desired to make a stand and give battle to his enemies. Two spurs of the mountain, one on the left and the other on the right of the road nearly met here. There was no opportunity afforded to use either the cavalry or the artillery against him, but it was a position in which a regiment could hold an army at bay. THE LIFE OF STOXEWALI, JACKSON, LI ErT.-CEX., C. S. A. 75 The Rapidity of Jackson's Movements Had Been a Marvel. — On the 30th of April, in the midst of a rainstorm, and over roads that became quagmires under travel, Jackson had begun his march toward McDowell, a hundred miles from Elk Run Valley from which he had started. On the 7th of May, he was at McDowell. Winning a battle there on the 8th, and resting and refreshing his men, on the 14th he left Franklin, General Banks in whose front he had been at Elk Run, only learning that Jackson had left his neighborhood by hearing by telegraph that he had fallen upon Milroy and Schenck at McDowell, and had chased them twenty miles to Franklin. On the 23rd of May, after having travelled all by foot, one hundred and ten miles, when his enemies did not know that he was within fifty miles of them, he appeared like an avalanche upon Colonel Kenly at Front Royal, with the advance of Banks's army, and captured the whole command, pur- sued Banks's fleeing army from Strasburg to Winchester, and on the morning of the 25th of May, after 18 miles of running battle, defeated Banks at Winchester, and captured two millions' worth of military stores and trains twelve miles in length. Following Banks' army another twenty-five miles, he then gave his troops their needed rest, deceived by his bold feints the enemy as to what he intended to do, and kept them in dread that he would descend upon Washington, and on the 31st of May began his wonderful retrograde movement of forty-five miles with a day's time to accomplish it in, successfully passed with his main army the narrow gap that was open between himself and his foes converging upon him, and delivered a right-hand blow upon one of them and drove him back until his rear guard had passed safely the guantlet at Strasburg and had joined him, leaving his pursuers hoplessly in the rear. Encumbered with 3,000 prisoners and twelve miles of wagons, filled with precious military stores, he marched rapidly but methodically along with his foes at his side and at his heels, fought and won two battles, sent his captures and prisoners to points of safety, and march- ing another hundred miles, appeared on the 26th of June in the rear of McClellan's army, turned his right wing, and materially assisted in the defeat of the finest aggregation of troops that, up to that time, had been seen in America. AH done in less than two months. To do this, the armv had been marched five hundred miles — the most of it on foot. 76 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER THIRTEEN. EXCEPTIONS THAT STONEWALL JACKSON MADE AS TO HIS RULE OF SECRECY AS TO HIS INTENDED MOVEMENTS. General Jackson Explained to General Jeb Steuart and General Taliaferro the Movement the Night Before of His Proposed Attack on Pope's Flank, August 29th, 1862 — General Jackson Explained to His Chief of Staff His Intention to Join Lee's Army on the Penin- sula, and Left Him in Charge of the Marching Body While He Proceeded on Horseback to Have an Interview With General Lee — General Jackson Tells General D. H. Hill What to Do in Case of a Casualty to Him — General Jackson Sent for and Informed General Imboden Early on the Morning of June 9, 1862, of the Plan of His Battle of Port Republic. General Jackson Made Exceptions to the Rule Not to Tell His Plans. — While it was a rigid rule, in the abstract, with General Jack- son, not to disclose his plans of battle to any, yet there are a number of noted exceptions, when, from necessity, to formulate his strategy and give it success, he confided to his inferior officers what his object was in the movement he was about to make, or was executing. There is, also, a noted case when under the excitement and disappointment over his officers not measuring up to his designs, when he had called them into his counsel at Winchester, Va., he unbosomed himself to a close and true friend of what had been his intentions had his officers supported his views of the situation and his plan of opera- tions. The day that General Jackson turned Pope's flank, August 29, 1862, at the second battle of Manassas, and v/as between the Federal Army and Washington City, the General explained to General Jeb Steuart and General Taliaferro the movement he proposed to make that night and the next day, and the plan 1)y which he would reunite his corps with that of General Longstreet, in case the latter could not push his way through Thoroughfare Gap. General Jackson was to retire to a point west of the Warrenton Pike, nearer than was his present position to the Bull Rim Mountains and on the flank of ihe Federal Army, in the vicinity of Aldie Gap, and thus open a means of retreat in the case of failure on the part of General Longstreet to THE LIFE OF STONEWAIJ. JACKSON, IJELTT.-C.EN., C. S. A. 77 conibitif Willi him. Longstrcet, however, pressed his way through the Gap. and, after a stubborn resistance by the Union forces, dealt a crushing blow upon the enemy, and rendered the plan of retreat out- lined by Jackson to his subordinates unnecessary. General Jackson had received a message after his \''alley Campaign had ended to join General Lee to aid him in his operations against General McClellan on the Peninsula, and it was necessary for General Jackson to meet General Lee in person before this juncture of forces could be made. Selecting one companion, he proceeded co ride the tifty miles that lay between him and Richmond. It was incumbent upon for him to 1;ell his chief of staff. Captain Dabney, what his movement was, since he left him in charge of the army then advancing toward Richmond. lie was the only officer to whom General Jackson confided this important military secret, for while the whole army was guessing this was the intention of their leader, no one knew, and there was no little indignation displayed by one of his leading generals, General Ewell, because he was kept in ignorance of what every soldier knew, or rather, -what every soldier surmised, tt might be almost neesless to say that General Jackson traveled incognito, and this led to a very interesting incident. General Jackson informed his chief of staff what were his intentions, in order that his chief of staff might press the movement with all haste in liis General's a!)sence. Captain Dabney gives the particulars of this operation and the confi- dence given him by General jack.son. Captain Dabney says: "Gen- eral Jackson's forced march from Mt. Meridian, in the neighbor- hood of the Port Republic battlefield, began in earnest on Wednesday, June 18th (1862), the General and a few of his troops having left the day before. About midday, on Thursday, the 19th. we were at Medium's River Station, about 10 miles west of Chancellorsville, with the head of the column. The General called me into a room, locked the door, and told me he was abcnit to go in advance of his corps by rail to Richmond to see the Commander-in-chief ; that the corps was going to Richmond to join in the general attack upon McClellan ; but that he would return to his command before we got there ; that I was to march the corps toward Richmond, following the line of the railroad, as near as the country roads would permit, by Ciiarlottesville and Gordonsviile, General Ewell's division to form the liead of the column, with which I was personally to proceed ; that strict precau- tions of secrecv were to be obser\ed — which he then dictated to me. 78 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN He then got on an express train and left us. I dined that day with General Ewell, and I remember that he complained to me with some bitterness of General J.'s reserve, saying: 'Here, now, the General has gone off on the railroad without intrusting me, his senior major- general, any order; but (Major) J. A. Haman. his quartermaster, enjoys his full confidence, I suppose, for I hear he is telling the troops that we are going to Richmond to fight McClellan.' 'You may be cer- tain, General Ewell,' I replied, 'that you stand higher in General Jackson's confidence than anyone else, as your rank and services entitle you. As for Major Haman, he has not heard a word more than others. If he thinks we are going to Richmond, it is only his surmise, which I suppose every intelligent private is now making.' " — Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 2, p. 348. At a certain point on the way to Richmond General Jackson left the railroad, and, with a single companion, started on a fifty-three mile horseback ride, which he made in one day. At one farmhouse the two horsemen stopped and asked the planter for fresh mounts and to saddle them for him. The irate farmer declared he was not exchanging horses with ever}^ stray cavalryman that came along, and that he (in contradistinction to saddling horses for people), "had others to saddle horses for him." He was finally persuaded to make an exchange. When the farmer found out later what a distinguished petitioner he had had, he exclaimed: "If I had known it was General Jackson, he could have had any horse in my stable." In the Maryland Campaign of 1862, General Jackson confided to one of his staff. Major H. Kyd Douglas, a plan he had been ordered to execute. In Vol. 2, at page 622, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Major Douglas gives the incident: "Early on the 10th (Sep- tember, 1862), Jackson was off. In Frederick (Maryland) he asked for a map of Chambersburg and its vicinity, and made many irrelevant inquiries about roads and localities in the direction of Pennsylvania. To his staff, who knew what little value these inquiries had, his ques- tions only illustrated his well-known motto: 'Mystify; mystery is the secret of success.' I was then assistant inspector-general on his staff". and also acting aide-de-camp. It was my turn this day to be intrusted with the knowledge of his purpose. Having finished his public in- quiry, he took me aside, and, after asking me (Major Douglas was raised in this section) about the different fords of the Potomac, be- tween Williamsport and Harper's Ferry, told me tliat he was ordered THE LIFE OF STONEWAIX JACKSON.. LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. /"J to capture the garrison at Harper's Ferry, and would cross at either WilHamsport or Shcphcrdstown, as the enemy might or might not withdraw from Martinsburg. I did not know then of General Lee's order." Jackson then captured 11.000 men and a great quantity of stores. General Jackson Tells General D. H. Hill What to Do in Case of a Casualty to Him. — "When Jackson's corps was so strangely left at Winchester after the battle at Sharpsburg. or Antietam, and General Lee had gone to the Rappahannock, and we were making a feint every day of holding the gaps in the Blue Ridge, with strict orders not to bring on an engagement, I said to Jackson one day : 'I am the next in rank, and should you be killed or captured in your many scouts around, I would not know what the corps was left for, or what it was expected to do.' He then told me that he had suggested to General Lee, who had to move back to protect Richmond, that he could remain and remove our wounded and stores, and that his pres- ence on McClellan's flank and rear would keep him from attacking Lee. In case of any casualty to himself, the removal was to go on till completed."— A^o/i" by Gen. D. H. Hill, in Vol. 2, p. 348. in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. General Jackson Explained to General Imboden His Plan of the Battle of Port Republic. — The day before the battle of Port Re- public, which occurred on the 9th of June. 1862, General Jackson sent for General John B. Imboden. In the interview between the two, General Jackson, "for the first time, in all my intercourse with him." says General Impoden, "outlined the day's proposed operations. He said, 'Charley Winder (Brigadier-General \Vinder. commanding the old Stonewall Brigade), will cross the river at daylight and attach Shields on the Lewis Farm (two miles below). I shall support him with the other troops as fast as they can be put in line. General "Dick" Taylor will move through the wood at the side of the moun- tain, with his Louisiana Brigade, and rush above their left flank by the time the action becomes general. By 10 o'clock we shall get them on the run, and I'll now tell you what I want with you. Send the ]ng new rifle-gun you have (a 12-pounder Parrott), to Poague (Com- mander of the Rockljridge Artillery), and let your mounted men report to the cavalry. I want you in person to take your howitzers to the field, in some safe position in rear of line, keeping everything packed on mules, readv at any moment to take to the mountainside. Three 80 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN miles below Lewis's house there is a defile on the Luray Road. Shields may rally and make a stand there. If he does,. I can't reach him with the field artillery on account of the woods. You can carry your 12- pounder howitzers on the mules up the mountainside, and at some good place unpack and shell the enemy out of defile, and the cavalry will do the rest.' " General Imboden adds : "This plan of battle was carried out to the letter." — Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Vol. 2, p. 293. THK LIFE OF STONEVVAIJ. JACKSON', LTEUT.-GKN., C. S. A. 81 CHAPTER FOURTEEN. A CHAPLET OF MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTES OF STONEWALL JACKSON. Jackson Thought to Be a Fool at the Initiative of His Career — Jackson's Name Calms an Irate Farmer — A Royal Reception to General Jackson — Jackson Did Not Want to Survive the Loss of His Country's Independence — Jackson's Photograph — Jackson De- clines to Wear a New Cap at the Bidding of His Staff — How Jack- son Obtained His Lemons — Jackson Presses an Important Question Home — Jackson Gives His PersonzJ Services — Stonewall Jackson Meets With an Accident — His One Difficulty at West Point — The Last Day Jackson Spent Under His Ow^n Roof — What It Cost to Be in Stonewall Jackson's Brigade — A Sentry Makes Stonewall Halt and Dismount — Jackson Promised to Give His Attention to Pope — An Old North Carolinian Makes a Verbal Onslaught on Jackson — "Press Them, Hill" — Jackson Was Bitter and Loyal — Once a Friend of Jackson — Jackson at Cedar Mountain — Jackson Disconcerted by the Admiration of the Beauties of Frederick, Md. — "Somewhere in France" Not New — Jackson's Lost Military Or- der — Jackson's Words to His Successor — Unavoidable Accidents Prevented Jackson From Winning Three Victories in One Day — Jackson Had a Premonition of Victory at Port Republic — Jackson Asked Captain Harry Gilmor for Trustworthy Couriers. Even a Fool at the Initiative of His Career to His Generals. — W'hen General Jackson made his dash up to McDowell, in the v'-'prinj^ of 1862, and defeated Milroy and Schenck. he had <^\\ en orders for Evvell to follow him. Above Staunton, Ewell found, at Tacl-json's empty camp, a courier awaiting him with orders from Jackson. The day after the battle at McDowell, Ewell. from a mountain top, saw, several miles away, Jack.son with his army train, for he always would take his wagons with him, going toward Winchester. At this Ewell exclaimed : "That old fool Jackson is going to present his wagon train to the Yankees !" How little he knew of the resources of this genius. In a few days his corps had won the battle of Front Royal and had put to sorry flight General r>anks's whole army. 82 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Jackson's Name Calms an Irate Farmer. — During the operations around Richmond, General Jackson and his staff rode through the growing crop of a farmer of that section. The owner of the field came out in great indignation and wanted to know who was in com- mand of the party to report the matter. "I am," answered General Jackson. "What is your name?" asked the farmer. "'Jackson." "Stone- wall Jackson?" continued tlie planter. "I'hat's what they call me," replied the General. "General Jackson," exclaimed the mollified farmer, "ride over any part of my farm you please." A Royal Reception to General Jackson. — "The next morning (September, 1862), the Confederates entered Martinsburg (W, Va.). Here General Jackson was welcomed with great enthusiasm and a large crowd hastened to the hotel to greeat him. At first he shut himself up in a room to write despatches, but the demonstration became so persistent that he ordered the door to be opened. The crowd, chiefly ladies, rushed in and embarrassed the General with every possible outburst of affection, to which he could only reply: 'Thank you ; you're very kind.' He gave them his autograph in books, on scraps of paper, cut a button from his coat for a little girl, and then submitted patiently to an attack by the others, who soon stripped the coat of nearly all the remaining buttons. But when they looked persecutingly at his hair, which was thin, he drew the line there, and managed to close the interview. These blandishments did not delay his movements, however, for in the afternoon he was off again." — Col. H. K. Douglas, Vol. 2, p. 223, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. General Jackson Did Not Want to Survive the Loss of His Coun- try's Independence. — General Jackson was not a fatalist. He be- lieved in Divine dispensations, but men had their places and their free wills in the accomplishment of the purposes of Omnipotence. So far from believing himself an instrument to secure the independence of the South, fixed and unalterable in the Divine plans. Jackson v.^as so affected once in an argument with his chief-of-staff, Rev. Dr. Dabney, about the meagre prospects of the South being victorious in the contest, that he said: "Stop, Major Dabney; you will make me low-spirited!" He then rode on, as the two were on horseback, in silence for some moments, and said, as though to himself : "I don't profess any romantic indif- ference to life; and, certainly, in my own private relations, I have as THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 83 much that is dear to any to wish to live for as any man. But I do not desire to survive the independence of my country." "The words were uttered with a profound, pensive earnestness, which effectually ended the deljatc." — S. H. Mag. Stonewall Jackson's Photograph. — "It is the great good fortune of American hero-lovers that they can gaze upon the features of Thomas Jonathan Jackson precisely as that brilliant Lieutenant-Gen- eral of the Confederate States Army appeared during his masterly 'Valley Campaign' of 1862. Few photographers dared to approach this man, whose silence and modesty were as deep as his m.astery of warfare. Jackson lived much to himself. Indeed, his plans were rarely known to his immediate subordinates, and herein lay the secret of those swift and deadly surprises that raised him to first rank among the world's military figures. Jackson's nobility and efficiency won the utter confidence of his ragged troops, and their marvellous forced marches, and their contempt for privations, if under his guidance, supplied the realization of his daring conceptions." — Pictorial History of the Ciznl War. Jackson Declines to Wear a Cap at the Bidding of His Staff. — After General Jackson's brilliant campaign in West Virginia and his coup upon McClellan on the Peninsula, everj^one in Richmond wanted to see the great commander. His cap was so shabby that his staff officers were mortified to see him appear in it. So they set about themselves to get a new one. Jackson was placable to the point of trying it on, and even to passing a favorable judgment on it, but there the efforts of his friends failed. Standing on the steps of the vState Hotel, in Richmond, he tried the new cap on and said : "Yes, that cap fits. I will wear it when I get ready." Private Louis Green, of the First Maryland, C. S. A., zvho zvas present zdicn the incident occurred, related this anecdote to the writer. How Jackson Obtained His Lemons. — A very great effort, in which every characteristic of his is strained to its utmost, is made, from time to time, to prove that General Jackson was odd in ways and man- ners. His custom of sucking a lemon has been called in play as one of the proofs of his singularity. These industrious critics fail to con- sider that if the roll-call of all who happen to enjoy the juice of a lemon for its spice, acidity, or healthfulness was made, they would find, if this ])e a proof of lunacy, or even of oddity, that a very great number of individuals would come under the judicial fait of non compos mentis. 84 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN How he obtained his lemons during the Civil War has even been spoken of with an air of mystery about a very natural occurrence. Mr. J. S. Bragonier, of Shepherdstown, W. Va., comes to the great General's rescue and relieves him of a part of the cloud of wonder that hangs about his reputation on the issue of how he obtained his lemons. This incident was related to him by his brother, D.H. Bragonier, who fought through the Civil War, in the Tenth Va. Regiment, of Infantry. After the second battle of Manassas, he thinks, Mr. Bragonier says he was in a captured car, handling eatables, much needed by the soldiers, who were away from their quartermaster's supplies, when General Jackson rode up. Mr. Bragonier asked him if he could help him to something to eat. The General thanked him and said: "No; but I would be pleased to have one of the lemons," whereupon ]\ir. Bragonier asked him for his haversack and filled it with lemons. After thanking him. General Jackson rode away. Stonewall Jackson Presses an Important Question Home. — On the morning of September 18, 1862, after' the battle of Antietam, Gen- eral Lee sent for Colonel Stephen and told him to report to General Jackson. They rode to the top of a hill on which were lying some caissons, broken wheels and dead men and horses. The outlook showed the Federal right. "Can you take fifty pieces of artillery and crush that force?" demanded General Jackson. "Colonel Stephen looked carefully at the Union ranks, marshalled with cannon, unlimbered for battle. He could not find himself capable of saying 'No'." "Yes, General," he answered finally. Then asked : "Where will I get the fifty cannon ?" "I can furnish you some," replied General Jackson, "and General Lee can furnish you some." "Shall I go for the guns?" asked Colonel vStephen. "Not yet," replied General Jackson, and charging home the important question once more, General Jackson asked : "Colonel Stephen, can you crush the Federal right with fifty guns?" Over and over again Colonel vStephen avoided a direct reply, and again and again General Jackson pressed him for a positive answer. At the conclusion of the parley of questions and evasions, Colonel Stephen reluctantly replied : "General, it cannot be done with fifty guns and the troops you have near here." THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON', LlKl'T.-OEN., C. S. A. S5 "Let us ride back, Colonel," said General Jackson. Colonel Stephen repeated the conversation to General I^ee, and dur- ing the night, the Confederate Army recrossed the Potomac into Vir- ginia." — Photographic History of Civil War, \o\. 5, p. 67. Jackson Gives His Personal Services. — That day (January .3, 1862 j 1 saw (Teneral Jackson get oti' his horse and put his shoulder to the wheel of a wagon to keep it from sliding back. — Caslers History of the Stoneivall Brigade, p. 74. Stonewall Jackson Meets With an Accident. — "However, before we had been in Maryland many hours, one enthusiastic citizen pre- sented General Jackson with a gigantic gray mare. She was a little heavy and awkward for a war-horse ; but, as the General's 'Little Sorrel' had, a few days before, been temporarily stolen, the present was a timelv one. and he was not disposed to look a gift horse in the mouth. Yet the present proved almost a Trojan to him, for the next morning when he mounted his new steed and touched her with his spur, the loval and undisciplined beast reared straight into tlie air, and, standing erect for a moment, threw herself backward, horse and rider rolling upon the ground. The General was stunned and severely bruised, and lay upon the ground for some time before he could be removed. He was then placed in an ambulance, where he rode during tlie day, having turned over his command to his brother-in-law. General D. H. Hill, the efficer next in rank." — Colonel Henry Kyd Douglas in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 2, p. 620. Jackson's High Sense of Honor — His One Difficulty at West Point. — "During these four years at the Military Academy he had but one personal difficulty. This was caused by another cadet changing his uncleaned musket for Jackson's, which was always kept in perfect order. The trick was very soon discovered l)y the latter, whose sus- ]jici()n fell at once upon the real culprit ; but as his gun fortunately had a private mark upon it, he knew it could be identified; so, after telling the captain of the circumstances, he quietly bided his time until that evening at the inspection of arms, when his clean, shining musket was found in the hands of the man whom he had suspected, who, when he was accused of the dishonorable deed, attempted to shield himself by telling a falsehood. Jackson, who was disgusted with the indolence and meanness of the cadet, declared he was a disgrace to the Academy, and that he would have him court-martialled and dismissed. Tt was only 86 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN by the urgent remonstrance of cadets and professors that he could be induced to give up his determination. The disgrace of the 3^oung man overtook him, however, in a short tiem after, when he was ex- pelled from the Academy for violating his parole of honor." — Mrs. Jackson's Life of Jackson, p. 38. The Last Day Jackson Spent Under His Own Roof. — "He (Gen- eral Jackson) was accustomed to prepare himself, for the exercises of this school (the colored Sunday school at Lexington. Va.) by the most careful study of the lessons. The day before he left his home for the war was Saturday, and he was very busy all day long making every preparation to leave at a moment's warning. He paid all outstanding accounts, and settled up, as far as possible, his worldly affairs, while his devoted wife was busily plying the needle to prepare him for the field. At the supper table Mrs. Jackson made some remark about the preparations for his expected departure, when he said, with a bright smile : 'My dear, to-morrow is the blessed Sabbath day. it is also the regular communion session at our church. I hope I shall not be called to leave until Monday. Let us then dismiss from our conversation and our thoughts everything pertaining to war, and have together one more quiet evening of preparation for our loved Sabbath duties'."' "Accordingly the dark cloud of war was pushed aside. He read aloud to her for a while from religious magazines and newspapers, and then they went to their accustomed studies of the Bible lessons which were to be taught on the morrow to the colored Sunday School. It was such a happy, bright Saturday evening, as is only known in a well- regulated Christian home. Alas ! It has proved the last that he ever spent under his own roof -tree. Early the next morning a telegram from the Governor of the Commonwealth ordered him to march the corps of cadets for Richmond at 12.30 o'clock that day." — Chaplain Wm. Jones, S. H. Mag., Vol. 19, p. 359. What It Cost to Be in the Stonewall Brigade. — "I reached my command the next day (May, 1864) I found them in camp on Cedar Creek, a few miles south of Strasburg; but found no Company 'A.' Captain Powell had gone home, as he could not stand the service on account of his wound. Joseph Carder was in the hospital at Lynch- burg, and William Sivells had gone home to Hampshire. Elisha Card- er, with his drum, and I, with my musket, were all that were left of Company A, fit for duty (after three years of service), and I felt THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. S<7 considerably discouraged. I was put in Company 'F\" — Caslcr's Stone- ivall Brigade, pp. 350-1. A Sentry Makes Stonewall Halt and Dismount. — Private Racey, of a \'irginia Regiment, was standing guard one night, alongside a road where the mud was ankle deep. A horseman rode up and the sentry challenged him. The mounted soldier, in an effort to pass with- out giving the counter-sign, said : "I am Stonewall Jackson." "Stone- wall Jackson, or not," replied the determined sentinel, "dismount and give the countersign." The horseman did as he was bidden, and then said to the sentry,-"Young man, always do this." This incident was re- lated to me by the Rev. Mr. Lacey, of the United Brethren ministry, who was the son of Private Lacey. General Jackson Promised to Give His Attention to Pope. — When General Pope had taken command of the Federal Army, it was observed to General Jackson that "this new general claims your atten- tion." "And, please God," replied Jackson, "he shall have it." A prediction he most amply fulfilled at the second Bull Run. When General Jackson had learned that General Banks, in August, 1862, his old foe in the Valley Campaign, was in command of the advance of Pope's Army, he said to me (Dr. Hunter McGuire, his Surgeon-General) : "Banks is in front of me. Pie is always ready to fight," and with a laugh he concluded, as though talking to himself, "and he generally gets whipped." Banks made a splendid fight then and there — at Slaughter Mountain. The tides of victory were with his troops at the first, and the flying Confederates were only halted to stop and fight by Jackson's personal presence. He threw himself into the midst of the rout and by his own individual efforts and example stayed the flight, rallied his men, and won the day. An Old North Carolinian Makes a Verbal Onslaught on Jack- son. — During a march a Confederate command came to a small stream across the road. The run was bridged by a one-log structure, over which the soldiers were proceeding one at a time. At this moment an ofticer on horseback rode up and told the soldiers that they should not lose time that way, but ford the creek. Now at this period, a cavalryman was called a "buttermilk ranger," because, when a tired, hungry and thirsty infantryman would step out of ranks and betake himself to a neighboring farmhouse, and ask for buttermilk, and was 88 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN informed that ''they had just given the last to a man on horseback," the disappointed footman would vent his wrath on the "buttermilk ranger." An old North Carolina soldier hearing the command of the ofiicer, looked up and exclaimed with indignation : "Oh, yes,, you old butter- milk ranger. It's well enough for you on horseback to talk that way ; but I'm going to cross over the log, 'cept I die." At that explosion the Tarheel was told that he was talking to Stonewall Jackson. He vanished immediately into the crowd of soldiers awaiting around the bridge their turn to cross. It soon became a saying amongst the soldiers when they were going to execute some daring event pendant in futurio, that they would do it " 'cept I die."- -Related to the author by Private Raidings, of Washington, a Confederate soldier who zvas present when the incident occurred. "Press them, Hill!" — As the darkness of night fell on the field of Chancellorsville, May 2, 1863, there w^as a long pause in the Con- federate advance as disorganized brigades were withdrawn to re-or- ganize. General Jackson immediately overlooked the work, and urged the movements forward. In his anxiety to reap the fruits of his bril- liant execution of the strategy' entrusted to him, he explained to Gen- eral Hill : "Press them, Hill ! Press them ! Cut them off from the United States ford!" Could that have been done, Hooker's Army, between Lee in its front and Jackson in its rear, would have been crushed. Jackson Was Bitter and Loyal. — Jackson had just closed a ten- der interview with the wounded and dying Gregg, one of his generals. As he and Dr. McGuire reached the Confederate headquarters, and were closing a conversation in which General Jackson was lamenting the death of such a man as his dying general and the frightful sacri- fices the South was making, the doctor asked him what was the best mode of meeting the overwhelming numbers of the Federals. General Jackson replied : "Kill them, sir ! kill every man !" Once a Friend of Jackson. — Major Dwight, of the Federal Army, who had been captured in the battle of Winchester, remained a prisoner in that town. Finding that some of the Federal wounded needed some '"required conveniences," says General Cooper of the Federal Army, the Major appealed to General Jackson, and in his appeal the Major told him there was an officer in the 2nd Massachusetts, "who is, I believe," said the Major, "an old friend of yours." "Friend of mine, sir?" replied old Jack, "he zvas, sir, once a friend of mine" THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LlErT.-CEN., C. S. A. 89 Jackson at Cedar Mountain. — It was August 9. 1862. The battle of Cedar Mountain was on. Taliaferro's [brigade had given way before the assaults of the Federals. Carey's strokes on the right and left of Early's line were now telling, and his command commenced to give way. affecting the whole Confederate right half way down the line under Early. The Federals were driving the Confederates. Then says Major Dabney, Jackson's Chief-of-staff : "It was at this fearful moment that the genius of the storm reared his hand amidst the tumultuous billows, and in an instant the threat- ening tide was turned. Jackson appeared in the mad torrent of the highway, his figure instinct with majesty, and his face flaming with the inspiration of battle. He ordered Winder's batteries to be instantly withdrawn, to ])rotect them from capture, issued his summons for his reserves, drew his own sabre for the first time in the war, and shouted to his broken troops with a voice that pealed higher than the roar of battle, 'Rally, brave men, and press forward ! Your general will lead you. Jackson will lead you ! Follow me !" Fugitives, with a general shame, gathered around their adored general, who, rushing with a few score of tiiem to the front, placed them behind the fence which bor- dered the roadside, and received the pursuers with a deadly volley. They recoiled in surprise, while officers of every grade, catching the general fervor of their commander, fiew among their men, and in a moment restored the failing battle." Jackson Disconcerted by the Admiration of the Beauties of Frederick, Md. — Jackson, when in Frederick, Md., Sept. 7, 1862. was suffering from hurts sustained by a fall from a new horse that became fractious as he was mounting it at the start of the band j)laying. He kei)t to his tent to nurse his injuries. The crowds came to see him, especially the ladies. Jackson, with his ofiicial aft'airs and his bruises, declined to see visitors. When, howe\cr, he had gone to see Gen- eral Lee in his tent, two young girls besieged him, rained on him their smiles, and attacked him with an array oi interrogations, and tlien leaped into their carriage and rode (luickly away, leaving Jackson, hat in hand, bowing, blushing and voiceless. "Somewhere in France" Is Not New. — "Somewhere in France" is not a new military designation. It was tised in Stonewall Jackson's campaigns. Jackson's letters from Richmond, in accordance with his own instructions, bore no more explicit address than "Somewhere." 90 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDEXTS IN On his way to Richmond to join Lee in his attack upon McClellan, Jackson ordered the utmost secrecy to cover the movement. Added to the ordinary precautions of an advance, the van and rear-guard and the side patrols and the pickets, was the command to the soldiers themselves that they must not ask the names of the villages that they passed, and were to all queries made to them, to give the single reply : "I do not know." A Texan of General Hood's command left his company and was making up a cherry tree, when General Jackson came by. "Where are you going?" asked General Jackson. "I don't know," answered the Texan. "To what command do you belong?" "I don't know." "Well, what State are you from?" "I don't know." "What is the meaning of all this?" inquired Jackson of some one else. "Well," was the reply. "Old Stonewall and General Hood gave orders yesterday that we were not to know anything, until after the next fight." General Jackson smiled and moved on. Jackson's Last Military Order. — "Shortly after he was wounded, and when the enemy was rushing up fresh troops. General Pender told him (Jackson), that his men were in such confusion that he feared he would not be able to hold his ground. " 'General Pender,' said Jackson, 'you must keep your men together, and hold your ground." "This was the last military order ever given by Jackson." — Casle/s History, pp. 232-3. Jackson's Words to His Military Successor. — "Before General Stuart took command of the corps (after General Jackson had re- ceived his fatal wound j, he saw Jackson and attempted to ascertain from him what his plans were." " 'Form your own plans, general !' said Jackson." — Caster's History, p. 224. Unavoidable Accidents Prevented Jackson From Winning Three Victories in One Day. — Jackson's hurry to begin the tight on Shields TTIE LIFE OF STONEWAIJ. JACKSON, LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. 91 on the south side of the south branch of the Shenandoah on the morn- ing of the 9th of June was due to the fact that he had intended to de- feat him and then re-cross the river and there to fall upon Fremont with his entire force. If he had been able to complete his plans, he would have won three battles in one day's time. The faults in the construction of his improvised bridge of wagons and planks over the South Fork of the river, and the refusal of the soldiers to march in liles of four on account of the insecurity of the weak construction, caused a loss of time that prevented Jackson from executing his well- laid plans. It is but just to add to these unavoida1)le difficulties that Jackson encountered in the l^attle, the lirave and determined resist- ance that the gallant Federals gave to this superior conmiander and his splendid soldiery. Jackson Had a Premonition of Victory at Port Republic. — Capt. McHenry Howard, of Alarlyand. on General Winder's staiT, says that at the time of the battle of Cross Keys, June 8, 1862, General Jackson said .that he would like to have the Marylanders under him, and about the same moment he asked his chief of staff. Dr. Dabney, a Presbyterian minister, "Major, wouldn't it be a blessed thing if God would give us a glorious victory today?" and his face lit up with the delight of a child's happy countenance. Alost of the time, while the beginning of the battle of Port Repuljlic w^as in progress, he stood with his cap over his eyes and his glance to the ground. During this brief period only two persons, says Captain Howard, came up to General Jackson, a courier and Chaplain Cameron. The only reply they made when asked was that the battle was going on without change. Then Captain Howard was astonished to hear Gen- eral Jackson say to one of his staff, "Pendleton!"' "\\'ell, sir," "W^rite a note to General Ewell. Say that the enemy arc defeated at all points, and to press them with cavalry, and, if necessary, with artillery, and Wheat's Battalion." Major Pendleton wrote the despatch on the shoulder of Captain Howard's horse. The Captain saw nothing that had given General Jackson information to the effect that the foe had been defeated. He could not have told it from the noise of battle, for it was stationary. Captain Howard heard the conclusion with great interest. About the time he could have reached General Ewell, the firing began to abate and soon the news practically came that the Fed- erals had been defeated. 92 A THESAURUS OF ANFXDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Jackson Asked Captain Harry Gilmor for Trustworthy Couriers. — On the 11th of May, 1862, the Confederates were dose on the enemy. General Winder stopped his command," ordered the 4th Va., Colonel Roland, to advance so as to clear the woods. The General then came up and found the regiment on a backward movement. Winder asked the meaning of it. The reply was that they had met the enemy. General Winder asked why he put the regiment where he had, except to meet the foe? He ordered the command to be faced about and to advance. This command was executed. General Winder then rode forward and past the Virginians. Small discharges from the Federals followed and two of General Winder's mounted couriers f!ew to cover. General Winder still advanced. He and his stafif came upon a deserted camp of the foe, with lires still burning beneath the half-cooked food, the appearances all indicating that the camp had just been deserted. General Winder sent one of his stafif to General Jackson to tell of his couriers who had failed him, and to request others. The aide rode off and found Jackson in the road where he had just left him. Gen- eral Jackson, when he had had Winder's request delivered to him, asked: "General Winder's couriers have deserted him, ha>'e they?" He then asked Captain Harry Gilmor if he could send General Winder couriers that would not desert him. Captain Gilmor said he could, and when the staff officer was turning to go back to Winder, Jackson said to him : "Captain Howard, I will go with you," and they went off fol- lowed by the two couriers that gallant Harry Gilmor had sent as trust- worthy soldiers. Soon shells began to burst around them. When one exploded near them, Jackson, to Captain Howard's surprise, asked where the shell came from. Seeing the look of astonishment on the captain's face, Jackson explained that he was deaf in one ear and could not tell the direction of sounds. The party came to a steep ending of the mountain, and while the plan of sending a flanking force around it, was being discussed, night came on, and a shell from the enemy exploded near the squad of officers, and the officers retired and postponed the attempt. The next day General Jackson issued his order of congratulation to his troops for their victory and proclaimed a day of thanks to the Almighty for the triumph that He had accorded them at McDowell. On the afternoon of the same day the army began its backward movement, keeping the enemy, by Captain Sheet's vigilance, totally in ignorance of it. THE LIFK OF STON i:\VAI, L JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEX., C. S. A. 'X> C[ I AFTER FIFTEEN. ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS INDICATIVE OF JACKSON'S CHARACTER. Earthly Fame Versus Heavenly Happiness — Jackson Makes Gen- eral Joseph Johnson Wait for Written Orders — How Jackson Was Wounded at the First Bull Run — Jackson's Propensity to Sleep — Stonewall Jackson Rebuffed the Cordiality of Jefferson Davis — Jackson Did Not Like Swearing and Profanity — Jackson's Hab- its — Jackson's Opinion of the Volunteer — Jackson Never Advocated the Black Flag — Jackson's Staff Knew Nothing of His Intended Movements — "I Want the Brave Officers of the Enemy Killed Off" — Jackson, the "Wagon Hunter" — Snowstorm Did Not Deter Jack- son — Jackson at Molvern Hill — Jackson's Order to Ewell and Jackson's PersonaJ Bravery Saves a Defeat — Jackson's Opinion of Napoleon — Jackson Consoles an Irritated Officer — Jackson's Ad- miration for Early — "I Was One of the Stonewall Brigade," Jack- son — Jackson at the Battle of Winchester — Jackson Represses a Bon Mot While Pressing Banks to Winchester. Earthly Fame Versus Heavenly Happiness. — "I remember one night he (General Jackson j, was in my tent very near Charlestown, W. \'a. It was a bitter cold, snowy night, and he was sitting by the tire that I had made. He said to me : 'I would not give one-thousandth part of my chances for Heaven for all the earthly reputation I have or can make'." — Dr. Hunter McGiiirc. Jackson Makes Genersd Joseph Johnson Wait. — \\ hen General Joseph Johnson came uj) into the Shenandoah in 1861 to supersede Jackson, he came without any written authority from the Confederate Government. Jackson declined to turn the army over to him, and made him wait until he could get the orders from Richmond before he permitted him to assume command. How Jackson Was Wounded at the First Bull Run. — "\\ hen Jackson made his celebrated charge with his brigade, which turned the fortunes of the day, he raised his left hand above his head to en- courage the troops, and while in this [)osition the middle finger of his hand was struck just below the articulation between the first and sec- ond phalanges. The ball struck the finger a little to one side^ broke it, 94 A THESAURt'S OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN and carried off a small piece of the bone. lie remained upon the field wounded as he was till the fight was over, and then wanted to take part in the pursuit, but was peremptorily ordered back to the hospital by the general commanding. On his way to the rear the wound pained him so much that he stopped at the first hospital he came to, and the surgeon there proposed to cut the finger off; but while the doctor looked for his instruments and for a moment turned his back,, the General silently mounted his horse and rode off, and soon after- wards found me. "I was busily engaged with the wounded, but when I saw him coming- I left them and asked if he was seriously hurt, 'No,' he answered, 'not half as badly as many here, and I will wait.' And he forthwith sat down on the bank of a little stream near by and positively declined any assistance until 'his turn came.' We compromised, however, and he agreed to let me attend to him after I had finished the case I was dressing when he arrived. 1 determined to save the finger if possible, and placed a splint along the palmar surface to support the fragments, retained it in position by a strip or two of adhesive plaster, covered the wound with lint, and told him to keep it wet with cold water. He carefully followed this advice. I think he had a fancy for this kind of hydropathic treatment, and I have frequently seen him occupied for several hours pouring cup after cup of water over his hand with that patience and perseverance for which he was so remarkable. Passive motion was instituted about the twentieth day and carefully continued. The motion of the joint improved for several months after the wound had healed, and in the end the deformity was very trifling." — Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson's Propensity to Sleep. — "Talking about Jackson's pro- pensity to sleep, I remember after the battles of the Seven Days' Fight around Richmond one Sunday we went to Dr. Hoge's church. He went to sleep soon after the service began and slept through the greater part of it. A man who can go to sleep under Dr. Hoge's preaching, can go to sleep anywhere on the face of this earth. When the service was over the people climbed over the backs of the pews to get near him, and the aisles became crowded and General Jackson embarrassed. Presently he turned to me and said : 'Doctor, didn't you say the horses Avere ready?' and I said, 'Yes, sir,' and we bolted out of church. "Many a night I have kept him on his horse by holding to his coat- tail. He always promised to do as much for me when he had finished THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEX., C. S. A. 95 his nap. He meant to do it, I am sure, hut my turn never came."-- Dr. Hunter McGuirc. Stonewall Jackson Rebuffed the Cordiality of Jefferson Davis. — Referring to General Jackson and Jefferson Davis' meeting on the day of the first battle of Bull Run, Dr. Hunter McGuire says that — "The next time he saw President Davis, was at Poindexter House, Richmond, after the battle of Malvern Hill. I had gone in the room to get some information from General Jackson after McClellan had retreated from Malvern PI ill to Harrison's Landing, when I found in the room ^ee, L ongstreet and J_ackson, looking over some maps spread on the dining-room table. After a while President Davis came in. General Lee greeted him very warmly. 'Why, President,' he said, 'I am delighted to see you,' and the meeting was very cordial. After he had finished shaking hands with General Lee, he turned to General Longstreet, and his greeting here was just as cordial as with General Lee. He then turned and looked, as one may say, interrogatively at General Jackson, "When Mr. Davis first entered the rocxn I recognized him and told General Jackson who he was. General Jackson believed that during the campaign through Bath and Romney with General Loring, Presi- dent Davis had treated him badly. Indeed, the treatment that Gen- eral Jackson received from Mr. Davis on that occasion, made him re- sign his commission, and this resignation was only prevented from going into effect by the very strenuous efforts of Governor Letcher. There were other things that made Jackson think that Mr. Davis had treated him unfairly. He had made some men whom Jackson ranked, outrank him as lieutenant-general, and there were many other circum- tances which caused Jackson to feel rather resentful towards Mr. Davis, so, when I told him who the visitor was, he stood bolt upright like a corporal on guard, looking at Mr. Davis. Not a muscle in his body moved. General Lee, seeing that Mr. Davis didn't know Gen- eral Jackson, said : 'Why, President, don't you know Stonewall Jack- son? This is our Stonewall Jackson.' Mr. Davis started to greet him evidently as warmly as those he had just left, but the appearance of Jackson stopped him, and when he got about a yard Mr. Davis halted and Jackson immediately brought his hand up to the side of his head in military salute. Mr. Davis lx)wed and went back to the other company in the room. 96 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN "The next time he had any communication witli Mr. Davis was when he was dying. It was alx)ut midday on Sunday when I received a tele- gram from President Davis asking me to tell him how General Jackson was and sending some exceedingly kind and courteous messages to him. I sat down on the bed and read him this telegram. J. Randolph Tucker, who was helping to nurse the General, was in the room at the time. There was a silence for a few seconds afterward, and then he turned to me and said : 'Tell Mr. Davis I thank him — he is very- kind'. "^Dr. Hunter McGuirc, Snrgcon-Gcncral of Jackson's Army, in the Richmond Dispatch, of July 19, 1891. Jackson Did Not Like Swearing and Profanity. — "Coarseness and vulgarity from anybody under any circumstances, he (Jackson) would not brook. Swearing jarred upon him terribly and he generally re- proved the man. Under some circimi stances I have seen him forgive it or not notice it. I remember when the gallant General Trimble was a brigadier-general, he expected and thought he ought to be made a major-general ; but when the appointments came out he was disap- pointed. I heard him talking about it to General Jackson one night. The old General was wrought up into a state of great indignation from his disappointment, and turning to General Jackson he said : 'By God, General Jackson, 1 will be a Major-General or a corpse before this war is over.' Whatever General Jackson thought he made no reproof. "I was once attending Major Harman, who was chief quartermaster. He was very sick for a day or two. General Jackson v/as anxious about him. One day in coming out of Harman's quarters, I met the General, who was standing, waiting to see me. He said : 'Doctor, how is Harman today?' 1 said, 'He must be better, for he is swearing again.' General Jackson gave Harman such a lecture next day that Colonel Pendleton advised me to keep out of Harman's way, as he swore he was going to shoot me. "He caught Lindsay Walker swearing once under circumstances that he did not reprove him. It was at Cedar Run. The left wing of our army was commanded by Winder, and soon after the engagement be- gan Winder was killed, and our troops on that side were pushed so hard that they brokx and ran. General Walker had his battalion of artillery in the road ; it was impossible to turn them around and get them out of the way, and they were in great danger of being captured. So Walker tried to rally the men and form a new line of battle. He would get a few men together, leave them to rally some others, and THE LIFE OF STONEVVArX JACKSON, LIEUT.-CEN., C. S. A. 97 find that his first squad was gone. He was swearing outrageously, lie had his long sword out and was riding up and down tiie little strag- gling line that he had when Jackson rode up. The latter had seen the disaster from his point of observation, and had come over to correct it if ix>ssible. On his way he ordered the Stonewall Brigade, which had been left in reserve, at a 'double quick.' but rode on in front of them to the scene of trouble. He had lost his hat in the woods, and had his sword out. It was the only time I ever saw him with his sword out in battle. As soon as \\^alker saw him he stopped swearing, (icneral Jackson, apparently, simply conscious that Walker was using his efforts to rally the men. said: 'That's right. General; give it to them.' Gen- eral Walker continued his work in his own way. "I was one day moving some wounded from the church at Ir'ort Re- public, men who had been hurt when Ashby was killed, just before the battle of I'ort Republic, when the enemy sent two pieces of artillery up to the town and began shelling the village. They fired at the church steeple as the most prominent point, and it was difficult to make the wagoners and ambulance drivers wait imtil the woimded were put in the conveyances. I was riding up and down the line of wagons and ambulances, swearing at the men in a right lively manner. I did not know that General Jackson was within a mile or two of me, when I felt his hand upon my shoulder and he quietly asked me : 'Doctor, don't you think you could get along without swearing?' I told him I would try, but I did not know whether 1 would accomplish it or not." Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson's Habits. — "His (Jackson's) habits of life were very simple. He preferred plain, simple food and generally ate right heartily of it. Corn bread and butter and milk always satisfied him. He used no tobacco and rarely ever drank whiskey or wine. One bitter cold night at Dam No. 5, on the Potomac River, when we could light no fire because of the proximity of the enemy. I gave him a drink of whiskey. He made a wry face in swallowing it, and I said to him : 'Isn't the whiskey good?' He answered: 'Yes, very; I like it, and that's the reason I don't drink it'." — Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson's Opinion of the Volunteer. — "Jackson knew the value of the Southern volunteer better and sooner (as I believe), than any other of our great leaders. When General Johnston took charge at Harper's Ferry, the general's staflf went with the command. One day when the 2nd X'irginia Regiment, composed of men from my county, 98 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN marched by, I said to him : 'If these men of the 2nd Virginia will not fight, you have no troops that will.' He expressed the prevalent, but afterward changed, opinion of that early day in his reply, saying: 'I would not give one company of regulars for the whole regiment.' When I returned to General Jackson's staff I had occasion to quote to him General Johnston's opinion. 'Did he say that?' he asked. 'And of those splendid men ?' And then he added : 'Tlie patriotic volunteer, fighting for his country and his rights, makes the most reliable soldier on earth'." — Dr. Hunter McGuire. Jackson Never Advocated the Black Flag. — Dr. Hunter McGuire, Jackson's Surgeon-General, says of Jackson : "He talked to me several times about the 'Black Flag,' and wondered if in the end it would not result in less sufifering and loss of life, but he never advocated it. "A sad incident of the battle of Fredericksburg stirred him very deeply. As we stood that night at our camp waiting for some one to take our horses, he looked up at the sky for a moment and said : 'How horrible is war.' I replied, 'Yes, horrible, but what can we do? These people at the North, without any warrant of law, have invaded our country, stolen our property, insulted our defenceless women, hung and imprisoned our kelpless old men, behaved in many cases like an organized band of cut-throats and robbers. What can we do?' 'Do?' he answered, and his voice was ringing, 'do? why shoot them'." Jackson's Staff Knew Nothing of His Intended Movements. — "Captain James Power Smith, of Jackson's staff, went, one day when it seemed evident that Jackson was about to join Lee. and said : 'As we are going to cross the mountains. General, I should like very much to ride back to Winchester to attend to some matters of im.portance to me personally, if you can give me a permit.' " 'Certainly, I will give you the permit,' was the reply 'and if we cross the mountains you will be able to overtake us to-morrow.' "Captain Smith rode into Winchester, and started early the next morning to overtake, as he supposed, the moving column He had only ridden several miles when he met Jackson at the head of hi§ corps coming back to Winchester, and was greeted by the salutation, 'I suppose, Mr. Smith, that you are on your way across the mountains'." Chaplain J. Wm. Jones, C. S. A., South Hist. Mag., Vol. 35, p. 88. "I Want the Brave Officers of the Enemy Killed Off."— There have been printed two or more accounts of General Jackson's statement THE LIFE OF STONEWAI.L JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 99 that he "wanted the brave officers of the enemy killed oft." Colonel Edwin L. Hobson, of the 5th Alabama Regiment, gives the correct version. It is : "The occurrence was at the battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862; Colonel, then Major, Hob.son was in command of the 5th Alabama, Rode's Brigade. Colonel John B. Gordon had been placed by General D. H. Hill, the division commander, to prevent a flank movement by the enemy. The enemy was steadily advancing on the line of Rode's, and, at a distance of 100 yards, menaced a charge. An officer, mounted on a white horse in front, was impetuously urging them onward. "The potent incident was manifest to Major Hobson, and in the crisis, he felt the necessity of removing the officer. He at once selected skilled riflemen to 'pick him off.' This was unerringly done, and at his fall the enemy hesitated, were checked, and the forttmes of the day were changed. "Subsequently, and not long before the battle of Sharpsburg (some comment having been made on the sacrifice of the gallant officer), states Colonel Hobson, an officer from General Jackson came to him with the 'compliments' of General Jackson and the message : 'Tell Major Hobson, I want the brave offi.cers of the enemy killed off. Their death insures our success. Cowards are never in the front ; the skulkers {iee':'—Soiit!ieni Hist. Mar/., Vol. 25, p. 105. Jackson, "the Wagon Hunter." — "Jackson, 'the wagon hunter,' never gave up one after it came into his possession. If a tire came off a wagon, he would stop the ivhole train and wait for it to be fixed on, and left the 'rear-guard' hold its position. A man who never served in the cavalry under Jackson, knows little of what was required of them. We skirmished all day and half the night, retiring en echelon. There was one eternal picking at each other. The artillery wotild seize a position and hold it as long as they could, and then fall back to an- other, covered by the cavalry. I do not believe the world has ever produced a grander, braver, nobler band of patriots than the artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia." — General T. T. Munford, Com- mander of the Caralrx in Jackson's Corps. Southern Mag., Vol. 7, p. 526. Snowstorms Did Not Deter Jackson. — "General Lee sent Jack- son, by Captain Smith, a message to the effect that he would be glad if 100 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN he would call at his headquarters the first time he rode in that direction, but that it was a matter of no pressing importance, and he must not trouble himself about it. "When Jackson received this message he said : 'I will go early in the morning, Captain Smith. I wish you to go with me.' "The next morning when Captain Smith looked out he saw that a fearful snowstorm was raging, and took it for granted that Jackson would not undertake to ride fourteen miles to General I^ee's head- quarters through that blizzard. "Very soon, however. Captain Smith's servant came to say: 'The General done got his breakfast, and is almost ready to start.' "Hurrying his preparations, the young aide galloped after his chief through the raging storm. On reaching Lee's quarters, the general greeted him with, 'Why, what is the matter, general ; have those people crossed the river again?' " 'No, sir, but you sent me word that you wished to see me.' " 'But I hope that Captain Smith told you that I said it was not a matter of importance, and that you must not trouble yourself about it. I had no idea of your coming such weather as this'." Bowing his head, Jackson gave the emphatic reply : " 'General Lee's slightest wish is a supreme order to mC; and I always try to obey it promptly'." — Chaplain J . JVm. Jones. C. S. A., South Hist. Mag., Vol. 35, p. 90. Jackson's Order at Malvern Hill. — Jackson sent an order to one of his officers, in the afternoon at Malvern Hill, to advance across the open space in front of the Federal works and attack them. The officer in question hurried to Jackson, and said almost rudely ; "Did you order me to advance over that field, sir?" Jackson's eyes flashed under the rim of his cap, and, in his briefest tones, he said : "Yes." "Impossible, sir," exclaimed the officer, 'my men will be annihilated. Nothing can live here. They will be annihilated." Jackson listened in silence, but his face grew cold and rigid with displeasure. He gazed steadily for a moment at the speaker, raised his finger, and in low brief tones said : "General , I have always endeavored to take care of my wounded and to bury my dead. You have heard my order — obey it." THE LIFE t)F STONEWAIJ, JACKSON, I.IEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 101 These words admit ted of no rei)ly, and the order was carried out. The officer who relates the incident declares that he has never before or since seen such an expression as that which burned in the eye of Jackson, as he uttered the above words. Me looked "dangerous and that admonition closed the inter\icw." — Stone-wall Jackson, by John Hstoi Cooke, p. 248. Jackson's Order to Ewell and Jackson's Own Personal Bravery Saved the Confederates From Defeat. — "it was this order that won the day despite the gallant defense. "I chanced to be near and heard the order he gave Early at Cedar Run (Slaughter's Mountain), in the light with our old friend. General Banks ('Stonewall Jackson's Quartermaster, our men facetiously called him), \yho commanded the advance of General Pope's Army. We had been skirmishing all the morning, and Colonel Pendleton, of Jack- son's staff, rode up to (^leneral Early, and said that he nm.st advance on the enemy, and he will be supported by General Winder.' "Grim old Early replied in his curtest tones : 'Give my compliments to General Jackson, and tell him T will do it.' "It was on this field that several of Jackson's Brigades were broken, and it looked as if Banks was about to win, when Jackson dashed in among them, and rallied the confused ranks by exclaiming, 'Rally on your colors, and let your general lead you to victory. Jackson will lead you.' His presence acted like magic, the broken troops were ral- lied, the lines resorted, and the victory won." — Chaplain J. IVm. Jones, C. S. A., South Hist. Mag., Vo\. 25, p. 93. Jackson's Opinion of Napoleon. — "In listening to Jackson talk- ing of Napoleon [jonaparte, as I often did, I was struck with the fact that he regarded him as the greatest general that ever lived. One day I asked him something about Waterloo. He had been o\er the field, inspecting the ground, and spent several days studying the field of battle. I asked him who had shown the greater generalship of these. Napoleon or Wellington ? He said, 'Decidedly. Napoleon.' I said. 'Well, why was he whipped, then?' He replied. 'I can only explam it by telling you that I think God intended him to stop right there'." — Dr. Hunter McGuire. General Jackson Consoles an Irritated Officer. — General George Steuart and Captain Elijah \'. White, commander of "WHiite's Battal- ion," became involved in a military difficulty in the campaign of 1862 102 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN in Maryland, because the General was determined to send Captain White on duty in Virginia, while the Captain, being a Marylander, wanted to be in Maryland during the occupation there. The matter was brought to the attention of General Lee. "Arrived there/' states Lieutenant Myers, "General Steuart passed in. and White saw^ Gen- eral Jackson was also there. "General Lee met White at the door and asked him his business, when the Captain replied : 'I want to see you, sir.' 'Very well,' said the General, 'just wait a little and I'll see you.' "Pretty soon General Jackson came out and approached White, who was walking in front of headquarters, and actually was so much excited over what he considered the injustice of General Steuart, that he was crying, " 'Stonewall', asked him his difficulty, and was told that Steuart wanted to send him back to Loudoun, and he didn't want to go. The General appeared surprised, and remarked, 'Why, I just heard General Steuart tell General Lee that you desired to be sent hack, and recom- mended that it be done.' "At this the Captain tried to tell General Jackson that it was not so, but before he could explain, his feelings so overcame him that he com- pletely choked down and could not say anything. "Presently, General Jackson, said, 'Captain White, I think I can understand your feelings, for I was once situated just as you are now. During the Mexican War I was ordered to the rear just as a battle was about to take place, and I knew of no reason why I should be so un- justly treated ; but I obeyed, and it so happened by doing so I had an opportunity to acquire distinction that I never could have had in front. And, captain, my advice to you is to obey orders, no matter how unjust they may be. We are poor, short-sighted creatures, at best, and in the very thing that seems hardest for us to bear. Providence may have hidden a rich blessing for us. Go, Captain, and obey orders.' "White says he knew General Jackson was too good a man for him to talk to, and, consequently, he made no reply. But General Steuart now came out and calling him to his side, said, 'Captain White, did you say you were a INIarylander?' 'Yes, sir,' said White. 'Ah!' said the General, 'I didn't know that. General Lee wants you. Go in and see him.' "As may be supposed, the Captain lost no time in appearing in the presence of the Commanding General, and his orders were to scout THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 103 towards Harper's Ferry, and report to General Lee. This meant that for the present he was free from the spite of Steuart." — IVhitc's Bat- talion — "The Comanchcs;' pp. 108-9. Jackson's Admiration for Early. — The author is indel)tcd for this incident to an interview with Dr. Hunter McGuire, published in the Richmond Dispatch, of July 19th, 1891 : "There was a story in the army about General Early, for whose sol- dierly qualifications Jackson had great admiration. In the winter of 1862 and 1863, Early had command of the troops low down on the Rappahannock River. He had some guns on a high embankment trained to shoot at the enemy's gunboats if they made their appearance a mile or two down the river. The muzzles of the guns were lifted very high in order to carry a ball that far. It was told in camp that Early one day while inspecting the guns found a soldier sighting one of them which pointed to the top of a tree in the neighborhood. After sight- ing it for some time and very carefully, he turned to General Early and asked him. 'if there was any squirrel up that tree?' It was said that the atmosphere was blue around there for a little while in conse- quence of General Early's reply. Whether the incident was true, or no, I don't know ; but I know General Jackson enjoyed the story very much." "I Was One of the Stonewall Brigade." — From Dr. Hunter McGuire: "After he (Jackson) was wounded at ChanccUorsville, and when I spoke to him of the death of General Paxton and the remarkable behavior of the Stonewall Brigade on the field the day before, he said: 'The men who belonged to that brigade will some day be proud to say to their children. "I was one of the Stonewall Brigade."'" Jackson at the Battle of Winchester. — On the morning of the twenty-fifth of May. while the battle of Winchester was in prog- ress, General Jackson rode up to the front, accompanied by Colonel Campbell. Colonel Paxton, of the Twenty-first Virginia, and Colonel Grigsly, of the Twenty-seventh Virginia, were there on foot. A shower of grape and niinnie balls greeted them. Camp- bell was wounded. Grigsly had a hole shot through his sleeve and exploded in some ugly words about his foes. General Jackson at this point said to Colonel Patton, commanding the Stonewall Bri- gade : "I expect the enemy to occupy the hill in your front with 104 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN artillery; keep your brigade well in hand with a vigilant watch, and if such an attempt is made, it must not be done, sir; clamp them on the spot." As soon as Jackson had satisfied himself as to the enemy's disposition, he turned his horse and quietly rode back. On getting to the road, he called for Taylor's Brigade, and led them in person to their position. The road ran here through a deep cut that screened the movement from the enemy. He gave General Taylor his order. Taylor says in his book he replied, and added: "You had better go to the rear, if you go along the front in this way some damned Yankee will shoot you '' He says General Jackson rode back to him and said: "General. I am afraid you are a wicked fellow ; l;)ut I know you will do your duty" Taylor formed his brigade in the road about 200 or 300 yards to our left. We were on his flank and could see nearly the whole of his advance. When the order to forward was given, the men scrambled up the bank as best they could. General Taylor found a way to ride and when the men lined up at the top, he was mounted and in their front. He rode up and down the line seeing that it was properly formed and then he rode in front, drew his sword, called the line to attention and ordered them to forward, march. Every man stepped ofif with his left foot, and were touch- ing elbow to elbow, the line nearl)- perfect. His march was through an open field, a gentle rise to the top of a long hill. About midway was the same stone wall that ran in our front ; it extended beyond Taylor's left ; the whole was occupied by the enemy, and beyond were two batteries of artillery. As soon as Jackson saw that Taylor had commenced the advance, he rode back to the hillock in our front to watch the effect of Taylor's attack. The enemy poured grape and canister into Taylor's line soon as it got in sight. General Taylor rode in front of his brigade, drawn sword in hand, occasionaly turning his horse, at other times turning in the saddle to see that his line was up. They marched up the hill in perfect order, not firing a shot. On getting about half-way to the Yankees, he gave the order, "Forward ! Double quick ! Charge !" in a loud and commanding voice that could be heard over nearly the entire battlefield. With a yell and a rush, over the wall thev go, and the enemv are runninsr. At TIIK LIFE OF STONi:VVAI,r. JACKSON, r.IEUT.-C.F.N.. C. S. A. 105 the same time General Jackson ^ave the command in that sharp, crisp way of his, "After the eneni}-, men." Our whole line moves forward on a run, the enemy ran and broke in all directions, the Rockbridge Artillery men jump to their pieces and give them a parting salute. That charge of Taylor's was the grandest I ever saw during the war ; officers, tile closers and every man was in his proper place. There was all the pomp and circumstance of war about it, that was always lacking in our charges, not that it was more effective than those of the old rebel yell, where most of the men would race to be the foremost. — irrittcii by a Confederate veteran, zvho took if from his weekly notes, "taken on the spot," and published in the! Southern Historical Society, Vol. 38, pp. 331-2. Jackson Represses a Bon Mot Pressing Banks to Winchester. — "To give countenance to this quartermaster," said General Ta}lor. who rode by Jackson's side, "if such can be given in a dark night, I remarked, jocosely, 'Never mind the wagons ; there are. quanti- ties of stores in Winchester, and General Jackson has invited me to breakfast there with him tomorrow.' "Jackson, who had no more capacity for jests than a Scotchman, took this seriously, and reached out to touch me on the arm." 106 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER SIXTEEN. THE DIPLOMACY OF STONEWALL JACKSON. Jackson^s Directness Combined With His Diplomacy — The Sense of the Humorous in General Jackson — Jackson's Astuteness as a Diplomat — Jackson Nonplussed — Young Girls Wave the Stars and Stripes in Jackson's Face. Jackson's Directness Combined With His Diplomacy. — General Bradley T. Johnson, of Maryland, in May, 1861, when Stonewall Jackson was then a colonel in the Confederate Army, went down to Harper's Ferry to see Jackson and to offer himself and a com- pany of men from Frederick, Md., to the Confederacy. Jackson listened for an hour, but never broke a careful silence with a word. General Johnson says : 4 "Two days after this interview, May 8th, General Johnson moved to Virginia, and, with General J. R. Trimble, a West Pointer and a man of high talents, who became a major general afterwards, they together went to see Colonel Jackson. General Johnson says that, being verdant in matters of military affairs at that time, he kept silent, not daring to ask questions of his superior officers. Not so with General Trimble. He discussed all the points of the country as to their relative value for defense. General Jackson answered never a word. General Trimble had been an engineer on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and General Johnson says his conversation was very instructive to him. Finally, General Trim- ble asked General Jackson as the culmination of his dissertation: 'How many men have you here present for duty ?' Jackson said, without a modulation of his voice, as if he were answering the most commonplace, instead of the most astounding, question ever put to a commanding officer by an outsider : 'We never tell that.' That was all. It was not as deep as a well, nor as wide as a barn door, but it was sufficient, and the conversation stopped there, and we left." The Sense of the Humorous In General Jackson. — General Jack- son could use to good advantage the strong sense of the humorous that was latent in his nature. In the winter of 1862 the General was, with his wife, boarding Avith the familv of the Rev. Dr. Gra- THE UFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 107 ham, of Winchester, Va. The General would never discuss matters connected with the Confederate Army, and when the question was asked him that brought the subject up, he would invariably give an evasive or unsatisfactory reply. A lady who was present when one of these interrogatories was put to General Jackson, under- took to secure a more direct answer than the General had given. Jackson turned to her with a quizzical look and a smile in which humor and seriousness were strangely blended, and in tones which precluded the possibility of offence being taken, he said: "Mrs. , I'll have to say to you as the schoolboys sometimes say, 'Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies.' " From that hour. Mr. Graham states, a thorough understanding was established as to what topics were to be avoided. General Jackson's Astuteness as a Diplomat. — In September, 1862, Gen. Bradley T. Johnson was in Richmond, and was asked by Mr. Seldon, the Confederate Secretar}' of War, to escort three English gentlemen of note, who had brought letters of introduction to Presi- dent Davis, General Lee and the Confederate government, to the Army. The government desired to give them special attention, and General Jackson was requested to take them to General Lee's head- quartrs, which he did. They were Mr. Lawley, correspondent of the London Times; Mr. Vizatelli, correspondent of the Illustrated Nezvs, and Major Garnet Wolseley, on furlough from his regiment in Canada. Later he was commander-in-chief of the English Army. After the call had been made on General Lee, by his orders, General Johnson took the party over to be introduced to General Jackson. He took up the conversation. He bad visited England and was greatly interested in the architecture of the Cathedral of Durham and the history of the Bishopric of that diocese. The General examined his guests with clearness and interest on the building and the rights of the Bishop. He showed such knowledge of the subject in hand that the Englishmen were surprised, for he knew more than they did of the subjects. As the quartette rode away. General Johnson said to his guests: "Gentlemen, you have disclosed Jackson in a new character to me, and I have been carefully observing him for a year and a half. You have made him exhibit — finesse, for he did all the talking to keep you from asking too curious or embarrassing questions. He did not want to say anything, so he did all the talking. I never saw anything like it in 108 A THESAURUS OF ANECDO'TCS OF AND INCIDENTS IN him before." Everybody laughed at this and concurred in General Johnson's opinion that General Jackson "had been too much for the interviewers." Stonewall Jackson Nonplussed. — During the campaign of the autumn of 1862, when Jackson was at Alartinsburg, West Virginia, an enthusiastic admirer of General Jackson threw her silk scarf in the road before Jackson's horse. The General was embarrassed. He did not know what it portended. "She means." said his aide, Major Henry Kyd Douglas, "that she wants you to ride over it." How Jackson Treated Young Girls Who Waved the Stars and Bars in His Face. — -When General Jackson was in Maryland, in September, 1862, he rode out into the Middletown Valley, north of Frederick city. As he and his aide. IMajor Kyd Douglas, approached Middletown, two young girls ran into the roadside, and each waved the Stars and Stripes in the face of the twain. General Jackson's only notice of the incident was to observe to his escort : "It is evident that we have no friends in this place." Apropos of that remarkable "historic lie," regarding Barbara Fritchie and Jackson, Major Douglas says he was with General Jackson every minute that he was in Frederick City, Md., and that no such incident as has been alleged about Jackson and Barbara Fritchie occurred, and, furthermore, General Jackson did not go on the street where Barbara lived. Barbara's nephew joins the witnesses against the truth of the report and adds to the proof that this slanderous allegation never had a form or being in fact. This relative, in a written statement early after the report was first put forth, stated that at the time of the alleged occu'-rence of the flag waving and Jack- son's action in regard to it, his venerable aunt was a palsied invalid in bed. TIIK LIFE OK STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 109 chaptf:r seventeen. STONEWALL JACKSON ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE. Jackson in and After the Battle — Jackson Fought Foes With Unloaded Guns — Jackson's Order to "Fire" at the First Bull Run — Jackson Gives Praise in Battle for a Good Shot — "Let Them Sweep the Field With the Bayonet," Jackson — Jackson and Staff Capture a Squad of Federal Pickets — In Pope's Rear — General Jackson Aroused — Jackson Gives an Order to a Federal Battery — The Sur- render of Harper's Ferry, September 15, 1862 — Jackson Draws His Sword at Slaughter Mountain — "They Have Done Their Worst," Jackson at Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862 — The Attack of Jackson at Chancellorsville on the Federal Flank. Jackson in and After the Battle. — "\\'hile the battle raged, he sat oil his horse unmoved in the very front of danger; but, ^\■hen the crisis was past and he could be spared from the field, c\"en though the thunders were still rolling in the distance, he rode back with the tension of his mind relaxed, and, entering his tent, 'shut to his door,' and calmed his spirit in the presence of God." — /. H. Field's Intro- duction to His Life of Jackson, p. 16. Jackson Fought Foes With Unloaded Guns. — "The valley region will long be alive with the traditions of this great flank movement, (that which, eluded Patterson's Army and which took Jackson to the First Manassas), and the spirit exhibited by the men. They had so often formed line of battle in front of Patterson, only to retire after- wards without fighting, that the troops nearly broke out in open murmurs against their commander. They did not know that fre- quently, when his bristling guns threatened the foe with their grim muzzles from every hillock, these guns were ivithout a single round of ammunition, and that no one could be more disappointed at the necessity which existed for retiring, tlian their general. Now. how- ever, when the order for a rapid march came, the troops perceived in the air, so to speak, the long-looked-for order of battle. They snuffed it up eagerly, and went on their way actually dancing for joy. and with deafening cheers." — A Virc/inian's Life of Jackson, p. 26. Jackson's Order to Fire at the First Bull Run July 21, 1861. Time, 2:45 P. M. Riding to the front and centre of his line, where 110 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN the 2nd and 4th Virginia Regiments were posted, General Jackson exclaimed : "Reserve your fire till they come within fifty yards, then fire and give them the bayonet ; and when you charge yell like furies." The Federal hosts came on. The Virginians rose from the earth and gave a roaring discharge into the Federal lines, and then charged across the hill. Kirby Smith's command, at the same time, assailed the Federal forces, while Beauregard gave the order for a general advance, Bee's, Evans's and Wade Hampton's men, recovering their grip, joining in the forward movement. The Federals gave way and the First Bull Run became a Confederate victory. Jackson Gives Praise in Battle for a Good Shot. — "Our first shot (at the Battle at Kernstown, March 23, 1862) was witnessed, from a nearby position, by General Jackson, who, upon seeing it crash through the door of an old barn crowded with Federal soldiers and scatter them pell-mell to the four winds, exclaimed, 'Good, good!' greatly to the pride and joy of all present." — Fonerden's History of Carpenter's Battery, p. 20. "Let Them Sweep the Field With the Bayonet." — Jackson's Corps was now on the Peninsula, June 27, 1862. The phenomenal campaign in the Shenandoah Valley had made this indispensable aid to Lee possible. It was at McGehee's Hill. Jackson's brigades were advancing into battle. Jackson gave his commanders of divisions this final command : "Tell them," as he despatched his order, "this afl:'air must hang in suspense no longer ; let them sweep the field with tlie bayonet." Before this message was deli\'ered the Confederates had emerged from the timljer about them and from every section of the field they centered in the plain about them. A general forv;ard move- ment had been ordered by Lee, and as the grey lines pressed forward the cry went up, "The Valley men are here," and with ^'Stonewall" Jackson's magic name as their battle cry, the soldiers of Lee dashed through the glen and gulch. Hill's, A. P. Longstreet's and D. H. Hill's divisions were there, and the Confederate colors floated over the ramparts that the Federals had abandoned. The Federal soldiers gathered in small detachments and tried to stem the onward current, but it was in vain. The Regulars of the Federal Army sustained the best of this gallant body's traditions, holding on to veritable lost ground, three squadrons of 5th U. S- Cavalry making a splendid charge, in the face of the triumphant Con- THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. Ill federates, seeing six out of seven oftlcers fall. Everywhere the Regu- lars made an efl"ort to save the day. Jackson and Staff Capture a Squad of Federal Pickets. — On June 27, 1862, after the Battle of McGehee's Hill, during the darkness of the evening, General Jackson and his staff rode unexpectedly into the Federal picket. Believing that the foe was demoralized, Jackson dashed into the squad and ordered them to surrender. This they did, and when the prisoners, nearly a score in number, were marched to the rear, they exclaimed with delight to the spectators that "they had been captured by old Jack himself." In Pope's Rear. — "As I before remarked, the (Confederate) Army was far from being happy about its position, of which we knew the really critical nature, and just below us a few miles, over the plains, Ave could hear a terrific artillery fire. I became uneas}'- as it con- tinued, and seeing General Jackson, who stood on the porch of one of the commissary depots, I proposed to General Field to let me go over and ask him if General Longstreet had passed through Thorough- fare Gap. Through this he must necessarily pass to reach us, and it was known to have been held by the enemy and was, besides, a sort of second pass of Thermopylae in its difficulties. W'hen I made this proposition to General Field, who was an old Army officer, he replied promptly : 'No, sir, — you cannot carry any such message from me to General Jackson.' 'Well, Field, then I am going over to ask on my own account,' I said. 'Then let it be distinctly understood,' was the answer, 'that you don't go officially.' "Walking over to where General Jackson stood, and saluting him, I said, 'General, we are all of us desperately uneasy about Longstreet and the situation, and I have come over on my own account to ask the question : ''Has Longstreet passed through Thoroughfare Gap suc- cessfully?'" With a smile General Jackson replied: 'Go back to your command and say, "Longstreet is through and we are going to whip them in the next battle'." — IV. Roy Mason, Major C. S. A., in Vol. 2. p. 529, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. General Jackson Aroused. — During the battle of the Second Manassas a Federal courier was captured by Gen. Bradley T. Johnson. His despatches told that Pope was concentrating, with three divisions, upon Stonewall Jackson, who was there in the rear of Pope's Army. "The captured despatch aroused Jackson like an electric shock. He 1 12 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOffES OF AND INCIDENTS IN was essentially a man of action ; he rarely, if ever, hesitated ; he never asked advice, and did not seem to reflect or reason out a purpose ; but he leaped by instinct, and not by the slower process of advancing ratiocination, to a conclusion, and then as rapidly undertook its exe- cution. He called no council to discuss the situation disclosed by the communication, although his ranking officers were at his side; he asked no conference ; no expression of opinion ; he made no sugges- tion, but simply, without a word, except to repeat the language of the despatch, turned to me and said: 'Move your division and attack the enemy,' and to Ewell, 'Support the attack.' The slumbering soldiers sprang from the earthworks with the first summons. There was nothing for them to do but to form and take their places. They v/ere sleeping almost in ranks, and by the time the horses of their officers were saddled, the long lines of infantry were moving to the 'jontem- plated battlefield." — General Longstreei, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil JVar, Vo\. 2, pp. 508-9. General Jackson Gives an Order to a Federal Battery.— "I recol- lect well the incident you ask about, General Jackson finding one of my guns (Col. W. T. Poague, then captain, at Port Republic. June 8, 1862), ready to move, directed me to hasten toward Port Republic, he himself going along and posting it in a field overlooking and com- manding the bridge. I was surprised to see a gun posted at the further end of the bridge, for I had just come from Army headquar- ters, and, although I had met a cavalryman who told me the enemy Avere advancing up the river, still I did not think it possible they could have gotten any guns in place in so short a time. It thereupon occur- red to me that the gun at the bridge might be one of Carrington's (Confederate), who was on that side and whose men had new uni- forms something like those we saw at the bridge. Upon suggesting this to the General, he reflected a moment, and then riding a few paces to the left and in front of our piece, he called out in a tone loud enough to be heard by them, 'Bring that gun up here.' But getting no reply, he raised himself in his stirrups and in a most authoritative and angry tone he shouted: 'Bring that gun up here, I say!' At that they began to move the trail of the gun .so as to luring it to bear on us, which, when the General perceived, he quickly turned to the officer-in- charge of my gun and said in his sharp, quick way, 'Let 'em have it.' The words had scarcely left his lips, when Lieutenant Brown, who had his piece charged and aimed, sent a shot right amongst them, so dis- THE LIFE OF STONEWAI.I, JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 113 concerting tliem that theirs in reply went far above us, and in a few minutes, seeing out infantry approaching, they left the place, and, as I was informed, abandoned their gun before crossing South River." — Note in .Ulcii's J 'alley Campaign, p. 150. During his lifetime, Major Henry Kyd Douglas, who had been a member of General Jackson's staff, told the author he v/as present when General Jackson had mistaken a Federal battery for Confederate guns and had given a command to the cannoniers, whereupon the Major said he told the General that they "were not our guns." Major Douglas also stated that the two armies had overkq^ped each other so at this moment that Federal and Confederate cavalrymen, in num- bers of one. two or three, were passing each other on the road, and matters looked serious for the General's safety when a large detach- ment of Federal ca\alry rode by them. The Surrender of Harper's Ferry, September 15, 1862. — Of this important event, the surrender of Harper's Ferry to Gen. Stonewall Jackson. Major H. Kyd Douglas, of his staff, says : "Under instructions from General Jackson, I rode up the pike and into the enemy's lines to ascertain the purpose of the white flag. Near the top of the hill I met General White and staff and told him my mis- sion. He replied that Colonel Miles had been mortally wounded, that he was in command and desired to have an interview with General Jackson. ... I communicated them to General Jack.son. whom I found sitting on his horse where I had left him. . The con- trasts in appearances here were striking. General W'liile. riding a handsome black horse, was carefully dressed and had on untarnished gloves, boots and sword. His staff was equally comely in costume. ■On the other hand. General Jackson was the doughtiest, worst-dressed and worst-mounted general that a woman who cared for good looks and style would wish to surrender to. General Jackson . . went up from Bolivar and into Harper's Ferry. The curiosity in the Union Army to see him was so great that the soldiers lined the road. . . . One man had an echo of response all about him when he said aloud. 'Boys, he's not much for looks, but if we'd had him. we wouldn't have been caught in this trap.'" — Leaders and Battles of the Civil War, Vol. 2, p. 7%. Jackson Draws His Sword at Slaughter Mountain. — P>roken by front and flank attacks, the Confederate line had become, on August 9, 1862, at the battle of Slaughter Mountain, a disorganized mob. 1 14 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN It was then that Jackson drew his sword from its scabbard for the initial time, and raising his voice far beyond the noise of battle he shouted, "Rall)% men, and follow me." His soldiers, for he was among his Valley veterans, heard the sounds of cheer and command from one who had led them to incomparable victories, and they nerved at once their invincible phalanxes to heroic action. The Virginians, with a wild yell from the 21st Regiment, dashed to the front and gave the Federals a quick volley. The officers of the remaining regiments, animated by Jackson's inspiring conduct, took forward their flags, and the privates, following the lead of their officers, emulated the gallantry of the soldiers of the 21st. The Federals halted in their charge while Early and Taliferro, reorganizing their forces, pressed forward to the fray. General Taliaferro, seeing Jackson in such an exposed position, told him that that was not his place in the midst of a mob. To this Jackson replied, "Good ! Good !" and rode calmly back to drive to its execution the stratagem he had contemplated to defeat the plans of the Federals. "Dr. McGuire, They Have Done Their Worst," Jackson at Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. — About eleven on the morning of the 17th of September, 1862, during the battle of Sharpsburg, Md., Dr. McGuire, the surgeon-general of Jackson's Corps, rode to West Wood to consult with General Jackson as to the wisdom of moA-ing the field hospitals to the south side of the Potomac. He found General Jackson mounted on Old Sorrell in the rear of the line of battle. The doctor presented him with some peaches that he had taken to him. These were received with great appreciation. Dr. McGuire then made his report. At numerous points the men were stretched at spaces of a few yards apart, and only one small brigade was there to aid the thin line. In the fields of ripening corn near them the great and overwhelming odds of the Federal forces were too plain. W'hen Dr. McGuire had ended his suggestions, Jackson, the calm and immovable, said in a soft tone, "Dr. McGuire, they have done their worst," and continued his repast of peaches. The Attack of Jackson at Chancellorsville on the Federal Flank. "Reaching the Orange Plank Road General Jackson himself rode with Fitz Lee to reconnoitre the position of Howard, and then sent the Stonewall Brigade by Thoroughfare Gap. under Brigadier-General Paxton, to hold the point there where the Germania Plank Road enters the Orange Road. . . . The well-trained ckirmishers of Rodes' THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 115 division, under Major Eugene Blackford, were thrown to the front. It must have heen between 5 and 6 o'clock on the evening of Satur- day, May 2nd (1863), when these dispositions were completed. Upon his stout-built, long-paced little sorrel, General Jackson sat, with vizor low over his eyes and lips compressed, with his watch in hand. Upon his right sat Gen. Robert E. Rodes, the very picture of a soldier, and every inch of all that he appeared. Upon the right of Rodes sat Major Blackford. "'Are you ready, General Rodes?' said Jackson. " 'Yes, sir,' said Rodes, impatient for advance. " 'You can go forward then,' said Jackson. "A nod from Rodes was enough for Blackford, and then suddenly the woods rang with the bugle call." — Rev. James Power Smith, Cap- tain and Adjutant-General, C. S. A., in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. 3, p. 203. 116 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. JACKSON'S THREE SPEECHES. Jackson's Only Political Speech — Jackson's Scabbard Speech — Jackson's Speech in Bidding Farewell to His Brigade. Jackson's Only Political Speech. — "I heard Jackson make the only pohtical speech of his Hfe. It was at Lexington during the cam- paign resulting in the election of Lincoln ( 1860). Though the voters of Rockbridge county, in which Lexington was situated, were over- whelmingly for Douglas, Breckinridge had a number of warm sup- porters, and the latter called a mass-meeting in the courthouse. Frank Jaxton, who afterwards fell at Chancellorsville at the head of his brigade, was one of the speakers, but the interest lagged until Jackson, who sat in the rear of the room, rose to speak. From the first he was listened to with the strictest attention, and his speech of a quarter of an hour made a deeper impression than all others. He spoke briefly and to the point, touching upon the dangers which threatened the country, and the need for every citizen to take a decided stand for the right, as he saw it. The scene comes back to me now. The dimly lighted room, the upturned faces of the listeners, and the earnest words and awkward gestures of the speaker. When he had finished he turned abruptly, and marched out with the quick firm step that was part of the man ; but the revelation had coine to those who remained, and they knew that the reserved and quiet professor had clear and well-defined views on the needs of the hour, and the courage to ex- press and stand by his convictions." — Colonel Georac H. Moffatt, South Hist. Mag., Yo\. 22, pp. 162-3. Jackson's Scabbard Speech. — In April, 1861, the L^nion people of Lexington, \ a., who appeared to be in a majority in that town, de- termined to have a parade. Following this several cadets were as- saulted and arrested. Word was carried to Washington College. Ex- citement ran high, and the cadets formed themselves into a brigade and began loading their guns to meet the paraders. Colonel Francis H. Smith, himself a Union man, was president of the College. Seeing the cadets getting ready for battle, he rose from a sick bed and hurried to them, saying that if there was any fighting between the citizens and the cadets he claimed the right to lead the battalion. This calmed the youngsters. The tumult then quieted, and opposition to the THE LIFE OF $TONE\VALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-C.EN., C. S. A. 117 par.'ulers resolved itself into a meeting at the Barracks. A ntiniber were called upon for speeches, and "there ensued a long pause. Per- haps some rei)ly was expected from the cadets. At last the jiainful silence was broken by a cadet crying out, 'Major Jackson !' The cry was taken up by the others, until it became general and continuous. Aware of Jackson's awkwardness and shyness, many may have called for him in a spirit of mischief, but, doubtless, the majority of the cadets, knowing his straightforwardness and sense of justice, desired from him some expression of approval or sympathy. Rising from his seat, he was greeted with loud applause, lie waited till the noise sub- sided ; then, with body erect and eyes sparkling, as they did so often on the field of battle, he said, with a vigor and fltiency that v,-ere a sur- prise to all : "[Military men, when they make speeches, should say but few words, and speak them to the point. J admire, young gentlemen, the spirit you have shown in rushing to the defence of your comrades ; but I must com- mend you particularly for the readiness with which you have listened to the counsel and ol:)eyed the orders of your superior officer. The time may be near at hand when your State will need your services, and, if that time does come, then draw your swords, and throw away the sciihhards.^'SoHtli. Mag., Vo\. 10, p. 45. Jackson's Speech in Bidding Farewell to His Brigade. — "On the 4th of (Jctober (1861). General Jackson was promoted to Major-Gen- eral and ordered to Winchester to take command of the forces in the Shenandoah X'alley, and he had his brigade paraded to bid them fare- Well. \\"e all had the blues, for we did not want to part with him as our Commander. Besides we all wanted to go with him. as nearly all of us came from the different counties in the Shenandoah X'alley. "General Jackson and his staff officers rode up in front of the brigade after we had formed on the hillside, and looked up and down the line. He then slowly raised his cap, and said, 'Officers and soldiers of the first brigade, I am not here to make a speech, but simply to say fare- well. I first met you at Harper's Ferry, in the commencement of this war, and I cannot take leave of you without giving expression to my admiration for your conduct from that day to this, whether on the march, the bivouac, the tented field, or the bloody plains of Manassas when you gained the well deserved reputation of having decided the fate of that battle.' 118 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN "Throughout the broad extent of country over which you have marched, by your respect for the rights and property of citizens, you have shown that you were soldiers,' not only to defend, but able and willing both to defend and protect. You have already gained a bril- liant and deservedly high reputation, throughout the army, and the whole Confederacy, and I trust, in the future, by your own deeds on the field, and by the assistance of the same kind Providence who has heretofore favored our cause, you will gain more victories, and add additional lustre to the reputation you now enjoy. "You have already gained a proud position in the future history of this, our second war of independence. I shall look with great anxiety to your future movements, and I trust, whenever I shall hear of the first brigade on the field of battle, it will be of still nobler deeds achieved, and a higher reputation won.' "Here he paused and glanced proudly around him. Then raising himself in his stirrups and throwing the reins on his horse's neck, he exclaimed in a voice of such deep feeling that it thrilled every heart in the brigade : Tn the army of the Shenandoah, you were the first brigade ; in the army of the Potomac, you were the first brigade ; in the second corps of this array you are the first brigade ; you are the first brigade in the affections of your general, and I hope by your future deeds and bearing you will be handed down to posterity as the first brigade in this, our second war of independence. Farewell !' "For a moment there was a pause, and then arose cheer after cheer, so wild and thrilling that the very heavens rang with them. General Jackson waved farewell to his men, and, gathering his reins, rode rapidly away." — Casler's History, pp. 83-4-5. This eloquent address was delivered spontaneously and not from notes. Two days after it had been made. Major Henry Kyd Douglas, of General Jackson's staff, and Sergeant Towers compared each other's recollections of the speech and the above was the result of their com- bined efforts. THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 1 19 CHAPTER NINETEEN. A GALAXY OF INCIDENTS IN STONEWALL JACKSON'S CAREER. Jackson Supports Imboden's Battery at the First Bull Run — Jackson Expected Every Order of His to Be Executed — Jackson's Ruse to Get Rolling Stock for the Confederacy — Stonewall Jack- son and General Loring Fall Out — Jackson Pushes a Battery Into Battle With His Own Hands — General Whiting Takes Back Call- ing Jackson a Fool — Jackson's Reply to a Suggestion From a Sub- ordinate — Jackson Adding a Minister to His Staff — Hunting Jack- son — "Jackson Is Surrounded!" — Stonewall Jackson Gives Infor- mation to His Soldiers Where He is Going to Fight His Next Battle — Waking up Stonewall Jackson — A Passing Remark from Jackson at the Battle of Port Republic — Jackson Crossing the Bridge at Port Republic — McClellem's Celerity Puzzled Jackson — Jackson's Plaui to Drive McClellan Into the Potomac — Jackson's Military Sagacity Displayed at Chancellorsville — Jackson's First Sight of Hooker's Flank at Chancellorsville — A Suggestion as to How Jackson Would Have Met the Defeat of the South. Jackson Supports Imboden's Battery at the First Bull Run. — Near the Henry House, situated in the midst of the first Bull Run battle field, in which house an old lady, Mrs. Henry, was mortally wounded, Imboden's Battery crossed at the edge of a pine grove, be tween the Henry and the Robinson houses. There Imboden met Stone- wall Jackson at the head of his brigade, marching by the flank at double quick. At that moment Captain Imboden was very angry at what he supposed had been bad treatment at the hands of General Lee, in leaving him and his battery exposed for a long time to capture. Im- boden expressed himself with a tincture of profanity in his remarks. He saw this was displeasing to the general, who observed : "I'll support your battery. Unlimber right here." Imboden did as directed, when a lull of from twenty to thirty minutes ensued. Captain Imboden re- ported to General Jackson when he had met him, that he had only three rounds of ammunition left for a single gim, and he suggested that a caisson be sent to the rear for ammunition. General Jackson replied, "No, not now ; wait till other gims get here, and then you can with- 120 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOJES OF AND INCIDENTS IN draw your battery, as it has been so torn to pieces, and let your men rest." While this waiting was in progress, and the men lay exhausted from work and want of water, Captain Imboden and Lieutenant Harman amused themselves training a gini on a strong force of the enemy, advancing towards them, yet still from twelve to fifteen hundred yards away. While thus employed. General Jackson came up and informed them that three or four batteries were rapidly approaching, and that Captain Imboden might soon retire. He gave the Captain permission which he had asked, to fire the three rounds of ammunition before leaving the field, with the reply, "Go ahead." Captain Imboden rammed home the shrapnel himself, but forgot to get far enough away from the gun, and after its discharge, the escaping gas of the explosion having struck him as the ball passed out of the gun, it landed him fully twenty feet away, and with blood gushing from his ear and it ruined forever. The shell burst in the Federal ranks. The contest then became terrific. Captain Imboden had been given the duty of going from gun to gun, to see that they were properly aimed. (3n returning, Captain Imboden asked General Jackson's permission to rejoin his battery. "The fight," says Captain Imboden, "was just then hot enough to make him feel well. His eyes fairly blazed. He had a way of throwing up his left hand with the open palm towards the person he was addressing, and, as he told me to go, he made this gesture. The air was full of flying missiles, and as he spoke he jerked down his hand and I saw blood was streaming from it." Cap- tain Imboden exclaimed, "General, you are wounded!" He replied, as he drew a handkerchief from his breastpocket, and began to bind it up, "Only a scratch — a mere scratch," and galloped away along the line. — Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. I. p. 236. Jackson Expected Every Order of His Executed. — Reminiscence of Lieut.-General T. J. Jackson (Stonewall), by Capt. James M. Garnett, a former member of his staft' : "This order, which I still have, placing me on Genernl Jackson's staff, reads as follows : TTIK LIFE OF STON'FWAIJ, JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN ., C. S. A. 121 '' 'Headquarters X'alley l^istrict. Dccenil^er 23, 1861. " 'Special Orders. Xo. 270. " 'Lieutenant James M. (jarnett is relieved frc)ni duty in Captain Waters's Company, and is announced as Chief of Ordnance Valley District. By command of Major-General Jackson. " ' A. 11. Jackson, A. A. General." "I served on Cieneral Jackson's staff for four months. v;hen 1 was relieved at my own request. "Fuller particulars in this connection will be found in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, for December 12, 1906. Durinjj^ this period 1 re- ported personally to General Jackson nearly every morning, especially before we evacuated Winchester, al)out ]March 10, 1862, and received his orders relating to ordnance stores. I thus had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, Ijut only in the relation of a general commanding and his ordnance officer. There were mounted in the fortifications around Winchester eleven heavy guns, four forty-two pounders and seven twenty-four pounders, which 1 had to remove, but General Jackson delayed so long in giving me the orders to remove them that I got off the last one only the day before we left the city. This was characteristic of the secrecy which marked all his movements. He did not wish anyone to know when he would evacuate the city. When he did evacuate it, he carried away even the empty ammunition boxes, which were not worth the space they occu])ied, and were fit- only for kindling-wood. 1 sent the stores by wagons to Strasburg, and there placed them in freight cars, which I had to unload at W^ood- stock, just twelve miles distant, and the next day. I had to reload them in freight cars and send them to Mount Jackson, twelve miles further, where they were again unloaded, and soon afterward reloaded and sent on to Xewmarket, seven miles further. Here they remained loaded in wagons for some weeks, and I had to procure tarpaulins from Richmond to protect the stores from the weather, which became very bad in A])ril. The stores remained in wagons stretched along the turnjiike for a mile from Newmarket, until 1 was finally allowed to shelter there in a small brick church (churches generally served as my magazines), and I fitted up a rented room for the re])air of dam- aged arms. When General Jackson went down the \'alley to the battle of Kernstown (March 23. 1862). he left me at Mount Jackson to arm and equip some five hundred militia from the Valley counties, 122 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN who had just come in, and he left also his inspector-general. Colonel Baylor, to muster them in. When we had fiulfilled these duties we rode down the Valley together and met the troops at Woodstock re- turning from the battle at Kernstown after their defeat, to which they had gone in too great a hurry. "Here I requested to be relieved as chief of ordnance, specifying my reasons, and General Jackson said that he would relieve me as soon as he could procure an ordnance ofticer from Richmond. This did not, however, happen until we had fallen back to Conrad's Store, about a month later, when my old school and college-mate, Lieut. Hugh H. Lee, was sent to him as ordnance officer. Meanwhile I had organized a division ordnance train,— which might have been done more conveniently at Winchester, — and ordnance matters were then progressing very satisfactorily. However, there was no help for it, so I was assigned to General Winder's "Stonewall" Brigade, and Hugh Lee was announced as 'Chief of Ordnance, Valley District,' in my stead. After Sharpsburg, he was taken sick, and I had to take charge of the ordnance division in his place. General Jackson never recog- nized any difficulties in the way of fulfilling his orders, or made any allowances for them, but expected the orders to be obeyed without question and without hesitation." Jackson's Ruse to Get Rolling Stock for the Confederacy. — "From the ver>^ beginning of the war the Confederacy was greatly in need of rolling-stock for the railroads. We were particularly short of bco- motives, and were without shops to build them. Jackson, appreciating this, hit upon a plan to obtain a good supply from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Its line was double-tracked, at least, from Point of Rocks to Martinsburg, a distance of 25 miles. We had not interfered with the running of trains, except on the occasion of the arrest of General Harney. The coal traffic from Cumberland was immense, as the Washington government was accumulating supplies of coal for the seaboard. These coal trains passed Harper's Ferry at all hours of the day and night, and thus furnished Jackson with a pretext for arranging a brilliant 'scoop.' When he sent me to Point of Rocks, he ordered Colonel Harper, with the 5th Virginia Infantry, to Mar- tinsburg. He then complained to President Garrett, of the Baltimore and Ohio, that night trains, eastward bound, disturbed the repose of his camp, and requested a change of schedule that would pass east- bound trains by Harper's Ferry between 1 1 and 1 o'clock in the dav- THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 123 time. Mr. Garrett complied, and thereafter for several days we heard the constant roar of passing trains for an hour before and an hour after noon. But since the "empties' were sent up the road at night. Jackson again complained that the nuisance was as great as ever. and. as the road had two tracks, said he must insist that the westbound trains should pass during the same two hours as those going east. Air. Garrett promptly complied, and we then had, for two hours every day, the liveliest railroad in America. One night, as soon as the schedule was working at its best, Jackson sent me an order to take a force of men across to the Maryland side of the river the next day at 11 o'clock, and, letting all westbound trains pass till 12 o'clock, to permit none to go east, and so the trains east and west were corralled near Harper's Ferry, captured and sent South " Stonewall Jackson and Loring Fall Out. — "I now accompanied Loring's Army to Winchester, in the latter part of December, 1861, where his (Loring's) force was united with that of Jackson. On the 1st of January, 1862, this united force moved towards Hancock, Mary- land, on what Jackson intended to be the beginning of a winter cam- paign. When near Bath, in Morgan county, Maryland, (an error, as there is no Morgan county in that State), we came upon the enemy's pickets and there was a halt. During this delay Jackson and Loring met, and some unpleasant words passed between them. Loring com- plained that if Jackson should be killed he (Loring) would find him- self in command of the army, the object of whose movements he )y this manoeuvre he was able to hold Shields in check, while Ewell administered a defeat to Fremont at Cross Keys. 'i Jackson Adding a Minister to His Staff. — In April, 1862. the Rev. Dr. Dabney receix ed an invitation to ])ccome one of General Jackson's stafif. He was to join liim at once near Mount Jackson, if he would accept it. "Your rank." wrote General Jackson, "will be that of Major. Your duties will require early rising/ and industry. Please let me hear from you at once." In a lecture ii^LBaltimore in Novem- ber, 1872. Dr. Dabney says: ^ "He who would aspire to work and fight as Jackson's assistant (Major Dabney's position was to be assistant adjutant- general )> must l)e one who would not look back after he had put his hand t9 the 126 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN plough ; but one who, like his master, came to stay with his work until it was ended, except, perchance, God should first end him. "Thus then went I, to show Jackson why I might not enter into this door of service, and yet seem no recreant (in staying out) to my country's needs. I found him at a place, — a gateway of the mountains that befriended him, named of the vicinage, Conrad's Store; the Shenandoah flood before him, and beyond multitudinous enemies thronging — held at bay, checkmated, gnashing vainly upon him ; while he, in the midst of, and marching of battalions, going to the watchpost, and splashing squadrons, splashing through mire most villainous, and of snow-tracks and sleet of uncongenial Spring, 'Win- ter lingering in the lap of Spring,' stood calm, patient, modest, yet serious, as though abashed at the meanest man's reverence for him; but at sternest peril unabashed. After most thoughtful, yea, feminine care of food and fire for me, he took me apart, saying, 'I am glad you have come.' But I told him that I was come, I feared, uselessly, only to reveal my unfitness, and retire; already broken by camp-disease, and enervated by student's toil. 'But Providence,' replied he, 'will preserve your health, if He designs to use you.' I was unused to arms and ignorant of all military art. 'You can learn,' said he. 'When would you have me assume my office?' 'Rest to-day, and study the "Articles of War," and begin tomorrow.' 'But T have neither outfit, nor arms, nor horse, for immediate service.' 'My quartermaster shall lend them, until you procure your own.' 'But I have a graver dis- qualification, which candor requires me to disclose to you first of mortals : I am not sanguine of success ; our leaders and legislators do not seem to me to comprehend the crisis, nor our people to respond to it ; and, in truth, the impulse which I feel to fly out of my sacred call- ing, to my country's succor, is chiefly the conviction that her need is so desperate. The effect on me is the reverse of that which the old saw ascribes to the rats when they believe the ship sinking.' 'But,' saith he, laughing, 'if the rats will only run this way, the ship will not sink.' Thus was I overruled." — Southern Hist. Mag., Vol. 14, pp. 128-9. Hunting Jackson.— "On May 21, 1862. Lieutenant F. M. Myers, of the Confederate Army, was given a despatch by General Ewell, to take to Jackson. Nobody had heard from General Jackson for a long time, and the lieutenant desired to ask where was Jackson, but from former experiences he was afraid to venture it, "and walked dis- consolately from headquarters and the presence of the General with- THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT. -GEN., C. S. A. 127 out any detinite plan whatever in his mi«d, and sighing with the Psahnist for 'the wings of a dove,' but Major Barbour had noticed his elongated visage, and divining his trouble, met him in the yard, where he proceeded to explain to him the road to Jackson, but while he was thus engaged. General Ewell stepped out and exclaimed in his quick, spiteful tone, 'Lieutenant Myers, go to Newmarket and take the turn- pike road to Harrisonburg; be quick now, I want to see you again today.' The Lieutenant crossed the Massanutten and found some of Ashby's cavalry at Newmarket, who told him Jackson was coming down the pike, and a nine-mile ride up the Valley brought him to the marching army of 'Stonewall,' and very soon he met a party of officers, riding among the infantry, when, selecting one whom for the plainness of his dress he took for a courier, he asked to show him General Jackson, but the courier simply replied, 'I am General Jack- son; where are you from, sir?' After reading the despatches, he wrote a few lines to General Ewell, and cross-questioned the Lieu- tenant a short time, when he sent him back saying, "I'll see you at Luray to-morrow.' On his way back to camp the Lieutenant met Gen- eral Ewell on the mountain, and on reaching the river found every- thing moving towards Newmarket, but this was soon changed, and the troops took the road to Luray, where on the following morning they met General Jackson and some of his people, and the two Gen- erals held a conference, after which Ewell pushed forward to Front Royal, reaching that place about 3 o'clock in the evening of the 23rd of May. Here they found a force of the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued." — IVhite's Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, by Prank M. Myers, Lieut., C. S. A., pp. 48 and 50. "Jackson Is Surrounded." — On June 7, 1862, when General Fre- mont was behind him near Port Republic, and General Shields in front of him, with bated breaths the soldiers of the great leader said to each other, "Jackson is surrounded." "Our eyes," said Dr. Dabney, his chief of staff, "saw no light ; but he, clear-eyed and serene, with genius braced by his steadfast heart and devout faith, saw all possi- bilities, and whence deliverance might dawn out of seeming darkness. And these two traits of greatness I recognized in Jackson through these transactions : First, that urgent and critical peril did not agitate and confuse his reason, nor make him hang vacillating, uneasy and impotent to decide between the alternatives ; that he ever thought best where other men could least think. Second, that he knew how to l2S A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN distinguish the decisive points from the unessential, and, grasping those with iron strength, to form them an inflexible conclusion. "Events, then, had showed Jackson these things by the close of Saturday, June 7th (1862). Why did he delay to strike this time, so unlike his wont? The 8th was 'the vSabbath of the I.ord,' which he would fain honor always if the wicked would let him. Not by him should the sanctity and repose of that bright, calm Sabbath be broken. When I went to him early, saying, T suppose, General, divine service is out of the question today?' his reply was, 'Oh, by no means. J hope you will preach in the Stonewall RrigadC; and I shall attend myself — that is, if we are not disturbed by the enemy.' Thus I retired, to doff the gray for the time and don the parson's black. But those enemies cherished no such reverence. As at the first JManassas and in so many other pitched battles, they selected Sunday for the day of battle." Stonewall Jackson Gives Information to His Soldiers Where He Was Going to Fight His Next Battle. — "The army lay cjuiet all day, and the next ( June 7th ) , moved towards Port Republic, encamping near the old church at Cross Keys. Some of the men became very impatient at the constant and rapid marching, and one of them asked General Jackson, as he passed along the column, where he was going to fight the Yankees. The General, with a half smile, replied : 'We'll fight them at Brown's Gap.' The soldiers at once became exceedingly interested in that place, continually asking each other how far it was to Brown's Gap, would the Yankees follow them there? and so forth, little imagining that the ground upon which they then stood was to be their battlefield for the morrow." — History of JVliitc's Bat- talion, p. 64. Waking Up Stonewall Jackson. — "I reached Port Republic an hour before daybreak of June 9, 1862, in response to an order from General Jackson, and sought the house occupied by Jackson ; but, not wishing to disturb him so early, T asked the sentinel what room was occupied by 'Sandy' Pendleton, Jackson's adjutant-general. 'Upstairs, first room to the right,' he replied. "Supposing he meant our right, as we faced the house, T went up, softly opened the door, and discovered General Jackson lying on his face across the bed, fully dressed, with sword and sash and boots all on. The low-burnt tallow candle on the bed shed a dim light, yet enough by which to recognize him. I endeavored to withdraw with- THE I.1FK OF STONEWALL JACKSON, I,JEUT.-GErC.. C. S. A. 129 out waking him. Jle turned over, sat U]) on tlie Ijed and called out, 'Who is that?' ''He checked my apology with. 'That is all right. It's time to be up. I am glad to see you. Were the men all uj) as you came through camp ?' " "Ves, (leneral, and cooking.' " 'That's right. We move at daybreak. Sit down. J want to talk to you.' "I had learned never to ask him questions about his plans, for he would never answer such to anyone. I. therefore, waited for him to speak first. He referred feelingly to Ashby's death, and spoke of it as an irreparable loss. W^hen he paused, I said, 'General, you made a glorious winding up of your four weeks' work yesterday.' "He replied, 'Yes, God blessed our army again yesterday, and I hope with His protection and blessing we shall do still better today.' ''Then seating himself, for the first time in all my intercourse with him, he outlined the day's proposed operations." — General Imboden, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil IVar, Vol. 2, p. 293. Passing Remark From General Jackson at the Battle of Port Republic. — General Jackson had given General Imboden, on the morning of the battle of I-'ort Republic, orders to take his field artillery to a certain part of the mountains above a ravine where he expected General Shields to rally his troops when he. General Jackson, had them "on the run," as he confidently predicted to General Imboden he would, and as occurred just as Jackson had anticipated. The Con- federate mules did not like the Union shot and shell that passed over their heads while they were awaiting the time for the guns of their battery to play their parts assigned them by General Jackson in tjie programme of the day. "The mules became frantic. They kicked, they plunged, they s(|uealed. It was impossible to quiet them, and it took three or four men to hold one mule from breaking away. Each mule had about three hundred pounds weight on him, so securely fastened that the load could not be dislodged by any of his capers. Several of them lay down and tried to wallow their loads off. The men held these down, and that suggested the idea of throwing them all on the ground and holding them there. The ravine sheltered us so that we were in no danger from the shot and shell that passed over us. "Just about the time our mule 'circus' was at its height, news came uj) the line from the left that Winder's brigade near the river was 130 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN giving away. Jackson rode down in that direction to see what it meant. As he passed on the brink of our ravine, his eye caught the scene, and, reining up a moment, he accosted me with. 'Colonel, you seem to have trouble down there.' I made some reply which drew forth a hearty laugh, and he said, 'Get your mules on the mountain as soon as you can, and be ready to move.' Then he dashed on. He found that his old brigade had yielded slightly to overwhelming pres- sure. Galloping up, he was received with a cheer ; and, calling out at the top of Hrs voice, 'The Stonewall Brigade never retreats; follow me !' led them back to their original line. Taylor soon made his appear- ance, and the flank attack settled the work of the day. A wild retreat began. The pursuit was vigorous. No stand was made in the defile. We pursued them eight miles. I rode back with Jackson, and at sunset we were on the battlefield at the Lewis mansion. "Jackson accosted a medical officer, and said, 'Have you brought off all the wovmded?' 'Yes, all of ours, but not all of the enemy's.' 'Why not?' 'Because we were shelled from across the river.' 'Had you your hospital flag on the field ?' 'Yes.' 'And they shelled that 'f' 'Yes.' 'Well, take your men to their quarters. I would rather let them all die than have one of my men shot intentionally under the yellow flag when trying to save their wounded.' "Fremont, hearing the noise of the battle, had hurried out from near Harrisonburg to help Tyler ; but Jackson had burnt the bridge at Port Republic after Ewell had held Fremont in check some time on the west side of the river and had escaped, so that when Fremont came in sight of Tyler's battlefield the latter's troops had been routed and the river could not be crossed." — General Imboden, in Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Yo\. 2, p. 295. Jackson's Plan to Drive McClellan in the Potomac Foiled by Mc- Clellan's Generalship. — In the battle of Sharpsburg, in Maryland, in September, 1862, the attempts to drive Stonewall Jackson from his position failed. At half past one on the 17th, the Federal efiforts having ceased, Major-General John G. Walker sought Stonewall Jack- son and found him in the rear of Barksdale's Brigade, sitting on his horse, with one limb thrown over the pummel of his saddle, imder an apple tree, picking and eating the fruit. Making no reply whatever to the report of the division commander. General Jackson abruptly asked General Walker, "Can you spare me a very strong regiment and bat- tery?" Then General Walker offered him one of his reserv'e regi- THE LIK1-: OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 131 ments, tlie 49tli North Carolina, a very strong organization. He also told General Jackson he could spare him both French's and Branch's Batteries ; hut they were now without long-range ammunition. Jack- son then said that, owing to the nature of the ground. General Stuart's Cavalry could take no part in the battle, but that the General had offered his own services. General Jackson added that he desired to make up from several commands on the Confederate left a force of four or five thousand men. and to give them to General Stuart, with orders to turn the enemy's right and to attack him in the rear; that General Walker must give orders to his division to advance to the front and attack the enemy as soon as he should hear the guns of Stuart.^"'and that our whole left wing would move to the attack at the same "time." Then, replacing his foot m the stirrup, he said with great emphasis. "We'll drive McClellan into the Potomac." Later in the day General Jackson informed General Walker in person that Stuart had failed to turn McClellan's right, for lie had found it securely posted on the Potomac. Jackson Crossing the Bridge at Port Republic. — Lieutenant Myers, in his interesting story of White's Battalion, on pagfe — , him- self being with Jackson at Port Republic on June 9th, the day on which this well-known incident happened, gives a A'ery different account from any other that I have seen, of a day when Jackson on that fateful Monday came so dramatically and dangerously near to being captured. Lieutenant Myers states : "On Monday morning, 'Stonewall' crossed the bridge almost alone, and rode into town, but on his return he found a Yankee major at the mouth of the bridge, and, without a moment's hesitation, rode up to the officer, saying, "Turn your guns, sir, turn your guns ; the enemy is coming from that direction,' point- ing at the same time down the river, and, without a question, the unsuspecting major had his pieces wheeled about, in order to com- mand the approach of the enemy, which to him was no enemy at all, and, without waiting to ex])lain any further. General Jackson dashed rapidly across the bridge to his own people, but he had not a moment to spare, for the baffled Yankee had his guns going on him before he cleared the bridge." McClellan's Celerity Puzzled Jackson. — The military sagacity of Stonewall Jackscm extended in a most remarkable degree — and was the faculty that contributed largely to his wonderful achievements in his campaign.s — in foreseeing, and thus forestalling, the movements of 132 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN his enemies. There was one general, and one occasion, by whom and in which Jackson was deceived. Major-General John G. Walker, C. S. A., gives the incident and the circumstances of it, prefacing it with the fact that when Jackson heard the guns of McClellan's Army at Crampton's Gap, the day previous to the capture of Harper's Ferry, he could not believe it was McClellan's Army, but expressed himself as thinking it to be '"no more than a cavalry afifair between Stuart and Pleasanton." "No sooner," states General Walker, "had the surrender of Harper's Ferry been assured, than my division took up its line of march to join General Lee. At 2 A. M. of the 16th September, 1862, my advance overtook the rear of Jackson's force, and about 8 in the morning (of the day of the battle), after seeing our commands safe across the river at the ford below Shepherdstown, Jackson and myself went forward together toward Sharpsburg. As we rode along I mentioned my ruse in opening fire at Harper's Ferry. Knowing the strictness of Jackson's ideas in regard to military obedience, I felt a little doubtful as to what he would say. When I had finished my confession, he was silent for some minutes, and then remarked, 'It was just as well as it was; but I could not believe that the fire you reported indicated the advance of McClellan in force. It seemed more likely to be merely a cavalry afifair.' Then after an interval of silence, as if to himself he continued, T thought I knew McClellan' (they were classmates at West Point), but this movement of his puzdes me'."— Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, \'o\. 2, p. 611. The ruse referred to by General Walker was the forcing, by a show of two regiments in battle-array, of the Federals in Harper's Ferry to fire on him, which gave him the excuse to open his guns upon Colonel Miles, which Jackson did not want done for a day unless he was pressed to it. General Walker was urged to do this by McClellan's quick movements that threatened Lee's army in the rear if it stayed longer to assure the capture of Harper's Ferry. Jackson's Military Sagacity Displayed at Chancellorsville. — "In a conversation with a Confederate officer at Lexington, on February 16. 1868, General Lee said, in regard to Chancellorsville, that 'Jackson at first preferred to attack Sedgwick's force in the plain at Fredericks- burg, but he told him it was as impracticable as it was at the first battle of Fredericksburg. It was hard to get at the enemy and harder to get away if we drove him into the river. But,' said he to lackson, THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 133 'if you think it can be done. I will give orders for it.' Jackson then asked to be allowed to examine the ground, and did so during the afternoon, and at night came to Lee and said he thought he (Lee ) was right. 'It would be inexpedient to attack there.' 'iMove then,' said Lee, "at dawn to-morrow (the 1st May ) up to Anderson,' who had been j>reviously ordered to proceed towards Chancellorsville ; 'and the next time I saw Jackson.' said General Lee, was upon the next day, when he was on the skirmish line, driving in the erkemy's skirmishers around Chancellorsville.' " — Goi. Fit::liugh Lee, Vol. 7, p. 562, Southern His- torical Magazine. Jackson's First Sight of Hooker's Flank at Chancellorsville. — "Jackson was marching on. My cavalry was well in his front (May 2. 1863). Upon reaching the Plank road, some five miles west of Chancellorsville. my command was halted, and. while waiting for Jackson to come up, I made a i)crsonal reconnoisance to locate the Federal right for Jackson's attack. With one statf officer I rode across and beyond the Plank road, in the direction of the old turnpike, pur- suing a path through the woods, momentarily expecting to find evidence of the enemy's presence. Seeing a wooded hill in the distance, T deter- mined, if possible, to get upon its top, as it promised a view of the adjacent country ^ Cautiously I ascended its side, reaching the open spot upon its summit without molestation. What a sight presented itself before me. Below me, and but a few hundred yards distant, ran the Federal line of battle. I was in the road of Howard's right. There were the lines of defence, with abatis in front, and long lines of stacked arms in rear. Two cannon were visible in the part of the line seen. The soldiers were in groups in the rear, laughing, chatting, smoking, probably engaged here and there in games of cards and other amusements indulged in while feeling safe and comfortable, awaiting orders. In the rear of them were other parties driving up and butch- ering beeves. ■'The remembrance of the scene is as clear as it was sixteen years ago. So impressed was I with my discovery, that I rode rapidly back to the ix)int on the Plank road where T had left my cavalry, and back down the road Jackson was moving, until 1 met 'Stonewall' himself. 'General.' I said, 'if you will ride with me, halting your column here, out of sight, I will show you the enemy's right, and you will perceive the great advantage of attacking down the Old Turnpike instead of by the Plank road ; the enemy's lines will be taken in reverse. Bring 134 A 1 tlESAL'RUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN only one courier, as you will be in view from the top of the hill." Jack- son assented, and I rapidly conducted him to the point of observation. There had been, no shange in the picture. "I knew Jackson slightly. I watched him closely as he gazed upon Howard's troops. It was then about 2 P. M. His eyes burned with a brilliant glow, lighting up a sad face. His expression was one of intense interest, his face was colored slightly with the paini of approaching battle, and radiant at the success of his flank movement. Was he happy at the prospect of the 'delightful excitment,' terms, Dick Taylor says, he used to express his pleasure of being under fire? To the remarks made to him while the unconscious line of blue was pointed out. he did not reply once during the five minutes he was on the hill, and yet his lips were moving. From what I have read and heard of Jackson since that day. I know what he was doing then. Oh ! 'Beware of rashness,' General Hooker. Stonewall Jackson is praying in full view and in rear of your right flank ! "While talking to the Great God of Battles, how could he hear what a poor cavalryman was saying. Tell General Rodes,' said he suddenly whirling his horse towards the courier, 'to move across the Old Plank road ; halt when he gets to the Old Turnpike, and I will join him there.' One more look upon the Federal lines, and then he rode rapidly down the hill, his arms flapping to the motion of his horse, over whose head it seemed, good rider as he was, he would certainly go. I expected to be told I had a valuable personal reconnoisance — saving the lives of many soldiers, and that Jackson was indebted to me to that amount at least. Perhaps I might have been a little chagrined at Jackson's silence, and hence commented inwardly and adversely on his horsemanship. Alas ! I had looked upon him for the last time. * * * Jackson's men burst with a cheer upon the startled enemy, and swept down in rear of Howard's line, capturing cannon before they be turned upon them." — General Pitchiigh Lee, in S. H. Mag.. Vol. 7, pp. 571-2-3. A Suggestion as to How Jackson Would Have Met the Defeat of The South. — In a lecture delivered in Baltimore City in November 1872, Major Dabney, General Jackson's Chief of Staff, and one who had his confidence, thus speculated upon the conduct of Jackson, who had said he preferred death to the death of the Southern Confederacy, had he seen the failure of the South to establish its independence. THE LIFE OF STON'EWAr.I, JACKSON', LIEUT. -GEN'., C. S. A. 135 "Jackson is gone and the cause is gone. All the victories which he won are lost again. The penalty we pay for the pleasure of the dream is the pain of the awakening. I confess unto you that one of the most consoling thoughts which remain to me amidst the wakening realities of the present is this — that Jackson and other spirits like him are spared the defeat. I find that many minds sympathize with me in the species of awful curiosity to know what Jackson would have done at our final surrender. It is tsrange, a startling conviction of our thoughts : Jackson, with his giant will, his unflinching faith, his heroic devotion, face to fact, after all, with the lost cause ! What would he have done? This question has been asked me, and my answer always has been: 'In no event could Jackson have survived to see the cause lost. But you say: Would he have l)een guilty of suicide? Would he, in the last, lost battle, have sacrificed himself upon his country's funeral? No. But I believe that, as his clear eye saw the approach- ing catastrophe, his faithful zeal would have spurred him to strive so devotedly to avert it, he would have overwrought his powers, or met his death in generous forget fullness (not in intentional despera- tion ) on the foremost edge of battle. For him there was destined to be no subjugation. The God whom he served so well, was too gracious to his favorite son. Less faithful serv^ants, like us, may need this bitter courage. He was meeter for his reward." — South, Hist. Mag., A'ol. II, pp. 152-3. 1 36 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN CHAPTER TWENTY. THE RELIGION OF STONEWALL JACKSON. General Jackson — the "Happiest of Men" — General Jackson a Faithful Deacon of the Church — Jackson Makes Collections for His Church — Jackson Tells How the Rule not to Take a Letter out of the Mail on Sunday Benefited a Friend — General Jackson Cured a Colored Boy of the Habit of Swearing — Jackson's Punctuality in Respecting Social Obligations — Jackson's Dread of Trusting to Men and not to God for Success of the Fonfederate Army — Jackson a Believer in Providence — Jackson Gives General Imboden His Rea- sons for His Calmness in Battle — Jackson as Superintendent of a Colored Sundy School — Jackson's Opinion of a Sermon — General Jackson Leads in Prayer in Church — Jackson Had Qualms in Fight- ing a Battle on Sunday — Jackson's Reverential Despatch After the Battle of McDowell — Jackson's Body Servant Knew When to Pack His Haversack — Jackson Sends a Contribution to Church Instead of News of Battle — With Jackson Every Victory Was a Gift from God's Hands — Jackson Prays on the Eve of Battle — Jackson Un- estentatiously Attends Church in Richmond — The Tincture of Re- ligion in Jackson's Reports and Correspondence — Jackson Reading the Scriptures on the Eve of Battle — A Seeming Oddity of Jack- son Has a Clear Explanation — Jackson Glad to See One of His Colored Sunday School Scholars — Jackson Had His Favorite Hymns — Jackson Creates a Stir by CeJling for a Corporal — Jack- son Desired a Christian Daily Paper — Jackson's Intercourse With His Chaplains — Jackson Prayed Before Advancing to Meet Hooker — Jackson Worships in the Church His Soldiers Had Built — Jack- son Allows a Catholic Priest to Have the Only Tent Outside Those of Headquau-ters — Jackson's Life Had its Influence for Good. General Jackson — the Happiest of Men. — "It was the testimony of his pastor, that he (Major Jackson) was the happiest man he ever knew. The assurance that 'all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his pur- pose,' was, to him, a living reality. It robbed suffering of all of its bitterness and transmuted trials into blessings. To his most intimate Christian associates, he was one day expressing his surprise that this class of promises did not yield to other Christians a more solid peace. THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN.. C. S. A. 137 The suggestion arose in the mind of liis friend to try tlie extent of his own faith, with the question whether the trust in God's love and purposes of mercy to his own soul would be sufficient to confer on him abiding happiness under the privation of all earthly good. He an- swered, 'Yes, he was confident he was regenerated and adopted through the work of Christ and that, therefore, inasmuch as every event was disposed of by omniscience, guided by redeeming love for him, seem- ing evils must be real blessings ; and that it was not in the power of any earthly calamity to overthrow his happiness.' His friend knew his anxious care of his health, and asked, 'Suppose. Major, that you should lose your health irreparably, do you think you could be happy then?' He answered, *Yes, I should be happy still.' His almost morbid fear of blindness was remembered, and the question was asked: 'But suppose, in addition to chronic illness, you should incur the total loss of your eyesight, would not that be too much for you?' He answered firmly, 'No.' His dislike of dependence was excessive. He was, therefore, asked once more, 'Suppose that, in addition to ruined health, and total blindness, you should lose all your property, and be left thus, incapable of any useful occupation, a wreck to hunger on a sick-bed, dependent on the charities of those who had no tie to you, would not this be loo much for your faith'? He pondered for a moment,, and then answered in a reverential tone: 'H it were the will of God to place me there, He would enable me to lie there peacefully a hundred \ea.vs' "-—Dabncy, \^ol. I, pp. 127-8. His perfect faith of belief that, when he had performed his duty, the results were the hand of God acting upon events, enabled him to possess patience and contentment under trying circumstances When he had been delayed in his return after vacation to his post at the \'irginia Military Institute, he was asked if he was not made wretched by his absence from his duty, and rei)lied : "By no means : I had set out to return at the proper time : / had done my duty. The steamer was delayed by an act of Providence, and I was perfectly satisfied." — Dabney, p. 134. General Jackson a Faithful Deacon of His Church. — General Jackson was as faithful to the business duties of his religious life as he was to the temporalities of his profession. In reporting his work in connection with a collection he was taking, he said: "I have a con- tribution from every person in my district except one lady. She has been away ever since I have been collector, but she will be home at 12 138 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN o'clock to-day, and I will see her nt 1 o'clock." The next day he re- ported a contribution from her also." — Rcz'. J. Wm. Jones, Chaplain C. S. A. When he'fell in battle, his venerable pastor exclaimed to Chaplain J. Wm. Jones, with deep emotion : "Oh ! sir, when Jackson fell I lost not only a warm friend, a consistent active church member, but the best deacon I ever saw." Jackson Makes Collections for His Church. — "Major Jackson took upon himself the duty of collecting for the church. He regularly called upon his pastor to report his work as deacon. 'At one collection the gifts were solicited for the American Bible Society, and Jackson rallied forth, armed with the list of names furnished by the clerk of the congregation. When he came to the pastor to report, he had a number of additional names written in pencil marks at the foot of the list, with small sums opposite.' 'W'hat are these?' asked the good doctor. 'Those at the top,' said Jackson, 'are your regulars, and those below are my militia.' On examination of the names, they were found to be those of the free blacks on the quarters, all of whom he had visited in their humble dwellings and encouraged to give a portion of their earnings to print the Bible. He argued that these small sums were better spent thus than in drink or tobacco ; that the giving of them would elevate their self-respect and enhance their own interest in the Holy Book ; and that they, being indebted to it, as well as others, should be taught to help in diffusing it." — Dabncy, Vol. I, pp. 111-2. General Jackson Tells How the Observance of the Rule Not to Take a Letter Out of the Mail on Sunday Benefited a Friend. — General Jackson related with especial satisfaction an incident of the good that once came to a friend by the enforcement of his views on the Sabbath mail. While proceeding one Sabbath to Divine Worship with a Christian associate, his friend proposed to apply to the post office for his letters on the plea that there was probably a letter from a dear relative, wdiose health was in a most critical state, and might, for aught he knew, demand his immediate aid, but he dissuaded him by the argument that the rtecessity for departing in this from the Sab- bath rest was not known, but only suspected. They went together to church and enjoyed a peaceful day. On the morrow it was ascertained there was a letter to Jackson's friend from his afflicted relative, an- nouncing a most alarming state of the disease with which the patient suffered, but there was also a later one, arriving that day, correcting Till-: LIFE OF STOXFWAI.L J.VCKSON, IJKUT.-GEN'., C. S. A. 139 all signs of distress, and stating that the health of the sufterer was re- stored. "Now," said Jackson, "had my friend causelessly dishonored the Sabbath, he would have sutTered a day of harrowing anxiety, which the next day's news would have shown utterly groundless : but God rewarded him for his obedience, by mercifully shielding him from this gratuitous sutTering. I le sent him the antidote along with the harm." —Dalvicy's Life of Jackson, p. 89. General Jackson Cured a Colored Boy of the Habit of Swear- ing. — In the year 1913. in his 84th year, Jefi Shields, who claimed himself to be the tirst colored pupil in Jackson's Sunday School, at Lexington, \'a., and who says he was cook for the General during the civil war, made this statement : "I was General Jackson's first scholar. Somebody ought to write a history of Jackson's Christian life, for he was the greatest Christian that ever lived. Jackson had a class of boys, about eighteen. Jackson stopped me from swearing, and I had to go to the Presbyterian Church because I admired him so much. ( He was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church.) He was the hardest man to get to laugh you ever saw — no foolishness about him. . One day he said to me : 'You don't seem very jokey today, Jeff.' "No. I see you are a dift'erent man from what I am a boy. So I must change.' When he prayed, he would say, 'Re- member Jeff.' I would go through all kinds of weather to do anything for him, because I loved him." This statement was obtained for the author from Jeff Shields himself, by Miss Elizabeth Stuart, of Lexington, Va. There were about 500 in the Sunday School, which was held in the Presbyterian Sunday School Room. Jackson's Punctuality in Respecting Social Obligations. — Major Dabney, in his Life of his eminent commander, says that he acquitted himself of his social obligations with a sense of moral responsibility. "W'hen a single man, he went into society as frequently as other young men of regular habits, saying he was constrained to do so by a sense of justice and humanity, for when an acquaintance took the trouble to prepare an entertainment and honored him with an invitation, to attend, where no duties interposed, was the only equitable return due for the kindness." — Dabney, pp. 96-7. "As a member and officer of the church, he was eminently defer- ential to his pastor as his superior officer. But, as a commander-in- 140 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN chief, he would no more defer to the judgment of that pastor, than to that of the humblest of his own soldiers."- — Ibid. p. 81. Jackson's Dread of the People Giving Men, and not God, Praise and Honor for their Success. — "Jackson said -.'The manner in which the press, the army and the people, seem to lean or certain persons, is positively frightful. They are forgetting God in the instruments they have chosen, which fills me with alarm'." — Gctting's Personal Recollections. Jackson a Believer in Providence. — During his service in the Confederate Army, Charles H. Stanley, Esq., of Laurel, Maryland, was placed as guard over a tent in which three deserters v/ere under arrest and imprisonment. In the night, while the guard was in front of the tent, the three prisoners escaped by the rear. When this was discovered, the guard was marched up into Stonewall Jackson's presence to have the matter investigated. "It was," said Mr. Stanley, who related it to the writer, "a question of guard house for me or even to be shot. General Jackson addressed me in this manner: "They ought not to have escaped ; yet they were deserters, and under the rules of war would have been punished with death. Perhaps, it was an interposition of divine Providence in their behalf. You may go back to your tent'.'' Jackson Gives Imboden the Reasons for His Calmness in Battle. — "Two days after the battle (of Bull Run), hearing that Jackson was suffering from his wound, I rode to his quarters near Centreville. Of course the battle was the only topic discussed during breakfast. 'Gen- eral,' I remarked, 'how is it that you can keep so cool and appear so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shell and bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit?' He instantly became grave and reverential in his manner, and answered, in a low tone of great earnestness : 'Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me.' He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face : "That is the Avay all men should live, and then all would be equally brave'." — General John D. Imhoden. Jackson the Superintendent of a Colored Sunday School — An old student of the A'irginia ^Military Institute, in the Southern Historical Magazine, under the signature of "G. H. M." gives this description of General Jackson's colored Sundav School : THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LlEUT.-GExN., C. S. A. 141 "At the request of a young friend in the town of Lexington, who expected to be absent several weeks, I agreed to supply his place temporarily as a teacher in the colored Sunday School. Accordingly on the next Sablsath afternoon, I repaired to the lecture room of the Presbyterian Church. I found the room filled with colored children, whose clean clothes and shining ebony faces evidenced their apprecia- tion of the interest taken in them by the white folks. I foimd present a dozen or more young white ladies and gentlemen who acted as teach- ers, and, standing by a table on the inside of the railing surrounding the pulpit, was the superintendent of the school. ''I doubt whether, in after days, during the great historical events in which he was the chief actor, General Jackson felt more sensibly the responsibility of his position than he did that afternoon as the com- mander of the little army of sable children. With characteristic promptness, just as the hand of the clock touched the figure 3, the exercises of the school were opened by his saying, 'Let us pray.' Ac- cording to the Presbyterian mode, he prayed in a standing attitude. My recollection is that his prayer was striking for its beautiful sim- plicity. There was no superfluous ornamentation about it, neither were there any rhetorical flourishes. It was the simple pleading of an earnest soul. It was free from the preamble so often made by ministers and laymen in their public prayers, wherein they often undertake to inform Deity of the current events of the past. Taking it for granted that Omniscience knew all things, he commenced his prayer by praxing. It was the petition of one conscious of his own weakness and pray- ing for strength. There was the true contrition of heart, accom- panied by a faith which took a sure hold on the promises. And his voice seemed to tremble as he prayed for a special blessing on his little charge — the negro children of the town whom he had gathered to- gether in a Sunday School. It was the days of slavery, and their neglected condition excited his sympathy, and a sense of duty impelled him to make an effort to rid them from the slavery of sin. Some of the Bourl)on aristocracy criticised his action, and e\en went so far as to threaten prosecution. But a healthy Christian sentiment in the com- munity sustained him, and he went forward in the path of duty. It can be well understood, then, why he betrayed emotion when ])resent- ing the little army of the dusky soldiers to the review of the Great Commander. It was the faithful soldier making a full report to headquarters. It was the c^bedient soldier seeking for instructions. 'That was Stonewall's way'. "5. H. Maga.-:ine, \'ol. 9. pp. 44-45. 142 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Mr. J. D. Davidson, of Lexington, gives the following interesting sequel to this school: "On Saturday evening of May 1, 1858, I left my office and on my way home met Major Jackson on the pavement in front of the Court House, in company with Colonel S. McD. Reid, the clerk of the courts, and William McLaughlin, Esq., now judge of our Circuit Court. They were conversing on the subject of his Sunday School. "Colonel Reid said to him, 'Major, I have examined the statute and conferred with the Commonwealth's attorney. Your Sunday School in an 'unlawful assembly.' "This seemed to fret him much. Mr. McLaughlin then said to him that he had also examined the question, and that his school was against the letter of the law\ This fretted him still more. I then said to him, 'Major, whilst I lament that we have such a statute in our Code, I am satisfied that your Sunday vSchool is an 'unlawful assembly,' and prob- ably the grand jury will take it up and test it.' "This threw him off his gtiard, and he replied with, 'Sir, if you were, as you should be, a Christian man, you would not think, or say so.' Thus thrown off my guard, I replied tartly, in words not now re- membered ; when he turned on his heel and walked to his house on the opposite side of the street. "I passed on home, and had not gone half way when I began to rebuke myself for my rudeness to Major Jackson, and determined to return and apologize to him. "Reaching home, I found my wife and a relative, Major Dorman, sitting together. I told them what had occurred, and requested my wife to give me an early supper that I might return and make my apology. "I returned to my office after dusk, taking with me a negro bov to bear my apology in writing to Major Jackson. "I had commenced writing it, and, when half written, I heard a tap at my office door, when Major Jackson stepped in, saying: 'Major Davidson, I am afraid I wounded your feelings this evening ; I have called to apologize to you.' 'No, Major,' I replied., 'no apology from you to me. I am now writing my apology to you.' "He remained for more than a half hour conversing with me, and, when he left he said these words : 'Mr. Davidson, these are things that bring men together and make them know each other better.' THE LIF?: OF STONKWAIJ. JACKSON. LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. H.") "The half written note of apology 1 now hnd amongst my pa{)ers. "This incident speaks for itself, and reveals some, at least, of the features of that great and good man." — South. Mag., \'o\. 9, |)p. 45-46. This was Mr. Davidson's half finished note: "Saturday night. May 1, 1858." "Major Jackson:" "Dear Sir: — 'As I shall not have an opportunity of meeting you again before Monday, I will not rest content until I have tendered yon a becoming apology for the hasty, and, I fear, uncourteous reply made by me to you in our conversation this evening — " General Jackson "was accustomed to say that one of the very great- est privations to him which the war brought was that he was taken away from his beloved work in the colored Sunday School. "Jackson thus acquired a wonderful influence over the colored people of that whole region, and to this day his memory is warmly cherished by them. \\'hen 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, wnth the verse of a familiar hymn pinned to it. L^pon inquiry she found that a colored boy, who had belonged to Jackson's Sunday School, had procured the flag, gotten someone 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 loved teacher." — RezK J. JVilliam .tones, Chaplain in Confederate Army, Vol. 19, S. H. Mag., ])p. 161-162. Jackson's Opinion of a Sermon. — "Yesterday was communion at Mr. Graham's church, and he invited me to be present, but I was pre- vented from enjoying that privilege. However, I heard an excellent sermon from the Rev. Dr. Stiles. His text was 1st Timothy, ch. ii, 5th and 6th verses. It was a powerful exposition of the Word of God; and when he came to the word 'himself,' he placed an emphasis upon it, and gave it a force which I had never felt before, and I realized that, truly, the sinner who does not turn to God under Gospel privileges, deser\'es the agonies of perdition. The doctor several times in appealing to the sinner, repeated the verse — '\\ ho gave himself a 144 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN ransom for all, to be testified in due time.' What more could God do than give Himself a ransom? Dr. Stiles is a great revivalist, and is laboring in a work of grace in General Ewell's Division. It is a glorious thing to be a minister of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace. There is no equal position in this world." — Letter to Mrs. Jackson. General Jackson Leads in Prayer in Church. — On the 15th day of November, 1861, a day appointed by the Confederate authorities as a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer. General Jackson attended Rev. Dr. Graham's church in Winchester. When the hymn following the first prayer was finished, with some misgivings the minister asked General Jackson to lead in prayer. The request was evidently a sur- prise to him, but, after a trying pause of a second or two, General Jackson arose, and, "with the manner of one who was on familiar ground and engaged in familiar exercise, he led us at once into the presence of God and to the throne of grace. Beginning with words of adoring reverence, which immediately impressed and subdued every heart, he asked to be heard for the sake of our divine Redeemer ; and then, as if pouring out his soul before God, in the most simple man- ner, yet with deep fervor, he made confession of our utter unworthi- ness as sinners and of our absolute dependence on divine mercy. In words borrowed from the Scripture, and uttered in most earnest tones, he besought God to bless our afflicted country and give success to our arms. In the whole course of his prayer he did not forget for one moment that he was one of a company of sinners, deserving nothing of God, yet pleading with Plim, for Christ's sake, to be merciful to lis and bless us. Not a single word did he utter inconsistent with the command to love our enemies. Not once did he venture to tell God what He ought to do in that great crisis of our country. But, while he did importunately ask that our arms be crowned with victory and our country obtain its independence, he was careful to ask it in humble deference. to divine wisdom, and only if it would be for God's glory and our good." — Rev. James R. Graham. This prayer produced a marked efifect in the community — it taught men to pray in these bitter times without hate to their foes. Jackson Had Qualms in Fighting a Battle on the Sabbath. — Fighting a battle on the Sabbath gave General Jackson no small con- cern. On April 11, 1862, shortly after the battle of Kernstown. that had been fought on Sunday, General Jackson wrote to Mrs. Jackson : "You appear much concerned at me attacking on Sunday. THE LIFE OF STONEVVAIJ. J ACKSoN, IJEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 145 I was greatly concerned, too ; but felt it my duty to do it. in con- sideration of the ruinous effects that might result from postponing the battle until the morning. .So far as 1 can see my course was a wise one; the best that I could do under the circumstances, though very distasteful to my feelings; and I hope and pray to our Heavenly Father that I may never again be circumstanced as on that day. I believed that so far as my troops were concerned,, necessity and mercy both called for the battle. I do hope the war will soon be over, and that I shall never again have to take the field. ,A.rms is a profession that, if its principles are adhered to for success, requires an officer to do what he fears might be wrong, and yet, according to military experi- ence, must be done, if success is to be attained. And this fact of its being necessary to success, and being accompanied with success, and that a departure from it accompanied with disaster, suggests that it must be right. Had I fought the battle on Monday instead of Sunday, I fear our cause would have suffered ; whereas, as things turned out, I consider our cause gained much from the engagement." His Reverential Despatch After His Victory at McDowell. — After General Jackson had secured his victory at McDowell, he sent General Ewell the following despatch : '■'Headquarters, \'alley District, May, 1862. "General R. S. Ewell: "Your despatch received. Hold your position — don't move. I have driven General Milroy from McDowell ; through God's assistance have captured most of his wagon trains. Colonel S. B. Gibbons, Tenth Virginia, killed. Forward to Department at Richmond the intelli- gence." His Body Servant Knew When to Pack Jackson's Haversack. — It is one of the traditions of the Civil War, and was current as well during the progress of that mighty struggle, that Jim, the faithful colored servant of General Jackson, reckoned his duties largely by his master's devout habits. He declared that he knew when there was going to be a battle, saying, "The General 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 is going to be something to pay : and I go straight and pack his haver- sack, because I know he will call for it in the morning." Jackson Sends a Contribution Instead of News of Battle. — When the news reached Le.xington of the victory at Manassas, it was re- 146 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN ported that Rev. Dr. White had received a letter from Jackson, and the people gathered to hear about the particulars of the battle. The venerable preacher mounted a store-box, arranged his spectacles, broke the seal and read 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 for our colored Sunday School. Enclosed you will find my check for that object, which please acknowledge at your earliest convenience, and oblige yours faithfully." — See Mrs. T. /. Jackson, p. 59. During the ailment that rendered his eyes most tender to light, he made it a conscientious duty, as well as he found it a necessity, to forego all reading after nightfall, except the short volume of Scriptures, with which he always closed the day. — Ibid, p. 65. With Jackson Every Victory Was a Gift from God's Kind Hands. General Jackson and Major-General Lafayette Laws were together at the battle of Sharpsburg. They were on horseback. For a while ten or twelve shells passed over their heads, and the sound of shrapnel, crashing through the trees, not more than five steps from them, was heard. A shell passed between the two generals. A courier, not ten feet from them, was struck by the shell and fell between the horses of the two commanders. The projectile did not explode. General Jack- son said, "The enemy, it seems, are getting our range," and rode away, "much to my gratification," wrote General McLaw.s, adding, "He re- marked to me two or three times, when with me that day, that 'God has been very kind to us today.' " This was Stonewall Jackson. Every good and every blessing, with every victory, was a gift from God's kind and merciful hands. Jackson Prays on the Eve of Battle. — "At Port Republic, a battle as noticeable for the strategy which preceded it as for the daring and resolution by which it was characterized, Jackson, in making the disposition of his forces, assigned an important duty to the I^ouisiana Brigade, commanded by Gen. Dick Taylor. This was to gain a posi- tion on the mountain side above the enemy's most efifective battery, and to descend and attack him in flank and rev-erse. After Taylor had put his troops in motion, he went to receive from Jackson his final orders. He found him in front of his line of battle, which had just been forced back. Shot and shell were hissing and bursting around him, and there he sat motionless on his old campaigner, a horse as steady under fire as his master ; the bridle-reins were hanging loosely, THE LIKE OK STONEWAI.L JACKSON, I,IEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 147 and Jackson was wrapl in prayer. He had done all his human fore- sight could devise, and now was confiding himself, his compatriots and his cause to the God of the righteous." — President Jefferson Davis, S. H. Mag., \o\. 9. pp. 217-8. Jackson Unostentatiously Attends Church in Richmond. — Uurin<2^ the week following the Peninsula campaign. General Jackson wrote Mrs. Jackson several letters, and each contained the usual reference to the kindness of the /\lmighty to him. One of the letters said : '"During the past week I have not been well, have suffered from fever and debility, but through the blessing of an ever-kind Providence I am much better to-day. Last week I received the present of a beautiful summer hat from a lady in Cumberland. Our Heavenly Father gives me friends wherever I go." When the campaign was ended, General Jackson repaired to Rich- mond with his corps, which city he reached on the 10th of July,. 1862. His first open appearance in a city filled w'xXh his praise and admirers was on the Sabbath in attendance on divine worship. He described this incident to his wife in this manner : "Yesterday I heard the Rev. Dr. M. D. Hoge preach in his church, and also in the camp of the Stonewall Brigade. It is a great comfort to have the privilege of spending a quiet Sabbath within the walls of a house dedicated to the service of God." General Jackson entered the church unostentatiously and without attendants, and took a seat near the door, and, after the services were over, left the church before the congregation discovered the attendance of the distinguished participant in the morning worship. Before re- turning to cam]) he called ujxmi a mother who had lost a sf)n in his command. The Tincture of Religion in Jackson's Reports and Correspond- ence. — This was the close of General Jackson's official report of the battle of Cedar Run : "In order to render thanks to God for the victory at Cedar Run, and other past victories, and to implore His continued favor in the future, divine service was held in the Army on the 14th of August" (1862). On the night of the second day of the second Manassas, when Med- ical Director McGuire, recognizing the many casualties he had wit- nessed, said : 148 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN ''General, this has been won by nothing but stark and stern fight- ing," General Jackson replied, "No. It has been won by nothing but the blessing and protection of Providence." In ending his report of the campaign of Northern Virginia, General Jackson said : "For these great and signal victories our sincere and humble thanks are due unto Almighty God. \Ve should in all things acknowledge the hand of Him who reigns in heaven and rules among the armies of men. In view of all the arduous labors and great privations the troops were called to endure, and the isolated and perilous position which the command occupied, while engaged with greatly superior numbers of the enemy, we can but express the grateful conviction of our mind, that God was with us, and gave us the victory ; and unto His holy name be the praise." Writing to his wife of the second Manassas, General Jackson again attributed, as he had done personally to Dr. McGuire, the successes of that day to the providences of God. He said, speaking of the several days of the battle, "In all of which God was with us, and gave us the victory. All glory be to His name. May He ever be with us is my earnest prayer, and we ever be His devoted people. It greatly encourages me to feel that so many of God's people are praying for that part of our forces under my command. The Lord has answered their prayers ; and my trust is in Him. that He will still continue to do so. God, in His providence, has again placed us across Bull Run, and I pray that He will make our arms continually successful, and that the glory will be given His holy name and none of it to man. "God has blessed and preserved me through His great mercy." Jackson Reading the Scriptures. — A chaplain, on the eve of the battle of Fredericksburg, saw an officer, whose insignia of rank was hid under the folds of his overcoat, lying in the rear of a battery reading a Bible. Supposing him to be a chaplain, the newcomer approached and began a conversation on the impending battle. The officer on the ground soon changed the subject to religious topics, of which he talked fluently. On asking the officer's name, the chaplain was surprised to find that his chance acquaintance was none other than the famous Stonewall Jackson. While General Jackson was entirely wanting in ostentation in his religious life, there was one point in his belief to which, on every THE LlFi: or STONEWALL JACKSON'. LI KUT.-GEN .. C. S. A. 149 suitable occasion, lie gave expression — that was his confidence in the immediate hand of God in his own life and the affairs of men in general. As he and his aide. Captain, and afterwards the Rev. James Power Smith, in the early dawn of the morning were riding toward the battlefield of Fredericksburg, raising his hand upward. General Jackson said, "T trust our Ciod will give us a great victory to-day. Captain." A Seeming Oddity of Jackson Finds a Clear Explanation. — ■■Just before the battle of Fredericksburg he rode out in front of his line of battle and ofifered an earnest prayer for the success of his arms that day. "Rev. Dr. Brown, former editor of the Central Presbyterian, related a characteristic anecdote of this ■man of prayer.' During a visit to the army around Centreville, in 1861, a friend remarked to Dr. Brown, in speaking of General Jackson, in the strain in which many of his old friends were accustomed to disparage him. 'The truth is, sir, that old Jack is crazy. I can account for his conduct in no other way. Why, I frequently meet him out in the woods walking backwards and forth, muttering to himself in incoherent sentences and gesticulating wildly, and at such times he seems utterly oblivious of my presence and of everyone else.' '■Dr. Brown happened next night to share Jackson's blanket, and in a long and tender conversation on the Ijest means of promoting personal holiness in the camp the great soldier said to him: 'T find that it greatly helps me in fixing my mind and quickening my devotions to give articulate utterance to my prayers, and hence T am in the habit of going ofif into the woods where T can be alone and speak audibly to myself the prayers I would pour out to God. I was at first annoyed that I was compelled to keep my eyes open to avoid running against the trees and stumps ; but, upon investigating the matter, T do not find that thfc Scriptures require us to close our eyes in prayer, and the exercise has proved to me to be very delightful and profitable.' "And thus Dr. Brown got the explanation of the conduct which his friend had cited to prove that 'Old Jack is crazy.' "A friend was once conversing with him about the difticulty of the Scripture injunction, 'Pray without ceasing,' and Jackson insisted that we could so accustom ourselves to it that it could be easily obeyed. 'When we take our meals there is the grace. When T take a drink of water I always patise, as my palate receives the refreshment, to lift 150 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN my heart in thanks to God for the water of life. Whenever I drop a letter in the box at the postoffice. I send a petition along with it for God's blessing upon its mission and upon the person to whom it is sent. When I break the seal of a letter just received, I stop to pray God that He may prepare me for its contents and make it a messenger of good. When I go to my classroom and await the arrangement of the cadets in their places, that is my time to intercede with God for them. And so with every other familiar act of the day.' " 'But,' said his friend, 'do you not often forget these seasons, coming so frequently?' " 'No,' said he, 'I have made the practice habitual to me. and I can no more forget it than to forget to drink when I am thirsty.' . . . Suffice it to say that I saw him frequently, heard him converse on religious topics, heard him offer as fervent, tender, and every way appropriate prayers as I ever heard from anyone, and can say from my own personal knowledge of him that if I ever came in contact with an humble, earnest child of God, it' was this 'thunderbolt of war,' who followed with childlike faith the 'Captain of our Salvation,' and who humbly laid at the foot of the cross all of his ambitions and honors. "Having lived such a life, the logical result was the glorious death which has been so fully described by Dr. Dabney, Dr. Hunter McGuire and others." — Dr. J. IVm. Jones, Chaplain C. S. A., in S. H. Mag., Vol. — , pp. 344-4. Jackson Glad to See One of His Colored Sunday School Scholars. "During the winter (1862), at Moss Neck, I had a boy as my servant from the town of Lexington, both very black and very faithful. One day I was surprised to see the General ( Stonewall Jackson) eyeing him very closely as he worked about the campfire. 'Why. is that you, John?' the General said, surprised and pleased. When I asked John afterward how he came to know General Jackson, he said. 'Oh, I knew the Major; the Major made me get the catechism.' He was one of the scholars of Jackson's Sunday School, and he knew his catechism well. The only fault of which John could be charged was that, unlike all the other servants, he liked to see the battle. Mounted on a fine mare, which I had never ridden into danger, John came again and again under fire, and seemed most happy in the fire and smoke of battle. It is a question some of my Boston friends may discuss, whether John derived his rare military spirit from Stonewall Jackson or from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and I may add, in this THE LIFE OF STONEWALL JACKSON, LIEUT.-GEN., C. S. A. 151 remote part of the theological world, that that catechism and its teach- ings are believed by some to have had something to do with the soldierly valor and renown of many others than Stonewall Jackson and my black boy John." — From Rev. Jas. Power Smith's Lecture to the Military Hist. Society of Massachusetts, pp. 8-9. Jackson Had His Favorite Hymns. — "After removing his head- (juarters to Hamilton Crossing (1863), General Jackson established an altar of daily morning prayer in his military family. He was too liberal and unobtrusive in his religion to exact compulsory attendance on the part of his staff, but their regard for him prompted them to gratify his wishes, and he always greeted their presence with a face of beaming commendation. He appointed his chaplain to officiate at these services; but, if he was absent, the General took his place him- self, and, with the greatest fervor and humility offered up his tribute of praise and supplication. Meetings for prayer were held at his quarters twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, and on Sunday afternoons he loved to engage the musical members of his staflf in singing sacred songs, to which he listened with genuine delight. He rarely let them stop without calling for the hymn beginning— - 'How happy are they Who the Savior obey.' "Other favorite hymns were : 'Come, humble sinner, in whose breast A thousand thoughts revolve.' ' 'Tis my happiness below, Not to live without the cross.' 'When gathering clouds around I view, And days are dark and friends are few.' "And, 'Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God.' "(Sung to the tune of Harwell.)" — From Mrs. Jackson's Life of General Jackson. Jackson Creates a Stir by Calling for a Corporal. — General Jack- .son's life was an epic of thankfulness for all the benefits and blessings that he received from Almighty God. After Fredericksburg, it was: "The enemy, through God's blessing, was repulsed at all points on 1 52 A THESAURUS OF ANECDOTES OF AND INCIDENTS IN Saturday, and I trust that our Heavenly Father will continue to bless us. We have renewed reason for gratitude to Him for my preserva- tion during the last engagement." On Christmas, 1862, he wrote: "Yesterday I received the baby's letter with a 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 we might very speedily look for peace." In another letter : "If all our troops, officers and men, were at their posts, we might, through God's blessing, expect a more speedy termination of the war." Quoting, he wrote: "Dr. Dabney writes, 'Our little prayer-meeting is still meeting daily to pray for our army and leaders.' This prayer-meeting may be the means of accomplishing more than our Army. I wish that such existed ever^^where. How it does cheer my heart to hear of God's people praying for our cause and for me. I greatly prize the prayers of the pious." December 29th, he tells of having had "the privilege of attending divine service in a church near General Hill's headquarters and enjoyed the services very much." To a relative who had joined the x\rmy he wrote, that, "through the bless- ings of God," he would render valuable service to their "precious cause." To another about this time he wrote: "I hope you are a Christian. There is no happiness like that experienced by a child of God. You have an interest in my prayers." It may well be said of this soldier of the church militant that he went about doing good. Rev. James P. Smith, D. D., tells that when he was a private in General Jackson's command, "the General came to our camp one day in my absence and created a great stir by asking for Corporal Smith. Great expectations were aroused that Corporal Smith was to be appointed to some office or special duty, but on my return it was found that he had called to leave me a package of religious tracts for distribution in the camp." Jackson Desired a Christian Daily Paper. — One of the means that General Jackson wished exerted for the spiritual welfare of the coun- try was the establishment of "a Christian daily newspaper." In a letter written near Fredericksburg, Yd.., on March 28th. 1863, to Rev. Dr. R. H. Morrison, General Jackson said: "I feel a deep interest in seeing a Christian daily paper established. I believe there is not a single daily paper in the country but which violates the Sabbath by printing on that holy day for its Monday's issue, i have thought upon this subject for several years, and it Tin: l.IFE OF STONEWAI.l, jACKSON, 1,1 EUT.-GEN.. C. S. A. 1 5.> appears to me that now is a goo