The Sun.
London, England, 1863-10-28 00:00:00

JEFFERSON DAVIS.

"During the week, after the battle of Manassas, when
the weather had cleared and the scorching July sun blazed
again as of old, by common consent we all took to the woods,
and encamped there. As for Jeff Davis,' it appears that
when the rout of the enemy was complete, he had ridden
without escort along the lines—but his features and figure
were so well known that he was quickly discovered, and
loud yells of delight rang out from our whole army. Taking
advantage of the fall of the evening, he ' dropped in' upon
our officers (many of whom were fellow-townsmen), or
ea•members of the U.S. branches of Legislature) to
have a quiet chat. As I had never seen a live Pre-
sident, my curiosity was on the qui vire, and when
his presence was whispered to me, I found him sitting at
our colonel's tent door, with a circle of captains and lieu-
tenants, conversing very quietly on State affairs, but with
no more animation or sign of pleasure than if a victorious
army was not around, or a beaten one flying from him. In
citizen attire, with beaver hat, and smoking a cigar, he lis-
tened to all that was said, assented cr dissented with a nod
of the head, and some time after, mounting his grey mare,
amtled off to Manassas, as unostentatiously as if he were
the least person in the Confederacy. Since then I have
seen the President frequently on different fields of battle,
and have observed little change in his habitually modest and
thoughtful demeanour, although on many occasions his
proud and victorious troops, unconscious of his presence,
were rending the skies with their shouts, or charging the
enemy with unexampled fury."
"STONEWALL" JACKSON'.

" Stonewall" may be a very fine old gentleman, and an
honest, good-tempered, industrious man, but I should
admire him much more in a state of rest than continually
seeing bin' moving in the front. And such a dry old stick,
too lAs for uniform, he has none—his wardrobe isn't worth
a dollar, and his horse is quite in keeping, being a poor lean
animal of little spirit or activity. And don't he keep his
aides moving about I Thirty miles' ride at night through
the mud is nothing of a job ; and it they don't come up to
time, I'd as soon face the devil, for Jackson takes no ex-
cuses when duty is on hand. He- is about thirty-five
years old, of medium height, strongly built, solemn and
speaks but little, and a:ways in a calm, de-
thoughtful,
nided tone; and from what he says there is no appeal,
for he seems to know every hole and corner of
the Valley, as if he made it, or, at least. as if it had
been designed for his own use. He knows all the distances,
all the roads, even to cow-paths through the woods, and
goat tracks along the hills. He sits his horse very awk-
wardly, although, generally speaking, all Virginians aro
fine horsemen, and has a fashion of holding his head very
high, and chin up, as if searching for something skywards ;
yet although you can never see his eyes for the cap-peak
drawn down over them, nothing escapes his observation.
His movements are sudden and unaccountable ; his staff
don't pretend to keep up with him, and, consequently, he
is frequently seen alone poking about in all sorts of holes
and corners, at all times of night and day. I have fre-
quontly seen him approach in the dead of night and enter
into conversation with sentinels, and ride off through
the darkness without saying, God bless you,' or any-
thing civil to the officers. The consequence is, that the
officers are scared, and the men love him. He was a student
at West Point, but never remarkable for any brilliancy.
What service he has seen was in Mexico, where he served
as lieutenant ot artillery. At one of the battles there his
captain was about to withdraw the guns, because of the loss
suffered by the battery, and also because the range was too
great.. This did not suit our hero ; he advanced his piece
several hundred yards, and 'shortened the distance,' dis-
mounted his opponent's guns, and remained master ot the
position."
To the above the writer appends the following

note
General Jackson was never known to pnt his
horse out of a trot, except when desirous of escaping
the cheering of his men, on which occasions he
would raise his cap, discovering a high, bald fore-
bead, and force his old sorrel' into a gallop. This
old i
sorrel' war-horse is well known throughout the army ;
with head down it seldom attempts more than a trot, but
stands fire well, and that may be the reason why the gene-
ral prefers and always rides him. Many gentlemen, im-
w-ining that the hero would appear to better advantage on
:blood animal, have presented several to him, but they aro
seldom used. When our army entered Maryland, in Sep-
tember, 1862, in order to get in the rear of General Miles at
Harper's Ferry, and secure the 14,000 men under his com-
mand, Jackson's corps was stationed east of Frederick, and
an influential citizen, in token of admiration, gave the com-
that he might appear to
n the public street, and was
ian der
advantage. a very
j a valuableks
on mounted
immediately
tely thrown into the mud ! The old sorrel' was
again brought forth, and the general ambled off, very good•
humouredly, never essaying to mount fine' horses again."

Statue of the Emperor Napoleon I.

The Monitor has the hollowing on the statue of
the Place Vendome :—" A modification which will
be viewed with satisfaction by all artists is at this
moment in course of execution at the column of the
Place Vendome. The present statue of the Em-
peror Napoleon I. is to be replaced by one similar
to that which was fixed on the column under the
first Empire. It is well known that the Emperor,
wishing to perpetuate the memory of the glorious
campaign terminated by the battle of Austerlitz,
ordered the erection of a column with the bronze
of the cannon taken from the enemy. This monu-
ment, begun in 1806 and terminated in 1810, was
surmounted by a statue of Napoleon L in heroic
costume, in conformity with traditional usage.
This statue, the work of the ecuiptor
Chaudet, was taken down in 1814, and afterwards
melted to cast the statue of Henry nr., now on
the Pont-Neuf, A Royal ordonnance of the Bth of
April, 1831, ordered the restoration of the Imperial
statue only ; instead of preserving the original cos-
tume the Emperor was represented in the dress he
usually wore when with the army. This new statue
was placed on the column in 1833. Since that date
the change made in the costume has been much
criticised, It must not be forgotten that this occa-
sion was a kind of apotheosis, and that, if it is
allowable to give the statues which commonly de-
corate our public places the costumes habitually
worn by the men they represent, it cannot be the
same with statues intended to surmount a triumphal
column. The ancients were well aware of this,
as shown by Trojan's column, of which .the
column in the Place Vendome is an imitation. The
Emperor Napoleon 111., faithful to the reminis-
cences of the Firsi, Empire, wished that the effigy
of the founder of the dynasty should be re-estab-
lished on conditions in conformity with traditiont.
The new statue, confided to the talent of M. Dubmounit,
member of the Institute, and cast by
is completed, and will be shortly put inl\litrsid'
holds in one of its hands the same Win
gebeen pro-
ea
victory
rlyt
es the statue had in 1810, and which
hob
harmonise
served, and the beauty of its lines
with those of the column. Atget,hhe
u:ea lonumertri
embet
ntdheadt
the Emperor ordered this chan
rated by thirty
that the present statue,
ysuearws,ellandkuur: purestebortuiunggbutuehotenstebneelilitwarbyulecowstourt
ought to remain before the eyes of the people and of
the army ; and he ordered that a pedestal should be
erected for it at the Rond-Point of Courbevoie, at
the corner of the Avenue de Neuilly. This place
is
admirably chosen for
such
a nlimtneednet.l'Etloillee
ground, which from the Arc de Triornill)h
declines towards the melee, again rises on the other
side of the river, and offers a road-point which takes
the name of Courbevoie, and from which several
avenues branch off. It is in the middle of this
place that the pedestal is being built, under the
direction of M. Duban, the architect. The grandeur
and simplicity of the monument, as well as the
beauty of the granite used in its construction, will
form a worthy support to the statue of the.grent
teaan:'