The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-04 00:00:00

Reminiscences of " Stonewall" Jackson.

The following is from a correspondent of the New
ork Times;—
In the course of my journeyings as a correspondent, I
have met with many old classmates and acquaintances of
the late rebel General Jackson, from whose lips I have
heard much about him ; and, as everything pertaining to
this remarkable man seems to interest the public, I will
set down two or three anecdotes which have not yet found
their way into tho public prints. Jackson, you know, was
a graduate of West Point in the clans of 1846, considered
the most remarkable class that ever graduated from the
Acadmy. M'Clellan, Couch, Foster, Leno, Seymour,
Stoneman. and others equally or less distinguished
belonged to it. While at West Point, he was regarded as
decidedly dull and slow. It took him three times as long
to learn his tasks as the average of the boys, but when
he had them, he had them well. He was of a retiring
and tactiturn disposition, but whenever he spoke his face
would light up with a pleasant smile, At this period he
used to fancy he had consumption, and was wont to sit
bolt upright at his meals. Illustrative of the difficulty
he had in learning anything, I remember an anecdote
of General Seymour's. Seymour was, at that time,
learning to play on the flute, and Jackson (they were
young lieutenants together) took it into his head that
he also would learn. He went to the work with his
accustomed vigour and perseverance, but he could
not succeed in learning to play even the simplest air.
He blew six months on the first bar of, " Love Not,"
and then gave it up in despair. The story of his behaviour
at Chepultepec, I have seen given, but incorrectly. It is
thus—Jackson was a lieutenant in command of Magruder's
Battery. The 15th regular infantry was ordered to charge
up the road, but the fire was heavy, and the men seemed
disinclined to advance. Perceiving this, Jackson stepped
out on the road, amid a shower of missiles, exclaiming—
" You see, my men, there is no danger, follow me 1"
whereupon they immediately ruEthed forward to the
charge. At various periods of his life he was afflicted
with different forms of hypochondria, One of his manias
was to believe that everythihg he ate went down and
lodged in his left leg I At another time he would never
eat except by the watch, at the precise moment; and he
would take out his watch, lay it on the table, and eat at
that moment. If the meal was behindhand, he would
not eat at all. Probably camp life cured him of these eccen-
tricities. Current reports have stated that Jackson was
slovenly and rough in dress ; in action or on the march not
distinghishable from the common soldier. Th's, at least
lately, since he came into high command, seems to be in-
correct. In the manuscript diary of a rebel engineer officer
--which we found at the Chancellor House on our arrival,
and now in my hands—among entries of the greatest inte-
rest and importance, extending over several months, I find
the following portrait of " Stodewall" Jackson. It is, as
you will observe, a mere silhouette, but the picture is almost
Carlyean in its taoch :—March 25. . . About dinner time
"Stonewall" Jackson came over to make a visit to the
General. I went out to ride, and met him going away in the
road between headquarters and: dr. Garnett's. He was sweep-
ing along at an easy gallop on a handsome bay. Passed so
quickly that I had not time to distinguish his features
nothing in him to recall the caricatures which popular vene-
ration has delighted to make of the popular hero; hand-
somely dressed in full general's uniform—a jaunty cap, a
full black beard and a fine horse; altogether a rather daz
zling vision for one used to our slovenly headquarters."
Jackson's mode of attack was peculiar, even in the tactical
formation of his troops, and it was his own. He always
threw his men in in column of battalions, about a two com-
pany front, without skirmishers, resting on their colours,
and with a yell peculiar to his men. He was a gallant foe,
and I have heard many an officer in the army declare he
would like nothing better, if we only had this affair settled
up, than to follow Stonewall Jackson into fight. His per-
sonal loss to the rebel cause is immense ; but he has trained
many able division commanders such as Early and the two
Hills.