The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1865-10-18

ing the army undea him as sharp and tenn
percd weapon, and striking the great blow at
the right moment and in the right place.
The mystery of mysteries is, that not seldom
do men possess this rare and supernatural
genius for war, without marked ability in
other directions. Not to 60 beyond the
domc arena; Stuart, Ashby, and other promi-
nent leaders Of the late war were not regar-
ded as men Of conspicuous ability oustof their
! sphere and Jackson Was so commonplace an
! individual except in bis profession, that those
i who knew him best, never ceased to wonder
| at his success. With the singular exception
| of the obstinate courage with which he fought
his guns at Cherubusco, and Chcpultcpec he
! had displayed, up to his thivty-seventl year,
no unusual ability of any description what:
ever. lie was commonplace lecturer, me-
diocre writer, thinker without apparent ori-
! ginality, and in all the lesser endowments. of
, the man Of society was strikingly deficient,
lie seemed not to know what men meant by
! Imagination and fancy he was without wit,
utterly destitute ofall appreciation of mirth
Or humor; and seems to have regarded bclles
Flettrcs, ana what is called good company" as
! perfectly frivolous His most intimate friends
! had never heard him Utter profound or stri
i king sentence; his writings were innocent Of
/ anything like force or originality. 4 fair
and impartial judgment ofthe man, from any
! thing WHICH he had ever said, written or per-
! formed, would have bacn that he was merely
a plodding professor. Those who did not
Join in this opinion would have differed from
it in a manner not very fattering. There
were those who conscientiously believed that
Jackscn's cccentricity amounted to insanity
Of mind.
When the commonplace professor, who
seemed to emerge from his dullness only 70
do something absurd, was placed in command
of brigade, people began to laugh and shrug
their shoulders. Instead Of chevalier, on a
prarcing steed, 10 splendid trappings, and
''brcathing bcautcous BATTLE" they saw be ore
them an eccentric figure in dingy grey
f'coat, on a pcaccfui-o0k:ng cob, his knees
drawn up, his body bent forward, leather
stock saving his cars, anu lis appearance, in
every point ofyicw, uagainly. They hushed
soon they became quiet. When he fell at
Charlottesville, there was not man in the
army who lad not "known what was. in him
from tho first" The name OF Poor Tom
Jackson" was left to be disintered by his bio
graphers. Virginia had recognized and salu.
ted, in his person, one Of the greatest CT her
iulmorta!s
In truth under this dull cxtcror were the
golden faculties which make the king of men
Eulogy is easy, in presence Of this great ca
reer, but let US dismiss all such Improbable
Avork, and nationally inquire what 'endow-
ments went to accom- pi;sh the successes of
jackson.
Underlying all was a supreme spirit of com
bativeness. 1t is fancy that he did not love
fighting. He revclcd in it. War was horri-
bic in his eyes, it's true, from the enormous
public md private misery which it OCCASION
ed but he none the less loved the conflict Of
oppcsing forces. In battle, under his calm
exterior, he had the G0ucli~m certamlnl$..
You could see that he was fighting animal,
from his ponderouS jaw. We say ''anilnal,
because at such moments Jackson, the COM
passionate Christian, became Jackson the Ver-
table bulldog, His combativeness when
thus aroused, was obstinate, enormous. To
| fight to the death was his unfatering resolve;
and his own in7incible resolution was infused
into his troops they became inspired by his
ardour. and were more than match for two
or three times their number fighting without
this stimulus With jackson leading them
ia person, on e; with the heat of battle, the
StoncwaI Brigade and other troops which
had served under him long, felt themselves
able to achieve impossibilitics. But comba
tivenessaand military ardor do not make
great commander without them no officer
can accomplish much, but more is needed to
achieve the glories Of arms. Enterprise is
necessary and this word for want of bet
| ter, must express quality Of Jaciscn's mind
which more than all else gave him his aston
ishiag success. His rule was never to allow
an enemy to rest to attack whcreycr it wars
possible, and to press on until all opposition
was broken down, and the day gained. Iae
remarkable activity shown in his compaigns
is an evidence that he possessed this trait as
general, in more eminent degree perhaps
than any Of his contemporaries. A sluggish
or unwary adversary was doomed already,
when he least expected it Jackson was be-
fore him, attacking with all the advantages of
a surprise 1t was said that he marched his
men nearly to death, and it was true. But
these excessive drains upon their physical
strength were compensated by victories, by
spollS, and an immense accession to the moral
strength of his comm ID. Nor did he fail to
preserve, thus. thousands Of. lives, which
would have bea lQst BY more deliberate and
conventional warfare. lie always preferred