The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1866-07-18
THE TRUTH OF HISTORY.
Ksabr,eyss Life of jackson.

RegrcttlnS Inc necessary VIC ieol ~ ae0
to the atruth of History to make the fol- |
lowing extracts from Dabney'slife Of Jack
son, and to comment upon the same. lie
says:
GAS soon as the war became imminent
the minds Of the people were turned tothe
value Of the arms stored at Harper
Ferry, because they were precisely what
Virginia lacked Almost without prompt
inc from the authorities, the militia Was
assembled in the neighborhood to capture
the place; when the officer in command of
the Federal guard attempted to destroy the
factories and arsenals, and fled to Carlisle,
in PENNSYLVANIA His designs against the
former were abortive, and a quantity OF
machinery and materials, which proved
of priceless value to the Commonwealth
was rescued but when the militia entered
the village, thestore-houses, which had con-
tanned thousands of valuable arms were
wrapped in flames. 1t was indeed ascer-
tanned that the larger part OF the muskets
vero not consumed, but were stolen and
secreted by the inhabitants Of the place
OF these, a few thousand were discovered,
hidden in evsry conceivable place Of con
cealment, and gathered Hior the State blythe
officers Of the militia, while many Of the
privates armed themselves by traffic with
tho yenal popplacc. Meantime, other com
panies Of volunteers focked from the Val
law Of VIRGINIA to the place, until all the
materials Of little army were assembled
there. But they were, without form and
void"
1T was at this juncture that Col. Jack
son took command He was ordered by
Maior-General Lee to organize the com
panies of volunteers assembledat Harper's
Ferry into regiments, and to instruct them
diligently in military drill and discipline,
| to retain controlof the great thoroughfares
leading towards Washington City, and pre-
vent their use by the Federal authorities
for offensive purposes, even by their par
tial destruction, if necessary; to urge on
the completion Of fire arms out Of the ma
terials already partially prepared at the
factories, until such timeas themachinery
could be removed to the interior; and to
defend the soil Of Virginia from the inya
sion threatened from that quarter. About
this time there were assembled at Har-
per's Ferry 2,1oo Virginia troops, with
400 Kentuckians consistingof lmboden's
ROGERS, Alburtis' and Graves batteries Of
field artillery with fifteen guns Of the light
est ca]ibre EIGHT companies Of cavalry
without drill or battalion organization, and
nearly without arms and a number OF IN
fantry, Of which the. End, 9th and 10th
were partially arranged, while the rest had
no organization. The Convention had
Just passed a very necessary law revoking
the commissions of all the volunteer off
GERS in command Of volunteer forces for
their appointments madelong before, when
the military system Of the State was only
name, on every conceivable ground Of
political or local popularity, were no evil
dence whatever Of actual fitness for com
mand. These decapitated Generals and
Colonies were naturally disaffected to the
new order in military affairs. Of discl-
pine there was almost none, and the force
was apparently about to disintegrate and
separate as rapidly as it had been gather
ed. Everybody wanted afurlogh, forthey
had come as to a frolic. There was no gen
eral staff no hospital, nor ordnance depart
ment, and scarcely six rounds Of anlnuni-
| tion to the man.
s.To this confused mass Colonel Jackson
came a STRANGER. having not single ac-
quaintance in the whole command. lie
brought two of his colleages, in the mill
tary school, Major Preston and Col. Mas
sic, awho virtually composed his staff, and
two young men whom he employed as drill
masters. With their aid, his energy, i'm
Partially, fairnessand courtesy, hespeedily
reduced the crude rabble to order and con-
sistency. The little army, like the gener-
Gus young courser, recognized master in
the first touch Of the reins, and speedily
the FESTIVE temper which had been provo
ked by the incompetent hands that essay
ed to guide it, gave place tojoy and docili-
ty." * * < x
"seyeral questions Of peculiar delicacy
were to be handled by him. One was the
control Of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road" This the author says cool Jack
son resolved to leave uninterrupted for all
peaceful travel and traffic for the present.
"The Maryland heights overlooked the
village from the North, and if they were
occu pied by the enemy with artillery, his
position there would be rendered untena-
ble But MARYLAND then protested to be
neutral it was hoped that she would be-
fore long espouse the cause Of the South
and the authorities Of Virginia wished to
respect her territory, and all her rights,
50 long as she did not become one OF our
enemies. One xpedientproposedby Gen.
Lee was to induce Marylanders to enlist
in the war in sufficient numbers to hold
the crest Of the mountain, and commit its
guardianship to them But the people Of
that region were too tinid and undecided
to concur in such a plan. Another WAS to
postpone the occupancy Of the mountain
until the near approach Of the enemy rem
dered it d military necassity-when this
would constitute the justification Of the
act. But against this the obvious objec-
ton lay that the enemy's advances ightbe
too sudden, to permit those preparations,
which might be necessary to make the
post tenable. Colonel jackson therefore
decided the matter for himself, and seiz-
ed the Maryland nights, constructing
upon them a few block houses, and quarter
ing there few companies Of troops"
Conceiving that something is due to the
tr11tb Of History and to the characta1 and