Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-04-03


the survivor is by far the ncLler. OF the
fallen angels whose dark plumageSswept from
our Senate Halls, he made the mcss courtly
adieu. OF all the traitors he W.cs The most
entirely IN earnest. OF I'll decision, his was
the sagest, the promptcst and the most en-.
during. He oPlS St the epI1spirators felt that
his quarrel with the Uaiioon Vas irreconeiIable
and has never yet advised Submission. His
captivity has been belittled by none of Boua>
parties querulousness. Blind, and grey, and
wasted, his dominions are narrowed to the
caSemate, while the Republic he would over
throw reaches to the silent oceans.
LEE. II
In Robert Lee the same austere Pfoyiis
dence, to purify our Republicauism, shattered
our faith in traditional responsibility. The
heir OF Washington went with the rest of the
new chivalry, aud with ten times the talent
OF the great Fabius, crushed the armies Of
our lesser responsibilities, till he met in Ggant
man without pedigree. He was the equal
OF Wellington in manGuvering great bodies
of troops upon small, interior lines The
Duke at Waterloo fought his whole army
upon mile and quarter acre but Lee, at
Cold Harbor, for FIVE days presented solid
line of battle wherever he sought for him,
till his whole force seemed lnanmuvered by
the wink of his eye, and every salient that
he touched was a corps While the forti6ca-+
tions Of Richmond stand, his name shall evoke
admiration. The art Of war is unacquainted
with any defense so admirable Splendid as
were the triumphs of his engineering, the,
victories Of his infantry were his best monu-
ments. But over the glory of his talent fell
shadow as eternal his memory-the,
trOwn OF a resOlute Democracy, whose sacri-
fee Has longer than his ark
STUART.
stood in the cemetery of Hollywood, at
the grave of Stuart-a space without shaft.
He revUluti"nized the cavalry tactics of our
time, aud was i'll dash aud dissoluteuess the
Prince Rupert of the West. Forrest and
Stomcman, Morgan and Gricrson, Mosby and
Fitzpatrick were hIs imitators. He inaupu-
rated the grand raid which taught Sheridan
the nUthInSncSs Of distance, and emboldened
Sherman to tear the continent like n pocket
map.
The ftrvid imagination of the Southern
people demonstrated in feats of romance like
Stuarts made them, during the war. the
great suggestive. :upt*ins They built the
first iron clad, made the first great rides, and
under Stonewull Jackson executed the ear
hest of the great infantry marches. but the
cold r adaptability of the North dcveloped
every hint from the South into perfect sys
TEN. The experiment of the Mcrrimac has
grown to the Dictator, the Dundcrberg and
1ronsidcs. Fhe engineering assiduity of
Beauregard, initiated by tltc North, has
marked the camps of our armies, as if the
protecting mountains had followed our col.
uinns. But it may be doubted that any di-
vision commander has yet arisen to rival the
splendid infantry genius Of Jackson.
JACKSON f-..iE
AS Lee was master of maneuvre, Jackson
was the great captain of aggressive warfare.
He combiued the cunning and the koldness
of Napoleon. To cover his great movement,
by the flank in 1862, he did not hesitate to
fight Pope's whole army with division, and
the celebrity Of His march up the Shenandoah,
to appear again on the field of Bull Run, was
only equalIed. by the energy of his attack .---.'
He moved infantry with the speed of horse,
and having hurled three great commanders
back from the Old Dominion, died before the
lnstre of its arms had diminished in that
flash of victory when rebellion had assumed.
indeed, the proportions of nation. He 1Sas
the most republican of rebels, stern and sim.
pie as any ROundhead, and this is why we
hold his memory greeaer than that Of his.
companions whose detection to the Hnion was
augmented by their treason to popular iaspi.
tutions. Il -. III.
There were ether psrsorages identified
with this grand historical defence, but these
are the great statues--Davis, Lee, Jackson,
Stuart, Beauregard.