The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-04-04


An important lsis;ory-Lcster tron
General Joseph 4. Lohusfon-1h'
first Baltic OF Mnnassas-in'f'"'
t,ut Historical Errors Forrec'.
what the confederate VICTORY
conn,ishesi-Why WashinEs"" Wy
MAS not Captured. &c. "s. =,
SELMA, March Il.
I,,;,o,.e If Selma Daily Messenger:
C,o,,o, The life Of Lieutenant
uen 'i IStonewalD Jackson, by mem
her Of his staff, win evidently oe se; ,nor-
read in the South. 1t Is there'o, ,he errors
tant 70 me 10 eudeavor to coT'o "hseryed in
relating 10 myself, which ! ~ nrecc-
rIancnc over that part O. .at,,e or Nanas-
ding and referring TO 'n1 asncoth,llv asl,
sas. On that account, G,IIows in your
the publication OF """'
paper. ,.,,., ,,n,oroi Johnston. how
Pages .ira NJ Harpers Ferry, and claimed
c'er,,i,cyc Colonel Jackson OF his command
,Se latter had received no dirccuons from NV
state Government TO surrender ms trust anu
ncrs arose a temporary collision between the
go authorities which displayed the inieAl
S'ftx of Jackson's character. lie rePlsu tiI'
\" rad been entrusted by MAJOR ,Ier ii -
I 90 at the command OF the State OF ,s,;sn
al
Wa ~ orders In this position ne was
,,h;ic respectful immovaole ana ~ t"e = IN
fedrrate commander was eq"a'Sr i"rnd Rut
,hiayous strife was anN'ousS 'oI;,, ton
worry soon the mails oronSh' =" ~ I,ck
80, sone person pertaining 10 .oionei 'aSN
49," .or,rand upon which was enuoIseo u
- handwriting of Major tTeherai ~
ference 10 the authority OF Ithel"' M fIr.
as commanding At Harper f'rIlN -, Which
rjshcd Colonel Jackson all the evidence " ~
nlsh t1N ~ 60 iustifv the surrender OF MS
nv !"
trust" ,;fos tho
think that this statement magazines the
.;n,,mStapce in question, and does MUS
t;ce 70 General JackSon's character. Inc
State of Virginia had joined the Conieoe-
80, and transferred the contro! oil us
,r,;I;tarv affairs TO the President several
,nants before NV arrival at Harper's Ferry
"n the o31 Of Nav, 1861. Within an hour
after my arrival, General then Coionep
Jackson came 10 see me, ana the oroel az
signing me 10 the command ne had pcel'
Exercising was shown TO him. On the lol-
loving morning my order assuming the
command was sent 10 him, with request,
in writing. that he would have the neces-
sarv number of copies made and dlStri-
brfed 10 the troops. After acknowledging
nv note and order, lie wrote lntll
receive further instructions from Governor
fletcher or General Lee, do not feel al
liberty TO transfer my command 10 an
other and must therefore decline pubhsh-
ing the order. Meanwhile | beg You TO DC
assured that il will give me pleasure 10 al,
ford Yourself and the other officers named
every facility in my power for obtaining
appropriate information relating 10 inc
most and departments of the service CON
nected with IT," Major Whiting, who Tell
in defence of Fort Fisher as majorgene,,
raj. West Point associate OF Genera!
jackson, at my request represented ~
him that the authority of the Confederate
Government was paramount in the case,
and the manner OF transferring the com
maud in accordance with military RUE
He soon reported General Jackson con-
WINGED. The whole affair occupied htlIc
more time than was consumed IN gong
twice and back from my quarters 10 Gehe
raj Jackson's. There was no display OF
intiexibility on his part, nor exhibition
of frmness on mine. There was nothing
in the affair to call forth those qualities.
If there was any "cOlliSion between the
two authorities" was not conscious OF II,
as well as of the danger OF mlSchievous
strife"
Page ool. "On this expedition Colonel Jack
son was ordered 10y General Johnston 10 ut-
struy the locomotives anu cars OF the balti-
more railroad at MarlinSburg. Al tins VII
LACE there were vast workshops for the con
srrucuuu and repair of these cars and more
than forty Of the finest locomotives, with
three hundred burden cars, We're now oe
sIroyed. Concerning this he writes II Was
n sad work but ! had my orders; my dutE
Z Al ~ II the cost of The property COulNl
only have been expended in disseminating th'
Gospel of the. Prince of Peace, how muc-
might have been expected .a
" That this Invaluable property shoula nav :
been Withdrawn 10 Winchester by the way OF
Hlrprr's Ferry before this point WAS eNnc"
atrd j. 100 plain 10 BE- argued. host W.
the bluudcr cannot be aScertained; that IL Wa
not Colonel Jackson's appear from ''''
tract of his letter just inserted
The letter quoted does not refer 10 tlle
removal of the property, ana lhele'oi'
furnishes no evidence on the suoJco'. =
only expresses the natural regret oil soo'
man At a great destruction OF property
rendered necessary by state oil war.
Colonel Jackson had thought the suggested
romoval right, he would have attempted i
While in command at Harper's Ferry, be
tween the 10Th of April and Gath OF May
GO I should have done between the las
date and 18th of June. Colonel Jackson
course was probably prompted by the con
sideration that directed mine, and give
the authority of his great character to III,
course. 1t would not have been right OF
our part to seize the property OF that roat
before the evacuation Of Harper's Ferry
nor polite TO commit such an act of wa
against citizens of Maryland, when we wer,
receiving so much aid from that State, ant
hoping for much more. The seizure or de
struction of that property by us could have
been justified only by the probability OF 1T
military use by the enemy. That proba
bility did not appear until about the time
when Colonel jackson received the orde
in question then, being unable to remove
we were compelled TO destroy it.
But the most valuable part of this pro
perty-the engines-could not have beer
removed in the manner pointed out. Up t.
the time of evacuatiug Harper's Ferry w
were removing the machinery for manufac
turing small arms as fast as it could b.
transported on the railroad TO Winchester
To expedite this work, | proposed to Dor
row engines from the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad, but was assured by the engineer
of both roads that that to Winchester
especially near Harper'S Ferry, where i
was supported on trestles, was not strong
enough to bear those engines, which were
much heavier than those for which it wa;
contracted, and that if brought upon tina
road they would inevitably crush it. Thi
would have stopped the removal of tn,
machinery from Harper's Ferry, which wa
far more valuable 10 the Confederacy thar
all the rolling stock of the Baltimore AM