The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-04-10
AN IMP0RTANT HISTORY.


WASHINGTON CITY WAS NOT CAPTURED, ETC. ETC.
SELMA March 2l.--Editors of Selma Daily
MesseRgtr Rgtr;--Gentlemen:-The "I.ife of Lieute-
nant-General (Stonewall) Jackson by a
member of his staff, will evidently be gene
rally read in the South. 1t is, therefore, i'm
pOrtant to me to endeavor to cor
rect the errors relating to myself
which observed in glancing over that
part of the work preceding and referring to
the battle of Manassas. On that account |
respectfully ask the publication of what fol-
lows, in your paper
Pages 196-7:-.'When General Johnston, how
ever, arrived at Harper's Ferry, and claimed to
relieve Colonel Jackson of his command the
latter had received no directions from the State
Government to surrender his trust. And here
arose temporary collision between the two
authorities which displayed the inhexibility OF
JacksOn's character He replied that he had
been entrusted by Major.General Lee, at the
command of the State of Virginia, with this
charge; and he could only relinquish it by his
orders. In this position he was, while respectful
immoyable; and as the Confederate commander
was equally firm, mlschievous strife was anX-
iously feared. But very soon the mails brought
an application from some person pertaining to
Colonel Jackson's command, upon which was
Endorsed, in the hand writing OF Major-General
Lee, reference to the authority of General
Johnston, as commanding at Harper's Ferry
This furnished Colonel Jackson all the evidence
which he desired, to justify the surrender of the
trust"
I think that this statement magnifes the
circumstance in question, and does injustice
TO General Jackson's character. The State of
Virginia had joined the Confederacy and trans
ferred the control of its military affairs to the
President several weeks before my arrival at
Harper's Ferry, on the 23d of May, 1861.
Within an hour after my arrival General (then
Colonel) Jackson came to see me, and the
order assigning me to the command he had
been exercising was shown to him. On the
following morning my order assuming the
command was sent to him, with a request, in
writing, that he would have the necessary
number of copies made and distributed to the
troops. After acknowledging my note and
order he wrote -" Until receive further
instructions from Governor Letcher or General
Lee; | do not feel at liberty to transfer my
command to another, and must therefore,
decline publishing the order. Meanwhile, beg
you to be assured that it will give me pleasure
to afford yourself and the other officers named
every facility in my power for obtaining appro-
pirate information relating to the post and de-
partments of the service connected with it,"
Major Whiting, who fell in defense of Fort
Fisher as Major-General, West Point asso-
ciate of General Jackson, at my request repre-
sented to him that the authority of the Con-
federate Government was paramount in the
case, and the manner of transferring the COM
mand in accordance with military rule. He
soon reported General Jackson convinced.
The whole affair occupied little more time than
was consumed in going twice and back from
my quarters to General Jackson's. There
was no display of infexibility on his part, nor
exhibition of firmness ON mine. There was
nothing in the affair to call forth these quail
ties. If there was any " collision between the
two authorities / was not conscious of it, as
well as of the danger of mischievous STRIFE
Page 2O1:-"On this expedition Colonel jack
hy 70 to lost
the locomotives and cars of the Baltimore Rail
road at Martinsburg. At this village there were
vast workshops for the construction and repair of
these cars; and more than forty OF the finest
locomotives, with three hundred burden cars,
were now destroyed. Concerning this he writes
= 1T was a sad work; but had my orders, my
duty was to obey. If the cost Of the proDerty
could only have been expended in disseminating
the Gospel of the Prince OF Peace, how much
might have been expectedP
''That this invaluable property should have
been Withdrawn to Winchester by the way OF
Harper's Ferry, before this point was evacuated,
Is too plain to be argued. Whose was the blum
der cannot be ascertained; that 1t was not Colo
mel Jackson's appears from the extract OF his
letter just inserted"
The letter quoted does not refer to the re-
moval Of the property, and, therefore, fur
nishes no evidence on the subject. 1t only eX-
presses the natural regret of a good man at
great destruction of property, rendered neces-
sary by state of war. If Colonel Jackson
had thought the suggested removal right he
would have attempted it while in command ut
Harper's Ferry, between the 29th of April and
24th of May as l should have done between
the last date and 18th of June. Colonel
Jackson's course was probably prompted 10y
the consideration that directed mine, and gives
the authority of his great character to my
course. 1t would not have been right on our
part to seize the property of the road before
the evacuation of Harper's Ferry, nor polite
TO commit such an act of war against citizens
of Maryland, when we were receiving so much
aid from that State; and hoping for so much
more. The seizure or destruction of that pro-
perty by us could have been justified only by
the probability of its military use by the
enemy. That probability did not appear until
about the time when Colonel Jackson received
the order in question; then, being unable to
remove, wewere compelled to destroy it.
But the most valuable part OF this property,
the engines, could not have been removed in
the manner pointed out. Up. o the time of
evacuating Harper's Ferry we were removing
the machinery for manufacturing small arms
as fast as it could be transported on the rail
road, to Winchester. TO expedite this work.
proposed to borrow engines from the Bati-
more and Ohio Railroad, but was assured by
the engineers of both roads that that to Win
chester, especially near Harper's Ferry, where
it was supported on trestles, was not strong
enough to bear those engines, which We're
much heavier than those for which it was
constructed, and that if brought upon that
road they would inevitably crush it. This
would have stopped the removal of the ma
chinery from Harper's Ferry, which was fal
more valuable to the Confederacy than all the
rolling stock of the Baltimore and ONO Road
Page Hl:-"Accordingly, on the forenoon o
Thursday the 18th, the Army OF tue NaHey