Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1867-05-02

was heading straight for Thorough
: fare. For the time he seemed TO hav,
: forgotten the existence of roads. Th,
! column moved apparently on the the
ory that where two men can place
: their feet, an army can pass. Whcr
they came to fences, they threw then
down; when they met with streams
they waded. Jackson thus advanced
an eyewitness says, "aeross open
nelds, by strange country roads, and
comfortable homesteads, on and on,
as If he would never cease" 1t was
the "bee line" that he was taking.
} When the Confederates were march
ing over the ground in June, 1863, o
soldier asked an old negro where they
were going.
"All right, Master" replied the old
man, smiling sYou are going the
same road Mas jackson took last
year, only he took the nish-cuts."
At sunset on the 25th of August,
the column, moving on briskly with.
out straggler" was approaching Sa-
lem. jackson sat his horse with the
light of sunset on his barred forehead
for he had taken off bis old cap TO
salute the men-and his face was lit
up with a proud smile. No sound
was heard but the shuffling feet OF the
great column, and the rolling wheels
of the artillery; the men whispered,
''Dont shout, boys, the Yankees will
hear u.s." for orders had been issued
that music, cheers, should all be stop
ped, as they were now approaching
the enemy.
Jackson had counted, nevertheless,
without his host" There was some
thing The men could not do, and that
was refrain from cheering their favor
ite. For time they passed by, wav-
ing their hats in silence to the bare
headed soldier. Then the stream
broke through. Some one, carried
away at sight of the old faded uni
form, the dingy cap, and the familiar
face, raised shout-with that the
torrent burst forth. A roar, wild,
laundering, tumultuous, reverberated
across the fields and in the forests
and jackson succumbed, for that greet
ing stirred his soldier.pride aud con-
quered him.
"You see / can't stop them p he
said, turning TO an officer. "Who
could fail to win victory with those
men !"
Strange confidence, had it not been
justified by experience. "Those men"
we're the veriest tatterdemalions who
ever, with their rags aud tatters, al.
fronted the sun Such scarecrows
had never before carried mushets, and
that implement alone established their
claim to the title of soldiers. 1t is
true that their method of carrying it
removed all doubts. They were faint,
half-starved, weary unto death, and
in rags; but they laughed, and their
bayone.s were bright.
1t was General Lee who said that
there was one occasion when be was
never ashamed of the appearance of
his soldiers-when they were fighting
AT dawn on the 26th, after brief
rest at Salem, jackson moved again,
reached Thoroughfare Gap, passed
unopposed between its frowning pine
clad ramparts; and debauehing thro'
its eastern mouth, swooped down up
on the rear Of General Pope.
The march had been a complete |
success. Stuart's cavalry had pre-
sented an impenetrable barrier to the
enemy's horsemen, thus completely |
shielding the great movement; Jack
son had arrived, next came the fight
ing, and the cannons soon began to
roar. The plains around Manassas,
silent, asleep, cursed, it might have
been said, through those long months
since July, 1861, had started, opened
affrighted eyes, and again began TO
groan as the dogs of war courscd
backward and forward again over the
fields where the foot sunk into graves.
To comprehend what followed, the
reader must look at the map. Many
who read these lines, viii probably
need nosuch reference-having fought
there
The ''situation" may be conveyed
in two or three lines. Jackson, with
10000 men, was full in Gen. Pope's
rear; Lee was moving rapidly TO join
him; General Pope, warned at last
of the fate which threatened him, was
fastening back from the Rappahan-
mock to extricate himself from the
terrible trap in which he was nearly
caught.
But his situation was by no means
discouraging. While Lee, with the
great reserve under Longstreet, moved
over the arc of the circle, by way of
Thoroughfare, the Federal command
or could move over the chord, by way
of the Orange railroad. He bad the
straight line to Manassas, that is 10
say, TO jackson, whose 10000 men,
he ought surely, with his large army,
be able TO crush before Lees arrival.
That result was indeed looked upon
as certain, and northern correspond
ents-those children of enthusiasm
wrote TO their papers that the great
Stonewall Jackson was at last secure
ly hemmed in, and outgeneraled,
hanked, cut of, and as good as cap
tured.
The parsonage thus threatened was
meanwhile at work. He knew that ,
General Pope's great column would
soon be hurled against him, mad with
rage and anticipated triumph; and .
the virginian doubtless proceeded on
the hypothesis that nothing tempers
rage in men, as in animals, like ssarva-