Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-04-29


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SToxEw4LL JAcgaoS.-~A corTospon-
dent Of the Richmond Dispatch writes
"a follows II wns Gvat Frederick
who in the midst of hik wonderous mil.
htaTy carver fuld YN AftmEgs4r y hp..np
battle hung on contingencies 50 seem
ingly trifing that they could neither he
foreseen nor provided for, and the re-.
mark has often occurred 70 me in con.
ncetion with an incident IN the life Of
Gen. Jackson, which has so far escaped
bis biogrAphers, and which illustrates
the equal uncertainty Of the dcstinies
Of men and armies.
What follows may be relied on az
absolutely authentic; indeed. II II mis-
take not Colonel, then Captain) Wyatt
N. Elliot and Cantain Roaai0nr ~ th..
Richmond Grays, took part intheepisode.
In the spring Of 1861 there we're sta
toned around Norfolk mauy ~ the crack
volunteer infantry companies Of the
State, and these were formed into the
Twelfth Regiment by Gov. l.etchor, and
ID. A. Weisiger, Of Petersburg, was
commissioned rs tho colonel. Shortly
afterwards an order was Issued from
State headquarters assigning Liouten-
ant Colonel T. ]. Jackson t. this CON-
mand. and directing him 60 report to
Norfolk for duty. This fews being
communicated by the colonel to the
company ofiicers, was received with
great indignation, and consultation was
held to determine what should be done
to prevent the execution of The obnox-
ions order In the frat place, the OFF,
GERS were tenacious Of their volunteer
right to select their own supsFiors; and
IN the second place, there happened to
be in the regiment several gentlemen
who had recently graduated IL the yir-
ginia Military Institute and who brought
from thence the prevalent, and by no
means hattering, estimate Of Jackson's
character and abilities. Their unfa.
vorable report Of him, backed Ey IN
stances Of his eccentricities and nscetic
disposition, confirmed and infaSncd the
objection first made to a stranger, and
the end Of the matter was hitter to
Govoner Letcher protesting against the
assignment and asking for its revoca-
ton. After some hesitation the Gov
ernor complied, and giving Jackson an
other field Of duty, launched him forth
on that path Of fame now 50 web known
of all men.
The Twelfth regiment remained at
Norfolk duriDcs I'll and was skiii eKnac-
tive in the following spring, when Aheir
rejected iieutenant-colonel entered npon
that campaign in the Valley whih has
no parallel in American warfare for lis
brilliance and force. In the summer
campaign, the regiment took Efficient
part and at Champions gap, Fielding
Taylor, the gallant and accomplished
officer who came to US in the place Of
the rejected lieutenant colonel was killed;
but ere then Jackson had become ia
nous, had been promoted tbcommand
Of half the army, had come To be known
as Lees right arm, and filing giants
place III the minds Of friend and foe
And often, then and afterwards, on the
march and around the campfire was the
talk Of the inyincible leader, and smile
that we had once rejected him, and a
growing wonder as to how different
might have been his history perhaps,
how varied our experience HUT for the
independent spirit Of ayolnntaer organ
ization and The contagious preiudices
OF a few of Jackson's old sehblars