The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-07-26
THE REBEL YELL.
Music that StoneWaH Jackson Delighted
Most 10 Hear.

Musfe that StoneWaH Jackson Delighted
host TO Hear.
[Col Kyd Douglass, in the Philadelphia Times.1
have referred to Mai. Jackson's
i'll health. 1t took the form of dvs-
pepsla, and once during the war he
told me he had suffered with it for
twenty years, and he knew Of no
misery which attacked man as it did,
physically, mentally and morally, and
was a. likely to drive one to suicide
1t produced i'll him that simplicity Of
diet which was as conspicuous as his
simplicity Of manners. He never was
a hearty eater, but often ate Of one or
two things on the table plentifully,
eating some things he did not like and
liking many things he did not eat. In
the army he rarely accepted an invita-
ton to dinner, and when he did it was
! generally to obligc his staff. He once
said to me that believed he was fonder
/ of whisky and brandy than any man
/ in the army; and yet he never tasted
/ it. His discipline commenced with
himself, and controlled lis appetite as
firmly as he did his troops
/ In face and figure Stonewall Jack
son was not striking. Above the aver
age height, with frame angular, mus
/ cular, and fleshless, he was in all his
movements, from riding Il horse to
/ handling n pen, the most ungraceful
man in the army His expression was
thoughtful, and generally clouded with
an air Of fatigue. His eve was small,
/ blue, and IN repose as gentle as a young
girls. With high, broad forehead,
small, sharp nose, thin, pallid lips,
deep set eyes, and dark, rusty beard,
ne was not Il handsome man. His face
in the draWing-rOom or tent, softened
by his sweet smile, was as different
from itself on the battlefield as a little
lake in summer noon differ from the
same lake when frozen. Walking or
riding the General was ungainly; his
main object was to go over the ground,
without regard to the manner OF going.
His favorite horse was as little like Pc
/ gesUs as he was like Apollo; he rode
boldly and well, but certainly not with
grace and ease. lie was not a man of
style. General Lee, on horseback or
off, was the hands0mest man | ever
saw. Il was said Of Wade Hampton
that he looked as knightly when mount
ed as if he had stepped out from an
old canvas, horse and all. Brackcn-
ridge was model Of manly beauty,
and Joe Johnston looked every inch q
soldier None Of these things can be
said Of Jackson.
Akin to his dyspepsia, and perhaps
rs a consequence, was his ignorance OF
music. One morning, at Ashland, he
, startled a young lady from her pro
priety by eravely asking her if she had
ever heard a new piece Of music called
'DiXie," and as gravcly listening to
, her while she sang it. He had heard
it a thousand times from the army
/ blnds and vet it seemed new to him.
, Judged by the Shakspearean standard,
! who could be more eft for treasOns,
stratagems and spoils?" And yet there
was one kind Of music which always
interested and delighted him. 1t was
the ''rebcl veil" Of his troops. To this
grand chorus he never failed to re-
spond. The difference between the
regular ''hmrah" Of the Federal army
and the irregular, wild yell Of the
Confcdcratcs was as marked as the
difference in their uniforms. The
rebel yell was a peculiar mixture OF
, sounds, Il kind of wierd shout Jack
son was greeted with it whenever be
made his appearance to the troops, Oh
, the march or IN the battle, and Just In
variabIy he would seize his old gray
cap from his head in acknowledgment,
and his Little Sorrel," knowing his
J habit, would break into a gallop and
p never halt until the shout had ceased.
| remember one night, at tattoo, thi.
cry broke forth in the camp Of the
StoncwalI brigade, and was taken VI
by brigade and divisions, until ii rolled
p over field and wood throughout the
{ whole corps. The General came has
thy and barcheaded out Of his tent,
and going up to the fence near by, he
leaned upon it and listened in quiet to
the rise, climax, and conclusions OF
that $ range screnade, raising his head
to citch the last sound, as it grew
fainter. and until it died away like an
echo along the mountains. Then
turning toward his tent he mUttered,
in half soliioquy, THAT was theswcet-
est music | ever heard"