Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1877-07-28
CHART FSTOWN JEFFERSON COUNTY, w. VA, SATURDAY, j

son as the representative OF nel peuPle' W"
the 2lst of January, 1924, in Clarksburg, a.
moug the mountains of Western Virginia, was
born this boy, the youngest of four children I;
and with no view 10 his future fame he was
named Thomas Jonathan jackson. Ii was q
rugged, honest name, but it is no cause ofregret
that it is row merged in the more rugged and
euphonL Us one he afierward made for himself
No comet was seen at his birth, and there Is
little record of his boyhood except that he was
left an orphan when he was three years old,
and being penniless, had hard time of in his
youth. But his father had been lawyer, and he
was taken care Of by some of his relatives
At sixteen lie was Appointed a constable, and
two wears afterward entered West Point as q
Cadet. He graduated in 1916, went TO Mexi-
co and served as lieutenant in the battery of
Magruder, prince John" who aflerward serv-
ed under jackson in Virginia. Jackson was
twice breyeted for galantry, and returned from
Mexico, at the age of twenty-four, with an
enviable reputation and the rank OF major
lie served awhile in Florida, but his health
gave way and he was compelled TO quit the
army. Ia 1851 he was appointed Professor 10
the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington.
He there married daughter of Rev. George
Junkin, d. d., who was President OF what is
now Washington and Lee University. DR..
Juukin was an earnest Union man, and at the
breaking out of the war resigned his position
and went back to Pennsylvania but it is said
the loyalty of the old gentleman was not proof
against the pride he felt in his famous son-in-
law. Major Jacksons wife soon died. lie
then married a daughter of Rev. DR.. Morrison,
another Presbyterian clergyman, Of Charlotte,
NC. She now lives in Charlotte with her
only child. Julia. who was not six months old
when her father died at Charlottesville. In
1867 Major jackson went to Europe. While
in France be rode on horseback, with some
French officers, over the field Of Waterloo. 1t
is said lie seemed perfectly familiar with the
Typography Of the ground and the maneuvers
of the two armies, and sharply criticised one
Of the Emperor's movements by saying,
there's where Napoleon blundered." Snch
resumpiion was unheard Of since the tine the
young Corsican, in Italy, criticised the venerable
Wurmser But what seemed efrontery in
Bonaparte was gebius in Napoleon, and the
name Of Stonewa.l will save his criticism.
HIS SELF DISCIPLINE.
After his return from Europe, Jackson led
quiet and unobtrusivc life at Lexington. less
known than any other professor His delicate
health forbid much social enjoyment. | met
him there in 1860, and once said 10 a classmate
in the law school, who had been at the lusti
tute:
at seems to me, TerriIl, IL like to know
Major Jackson better; there is something a.
bout him can't make out"
"Nobody can but it wouldn't pay re-
piled Bath" cold Jack S character, genius,
or inst a little crazy, or something of that sort
He lives quietly and don't NEEDLE with people
but he is as systematic as a multiplication Ia
bla, and as full of military as an arsenal
Stiff, you see, aud never laughs, but kind
hearted as woman and, by Jupiter, be
teaches niger Sunday school. But mind
what say, if this John Brown business leads
to war, he be heard from"
Well, it did lead to war and Jackson was
heard from, and Colonel Terrill fell fighting
under i'm.
have referred 10 Major Jackson's ill-healIh.
II took the form Of dyspepsia, 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 as likely 10 drive one TO
suicide 1t produced in him that simplicity Of
diet which was conspicuous as his simplicity
Of manners. lie never was 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 lie did not cat In
the army be rarely accepted an invitation to
dinner. and when he did, it was generally 10
oblige his staff. He once said 10 me that he
believed be was fonder Of whisky and brandy
than any man in his army; aud yet he never
tasted it. His discipline commenced with
himself, and controlled his appetite as firmly
as lie did his troops.
In face and figure Stonewall Jackson was
not striking Above the average height, with
a frame angular, muscular, and heshless, be
was in all his movements, from riding horse
to handling pen. the most ungraceful man in
the army. His expression was thoughtful, and
generally clouded with an air Of fatigue. His
eye was small, blue, and in repose as gentle as
a young girls With high, broad forehead, |
small sharp nose, thin, palIid lips, deep set
eyes, and dark, rusty beard, he was not hand !
some man. His face in the drawing-room or
tent, softeued by his sweet smile, was as dif- |
ferent from itself on the battlefield as a little
lake IL summer noon differs from the same lake !
when frozen. Walking or riding the general |
was ungainly; his main object was to 90 over
the ground, without regard TO the manner Of |
his going. His favorite horse was as little Ike |
Pegasus as he was like Apollo; be rode boldly |
and well, but certainly not with grace and case /
He was not a man Of style. General Lee, on /
horseback or Oh was the hands0mcst man | |
ever saw. Il was said Of Wade Hampton that /
he looked as knightly when mounted as If be /
had stepped out from an old canvass, horse /
and all. Breckenridge was a model Of manly I
beauty, and Joe Johnston looked every inch a I
soldier. None Of these things can be said Of
Jackson.
THE REBEL YELL.
Akin 70 bis dyspepsia, and perhaps as
was bis ignorance Of music. One
morning, at Ashland, be startled young lady
from her propriety by gravely asking her ifshe
bad ever heard q new piece Of music called
' Dixie" and as gravely listening to her while
she sang IT, lie bad heard il a thousand times
from the army bands, and yet it seemed new
to him. Judged by the Sbakesperean stan
lard. who could be more eft for tre1SoHS, STRAIT
1gems and spoasl" And yet there was one
kind Of music which always interested and
delighted him. II was the "rebel yell" Of bis
troops. To this grand chorus he never failed
10 respond. The difference between the regu-
ar "hurrah" Of the Federal army and the IT.
regular, wild yell Of the COnfederates was as
marked as the difference in their Uniforms
The rebel yell was peculiar mixture Of sounds,
, kind Of weird shout Jackson was greeted