Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-05-06

How he bore himself in that war the
dispatches of General Scott TO Mr..
Marcy best tell. At its close he was
placed in command Of a body OF
United States soldiers at Fort Hamil-
ton, and subsequently at Tampa Bay,
and after remaining at these two
places some two years. his health Civ
ing way, he resigned his place in the
amy and returned to his old home at
JackSon's Mills. His uncle, a bache-
Tor, had a number of negro slaves who
kept house for him and attended to
his domestic affairs. Some of them
had nursed young Stonewall when a
child, and his meeting with them.
after an absence, was not unlike an
old-time love feast. Such a shaking
Of hands and laughter, loud enough
to shake the house tops, was a sight
worth seeing.
Thomas j. jackson was a noble
hearted fellow, and was never known
to have forgotten a kindness or for
Saken a friend.
While at the mills he was a close
student of history and the laws of.
war, and nothing pleased him more
than to discuss with the writer the
generalship of the commanders of.
armies and the treaties made by con-
tending forces. He often said that he
had but n talent, and 'he would
never be anything but Tom jackson
unless the United States engaged in
war"
He had read and pOndered closely
the lives of warriors and heroes of the
old and new world, and was enamored
with the "pomp and circumstances of
war" Taking in review his own
matchless campaigns, it is not wonder
tul that two such masters in the arts
of war as Julius Caesar and Frederick
the Great should have become his pro-
totypes. That he often drew inspira-
tion from their dash and rapid marches
their disposition of troops and dis
patch of an enemy-in his Valley
campaigns there can be no doubt.
One of the marked characteristics
of this extraordinary man was his ex-
treme modesty. Itwas with the great
est difficulty that he could be induced
to speak OF any act, however merito-
riOus, with which his name was asso-
ciated. No young officer was ever
more highly complimented by his
superior than he in our war with
Mexico, and yet, if that fact had been
left alone for him to have told. it
would never have been known.
After remaining at his old home
some length Of time he became tired
of inaction. He wanted something TO
do. In the meantime a new professor
ship was created in the Virginia Mill.
tary Institute. He was an applicant.
aud, through the exertiOns of the late
John S. Carlisle, he was appointed to
the place. He discharged its duties
to the satisfaction of all concerned
but the field was too small for the
Of his great talents.
When the vacancy occurred in the
chair of mathematics of the Uniyer-
sity of Virginia. by the death of the
accomplished Courtney, his friends
presented him as a suitable successor.
he only lost the place by Doctor
Bledsoe being an alumnus. For when
Judge George H. Lee, a representative
Of his old home, laid before the board
of visitors his credentials of fitness.
the venerable Thomas Jefferson Ran
iolph declared that no such high
of recommendation had
ever before accompanied the applica-
ion for a p~rofessorship in the u%niyer-
'ity.
Lieutenant Thomas J. jackson con- !
lected himself with the Virginia
Institute in 1851, as professor
natural and experimental philoso. {
ply and artillery tactics, and remained s
that position until the breaking out !
lf civil war. He took sides with
South, and the role he acted in !
hat bloody drama has become a part :
)f our %cOuntry's history ]