The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-04-29
stonewall Jackson, the Professor.

Ny FIRST recollection of Stonewall
Jackson is when I was college boy at
Lexington, Va, in the Fall Of 1860. /
am not able to say whether it was the
peculiar carriage of the stiff, military.
looking institute professor who daily
passed the college grounds that was OF
chief interest to the students of Washing
ton College, or whether the stories told
of daring and reckless courage in his
early military life invested him with a
halo of romance, and made him an object
of hero worship in their youthful minds.
Whatever the cause, the solid tramp Of
Major Jackson on the plank walk would
be the signal to stop all games of mirth
that may have been in progress on the
college campus, until he had passed.
The stiff, stolid looking man would pass
on, turning his head neither to the right
nor left, but q single touch of his cap was
the silent recognition given Of the defer.
entail respect shown by the boys.
"Old Jack" as he was familiarly called
by cadets and students, WAS SO plain in
manner and attire, there was 30 little
effort at show, his feet were 30 large, and
his arms and hands fastened to his body
in such an awkward shape, that !sthe
cadets didn't take much pridein him as
professor. They feared him in the lee
ture room, they paid the strictest defer
ence to him on parade, but in showing a
stranger the sights about the institute, Q
cadet was never known to point out "Old
Jack" as one of the ornaments of the in
stitution.s He was more popular with the
college students, who did not have the
same reasons for fearing the susterity of
his manner, but who knew him as the
son-in-law of their college President, the
Rev. George Junkin.
My first meeting with Gen. Jackson in
the social circle was one evening when
he called to see a friend at our boarding
house. shall never forget the impress
sion his manner and appearance made
upon me. Boy as was, I looked upon
him with reverential awe. had heard
the stories of his struggles in early life
of how he had walked from his house in
Lewis county to Washington to receive
his appointment as cadet to West
Point; of his being ill-prepared, and the
difficulty he had in keeping up with bis
classes end then I had heard of his bril-.
liant career in Mexico, of his mounting
the walls of Cherubusco with the Amer.
ican flag in his hands; and here now was
the hero of my youthful enthusiasm be.
fore me. He was so different from what
I thought hero ought to be! There
was so little animation, no grace, no en-
thusiasm---all was stiffness and awkward.
ness. He sat perfectly erect, his back
touching the back of the chair nowhere
the large hands were spread out, one on
eaca knee, while the large feet, striking
out an exact right angle to the leg, 1.-THE
angle seeming to have been determined
with mathematical precision,) occupied
an unwarranted space. The figure re-
called to my boyish mind what | had
once seen--a rude Egyptian-carved fig
ure intended to represent one of the Pha
raohs.
But when the conversation commenced
lost sight of the awkward-looking fig
ure. even lost the reverential awe
which had so deeply impressed me a
first. 1 only saw the mild eyes emitting
gentle beams, and only heard soft, me
fodious voice speaking, it is true, ir
short, crisp sentences-but withal a!
mild and winning as woman's. I ther
understood how it was that Major Jack
son could be hero. Underlying tha
rough, uncomely exterior was a vein o.
the most exquisite sentiment. In the
soul of the man was that magnetism
which attracted, and that power which
controlled and made him the master O
his fellowmen. In after days, when
saw the uplifting of his dusty cap excite
the widest enthusiasm among his veteran
legions, knew whence the power ema
nated.- Wheeling Register.