Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-08-25
M}istellaueuns &eadidg.
A NIGHT WITH "STONEWALL" JACKSON.
IA. R. Boteler In the Philadelphia Tim

A NIGHT WITH ssSTONEWALL' JACKSON.
IA. R. Boteler in the Philadelphia Times.l
While serving on Stonewall Jackson's staff
I sometimes shared with him the shelter o1
his tent, and it was my good fortune to do SO
the night of the battle of Fredericksburg
when some little incidents occurred which,
though trifing in themselves, we're so charac'
teristic of the Generals considerate Kindness
that perhaps, on that account they deserve to
be recorded. After the fight was over, when
The night cloud had lowered
And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky,
we were riding together near Hamilton's 8
Crossing, on the right of our line, when he
turned to me and said "Colonel as this has
been fatiguing day and you must be tired,
I think you had better return to camp. get
your supper and 60 to bed. for we are likely
to have a very busy day to morrow" The
advice was timely and too good to be neglect
ed so withea grateful appreciation of its st.
ness I thanked him for the suggestion and
promptly turned my horses head toward the
camp, which was about mile from the Gross.
ing, whereupon he added, as parting ipjunc-
ton: "Be sure and tell Jim to make you
comfortable in my tent tonight and not to
wait for me-. If wanted, l shall probably be
at army headquarters"
Jim was the Generals body servant and
faithful factotum, as much identified with
him in his campaigns, as was the "Old Sor-
rel," which his master'always rode in battle,
and which, by the way, was as little like the
Scriptural war horse described in Job as the
General himself resembled the classical rep
resentations of Mars in Hebrew mythology.
The servant and "Old Sorrel" being about
the same color each having the hue of gin
gerbread without any of its spiciness-their
respective characters were in concatenatlon
accordingly. For they were equally obedient,
patient, easy-going, and reliable not given
to devious courses nor designing tricks; more
serviceable than showy, and, altogether, as
sober.sided pair Of subordinates as any
Presbyterian elder, with plain tastes and
practical turn, need desire to have about him.
Both man and horse seemed to understand
their master thoroughly, and rarely failed to
come up fully to all his requirements. So
that when I told Jim that his master said he
must make me comfortable for the night, |
knew very we'll that nothing farther need be
urged to impress him with the comprehen.
siveness of the order, which he'd be sure to
look upon as limited only by the resources of
the camp and his own capacity as caterer.
Consequently, in due time, substantial sup.
per was served, to which full justice was done,
as l had eaten nothing since daylight, and
soon thereafter was asleep on the Generals
pallet, which appeared to have coautchouc
capability of accommodation when Jim, "on
hospitable thoughts in tent" proceeded, as ne
said, to "widen it out to make it more itten
for two"
IN THE TENT WITH JACKSON.
About midnight / was awakened by the
entrance. of the General, who had been, as |
learned afterwards, at General Lees head.
quarters, but did not let him know he had
disturbed me, as that would have worried him.
Lighting candle and laying aside his great
coat, sword, &C., he opened the draught of the
little sheet iron stove that warmed the Sibley
tent, and seating himself at the table read
for while in his well.worn Testament then
kneeling reverently down, he "bowed himself
in prayer" When through with his devo.
tions he drew off his boots, put on pair OF
slippers and quietly lying down by my side
fell fast asleep almost Immediately. By this
time I was too wide awake to follow his ex-
ample My thoughts reverting to the terri.
BILE scenes Of the preceding day would not be
controlled, and l could not recall them from
the bloody battlefield close by, where the
dreadful drama had been enacted and where
there were then lying so many thousands of
brave men who
"-had sunk on the ground overpowered,
The weary to sleep and the wounded to die.'
thought of the magnificent spectacle of
the morning before, when the trolling mists'
began to rise from the river and revealed the
grand Army of the Potomac" with its hun.
dred and seventy FIVE thousand men, superbly7
armed and equipped, as it deployed, column
after column, on the open plain before US, Gin
all the pomp and pride and circumstance of
war"-one of the grandest sights ever beheld
on the Continent. thought of the splendid
advance of its triple lines of battle, marching
with the precision of regulars on dress parade
and preserving their alignment perfectly
along our front, as far as the eye could reach,
until coming within point-blank range of our
position, when-with three hundred cannon
roaring around them and the air filled with
the merciless missiles of death-they so gal.
lantly rushed to the charge, on the right hand
and on the left, and were so remQrselessly re-
pulsed by the concentrated fire Of the Confed-
crates, which sent them reeling back beyond
the river road, to reform their ranks for a
fresh assault, while the intervening ground,
covered With their killed and wounded, was
so torn up by shot and shell that it looked in
places as if it had been ploughed. | thought
Of young Pelham's daring feat-how, dashing
forward far into the open field upon the Fed
eral flank, he so raked the advancing lines
with an en6lading FIRE from two pieces of his
horse artillery as to compel them to pause,
and not only to confront him with whole d.
vision of infantry, thrown into crochet at
right angles with their main lines of battle,
but likewise, to concentrate upon him the fire
of four batteries, besides the heavy guns on
Stafford Heights; and how, Notwithstanding
these combined attacks, the boy artillerist
maintained the unequal duel for more than
an hour, and until he was recalled by positive
orders from his perilous position. Well might
General Lee exclaim, as he did to Jackson,
in regard to Pelham's proves: "It is inspir-
tiug to see such glorious courage in one so
young" and we'll might Jackson say of him,
as he did to me that day: Hes the best ar
tillerist for his age ever saw" thought Of
the furious assaults made early in the after
noon upon our right, when again under cover
of terrible cannonade, "tlaree lines of battle
advanced to the charge, preceded by clouds
of skirmishers" and strengthened by ten bat.
teries of field guns upon their hanks; of how
they broke through portion of the Confed.
orato lina fnrninn tuo nf P Hill's brio.