Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-10-12

graphs do not give an adequate idea Of
the man. They do not mark him apart as
a leader OF men, and show that inherent
fitness for high participation in the events
OF Shat epoch which the chances of war
nad brought to light. Says one of his
men: SIT would have been easy to have
mistaken him for the courier Of one of his
brlgadiers, for all external tokens to the
contrary; his single-breasted coat OF
rusty gray, Sun-scorched about the shout
ders, until 1t was almost yellow, and his
plain cadet cap of the same hue tilted
forward until the visor rested almost upon
his nose, were meaner in appearance than
the makeup of many a smart fellow
whose musket was the badge of his sta
ton, and not aQuartermaster in the corps
but would have considered Jackson's
gaunt old sorrel a bad swap for his own
nag. But the bright and piercing look of
his steel-blue eyes, when one could get
glimpse of them under the cap brim, the
firm set of his lips, and the impatient
jerking of his arms from time to time told
OF the eager working of the energetic soul
Within" And the description is a true
one TO the letter.
After the seven days battle, whenever
there was great cheering on any part of
the line, 1t used to be said by the listeners:
ITS either Jackson or a rabbit" Now
the meaning of this was that whenever
brigade, the entire complement Of officers
and men would turn out to pursue bunny,
and, by heading him OFF here and turning
MIN there, poor bunny, who in the end
would become bswildered bY the diaboli-
cal yells and cheers which met him at
every turn, was generally captured. Now
Gen. jackson Stunned, if he could. the
demonstrations which greeted him when
ever he passed a camp Of his own corps
n nF1CT mo VT~nT
gather on the roadside waving their hats
and yelling like demons, the yells being
taken up from camp to camp, as sold
Jack" went skurrying along on his old
sorrel as fast as he could lay feet to the
ground. There was a spice of mis-
chievOusness in this, for soldiers are like
school boys, and they knew how badly
jackson hated nOtOriety, but their admit
ration and enthusiasm for him were such
that they would have charged the very
gates of hades at his bidding. Never were
more genuinely sorrOwful tears shed than
those that fell from the eyes of his army
on JacksOn's bier.
1 recOllect that just before the battle of
fredericksburg (Burnside's) Gen. j. K.
Il. Stuart presented Jackson with a brand
new uniform, covered with gold lace and
stars, and as gaudy as a peacoek's train.
jackson had never worn it, but on the
morning of the grand assault Stuart had
persuaded him to put il ON. Accompanied
by Stuart and some Of his staff he rode
slowly in front of the Confederate lines
from right to left, but he was not recOg-
niZed until he reached Pickett's division,
then placed in the centre of the line.
Stuart mischievously pointed out the gor-
geOus-lo0lIing individual to some officer
of the division, and it ran down the line
like wildfre, "OId Jacks got new uni
FORM" Instantly the men leaped upon
the breastwOrks, yelling wildly and
swinging their hats, until Jackson could
bear it no longer, but, turning reproach-
tul look upon Stuart, he clapped spurs to
old sorrel and gallOped off to his own
command. suffice it to say, he pulled his
new buds off as soon as he had an oppor-
tunity.
Now, who can explain the philosophy
of it? Neither Johnston, nor Beauregard,
nor LOngstreet, nor Hill, nor Early, nor
even Jeb Stuart were ever looked upon by
the army in the same light as Lee and
jackson. And yet all these officers were
worthy of enthusiastic admiration and
unfiinching support. 1t is one Of the mys-
teries that make us believe that actions
and events are largely beyond the ken of
the pure reasoning faculties.