Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1884-11-21

back, whereupou the division swept for
ward in gallant style and re-established
the broken lines.
venture TO assert that no such regard
would have been shown for the safety OF
any other Confederate commander,
whether Johnston, Beauregard, or even
Jackson himself. If this deep veneration
was not inspired by elevation of character
and by what is indefinitely styled per
sonal magnetism" then am at 4 loss 10
account for the fact in the case.
And now rs to General Jackson. Be
fore the war he had been plodding pro-
fessor at the Virginia Military Institute,
and had been noted for nothing except
close attention 10 his professional duties,
a strict observance Of his religious tcnetS,
and a general ditiidence and awkwardncss
Of manner that amounted TO ccccntriclty,
and which made him at all times the butt
of the lively cadets. The firm stand of his
brigade at Manassas brought him respect
in the army and gave TO him the historic
soubriquct "Stonewall." The campaign
in the valley recalled the tactics of Bona
parte in the Italian quadrilatcral, and
Jackson lost nothing by the comparison.
From that time onward lac was the idol OF
the army. For faculty OF combination,
for power of concentration, for rapldity
of calculation, for iierceness OF execution,
General Jackson in his valley campaign
had shown himself 10 be head and shoul-
ders above any subordinate commander oi
the Confederate armies, east OF west. Has
name was in every mouth, and nothing
but praises went with il. The masses OF
the countrymen engaged in battling Tor
cause they deemed to be sacred found
something in the character Of the man
that suited their temperament in their
time OF labor, and this was apart from the
services he had recently rendered. 1t was
his retiring modcsty, his utter carcles,ness
of pomp and show, and his simple trust
in God, and if ever man believed in the
Righteousness of his cause, aud that the
Giver of Victories smiled upon il, that
man was Thomas Jonathan Jackson. Ii
may be said here that up TO this period
jackson was never understood. When he
made the celebrated forced march TO Rom
ney, Va, in the winter of 1862, there was
a howl all along the line for his removal
as a fanatical incompetent, but Governor
Lctchcr knew his man and refused TO re-
woke his commission. Again, before the
war in 1850 he had gathered together some
500 negro children and taught them in
Sunday School in Lexington, Va, and
this raised u terrible. storm throughout
the State. But lie kept the even tenor of
his way undisturbed. He WAS firm as
adamant where lie thought his duty was
concerned.
1t was only during the seven days fight
that the main body of the army came to
recognize Jackson ava persona. His photo
graphs do not give an adequate iGca OF the
man. They do not mark him apart as Il
leader of men, and show that Inherent fit
ness for rich participation in the events Of
that epoch which the changes Of war had
brought to light. Says some of his men: !:
at would have been easy to have mis-
taken him for the courier of one Of his
brigadicrs, for external tokens to the con-
trary; his single-breasted coat of rusty
gray, sun scorched about the shoulders,
until it was almost yellow, and his plain
cadet cap Of tho same hue tilted forward
until the visor rested almost upon liis
nose, were meaner in appearance than tho
makeup Of many smart fellow whose
mus%ct was the badge of his station, and
not quartermaster in the corps but would
have considered Jackson's gaunt old sor-
rel bad swap for his own nag. But the
bright and piercing look of his stccl-blue-
eyes, when one could catch 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 4 true one ~ the
letter.
After the Seven Days battle, whenever
there was cheering on any part oI the
line, it used to be said, "It's either Jack
son or rabbit" Now the meaning Of
this was that whenever rabbit WAS
started in the biyouac Of 4 brigade the
entire complement Of officers and men
would turn out to pursue bunny, and by
heading him of here and turning him
there, poor bunny, who in the end would
become bewildered by the diabolical yells
and cheers which met him at every lurn,
was generally captured. Now General
Jackson Stunned, il lie could, the demon
strations " hich greeted him whenever ho
passed camp either OF Ifs own corps or
Longstreet's. The men would gather on
the roadside, waving their hats and yell
ing like demons, the yells being taken up
from camp 10 camp as 'Old Jack" went
skurrying along on his old sorrcl as fast
as he could lay feet to the ground. There
was spice Of mischevousness in this,
for soldiers arc like school boys, and they
knew how badly Jackson hated nOtoriety,
but their admin alton and enthusiasm for
Lin was such that they, would have
charged the gates Of IIades at his bidding.
Never were tears more genuinely sorow-
fully shed than those that fell from the
eyes OF the army Oh Jackson's bier. .
l recollect that before the battle Of
Fredericksburg (Burnside's) Gen. J. T..
B. Stuart presented Jackson NTH brand
new uniform, covered with gold lace aid
stars, and as gaudy as peacoek's train.
Jackson had never worn il, but on the