The Washington critic., 1885-06-25


Virtues Belong to No Section But to
the Undivided Union.
Nathaniel Lyon of Connecticut and
Thomas ]. Jackson of Clarksburg, Va
were the puritamcal soldiers of the late
war. a deep religious conviction of pa
triotism actuated the hearts of these ma
tural leaders, who never faltered in
plan once adopted, but struck the enemy
with lightning force and rapidity, accom-
plishing by audacity what other generals
failed in securing with time aud numbers
Lyon was born in the year of 1919, grad
uated in 1S41 at West Point and was
killed at the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo-,
on the 10th of August, 1861.
"Stonewall" Jackson was born in the
year 1884, graduated at West Point in
1916 and received his death wound at the
battle of Charlottesville in May, 1868,
dying on Sunday, the 10th of that month.
Both ofthese military chieftains served
as lieutenants in the Mexican war with
Scott and Taylor, fought in the same bat
ties for the stars and stripes and were pro-
NOTED for marked gallantry. After the
Mexican war Jackson resigned his COM
mission and took professorship in the
Military Institute of Virginia at Lexing-
ton, where he taught until the shot on
Sumpter aroused the nation to battle.
At the close Of the Mexican war, Lyon
went to California, served on the Indian
frontier with distinction, and afterwards,
in the Kansas troubles, commanded at
Fort Riley, taking q leading part in the
bloody events that made Kansas free
State.
In May, 1861, Lyon went to st. Louis
.N..l .I.. Fall IT,..t .t.x1
States regulars at the arsenal, and, while
only captain, soon rose to the posi-
ton of acknowledgement and took COM
mand of the five or six thousand volun-
teers that Blair, Siegel, Fletcher, Caven-
der and other patriots had raised to coun-
teract the militia that Governor Clai-
borne Jackson had assembled in camp at
st. Louis with the evident intention of
claiming Missouri to the chariot wheels of
the Confederacy. Sterling Price and
Governor Jackson had q consultation
with General Lyon on the critical stu
alton existing between the State and ma
tional authorities. The city officials of
fine his military movements to the narrow
precincts of the arsenal. Lyon replied
that the troops of the United States had
right to march anywhere under the flag
and if any man, or body ofmen, attempted
to intercept their course, destruction and
On the 18th of May, 1861, while State
and National authorities were haggling
about policy and precedent, Lyon made
rapid march with his troops to Camp
Jackson, located in the western part of
the city, surrounded the State militia
commanded by General Frost, and
demanded an immediate surrender.
There was nothing left to Frost but to
fight or lay down his arms, and as the
guns of the loyal troops were ready to
belch forth q deadly salute Frost wisely
chose the part of discretion and gave up
| his seven hundred men and their muni.
tons of war.
The citizens of St. Louis were terribly
excited over the unlooked-for dash of
Lyon, and while the prisoners were being
marched back to the arsenal some one in
the surrounding mob threw stones at the
German regiment, which replied with a
murderouss fire, killing and wounding a
the city was in wild state of revolution
| Home Guards and minute Men"
watching each other from street corners,
dark alleys, basement cellars and attic
| windows. This daring act of Lyon in
capturing the State militia at Camp jack
son saved Missouri to the Union and drew
| at once the lines between loyal and dis
loyal citizens. Thus one brave spirit is
the iron band to, splice the timbers of a
State or solidify the crumbling arches of a
| nation.
| While Governor jackson of Missouri
| was doing his best to drag the State into
secession, Governor Fletcher of Virginia
was not slow in organizing troops to sus-
tain the Southern Confederacy and enlist
| the Old Dominion in the war against the
| Union.
| Thomas ]. Jackson was the commander
| of the State militia under Governor Wise
| when the rugged fanatic of freedom John
dad
| at Harper's Ferry. The firing on the flag
at Sumpter was but the echo of the scaffold
| thud at Harpers Ferry. Jackson offered
| his heart and hand to his native State,
was commissioned colonel and soon af-
ter became brigadier-general of the Con-
federacy under the command of Beaure-
gard and Johnson. The brigade of Jack
son was felt at the first battle ofBull Run,
and while Mcdowell, Sherman and Burn
side attempted to break the gray lines at
the celebrated "Stone Bridge" the rebel
| troops Immediately under Jackson stood
| like stone wall.
General Bee, companion commander
of Jackson, in cheering his men into the
fight, called their attention in that direc-
ton and eXclaimed Look at Jackson
and his men He stands like q stone.
wall - and from that eventful day to the
present time, the hero of n hundred bat
ties has been known as "Stonewalp'
| Jackson.
During Jackson's life he was the main.
stay of General Lee. In 1862 and 1883 he
had an independent command and swept
| up and down the Shenandoah Valley like
an eagle, pouncing upon his prey when
least expected AT Winchester he dashed
against old General Shields of Irish and
| Mexican memory, but for the first time in
his career, was beaten back like an ocean
breaker on q rocky shore. He foiled and
i whipped in detail parts of the commands
of Mcclellan, Fremont Burnside, Banks
and Miles, capturing more than eleven
thousand men from the latter at Harper's
Ferry. The celerity of Jacksons move
ments over the passes of the Blue Ridge
through the luXuriant fields of the Shen-
andOah Valley, over the swollen streams
and rolling hills of Maryland, bring tC
mind the active genius of the Great Ma
foot over the bridge Of Lodi, or hurting
his serried battalions against the foe at tho
rising sun of Austerlit2.
| 1t was n common belief with the soldiers
of Stonewall Jackson that his constant
| prayer and solemn sincerity assured vic
tory ON every field, and that the Almighty
| inspired their beloved commander. They
never doubted full supply of rations anc
| clothing while any political generals were
found in the Valley, and it was source oI
amusement that certain Union officers
acted as the commissariat for the half
starved and ragged Confederates. At Nal.
vern iill Antietam, Fredericksburg, and
down to the fatal night at Chancellors
| Vile, in May, 1863, when he received his
| death wound from an accidental shot
| Jackson never faltered in his duty nol
| doubted the issue while he had Il soldier
/ tn llnN1hIn