The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-07-24

with his own intrepid spirit and went
into battle under sort of semi
religious ecstacy that enabled him to
accomplish seemingly marvellous re-
suits with the means at hand. He had
that temperament and those qualities
which would cause soldiers willingly to
follow him almost anywhere. But he
erred egregiously in his general views
of the war, if Professor b. l.. Dabney,
his chief of staff, and now professor of
philosophy in the University of Texas,
represents him correctly in letter to
the Baltimore Sun. This is what the
professor says:
On the 18th Of May, 1862 between the
battles of Mcdowell and Winchester, l was
riding alone with the general along the val
ley Of Messy Creek, in Augusta county, to
visit the bivouac of the famous Twelfth
| Georgia Regiment in our front. He was,
what was rare with him, in the mood to
converse with me. Our thoughts travelled
| naturally upon the prospect of our struggle
The conversation turned upon some recent
threat of bloody retaliation which Mr..
Davis had been compelled to make by
some one of the numerous outrages. The
general said, in words to this effect, that
such an emergency would not now appear
had the war been begun on that plan which
commended itself to his judgment. l ex-
claimed, with much interest, that rumor
! had fitted through his army that he would
have begun the war under the black flag,
and that | was curious to know from him
! whether it had any foundation or not. He
replied squarely. Eyes" he believed we
should not have begun to take any prison.
ers in this war, and that he should have
adopted this plan distinctly in the interests
of humanity, because he felt sure the war
would have been thus ended with far less
L dad hat Il
not be, like other diplomatic wars, strug-
! gle for boundary or province, but for
! our people struggle for life and death,
and it would have been best for the people
! to have its true character unmasked to them
! from the first. This war, before its end,
will certainly disclose its piratical charac-
! ter. Thus Mr.. Lincoln is reported as now
! declaring that il is not war of abolition.
! But, whether he knows it or not, it is surely
destined to become such Then they will
! proceed to arm our own slaves against us.
| Then, said he, when these outrages are
| perpetrated of course it will be absurd and
| impossible for us to treat this war as civ
ilized war! To do so will be perdtion to
our cause.
This not only shows the latent saw
agery there was in Jackson's compost
ton, but furthermore exhibits his utter
inability to forecast the course the ter
rible contest would pursue. That
largely arose from the fact that above
everything else Stonewall was fighter.
He from the outset misconceived the
nature of the struggle, even on the
part of the southern conspirators, who
battled chiefly for political sway. Mr..
Lincoln's great craftsmanship APP
peared in his successful labors not to
allow the contest to assume any such
aspect as General Jackson describes
Never was there anything like an inter.
nal rising of the slaves. At one time
the southern government threatened &c
butcher every white officer of colored
regiments, but Jeff. Davis and his con.
spirators soon recovered from their san
culinary disposition. They did not dare
to put their bloody menace into execu
ton. This declaration of Stonewal
Jackson's opinions will not heighten hi:
reputation either at home or abroad.