Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-08-09
VOL. Al.
"STONEWALL JACKSON,
SOLDIER AND SAINT"

SOLDIER AND SAINT"
The above is the heading given to two let
tiers written by Rev. Henry NJ Field, D. D.,
to his paper, the New Y DIRK Evangelist. Mr..
Field, it will be remembered, was recently
a visitor to this section of the Valley, in
Guiding Lexington and our own city.
Below we give the first of the two letters
and next week we will give the other:
A few weeks before left New York for
the South, drove out to Riverside avenue
to the grave of General Grant. 1t was a
beautiful Autumn day. The leaves were
falling from the trees; the woods were al
most stripped and bare; and all things
wore the sOmbre, funereaI look which is
the token Of the change that comes alike
on nature and on man. The spot is one of
great natural beauty-a swelling mound,
perhaps hundred feet above the Hudson;
commanding view of great extent up and
down the river; across to the Palisades and
beyond to the mountains; and far down
the bay to where the sheen of the waters
fades into the distant CLEAN of the ocean.
What place for a warrior to rest after his
stormy life And yet, though it be SO calm
and still, it is within the limits of the great
city in which he spent his last years; and
grave. AS the poet of England says of
Wellington, who sleeps in the very heart
of London, under the dome of st. Paul $50
may we say of our honored dead:
LET the sound of those he wrought for,
And the feet of those he fought for,
Echo round his bones forevermore."
From the grave of our beloved soldier it
is natural transition to that of his great
adversary, who sleeps far away among the
hills of the Old Commonwealth which he
so much loved. The fact that he led the
opposing armies, does not abate the inter
est with which we study his extraordinary
career The time has come when we can
do Justice to those who fought against us,
and even claim their valOr and self-devo-
ton as part of our national Inheritance
of glory. As | have somewhat of the in
stinct Of an Old Mortality, [ confess to a
very great interest in visiting their homes
and sepulchres. And so, as [ returned
from the South, l took my way across the
mountains, that might spend a day in the
retired but most beautiful spot where Gen
eral Lee spent his last years; where he died
and is buried; and where his fright arm"
(as he called "Stonewall' Jackson) was
buried before him.
came an entire stranger, knowing no
one; but as l stepped from the car, gen.
tleman called me by name, and took me
to his own home.' This was Prof, J. j.
White Of the College, who received me
with as much kindness as if l had been an
old friend. Perhaps it gives color to all
my impressions both of the College and
the town, that they are associated. with
such kindly hospitality.
Lexington is situated in that part of the
Old Dominion, which, being between the
Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies, is known
as the Great Valley of Virginia. This is
at a considerable elevation above the sea-
If in fact a Opnuinp ia blp-lGnd or
plateau-but being walled in by ranges on
both sides, it has the aspect of a broad and
open valley, lying in the lap of its guardi-
an mountains. The region is both pictur-
esque and historical. Settled at an early
day by sturdy race from the North of
siege of Derry it has always had re-
markable population. A place of such
'sightliness, and in the centre of such a
people, seemed fitted for an Institution of
Learning, and here, more than hundred
wears ago, was set up on the hilltop one of
the best Academies of the times before the
Revolution, whose name of Liberty
HALF showed that even then the spirit Of
independence was abroad-a name which
gave way, after few years, when the
Academy had grown into College, to that
of Washington to which it had just title,
as it received its first endowment from the
Father of his Country, in a property val
ued at fifty thousand dollars, given to him
by the State of Virginia, which he accept
| ed only on condition that he might devote
it to this object. And here, half century
later, rose, as fit accompaniment to the
after that at West Point to furnish de-
tenders to the country. But intensely
Southern in its associations and sympathies
Cor it might be more accurate to say, in
tensely V5rginian), it followed its State il
the movement of Secession, and among the
10 t1,at ylr+ int tI,oI o1a,
ate army were students from Washington
College, and cadets from the Military
| Academy.
Indeed they had hardly need to 90 to the
war, for the war came to them. From the
very beginning the Valley of Virginia was
a scene of conflict. As it is rich agricul
tural region, it was the nearest and mos
convenient source of supplies to the Con
federates in the field, and was called 'tht
| backbone of the COnfederacy," and hence
its possession became an object of cohtes
for both armies.
Among the earliest Of those who yolun
teered fOr service, was a professor, In thu
military Institute" Thomas Jonathan
Jackson. A Virginian by birth (born il
1920, he was educated at West Point
where he was in no wise conspicuous. He
did not rank high in his class. His mnt
was not brilliant one. at least in acquir.
ing knowledge; it was not dull, but it wa
slow; and whatever he learned came by
the hardest. But. he kept at it with doggeC
pRfsistency; so that each year he stood
higher than before, particularly in mathe
MATES, study most necessary in war
Graduating in 1916. at the time of the Mex
jean War, he was Immediately ordered tt
4 Mexico, where though but a lieutenant, Ii,
showed such courage and capacity, partic
ularly at the stQrMiHg Of Chapultepeo
that lie was breyetted a Major After hi
return to the United States, he became {
Professor in the Military Academy at Lex
ington, a position in which he did farl,
we'll; but he was not great teacher, as Ii,
lad not been great scholar. In his class
room exercises, he was faithful and exact
and always siio~pg that he had himself
mastered the subject; but he had nane O
the personal magnetism Which inspires
young minds with enthusiasm. In short
there was nothing to indicate that this mal
was to proye. himself one OF the creates
soldiers of his time:
in external appearance there could no
be a grfater CONTRAST thap between thi
plain soldier and General Lee, who Wal
the model Of mil m,dIisrx eaaaer grace
a natural dignity that, while It did no
repel, did not permit any Familiarity
jackson had not a particle Of grace. BraF
as a lion in battle, he was never at ease IL
society. One of his old friends here il
Lexington, who met him often, tells M
that his manner Was so wanting in ease
that when be enGttered feAm, Hp greetf'
salute AID Sat down Oh tie ledge Of 4 lcclfair
bolt upright, as II eager to be off, asking
few abrupt questions, aAd answering
l yes OF mo; and then, rising a
) abruptly as he came, with bob of hi
head, and short Good morning." jerke,
himself out Of the room
eq Baf F Ns M Ills Eha BsE 20 BIZ
justice, and says, There has bee9} sgghI
disposition even among Southern writer's /
Il earlcatnre Jackson as a man, in the effoI
to place jackson tiie soldier in holder re
lief and then be draNs stteh 2 loyin
picture, that cannot refrain from lattiH
my readers enjoy it with me:
"A certain Blrnt, curt, and reticel
habit, which marked tIia soldier, has bee
thought to characterize him III saeial intel
course. Such was not the case. I met Iii
very often in society, and do not hlesitat
to say tbat b was nl}oaest, genial, courts t.
was not graceful in .fgetre or III nlQSelpen
but in spirit was highly SO. He had pt