Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-08-05

S,
of battle to meet General Patterson. The
skill and tact with which he had reduced
the high spirited rabble which rushed tc
Harper's Ferry at the first tap of the drum
into the respectable "Army of the Shenan.
doah," which he turned over to General J.
E. Johnston the last of May, and his skir.
mish at Falling Waters (which we then ex.
aggerated into an important victory, had
won him some reputation. and 1 was anxi
GUS to see him again.
have vivid recollection of how he i'm
pressed me. Dressed in simple Virginia
uniform, apparently about thirty -sevenyeaIs
old, six feet high, medium sizs, gray eyes
which seemed to look through you, light
brown hair, and a countenance in which
deep benevolence seemed mingled with un-
compromising sternness, he impressed me
as having about him nothing at all of the
"pomp and circumstance" of war, but
esery element which enters into the skilful
leader and the indomitable, energetic SOL
dier, who was always ready for tho fight.
But bis appearance year later is still
more vividly impressed upon me. Who
does not remember that old gray uniform,
which soon became soiled with the dust of
the valley, those cavalry boots and jngling
spurs, that old cadet cap which tilted on
his nose, and that raw-b boned sorrel which
he rede, and which the boys used to say
''could not run except towards the enemy"
just before the battle of Fredericksburg
his intimate personal friend, the chivalric
I"Jeb Stuart" presented him with beau
tiful Regulation" Confederate uniform,
and when he appeared in it for the first
time that day the boys did not recognize
him, but soon thu word ran down the line,
cit is Old Jack with new clothes on" and
then cheered him as usual. That magnifi-
cent uniform has been forgotten, but that
faded old suit of gray, in which we used to
see him galloping along the lines, amid the
deafening yells of the brave fellows who
followed him with loving devotion and en-.
thusastic confidence, is photographed for
his old corps and will be vividly recalled 1t
| the unveiling of the monument in Lexiug-
| ton.
| THE SOLDIER.
| jackson was born soldier, and it would
be for me pleasant task to sketch his mil.
itary career, which has been-the marvel of
the world, and shall be the study of mill.
tary critics as the years go on; but ADLER
pens than mine will describe him as SOL
dier, and I shall not, therefore, in these
papers attempt any detailed history of his
campaigns, his battles, his military achieve.
ments-for that were to give the history of
the Army of Northern Virginia during the
| two years he was connected with it. But
shall rather give a few salient points, which
shall illustrate his character as soldier.
and show something of his splendid deeds
on the field of Mars.
THE RAPIDIT OF HIS MOVEMENTS.
He was noted for the rapidity of his move.
ments. An able Northern writer has said
'He moved infantry with the celebrity of
cavalry" and some of his marches have
scarcely parallel in history.
After his march to Cumberland and
Romney in the winter of 1861-'62, when
many of his men were frost-bitten, and some
perished from the intense cold, he had
scarcely rested his weary legions when be
begun his famous Valley oampain of 1862,
which won for his men the soubriquet of
"Jackson's Foot Cavalry" and for himself
worldwide fame.
When Gen. Banks, supposing that Jack
son was in full retreat up the Valley, start.
ed column across the mountains to strike
Johnston's army, which was then falling
back from Manassas, jackson suddenly
turned, marched thirty miles that afternoon
and eighteen early the next morning, and
struck blow at Kernstown, which, while
he suffered the only defeat that he ever sus.
| tained, recalled the column which was NOV
ing on Johnston's flank and disconnected
McClellan's whole plan of campaign.
| Pursuit was utterly futile until he took
refuge in Swift Run Gap, whence he emer.
ged to make some of the most rapid
marches on record, as he defeated Milroy
at Mcdowell, fanked Banks at Front Roy
al, cut his column at Middletown, routed
him at Winchester, and pushed him pell-
NELL across the Potomac. He was about to
cross the river in pursuit when, learning
that Shields and Frem ont lin response to
that famous order of Mr.. LiLcoln's) were
Fastening to form juncture in his rear at
Strasburg, be marched sixty miles in day
and half (one of his brigades marched
| fifty.two miles in one day. held Fremont
back with one hand and Shields with the
other, until all of his troops and trains had
passed the point of danger and moved
| quietly up the Valley pursued by three
armies, until at Cross Keys and at Port
Republic he suffered himself to be
''caught," and showed beyond all contro-
versy that the man who caught "Stone-
wall Jackson" had Indeed ''caught Tar
tar"
One of his biographers we'll puts it: 'tIn
thirty.two days he had marched nearly four
hundred miles, skirmishing almost daily;
fought five battles, defeated three armies,
two of whom were completely routed; cap.
tcred about twenty pieces of artillery, some
| four Thousand prisoners and immense quan
titles of stores of all kinds, and had done all
| of this with a loss of less than one thou.
sand men in killed, wounded and missing"
The march from the Valley to "Seven
Days Around Richmond" and that to
Popes rear at Manassas; the march to the
capture of Harper's Ferry, and thence to
Sharpsburg (Antietam); the move from the
Valley to first Fredericksburg, and that to
Hooker's rear at Charlottesville, were all
famous for their rapidlty. 1t is related of
Bedford Forest-"the Wizard of the Sad
dle," the ''Stonewall Jackson of the
West''-that when asked the secret of his
success, he promptly replied in Characters
tic, if not classic, phrase: 81 gifts thar fust
with the most men, Jackson acted on
this maxim. His men used to say "Old
Jack always starts at early dawn, except
when he starts the night BEFORE" and
while he rarely had ''the most men" he
nearly always "got there fust. - and struck
before the enemy was aware of his pres.
ence.
HIS SECRECY.
3 The secrecy with which jackson formed
and executed his plans was a most impor
! tant element of bis success.
8 After the defeat of Fremont at Crosl
r Keys, and Shields at Port Republic, he wal
9 largely reinforced by General Lee, who
took pains to have the fact known to thu
8 enemy, and jackson was not slow to con-
D firm the impression that with these rein
o forcements he would sweep down the Val
il ley again.
4 He took into his confidence Colonel T. T
d Munford, who commanded the advance O
O his cavalry, and he detailed for special
|, duty Mr.. William Gilmer, of Albemarle
a who was widely known in Virginia as
7 | alxar nd inf L,