The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-11-24
syoNewALL JACKSON.
A Advertisement Is Estimate of his charaetor
aud Career.

anu Chfeef. le n
The following is an extract from an
article written for Harper's Magazine
for November. The article is entitled
"Stonewal" jackson and was written
by DR.. I'll. III. Field:
The midsummer of this year wit
messed q scene in the mountains of Vir-
gina that recalled the events of "a past
generation. The 21st of July was the
thirtieth anniversary of Bull Run,
where North and South met In the first
real battle of war, for the engagements
in West Virginia, near the Ohio, hard
ly rose to the dignity Of battles. But
Bull Run was Il conflict of armies, in
which both sides took their first lessons
in war, and u of which came at least
one great soldier, who stood SO firmly
while the battle ragged around him that
others who were broken and diSmayed
took courage as they saw his mistaken
column standing like a stonewall,"
from which he received the name
"~Stonewall" Jackson. This was the
hero to whom ~ monument is now to be
unveiled in Lexington, where he is
buried. Ofthoss who stood beside him
on that bloody day thirty years ago, al
most all had followed him to the grave,
but the survivors. the shattered wrecks
Of war, came from far and near to do
honor to him who once led them to bat.
tie, and wept with overpowering emo
ton at the grave Of their beloved COM
mandcr.
The demonstration furnishes an oc.
casion for a northerner to give his opin-
ion of this extraordinary man. The
years that haye passed have removed
us so far from the great tragedy, of the
war, and from the passion 1t aroused,
that we can do justice even to those
who were in arms against us; and no
one AN read the history of Stonewall
Jackson without recognizing in him
all tho qualities that go to make a pop
ular hero. AS q soldier some COM
petent critics rank him as the first the
war produced on either side. Not that
he vas at.the head of the largest army,
or undertook the most extensive mill
itary operations, but that with the
means that he had, he accomplished
more than any other commander. He
had made a study of the campaigns of
Napoleon, and saw that success lay not
merely in having "the strongest battal-
IONS" but III secrecy OF designs and ra-
pidity of execution.
In the latter he outdid even Napo-
leon himself, training his men to such
a pitch OF endurance that he could
rush" them twenty-five miles Il day
over a broken country, across rivers
and over mountains, and fight u battle
as the u was going down. Nothing
i'll the war gave more decisive proof Of
military genius than the campaign in
the Shenandoah Valley in the spring of
1862-the only n which he conducted
absolutely alone, with no interference
from those above him-where he was
pitted not against n army, but four,
under Banks, Fremont, Shields and
Milroy,. advancing upon him from dit
ferent quarters, and Outmannuvered
them all, attacking and defeating each
In turn till he drove them, one after
another, out OF the valley, when he gave
all the slip and, crossing the Blue Ridge
in one of his rapid marches. suddenly
appeared OH the flank of McCiellan'S
army before Richmond. That decided
the Peninsular campaign, when he
turned north. and by a bold movement
threw himself between Pope and Wash
ington, and the second Bull Run proved
tar more bloody than the first.
All this is matter of history, which it
is not necessary to recall, nor to folio "
the tirelesS soldier to Harper's Ferry, TO
| Antietam, to fredericksburg and Chan
ce%llorsville, where he fell at the very
moment that the great flank movement
which he had conceived and conducted
had struck the Union army with a
| shock from which it reeled and could
not recover, but sought safety on the
other side Of the Rappahannock, which
1t had crossed only a few days before in
all the confidence of victory. THIS is a
record of continued success which it is
hard to find another example in our
! own history, or, Indeed, in any other.