Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-01-05

to numbers only, bat to morale, tn
Estimation, the spirit Of his troops
With the three hundred Of Leoni
das he would have attempted great
er things; with the fifty thousant
survivors of Napoleon's grands ar
aaee, crushed in morale by Water
loo, he would have attempted moth
ing. IL his men were on fire will
ardor. and the enemy, though tire
bic his number, were disorganized
by surprise, or for other reasons, hi
wonld advance to the assault with.
out fear Of defeat.
HOW HE CONDUCTED A MARCH.
+ In every point Of view, as we hsve
! SAID, he deserved success. No Gen.
eral ever made a greater useof mys.
terry. He saw from the first that
he commanded men of education,
thought, speculation-the most in
quisitive of private soldiers. With
out due precantion taken they were
certain to know what it was mex
expedient for the private soldier to
know; his designs would be pene-
trated and be noised abroad. Hence
his inscrutable mystery. He would
not permit his men to inquire the
names of the towns through which
they passed, and on the march
against General Mcclellan, at Rich
mond, issued a general order direct
ing the troops to reply, 81 don't
know" to every question.
Meeting man struggling toward
a cherry tree, he said, "Where are
you going ?" 81 don't know" was
the reply. "To what regiment do
you belong" 81 don't know"
Jackson laughed quietly and passed
on. He said that if his coat knew
what he designed, he would take it
off and burn it. He would encamp
for the night at cross roads, and
the quidnuncs were in despair at
their inability to determine to what
point of the compass he would
march on tomorrow. About to
abandon the Valley, he publicly di-
rected maps to be made of the re-
gion. as though intending cam
paign therein. When one of his
staff engaged dinner ~ few miles
ahead of his advancing column, he
admenished him of his error. How
did he know that the column would
pass that point
HE CHOSE HIS OWN TINE FOR ACTION
He had the faculty of waiting for
his adversary. No man was ever
more determined not to be forced
to fight before he was ready. His
retreats appeared panic stricken,
but were, in reality, the deliberate
movements of a master of the art
of war. He was never more dan
gerous than when flying. From
dreams of success. and visions of
complete victory, his opponent was
likely to be rudely awakened. In
May, 1862, Gen. Banks, then at
Harrisonburg, telegraphed that the
rebel jackson had been driven from
the Valley, and was in rapid retreat
toward Richmond. The commen-
tary was, Jackson's swift and un-
expected march apon Milroy at Nc
Dowell, his complete defeat of that
officer, and his rapid advance upon
Gen. Banks, at Harrisonburg, be-
fore which the Federal commander
was forced, in turn, to retreat in
confusion.
"oLD sToNEwALL" ON THE FIELD.
There were few who failed him AT
such moments. The sight of Jack
son upon these occasions seemed to
turn the heads of the troops. They
forgot all else and grew reckless,
and when men become reckless,
they go far. Cedar Run furnished
an instance of this. The left wing,
formed of Jackson's veterans, was
broken, and i'm ten minutes the bat.
tie would have been lost. There
were no reserves to put in, and
Jackson rallied the troops in per
son. The result as we have des
cribed. A single shout of "Stone
wall j Jackson! Stonewall Jacksonv
ran along the line, and it was re
formed in a moment; in front o.
!. them they saw q sword shining
through the smoke of action, and
recognized the old faded cap ant
piercing eyes of their chief. Th'
result was q new assault, and on
of the most important of Jackson