The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-07-08
StoneWall Jackson's Foe.

q l. oOAfcos
Stonewall Jackson's Foe.
"About daylight of the day before
the second battle Of Manassas said
Confederate officer at a recent reunion
of the blue and gray, II was ordered
to report to General T. j. Jackson,
with a detail of 100 men, for special
orders. Invent at once to headquarters
and presented the orders [ had received.
General Jackson came out, and, beck
oning me to follow him, rode some so
yards from his staff, and then turned
to me and halted.
"'Captain, do you ever use liquor 2
he asked.
"'No, sir I replied.
"A smile lit up his rugged face as
he said, Il sent for a special detail Of
100 men under command of an officer
who never used spirituous liquors.
Are you that man p
"'Yes, SIR I said, L was detailed
on that account
"'Well, them he continued, I
have an order to give, upon the execu-
ton of which depends the success of
the present movement and the result
of the battle soon to be fought
eff to keep sober is all that is
needed, General, you may depend
upon me- I said.
"tNo,' he said, that is not all but
unless you can resist temptation to
drink, you cannot carry out my orders.
Do you see that warehouse over there ?
pointing to a large building a little
way off. Take your command up to
that depot, have the barrels of bread
rolled out and sent down to the rail-
road track, so that my men a get
it as they pass, and then take your
picked men into the building and spill
all the liquor there don't spare a
drop, nor let any man taste it under
any circumstances. This order L ex-
pect you to execute at any cost
He turned and was about to ride
back to his staff, when | called has
tily:
"'One moment, General I! Suppose
an officer of superior rank should
order me under arrest and then gain
possession of the warehouse /?
"Coming up close to me, and look
ing me through and through, as it
seemed to me, he said, with a look Of
solemnity that l shall never forget:
"'Unless I relieve you in person,
you are exempt from arrest except
upon my written order. l fear that
liquor more than Pope's army he
added, as he rode rapidly away.
II took my men down to the ware
house which had become so important,
and threw a guard around it, placing
FIVE men at each entrance, with orders
neither to allow any one to enter nor
to enter themselves.
''The next thing was to roll out the
bread, which we did. Just as we
were finishing that task, [ was called
to one of the entrances to find a gen.
eral officer with his staff demanding
that the guards should either allow
him to enter or bring him out some
liquor. Of course, I refused to COM
ply with the command, upon which he
ordered his adjutant to place me under
arrest.
II told him I was there by General
Jackson's personal order, and was
especially exempt from arrest. He
ordered his staff to dismount and enter
the warehouse, and I gave my men the
order to level their guns and make
ready.
"This made the General halt, in
spite of his thirst, and hold a consul
tation with his officers. They con-
cluded to try persuasion, since they
could not get what they wanted by
force. But they found that method
of no more avail than the other.
They demanded to know my name and
what command I belonged to-, and
threatened to report me for disobedi-
ence.
II should never have yielded, and
whether they would have pushed
things to an extremity in their raging
desire for the liquor | do not know =;
but just at that moment General A
P. Hill came galloping up with his
staff, and naturally wanted to know
what was the trouble. I explained
the situation, which the quick-witted
General took in at once, and ordered
the thirsty squad off.
"'Have you any orders to burn the
building ? he asked.
"sNo;' I answered, L have not
"Without a word he rode away, and
within an hour there came an order
from General Jackson to fire the ware
house., and when it was well destroyed
to report to him.
II carried out the order to the let
ter. Not a man got a drink that day,
and for that time the foe that Stone
wall Jackson most dreaded was van
quished.-YouM's Companion.