The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-07-29

Strong Religious Tendencie.
When, in May, 1861, General Joseph
-. Johnston arrived at Harper's Ferry
to command the uniformed, disorgan-
lied mass of men and muskets there
assembled, he found five Virginia reg
iments and two or three from Ala
bama and Mississippi, all in nominal
control of a Colonel Jackson of the
Virginia army" Soon order grew out
OF chaos n we or the Virginia army
round ourselves one May day on Boil
ivar Heights, five regiments in all,
thereafter called the Virginia Brigade,
composed of the Second, Thirty-third,
Fifth, T~wenty-seventh and Fourth.
Our senior colonel was a man who
never spoke unless spoken to-, never
seemed to sleep, had his headquarters
under a tree. and the only tent he
used was that of his adjutant. He
walked about alone, the projecting vi
sor Of his blue cap c%oncealing his fea-
lures; a bad-fitting, single-breasted
blue coat, and high boots, covering the
largest feet ever seen, completing the
picture. Cadets from the Virginia
Military institute called him "Old
jack told us that he had peer in the
United States army in the Mexican
wal and had resigned, then was cho-
sen professor Of mathematics, and had
married a professors daughter. He vas
as exact in the performance of his du-
ties as a mathematical proposition, his
only pleasure being a daily walk at
the same hour, for his health; strict,
grim and reticent, he imagined that
the halves of his body did not work
and act in accord. He followed hydro
pathy for dyspepsia, and after a pack
in wet sheets every Sunday morning
he attended the Presbyterian church,
leading the choir and the prayer meet
lngs every night during the week. He
ate n queerest food, inc he sucked
lemons constantly-where he got them
during the war, for we were many miles
from a lemon, no one could find out,
but he always had one. In fact, no
one knew or understood him. No man
ever saw him smile, and but one wo-
man., his wife. But he stood very high
in the estimation of all for his rigid
conduct and the absolute faith reposed
in his word and deed.
Soon it was observed that every night
there were singing and praying under
that tree" and every Sunday morning
and evening Colonel Jackson held
prayer meetings, which, I regret to
say, were attended by only a few; al
ways, however, by his staff, who SEEM
ed to have been chosen or elected be-
cause they were of his way of life. He
was uniformly courteous to all, and
always kept his eyes half closed as if
thinking; but his replies were short
and to the point. Not many days
elapsed before the officers found out
that when he gave or wrote one of his
short orders, it was always to be obey
ed, or suspension at one followed neg
lect.
One Sunday evening in early June the
"lOng rolf was beaten, and we were
soon in line, marching out between the
high hills toward shepherdstown bridge
on the upper Potomac" accompanied
by a long procession of carriages filled
with our mothers and sisters, n es-
corted by u middle-aged, portly
fathers on horseback; for, as we could
not go to them, they daily visited Is
in u camp, and that evenig, for the
first time in our lives, life looked and
felt to us like war. For were we not
on u way to keep the Yankees out
of Virginia? This was the feeling and
belief of all of us, and the narrow coun-
try road winding around the many high
hills was filled by our long line of
bright %bayonets, our five full regiments
numbering nearly 4,500 of the brightest,
healthiest and most joyous of Virginia
youth. 1t was my first and most vivid
o1SlI VI llo Wal e 9o
ness fell apace all were left behind but
the soldiers: it was our first night
march, and by 2 o'clock we were dead
beat" Many fell asleep by the roadside,
n were only aroused by the rafting
of muskets, as the foremost regiment
fired a volley without orders, and
swept across the bridge, only to be
sternly ordered by "Old Jack" s'the
sleepless," who reprimanded its colonel
q md fhon l11y c,1norinton1o1 tho
firing of the wooden structure.
During the next week we marched
over several counties, and by the time
we reached Winchester, where General
J.. E. Johnston had established his
headquarters, we were in perfect phys
ical trim, and Knew each other well
and felt like soldiers. In Winchester
we were RECALLED day and night with
the speeches of fire eaters" Original
secessionists,'' etc. For a week end
ing July 2 we were encamped near
ford of the Potomac leading to Ha-
gerstown, called Failing Waters"
watching the federal army under Cen
eral Patterson. At sunrise the alarm
was given, The enemy are crossing"
and we were soon under arms on our
way to the ford. Emerging on the turn
pike, we were halted to support a bat
terry; skirmishers were thrown out, n
soon we were all engaged. We tried
hard to hold Patterson until General
Johnston could come up from Winches-
ter, but were forced back, n here we
saw Coloenl Jackson under fire for the
first time. Stolid, imperturbable, un-
disturbed, he was watched by every eye
and his example was quieting and Of
decided moral effect. There for the
first time we saw the long line Of blue
with the United States flag in the CEN
ter, and both sides exchanged shots,
and at a small hamlet called Bunker
HILL" some seven miles away, we, dur
ing the whole of July 4, were in line