The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-01-11

jackson was fatalist in any obnoxious
sense. His faith in the One Eternal. in
visible sovereign was like that of
child, simple, uplifting, intensely rever-
entail. Truthfully could he say with
Richter: when in my last hour all
FACULTY IN the broken spirit shall fade
away, then at last will the night flower
OF Belief alone continue blooming, and
refresh with its perfume in the last
darkness"
In this narration | may, perhaps, now
and then wander from jackson to the
old Brigade. We may for a moment
lose sight Of the faded coat-the sorrel
mare, while we turn to look at that old
Brigade trickling down the mountain
passes like little threads.
Caesar without the Tenth Legion,
Cromwell without the ''Ir0nsides" Ma
poleon without the Old Guard Nelling
ton without the Scotch Greys, Jackson
without the Old Brigade would hardly
be luminous in any annals. Together
they have double quicked'' to the gates
Of the Parthenon of Fame; together
they have dipped their blades in the
Crimson tide" together they have
plucked their laurels from fields SCARED
and scanned by iron hoofs We cannot
deny to them a gleam of glory from that
halo that surrounds these immOrtals.
Had the Old Brigade fought in the
Crimea, each soldier would have been
decorated with the Victoria Cross"
During his wild charge" at Cold Har-
Dor, jackson was busy at the batteries,
hShtlng the great guns of the enemy a
half q mile away, on a hill above the
road toward Grapevine Bridge He
lnrlt Oh IL,
tempest Of shot and shell. AS the fire
grew hotter and hotter, he rode to the
right and left, between the guns to the
front, within their line OF fire, with the
supreme Indifference Of one who had
put his whole srRat in the Goi Of bat
ties. The slumhering volcano was there
doubtless, but his face indicated indomit-
ablo resolution, and [ doubt not he was
that moment leaning upon a stronger
arm than mans.
Many there are | presume, who have
seen this famous general strongly moved
in battle, when amid its thunderincs and
iGhtnings, when amid its horrible ex-
plosions. the stern and unimpassioned
nature was unmasked, the voice became
strident, and keyed to the utmost
verge, the eye attained with excite
ment, as he hurled his tumultous Iegions
upon the bayOnetS and SabreS OF the
enemy. Even now the survivors Of tie
odd Brigade delight to tell you. what
Ola Stonewall Gid on Slaughter Noun
tain. They VIII describe to YOU how the
eye flashed, the cheek flushed hot. the
voice 50 low and calm, rose to loud and
deafening tones, like a clarion to the
charge. At such moments they say the
ice had turned to fire, the tranquil bear.
ing to devouring agitation, and he lead
Wit hn -
Woe to the foe who had to deal with
Jackson at such moments They were
aS stubble before the fire All ener-I
gieS of soul and sense were combined
and concentrated in tha stubborn and
unfaltering struggle ii
10 have followed this peerless leader
was 4 thing to tell to cl1ldren's children. |
and the flush Of remembered triu1nph
will oyerspread the one bronzed cheek
OF the veteran, who tells It. gathering |
around jackson ia the Valley when
Stuart had but handful OF cavalry to !!
watch the border; @hen Ashby was a /
simple captain, the Stonewall brigadeI
held in check an enemy twenty times
their number. And then commenced
their long and uninterrupted career OF |
glory; their wonderful marches and |
counter marches; their incessant combat;
their dlsdain OF snow and sleet, OF cold
and hunger, the laws Of the human
body seemed all reversed for these men
The very rapidity OF their marches |
separated tnenI ifuaa all creature COM
forts; but the shadow of insubordioa-
ton never fitted over that command,
and | have seen them going into action,
after fighting five battles in four days
the ranks were thin. and the faces were
bronzed by wind and sun. but their tat
hon cd Info I,oI
winds of the Potomac, as in the sun of
the Shenandoah. That shell-rifed ban
ner might have been written all over
with the names Of battles fought and
won.
Need we marvel that such a hero
should have been the idol Of the army?
That his eccentricities should have been
magniied? This modest hero became a
singular stage character, and to the
Catalogue "Old Noll,'' THE Little Cor
poral.' and Light Horse Harry is to
be added "Stonewall," "Old Jack !
His habits-his very uniform wer
scanned and magnifed in this spirit Of
humorous exaggeraton. He went to
bed booted and spurred. His servant
was required to throw upon him buckets
OF ICY water in puris naturalibus: his
lips were ever moving in ejaculatory
things in Stonewan Jack
son were strange or comic and became
at once the food Of popular stories
At Fredericksburg General Stuar
dressed Stonewall Jackson in a gorgeous
uniform; superb dark, blue overcoat.
and cap dazzling with gold lace He
passed down the lines almost unobsery-
ed and soldier asked where is cold
Jack, why don't he come on? Didn't
you gee him? replied another Why he