The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1901-03-31

the bullets had passed through my
own body rather than such a happen
ing as this. 1 threw myself on the
Z ground by his side, and raised his head
and shoulders on my arm. He groan-
ed heavily.
Are you much hurt, Gcneral?" I
asked, as soon as l could find voice
and utterance.
wild fire, that sir; wild fire" he
replied in his usual rapid way. This
was all he said. Ilfound that his left
arm was shattered by,a bullet just be-
low the elbow and his right hand
was lacerated by 4 mimic ball that
had passed through the palm. Not a
living soul was in sight then. but in
a few moments a. 2. Hill rode UP and
then Lieutenant Smith, one OF. his aids.
General Hill ordered me to mount my
horse and bring an ambulance as
quick as possible. But don't tell
the men that it is General Jackson
who is wounded he said [ soon
found two Of the ambulance-corps with
q Stretcher and ordered them TO the
'front.', saying that a wounded officer
needed their services. Then. | rode
further on to find an ambulance. Be
fore coming up with one met Sandy
al, told him what had occurred and he
ordered me to 90 and find General j.
T. B. Stuart and tell him to come up
at once.
Where shall I find ilim?' asked.
Somewhere near -he happahan-
mock he replied, not more than four
or five miles away
l rode of, through the woods in the
direction of the river. and by piece of
good luck soon struck q wcll-defned
road which seemed to lead in the right
direction. After riding along that
road for few miles [ had the good
fortune to meet General Stuart him
self. with small escort OF cavalry. l
stated that General Jackson had been
badly wounded, and that pendleton
had ordered me to tell him to come
to the army at once. Without max
ing any comment he dashed off at
full speed l tried to follow. but by
this time my horse was much weak
ened by the loss Of blood aid began
to stagger under me. I was obliged
TO dismount and found that he was
shot through both thighs and slightly
wounded in several other places, SO
was forced to walk. leading the
wounded animal slowly behind me.
DIR. INQUIRE THERE.
This ended my connection with the
tragic incident OF this most memoir
able night. l did not reach headqual'-
rers until o'clock that night. l saw
DIR. Mcguire and asking him about
the Generals condition. He told me
that his arm had been amputated be-
low the elbow, his wounded hand had
been dressed and that he was resting
-I,.IS-
and very painful, he said, but not nee
essarily fatal. and there seemed to be
no reason why he should not recover.
If asked why and how such a fire
could have occurred. l can only an
swer that it was then and still is a
mystery, wholly unaccountable and
without provocation or warrant. We
had been for some time walking our
horses along the road in close proXi-
nifty to this very brigade from which
the fire came. The moon. which was
not far from full, poured d food of
light upon the wide open turnpike.
Jackson and 1his escort were plainly
visible from every point of view, and
the General himself must have been
recognized by any one who had ever
seen him before. There was no reason
for mistaking us for an enemy, and
when turning TO pass through our line
to avoid the scattering random fire
which was sending bullets around
and about US. I did not for a minute
dream that there was any possibility
of the guns of our own men being dl-
rcctcd upon u.s. An incident ineXpli-
cable, unlocked for. and impossible to
foresce, deprived the army of its great
est general at a time when his ser
vices were indispensable. If jackson
had lived that night he would With
out doubt have marched his columns
along the very road upon which I
met Stuart. thus throwing Ills entire
force in tho rear of Hooker's army,
his left resting upon the Eappahan-
mock, cutting off the cnemy's COM
,nunications and forming around his
flanks a net of steel from which he
could never have extrcatcd himself.
I,HB RESULTS.
Broken, dispiritied, panic stricken.
his right wing routed and doubled back
upon his centre; tangled in Il wilder
ness without room to deploy his i'm
mense force.its very numbers working
to the disadvantage, hemmed in on
every side. with Jackson's victorious
corps in his rear and Lee in his front,
strange as it may seem, HOokcr'S i'm
nlense army of one hundred thousand
men would have been forced to sur
rendered and the war would have end
cd with clap of thunder. The whole
north would have been laid open and
Lees victorious army augmented by
thousands of enthusiastic volunteers;
Washington and Baltimore would have
been occupied and all of Maryland
aroused.
This young and Nirile Confederacy.
sprung all at once armed and equip
ped, d very Minerva from the brain Of
Jupiter, would have taken its place
high up among the family OF nations.
That blast in the wilderness put an
end to this almost assured result, and
the hope OF a great Southern Empire
became only a dream.
Was it Providence. or fate? Who
can tell?