Mexico weekly ledger., 1901-08-15

9aaA Na3 tAA0 0ADAl0A W. c -
the most brilliant military oaree Of
modern times. The first opportunity
that came the Calvinistic school mas
ter stood revealed as a full-panoplied
son Of Mars. From the smoke and
din Of his first battlefield, Jacksons
star rose bright as Sirius and blazed
with ever increasing splendor TIL be
was gathered TO his fathers. To pray
necessarily, TO watch vigilantly, TO
march ~astoundingly, to fight victori-
ously, seemed to be the four self-im-
posed duties of this pious, modest and
heroic man. The sight Of a blue-coat
fired his Scotch-Irlsh blood, and sent
it boiling like melted lava through bis
veins.
"At the first battle Of Manassas he
won the sobriqHet Of 'Stonewall,i a
name which ca. led terror from Cape
Cod TO Puget Sound, and from the
Potomac to the British possessions.
This title was the happy inspiration
Of General Lee and did as much for
Jackson's popularity as that Of I'm
conditional Surrender did for Grants.
Indeed, it accomplished more; for ii
stuck to him with such tenacity and
At him so well that Thousand Of peo-
pie believed that he was christened in
that name and proudly called their
boys 'Stonewall.'
SOLDIERS BELIEF IN HIN.
Another thing that increased his
fame prodigiously vas the idea com
mon among his soldiers that be prayed
all through a battle. The way that
happened is this. In the first days Of
the war he was wounded in the right
hand. Somehow, the natural circula-
ton OF the blood in that useful mem
Der wal interfered with permanently,
and to prevent pain he frequently car
ried it above his head. But his sold
iers thought he was praying when that
hand was up and they thought, furth-
ermore, that all creation couldn't lick
old SStonewalr while he was appeal
ing to the Lord of Hosts. And who
shall say, in the light Of his dazzling
achievements, that they were wrong
in their conclusion? In that spirit
and in that belief they fought and
conquered, and the utter wrecks he
made of opposing armies were a tri.
umphant demonstration OF what fer
vent prayer and invincible courage,
combined, will accomplish in battle.
General Forrest declared that the
whole secret Of success in war wa to
get there first with the most men.
This was also Jackson's theory, and he
marched his men so rapidly that they
came to be known as 'Jackson's Foot
Cavalry They gloried In the title,
and to-day all over the land there are
men who would not exchange the
right to say i once belonged to the
'Stonewall Brigade for the brightest
cross OF the Legion Of Honor that eyel
CLEANED upon a Frenchman's breast.
mo lover OF Jackson can regret
that he did not live to sec the disas'
trous overthrow Of his country, which
no genius, no courage, no suffering
could avert.
DIED UPON THE FIELD OF GLORY"
"When Jackson died Lee said that
he had lost his right hand; the Con
federates felt that their chief defender
was gone; the Federals realized that
their most dangerous antagonist was
laid low; and Earth knew that she had
lost one Of her noblest sons. &
"In the early years of this century 8
great battle was fought upon the plain
Of the Danube. The victory that
perched upon the French eagles was
largely due to the heroic courage of
private soldier, who was killed in his
splendid achievement. Ever after thai
Napoleon ordered that the name Of The
soldier should be borne upon the roll
Of the army as though he were alive
and when it was called the senior Ser
geant Of the regiment should step for
ward and answer, Died upon the felt
of glory
"In the great Walhalla, where thu
spirits Of the mighty dead do congre
gate, when Jackson's name is called Il
will be for the majestic shade of Lee K
advance and answer-the hlghes
tribute that can bepaid to man-'Diet
at the post Of duty
CATER the sleight-of-hand perform
ers have done Juggling with histor,
and the worlds verdict on the actor
in the bloodiest drama in the Book 0
Time comes to be made up, 1t viii b
this: That Grant was incomparabl
the greatest Federal General. Lee th
greatest defensive commander tina
the war produced, and that Stonewal
Jackson was by long odds the mos
brilliant soldier that has ever set foo
upon the American Continent.
THE vALoR OF AMERICANS.
~ speak for the generation whic
was too young TO participate In GU
great Civil War. l was only IL yeal
old when the first gun was fired a
Charleston, and now my head is bio
soming like the almond tree. l wi
ltell you how 1 regard that awful strul
gle, and how the generation to whic
belong looks upon it-as a most heroi
chapter in the annals of mankind.
: read English history as the prologu
| to American history. When / reflex
upon the civil wars in England, m
Judgment is with the stern, unfalte
Ing, pious round heads, who, at Wo
| cester, Marston Moor and Dunbs
: followed the great Oliver into battl
: shouting: God be with usii but N
r soul Is tired with the recollection (
4 the chiyalric deeds Of those gallar
: knights and loyal gentlemen WI
: charged under the silken banners
; Prince Rupert in the cause of a r
) creant King. From the bottom Of n
4 heart / pity the man with soul sosma
/ that he is not proud to claim
lcountrymen the flower Of the Virgin
( youth who charged up the awful slop'
OF Gettysburg with peerless Pickett
those invincible men in blue, VIII
through two long and dreadful day
q rallied around heroic Thomas, TT
Rock Of Chickamauga.' 1t was NJ
Southern valor or Northern valor-