Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-05-26
s,one~a,, jackson.

Rsv. Thomas d Gregory, in New York
American.
Fofty-eight years ago May 10, 1868,
the Telegraph wires were bearing in all
directions the omInous message,
"Sioncwsil jackson is dead. rOu that
day the great battle winner died of
wounds received eight days before in
the midst Of his crowning victory at
Charlottesville
That May day was, in the strictest
sense OF the word, day of fate. II
settled thin gs. 1t was day tecming
with destiny. One OF the dead gener-
ais old chaplain is ssid to have ex.
claimed, lin the course of sermon de-
lsvered soon after the war "When 1t
pleased God to eecree that the cause OF
the Confederacy should lose, He called
unto Himself ills servant, Stonewall
jackson, in rider that His will might
be carried out y
There are thousands OF people North
and South who believe that It was that
10th of May, 1868, that settled the is
sue Of the great conflict between the
States. ! General Lee repeatedly declar-
ed that had Jackson lived aud been
with him at Gettysburg he would have
won that battle, aud many of the sur.
viyors OF that battle, on the Union side
are of Lee'sIopinon.
In war, as the great Napoleon de-
clared, "men are nothing; the man is
everything What Napoleon meant
was this, that when IT comes to win
ming battles the important thing Is
not the number of the rank and file,
but the military genius OF the man who
commands the rank and file. over aud
over again, from Alexander and Caesar
down to Marlborough and Won Moitke
has this truth been proven-that 1t is
the man aud not the men Who win bat
ties and decide campaigns.
While Jackson lived the North m AIDE
no appreciable headway, notwlthstand-
ing Its superior numbers in the field
When Jackson fell at Charlottesville
gold was at it's highest premium; En-
rope was almost on the point Of recog-
nizing the Confederacy; the war spirit
north of the Potomac was rapidly
growing cold, aud the South, full OF
the gaudium certamines, felt sure Of
winning its fight
| jackson fell in the Virginia wilder.
ness, shot through mistake by his own
men, fingered on for eight days, and
died, and all was changed. The Con-
| fcderacy never struck twelve again.
There were 40 more Ghancellorsville,
no more first and second Bull Runs, no
more Cedar Mountains and fredericks-
burgs. Lees right arm was gone. The
supreme genius who had stood by him
to execute his orders with the speed Of
the lightning was no more; and his
tory, traced out in the shape Of dia-
gram, shows that from the day oi
Jackson's death The line representing
tae Confederacy began to dip toward
the nadir.
A remarkable man was Stonewall
Jackson--a fanatic and the COOLEST OF
reasoners; stern and yet perfect gen.
tleman; remorseles in battle rs Jug
gernaut, yet brimful Of tenderness and
love; one day an obscure professor in a
tone horse" Virginia institute, the
next immortal as Caesar, as Napoleon,
to be known forever as one Of the SUI
preme military geniuses of the world.
1t is true that North and South are
today both happy in the fact that they
are together again in the old Union,
and 1t is more than probable that their
happiness is all owing to the fact that
on May 10, 1868, God scaled unto
Himself His servant, Stonewell jack
son."