Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1913-05-16
lime mind of these noble gentle
men and Christians.

lime mind of these noble gentle
men and Christians.
To his wife Jackson said:
Il know you would gladly sac
rifice your life for me. but I am
perfectly resigned. Do not be
sad. Pray for me, and always
remember THY will be done. >"
Soon afterward his mind began
to wander in delirlum to the bat
tie field at intervals, and he ex-
claimed:
Order A. P. Hill for action.
Pass the infantry to the front.
Tell Major Hawks to send for
ward provisions for the men,"
Evidently his mind wandered
to the scene of his last battle at
Charlottesville. However, his
features again became serene,
and, with a sweet smile, he MUIR
INJURED:
LET us cross over the river
and rest under the shade of the
trees" And at $50 o'clock Sum
day;Mayl1O, 1868, the soul of the
great Christian soldier, Stonewall
Jackson, passed into the realms
of Him whose creation he was.
Words are inadequate to ex-
press the sore grief of the South
erners at that period. Like Al
bert Sydney Johnson. at the bat
tie of Shiloh, his worldly fate
was sealed in the arms of victory. |
What strange coincidence! Two
great commanders, just as they
were concluding their victorious
plans, fatal bullets pierced their
march. What slender|
threads change the affairs of
and men!
Stonewall Jackson's brilliant
achievements in the
Valley, in the spring
IF 1868, have no parallel in war.
a period of five weeks he
defeated General Milroy at the
battle of Mcdowell; General
Banks, near Winchester; General
at Port Republic, and
General Fremont, at Cross KEYS.
The com bined forces of the Fed
,ral armies were about $4,000
men. while Jackson's force num-
oered about 1000 soldiers. In
Zach engagement Jackson fought
against great odds. The design
Of the Federal commanders was
to concentrate their forces and
Jackson; but his mas
.erly strategy, with his foot
eluded the enemy, and
when the Federal generals
thought surely they had trapped
he mighty Stonewall he was
striking an adversary in the rear
1t an unexpected location. His
soldiers were devoted to him, and
would have followed him blindly,
although his forced marches
seemed beyond endurance.
Jackson's soldiers were the
pest citizens of the South, with
many Marylanders. They were
rom all professions and voca-
ions and fought side by side in
he God-given cause of self-de-
'ense. When President Lincoln
;alled for $4,000 men to invade
he South, General Lee and other
great Southerners said there was
put one honorable course for ma
i've Southerners to take-citizens'
luty belonged to the States.
The noble women of the South
and were inspired with the sa me
spirit; and in the Shenandoah
Valley their aid in giving food
enabled Jackson's foot cavalry"
10 endure heroic combat. Their
sweet smiles haunt me still.
General Jackson was a strict
and would not
tolerate disobedience. In social
circles he was gentle and af-I
fectionate, and was devoted to
children. He taught colored
ounday-school at Lexington. He
was liberal in church opinion;
not a sectarian, as has been mis-
But his trust in the
Supreme Ruler was implicit. He
prayed before all men on the
march, in camp and within doors.
He was plain Christian and re-
garded life as a serious problem.
and duty was his guiding star.
The Stonewall Brigade was
composed of men from the Shen-
doah Valley-from Potomac river
to Lexington. Va.
After the first battle of NAL
nassas, July Fl, 1861, General
Jackson advocated concentrating
all available resources in the
South, in order to be successful,
must strike quick and hard while
the South had an available force;
that the North had two-thirds of