^immam^ 
 

 UJurncU luiuerattii ICibrarg 
 
 Stitactx. 5Ieu) ^oi-U 
 
 THE JAMES VERNER SCAIFE 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CIVIL WAR LITERATURE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 JAMES VERNER SCAIFE 
 
 CLASS OF 1889 
 
 1919 
 
\ijm.j,L,^jilLMjiLjm 
 
 Date Due 
 
 3 1924 092 912 934 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092912934 
 
LIFE OF 
 LIEUT.-GEK THOMAS J. JACKSON. 
 
 t 
 
LIFE OF 
 LIEUT.-GEN. THOMAS J. JACKSON 
 
 (STONEWALL JACKSON) 
 
 PEOFESSOR E. L. DABNEY, D.D. 
 
 OF EICHMOND, VIKGINIA. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JA]\IES NISBET & CO, 21 BEltXEES STREET. 
 
 1866. 
 LL 
 
edinbtjugh : t. constable, 
 
 PRi:STEP. TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE TIN! VEHSITY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The cause -for which General Jackson fought and died 
 has been overthrown. Bat it is behaved that this fact has 
 not diminished the affectionate reverence for his memory 
 and interest in his exploits felt by those who laboured 
 with him in that cause. On the contrary, they regard the 
 events vs^hich have occurred since his lamented death as 
 further evidences of his genius and prowess. Although 
 he who undertakes to write the history of an acknow- 
 ledged failure usually has a hopeless and discouraging 
 topic, yet the lustre of Jackson's exploits and character is 
 too bright to be dimmed, even by disaster; and his is 
 universally admitted by his friends and foes to be a name 
 so spotless, that it shines independent of the cause with 
 which he was connected. 
 
 xvly chief motive for supplying this customary exordium 
 to my book, is the wish to answer the natural question in 
 the reader's mind, what right I suppose myself to have to 
 claim qualification for the task I have assumed. My 
 answer is, that it has been intrusted to me by the widow 
 and family of General Jackson, supported by the urgency 
 
^i PREFACE. 
 
 of his successor in command, Lieutenant-General Evvell, 
 of his venerable pastor, and of many other friends in and 
 out of the army. One advantage for my work I may 
 claim, which brings far more of responsibility than of 
 credit to me, in the possession of the fullest collection of 
 materials. The correspondence of General Jackson with 
 his family, his pastor, and his most prominent friends in 
 public life, has been in my hands, together with copies 
 of all the important official papers on file in the War 
 Department of the late Confederate Government. I have 
 had the advantage of the fullest illustrations of the battle- 
 fields, and the theatre of war where General Jackson 
 acted, from the topographical department of the same 
 Government, and from careful personal inspection. It 
 was also my privilege to enjoy his friendship, although 
 not under his orders, during the campaign of Manassas, in 
 1861 ; and to serve next his person, as chief of his staff, 
 dixring the memorable campaigns of the Valley and the 
 Chickahominy in 1862. So that I had personal know- 
 ledge of the events on which the structure of his military 
 fame was first reared. 
 
 My prime object has been to portray and vindicate his 
 Christian character, that his countrymen may possess it 
 as a precious example, and may honour that God in it, 
 whom he so delighted to honour. It is for this purpose 
 that the attempt was made so carefully to explain and 
 defend his action, as citizen and soldier, in recent events. 
 
Xext, it was desired to unfold liis military genius, as dis- 
 played in his campaigns. The prominent characteristic 
 of General Jackson was his scrupulous truthfulness. This 
 Life has been written under the profound impression, that 
 no quality could be so appropriate as this in the najrative 
 which seeks to commemorate his noble character. Hence 
 the most laborious pains have been taken to verify every 
 fact, and to give the story in its sober accixracy, and witli 
 impartial justice to all. I am well aware that perfection 
 is not the privilege of man in any of his works ; and 
 hence I must be prepared to be convinced, by the criti- 
 cisms of others, that I liave not been wholly successful, in 
 this aim, but I trust I have been so far successful as to 
 receive credit for right intentions. And especially would 
 I declare, that in relating the share borne by General 
 Jackson's comrades and subordinates in his campaigns, I 
 have been actuated by a cordial and friendly desire to 
 do justice to all. If I shall seem to any to have done 
 less than this, it will be my misfortune, and not my 
 intention. 
 
 If my story presents the hero without any of those 
 hizarre traits which the popular fancy loves to find in its 
 especial favourites, it is hoped that the picture will be, for 
 this reason, more symmetrical, and if not so startling, 
 more pleasing to every cultivated mind. The reader may 
 at least have the satisfaction of knowing that it is the 
 correct pictirre, save that no pencil can do justice to his 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 devoted patriotism, his diligence, liis courage, and tlie 
 sanctity of liis morals. 
 
 The reader will note a certain polemic tone in the dis - 
 cussions which attend the narrative ; and while strict 
 truthfulness has been studied, candid expression has been 
 given to the feelings natural to a participant in the 
 recent struggle. The explanation is, in jjart, this : that 
 the whole work was written before the termination of the 
 contest ; the first portion, containing all the controversial 
 matter, was published in Great Britain more than a year 
 ago, and has been circulated in that country and this ; 
 and the remainder of the biography Avas in process of 
 j)ubIication when the Confederate armies surrendered. 
 The animus of my book will not appear strange to any 
 one who remembers that, wdien it was pul)lished, my 
 fellow- citizens were universally engaged in a strenuous 
 war against the United States, and I was myself in the 
 military commission of the Confederate States. The ques- 
 tion may be asked, Does not the termination of that con- 
 test, by the complete submission of the South, point out 
 the propriety of modifying the tone of the work ? After 
 a careful consideration of this question, I have been con- 
 strained to believe that it was best to leave my original 
 work substantially untouched. As has been stated, the 
 first eight chapters, containing all that is most contro- 
 versial, had been irrevocably given to the public many 
 months before the end of the war. To attempt to recall 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 and suppress it now would appear rather a foolisli scrupul- 
 osity than sound wisdoru. Nor would this course be con- 
 sistent with the interests of literature. It has been often 
 said that cotemporaries cannot write impartial histories of 
 their own times, because of their too lively sympathy with 
 the passions which agitate the actors. It is more certainly 
 true that, if cotemporaries do not ^^Tite with such partiality 
 or impartiality as they may, it will be impossible for any 
 other historian in posterity to write a truthful narrati^-e. 
 None but eye-witnesses and actors can contribute the facts 
 which are to be the materials of future history. And 
 their facts are esteemed by the philosophic and judicial 
 . compiler of the subsequent age as scarcely more important 
 than their animus. He wishes to know not only what 
 men did, but how they felt, — how the events transpiring 
 affected them, — from what impulses and views they acted. 
 "\"\Tiile he does not blindly adopt the passions of either 
 party, it is these which enable him to reproduce the very 
 complexion and colour of the times he describes. Hence 
 it is for the interests of historic truth that those who 
 describe cotemporary events should give candid expression 
 to the emotions of their times. 
 
 It may also be asked, Does not the duty of promoting 
 mutual forbearance, and the restoration of good feeling 
 between the sections lately at war, require the suppression 
 of controverted opinions, and of accusations which, how- 
 ever true, can now be urged with no good result? In 
 
X PKEFACE. 
 
 answering this objection, I sliall candidly acknowledge 
 myself utterly sceptical, both by temperament and convic- 
 tion, of that deceitful and glossing philosophy by which it 
 is dictated. There is no true and solid basis for public 
 well-being but rectitude. The truth, manfully spoken, 
 can never be unwholesome. If the complaints of the con- 
 quered section are just, then they ought to be stated and 
 discussed until a stable foundation for peace, good govern- 
 ment, good feeling, and prosperity is laid in just and mag- 
 nanimous treatment. If those complaints are unjust, still 
 it is best that they be candidly stated, respectfully listened 
 to, and calmly discussed, as long as they are sincerely 
 entertained in the hearts of the sufferers ; for only in this 
 way can they be eradicated. It is to me simply incredible 
 that a people so shrewd and practical as those of the 
 United States should expect us to have discarded, through 
 the logic of the sword merely, the convictions of a life- 
 time ; or that they could be deceived by us, should we be 
 base enough to assert it of ourselves. They know that the 
 people of the South were conquered, and not convinced ; 
 and that the authority of the United States was accepted 
 by us from necessity, and not from preference. Should 
 they hear the Southern people now disclaiming and repro- 
 bating the principles which are unfolded in my book as 
 the animating principles of General Jackson, they must 
 inevitably remember that this Southern people, three 
 years ago, was unanimously applauding and inciting 
 
TREFACE. XI 
 
 him in acting tliem out ; so that it would be self-evi- 
 dent to our conquerors that we were either traitorously 
 false to our darling hero then, or are equally false to them 
 now. The people of the United States have too much 
 shrewdness ever to suppose that the sons of the Eevolu- 
 tionary sires who, as their comrades, assisted in winning 
 liberty from the British Lion, and who have recently 
 given new proofs of their undegenerate manhood, are 
 spaniels, to be made affectionate by stripes. The people 
 of the South ^\■ent to war because they sincerely believed 
 (what their political fathers had taught them, with one 
 voice, for two generations), that the doctrine of State- 
 sovereignty for wdiicli they fought was absolutely essential 
 as the bulwark of the liberties of the people. They have 
 been convinced by main force that they are unable to save 
 : that doctrine. The only way to make them truly loyal 
 ; again to the Government of the United States, is to con- 
 : vince them, by just treatment, that they went to war under 
 a misapprehension, and that their liberties may still be 
 . securely and fully enjoyed under a consolidated govern- 
 r ment. It would be only a useless and degrading conceal 
 ment for the people of the South to profess a suppression 
 p of the honest convictions upon which they have lately 
 1; acted, either ^t the dictate of deceit on their part, or of 
 r persecution on the part of their conquerors. For these 
 ,[■ reasons, it has appeared to me every way most manly and 
 J beneficial to leave this explication and defence of General 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 Jackson's resistance to the Federal Government as it was 
 written during the progress of the conflict. Its suppres- 
 sion would conceal nothing, and deceive nobody ; its pub- 
 lication will give to subsequent generations a lively 
 picture of the temper of the times. 
 
 But I am ready to add, with equal candour, that when 
 I thus declare boldly the principles upon which the Vir- 
 ginians of 1861 acted, I do not intend to be understood as 
 retracting that acquiescence in the result of the arbitra- 
 ment of the sword, and that submission promised by me 
 in common with almost the whole South. 1 have volun- 
 tarily sworn to obey the Government of the United States, 
 as at present established and expounded to us by force of 
 arms. That oath it is my purpose to keep. The Federal 
 agent who administered it to me taught me expressly that 
 its obligation was of this extent, and no more : that it did 
 not bind me to think or say the principles on which I had 
 acted were erroneous, but to abstain in future from the 
 assertion of them by force of arms. 
 
 EGBERT L. DABNEY. ; 
 
 Union Theological Seminary, 
 Va., April 1, 1866. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE CAMPAIGNS OP 1862. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 New Policy of "Waslimgton Government — Definitions of technical 
 terms— Naval forces of the North and South — Confederates sur- 
 Tounded by ocean; consequences — Loss of New Orleans — The 
 iron-clad steamer " Virginia " — The Peninsular War — Federal 
 positions in April 1862 — New military laws — Federal plans of 
 strategy — Jackson determines to retreat towards Staunton — Cor- 
 respondence, ....... 1-25 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 KBKNSTOWN. 
 
 Night Attack — Movements of M'Clellan and Johnston — Jackson ad- 
 vances to Kernstown — Battle of Kernstown — Care of wounded — 
 Results of battle — Imperfect organization — Correspondence — 
 Jackson receives thanks of Congress, .... 26-53 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 , CHAPTER XI. 
 
 m'dowell. 
 
 j; Position of Federal Forces— Jackson retires to Harrisonburg— His 
 high estimate of General Lee— Dispositions of Confederate forces 
 — March to Staunton— Collision with the enemy— Battle of 
 M'Dowell— Spirit of the troops — Laconic despatch — Pursuit of 
 Milroy— Eastward march of the Confederates, . . 54-80 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 WINCHESTER. 
 
 Spirit of the General Assembly of Virginia — Main Object of the 
 Campaign — Junction with Evvell— Topography of the Valley of 
 Virginia— TbeFederalssurprised : pursued : overtaken — Banks's 
 
xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 communications commanded— Jaclison strikes the retreating 
 army— Pursuit to Winoliester— A night combat— The enemy's 
 position reconnoitred- Crisis of the battle— Absence of cavalry 
 —The army reposes— Seizure of sutlers' stores— Movements ar- 
 rested-The Confederates retreat upon Strasbourg — Captured 
 stores -Commissariat— Federal robberies in the Valley of Vir- 
 
 ginia, 
 
 81-12' 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PORT REPUBLIC. 
 
 Critical period of the campaign — Jackson's self-abnegation — Betreats 
 up the Valley turnpike— Port Republic— General Ashby— Topo- 
 graphy of Port Republic— The bridge at Elk Run Valley- 
 General Shields's advance at Lewiston — Tactics of Jackson — 
 Escape of Ordnance Train— Retreat of Shields's troops — Triumph 
 of Jackson's generalship— Attacked by Fremont — Federal attack 
 on Ewell's left— Bridge across South River — Disposition of Jack- 
 son's troops— Progress of the contest— The Federals routed — 
 Their inhumanity — Fruits of the victory — Encampment of the 
 troops — Correspondence, . 125-167 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE RICHMOND CAMPAIGN. ': 
 
 Reception in Richmond of the news of the Battle of Port Republic- 
 Necessity of further action — E.^pedient to deceive the enemy — 
 Federal flag of truce — Visit to Richmond- Federal position-- 
 Jackson's army at Ashland — The Seven Days' fight — Cold Har- 
 bour—Disposition of forces— D. H. Hill engages a battery — The 
 enemy give waj^ — Jackson's description of the charge — Huzzah 
 for Georgia !— Bravery of the Texaus— Jncksim directs the 
 pursuit — The enemy cross the Chickahominy — Destruction of 
 ammunition by the Federals — M'Lellan's plans— \Vhite Oak 
 Swamp — Fraziei''s Farm — Position of the Federalists — D. H. 
 Hill's attacks unsupported— Firmness of Jackson— Vexatious 
 delay — llalvern, a drawn battle— Obstacles to the fullest success 
 — Mistakes of the Seven Daj's — Fire of the gun-boats— Effect of 
 Jackson's presence with the enemy, . . 168-23 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 CEiJAi; nuK. 
 
 Jackson's view of the Confederates' position and prospects after the 
 Richmond campaign— General Lee— Enemy concentrated under 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAor-: 
 Major-General John Pope— Gordonsville— Resolution to attack 
 Pope— Topography of Cedar Run — General Early's dispositions 
 — General Winder mortally wounded — Confederate left broken — 
 The tide turned — Troops halt, and hivonao on the ground won 
 — Despatch to Lee— Reasons for battle of Cedar Run, . . 230-2S5 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SECOND MASASSAa. 
 
 M'Clellan's movements after the battle of Cedar Run— Pope's escape 
 to Rappahaunock — New plan against Pope — Jackson crosses at 
 Warrenton Spring — He arrives at Bristoe — Attacks Manassa's 
 Junction — Combat at Bristoe — Topography of Sudley — The 
 Three Days' battle — The rout and carnage — Jackson's share in 
 the victory— Remarks— Letter to his Wife, . 256-293 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IX MAUYLAKD. 
 
 Policy of invasion of Maryland— Jackson crosses the Potomac- 
 General Halleck alarmed — Lee's plan of march — Arrangements 
 for the ca])ture of Harper's Ferry — The place surrenders — Move- 
 ments of M'Clellan — Confederate positions at Sharpsburg — Plan 
 of M'C'lellan's battle — Jackson's stubborn resistance — Repulse of 
 the enemy — Lee's aim in the battle of Sharpsburg— Straggling 
 in the Confederate army — The odds against Lee— Causes of 
 impei*fect success to the Confederate arms — Combat of Boteler's 
 Ford — M'Clellan's notice of it — Price of Federal misrepresenta- 
 tions, . ... 2f)4-338 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FltEDERICKSEIIEH. 
 
 The ai-my rests and recruits — Religious Revival— Jackson's spiritual 
 joy — Destruction of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad— Campaign 
 again on the Rappahanuock — M'Clellan repulsed, and superseded 
 by Burnside — Bumside's plans — Fredericksburg deserted— De- 
 lays of Buniside— Topography of Fredericksburg— Barksdale's 
 brigade : their combat on the river bank— Forces concentrated 
 by Jackson— lie reviews his line — The battle joined— Jackson's 
 insensibility to fear — Second attack on him— His line advanced 
 — The attack on Marye's Hill — Jackson's unfulfilled plan — The 
 night after the battle— Withdrawal of the enemy — The town 
 sacked— Possible mode of improving the victory — Blunders of 
 
1 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 the Federalists— Jackson at Moss Neck— Evils of absence from 
 the ranks— Federal barbarity at Winchester— Jackson in quar- 
 ters—Little Jane Corbiu— Correspondence on Sabbath mails 
 —Army chaplains, camp chapels, etc.— Chaplains' associations 
 — Eeligious interest among the troops— New campaign opens- 
 Visit from Mrs. Jackson, ...... 339-429 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CHANOELLOKSVILI.E. 
 
 Jackson's spirit in view of the resumption of hostilities— The enemy 
 cross the river— Hooker's true plan— Movements against him— 
 The country round Chancellorsville — Hooker arrested there — 
 Skirmishing — Jackson's project— He seeks a route to the rear — 
 This movement misunderstood by Hooker — Jackson's position 
 — Rout of the Federals — Jackson re-forms his line — Goes to the 
 front— Is wounded by his own troops — The enemy renew the 
 attack — Fidelity of his Aides — He is carried off the field — 
 Jackson's demeanour — Amputation of his arm — An adroit 
 manceuvre — General Stuart in temporary command : approved 
 of by Jackson — Messages to General Lee— Sequel of the cam- 
 paign — Results evince Lee's greatness, .... 430-483 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DEATH AND BURIAL. 
 
 Jackson's Christian submission — His remarks on the victory at Chan- 
 cellorsville — His removal to Guinea's Station — Religious conver- 
 sation — Symptoms threatening — I\Itdical aid obtained — Thoughts 
 in sickness— Seeks solace in Bible and singing — Dying scenes — 
 Message from General Lee — National estimate — Removal of the 
 corpse to Richmond, and thence to Lexington— Burial in Lexing- 
 ton Cemetery — Formal expressions of sorrow by Public Bodies — 
 Lee's general order — Jackson's military character— His demeanour 
 towards his soldiers — Ideas of discipline — His devotion to duty- 
 Courage— His reputation explained — God's chief lesson in Jack- 
 son's life and death — His fall timely — His Staff, . . 484-627 
 
LIFE OF 
 LIEUT.-GEK THOMAS J. JACKSOK 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1862. 
 
 The campaigns of 1861 had been but a prelude to the 
 gigantic struggle which was to be witnessed in 1862. 
 The prowess and superiority which the Confederates 
 everjHA'here displayed, rudely awakened the people of the 
 United States from their dreams of an easy conquest, and 
 exasperated their pride and revenge. The Washington 
 Government now resolved iipon a new policy. This was 
 to raise armies so vast, and to add to their momentum, by 
 such deliberate preparation, as to overwhelm their gallant 
 enemies by material weight. Under the industrious 
 management of General M'Clellan, their levies reached, 
 if they were to be believed, the enormous number of 
 seven hundred thousand men; and it is probable that 
 more than half a million were actually under arms, and 
 drilling with the greatest care. Hitlierto, the different 
 campaigns had been detached, but in 1862 they assumed 
 connexion with each other. The movements in Virginia 
 were related to those in the Great West, and the brilliant 
 
 VOL. IL A 
 
2 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 events in the district commanded by General Jackson had 
 a vital influence upon the campaign in Virginia. 
 
 In writing the military history of this great com- 
 mander, two objects must be kept in view. One wiU be 
 to explain the strategic grounds which support the pro- 
 priety of his own movements ; the other to show the 
 intimate connexion of his successes with the fortunes of 
 the war. M&iij persons have claimed his career as an 
 Ulustration of the uselessness of the science of warfare, 
 and an instance of success in defiance of it. They have 
 conceived of him as a leader who discarded rules, and 
 trusted only to his fortunate star, to rapidity of move- 
 ment, and to hard blows. They suppose his victories 
 were the results of his boldness only, with that inexph- 
 cable chance which to man's natural reason appears good 
 luck, and which a religious faith, like that of Jackson, 
 terms Providence. But while the perpetual and essential 
 influence of the Divine power is asserted, which alone 
 sustains the regular connexion of means with ends, it 
 win be shown that these conceptions are erroneous ; that 
 General Jackson's campaigns were guided by the most 
 profound and original applications of military science, 
 as well as sustained by the vigour of their execution, 
 and that they are an invaluable study for the leader of 
 armies. 
 
 The reader has now reached the commencement of that 
 wondrous campaign in the Valley of Virginia, which 
 created his fame. Before the narrative is begun, it wiU 
 not be unprofitable to pass in review the general theatre 
 of the war, and the posture and advantages of the two 
 
UiiJJlJNlTiUJNS. 
 
 parties. This survey, as well as the subsequent history, 
 will involve the use of a few technical terms, whose de- 
 finition may be helpful to the unprofessional reader. In 
 accordance with the best usage, the word Strategy will be 
 employed to denote the art of giving the proper direc- 
 tion to the movements of an army upon the theatre of 
 war. A Strategic Point is a place which, from geogra- 
 phical or other reasons, secures for its occupant some 
 advantage in strategic movements, and thence some con- 
 trol over a part of the theatre of war. Thus Manassa's 
 Junction was an important strategic point for the Con- 
 federates in 1861, because the two railroads meeting there 
 gave them the decisive advantage in all movements over 
 the territory through which they pass. So, an important 
 fortress, di focus where many highways meet, a mountain 
 defile constituting the main entrance to a region, may be 
 such a point. The phrase General Tactics expresses the 
 art of arraying and using an army successfully upon a 
 field of battle ; while special tactics is the drill which is 
 taught to the single soldier, the company, or the battalion, 
 in the several branches of infantry, cavalry, or artillery. 
 A Base of Operations is that line or series of neighbouring 
 points, in secure possession of an army, whence it sets out 
 to assail its enemy, whence it continually draws its sup- 
 plies and reinforcements, and to which it may retreat for 
 safety. Its Line of Ojierations is the zone along ^vhich an 
 army advances from its base toward the object of its 
 attack ; and its Line of Communications is but the same 
 track, usually viewed iu the inverted direction. It might 
 appear from this definition, that an army's line of opera- 
 
4 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 tions would be projected always at right angles to its 
 base, or in a direction approximating this ; but while this 
 is often true, it is not necessarily so, and instances arise 
 in which the most successful line of operations may 
 be oblique, or even almost parallel to the base. Other 
 terms which occur will now easily explain themselves 
 to the attentive reader, without the formality of defini- 
 tions. 
 
 The one decisive adva.ntage, to which the ISTorth owes 
 all its successes over the South, has been, not its larger 
 territories, or population, or armies, or geographical posi- 
 tion, but its superiority upon the water. And this is true, 
 as will be made clear, notwithstanding that it has been 
 chiefly a war upon land. At the division of the Union 
 the Government of Washington retained all the Federal 
 Navy. Many of its States were maritime and manufac- 
 turing communities, while those of the South were chiefly 
 agricultural ; hence the multiplication of ships and sailors, 
 from the river-transport up to the man-of-war, was far 
 more rapid among them. This inequality was made more 
 ruinous to the naval force of the South by the further fact, 
 that the initial superiority of the ISTorth excluded her rival 
 from all foreign sources of supply for equipping and man- 
 ning ships. The result has been, that the Confederates 
 have had no opportunity to cope with their invaders upon 
 the water ; and wherever an entrance was open to Federal 
 ships, either upon sea or river, the former have been 
 expelled. 
 
 It has also been the misfortune of the Confederate 
 States, to have the hitlierto unsettled question, whether 
 
SHOEE-BATTEEIES AND SHIPS OF WAE. 5 
 
 shore-batteries can prevent the passage of ships of war, 
 decided in novel instances of the most serious importance 
 to tlieni. "When ships were only propelled by the winds, 
 a motive power never so forcible as steam, save in tem- 
 pests, variable, uncertain, liable to desert the mariner at 
 the critical moment, and leaving him no option save that 
 of moving in a direction somewhat conformed to its own, 
 or else, of casting anchor, artillerists might well boast that 
 the stationary battery would usually destroy the vessel 
 which challenged its fire. But our generation has wit- 
 nessed the introduction of steamships of war, having a 
 regular and unfailing motive power within themselves, 
 propelluig them, irrespective of winds and tides, in any 
 direction desired, and capable of a speed as safe and 
 steady at once as that of the gentle breeze, and as rapid 
 as the hurricane. When to these advantages is added the 
 iron plating, which, if not impenetrable, at least delays 
 the ruia of the ship's framework, until after a series of 
 blows it becomes probable that such a vessel of war might 
 brave the bullets of shore-batteries, and pass them with 
 impunity without silencing them. But the old autho- 
 rities of the land service, confident in the former pre- 
 cedents, still declared that such batteries must ever be a 
 secure protection against the entrance of ships of war 
 into rivers and harbours ; and it required the disastrous 
 events of Island ISTo. 10, of N"ew Orleans, and at last of 
 Yicksburg, in each of which the batteries were passed, 
 and thus rendered useless, without being silenced, to 
 teach the Confederate Government this new fact in 
 warfare. 
 
6 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Let it be remembered, then, that the oceans which bound 
 two sides of the Confederate States, belong to their enemy, 
 affording them a way of approach, cheap, speedy, and 
 secure from assault. This fact renders the whole sea- 
 shore, wherever harbour or inlets gave access to Federal 
 ships, a base of operations to their armies. It has made 
 it all an exposed frontier, and brought the enemy upon it 
 all, as though he had embraced its whole circumference 
 with coterminous territories of his own. Popular readers 
 may form to themselves some conception of the disastrous 
 influence of this fact, by representing to themselves tie 
 inland kingdom of Bavaria, assailed at once on four sides, 
 by Austria, Switzerland, and the German States, all united 
 under a single hostile will. The similitude is unequal 
 only in this, that the Confederate States have a larger area 
 than Bavaria. The professional reader will comprehend 
 our disadvantage more accurately, by considering that our 
 enemies thus had two pairs of bases of operations, at right 
 angles to each other ; whence it resulted, that from what- 
 ever interior base a Confederate army might set out, to 
 meet the invading force advancing from one of these sides, 
 the Confederate line of operations must needs be exposed, 
 at a greater or less distance, to a Federal advance from 
 another base, threatening to strike it at right angles. And 
 the cheap and rapid transit of large masses by water, from 
 one line of operations to another, gave to the exterior Lines 
 all the advantages for concentration usually possessed by 
 the interior. 
 
 But this was not the worst : the Confederate territories 
 are penetrated in every part by navigable rivers, either 
 
CONFEDERATES SUEEOUNDED BY OCEAN. 7 
 
 opening into the sea, ■which is the temtory of the Federal, 
 or into his own frontiers. 
 
 From the east and south, the Potomac, the Eappahan- 
 nock, the James, the Eoanoke, the Nense, the Cape Fear, 
 the Savannali, the Alabama, the Brazos, pierce the country 
 from the sea, while tlie Mississippi, itself an inland sea, 
 which floats the greatest men of war, passes out of the 
 United States, through the middle of the Confederacy, to 
 the Gulf of Mexico. The Tennessee and the Cumberland, 
 with their mouths opening upon the Federal frontier, and 
 navigable in winter for war-ships as well as transports, 
 curve inward, deep into the heart of the south-eastern 
 quarter ; and the Arkansas and Eed Eivers open up the 
 States west of the IMississippi. Wow, the naval supremacy 
 of the Federalists having been asserted upon all these 
 streams, it is the least part of the evil, that their fertile 
 borders have all been exposed to ravage, and the wealthy 
 cities which grace them have been wrested from the Con- 
 federates. The margins of all these rivers are thus made 
 capable of becoming new bases of operations for invading 
 armies, as secure as their own frontiers. The difficulties 
 of distance, arising fronr the great extent of the Con- 
 federate territories, are reduced, and worst of all, no in- 
 terior base remains to the Confederates, from which 
 strategic operations can proceed in any direction, but that 
 line is found parallel to some one of these bases of Federal 
 operations ; and so, exposed at no great distance, to their 
 advance at right angles upon it. Or, if there is an excep- 
 tion, it is only found in the regions surrounding the Appa- 
 lachian range, in Vii'ginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, 
 
8 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 equally removed from the navigable waters of the Ohio, 
 the Tennessee, and the Atlantic streams. And here, 
 accordingly, the Confederates may be expected to make 
 their most successful resistance, and the Federalists to 
 find their accidental advantages lost, and their true 
 obstacles beginning. 
 
 The true strategic difficulties of the Confederates have 
 ever arisen more from their enemies' command of the 
 water, than from their superior numbers. A review of 
 the crowd of disasters with which the year 1862 opened, 
 will be the best illustration of these reasonings. 
 
 The first of these was the battle of J\Iill Spring, or of 
 Somerset, in the south-eastern part of Kentucky ; where 
 the Confederates, at first victorious, were struck with dis- 
 couragement by the death of their beloved commander 
 General Zollicoffer, and suffered a defeat. This insulated 
 event was without consequence, save as it showed im- 
 proved spirit and drill in the Federal soldiery. February 
 8th, a Federal fleet and army, entering Albemarle Sound 
 in ISTorth Carolina, overpowered the feeble armament on 
 land and water, by which the Confederates sought to 
 defend Eoanoke Island, the key to all the inland waters of 
 the region. The enemy established himself there ; and 
 this naval success was one of the causes which led to the 
 evacuation of Norfolk at a later day ; because it gave a 
 base for offensive operations against the rear of its de- 
 fences. The Confederate General Albert Sidney John- 
 ston, to whom the defence of Kentucky and Tennessee 
 was intrusted, had stationed his main force at Bowling 
 Green, in Kentucky, a position in itself strong and well 
 
COXSEQUENCES TO CONFEDERATES. 9 
 
 chosen. But his retention of it depended upon his closing 
 the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Cumberland Eivers, to the 
 enemy ; because the former ran parallel with his line of 
 communications, and the two latter actually passed behind 
 his rear. He attempted to close the Mississippi by bat- 
 teries at Columbus, the Tennessee by Fort Henry, and the 
 Cumberland by Port Donelson. The first of these posts 
 was supposed by friends and enemies to be of adequate 
 strength. But the second fell after a feeble defence, 
 February 6th, and the third after a bloody and heroic 
 resistance, February 15th. These events at once com- 
 pelled the evacuation of Columbus on the j\lississippi, 
 because they gave the Federalists, on the margin of the 
 two rivers now opened to them, a base of operations parallel 
 to the line of communications which connected the Con- 
 federate army, at Columbus, with their base. The next 
 defence \^'as attempted at Island No. 10, between that 
 place and the city of Memphis. The Federalists, after 
 an expensive and futile bombardment, made an essay to 
 pass the batteries with their gunboats, without waiting to 
 silence them ; and being partially successful in this, com- 
 pelled the evacuation of the post, which they could not 
 reduce, by threatening the communications of the garrison. 
 The necessary corollary was the fall of Memphis without 
 a defence. There now remained for the Confederates no 
 practicable line of operations in all West and Middle 
 Tennessee : for the reason that the three streams, diverg- 
 ing from points near Cairo, the great naval depot of the 
 Federalists, and open to their fleets, gave them bases of 
 operations on all their banks, parallel to any line upon 
 
10 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 which the other party might move. The determination 
 of Generals A. S. Johnston and Beauregard to transfer the 
 campaign to the southern bank of the Tennessee, was 
 therefore in strict conformity with military principle; 
 although it required the loss of the capital of the fine 
 State of Tennessee, and two -thirds of its territory. The 
 result of their wise strategy was the victory of Shiloh, 
 April 6th ; yet even this was almost neutralized by the 
 facility of concentration which the naval resources of the 
 enemy gave them. The selection of Corinth as the stra- 
 tegic point for the protection of the State of Mississippi 
 was also correct ; for it gave the command of the railroads 
 diverging tlrence eastward and southward. But the ad- 
 vantage of river-transportation for troops and munitions 
 of war, to the neighbourhood, speedily enabled the Fede- 
 ralists to assemble so enormous a preponderance of means 
 in front of General Beauregard's position there, as to 
 compel his retreat to an interior point. Had he with- 
 stood this motive for retreat, another, still more control- 
 ling, would in time have appeared : the Mississippi Pdvei, 
 now open to the euemy of Vicksburg, offered them a base, 
 parallel to General Beauregard's line of communications 
 from Corinth with his rear ; so that it was practicable to 
 assail that line by advancing from the water. 
 
 The extravagant joy of the Federalists at the fall of 
 Forts Henry and Donelson was generally ridiculed. It 
 was said that the capture of two hastily-constructed earth- 
 works, mounting a few cannon, was no exploit to justify 
 the boastings of a great fleet and army employed in theii 
 reduction. The results of these successes were far greater 
 
LOSS OF KEW ORLEANS TO SOUTH-WEST. 1 1 
 
 than their glory ; and they spoke fax more strongly against 
 the providence of the Confederate rnlers than for the 
 prowess of the Federal armies. The true gravity of the 
 events was not in the fact, that the reduction of such works 
 was a difficult or honourable task, but in the fact that the 
 Confederates lacked either the wisdom or the means to 
 interpose more stable defences in avenues of such vital 
 importance to their campaign. It is now manifest that 
 the possession of the three rivers decided that of the theatre 
 of war. It is not intended that the mere access to the 
 margins of these streams, and the opportunity to use them 
 as bases of operations on land, would have been enough, 
 without a preponderance of military means to be employed 
 thence ; but that, without the advantage of these bases, 
 even the great superiority of the Federal numbers would 
 not have availed to give them the campaign. 
 
 But the most fatal of aU these advantages was the occu- 
 pation of New Orleans. This success also resulted from 
 the discovery, whose novelty was so unfortunate for the 
 Confederate cause, that war steamers could pass batteries 
 with impunity. After the chief of the naval force had 
 despaired of the reduction of the forts which guarded the 
 approaches to the city. Commodore Farragut, April 24th, 
 essayed, what was then esteemed the rash experiment of 
 passing them by night, with perfect success. Tlie rich 
 and unarmed city then lay at his mercy, for the Confe- 
 derates had no fleet adequate to resist his approach, and 
 the surrender of the forts was the obvious sequel to the 
 loss of that which they were intended to protect. The 
 Mississippi Eiver was now open to the Federal navies 
 
12 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 through all its length, except the section embraced be- 
 tween the fortesses of Port Hudson and Yicksburg. Thus^ 
 their strategic advantages were extended indefinitely for 
 operating in all the States on both sides of its waters. 
 The greater success of the Federalists in their south- 
 western campaigns is explained by the position of these 
 great rivers. When the advantage which they possessed 
 in them is considered, the only wonder will be that they 
 did not accomplish more with their vast militaiy resources. 
 Their failure to conquer the whole is only to be ex- 
 plained by their (jwu timidity and feebleness in execution, 
 coupled with the Ijravery and talent of the Confederates. 
 It is no small glory to the latter to have saved any part 
 of their country from an enemy possessed of strategic 
 advantages so deadly. 
 
 The policy ^vhich should have been adopted for defence 
 by the Confederate Government is also indicated by these 
 events. They should have understood that there were 
 four vital points, — the mouth of the Mississippi, its course 
 at the western extremity of Kentucky, the mouth of the 
 Tennessee, and the mouth of the Cumberland, to the de- 
 fence of which every energy should have been bent from 
 the first day of the war. The loss of one of these, and 
 especially of one of the last three, rendered nugatory the 
 defence of the others, because the invading army, pene- 
 trating along the one stream which it had opened, could 
 base itself upon its banks far in the rear of the forces de- 
 fending the other two, and, by threatening their communi- 
 cations, compel their retreat. The obstacles placed upon 
 all of them should, therefore, have been equally impreg- 
 
CONFEDERATES NEEDED SHIPS. 13 
 
 nable. It had been better to neglect anything else, and 
 to suffer any incursions by land, than to fail in this. And 
 since the recent introduction of steam into ships of war, 
 with the earnest warnings of enlightened naval men, 
 ought to have aroused at least a mistrust of shore-batteries 
 as a sufficient defence against ships, other and more certain 
 means of resistance should have been provided at these 
 essential points. To the construction of enough efficient 
 war-ships to hold these four avenues, the energies of the 
 Government and people should have been directed, at the 
 earliest hour, with an activity akin to that of despera- 
 tion. The Confederates then possessed the wealth, the 
 skilled labour, and the material supplies of Nashville, 
 Memphis, New Orleans, and Norfolk; by neglecting to 
 expend a part early and wisely they lost the whole of 
 them. 
 
 At the place last named the Confederates were em- 
 ployed during the winter in one enterprise, which pointed 
 in the right direction, — the construction of the iron- clad 
 steamer ' Virginia.' This powerful and unique ship, armed 
 with the most formidable rifled cannon, was prepared for 
 action early in j\Iarch, and on the 8th of that month 
 attacked the Federal fleet in Hampton Eoads, destroying 
 three frigates and several gunboats, and putting the re- 
 mainder to flight. 
 
 This brilliant action filled the people with delight, and 
 the noble ship was accepted as a .sufficient defence for the 
 mouth of James Eiver against all the men-of-war which 
 the Federalists could at that time bring against her. Her 
 prowess showed that a few such vessels in the Mississippi 
 
14 LIFE OP LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 might have saved the disasters of the south-west, and the 
 occupation of a third of its territory. 
 
 The disparity of the strength of the two parties was 
 pointed out at the beginning of the war. The geographi- 
 cal position of the Confederate States, it has been now 
 shown, rendered them yet weaker for a defensive war ; but 
 to this species of resistance they were shut up. At the 
 beginning of the campaign of 1862 they had experienced 
 a further diminution of strength in the virtual loss of Ken- 
 tucky and ^Missouri. A few of the chivalrous citizens of 
 these States, accepting banishment rather than subjuga- 
 tion, followed the fortunes of the Confederacy ; but their 
 territories, their revenues, and their wealth were now in 
 the hands of the oppressors. The military events which 
 induced this result need not be detailed here, for they 
 would lead too far away from the proper subject — the 
 Virginian campaign. After this loss, which occurred be- 
 fore the struggle reached its acm^ the Confederate States 
 had about eight and a half millions of people, including 
 among them nearly all the Africans of the South, with 
 whom to resist twenty millions. This statement declares, 
 more forcibly than any eloquence of words, the heroic 
 character of the defence which they have since made. 
 
 Comparisons of present with past events assist us to 
 appreciate the merit of the latter, by the help of the 
 estimate established for the former in history. Let the 
 defence of the Southern Confederacy against the United 
 States be illustrated, for instance, by that of Spain, in the 
 Peninsular War, against the designs of ISTapoleon, which 
 were not unlike the aggressions of the Federals in iniquity. 
 
THE PENINSULAS WAR. 1 5 
 
 Spaia then possessed about eleven millions of people, an 
 army of one hundred and twenty-seven thousand men, 
 and a navy superior to that of the United States at the 
 opening of this war. Her soil was open to the invader 
 only at one quarter, for the sea which surrounds her was 
 held by the fleets of England, in conjunction with her own ; 
 and these reduced the navy of France to an absolute in- 
 activity. Access to her wealthy colonies was open through- 
 out the struggle, and no blockade obstructed the entrance 
 of the British arms and supplies. On the other hand, the 
 population of the French Empire was double that of the 
 Federal States, but the armies of the Emperor were not 
 more numerous than those employed for our conquest. 
 The vast difference against !N"apoleon was, that during the 
 whole Spanish struggle his strength was also tasked with 
 gigantic wars elsewhere, whUe the malice of the Federal 
 has met no diversion from any other nation in its concen- 
 tration upon the work of our destruction, and to his armies, 
 equal to all the imperial legions, must be added the efforts 
 of a great navy. Yet, with these relative means of aggres- 
 sion, Napoleon overran the whole territory of Spain, occu- 
 pied her capital, and compelled her to a war of six years, 
 in which she was seconded by the whole military power 
 of Great Britain to shake off his grasp. What then must 
 have been the energy of the Southern character as com- 
 pared with the Spanish, or what the impotency of the 
 Federal administration as compared with the French, to 
 reduce the consequences of their invasion to so partial a 
 limit at the end of three years of lavish expenditure and 
 bloodshed ? 
 
16 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 The opening of the campaign of 1862 found the Pede- 
 ralists firmly seated upon the coast of South Carolina at 
 Beaufort, and of North Carolina at Fort Macon, ISTewberne, 
 and Eoanoke Island. On the eastern borders of Virginia, 
 they occupied Fortress Monroe, and Ne-^^^iort News, all 
 the lower peninsula between the James and York Eivers, 
 and the mouth of the Eappahannock. Near the ancient 
 towns of Williamsburg and York, General Magruder, with 
 a few thousand men, held their superior numbers at bay : 
 and his guns maintained a precarious command over the 
 channels of the two rivers. Around AYashington swarmed 
 " the Grand Army " of General M'Clellan, upon both banks 
 of the Potomac ; while its wings extended from the lower 
 regions of the State of Maryland to the AUeghanies. It 
 was confronted by the army of General Joseph E. John- 
 ston, with its right wing resting upon the Potomac to 
 Evansport, and commanding the river by a formidable 
 battery, its centre about Manassa's Junction, and its left 
 at Winchester under General Jackson. This army was 
 composed of volunteers enlisted for one year; and the 
 hour when their term of service expired, was now fast 
 approaching. 
 
 Neither State nor Confederate Government had yet 
 adopted any permanent system for raising or recruiting 
 armies. The Congress was just moving, under the impulse 
 of threatening disasters, towards the adoption of a general 
 conscription, which placed all the male white population, 
 between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, in the mili- 
 tary service. 
 
 But this law, while it promised ultimately to bring a 
 
NEW MILITAEY LAWS. 17 
 
 multitude of new soldiers into the service, released a 
 number of veterans, who were more than thirty-five years 
 old. It moreover involved the reorganization of every 
 regiment, by the election of new officers ; a work which 
 was in progress throughout the early months of the cam- 
 paign. All the forces of the Confederacy, being volun- 
 teers, had claimed the republican privilege of election. 
 The fruits of this vicious system of appointment were now 
 becoming more painfully manifest ; when to its other re- 
 laxations of authority were added the desire on the part of 
 the officers to propitiate the favour of their soldiers by 
 iudulgence, in view of the approaching vote, and the dis- 
 position of other aspirants to oppose their pretensions to 
 a re-election, by every species of cabal. The troops were 
 chiefly raised by authority of the States ; during the re- 
 mainder of the war, they were to be governed by that of 
 the Confederacy. That power therefore proposed to intro- 
 duce, along with their conscription, a uniform system for 
 its armies. The 3rd of March, General Jackson, through 
 a member of Congress from his Military District, urged 
 the adoption of two principles : of which one was, that 
 the right of electing should be arrested, save for the lowest 
 rank of commissioned officers, third lieutenants ; and that 
 above that grade all vacancies should be filled by promo- 
 tion. The second was, that promotion should not be 
 obtained by seniority, unless the applicant was approved 
 by a Board of Examiners, whose rejection, when sanctioned 
 by the Commander-in-Chief of a Department, should be 
 final. Although the reorganization of the Virginia regi- 
 ments, for the second year, was completed under laws of 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
18 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 the State, without these wholesome regulations, they were 
 soon after embodied in the laws of Congress. Their effect 
 has been steadily to raise the efiiciency of the officers, and 
 thus the discipline of the army. But during the first, and 
 the greater part of the second campaign, the lack of com- 
 petent and energetic officers for companies and regiments 
 was the bane of the service, and the constant grievance of 
 the commanders. In many, there was neither an intelli- 
 gent comprehension of their duties, nor zeal in their per- 
 formance. 
 
 Appointed by the votes of their neighbours and friends 
 to lead them, they would neither exercise that rigidity in 
 governing, nor that detailed care in providing for the 
 wants of their men, which are necessary to keep soldiers 
 efficient. The duties of the driU. and the sentry -post were 
 often negligently performed ; and the most profuse waste 
 of ammunition, and other military stores, was permitted. 
 It was seldom that these officers were guilty of cowardice 
 upon the field of battle ; but they were often in the wrong 
 place, fighting as common soldiers, when they should have 
 been directing others. Above all, was their inefficiency 
 marked by their inability to keep their men in the ranks. 
 " Absenteeism" grew under them to a monstrous evil; and 
 while those who were animated by principle were bravely 
 in their places on the day of action, every poltroon and 
 laggard found a way to creep from the ranks. Indeed, it 
 was no rare thing to hear these leaders reason, that efforts 
 to keep the latter class in their places were injudicious ; 
 because they would be of no use, if present ! Hence the 
 frequent phenomenon, that regiments which on the books 
 
FEDERAL PLANS OF STRATEGY. 1 9 
 
 of the commissary appeared as consumers of five hundred 
 or a tliousand rations, were reported as carrying into action 
 two hundred and fifty or three hundred bayonets. The 
 tliinness of these ranks must needs be repaired by the 
 greater devotion and gallantry of the true men. Tlrey 
 were compelled to take their own share of the bullets and 
 those of the cowards in addition; and thus the blood 
 which Avas shed in battle was almost exclusively that of 
 the noblest and best, while the ignoble currents in the 
 veins of the base were husbanded. 
 
 At the approach of the spring campaign, other causes, 
 less discreditable, concurred to diminish the armies in 
 Virginia. Furloughs were liberally given, in order to en- 
 courage the men to re-enlist with cheerfulness. A majo- 
 rity of the officers were at their homes, professedly engaged 
 in collecting absentees, or in recruiting new men. The 
 fevers of the previous autumn had decimated the most of 
 the regiments. V*"hile, therefore, the diUgence of the 
 Federal Government was swelling the host of M'Clellan 
 to two hundred and thirty thousand men, the command of 
 General Johnston was absolutely diminished more than 
 one half when the season of activity arrived. It was 
 manifest that he would be in no condition to cope with 
 his adversary in his present positions. His chief protec- 
 tion against a catastrophe had been, for some time, the 
 condition of the roads, which forbade campaigning. A 
 winter and early spring of unprecedented rains had so 
 softened the argillaceous soil of the BuU Eun, that the 
 two armies lay immovable, like two hostile ships fast 
 grounded in a shoal of mud, a little too remote for com- 
 
20 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 bat. General M'Clellan was anxiously awaiting the first 
 drying suns of March to move his gigantic army forward 
 to that triumph, for which he had been so assiduously 
 preparing them for eight months ; and General Johnston 
 was watching for the same juncture to retire to a more 
 interior line of defence. 
 
 The goal of the Federal advance was, of course, to be 
 Eichmond ; and to its capture every movement was to 
 converge. General M'Clellan was to drive back the left 
 wing of the Confederate army at Winchester, by the forces 
 under Shields and Banks, to insulate and overpower the 
 right wing resting on the Potomac at Evansport, and to 
 surround and crush General Johnston at Manassas, or else 
 to force him toward Richmond, and pursue him. The 
 army on the peninsula, setting out from Fortress Monroe, 
 was to press back General Magruder, and assail the capital 
 from the east. The forces in the Valley, having beaten 
 General Jackson, were either to converge towards the rear 
 of Manassa's Junction, by crossing the Blue Eidge, or else 
 to march south-westward up that district, and at Staunton 
 meet a powerful force from the north-west, which was pre- 
 paring to advance from Wheeling under General Fremont 
 Staunton was manifestly one of the most important stra- 
 tegic points in Central Virginia. It is situated on the 
 Central Eailroad, and at the intersection of the great 
 Valley Turnpike (a paved road which extends from the 
 Potomac continuously to the extremity of South-western 
 Virginia). It is also the terminus of the turnpike to Par- 
 kersburg, in ISTorth-west Virginia, and the/ocits of a number 
 of important highways. Its possession decided that of the 
 
FEDEEAL PLANS OF STEATEGY. 21 
 
 Avhole interior of the State, and of another avenue, the 
 Central Eailroad, leading to Eichmond from its western 
 side. As this road, on its way to the capital, passes by 
 GordonsviHe, the intersection of the Orange and Alexan- 
 dria road, on which General Johnston now depended as 
 his sole line of communications, its possession by the 
 Federalists would at once endanger that line, and compel 
 him to seek a position still more interior. Moreover, 
 Eastern Virginia, south of GordonsviHe, was the great 
 tobacco-planting region, and consequently yielded no large 
 supplies for the capital or armies. The great central coun- 
 ties, to wliich Staunton was the key, were the granary of 
 the CommonwealtL There was, then, little hope that the 
 capital, with the large armies necessary for its defence, 
 when thus insulated from its sources of supply, and open 
 only to the south, would endure a very long investment. 
 Considering these things, and remembering that if Staun- 
 ton were surrendered, the concentration of General Banks's 
 and General Fremont's columns there must inevitably 
 occur, thus placing a third army of commanding strength 
 far ia the rear of General Johnston's left, and of his tem- 
 porary base. General Jackson declared that the Valley was 
 essential to the defence of Virginia. Geographically, it is 
 the heart of the State. Its vast resources were essential 
 to our strength ; and if seized by the enemy, would enable 
 them to deal deadly blows. If they seated themselves in 
 force there, they could not be dislodged, save at great cost ; 
 because no favourable base and line of operations against 
 them would remain to the Confederates. 
 
 The retreat of General Johnston from Manassa's June- 
 
22 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 tion implied that of General Jackson from Winchester, 
 for reasons already explained (in Chap. VII.) ; and for the 
 latter, no practicable Line of operations would remain north 
 of Front Eoyal and Strasbourg. These two villages, both 
 on the line of the Manassa's Gap Eailroad, marked the 
 opening of the twin valleys, into which the Masanuttin 
 Mountains divide the Great Valley for fiftj^ miles. The 
 strategic question for General Jackson was, whether he 
 should move to Front Eoyal, at the mouth of the Eastern 
 Valley, or to Strasbourg, at the beginning of the Western, 
 and on the great road leading to Staunton. At the begin- 
 ning of j\Iarcli, this question was receiving careful discus- 
 sion by letters between his Commander-in-Chief and him. 
 The former advised that he should retire to Front Eoyal, 
 and thence up the south branch of the Shenandoah, 
 because it was iii the direction of his own intended retreat, 
 and therefore upon convergent lines ; because thus the 
 retreating wings would be prepared for a more rapid con- 
 centration than those of the invading army, and for a 
 vigorous blow at each of them in turn ; and because it 
 was contrary to all sound discretion to allow the enemy 
 to attain a point between the IManassas army and the 
 army of the Valley, from which he might act against them 
 on interior lines. General Johnston accordingly enjoined 
 on General Jackson not to permit the Federalists to in- 
 sinuate themselves between Winchester and the Blue 
 Eidge. Had there been no armies on the theatre of war 
 save those of M'Clellan and Johnston, Banks and Jack- 
 son, these views would have been correct. But General 
 Jackson declared his preference for a retreat up the main 
 
JACKSON DETERMINES TO EETEEAT TOWARDS STAUNTON. 23 
 
 Valley, in the direction of Staunton. That place, he argued, 
 would be the object of Banks's endeavours, rather than a 
 junction with M'Clellan in front of General Johnston; 
 because, by approaching Staunton, he threatened General 
 Edward Johnson's rear, and compelled his retreat without 
 a blow ; he thus opened the way for General Fremont's 
 unobstructed advance, and effected a junction with him ; 
 and he placed himself, iu redoubled force, so far in the 
 rear of General Johnston's left, and so near his line of 
 communications, as to necessitate his retiring without 
 battle, and yielding to M'Clellan the vast and precious 
 circuit of country which has been described. For this 
 reason, he said the main Valley must not be left open to 
 General Banks. But unless the Confederates from Win- 
 chester moved so decisively towards the Blue Eidge, as to 
 leave the road to Staunton undefended against him, they 
 could not effect General Johnston's purpose, of converg- 
 ing on lines shorter and more concentric than those of 
 the enemy's advance. Indeed, since a short march from 
 Charlestown, by the way of Berryville and Milwood, would 
 place General Banks at the fords of the Shenandoah, and 
 on the main roads from "Winchester to Manassas, if that 
 purpose were to be the dominant one, the Confederate 
 army ought to move that very day, not towards Front 
 Eoyal, but directly towards Manassas. If such an object 
 were in view as dictated the masterly strategy of July 
 1861 [to make an immediate concentration, and fight a 
 successful battle for the retention of Manassa's Junction], 
 then this would be the proper moment ; but in no other 
 case. On the other hand, he declared that he did not 
 
24 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 believe General Banks could cross the Blue Eidge to bear 
 upon General Johnston, while he remained in the Valley- 
 near him, acting upon the line of communications with 
 Staunton, and continually threatening his right. General 
 Jackson therefore desired to be permitted to retire to 
 Strasbourg ; but he closed his manly argument with the 
 assurance, that he should promptly and cheerfully obey 
 the wishes of his Commander-in-Chief, whatever they 
 might be. General Johnston conceded to him the exer- 
 
 o 
 
 cise of his own discretion; and he made preparations 
 to retreat, when it became necessary, up the Valley, by 
 sending his stores and sick to Mount Jackson, forty-iive 
 miles above Winchester. It will appear how far events 
 coniirmed his speculations. 
 
 To a friend in the Confederate Congress, General Jack- 
 son thus disclosed his own wishes. Speaking of the 
 Valley of Virginia, he says : — ' What I desire is, to hold 
 the country as far as practicable, until we are in a con- 
 dition to advance ; and then, with God's blessing, let us 
 make thorough work of it. But let us start right. . . . 
 
 ' In regard to your question as to how many troops I 
 need, you will probably be able to form some idea when 
 I tell you that Banks, who commands about 35,000, has 
 his head-quarters in Charlestown, and that Kelly, who has 
 succeeded Lander, has probably 11,000, with his head- 
 quarters near Paw Paw. Thus you see two Generals, 
 whose united force is near 46,000, of troops already organ- 
 ized for three years of the war, opposed to our little force 
 here ; but I do not feel discouraged. Let me have what 
 force you can. M'CleUan, as I learn, was at Charlestown 
 
COKEESPONnENCE. 25 
 
 ou Friday last : there may be something significant in 
 this. You observe, then, the impossibility of saying how 
 many troops I wUl require, since it is impossible for me 
 to know how many wiU invade us. I am delighted to 
 hear you say Virginia is resolved to consecrate all her 
 resources, if necessary, to the defence of herself. Now we 
 may look for war in earnest. 
 
 ' You aslc me for a letter respecting the Valley. I am 
 well satisfied that you can say much more about it than I 
 can, and in much more forcible terms. I have only to say 
 this ; that if this Valley is lost, Virginia is lost. — Very 
 truly, your friend, T. J. Jackson.' 
 
26 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 KEENSTOWN. 
 
 By the 11th of March 1862, General Jackson had re- 
 moved all his sick and supplies to Mount Jackson, and 
 had gathered in all his troops from the outposts to Win- 
 chester. He now had only the First, Second, and Tliii'd 
 Virginia Brigades, the last containing two small regiments, 
 Colonel Ashby's regiment of horse, and six batteries of 
 field artillery. On that day, General Banks approached 
 within four miles of Winchester, on the north, and 
 General Jackson went out and offered him battle. This 
 challenge Banks declined, although his force present on 
 the field was fourfold, and preferred to await the arrival 
 of General Shields with his reserves. The Confederates, 
 therefore, returned in the evening to their camp around 
 the town, and CJ-eneral Jackson assembled the commander 
 and colonels of the Stonewall Brigade, as a council of war, 
 to lay before them a daring project which he had con- 
 ceived. While he was awaiting them, he went to take 
 his supper with the hospitable family whose board he 
 frequented, and appeared in their parlour -^vith his mili- 
 tary cloak, spurs, sword, and haversack. His spirits were 
 unusually bright and genial, and his countenance glowed 
 
JACKSON PLANS NIGHT ATTACK. 27 
 
 with animation. His friends, on the contrary, were 
 oppressed with gloom ; for they could not but see that 
 the movement of stores to the rear, which had been so 
 complete, portended the evacuation of Winchester, and 
 their surrender to the hated oppressions of the enemy. 
 To the incLuiries of the ladies, he replied by a polite 
 evasion, while he evidently sought to relieve their appre- 
 hensions. According to the usage of the family, the 
 domestic devotions were to follow the meal; but the 
 master, presuming that General Jackson must be too 
 busy on this occasion to be delayed by them, paused to 
 give him an opportunity to retire. He, however, requested 
 the privilege of joining in them. At their close he arose, 
 asked that a lunch be placed in his haversack, and went 
 away with a cheerful ' good evening,' — merely saying that 
 he hoped to dine with them on the morrow as usual. His 
 friends, reassured by his air, and by their implicit con- 
 fidence in his prowess, went out to make a call. In an 
 hour, the General returned, with a rapid stride, and gave 
 the door-bell an energetic ring. Upon learning that the 
 famUy were out, he left with the servants a request that 
 their master should repair to his head- quarters immedi- 
 ately after his return ; and they said that he looked 
 anxious and hurried. His friend hastened down to his 
 office, and found him prepared for mounting, striding 
 across the room with rapid steps, and depressed with an 
 inexpressible weight of sadness. General Jackson then 
 explained that it was his pilan to march the army back by 
 night, aifter allowing them time to refresh themselves, to 
 General Banks's front, and, having made his dispositions 
 
28 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 in profound silence, to begin a fierce attack upon him at 
 the "small hours" of the morning. General Shields had 
 not yet come within a supporting distance ; but by the 
 next day he would be united with his commanding general, 
 and the odds would then be so enormous that it would be 
 madness to resist them. General Banks had an army ot 
 new and unsteady troops, half intimidated by the fame 
 and valour of the Confederates, while the latter weve 
 animated by a towering enthusiasm and confidence. He 
 believed that the darkness, the suddenness and fury of his 
 attack, the lack of experience in evolutions among the 
 Federalists, would throw them into confusion ; and, by the 
 vigorous use of the bayonet, and the blessing of the Pro- 
 vidence in which he trusted, he should inflict upon them a 
 great overthrow. He was exceedingly loath to leave the 
 gallant, loyal, and generous town, with all the fine country 
 around it, to their ruthless sway, without a struggle. But 
 when he consulted his officers, he found them too reluct- 
 ant to permit him to hope for a successful execution ot 
 his plan. They argued that the troops had already 
 marched ten miles to and fro that day, and the night 
 attack would require a further journey of six miles, after 
 which they would reach the scene of action too much 
 wearied to effect anything ; and that there was at least a 
 probability of an advance of the enemy from Berryville ; 
 which would place them, at the critical moment, upon the 
 right and rear of the Confederates. 
 
 As he detailed these facts, General Jackson paced his 
 floor in painful indecision, and repeated an expression of 
 his bitter reluctance to leave Winchester without one 
 
MOVEMENTS OF M'CLELLAN AND JOHNSTON. 29 
 
 brave stroke for its defence. Then passing full before the 
 candles, he lifted up his face with a look of lofty deter- 
 mination, and his hand convulsively grasped the hilt of 
 his sword, while he slowly hissed through his clenched 
 teeth words to this effect : " But — let me think — may I 
 not execute my purpose still ?" As he uttered this, his 
 eye burned with a fire before which his friend, who had 
 never seen the light of battle in his face, confessed he could 
 not but tremble. Then releasing his s\\ord, he dropped 
 his head, and said, " No ; I must not do it : it may cost 
 the lives of too many brave men. I must retreat, and 
 wait for a better time." The air of grief again possessed 
 him, and he proposed to return to his friend's dwelling, to 
 take leave of his family. He bade them a sad farewell, 
 . but said he hoped a good Providence would enable him 
 soon to return, and bring them deliverance. The next 
 morning, at dawn of day, the Confederate army left 
 "Winchester for Strasbourg, and at 9 o'clock a.m. the 
 column of General Banks began cautiously to enter it. 
 As they approached, Colonel Ashby slowly withdrew his 
 troopers into the streets, and then through the town, 
 while he remained the last man, and sat quietly upon his 
 horse until the enemy had approached within a short 
 distance, when he gave his defiant shout, and galloped 
 away. The Federalists found not a single prisoner, horse, 
 musket, or waggon, to enrich their conquest. The citizens 
 ■ of "Winchester, who saw their nervous timidity at the 
 thought of Stonewall Jackson's proximity, and their ignor- 
 ance of his real numbers, were convinced that, had the 
 'night attack been made, they would have been utterly 
 
30 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 routed. General Shields' troops were so far in the rear, 
 that they did not begin to arrive nntiL 2 o'clock p.ji., and 
 it is therefore manifest that the affair would have been 
 decided before they reached the scene of action. But the 
 panic among their friends would not have been slow to 
 propagate itself aiuong them. 
 
 General Jackson wished, after once surrendering the 
 lower VaUey, to draw the enemy further into the country, 
 and thus both to relieve General Johnston of their pres- 
 sure, and to diminish the numbers with whom he would 
 be required to deal in his front. After marching to Stras- 
 bourg, twenty miles above "Winchester, the 12th of March, 
 he retreated slowly to the neighbourhood of Mount Jackson, 
 reaching it the 17th. There he received a despatch from 
 General Johnston, dated March 19th, stating tliat it was 
 most desirable the enemy's force iu the Yalley should be 
 detained there, and prevented from reinforcing General 
 M'ClelLan. To effect this he requested General Jackson 
 to return nearer the enemy, and remain in as threatening 
 attitude as was practicable without compromising the 
 safety of his army. The Commander-in-Chief was com- 
 pleting that hazardous retreat from Manassa's Junction to 
 the south side of the Eappahannock, begun March 10th, 
 by which he so skilfully delivered his army and its whole 
 matSriel from the jaws of his powerful enemy. M'Clellan 
 was also endeavouring to envelop him with his multi- 
 tudinous hordes, and to this end was just drawing a 
 number of regiments from the army of Banks to aid in 
 turning General Johnston's left. They had already begun 
 their march, and were preparing to cross the Blue Eidge 
 
MOVEMENTS OF M'CLELLAN AND JOHNSTON. 3 1 
 
 at Snicker's Gap, while tlieir General, regarding Jackson 
 as a fugitive whom it was vain to pursue, had returned to 
 AYashington to boast of his bloodless conquest, leaving the 
 remainder of his army in charge of General Shields. Upon 
 receiving the orders of his Commander-in-Chief, the Con- 
 federate General prepared for a rapid return towards 
 Winchester. Leaving the neighbourhood of Mount Jack- 
 son, jMarch 2 2d, he marched that day to Strasboiirg, twenty- 
 six miles ; whUe Colonel Ashby, with his cavalry and a 
 light battery of three guns, advanced before him, and 
 drove the enemy's outposts into Winchester. The rapidity 
 of this movement took them by surprise. The troops 
 which remained with General Shields were encamped be- 
 low the town, and Ashby found only a feeble force in his 
 front. With these he skirmished actively and success- 
 fuEy ; and in the combat an exploding shell from one of 
 his guns broke the arm of the Federal Commander. So 
 audacious was Ashby's pursuit that his scouts privately 
 penetrated the town of Winchester and communicated 
 with the citizens. The latter knowing that many regi- 
 ments had been sent towards Manassas by Snicker's Gap, 
 and seeing very few remaining near the town, assisted to 
 confirm him in the impression of the paucity of the 
 enemy's numbers. He accordingly sent back to General 
 Jackson the assurance that there were but four regiments 
 of infantry occupying Winchester, and that they were 
 preparing to return to Harper's Perry, which encoiiraged 
 him in turn to push forward his whole force on the 
 morning of the 23cl. But the alarmed enemy had ad- 
 vanced all the forces encamped below the town, and had 
 
32 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 sent couriers to recal all those which were on their march 
 towards Manassas. When the General therefore reached 
 Barton's Mills, five miles from the town, at noon of that 
 day, he found Ashby pressed back to the high lands soutli 
 of Kernstown, and confronted by considerable masses of 
 the enemy. 
 
 It was the Sabbath-day ; and if there was one principle 
 of General Jackson's religion which was more stringent 
 than the others, it was his reverence for its sanctity. He 
 had yielded to the demands of military necessity, so far as 
 to march on the sacred morning, that he might not lose 
 the advantages which opportunity seemed to place within 
 his reach, but now a more inexorable necessity was upon 
 him. It was manifest that Colonel Ashby had been de- 
 ceived in his estimate of the force opposed to him ; and 
 Jackson had reason to anticipate that General Johnston's 
 desire to have the powerful army of Banks recalled was 
 fulfilled too efficaciously for his own safety. The region 
 about him and in his rear was a beautiful champaign, 
 swelling with gentle hills ; and on that side of Cedar 
 Creek, twelve miles behind him, there was no defensible 
 position against superior masses. The whole country was 
 practicable for the manoeuvres of cavalry and artillery. To 
 delay, therefore, was to incur the hazard of being enclosed 
 in the overwhelming numbers of the enemy ; already it 
 was doubtful whether a prompt retreat would be safely 
 concluded. General Jackson's resolution was therefore 
 immediately taken, to assaU the enemy on the spot, and 
 win, if not a decisive victory, at least the privilege of an 
 unmolested retreat, before the preponderance against him 
 
JACKSON ADVANCES TO KEENSTOWN. 33 
 
 became more alarming than it already was. In the force 
 with which he proposed to attack them, more than half 
 the commissioned officers were absent either on furloughs 
 or recruiting service ; for a few days before it was sup- 
 posed that the cessation of the enemy's pursuit would 
 allow a period of quiet, to be devoted to the needed work 
 of reorganization. Many of the men were also at their 
 homes ; so that after deducting the stragglers lurking with 
 the baggage train, the foot-sore, whom the rapid march 
 had left behind, and a regiment detained to guard the 
 equipage, there were but two thousand seven hundred of 
 the little army left to meet the enemy. 
 
 The great road crossing the Opequon Creek, a quiet 
 mill stream five mUes from Wiachester, proceeds thither 
 over a series of long and gentle slopes, through a country 
 smning with fertility, and almost denuded of its forests. 
 Two miles from the Opequon, after surmounting a moderate 
 ridge, it reaches Kernstown, a hamlet of a dozen houses, 
 seated in the midst of meadows, three miles from Win- 
 chester. All the vicinity was divided into farms by stone 
 fences, which also hned the highway continuously. Here 
 there was nothing in the nature of the ground to offer 
 advantage to the smaller force. A mile to the left, or 
 west of the turnpike, is a country road which also crosses 
 the Opequon, and passing through gently undulating farms 
 converges towards Winchester, in such a direction as to 
 meet the main thoroughfare at the nearer side of the town. 
 And west of this country road there is an elevated ridge 
 parallel to it, terminated at its rear, or south-western end, 
 by the Opequon, which curves around it. This range of 
 
 VOL. II. c 
 
34- LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 hills, after running forward for two miles towards tie 
 town, sinks into the plain. Although elevated enough to 
 command the whole neighbourhood, it is not craggy, but 
 so rounded as to permit the ascent of artillery ; and it is 
 clothed with forests, with a few small fields interspersed, 
 and notched by successive depressions, which descend 
 into ra^ines between the lateral spurs of the hill. West 
 of this ridge is another vale, filled with meadows and 
 farm-houses, among which the ascending course of the 
 stream threads its way parallel to the main crest. The 
 larger part of the fields here, likewise, were enclosed by 
 fences of limestone, which, rising to the height of four 
 feet, offered a very adequate breastwork against the fire of 
 musketry. A mile west of the region last described, still 
 another road passes in the direction of Winchester, called 
 the Cedar Creek turnpike. This route manifestly gave 
 the enemy access to the left and rear of the Confederates. 
 General Jackson's plan was to contest the wooded ridge 
 with the enemy ; for upon it rested their right flank, and 
 its heights gave their artillery commanding positions 
 whence they could sweep all the champaign between it 
 and the great road. With their wings thus supported, the 
 one by the hills and the other upon Kernstown, and their 
 centre strengthened with fourfold numbers of infantry and 
 artillery, an attack in front gave no promise of success. 
 The only hopeful project for the inferior force taking the 
 aggressive, was to amuse the enemy's centre and left, 
 while the main body availed itself of the covert and 
 strength of the same heights, which were occupied at 
 their northern end by them, and to direct the whole 
 
BATTLE OF KEENSTOWN". 35 
 
 weight of tlie assault against their right. The obvious 
 mode for effecting this would have appeared to be to 
 ascend the ridge at its south-western end, and thus pro- 
 ceed along its crest ; but such a movement was forbidden 
 by an extensive pond, formed on the Opequon for feeding , 
 a mUl, whose waters embraced that extremity of the hill. 
 General Jackson was compelled, therefore, to march his 
 infantry and artillery obliquely from the great road to the 
 hUls, under a hot cannonade from tlie enemy, without the 
 ability to return his fire at that time. But the movement 
 was effected without loss, and without confusion. About 
 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the following dispositions were 
 completed : On his extreme right, which rested upon the 
 turnpike in front of Kernstown, he posted Colonel Ashby, 
 with his battery of three guns, aU his cavalry, except four 
 companies detached for the left, and four companies of 
 infantry from the Stonewall Brigade. These were ordered 
 to occupy the attention of the- enemy's left by a constant 
 cannonade, and to press them as opportunity might permit. 
 Next to the turnpike was placed the 5th Virginia Eegi- 
 ment, to hold a mile of space, and to watch the enemy's 
 centre. Effective resistance from so small a force was, of 
 course, not to be expected ; but General Jackson relied 
 upon his artillery, commanding the country along which 
 they must advance if they assumed the aggressive from 
 the centre, and yet more upon the engrossing occupation 
 which he expected to give them upon their right wing, to 
 hold that part of their army in check. Nor was he dis- 
 appointed of this hope. His main line of battle was 
 finally formed, with no small interval between it and the 
 
3G LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 regiment last named, obliquely across the wooded ridge, 
 with his left advanced. Next the right were the 42d and 
 21st Eegiments of Virginia Volunteers, and the 1st Bat- 
 talion of Virginia Eegulars, composing the 2d Brigade 
 under the command of Colonel Burks. Next to these, on 
 the left, ^yas the Stonewall Brigade, with the 2d Eegiment 
 on its right, and then the 33 d, the 27th, and the 4th. 
 The left of the infantry line was composed of the two 
 regiments of the 3d Brigade, the 37th and 23d, under the 
 command of Colonel Fulkerson. These occupied the far- 
 ther, or western side of the ridge. Beyond the meadows 
 which lay at its base, four companies of cavalry were 
 stationed on a hill which overlooks the country to the 
 Cedar Creek turnpike, to check the assaults of the enemy's 
 horse. The batteries were posted in the centre, in front 
 of the Stonewall Brigade ; for their line passed across the 
 higher grounds, most suitable for the position of artillery. 
 Thus disposed, the little army advanced against the 
 enemy, with its left continually thrown forward, through 
 the alternate woods and fields which covered the sides 
 and crest of the high lands. After a spirited cannonade, 
 by which several batteries of the enemy were silenced, 
 the infantry engaged with inexpressible fury, at close 
 quarters, the 27th Eegiment leading off. In some places 
 the lines were advanced within twenty paces, partially 
 shielded from each other by the abrupt little ravines, 
 where the Confederates, lying upon their breasts behind 
 the protuberances of the ground, or retiring a few steps 
 into the hollow places to re-load, held their enemies at bay 
 by their scathing discharges. As regiment after regiment 
 
BATTLE OF EEENSTOWN, 37 
 
 came into position, their heroic General led them into the 
 hottest of the fire ; and wherever the line wavered under 
 overwhelming numbers, he was present to cheer the faint- 
 ing men and bring up the reinforcements. But he had 
 no reserves, save the 5th Virginia, which was speedily 
 released from its first position by the inactivity of the 
 enemy in that quarter, and the 48th left as a baggage 
 guard. Only the former of these came up in time to 
 share in the action, and was introduced to reinforce the 
 2d Brigade between the 42d and 21st, where it bore its 
 full share of the glories and dangers of the combat. On 
 the Federal side, the superior numbers enabled them per- 
 petually to bring up fresh troops. As one regiment re- 
 coiled, reeling and panic-struck, it was replaced again and 
 again by another ; and the officers, secure of victory from 
 their preponderating force, were seen riding madly behind 
 the wavering lines, goading their men to the work with 
 the sabre. The Confederates, on the other hand, having 
 no succours, fought until they exhausted their ammuni- 
 tion. As the men fired their last cartridge, their ofScers 
 allowed them to go to the rear ; and, after a time, the 
 thinned lines presented no adequate resistance to the 
 fresh crowds of enemies. ISTear nightfaU, General Pdchard 
 B. Garnett, commanding the Stonewall Brigade, in the 
 centre, seeing his fire dying away for lack of ammunition, 
 and his line pierced on his right, assumed the responsi- 
 bility of authorizing a retreat of his command, without 
 orders from General Jackson ; and nothing now remained 
 but to protect the movement from more serious disaster. 
 Where every regiment fought with steady heroism, and 
 
38 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 none retired until they had iired the last round from their 
 cartridge-boxes, detailed exploits can scarcely be singled 
 out, without injustice to the men passed over in silence. 
 But a few particulars, in which the actors possessed not 
 more courage, but more opportunity, should be described, 
 as having a decisive influence on the battle. On the right. 
 Colonel Ashby cannonaded the enemy continually with 
 his three guns, with such audacity as to win ground all 
 the day from their multitudes. They advanced their 
 infantry through a tract of woodland, to seize his pieces ; 
 when his four infantry companies, thrown forward as skir- 
 mishers, scoured the forest with enthusiastic courage, and 
 repulsed the attacking party, until the artillery was again 
 posted in a more secure position. Later in the day, this 
 daring leader executed a cavalry charge against the ex- 
 treme left of the Federalists, drove their first line back 
 upon their reserves, and captured a few prisoners. In 
 that quarter, they advanced no more during the day. 
 Upon the left, where the advance was first confided to the 
 27th and 21st Eegiments, supported by Colonel Fulkerson, 
 and Carpenter's and M'Lauchlan's batteries, the guns were 
 advanced with great spirit under the eye of General 
 Jackson, delivering an effective fire towards the right and 
 front. The infantry engagement was opened by the 27th, 
 seconded by the 21st ; and these two regiments sustained 
 the whole brunt of the fire with unsurpassed heroism, 
 until Colonel Fulkerson passed to their left, and the re- 
 mainder of the Stonewall Brigade came up. Twice they 
 routed their assailants in quick succession, and held the 
 Federalist army in check while the line of battle was com- 
 
BATTLE OF KEENSTOWN. 39 
 
 pleted. In the centre, the 5th and 4 2d regiments, with 
 the batteries of M'Lauchlan and Carpenter, were the last 
 upon the field. While the enemy pressed up to close 
 quarters, and shot down the horses and gunners at the 
 pieces, the latter replied with murderous discharges of 
 canister-shot, at the distance of a hundred paces. This 
 determined resistance saved the batteries, with the excep- 
 tion of two guns, of which one was disabled, and the other 
 entangled in a fence, and of four caissons, whose horses 
 were slaughtered. On the left. Colonel Fulkerson, upon 
 becoming warmly engaged, perceived between him and 
 the enemy a long stone fence, to which each party was 
 advancing, intending to employ it as a breastwork against 
 the other. The boldness of the Confederates secured them 
 that advantage. Eeachiag the covert a moment in advance 
 of the enemy, they feU upon their knees, and delivered a 
 volley so withering, that the whole line before them seemed 
 to sink into the earth. The larger part of the Federalists 
 were indeed killed or wounded by that unerring fire ; and 
 the remainder, to escape instant death, prostrated them- 
 selves, and attempted to crawl to the rear. But in this 
 endeavour nearly all perished ; the mountain riflemen 
 picked them off with deadly aim before they reached the 
 shelter of the wood. The regiment thus annihilated was 
 said to be the 5th Ohio. A New York regiment, coming 
 to their aid, escaped with a fate little less terrible ; for 
 when they sheltered themselves behind another stone 
 fence running to that occupied by Colonel Fulkerson at 
 right angles, and endeavoured to fusillade the Confeder- 
 ates from its shelter, that skilful commander moved a part 
 
40 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 of his line down, along his own defence, to a point below 
 the juncture of the two walls, whence he delivered an 
 enfilading fire upon the exposed rear of the astonished 
 Federalists. Bat finding the centre of the Confederate 
 line broken, at nightfall he retired in good order, bringing 
 off his two little regiments in safety. The four companies 
 of cavalry upon the extreme left had been instructed by 
 General Jackson to hold themselves prepared to charge 
 the enemy should he retreat, or to protect the Confederate 
 infantry, should it be forced to that alternative. They 
 now rendered good service, by holding in check, and ulti- 
 mately putting to flight, the Federal cavalry, which had 
 made a circuit by the Cedar Creek turnpike, and sought 
 to interrupt the retreat of their friends. But on the 
 eastern side of the Opequon, a number of the fugitives 
 found themselves enclosed, at dark, between the mill-pond 
 and the enemy, and were thus captured. The infantry 
 retreated a few miles to the neighbourhood of ISTewtown, 
 while the cavalry of Colonel Ashby took its station at 
 Barton's Mills, a mile in the rear of the field of combat, 
 and held the enemy in check until ten o'clock of the next 
 morning. General Jackson himself, begging a morsel of 
 food at the bivouac fire of the soldiers, lay down in the 
 field, to snatch a few hours' repose, a little in the rear of 
 his outposts. 
 
 Such was the battle of Kernstown, — in which twenty- 
 seven hundred Confederates, with eighteen guns, attacked 
 eleven thousand Federalists, and almost wrested the vic- 
 tory from their hands. For General Jackson estimated 
 their force actually engaged at that number, besides heavy 
 
FURY OF BATTLE. 41 
 
 reserves upon their left whicli were not brouglit into 
 action. The next morning, while remarking upon the 
 struggle, he said : " Had I been able to bring up two thou- 
 sand more men, I should have beaten them." The officer 
 to whom he spoke replied by referring to the dense masses 
 of unbroken infantry hanging behind Kernstown, and ex- 
 pressed the opinion that any success won by so small a 
 force must have been unavailing, because these reserves, 
 by threatening his right, would have compelled him to 
 arrest his career. Jackson answered : " ISTo ; if I had put 
 the men to flight, they would all have gone together." The 
 troops marshalled against him were unquestionably the 
 best in the Federal army, composed chiefly of hardy 
 Western men, habituated from childhood to field-sports 
 and the use of fire-arms ; and while those who have a 
 visible odds of four to one upon their side, deserve but 
 little credit for their boldness, and would have no excuse 
 for their panic, the perseverance with which the Federal 
 regiments brought their weight of numbers to bear against 
 tlie Confederates, notwithstanding bloody losses, is some 
 testimony to their manhood. General Jackson's loss was 
 eighty killed outright, three hundred and seventy-seven 
 wounded, and two hundred and sixty captured, — making 
 a total of seven hundred and seventeen, or more than one- 
 fourth of the whole force engaged. The loss of the enemy 
 was never divulged ; but there are reasons for believing 
 that it was nearly quadruple that of the patriots. Their 
 officers reported their killed as four hundred and eighteen. 
 The loyal citizens of Winchester were permitted to per- 
 form the last offices to the Confederate dead upon the field 
 
42 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 of battle ; and, as they collected the glorious remains, they 
 had an opportunity to observe that the slain invaders lay 
 four times as thick. Hundreds of corpses were sent by 
 railroad to their northern friends for interment, and many 
 more must have remained, unhonoured and forgotten, to 
 find their common tomb in the pits of the battle-field. The 
 oenerous women of Winchester demanded and obtained 
 
 O 
 
 leave to carry their ministrations of love to the Confederate 
 wounded in the hospitals of the enemy, — for many of the 
 captives were also wounded, — and thus they were enabled 
 to estimate the numbers of disabled men belonging to the 
 other party. The unfortunate 5fh Ohio, in particular, 
 filled hundreds of cots with its wounded. From the tes- 
 timony of these witnesses, it is believed that as many men 
 were disabled by Jackson in the enemy's ranks as he had 
 soldiers in his own. Their greater loss is to be accounted 
 for by his skill in handling his forces, by the superior 
 accuracy of the Virginians' aim, by their discipline and 
 deliberate courage, and by the density of the enemy's 
 ranks, which hardly permitted a well-directed shot to miss 
 its object. 
 
 This Avas the first pitched battle in which General 
 Jackson had supreme command, and it was fought ex- 
 clusively by Virginians, except that a few Marylanders 
 participated in its dangers. Its effect was to raise the 
 estimate of the prowess both of soldiers and leader to an 
 exalted height ; and from this day, the great qualities of 
 the Virginian soldiery, depreciated at first by their own 
 Southern brethren, but illustrated and redeemed at Ma- 
 nassas, have shone forth unquestioned by all. Kernstown 
 
CAEE OF THE ■WOUNDED. 43 
 
 has remained, among the many more bloody days, when 
 greater hosts pursued the work of slaughter in this san- 
 guinary war, a name expressive of the sternest fighting, 
 to the Confederates, to spectators, and to the Federalists. 
 The soldiers of the old Jackson division, when describing 
 the horrors of some subsequent struggle, are wont to say 
 that it almost reminded them of Kernstown. The peace- 
 ful citizens of Winchester, who have met the strange fate 
 of having their ears grow more familiar with the sounds 
 of battle than those of many a veteran, still declare that 
 none of the tempests of war which have howled around 
 their devoted town raged like that of Kernstown, with 
 cannonade so fast and furious, and such reverberating roars 
 of musketry. The Federal soldiery, after timidly pursuing 
 the Confederates the next day for a few miles, returned 
 to their quarters, with no triumph upon their tongues, 
 or in their countenances. Their commander, with the 
 usual gasconade of the Federal Generals, claimed a bril- 
 liant victory ; but his boasts awoke no answering enthu- 
 siasm among his followers. The deadly energy of Jackson's 
 blows filled them with gloom and dread, as they asked 
 themselves, what was the task which they had undertaken 
 in seeking to conquer this people in their consolidated 
 strength, whose resistance, in their weakness and dis- 
 organization, was so terrible. To this sombre impression 
 the spirit of the captives and the oppressed people con- 
 tributed no little. The former, as they passed through 
 the streets to their prisons, were joyous and defiant, the 
 sympathies of the patriotic multitude converted their pro- 
 gress rather into an ovation than a defeat, and they rent 
 
44 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the air with shouts for their country and General, which 
 their gloomy captors durst not suppress. The very scenes 
 upon the field of blood, harrowing as they were, inti- 
 midated the Federal spectators. The regiments which 
 suffered most in Jackson's command were raised in the 
 lower Valley and in the town itself As soon as the per- 
 mission was given to the Mayor and citizens to bury the 
 dead of their defenders, they flocked thither upon this 
 errand of grief and mercy. The cultivated and accom- 
 plished female, the minister of religion, the tottering 
 grandfather, were seen together, in all the alandmi of 
 their anguish, running to and fro, pouring water into the 
 parched lips of the wounded, composing the convulsed 
 limbs of the slain into decency, and looking eagerly into 
 every begrimed and haggard face of dead or dying to 
 recognise a son, a husband, or a brother. Yet, amidst aU 
 these horrors, the very women were as determined as the 
 brave men whose fate they bewailed, and arose from beside 
 the corpses whose discovery had just informed them of 
 their bereavement, to declare to their invaders that none 
 of these miseries, nor death itself, should bend their souls 
 to submission. Yet these same women, with a generosity 
 equal to their heroism, divided their cares and gifts be- 
 tween wounded friends and foes in the hospitals where 
 they languished together. 
 
 General Jackson had directed his wounded to be 
 gathered at the village of Middletown, eight mdes above 
 the field of battle. Intending to retreat to a strong posi- 
 tion above Cedar Creek, and there stand on the defensive, 
 he had instructed his Medical Director to collect every 
 
CAEE OF THE WOUNDED. 45 
 
 vehicle which was available, and send the sufferers to the 
 rear before the army retired. The morning was approach- 
 ing, and that officer, after working all the night at the 
 humane task, and employing every carriage which he 
 could procure, found a large nunber of wounded awaiting 
 removal still. On meeting the General he informed him 
 of this, and added that he knew not where the transpor- 
 tation was to be obtained, and that unless some expedi- 
 ent were discovered these brave men must be left to the 
 enemy. General Jackson ordered him to have the neces- 
 sary vehicles impressed from the people of the vicinage. 
 " But," said the surgeon, " that requires time ; can you 
 stay to protect us ?" " Make yourself easy," said Jackson, 
 " about that. This army stays here till the last wounded 
 man is removed." And then, with a glow of passion 
 suffusing his face, he cried, "Before I will leave them 
 to the enemy I will lose many men more." It was such 
 traits as these which made him the idol of his soldiery. 
 It is related of the great Bruce, that, while retreating 
 before his enemies in his expedition to Ireland, the distress 
 of a ]poor laundress, who was too helpless to follow the 
 army, and was therefore about to be abandoned to the 
 savage pursuers, touched his heart, He halted the host, 
 and said, " Gentlemen, is there one of us who was born of 
 a woman so base as to leave this poor soul to her fate ? 
 No ; let us rather die with her." And he then drew up 
 his men in line of battle to await the enemy ; but they, 
 supposing he had received reinforcements, or was more 
 powerful than his former retreat indicated, recoiled, and 
 feared to assault him. In like manner, the bold front 
 
46 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 which Jackson assumed held the enemy at a respectful 
 distance. They did not venture to annoy him, save hy a 
 few cannon-shot, and, after the first day, discontinued 
 their pursuit. He retired to the neighbourhood of Wood- 
 stock ; and thus, in three days, his army marched seventy- 
 five miles, and fought a hardly contested pitched battle. 
 
 The battle of Kernstown was, technically, a victory of 
 the Federalists. They held the field, the dead, and the 
 wounded. But, like those of Pyrrhus at Heraclea, and of 
 Cornwallis at Guilford, it was a victory with the results 
 of a defeat. The conquerors, crippled by their losses, and 
 terrified by the resistance which they met, dared not press 
 the retreating Confederates. But above all, the object of 
 the battle was won by General Jackson. The Federal 
 army in the Valley was detained there, and the troops 
 which were on their way to Manassas to increase the 
 embarrassments of General Johnston were recalled. The 
 army of the latter extricated itself from its perHous situa- 
 tion, and retired in safety behind the Eappahannock ; 
 while M'Clellan, foiled in his plans, arrested his advance 
 at Manassas, and began to consider the pohcy of transfer- 
 ring the campaign to the peninsula. 
 
 Yet General Jackson was not satisfied with the results, 
 and insisted that a more resolute struggle for the field 
 might have won it, even against the fearful odds opposed 
 to him. The chief error of the battle, he believed, was the 
 unexpected retreat of the Stonewall Brigade from the 
 centre, for this necessitated the surrender of the field. 
 His disapprobation was strongly expressed against its 
 brave General, Garnett, nor was he willing to accept the 
 
IIESULTS OF BATTLE. 47 
 
 justification that their ammunition was expended. A 
 regiment of reserves was at hand, and the bayonet, lais 
 favourite resource, yet remained to them, and he did not 
 consider all the means of victory as exhausted,, until the 
 naked steel was employed. Justice to one now dead 
 requires that these facts should also be stated ; that 
 General Garnett's gallantry was declared by the officers 
 of his brigade to be conspicuous on this bloody field, that 
 they concurred with him in the opinion that the troops 
 were not withdrawn too soon to save them from destruc- 
 tion, and that proceedings against him were dismissed, 
 and he was agaia employed by the Government in a most 
 honourable post, in which he surrendered his life at the 
 battle of Gettysburg. It is neither necessary nor prac- 
 ticable to pass a correct judgment upon the question, 
 whether General Jackson's animadversions upon his con- 
 duct at Kernstown were erroneous. It is enough to testify, 
 that all men regarded them as consistent with the justice 
 of his intentions. This instance may serve to show Jack- 
 son's rigid ideas of official duty, which were always more 
 exacting as men rose in rank. 
 
 On the 1st of April the army retreated to a range of 
 high lands overlooking the north branch of the Shenan- 
 doah, five miles below the town of Newmarket, called 
 Eeede's HiU. The stream is bordered here by a wide 
 expanse of fertile meadows, over which this hiU dominates ; 
 and artillery posted upon it commands the bridge by 
 which the great highway crosses it. The Federal forces, 
 again under the command of General Banks, now advanced 
 by slow and cautious steps to the opposing hills, whence. 
 
48 LIFE OE LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 for many days, tliey cannonaded the Confederates with- 
 out effect. General Jackson, meantime, keeping Colonel 
 Ashby in front, busied himself in refitting his crippled 
 artillery and recruiting his forces. The 10th Virginia 
 regiment joined laim, and was assigned to the 3d brigade, 
 to which Brigadier- General Wm. B. Taliaferro was now 
 promoted. His men returned rapidly from hospitals and 
 furloughs, and a multitude of new recruits poured in, 
 inspired by the growing fame of the General, and the 
 urgency of their country's danger. Especially was the 
 enthusiasm of the people stimulated by the chivalrous 
 and modest courage of Ashby, whose name roused the 
 thrilling hearts of the youth like the peal of a clarion. 
 His regiment of troopers was speedily swelled to twenty- 
 one companies, and more than two thousand men. In- 
 cluding these. General Jackson's aggregate force now 
 mounted up to more than eleven thousand. But the irre- 
 gularities and official neglects which have been described 
 were still lurking in all the regiments, and prevalent in 
 the cavalry. Colonel Ashby had little genius for organiza- 
 tion and discipline ; tasks which, at best, are arduous ia 
 a force continually scattered upon outposts, and harassed 
 by hardships, and which were impracticable for a com- 
 mander seconded by few competent officers, and compelled 
 to launch his raw levies at once into the employments 
 of veteran troopers. The continuance of this imperfect 
 organization was caused by the indiscreet action of the 
 War Department itseK The Secretary, dazzled by Colonel 
 Ashby's fame and exploits, had given him independent 
 authority to raise and command a cavalry force. When 
 
IMPEEFECT OEGANIZATION. 49 
 
 General Jackson attempted to stretch his vigorous hand 
 over that part of his army, so as to bring order out of con- 
 fusion, he was met with a reference to this separate autho- 
 rity, and a threat of resignation. Knowing Colonel Ashby's 
 ascendency over his men, and finding himself thus de- 
 prived of legitimate power, he was constrained to pause, 
 and leave the cavahy unorganized and undisciplined. 
 Colonel Ashby and a Major were the only field-officers for 
 the twenty-one companies ; nor had they any regimental 
 organization whatever. The evils and disasters growing 
 out of the crude condition of this force will manifest them- 
 selves in the subsequent narrative. They give a valuable 
 illustration of the importance of those principles of mili- 
 tary order and subordination, established by experience, 
 and of the danger of such departures from them as that of 
 the Secretary of War in making Colonel Ashby independent 
 of his commanding general Of his gTeat command, one- 
 half was rarely available for duty, while the remainder 
 were roaming over the country, imposing upon the gener- 
 ous hospitalities of the citizens, or lurking in their homes. 
 The exploits of their famous leader were all performed 
 with a few hundreds, or often scores, of men who followed 
 him from personal devotion rather than the force of dis- 
 cipline. Thus the effective force which General Jackson 
 was now able to wield against the enemy, may be correctly 
 estimated as seven or eight thousand men, with thirty 
 guns. 
 
 The position on Eeede's Hill, with so strong an artillery, 
 was impregnable in front. But while, on the right, it was 
 supported upon the Masanuttin Mountain, on the left it 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
50 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 could be turned with facility by fords of the North Eiver, 
 above the main bridge, which were practicable in all dry 
 seasons. Luckily, the melting snows of the western moun- 
 tains concurred with the rains of spring to swell the cur- 
 rent, and General Jackson continued to hold the position 
 until he should be more seriously menaced by Banks. Its 
 chief value to him was ia the fact, that it covered the 
 juncture of the great Valley turnpike at New Market, with 
 that which leads across the Masanuttin, by Luray, the seat 
 of justice for Page County, to Culpepper. The head-quar- 
 ters of General Johnson, with the army of North Virginia, 
 were now at that place, about fifty miles distant from 
 General Jackson ; and it was desirable to hold possession 
 of the route, that a speedy union of the two armies might 
 be effected, should necessity demand it. The next move- 
 ments thence inaugurated a new arrangement of the forces 
 upon the theatre of war. The chapter will therefore be 
 closed with a few brief extracts from General Jackson's 
 letters to his wife, illustrating the events which have just 
 been narrated. 
 
 March 24th, just after the battle of Kernstown, he 
 wrote : — 
 
 " Our God was my shield. His protecting care is an 
 additional cause for gratitude." . . . . " My little army is in 
 excellent spirits : it feels that it inflicted a severe blow on 
 the enemy." 
 
 April 1th. — " I trust you and all I have in the hands of 
 an ever kind Providence, knowing that all things work 
 together for the good of his people. So live that your 
 sufferings may be sanctified to you ; remembermg that 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 51 
 
 our light aflictions, which are but for a moment, work out 
 for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
 [In allusion to the illness of his wife.] 
 
 " Our gallant little army is increasing in numbers, and 
 my prayer is, that it may be an army of the living God, as 
 weU. as of its country. Yesterday was a lovely Sabbath 
 day. Though I had not the privilege of hearing the word 
 of life, yet it felt like a holy Sabbath-day, beautiful, serene, 
 holy, and lovely. All it wanted was the church bell, and 
 
 God's services in the sanctuary, to make it complete 
 
 After God, our God, again blesses us with peace, I hope to 
 visit this country with you, and enjoy its beauty and love- 
 liness." 
 
 No Christian reader can faU to note here the parallel- 
 ism between these sentiments, and those of the ancient 
 warrior-saint in similar circumstances. "How amiable 
 are Thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts ! My soul longeth, 
 yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord : my heart 
 and my flesh crieth out for the living God." 
 
 April llth. — "I feel much concerned at having no 
 letter this week, but my trust is in the Almighty. How 
 precious is the consolation flowing from the Christian's 
 assurance, that ' all things work together for good to them 
 that love God.' " 
 
 " God gave us a glorious victory in the S. W. (Shiloh), 
 but the loss of the great Johnson is to be mourned. I do 
 not remember having ever felt so sad at the loss of a man 
 whom I had never seen." 
 
 In explanation of his Sabbath attack at Kemstown, he 
 wrote : — 
 
52 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 " You appear greatly concerned about my attacking on 
 Sunday. I was greatly concerned too ; but I felt it my 
 duty to do it, in consideration of the ruinous effects that 
 might result from postponing the battle untH the next 
 morning. So far as I can see, my course was a wise one ; 
 the best that I coidd do under the circumstances, though 
 very distasteful to my feelings, and I hope and pray to our 
 Heavenly Father that I may never again be circumstanced 
 as on that day. I believed that, so far as our troops were 
 concerned, necessity and mercy both called for the battle.'' 
 
 " I hope that the war will soon be over, and that I sliall 
 never again have to take the field. Arms is a profession 
 that, if its principles are adhered to for success, requhes 
 an officer to do what he fears may be wrong, and yet, 
 according to military experience, must be done, if success 
 is to be attained. And this fact of its being necessary to 
 success, and being accompanied with success, and that a 
 departure from it is accompanied with disaster, suggests 
 that it must be right. Had I fought the battle on Monday, 
 instead of Sunday, I fear our cause would have suffered ; 
 whereas, as things turned out, I consider our cause gained 
 much from the engagement." 
 
 For his achievement at Kernstown, the Confederate 
 Congress rewarded him with the first of those honours 
 which were afterwards showered so thickly upon him. 
 The following resolutions of thanks were unanimously 
 passed : — 
 
 1. " Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States, 
 That the thanks of Congress are due, and are hereby ten- 
 dered to Major-General Thomas J. Jackson, and the 
 
HECEITES THANKS OF CONGRESS. 53 
 
 officers and men under his command, for gallant and 
 meritorious services, in a successful engagement with a 
 greatly superior force of the enemy, near Kernstown, 
 Frederick Co., Va., on the 23d day of March 1862." 
 
 2. " Eesolved, That these resolutions be communicated 
 by the Secretary of War to Major-General Jackson, and 
 by him to his command." 
 
54 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 M'DOWELL. 
 
 Feom April 1st to April 17tli, General Jackson occupied 
 the position already described upon Eeede's Hill. Mean- 
 time the grand armies of the Potomac had wholly changed 
 their theatre of war. April 1st, General M'Clellan ap- 
 peared at Portress Monroe, on the eastern extremity of the 
 peninsula between the James and York Elvers, and began 
 to direct the approaches of his mighty host against Eich- 
 mond from that point. On the 4th, he appeared before 
 the lines of General Magruder, at Young's Mill, while at 
 the same date the troops of General Johnson were pouring 
 through Eichmond, from their lines behind the Eappa- 
 hannock, to reinforce their brethren defending the penin- 
 sula. General Jackson's prospect of a junction with the 
 main army in Culpepper were therefore at an end ; and 
 his movements were thus rendered, for a time, more inde- 
 pendent of the other Confederate forces. The correctness 
 of his reasonings upon the probable movements of the 
 Federalists was now verified. He was convinced that 
 Staunton would be the aim of General Banks, if he were 
 guided by a skilful strategy ; and the official report of 
 General M'Clellan, since published, shows that his instruc- 
 
POSITION OF JOECES. 55 
 
 tions to that General were, to press to that 'point as soon 
 as his means would permit. The forces at his disposal 
 now amounted, according to General M'Clellan, to 25,000 
 men, besides General Blenker's Division of 10,000 Ger- 
 mans, which having been just detached from the Federal 
 army of the Potomac to reinforce General Fremont in the 
 noith-west, was ordered to pause at Strasbourg, and sup- 
 port General Banks during the critical period of his move- 
 ment. For the rest, the position of the Federal forces in 
 Virginia was the following : General Fremont, in com- 
 mand of the north-western department, was organizing a 
 powerful force at Wheeling, while General MUroy, under 
 his orders, confronted the Confederates upon the Shenan- 
 doah Mountain, twenty miles west of Staunton, and con- 
 siderable reserves, under General Schenck, were ready to 
 support him in the Valley of the south branch. At, and 
 near Manassa's Junction, were stationed forces amounting 
 to about 18,000 men, guarding Washington City against 
 an imaginary incursion of the dreaded rebels ; while the 
 1st Army Corps of General M'Dowell, detached from the 
 grand army, against the urgent remonstrances of General 
 M'Clellan, lay near Fredericksburg, to protect the capital 
 in that direction. 
 
 On the side of the Confederates were found the six 
 regiments of General Edward Johnson, impregnably 
 posted on the Shenandoah Mountain ; the army of General 
 Jackson at Eeede's Hill; the division of General Ewell 
 upon the Rappahannock, confronting the Federalists upon 
 the Orange and Alexandria EaiLroad ; and the command 
 of General Anderson, about ten thousand strong, watching 
 
55 LIFE OE LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Fredericksburg. The whole remainder of the forces in 
 Virginia was collected upon the peninsula, to resist the 
 advance of M'Clellan. 
 
 By the 17th of April, the fords of the ISTorth Fork of 
 Shenandoah, above Eeede's Hill, were becoming prac- 
 ticable ; and General Jackson's position there was no 
 longer secure. He therefore resumed his retreat on that 
 day, and retired, by two marches, to Harrisonburg, the 
 capital of Eockingham county, upon the great Yalley 
 turnpike ; while General Banks timidly pursued him. 
 Prom Harrisonburg he turned aside to the east, and pass- 
 ing the southern end of the Masanuttin Mountain, which 
 here sinks into the plain, crossed the South or main Fork 
 of the Shenandoah Eiver, at Conrad's Store, and posted 
 himself in the valley of the Elk Eun, at the gorge of Swift 
 Eun Gap in the Blue Eidge. The highway to Staunton 
 was now seemingly open to General Banks ; but he durst 
 not pursue it. This was indeed one of the most adroit 
 manoeuvres of the great strategist. His position in the 
 mouth of the mountain gorge was unassailable, and 
 deprived his adversary of all the advantage of his superior 
 numbers. Yet he threatened thence the Federal rear the 
 moment they attempted to advance upon Staunton ; and 
 thus arrested him as completely as though a superior force 
 had been planted in his front. From his own rear a good 
 turnpike road led over Swift Eun Gap, into Eastern Vir- 
 ginia and to the Central Eailroad, forty miles distant, at 
 Gordonsville ; thus providing him supplies, a secure line 
 of retreat, and communication Avith General Ewell in Cul- 
 pepper. There was, indeed, one grave objection to the 
 
EETIEES TO HAEEIS0NBUE6. 57 
 
 movement ; but the manner in which General Jackson's 
 insight into his adversary's character here modified his 
 apphcation of tlie maxims of tlie military art most clearly 
 displayed his genins. Had his enemy heen enterprising, 
 this objection would have been decisive ; but knowing his 
 slowness and timidity, he safely disregarded it: Prom 
 Harrisonburg a turnpike road leads south-westward to the 
 Warm Springs, passing through Jennings' Gap in the 
 Great ISTorth ^Mountain, which was not guarded by any 
 adequate force, along the eastern base of the Shenandoah 
 Mountain, in the immediate rear of General Edward 
 Johnson's position there. A forced march of little more 
 than one day would have conducted General Banks to this 
 spot ; where proper concert with General Mih'oy in front 
 would have insured the destruction of the little army of 
 Confederates. The two Federal forces united would then 
 have easily occupied Staunton, and made the Valley 
 untenable for Jackson, thus deprived of the expected 
 co-operation of Johnson. But the fear of leaving his rear 
 exposed for a moment to the terrible Stonewall, together 
 with the dif&culty of passing the Shenandoah at Bridge- 
 water, where the citizens had destroyed the bridge, were 
 enough to deter General Banks from so promising a move- 
 ment. General Jackson stated in his correspondence that 
 he foresaw the danger of such a manoeuvre, and calculated 
 the timidity of his opponent as a sufficient defence. 
 
 About the time of his march to Swift Eun Gap, an 
 incident occurred which showed his decision. The elevated 
 valleys of the Blue Eidge Mountain are inhabited by a 
 poor, rude, and hardy people, little amenable to law in the 
 
58 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 best times, who live as mucli by hunting as by agriculture. 
 Among a part of these an insurrectionary movement arose 
 against the conscription, and a few score of the men 
 assembled in one of their fastnesses, and prepared for a 
 forcible resistance to the laws. General Jackson at once 
 sent a force and dispersed them, capturing some of the 
 more daring. For this act of promptitude he received the 
 thanks of the authorities. 
 
 In the previous winter. General E. E. Lee had been 
 stationed next the President in Eichmond, as general 
 director of the operations of all the armies in the field. 
 The high estimate held by General Jackson of his charac- 
 ter and accomplishments was pleasantly illustrated by the 
 manner in which he received the news of this appointment 
 at Winchester. Much had been said by his friends there 
 of the desire that he should receive reinforcements. One 
 evening at supper, he said, with a smile, to the lady 
 whose hospitality he was sharing, "Well, madam, I am 
 reinforced at last," and pointed her to a paragraph in the 
 newspaper from Eichmond just received, which announced 
 the appointment of General Lee as Commander-in-Chief 
 It was his wisdom and counsel which he regarded as 
 equivalent to new forces. 
 
 While General Jackson held Banks thus checkmated 
 for a fortnight at Harrisonburg, he was busUy correspond- 
 ing with General Lee concerning the proper direction to 
 be given to his and the neighbouring Confederate forces. 
 Three movements were discussed by them, of which the 
 first was to draw General EweU to Swift Eun Gap, in 
 order to hold General Banks in check, while General 
 
HIS HIGH ESTIMATE OF LEE. 59 
 
 Jackson combined witli General Ed-^vard Johnson to de- 
 liver a crushing blow against Milroy, and then associated 
 his and General Ewell's forces against Banks. The second 
 was, to leave General Johnson for a little while, with a 
 detachment from General Jackson's force intended to mask 
 his withdrawal from Banks, to hold the Valley as best 
 they might, while he marched with General Ewell across 
 the Rappahannock, and made a vigorous onslaught against 
 the Federalists npon the Manassas Eailroad, and at its 
 Junction. It was hoped by General Lee that the news of 
 this attack, so far towards his base, would cause Banks's 
 immediate retreat to Winchester, or even to the Potomac. 
 The third project was to leave the same dispositions for 
 the defence of the Valley, effect a junction with General 
 Ewell at Gordonsville, and marching thence to Fredericks- 
 burg, unite with the forces of Generals Anderson and 
 Field, and attack the Federal army in that neighbourhood. 
 This assault gave promise of alarming the Government at 
 Washington, of recalling Banks, and of disturbing the 
 arrangements of General M'Clellan on the peninsula. As 
 General Lee remarked, the dispersion of the enemy's forces 
 clearly indicated the policy of concentration, to attack 
 some one or other of their detachments. But he gave 
 General Jackson full discretion to select the project which 
 he preferred. He decisively chose the first. The secret 
 history of this movement is related here, because many 
 have asserted, according to their liypoiheses, that General 
 Jackson was a mere fighter, and no strategist ; that the 
 plan of the Valley campaign was due to another mind. 
 On the contrary, the choice was left wholly to his judg- 
 
60 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON, 
 
 ment ; and the first among the three schemes, the one 
 adopted, and so gloriously effected, was of his suggestion. 
 It is easy to argue for his preference of it, after it was so 
 sanctioned by complete success. But the considerations 
 which seem to have decided General Jackson to prefer it 
 were such as these : — That it made a more complete con- 
 centration of our strength, in that it included General 
 Edward Johnson, who, upon the other plans, would have 
 been left aside, with a detachment also of General Jack- 
 son's own army ; that it provided a more complete pro- 
 tection for the Valley and Staunton, of which he so highly 
 appreciated the strategic importance ; and that, if success- 
 ful, it would as effectually neutralize the Federal forces 
 on the Eappahannock, through the fears excited for Wash- 
 ington City, and thus assure the left flank of the army 
 protecting Richmond against an assault from the direction 
 of Fredericksburg. 
 
 General Ewell was accordingly withdrawn from the 
 Eappahannock towards Gordonsville, and then towards 
 the eastern outlet of Swift Eun Gap. He brought with 
 him three brigades, — those of Brigadier- Generals E. Taylor, 
 Trimble, and Elzey, with two regiments of cavalry, com- 
 manded by Colonel Th. S. Munford, and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Flournoy, with an adequate supply of field artillery. 
 The whole formed an aggregate of about 8000 men, in an 
 admirable state of efficiency. The afternoon of April 30tli, 
 General Ewell entered Swift Eun Gap, and took the posi- 
 tion which General Jackson had just left to march towards 
 Staunton. General Banks had been deceived by feints 
 of an attack in force in the direction of Harrisonburg, on 
 
DISPOSITIONS OF CONFEDEKATE FORCES. 61 
 
 the previous day and on that morning, so tliat he received 
 no knowledge of the true direction of General Jackson's 
 movement. The object of the latter was to reach Staunton 
 by a route which, while not so circuitous as to consume 
 iavaluable time, should be sufficiently so to conceal his 
 march from the enemy, and protect him from an attack 
 on the road. The incessant rains of a late and ungenial 
 spring had rendered all the roads, which were not paved, 
 almost impracticable. After careful explorations. General 
 Jackson determined to ascend the eastern or right bank 
 of the Shenandoah river to Port Eepublic, a village seven 
 miles from Harrisonburg, and then, instead of proceeding 
 direct to Staunton by a road of twenty-five miles, to cross 
 the Blue Eidge into Albemarle County by Brown's Gap, 
 and go thence to Staunton along the line of the Virginia 
 Central Eailroad. This route made three marches ; but 
 it completely masked his movement, and mystified both 
 friends and foes, for no one, except the General's chief 
 engineer, knew whether he was on his way to the east or 
 the west. 
 
 In the midst of a dreary rain the army left its comfort- 
 less bi^'ouac on the Elk Eun, and made a half march 
 between the river and the western base of the Blue Eidge, 
 towards Port Eepublic. The stream is here separated 
 from the declivities of the mountain by a plain of two or 
 three miles in breadth, whose flat, treacherous soil, softened 
 by the rains, was speedily converted by the trains of 
 baggage and artillery into a quagmire without apparent 
 bottom. If the teamsters attempted to evade this by 
 turniag aside into the woodlands, as soon as the fibrous 
 
62 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 roots of the surface were severed, the subsoil proved even 
 more deceitful than the mire of the roads, and a few 
 vehicles made the track impassable. The rivulets de- 
 scending from the mountain were swollen into broad rivers, 
 and the glades of the forest were converted into lakes. 
 The straggling column toiled along through water and 
 mud for a few miles, yet enthusiastically cheering their 
 General when he passed along it, and then bivouacked in 
 the woods, while he, with his suite, found shelter in the 
 hospitable mansion of General Lewis. In the morning 
 the clouds were gradually dispersed by the struggHng 
 sun ; and General Jackson, having established his head- 
 quarters in the little village of Port Eepublic, and ha^dng 
 assigned to a part of his staff the duty of arresting all 
 transit between his line of march and the enemy, returned 
 with the remainder, and addressed himself to the arduous 
 task of extricating his trains from the slough, which 
 would have been to any other a " slough of despond." 
 Each detachment was preceded by a large party of 
 pioneers, who, with excessive toil, so far repaired the 
 effects wrought by the wheels of the preceding one, as 
 to pass over another train. Whole road-beds formed of 
 stones and brushwood sunk into the quicksands, and 
 others were placed above them again and again. The 
 General and his staff were seen dismounted, urging on 
 the labourers ; and he carried stones and timber upon his 
 own shoulders, with his uniform bespattered with mud 
 like a common soldier's. From Thursday afternoon until 
 Saturday morning the trains struggled along, sorely scat- 
 tered and travel-soiled, until at length all were assembled 
 
MAKCH TO STAUNTON. 63 
 
 at the western opening of Brown's Gap. Tlie energy and 
 determination required to drive them, in a day and a 
 half, through those sixteen miles of incredible difficulties, 
 were equal to any display of these qualities ever made 
 upon the field of a great victory. 
 
 The mountain-sides afforded a road-bed so stony that 
 no floods could soften it ; and on Saturday the army passed 
 over to 'Whitehall in Albemarle, by a track rough, but firm, 
 cheered by a brilliant sun, and full of confidence and ela- 
 tion. The Sabbath morning dawned upon them clear and 
 soft, ia their pleasant bivouacs along the green meadows 
 of Moorman's river ; and the General, after hard debate 
 with himself, and with sore reluctance, gave the order to 
 march again, surrendering the day of holy rest, which he 
 would have so much enjoyed, to military necessity. General 
 Johnson reported himself closely pressed by the enemy 
 west of Staunton ; and the crisis forbade the expenditure 
 of a precious day. When General Jackson had left the 
 great Valley turnpike at Harrisonburg, to turn aside to 
 Swift Eun Gap, the people of Staunton, in their panic, 
 supposed that he was gone to reinforce the army near 
 Eichmond, leaving them to their fate ; and unauthorized 
 messages from officers near head-quarters confirmed this 
 erroneous construction of his movement. The consequence 
 was a fit of alarm, in which public military stores were 
 hastUy removed or destroyed, and the most exciting news 
 of the certain occupation of Staunton by the enemy "v^-as 
 sent to the force on the Shenandoah Mountain. General 
 Johnson was detained from his command at the time ; 
 but the officer next in rank concluded that the June- 
 
64 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 ture rec[iiired immediate action to rescue the army from 
 capture. He tirerefore evacuated his strong position on 
 the mountain, and retired to West View, only six miles 
 M^est of Staunton, prepared to evade the approach of Banks 
 on that place, and retire to the Blue Eidge. Thus the 
 advanced forces of Milroy were brought within ten miles 
 of Staunton, and he was about to establish his communi- 
 cations with the Federalists at Harrisonburg. General 
 Jackson therefore pressed forward from Whitehall to 
 Staunton, reaching the latter place at evening on the 
 Sabbath, to the unspeakable delight of the inhabitants, 
 who had only heard that the army had disappeared again 
 into Eastern Virginia, no one knew whither. By Monday 
 evening the whole army came up, and the junction with 
 General Johnson was virtually effected. 
 
 Meantime General Banks no sooner learned that General 
 Ewell had reached Elk Eun, and that General Jackson 
 had vanished thence, than he hastily evacuated Harrison- 
 burg, and retreated to Strasbourg, followed by the cavalry 
 of Ashby. The imagination of the Federal leader was 
 affrighted with the notion of an attack in front from Ewell, 
 while the mysterious Jackson should fall upon his flank or 
 rear, from some unimagined quarter. Yet his force present 
 at Harrisonburg, about twenty thousand men, was superior 
 to that of both generals united ! 
 
 On Wednesday morning. May 7th, a day having been 
 employed in collecting and refreshing the troops. General 
 Johnson broke up his camp at West View at an early 
 hour, and marched against the enemy, followed by General 
 Jackson in supporting distance, with the brigade of General 
 
COLLISION WITH THE ENEMY. G5 
 
 Taliaferro in front, that of Colonel Campbell next, and the 
 Stonewall Brigade, now commanded by General Cliarles 
 S. Winder, in the rear. The Corps of Cadets, from the 
 Military Academy, forming a gallant battalion of four 
 companies of infantry, under their teachers, was also 
 attached to the expedition. The spruce equipments and 
 exact drill of these youths formed a strong contrast with 
 the war-worn and nonchalant veterans, as they stepped 
 out, full of enthusiasm, to take their first actual look upon 
 the horrid visage of War, under their renowned Professor. 
 
 The first collision with the enemy occurred about mid- 
 day, at the intersection of the Harrisonburg and Parkers- 
 burg turnpikes. There a Federal picket was surprised, 
 and nearly captured, escaping with the loss of a few men 
 and horses. Their advanced posts at the eastern and 
 western bases of the Shenandoah Mountain were immedi- 
 ately deserted, with some military stores, and the position 
 upon the top of the mountain, lately held by the Con- 
 federates ; and they retired across the Bull Pasture Moun- 
 tain to il'Dowell, making no other resistance to the advance 
 of the Confederates than a few ineffectual cannon shots. 
 The latter paused for the night upon both sides of the 
 Shenandoah Mountain, with the rear brigades many miles 
 behind the front. On Thursday morning, ilay 8th, the 
 march was resumed early, with General Johnson's regi- 
 ments still in advance, and the ascent of the Bull Pasture 
 Mountain was commenced. This ridge, unlike its neigh- 
 bours, has a breadth of a couple of miles upon its top, 
 which might be correctly termed a table-land, were it not 
 occupied by clusters of precipitous hills, which are them - 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
66 LIFE OF LIECT.- GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 selves almost mountainous in their dimensions and rugged - 
 ness. The Parkersburg turnpike, proceeding westward, 
 ascends to this table-land, passes across it, and descends 
 to the Bull Pasture Eiver, by a sinuous course, along the 
 ravines which seam the sides and top of the mountain 
 alike ; so that it is almost everywhere commanded, on 
 one or both sides, by the steep and wooded banks of the 
 valleys which it threads. On the right and left of the 
 road, the western portions of the rough plateau which has 
 been described, were occupied by pasture lands, covered 
 with the richest greensward, with here and there the 
 prostrate trunk of a forest tree long since girdled and 
 killed. The chasm which separates the higher reaches of 
 these lofty pastures is a mile in width ; and far down in 
 its bottom, the turnpike descends toward the river, until 
 it debouches through a straight gorge of a few hruidred 
 yards in length, upon the bridge. Artillery, planted upon 
 a hillock beyond the river, commanded this reach of the 
 road with a murderous fire. 
 
 Generals Jackson and Johnson having ascended the 
 mouatain cautiously, and driven away a picket of the 
 enemy which quartered its top, proceeded to the western 
 ridge of the pasture lands on the left of the road, and 
 occupied the forenoon in examining the position of the 
 enemy. The grounds here belonged to a patriotic citizen 
 named Sithngton ; while the rival heights, on the right of 
 the turnpike, fed the cattle of a proprietor named Hull. 
 The latter were found to be occupied by two regiments of 
 Federal riflemen ; but the distance was too great for effec- 
 tive volleys. Beneath them lay the smiling hamlet of 
 
COLLISION WITH THE ENEMY. 67 
 
 M'Dowell, crowded with Federal troops, stores, and artil- 
 lery, while beyond, the champaign stretched away with a 
 smooth and gentle ascent to the westward for a number of 
 mHes. The edges of the vale next to the position of the 
 Confederate Generals were fringed by a forest, which 
 covered the steeper and more barren slopes of the moun- 
 tain's foot. This wood was speedily found to be infested 
 by the enemy's skirmishers ; but a detachment of General 
 Johnson's riflemen easily kept them at bay, and chastised 
 their audacity whenever they attempted to advance from 
 cover. The open field itself, of a mile's length, was heaved 
 iato confused and billowy ridges, presenting, on the whole, 
 the concavity of an irregular crescent toward the west. 
 The raviue by which the Confederates reached this field 
 from the turnpike is narrow and precipitous, and occupied 
 both by the forest and by a stream of rude boulders, which 
 the rains had precipitated from the ridge above. Yet it 
 was judged that, by the strenuous exertions of men and 
 horses, field-guns might have been carried up after several 
 hours' labour. 
 
 From the ridges of the pasture-field General Jackson 
 quietly watched the enemy far below him for a number of 
 hours ; while they cannonaded him and his escort from a 
 battery on the further side of the vale, v hose guns had 
 their muzzles elevated toward the sky, and their traUs 
 thrust into trenches in the ground. It was no part of his 
 purpose to engage them that day, nor on that ground. 
 He had reason to hope that they were ignorant of his 
 junction with General Johnson, and that they supposed 
 they had only the six regiments of the latter to deal with. 
 
68 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 His troops had not all come up ; and the Stonewall 
 Brigade especially was many miles in the rear. His pur- 
 pose was to amuse the enemy, while his engineers dili- 
 gently explored the mountain to the right and left for a 
 road which might lead him to their rear. To the zeal of 
 his artillery officers, who offered to bring up batteries, he 
 quietly replied: "Thank you; not yet;" and at length 
 added to one of tliem : " Perhaps Providence may open a 
 way toward Monterey for you to-morrow." (Monterey is 
 the next village, ten miles west of M'DoweU ; and was in 
 the enemy's rear.) In truth, his explorations had already 
 been successfal in leading him to a rude mountain road, 
 practicable for artillery, which, passing far to the right of 
 Hull's mountain pastures, enters the highway five miles in 
 the rear of M'DoweU; and his orders were just issued to 
 move a formidable park of artillery, with sufficient escort, 
 by this road during tlie night, who were to assrnne a good 
 position behind the enemy. His preponderance of force 
 would have enabled him thus to envelop and crush the 
 army of Milroy. 
 
 But that officer had astuteness enough, though ignorant 
 of these formidable preparations, to apprehend something 
 of the danger of his position. If once the lofty fields 
 occupied l3y Generals Jackson and Johnson were crowned 
 with artillery, their plunging fire would have made the 
 whole valley of M'DoweU untenable for him ; and the 
 altitude forbade an effective reply. At mid-day General 
 Schenck arrived with three thousand additional bayonets ; 
 and they resolved to take the initiative, and drive the 
 Confederates from their threatening position at once. How 
 
BATTLE OF M'DOWELL. 69 
 
 little purpose General Jackson had of commencing the 
 action that evening appears from the fact, that as the 
 afternoon advanced he had dismissed all his staff, save 
 two members, upon different errands, with kindly instruc- 
 tions to seek the repose of their quarters when they had 
 fulfilled those functions, and had sent orders to the Stone- 
 wall Brigade, which was at length approaching the top of 
 the mountain, to descend again and seek a suitable en- 
 campment. But the advance of the enemy did not, for all 
 this, find him unprepared. Although he had carefully 
 avoided making any display of force upon the open hills, 
 the regiments of General Johnson were close at hand, and 
 the brigades of Taliaferro and Campbell within supporting 
 distance. The aggressive intentions of the enemy now 
 becoming manifest, the 5 2d Virginia regiment was brought 
 upon the field, and posted upon the left, speedily followed 
 by the 58th and 44:th Virginia, and the 12 th Georgia 
 regiments. The 52d Virginia having been disposed as 
 skirmishers, were speedily engaged in a brisk encounter 
 with the enemy's skirmishers, whom they handsomely 
 repulsed. The other three regiments then arriving, were 
 soon afterwards posted as follows : the 12th Georgia on 
 the crest of the hill, and forming the centre of the Con- 
 federate line, the 58th Virginia on the left to support the 
 52d, and the 44th Virginia on the right near a ravine. 
 
 General Milroy's advance now began in good earnest. 
 He was protected in his approach by the convexity of the 
 hills, and by the wood interposed in the Confederate front, 
 until he emerged from it, and engaged their skirmishers. 
 These he drove before him, and poured a galling fire into 
 
70 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the Confederate right, which was returned, and a Ijrisk 
 and animated contest was kept up for some time ; when 
 General Johnson's two remaining regiments, the 25th and 
 31st Virginia came up and were posted on the right. The 
 fire was now rapid and well-sustained on both sides, and 
 the conflict fierce and sanguinary. The narrow and rough 
 ravine by which the Confederate troops ascended from the 
 left side of the turnpike to the field of battle has been 
 described. If the enemy advanced along the highway and 
 seized its mouth, the results would be disastrous. To pre- 
 vent the possibility of such a movement, the 31st Virginia 
 was posted on both sides of the road between that point 
 and the enemy. It was not long after ordered to join its 
 brigade in action; and its place was taken by the 21st 
 Virginia. To the commander of this regiment General 
 Jackson gave Ms orders in person. They were, that he 
 should avail himself of every inequality of the ground to 
 protect his men, and then hold the turnpike against all 
 odds, and at every cost. 
 
 The engagement had now not only become general along 
 the entire line, but so furious, that General Jackson ordered 
 General Taliaferro to the support of General Johnson. 
 Accordingly, the 23d and 37th Virginia regiments were 
 advanced to the centre of the line which was then held 
 by the 12 th Georgia with heroic gallantry; and the 10th 
 Virginia was ordered to support the 52d Virginia, which 
 had already driven the enemy from the left, and had now 
 advanced to make a flank movement on him. At this 
 time the Federalists were pressing forward in strong force 
 on the extreme right of the Confederates, with a view of 
 
BATTLE OF M'DOWELL. 71 
 
 turning that position. This movement was speedily de- 
 tected, and met by General Taliaferro's brigade and the 
 12th Georgia with great promptitude. Further to check 
 it, portions of the 2.5th and 31st Virginia regiments were 
 sent to occupy an elevated piece of woodland on the right 
 and rear, so situated as fully to command the position of 
 the enemy. The brigade commanded by Colonel Campbell 
 coming up about this time, was ordered, together with the 
 10th Virginia, down the ridge into the woods, to guard 
 against designs upon the right flank. This duty they, in 
 connexion with the other force, effectually performed. 
 The battle had now raged from half-past four to half-past 
 eight o'clock p.m., and the shades of night had descended. 
 Every attempt of the enemy by front or flank movement 
 to attain the crest of the hills where General Jackson's 
 line was formed, was signally and effectually repidsed ; 
 and they finally ceased firing and retired from the field. 
 During all the earlier portions of the engagement, the 
 enemy's artillery on the further side of the valley was 
 actively employed in throwing shot and shell, until their 
 infantry approached too closely. But the elevation of the 
 mountain, and the shelter of the sharp ridges rendered 
 their fhe ineffectual. Only one of the Confederate slain 
 lost his life by a cannon shot. General Jackson brought 
 up no artillery ; assigning as his reason, that in case of 
 disaster, there was no road by which it could be promptly 
 withdrawn. The battle may therefore be said to have been 
 fought with musketry alone. 
 
 By nine o'clock the roar of the struggle had passed 
 away ; and the green battle-field reposed under the star- 
 
72 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 liglit as calmly as when it had been occupied only by its 
 peaceful herds. Detachments of soldiers were silently ex- 
 ploring the ground for their wounded comrades, while the 
 tired troops were slowly filing off to their bivouac. At 
 midnight the last sufferer had been removed, and the last 
 picket posted ; and then only did General Jackson turn 
 to seek a few hours' repose in a farm-house at the eastern 
 base of the mountain. The valley of M'Dowell lay be- 
 neath him in equal quiet. The camp-fires of the Federals 
 blazed ostentatiously in long and regular lines, and their 
 host seemed to be wrapped in sleep. At one o'clock a.m., 
 the General reached his quarters, and threw himself upon 
 a bed. When his faithful servant, knowing that he had 
 eaten nothing since morning, came with food, he said, " I 
 want none ; nothing but sleep,'' and in a minute was 
 slumbering like a healthy infant. The dawn found him 
 in the saddle, and ascending the mountain again. AVlien 
 he reached the crest of the battle-field he saw the vale 
 beneath him deserted ; the foe had decamped in the night, 
 leaving their dead, and partially destroying their camp 
 equipage and stores. The pebbly bottom of the neigh- 
 bouring stream was found strewn with tens of thousands 
 of musket-cartridges, and vast heaps of bread were still 
 smoking amidst the ashes of the store -houses which had 
 sheltered them. After marching west for a few miles. 
 General Milroy sought the sources of the south branch of 
 the Potomac, and turned northward down that stream, 
 along which a good highway led toward Franklin and 
 Eomney. His aim was to meet the reinforcements of 
 General Fremont, which he hoped were approaching by 
 
SPIRIT OF THE TROOPS. 73 
 
 that route, from the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad. The 
 line of his retreat was marked by the graves of his 
 wounded, and the wreck of an occasional carriage. 
 
 The loss of the Confederates in this engagement was 
 sixty-nine killed, and three hundred and ninety-one 
 wounded ; making a total of four hundred and sixty men. 
 The greatest carnage occurred in the ranks of the famous 
 12th Georgia regiment, which had thirty- five killed, and 
 one hundred and forty wounded. This noble body, trained 
 under the eye of General Edward Johnson, when Colonel, 
 held the centre of the battle from the beginning to the 
 end. But their heavy loss was also due to their own 
 zeal and chivalry. Having been advanced at first in 
 front of the crest of the bills, where their line showed to 
 their enemies from beneath, in bold relief against the sky, 
 they could not be persuaded to retire to the reverse of the 
 ridge, where many of the other regiments found partial 
 protection without sacrificing the efficiency of their fire. 
 Their commander, perceiving their useless exposure, en- 
 deavoured again and again to withdraw them ; but amidst 
 the roar of the musketry his voice was lifted up in vain ; 
 and when by passing along the ranks he persuaded or 
 entreated one wing of the regiment to recede, they rushed 
 again to the front while he was gone to expostulate with 
 the other. A tall Georgia youth expressed the spirit of 
 his comrades, when he replied the next day to the ques- 
 tion, why they did not retreat to the shelter of the ridge 
 behind them, whence they could fight the battle equally 
 well : " We did not come all this way to Virginia to run 
 before Yankees." 
 
74 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Just before the close of the engagement, General John- 
 son received a painful wound in the ankle, which, break- 
 ing one of its bones, compelled him to leave the field. 
 General Jackson paid him the following merited tribute 
 in his report : " General Johnson, to whom I had intrusted 
 the management of the troops engaged, proved himself 
 eminently wortliy of the confidence reposed in him, by the 
 skill, gallantry, and presence of mind which he displayed 
 on the occasion." Colonel Gibbons, commanding the 10th 
 Virginia, a Christian gentleman and soldier, beloved by 
 all bis comrades, fell dead as he was bringing his men into 
 position ; and he was the only person in his regiment who 
 was struck. Colonel Harman, of the 52d Virginia, Colonei 
 Smith, and ilajor Higginbotham, of the 25tli, and Major 
 Campbell, of the 42d Virginia, were wounded. At the 
 beginning of the action. General Jackson was, for the 
 reason stated above, accompanied by only two of his staff: 
 Captain Lee, his ordnance officer, and Lieutenant Meade, 
 his Aide. These two, by their zeal and courage, temporarily 
 supplied the place of all ; and Captain Lee received a severe 
 wound in the head. The Federal loss was estimated by 
 General Johnson, who witnessed nearly the whole struggle, 
 to be double that of the Confederates ; but this reckoning 
 was probably too large. Few prisoners were taken on 
 either side ; but among those captured by Jackson was the 
 colonel of an Ohio regiment. Some quarter-master's and 
 commissary stores,- arms, ammunition, and cavalry equip- 
 ments remained with the victors. The force of General 
 MUroy was supposed to be 8000 men. Of General Jack- 
 son's, about GOOO, or only half his force, were engaged. 
 
LACONIC DESPATCH. 75 
 
 From M'Dowell, General Jackson sent tlie following 
 modest and laconic despatch, the first of those missives 
 which, during the remauider of his career, so frequently 
 electrified the country with joy : 
 
 "Valley Dlsteiot, May Qth, 1862. 
 "To Gen. S. Cooper : 
 
 " God blessed our arms with victory at M'Dowell yester- 
 day." T. J. Jackson, Major- General." 
 
 This announcement was received by the people of Vir- 
 ginia and of the Confederate States with peculiar delight, 
 because it was the first blush of the returning day of 
 triumphs after a season of gloomy disasters. The cam- 
 paign had opened with the fall of Fort Donelson and the 
 occupation of XashviLle. Tlie fruitless victory of Shiloh 
 had been counterpoised in April by the fall of 'New 
 Orleans, a loss as unexpected by the Confederates as it 
 was momentous. On the 4th of May, while Generals 
 Jackson and Johnson were effecting their junction at 
 Staunton, Torktown was deserted by the Confederates, 
 and, on the next day, Williamsburg fell into their hands 
 after a bloody combat. On the 9th, ISTorfolk surrendered 
 to the enemy, and, on the lltli, the gallant ship Virginia, 
 the pride and confidence of the people, was destroyed by 
 her own commander. The victory of M'Dowell was the 
 one gleam of brightness athwart aU these clouds ; and the 
 eyes of the people turned with hope and joy to the young 
 soldier who had achieved it, and recognised in this happy 
 beginning the vigour and genius of the great commander. 
 
 General Jackson immediately threw forward a few 
 
76 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 companies of cavalry, under Captain Sheetz, to harass the 
 enemy's rear, and collected his infantry in the valley 
 beyond jM'Dowell to prepare for a close pursuit. The 
 moimtain passes by which General Banks might have 
 communicated succours to Milroy were immediately ob- 
 structed, and an active officer was sent by a circuitous 
 route to the northern parts of Pendleton county, below 
 Franklin, to collect the partisan soldiers of the mountains 
 in the enemy's rear. They were exhorted to fill the roads 
 with felled timber, to tear down the walls which supported 
 the turnpike along the precipitous cliffs, and to destroy 
 the bridges, in order that the retreat of Milroy might be 
 retarded, and the advance of Fremont to his aid checked, 
 until his flying army was again beaten and dispersed. 
 Saturday morning the victors resumed their march, re- 
 freshed by a night of quiet rest, and pressed the enemy 
 so hard, that General Jackson hoped in the afternoon to 
 bring them to bay. Their rear-guard assumed a position, 
 and held the Confederate cavalry in check. General 
 Jackson disposed his troops, and issued his orders for 
 battle with a stern joy ; but the slippery game soon con- 
 tinued its flight. The next morning was the Sabbath; 
 but after anxious deliberation, the Confederate General 
 concluded that the importance of overtaking the enemy, 
 who would certainly not pause from any reverence for the 
 sacred day, and of inflictuig another disaster before the 
 reinforcements of General Fremont arrived, required him 
 to disregard its claims. When he began to urge the 
 enemy again, the Federals resorted to the expedient of 
 setting fire to the forests upon the mountain sides, in order 
 
PURSUIT OF MILBOY. 77 
 
 to envelop their flight in obscurity. Soon the sky was 
 overcast with volumes of smoke, which almost hid the 
 scene, and wrapped every distant object in a veil, impene- 
 trable alike to the eyes and the telescopes of the officers. 
 Through this sultry fog the pursuing army felt its way 
 cautiously along, cannonaded by the enemy from every 
 advantageous position ; while it was protected from am- 
 buscades only by detachments of skirmishers, who scoured 
 the burning woods on each side of the highway. As fast 
 as these could scramble over the precipitous hills, and 
 through the blazing thickets, the great column crept along 
 the main road, like a lazy serpent; their General often 
 far in advance of its head, in his eagerness to overtake the 
 foe. He declared that this smoke was the most adroit 
 expedient to which a retreating army could resort to 
 embarrass pursuit, and that it entailed upon him all the 
 disadvantages of a night attack. By slow approaches, and 
 constant skirmishing, the enemy were driven to the village 
 of Franklin ; when the double darkness of the night and 
 the fog again arrested his progress. 
 
 "\Alien the morning of Monday arrived. General Jackson 
 resolved to discontinue his pursuit of Milroy, and return 
 to pay his respects to General Banks. Several considera- 
 tions weighed together to determine his judgment. He 
 ascertained that his orders for obstructing the turnpike 
 below Franklin had been disregarded by the citizens ! and 
 their supineness and timidity filled him with disgust. It 
 was now obvious that his cunning adversary, with an 
 unobstructed road for retreat, and all the advantages of a 
 mountainous country for defence, would not be brought to 
 
78 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 a battle until he received the support of General Fremont. 
 On the other hand, the concentration of the Confederates 
 was only half completed, for the excellent division of 
 General Ewell was still to be associated with the forces of 
 Jackson ; and prudence dictated that the risk of such a 
 collision as that, with Fremont and Milroy united, should 
 not be taken without the advantage of all the strength 
 attainable by him. Moreover, time was precious ; for he 
 knew not how soon a new emergency at Fredericksburg or 
 at Eichmond might occasion the recall of General Ewell to 
 the east, and deprive him of the power to strike any effec- 
 tive blow against General Banks. The motive last men- 
 tioned was perhaps the most operative of all ; for he knew 
 that the loan of General Ewell's aid to him by the Con- 
 federate authorities at Richmond was not entirely hearty, 
 and that they did not wholly concur in his estimate of 
 the importance of protecting his district from invasion. 
 But the conclusive reason was a despatch from General 
 Lee, May 11th, requiring his return. The same day Gene- 
 ral Jackson sent a courier to General Ewell, to announce 
 his coming, who was commanded to ride post-haste with 
 his message. 
 
 General Jackson, therefore, prepared to turn his face 
 eastward again. He granted the soldiers the half of 
 Monday as a season of rest, in lieu of the Sabbath, which 
 had been devoted to warfare ; and issued the foUowmg 
 order to them : — 
 
 " Soldiers of the Army of the Valley and North-West,— 
 I congratulate you on your recent victory at M'DowelL I 
 request you to unite with me this morning in thanks- 
 
MARCH TO THE EASTWARD. 79 
 
 crivings to Almighty God, for thus having crowned your 
 arms with success ; and in praying that He will contiaue 
 to lead you on from victor)- to victory, until our independ- 
 ence shall be established ; and make us that people whose 
 God is the Lord" 
 
 " The chaplains will hold Divine service at 1 o'clock 
 A.SI., this day, in their respective regiments." 
 
 The different groups were accordingly soon assembled, 
 beneath a genial sun, along the verdant meadows of the 
 South Branch ; and the neighbouring mountains, which, 
 on the Sabbath, had reverberated with the bellowings of 
 cannon, now echoed the Sabbath hymns. The command- 
 ing general attended reverently the worship of a company 
 of artiilery near his tent. After mid- day, the camps were 
 broken up, and the march was resumed for il'Dowell ; 
 which the army reached on "Wednesday evening. The 
 next day's journey brou.ght them to the Lebanon Springs, 
 on the road to Harrisonburg, where they paused for a day, 
 Friday, ilay 1 6th, to observe a season of national humilia- 
 tion and prayer, appointed by the Confederate Govern- 
 ment, for all the people and armies. On Saturday, an 
 easy march was ended, in the beautiful region of jNIossy 
 Greek ; where the troops, no longer pressed by a military 
 exigency, were allowed to spend a quiet Sabbath. 
 
 One incident remains to be mentioned, illustrating 
 Jackson's iron will, which occurred while the army paused 
 on this march, at M'DowelL A part of the men of the 
 27th Regiment, in the Stonewall Brigade, who had volun- 
 teered for twelve months, now found their year just 
 expired. Assuming that the application of the late con- 
 
80 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 scription to tliem was a breach of faith, they demanded 
 their discharge, and laying down their arms, refused to 
 serve another day. Their gallant Colonel, Grigsby, referred 
 the case to General Jackson for instructions. On hearinfj 
 
 
 
 it detailed, he exclaimed, his eye flashing, and his brow 
 rigid with a portentous -sternness, " What is this but 
 mutmy ? Wliy does Colonel Grigsby refer to me, to know 
 what to do with a mutiny ? He should shoot them where 
 they stand." He then turned to his Adjutant, and dictated 
 an order to the Colonel to parade his regiment instantty, 
 with loaded muskets, to draw up the insubordinate com- 
 panies in front of them, disarmed, and oifer them the 
 alternative of returning to duty, or being fusiladed on the 
 spot. The order was obeyed, and the mutineers, when 
 thus confronted with instant death, promptly reconsidered 
 their resolution. They could not be afterwards distui- 
 guished from the rest of the regiment in their soldierly 
 behaviour ; and tins was the last attempt at organized 
 disobedience in the army. 
 
WINCHESTEE. 81 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 WINCHESTEE. 
 
 While General Jackson was hurrying back from 
 Franldin, critical events were occurring at Eichmond, 
 which must be known in order to appreciate the value of 
 his victories, and their effect upon the public mind. The 
 destruction of the ship " Virginia " by her crew, on the 1 1 th 
 of May, has been narrated. This blunder left the Eiver 
 James open to the enemy's fleet, up to the wharves of the 
 city. The Confederate engineers had indeed projected an 
 earthwork upon an admirable position, seven miles below, 
 where the lands of a planter named Drewry overlooked a 
 narrow reach of the stream, in a lofty bluff or precipitous 
 hiU. But so nerveless and dilatory had been their exer- 
 tions, that when the river was thus opened to the enemy, 
 there were neither guns mounted upon the unfinished 
 ramparts of earth, nor obstructions completed in the 
 channel beneath. The Legislature of Virginia had urged 
 upon the Confederate War Department the vast import- 
 ance of defending this avenue to the capital of the Com- 
 monwealth, and had received promises ; but they remaiued 
 unfulfilled. The hurried removal of military stores to 
 the South-west, the packing of the archives of the Con- 
 
 VOL. II. P 
 
82 LIFE OF LIEDT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 federate Departments, and the significant movements of 
 their occupants, now indicated the purpose of the Govern- 
 ment to desert Pdchmond to the enemy. ISTot only was 
 it left approachable by water, but the grand army of 
 M'Clellan had pressed from the peninsula up to the neigh- 
 bourhood of the city on the east, while a strong and 
 increasing army under General M'Dowell, at Fredericks- 
 burg, threatened it by a northern route of only three 
 marches, with no adequate force to oppose him. It was 
 in this gloomy hour that the spirit of the General 
 Assembly of Virginia, and of the citizens of her Capital, 
 ilamed up with a lofty and unshaken heroism, worthy to 
 be compared with the noblest displays of patriotism in aU 
 the ages. The former body addressed to the President of 
 the Confederate States a resolution requesting him to 
 defend the city, if necessary, until one stone was not left 
 upon another, and proposing to lay it as a sacrifice, with 
 all its wealth, upon the country's altar. The Town 
 Council met, and amidst the stern and unanimous enthu- 
 siasm of the citizens, seconded this resolve. They were 
 determined that if the city could not be successfully 
 defended, it should only be yielded to the enemy as a 
 barren heap of rubbish, the sepulchre and glorious monu- 
 ment at once of its defenders. The General Assembly 
 sent its Committee to lay their wishes before the Presi- 
 dent, who thanked them for their devotion, and assured 
 them that the evacuation of Eichmond, if it occurred, 
 would by no means imply the desertion of Virginia. 
 Even while they conferred together, a courier brought 
 him news that some Federal ships of war, availing them- 
 
ZEAL OF THE CITIZENS. 83 
 
 selves of tlie absence of tlie "Virginia," were ascending tlie 
 river, witli the evident intention of reaching Eichmond. 
 Eising from his seat, he dismissed the Committee, saying, 
 " This manifestly concludes the matter ;" and proceeded 
 to arrange for the removal of his family. But the timidity 
 of the Federalists, afraid of torpedoes, or some other secret 
 annoyance, and incredulous that so vital a point could 
 indeed be left open for them, for this time saved the city, 
 which, so far as its proper defenders were concerned, was 
 abeady lost. The ships paused to make soundings, and 
 to reconnoitre the banks ; and meantime the citizens 
 went to work. The City Council called upon the Con- 
 federate Engineers to know what they lacked for the 
 immediate completion of their works, and pledged them- 
 selves to supply everything. The citizens themselves 
 turned labourers, and drapers and bankers were seen at 
 the port, loading barges with stone. Two or three excel- 
 lent guns were mounted ; great timbers were hewn, 
 floated to the foot of Drewry's Bluff, and built into a row 
 of cribs, which, when ballasted with stone and bricks, 
 promised to resist the momentum of the heaviest ships. 
 By the 15th of May, when the advance of the Federal 
 fleet appeared, after their cautious dallying, these begin- 
 nings of defences were made ; and the three guns, manned 
 by Confederate marines, gloriously beat off the gunboats 
 " Monitor" and " Galena," with no little damage of their 
 boasted invulnerability. 
 
 The benefit wrought by these events upon the temper of 
 the people, which before was tending fast to abject dis- 
 couragement, cannot be described by words. The Con- 
 
84 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 federate authorities had doubtless decided with perfect 
 correctuess, accordiag to the technical maxims of war, that 
 Eichmond was untenable ; but fortunately the great heart 
 of the " Unterrified Commonwealth" was wiser than the 
 intellect of the Government. Her glorious example sent 
 a quickening pulsation of generous shame, of hope, and of 
 courage through the veins of the army and of all the 
 States. Throughout the Confederacy, her high determi- 
 nation was re-echoed ; the people everywhere resolved 
 rather to sacrifice their homes to the magnanimous work of 
 defence, than to yield them a coveted prey to the enemy ; 
 the Government and Generals began, in good earnest, to 
 prepare for holding the Capital against every assault. 
 
 This was, properly, the main object of the campaign, 
 and all other movements were auxiliary to it. General 
 •Jackson's command was expected to concur in securing 
 the Capital, by so dealing with that of General Banks, as 
 to neutralize his co-operation in movements against Pdch- 
 mond, whatever might be the form they assumed. General 
 Lee, reasoning from the strategic principles which he 
 thought should have governed M'Clellan and Banks, and 
 from news of partial movements of the forces of the latter 
 towards Eastern Virginia, anticipated the sudden with- 
 drawal of his whole army from the Valley, to Fredericks- 
 burg, for a combined movement with M'Dowell against 
 Richmond ; or even to the peninsula. General Jackson 
 was steadfast in the opinion, that Banks's objective point 
 was still Staunton, and the command of the Central EaU- 
 road ; and he therefore confidently expected to fight him 
 in the Valley. General Joseph E. Johnston, who, as com- 
 
MlIN OBJECT OF THE CAMPAIGN. 85 
 
 maader of the Department of North Virginia, was still 
 General Jackson's immediate superior, constantly in- 
 stracted him and General Ewell, in his despatches to 
 them, to observe these two injunctions : If General Banks 
 moved his army to j\I'Dowell at Fredericksburg, to march 
 immediately by way of Gordons ville, and join General 
 Anderson at some point ia front of the former to^vn ; or 
 if he remained in the Valley, to fight him there immedi- 
 ately, only avoiding the effusion of blood in assaults of a 
 fortified position. But he left it to them to decide which 
 of these alternatives was about to become necessary. In 
 the case that they were compelled to foUow Banks to 
 Fredericksburg, General Edward Johnson was to be left 
 with his six regiments, to hold the Valley against Fremont, 
 as he best might. Two more fine brigades were sent from 
 Pdchmond to Gordonsville, to assist General Jackson ia 
 his movement agaiast Banks ; but before a junction was 
 effected with him, they were suddenly ordered back to the 
 neighbourhood of Eichmond, to defend the approaches on 
 the side of Fredericksburg ; where they soon after suf- 
 fered a disastrous defeat from M'Clellan's advance, at 
 Hanover Court House. Jackson was also very nearly 
 deprived of the assistance of General Ewell, by the same 
 uneasiaess concerning an attack from the side of Frede- 
 ricksburg. After a series of despatches, varying with 
 the appearances of danger, the latter General was finally 
 instructed by the Commander-in-Chief, that it would be 
 necessary for him to move at once from Swift Piun Gap 
 towards Gordonsville. But he had just been informed by 
 General Jackson, that he was hastening back, to effect a 
 
86 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 junction with him near Harrisonburg, and to assail Banks. 
 Mounting his horse without escort, General EweU rode 
 express, night and day, and met Jackson on the Sabbath, 
 May 1 8th, at Mossy Creek, to inform him of this necessity 
 for inflicting so cruel a disappointment on him. The 
 latter nttered no complaint, and made no comment ; al- 
 though the sleepless energy with which he had been press- 
 ing forward, told how dear the project was to his wishes. 
 He meekly replied : " Then Providence denies me the 
 privilege of striking a decisive blow for my country ; and 
 I must be satisfied with the humble task of hiding my 
 little army about these mountains, to watch a superior 
 force." The warm and generous heart of EweU was 
 touched with such an exhibition of unselfish devotion, and 
 was unwilling to desert him. He therefore proposed that 
 if Jackson, under whose immediate orders he was, as 
 ranking IMajor-General, would assume the responsibility 
 of detaining him until a remonstrance could be uttered 
 against his removal, he would remain. The contingency 
 under which General Johnston had authorized him to 
 leave the Valley had not yet occurred ; and the discretion 
 which their general instructions conceded to General 
 Jackson, for regulating his movements according to cir- 
 cumstances, authorized such an exercise of power. It was 
 therefore concluded between them, that the junction 
 should be completed at New Market, a day's march below 
 Harrisonburg. The unwearied Ewell, after resting his 
 limbs during public worship, again mounted his horse and 
 returned to hurry on his division. 
 
 It is now time to pause, and explain the proceedings of 
 
MAIN OBJECT OF THE CAMPAIGN. 87 
 
 General Banks. His precipitate withdrawal from Harri- 
 sonburg, upon the movement of Generals Jackson and 
 Ewell, has been described. He retired first to ISTew 
 Market, and then, leavmg a heavy rear-guard in that 
 region, to Strasbourg, twenty miles above Winchester ; 
 where he began fortifying himself in a strong position, 
 commanding at once the Great Valley turnpike leading to 
 Winchester, and the Manassa's Eaihoad leading towards 
 Alexandria. The cavalry of Ashby, following close upon 
 his rear, watched all the roads of the main Valley ; 
 TS'hile that of General Ewell guarded the communications 
 between the Masaniittin Mountain and the Blue Eidge. 
 A system of strategy was now begun by the Federalists, 
 dictated by the senseless fears of the Executive at Wash- 
 ington, and by the judicial blindness dispensed to them 
 from a Divine Providence merciful to the Confederates, in 
 which every movement was a blunder. The aggressive 
 attempt upon Staunton was postponed, at the precise 
 juncture when it should have been pressed with aU their 
 forces combined ; and to General Banks was consigned 
 the defence of Strasbourg. Whereas, if Staunton was not 
 won at once, then his whole force should have been trans- 
 ferred without delay to aid an aggressive movement from 
 Fredericksburg, as General Lee anticipated. Milroy hav- 
 ing been caught, beaten, and chased like a hunted beast, 
 through the mountains, Blenker's division was now hurried 
 to the support of him and General Fremont. It arrived 
 just when Jackson had left them alone, and it left General 
 Banks just when he was about to be assailed by him. 
 Worse than all : as though an army of nearly forty thou- 
 
88 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 sand men, under Generals M'Dowell and Augur, were not 
 enough to protect the road from Predericks'burg to Wash- 
 ington against the embarrassed Confederates, Banks de- 
 tached the best brigades he had, — those of Shields and 
 Kimball, containing seven thousand men, — and sent them 
 on the lith of May, by way of Luray and Front Eoyal, to 
 support the forces on the Eappahannock. It was this 
 movement, so unaccountable in its folly, which, being ob- 
 served by General Ewell, led him to believe, for a moment, 
 that Banks's whole force had gone to assail Eichmond from 
 that quarter. This unlucky General thus reduced himself 
 to about eighteen thousand men, at the critical moment 
 when the storm was about to burst upon him. And he 
 completed the chapter of errors in this, that by sending 
 away General SMelds he evacuated the ISTew Market Gap, 
 and gave to General Jackson the fatal option to assail him 
 either in front or in flank. The latter watched all his 
 mistakes with a silent intelligence ; and while nothing 
 escaped his eagle eye, it never betrayed his purposes by 
 even a sparkle of elation. 
 
 That the measures now taken by General Jackson may 
 be comprehended, the reader must recall the outline al- 
 ready given of the topography of the Valley of Virginia. 
 From the neighbourhood of Elk Eun, General Ewell's recent 
 position, to that of Strasbourg — a distance of fifty miles 
 — the Valley is divided by the Masanuttin, a high and 
 precipitous mountain, parallel to the Blue Eidge, which, at 
 both its ends, terminates suddenly in lofty promontories 
 dominating the plains. The valley between it and the 
 Blue Eidge is more narrow and rugged than that west of 
 
TOrOGEAPHY OF THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA. 89 
 
 it ; but it is watered throughout its whole length by the 
 South Shenandoah, and gives space enough for the fertile 
 and populous county of Page, with its seat of justice at the 
 village of Luray. One good road only connects this sub- 
 ordinate valley literally with the main Valley — the turn- 
 pike across ISTew Market Gap. But, longitudinally, the 
 county of Page is traversed by several excellent highways, 
 parallel to the general course of its river and mountain 
 barriers. Just west of the base of the ISTew ilarket Gap 
 is seated the village of that name, upon the Great Valley 
 turnpike, and in the midst of a smiling champaign. The 
 force which occupied this Gap, and commanded this vil- 
 lage, was, in a sense, master of both valleys. This was 
 the position which Banks deserted without cause, when 
 he detached General Shields to Eastern Virginia. As the 
 traveller proceeds north-east down the county of Page, he 
 enters the county of Warren, lying just where the lesser 
 vaUey merges itself again in the greater. The north fork 
 of the Shenandoah Eiver, which coasts the western base 
 of the ilasanuttin Mountain, turns eastward around its 
 northefn end from the neighbourhood of Strasbourg, and 
 meets the south fork emerging from the other vaUey, near 
 Front Eoyal, the seat of justice of AVarren county. The 
 excellent paved road from this village to Winchester leads 
 by a course of eighteen miles, across both branches of the 
 river, just above their union, and through a country of 
 gentle hUls, farms, and woodlands, converging towards the 
 Great Valley turnpike as it approaches the town. 
 
 When Shields evacuated New Market, Colonel Ashby 
 advanced his quarters to it, and extended his pickets to 
 
90 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSOy. 
 
 tlie iieiglibourhood of Strasbourg, where he closed the 
 whole breadth of the Ci-reat Valley, there much contracted, 
 by a cordon of sentries. Every movement above was thus 
 screened effectually from the observation of General Banks. 
 General Jackson, leaving Mossy Creek, Monday, the 19th 
 of May, proceeded by two marches to the neighbourhood 
 of New Market. He there met the fine brigade of General 
 Eichard Taylor, which had marched from Elk Eun Valley 
 by the western side of the Masanuttin Mountain. On 
 Wednesday, the 21st, he crossed the ISTew Market Gap, and 
 in the neighbourhood of Luray completed his union with 
 the remainder of General Ewell's forces. His army now 
 contained about sixteen thousand effective men, with forty 
 field guns. It was composed of his own division, embrac- 
 ing the lirigades of Winder, Campbell, and Taliaferro, of 
 General Ewell's division, which included the brigades of 
 Taylor, Trimble, Elzey, and Stewart, and the cavalry regi- 
 ments of Ashby, ]\Iunford, and Flournoy, with eight bat- 
 teries of artillery. At Mossy Creek, he had been met by 
 Brigadier-General George H. Stewart, a native of ilary- 
 land, whom the Confederate Government had just commis- 
 sioned, and charged with the task of assembling all the 
 soldiers from that State into one corps, to be called the 
 ilarjdand Line. To begin this work. General Jackson at 
 once assigned to his command the First Maryland Eegiment 
 of Colonel Bradley T. Johnson, and the Brockenborough 
 Battery, which was manned chiefly by citizens of Balti- 
 more, as the nucleus of a brigade. 
 
 He had determined to march by Luray and Front Eoyal, 
 in order to avoid the necessity of attacking Banks in his 
 
THE FEDERALISTS SUKPEISED. 91 
 
 strong fortifications. This route offered other advantages : 
 it placed him between his enemy and Eastern Virginia, 
 whither General Lee feared he was moving: it enabled 
 him to conceal his march from Banks more effectually, 
 until he was fairly upon his flank: and it insm-ed the 
 issuing of that General from his entrenched position in 
 order to save his communications. Leaving the picket 
 line of Ashby in Banks's front, he marched with aU his 
 other forces to^vards Front Eoyal: where, he was aware, 
 a Federal detachment of unkno-svn force was stationed. 
 The advance of the army, consisting of the First Maryland 
 Eegiment and the battalion of ilajor Wheat from Taylor's 
 brigade, under the command of General Stewart, reached 
 the village about two o'clock p.m., on Friday, May 23d. 
 They had been ordered to diverge from the main road 
 which enters the village from the south, into a rugged 
 pathway across the hills, which led them into another 
 road descending into the village from the mountains on 
 the east. The surprise of the Federalists was complete, 
 and it was e^-ident that the first news they received of the 
 presence of a hostile army, was the volley fired by Stewart 
 into their picket, a mile from the village. Yet they 
 showed themselves prepared to make a spirited resistance. 
 Their advance was speedily driven through the town, with 
 the loss of some prisoners, when their main force took up 
 a position irpon a commanding height on the side next 
 Winchester, overlooking the village, and the approach of 
 the Confederates from the opposite side. From this hill 
 they cannonaded the troops as they approached, but with- 
 out effect. The commands of Colonel Johnson and Major 
 
92 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Wheat, deployed as skirmishers, with a company of cavahy 
 accompanying them, dashed through the streets, and across 
 the fields in front, with impetuosity ; while General Jack- 
 son ordered Taylor's Louisiana brigade to support them 
 by a movement on the left flank, through a wood which 
 lay on that side of the village. Before this effort could be 
 completed, however, the gallant skirmishers had dislodged 
 the enemy, and the General galloped forward to the 
 height they had just occupied. On the nearer side of the 
 South Shenandoah, which flowed just beyond this hill, was 
 the enemy's camp, pitched in a charming meadow along 
 tlie water-side, but now wrapped in flames, and sending 
 up volumes of smoke to the skies, Avhile, under its cover, 
 their whole infantry was marching, in excellent order, up 
 the road which obliquely ascended from the other bank, 
 every rank distinctly displayed to view. Their guns were 
 again posted on the rival height to that on which Jackson 
 stood, far above the infantry, prepared to protect its retreat. 
 As the General beheld this picture, he was seized with 
 uncontrollable eagerness and impatience, and exclaimed : 
 " Oh, what an opportunity for artillery 1 Oh that my guns 
 were here !" Then turning almost fiercely to the only aide 
 who accompanied him, he commanded him to hasten to 
 the rear, and " order up every rifled gun, and every brigade 
 in the army." Some guns were, after a little, brought up; 
 but the enemy had meantime passed the crest of the ridge, 
 and the pursuit was resumed; the General riding among 
 tlie skirmishers and urging them on. 
 
 Here occurred a striking effect of a vicious usage, which 
 it was the honour of General Lee to banish from the armies 
 
THE FEDEEALS PURSUED. 93 
 
 in Virginia. This was the custom of temporarily attacliing 
 to the staff of a General commanding a division or an 
 army, a company of cavalry to do the work of orderlies 
 and couriers. By this clumsy contrivance, the organiza- 
 tion of the cavalry regiments was marred, the men de- 
 tached were deprived of aU opportunity for drill, and the 
 General had no evidence ^ihatever of their special fitness 
 for the responsible ser^dce assigned them. Nay, the 
 colonel of cavalry required to furiush them, was most 
 Kkely to select the company least serviceable to him by 
 reason of deficient equipments, or inexperience. At the 
 time of the combat of Front Eoyal, the duty of couriers 
 ■was performed for General Jackson by a detachment from 
 one of Colonel Ashby's undisciplined, companies, of whom 
 many were raw youths just recruited, and never under 
 fire. As soon as the first Federal picket was driven in, 
 and free access to the village won, orders were despatched 
 to the rear brigades to avoid the laborious and circuitous 
 route taken by the advance, and to pursue the direct high- 
 way to the town, a level tract of three miles, in place of a 
 precipitous one of seven or eight. The panic-struck boy, 
 by whom the orders were sent, thought of nothing but to 
 hide himself from the dreadful sound of the cannon, and 
 was seen no more. When General Jackson sent orders to 
 the artUlery and rear brigades to hurry to the pursuit, 
 instead of being found near at hand, upon the direct road, 
 they were at length overtaken, toiling over the hiUs of the 
 useless circuit, spent with the protracted marcli ; for they 
 had received no instructions, and had no other guide than 
 the footprints of those who preceded them. Thus night 
 
94 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 overtook them by the time they reached the village ; and 
 they lay down to rest, instead of pursuing the enemy. 
 This unfortunate incident taught the necessity of a picked 
 company of orderlies, selected for their intelligence and 
 courage, permanently attached to head-quarters, and own- 
 ing no subordination to any other than the General and 
 his staff. Such is the usage now prevalent in the Con- 
 federate armies. 
 
 But on this occasion the enemy did not escape through 
 this accident. lu the forenoon. Colonel Ashby and Colonel 
 Flournoy had been detached with all the cavalry except a 
 company or two, to cross the south fork of the Shenandoah 
 at M'Coy's Ford, above the position of the Federalists, for 
 the purpose of destroying the telegraphic and railroad 
 commrmications between Front Eoyal and Strasbom'g, and 
 of preventing the passage of reinforcements or fugitives 
 between the two posts. Colonel Flournoy, vdth his own 
 and Colonel Munford's regiments, kept a short distance 
 west of the river, and having executed his orders, now 
 appeared upon the Winchester road, in the most timely 
 manner, to join in the pursuit. At the north fork of the 
 Shenandoah, the retreating Federalists made an abortive 
 attempt to burn the bridge. Before they could fully 
 accomplish this purpose the Confederates were upon them 
 and extinguished the flames, but not until they had made 
 one span of the bridge impassable for horsemen. Colonel 
 Flournoy, however, accompanied by the General, with 
 difficulty passed four companies of his own regiment across 
 the river, and ordering the remainder to follow, hurried in 
 pursuit. The Federals were overtaken near a little hamlet 
 
THE FEDEEALS OVEETAKEN. 95 
 
 named Cedarville, five miles from Front Eoyal, \\'liere tlieir 
 wliole force, consisting of a section of artillery, two com- 
 panies of cavalry, two companies of Pennsylvania infantry, 
 and the 1st Maryland regiment of Federal infantry, now 
 placed themselves in order of battle to stand at l)ay. 
 General Jackson no sooner saw them than he gave the 
 order to charge with a voice and air whose peremptory 
 determination was communicated to the whole party. 
 Colonel Flournoy instantly hurled his forces in colmnn 
 against the enemy, and broke their centre. They, how- 
 ever, speedily re-formed in an orchard on the right of the 
 turnpike, when a second gallant and decisive charge being 
 made against them, their cavalry broke and fled, the can- 
 noneers abandoned their guns, and the infantry threw 
 down their arms, and scattered in utter rout. Other 
 Confederate troops speedily arriving, the fields and woods 
 were gleaned, and nearly the whole opposing force was 
 killed or captured. The result was, the possession of 
 about seven hundred prisoners, immense stores, and two 
 fuie ten-pounder rifled guns. The loss of the patriots, 
 in the combat and pursuit, was twenty-six kUled and 
 wounded. 
 
 Thus, two hundred and fifty men were taught by the 
 dash and genius of Jackson, to destroy a force of four 
 times their number. His quick eye estimated aright the 
 discouragement of the enemy, and their wavering temper. 
 Infusing his own spirit into the men, he struck the hesi- 
 tating foe at the decisive moment, and shattered them. 
 A glorious share of the credit is also due to the officers 
 and men of the detachment. General Jackson declared 
 
96 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 with emphasis to his staff, that he had never, in all his 
 experience of warfare, seen a cavalry charge executed with 
 such efficiency and gallantry; commendation which, com- 
 ing from his guarded and sober lips, was decided enough 
 to satisfy every heart. 
 
 While these occurrences were in progress, Colonel Ashby, 
 after crossing at M'Coy's Ford, inclined still further to the 
 west, so as to skirt the northern base of the IMasanuttin 
 Mountain. His route led him to Buckton, the inter- 
 mediate station of the railroad, between Front Eoyal and 
 Strasbourg, where he found a body of the enemy posted as 
 a guard, behind the railroad embankment, and in a store- 
 house or barn of logs, which afforded them secure protec- 
 tion from his fire. Dismounting his men, he led them in 
 person against the Federals, and speedily dispersed them. 
 The track of the road was then effectually destroyed, so as 
 to prevent the passage of trains. But in this hazardous 
 onset several of his soldiers were lost, and among them 
 liis two best captains, Fletcher and Sheetz. The latter 
 especially, although the year before but a comely youth 
 taken from the farm of his father, had already shown 
 himself a man of no common mark. Collecting a company 
 of youths like himself in the valleys of Hampshire, he had 
 armed them wholly from the spoils of the enemy, and 
 without any other military knowledge than the intuitions 
 of his own good sense, had drilled and organized them 
 into an efficient body. He speedily became a famous 
 partisan and scout, the terror of the invaders, and the 
 right hand of his Colonel. Sheetz was ever next the 
 enemy ; if pursuing, in command of the advanced guard ; 
 
BANKS S COMMUNICATIONS COMMANDED. 97 
 
 or if retreating, closing the rear; and Jackson had learned 
 to rely implicitly upon his intelligence ; for his courage, 
 enterprise, sobriety of mind, and honesty, assured the 
 authenticity of all his reports. 
 
 The skirmishers of General Ewell had now penetrated 
 within four miles of Winchester, and the whole Confeder- 
 ate army, collected along the turnpike leading from Front 
 Eoyal to that place, commanded Banks's communications, 
 by numerous easy approaches. On the morning of Satur- 
 day, j\Iay 24th, that ill-starred General, who ^^■a,a beaten 
 before he fought, had only three practicable expedients. 
 One was to retreat to the Potomac by the Winchester 
 road; another to defend himself at Strasbourg; the 
 other, to avail himself of the Confederate advance on the 
 former town to pass their rear at Pront Eoyal, and so seek 
 a refuge towards Manassa's Junction and Alexandria. But 
 he was now in the clutches of a master who had his wary 
 eye upon every contingency. Jackson determined to move 
 the body of his army neither to Strasbourg nor to Win- 
 chester, but to ]\Iiddletown, a village upon the great Win- 
 chester road, some five or six miles from Strasbourg, 
 and thirteen from the latter place. General Ewell, with 
 Trimble's brigade, the 1st Maryland regiment, and the 
 batteries of Brockenborough and Courtney, was directed 
 to pursue his movement upon Winchester by the Pront 
 Eoyal road, observing appearances of the enemy's retreat, 
 and prepared to strike him in ilank. Brigadier-General 
 Stewart, in temporary command of the cavalry regiments 
 of Munford and Plournoy, was directed to strike the 
 Winchester road at the village of ISTewtown, nine miles 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
98 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 from that town, with directions to observe the movements 
 of the enemy at that point. General Jackson himself, 
 with all the remainder of the army, marched by a cross 
 road from CedarviUe towards Middletown. Colonel Ashby's 
 cavalry was in front, supported by Chew's battery, and 
 two rifled guns from the famous battery of Pendleton, now 
 commanded by Captaui Poague. Next followed the brigade 
 of Taylor, and the remainder of the infantry. Colonel 
 Ashby kept his scouts on his deft extended to the railroad, 
 so as to note any signs of a movement towards Front 
 EoyaL All the detachments of the army were in easy 
 communication ; and whether the enemy attempted to 
 make a stand at Strasbourg, at "Winchester, or at any 
 intermediate point, the whole force could be rapidly con- 
 centrated against him. Before the main body was fairly 
 in motion, Brigadier-General Stewart had already sent 
 news of his arrival at Newtown, where he captured a 
 number of ambulances, with prisoners and medical 
 stores, and found evident signs of a general retreat upon 
 Winchester. 
 
 General Jackson now advanced upon Middletown, con- 
 fident that his first surmise would be confirmed, and that 
 he shoidd strike the retreating army upon the march. 
 Half-way between that place and Middletown, his advance 
 was confronted by a body of Federal cavalry, evidently 
 sent to observe him. Captain Poague's section of artillery 
 being then in front, the General ordered him instantly to 
 gallop forward, take a position at short range, and fire into 
 them. This was done with perfect success, and the de- 
 tachment scattered; which was a novel instance of a 
 
STRIKES THE KETREATING ARMY. 99 
 
 charge effected by field artillery. When the little village 
 of Middletown came in view, across the broad and level 
 fields, the highway passing through it, at right angles 
 to the direction of General Jackson's approach, was seen 
 canopied with a vast cloud of grey dust, and crowded 
 beneath, as far as the eye could reach, with a column of 
 troops. At the sight, the artillery dashed forward in a 
 gallop for a rising ground, whence to tear their ranks with 
 shell. Ashby swooped down upon the right like an eagle ; 
 cut through their path, and arrested their escape on that 
 side ; while General Taylor throwing his front regiment 
 into line, advanced at a double quick to the centre of the 
 village, his men cheering, and pouring a terrific volley 
 into the confused mass which filled the street. Never did 
 a host receive a more mortal thrust. In one moment, the 
 way was encumbered with dying horses and men ; and at 
 every fierce volley, the troopers seemed to melt by scores 
 from their saddles ; while the frantic, riderless horses, 
 rushed up and down, trampling the wounded wretches into 
 the dust. But the astute cowardice of the Federals made 
 the real carnage far less than the apparent ; they fell from 
 their horses before they were struck, and were found, when 
 the victors leaped into the road, squat behind the stone 
 fences which bordered it, in long and crowded lines, where 
 they all surrendered at the first challenge. Among the 
 remainder of the Federal cavalry, the wildest confusion 
 ensued, and they scattered in various directions. Two 
 hundred prisoners and horses with their equipments, re- 
 mained in the hands of the Confederates at this spot. But 
 it did not yet appear what part of the retreating army was 
 
100 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 above, and what below the point of assault. As soon as 
 the bullets ceased to fly, the astonished citizens gathered 
 around ; and when they saw the miserable, begrimed, and 
 bloody wreck of what had just been a proud regiment of 
 Vermont cavalry, they exclaimed with uplifted hands : 
 " Behold the righteous judgment of God ; for these are the 
 miscreants who have been most forward to plunder, insult, 
 and oppress us !" By some of them, General Jackson was 
 informed, that dense columns of infantry, trains of artillery, 
 and long lines of baggage-waggons, had been passing from 
 Strasbourg since early morning. 
 
 Many waggons were seen disappearing in the distance 
 towards Winchester, and Colonel Ashby, with his cavalry, 
 some artillery, and a supporting infantry force from Taylor's 
 brigade, was sent in pursuit. But a few moments elapsed 
 before the Federal artillery, which had been cut off with 
 the rear of their army, began to shell the village from the 
 direction of Strasbourg. General Jackson, regarding this 
 as an indication of a purpose to cut a way for retreat 
 through his forces, immediately formed Taylor's brigade 
 south of the village, and advanced it with a few guns to 
 meet tlieir attempt. The brigade of Colonel Campbell 
 soon after arriving, was brought iip to support it. But 
 the enemy's courage was not adequate to so bold an ex- 
 ploit ; the cannonade was only tentative ; and, after a short 
 skirmish, a column of flame and smoke arising from the 
 valley of Cedar Creek, told that they had flred the bridge 
 over that stream, in order to protect themselves from 
 attack. This fragment of the broken army, which was 
 probably small in numbers, finally fled westward ; and 
 
PURSUIT TO WIXCHESTEE. 101 
 
 either took refuge witli General Fremont in the valley of 
 the South Branch, or made its way piecemeal to the 
 Potomac, along the base of the Great North Mountain. A 
 large amount of baggage fell into the hands of the victors 
 at the scene of this combat ; entire regiments apparently 
 in line of battle, having laid dovra. their knapsacks and 
 abandoned them. 
 
 General Jackson was now convinced that the larger 
 game was in the direction of ^Yinchester, and returned 
 with his whole force to pursue it. The Stonewall Brigade, 
 which had now come up, took the front, and the whole 
 army advanced towards Newtown. The deserted waggon- 
 train of the enemy was found standing, in many cases with 
 the horses attached, and occupied the road for a mile. 
 Upon approaching Newtown, the General was disap- 
 pointed to find his artillery arrested, and wholly unsup- 
 ported by the cavalry ; while the enemy, taking heart 
 from the respite, had placed two batteries in position on 
 the left and right of this village, and again showed a 
 determined front. Nearly the whole of Colonel Ashby's 
 cavalry present with him, with a part of the infantry 
 under his command, had disgracefully turned aside to 
 pillage ; so that their gallant commander was compelled 
 to arrest the pursuit. Indeed, the firing had not ceased, 
 in the first onset upon the Federal cavalry at Middletown, 
 before some of Ashby's men might have been seen, with a 
 quickness more suitable to horse- thieves than to soldiers, 
 breaking from their ranks, seizing each two or three of the 
 captured horses, and making off across the fields. Nor did 
 these men pause until they had carried their illegal booty 
 
102 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 to their homes, which were, in some instances, at the dis- 
 tance of one or two clays' journey. That such extreme 
 disorders could occur, and that they could be passed over 
 without a bloody punishment, reveals the curious ineffi- 
 ciency of officers in the volunteer Confederate army. 
 
 The rifled guns of Captain Poague were immediately 
 placed in position upon arriving near Ne"\vtown, on an 
 opposing eminence, and replied to the Federal battery 
 upon the right of the vUlage with effect ; but it was sun- 
 set before they were dislodged, and the pursuit resumed. 
 The enemy had improved this pause to set fire to a large 
 part of their train containing valuable stores ; and, as the 
 army advanced, the gathering darkness was illuminated 
 for a mile by blazing waggons and pontoon boats ; while 
 blackened heaps of rice, beef, and bread, intermingled with 
 the bands and bars of glowing iron, showed where car- 
 riages laden with these stores had been consumed. 
 
 General Jackson's perfect knowledge of the ground sur- 
 rounding Winchester, suggested to him the fear that the 
 Federalists would occupy the range of hills to the left of 
 the turnpike and south-west of the town, so as to com- 
 mand his approaches. He therefore determined to press 
 them all night, in the hope of seizing the contested heights 
 during the darkness. Withoiit a moment's pause for food 
 or sleep, the army marched forward in perfect order, some 
 of the brigades enlivening their fatigues from time to time 
 with martial music, whUe ringing cheers passed, like a 
 wave, down the column for four miles, until their sound 
 was lost in the distance. The last time Jackson's division 
 had passed over this road, they were making their slow 
 
A NIGHT COMBAT. 103 
 
 and stubborn retreat from the bloody field of Kernstown ; 
 and they were now eager to wipe out the disgrace of that 
 check The night was calm, but dark. All night long, 
 the General rode at the front, amidst a little advanced 
 guard of cavalry, seeking the enemy's bleeding haunches 
 with the pertinacity of a blood-hound. Again and again 
 he fell, with his escort, into ambuscades of their riflemen, 
 posted behind the stone fences, which here line the road 
 almost continuously. Suddenly the fire appeared, dancing 
 along the top of the wall, accompanied by the sharp ex- 
 plosion of the rifles, and the bullets came hissing np the 
 road. The first of these surprises occurred soon after the 
 burning waggons were passed. ISTo sooner had the fire 
 begun than the General, seeing his escort draw rein and 
 waver, cried in a commanding tone, " Charge them ! charge 
 them !" Tliey advanced unsteadily a little space, and 
 then, at a second volley, turned and fled past him, leaving 
 him in the road with his staff alone. But the enemy, 
 equally timid, also retired, seemingly satisfied with their 
 efi'ort. The conduct of these troopers filled Jackson with 
 towering indignation ; and turning to the ofiicer next him, 
 he exclaimed : " Shameful ! Did you see anybody struck, 
 sir ? Did you see anybody struck ? Surely they need 
 not have run, at least until they were hurt !" Skirmishers 
 from the 33d Virginia Infantry of Colonel Xeff, were now 
 thrown into the fields right and left of the turnpike, and 
 advancing abreast with the head of the column, protected 
 it for a time from similar insults. But as it approached 
 Barton's iliUs, five miles from Winchester, the enemy, 
 posted on both sides of the road, again received it with so 
 
106 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 to the battories, a fierce cannonade, intermingled witla a 
 sliarp, rattling fire of riflemen, greeted tlie rising sun. Tire 
 May dews, exhaled by his beams, ^\Tapped a part of the 
 landscape in a silvery veil, into which the smoke of the 
 artUlery melted away. Just at this moment, General 
 Jackson rode forward, followed by two field officers. Colonel 
 Campbell and another, to the very crest of the hill, and 
 amidst a perfect shower of balls, reconnoitred the whole 
 position. Both the officers beside him were speedily 
 wounded, but he sat calmly upon his horse, until he had 
 satisfied himself concerning the enemy's dispositions. He 
 saw them posting another battery upon an eminence far to 
 his left, whence they hoped to enfilade the ground occu- 
 pied by the guns of Poague ; and, nearer to his left front, a 
 body of riflemen were just seizing a position behind an 
 oblique stone fence, whence they poured a galling fire upon 
 the gunners, and struck down many men and horses. 
 Here this gallant battery stood its ground, sometimes al - 
 most silenced, yet never yielding an inch. After a time, 
 by direction of General Winder, they changed their front 
 to the left, so as to present a more successful face to their 
 adversaries ; and while a part of their guns replied to the 
 opposing battery, the remainder shattered the stone fence 
 which sheltered the Federal infantry, with solid shot, and 
 raked it witli canister. Carpenter and Cutshaw also kept 
 up so spirited a contest with the batteries in the dhection 
 of the town, as to silence their fire. General Jackson was 
 hard to be convinced that the enemy would be so foolish 
 as to yield the contest, without an attempt to drive his 
 artillery from this vital position, and to occupy it with 
 
EECONNOITEES THE ENEMY'S POSITION. 107 
 
 their own. At this stage of the battle, he rode up to 
 Colonel Naff, of the 33cl Virginia, supporting the battery 
 of Carpenter, and after ordering the latter not to slacken 
 his fire, said to the former ; " Colonel, where is your regi- 
 ment posted ?" " Here," he replied ; "the right masked 
 in this depression of gTOund, and the left behind that fence.'' 
 Said the General, " I expect the enemy to bring artillery to 
 this hill ; and they must not do it ; do you understand me, 
 sir ! They must not do it ! Keep a good look-out, and your 
 men well in hand ; and if they attempt to come, charge 
 them with the bayonet ; and seize their gims : Clamp 
 ihem, sir, on the spot." As he gave this order, his clenched 
 hand and strident voice declared the energy of his fiery 
 will, in such sort as to make the blood of every beholder 
 tingle. 
 
 But the narrative must pause here, to return to the 
 movements of General Ewell. During the previous even- 
 ing, he had pressed tlie enemy back from the direction of 
 Front Eoyal, until his advanced regiment, the 21st North 
 CaroUna, Colonel Kiikland, was within two miles of Wia- 
 chester. Here he rested his advance at 10 o'clock p.m., 
 and his command slept upon their arms. At dawn he 
 moved simultaneously with General Jackson, and the first 
 gims of Carpenter were answered from the east, by those 
 of his batteries. He advanced his left. Colonel Kirkland 
 still in front, until he was met by a fire of musketry from 
 the enemy's line, posted behind a stone fence, so destruc- 
 tive that the field officers were all wounded, and the gal- 
 lant regiment compelled to recoil. This check was speedily 
 retrieved by the 21st Georgia regiment, which in turn 
 
108 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 drove the enemy's infantry from their cover. But General 
 Ewell, upon the suggestion of Brigadier- General Trimhle, 
 was convinced that his better policy would be to move by 
 his right. Bringing the remainder of his regiments for- 
 ward, he executed this movement, and the enemy began at 
 once to give way from his front. 
 
 The iDattle had now reached a stage which General 
 Jackson perceived to be critical ; the hour for striking 
 the final blow had arrived. The enemy were evidently 
 mo'.'ing, by a stdl wider circuit, towards the wooded 
 heights which commanded his extreme left. He now sent 
 for the fine Ijrigade of General Taylor, which was at the 
 head of the column of reserve, in the rear of the mill- 
 house. Before the messenger could bring it up, his eager- 
 ness overcame him, and he was seen riding rapidly to meet 
 it. Conducting it by a hollow way around the rear of his 
 centre, he directed its rapid formation in line of battle, with 
 the left regiments thrown forward to the westward of the 
 enemy's position. Under a shower of shells and rifle- 
 balls, this magnificent body of troops wheeled from column 
 into line, with the accuracy and readiness of a parade. As 
 soon as General Jackson saw them in motion in the de- 
 sired direction, he galloped along the rear of his line 
 toward the centre giving the word for a general advance. 
 When he reached the hill occupied by the battery of Car- 
 penter, where he had so exposed himself at the beginning, 
 he mounted it again, witlr an air of eager caution, peering 
 like a deer-stalker over its summit, as soon as his eyes 
 reached its level. His first glance was sufficient ; setting 
 spurs to his horse, he bounded upon the crest, and shouted 
 
CRISIS OF THE BATTLE. 109 
 
 to the officers near him : " Forward, after the enemy ! " No 
 more inspiring sight ever greeted the eyes of a victorious 
 captain. Far to the east, the advancing lines of Ewell 
 rolled forward, concealed in waves of white smoke, from 
 their volleys of musketry, and were rapidly overpassing the 
 suburbs of the town. On the west, the long and glittering 
 hnes of Taylor, after one thundering discharge, were sweep- 
 ing at a bayonet charge up the reverse of the hills, with 
 irresistible momentum. Nearer the General, came the 
 Stonewall Brigade, with the gallant 23d Virginia, who 
 sprung from their lairs, and rushed panting down the hill- 
 sides. Between him and the town the enemy were every- 
 where breaking away from the walls and fences where they 
 had sheltered themselves, at first with some semblance of 
 order, but then dissolving into a vast confusion, in which 
 the infantry, mounted officers, and artillery crowded and 
 surged toward the streets. But they found neither shelter 
 nor respite there ; the eager Confederates were too close 
 upon them to allow time for any arrangements for defence. 
 For a few moments, pursuers and pursued were swallowed 
 from view, and the rout roared through every street, with 
 rattling rifle-shots, and ringing cheers of the victors, until 
 it disgorged itself upon the commons north of the town. 
 The General, with his face inflamed with towering passion 
 and triumph, galloped amidst the foremost pursuers, and 
 urged them upon the enemy. The sidewalks and door- 
 ways were thronged with children, women, and old men, 
 ^vho rushed out, regardless of the balls, to hail the con- 
 querors. Of these, some ran in among the horses, as 
 though to embrace the knees of their deliverers ; many 
 
110 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 were wildly waving their arms or liandkercliiefs, and 
 screaming tlieir welcome in clieers and blessings, while not 
 a few of the more thoughtful were seen, standing upon 
 their doorsteps, with their solemn faces bathed in tears, 
 and spreading forth their hands to heaven, in adoration. 
 To complete the thrilling scene, two great buildings in dif- 
 ferent places, were vomiting volumes of flame and smoke, 
 which threatened to involve all in one common ruin ; for 
 the enemy, in cowardly spite, lighted them, and left them 
 in flames in the midst of the town. But not one of the 
 endangered citizens sought to arrest any pursuing soldier 
 for this ; and after the first frenzy of their joy was passed, 
 the old men and the females set to, and extinguished the 
 fires. Delicate women were seen bringing water, and 
 rushing into the burning building, stored with the ammu- 
 nition of the enemy, to drag out the Federal sick and 
 wounded, who had been left there by their conu'ades, to 
 be overwhelmed in the explosion which they expected to 
 follow. 
 
 "When General Jackson issued into the open ground 
 again at the Martinsburg turnpike, all the fields which the 
 depredations of the enemy had converted into a waste 
 denuded of fences and crops, were dark with a confused 
 multitude of fugitives, utterly without order or thought of 
 resistance. From the head of every street eager columns 
 of Confederates were pouring, and deploying without 
 awaiting the commands of theh officers, into an irregular 
 luie, in order to fire upon the retreating mass. As this 
 surged wilclly away it left scattered over the common its 
 human wrecks, in the shape of dead and dyuig, inter- 
 
ABSENCE OF CAVALRY. 1 1 1 
 
 mingled witli knapsacks, arms, and bundles of stolen goods. 
 Upon glancing around this pictui-e, the General exclaimed : 
 " Never was there such a chance for cavalry ; oh that 
 my cavalry were in place!" When an officer near him 
 remarked that the best substitute for a cavalry pursuit 
 would be the fire of the field artillery, he replied : " Yes ; 
 go back and order up the nearest batteries you find." After 
 despatching this order, he sent another member of his 
 staff, with the characteristic command, "to order every 
 battery and every brigade forward to the Potomac." In 
 his official report he says : " jSTever have I seen an oppor- 
 tunity when it was in the power of the cavalry to reap a 
 richer harvest of the fruits of victory." And again : 
 " There is good reason for lielieving that, had the cavaby 
 played its part in this pursuit as weU as the four com- 
 panies under Colonel Flournoy, two days before, m the 
 pursuit from Front Eoyal, but a small portion of Banks's 
 army would have made its escape to the Potomac." The 
 cause of this untimely absence of the cavalry may be sur- 
 mised by the reader, as to that part under Colonel Ashby. 
 Disorganized by its uiitial success, it was so scattered that 
 its heroic leader could gather but a handful around him 
 on the morninsf of the battle. With these he had under- 
 taken an independent enterprise, to cut off a detachment 
 of Federalists on their left ; and passmg around the scene 
 of action he joined in the pursuit many hours after at 
 Bunker Hill. The 2d and 6th regiments had been placed 
 under the temporary command of Brigadier-General George 
 H. Stewart, of General Ewell's division. As they did not 
 appear after the pursuit had been continued for some time. 
 
112 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 General Jackson sent his Aide, Captain Pendleton, after 
 them. General Stewart replied that he was awaiting the 
 orders of General Ewell, under whose immediate command 
 he was, and could not move without them. While these 
 were obtained, precious time was wasted, and two hours 
 elapsed before the two regiments were upon the traces of 
 the enemy. That a superior officer, addressing his com- 
 mands to persons under the orders of his inferior, shoidd 
 direct them through him, if he is present, is a proper mark 
 of consideration, and a means of regularity in governing. 
 But it is a most effectual way to rob a commanding gene- 
 ral of his command, to assume that he may not claim the 
 services of the subordinate of his own subordinate, in the 
 absence of the latter, when, if he were present, he could 
 legitimately control him and all under him. The utmost 
 which the former could ask, when receiving orders without 
 the intervention of his immediate superior, would be, that 
 his commanding general should remember to explain to 
 that officer the orders thus given in his absence. 
 
 After pursuing for a few miles with infantry and artil- 
 lery. General Jackson perceived that the interval between 
 his men and the enemy was continually widening. The 
 warm mid-day was now approaching, and since the morn- 
 ing of tlie previous day, the troops had been continually 
 marchmg or fighting, without food or rest. Nature could 
 do no more. At every step some wearied man was com- 
 pelled to drop out of the ranks by overpowering fatigue. 
 The General therefore ordered the infantry to cease their 
 pursuit, and return to the pleasant groves of Camp Steven- 
 son, three miles north of Winchester, for rest and rations, 
 
THE AEMT EEPOSES. 1 1 3 
 
 while the cavalry, which had now arrived, assumed the 
 duty of pressing the enemy. This General Stewart per- 
 formed with skill and energy, picking up a number of 
 prisoners, and driving the Federalists through Martinsburg, 
 and across the Potomac at Williamsport. General Banks 
 was one of the first fugitives to appear at Martinsburg, 
 having deserted his army long before the conclusion of 
 the battle. His forces were thus driven without pause, 
 and within the space of thirty-six hours, a distance of 
 sixty miles. At Martinsburg enormous accumulations of 
 army stores again fell into the victors' hands. "VVlien the 
 cavalry drove the last of the fugitives across the Potomac, 
 a multitude of helpless blacks were found cowering upon 
 the southern bank, who had been decoyed from Win- 
 chester and the adjacent country, by the story that Jackson 
 was putting to death all the slaves whom he met, upon the 
 charge of fraternizing with the Yankees. Many of these 
 unhappy victims of fanaticism, deserted in the hour of 
 alarm by their seducers, were cared for, and brought back 
 to their homes by the horsemen. 
 
 The remainder of the day was devoted by the army, as 
 well as then? commander, to repose. The tired men, dis- 
 encumbered of their arms, reclined under the noble groves 
 interspersed among their camp, while the famished horses 
 grazed busily upon the rich sward. The thunder of the 
 battles and the shouting of the captains were soon followed 
 by a Sabbath stillness, amidst which the General slowly 
 rode back to the town. Having procured quarters in the 
 chief hotel, he refused all food, and throwing himself 
 across a bed upon his breast, booted and spurred, was 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
114 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSOX. 
 
 sleeping in a moment, with the healthy quietude of 
 infancy. 
 
 The next day was devoted to a religious rest, in order 
 to pay that honour which General Jackson ever delighted 
 to render to Almighty God, and to repay the troops in 
 some sort for the interruptions of the holy day by battle. 
 This purpose was announced to the troops in the following 
 general order : — 
 
 " Within four weeks this army has made long and rapid 
 marches, fought six combats and two battles, signaUy 
 defeating the enemy in each one, captured several stands 
 of colours and pieces of artillery, with numerous prisoners, 
 and vast medical, ordnance, and army stores ; and finally 
 driven the boastful host which was ravishing our beautiful 
 country into utter rout. The General commanding would 
 warmly express to the ofl&cers and men under his com- 
 mand his joy in their achievements, and his thanks for 
 their brilliant gallantry in action, and their patient obe- 
 dience under the hardships of forced marches, often more 
 painful to the brave soldier than the dangers of battle. 
 The explanation of the severe exertions to wliich the Com- 
 manding General called the army, which were endured by 
 them with such cheerful confidence in him, is now given 
 in the victory of yesterday. He receives this proof of 
 their confidence in the past with pride and gratitude, and 
 asks only a similar confidence in the future. 
 
 " But his chief duty to-day, and that of the army, is to ^ 
 recognise devoutly the hand of a protecting Providence in 
 the brilliant successes of the last three days (which have 
 given us the results of a great victory without great losses); 
 
SEIZUEE OF SUTLEKS' STOEES. 115 
 
 and to make the oblation of our thanks to God for His 
 mercies to us and our countrj', in heartfelt acts of religious 
 worship. For this purpose the troops will remain in 
 camp to-day, suspending as far as practicable all militaiy 
 exercises ; and the chaplains of regiments will hold Divine 
 service in their several charges at 4 o'clock p.:m." 
 
 At the appoiated hour the General attended public 
 worship with the 37tli A'irginia regiment, and presented 
 an edifying example of devotion to the men. 
 
 Winchester had been the great resort of Federal sutlers, 
 who had impudently occupied many of the finest shops 
 upon its streets, and exposed their wares for sale in them. 
 The headlong confusion of Banks's retreat left them neither 
 means nor time to remove their wealth. All was given 
 up to the soldiers, who speedily emptied their shelves. It 
 was a strange sight to see the rough fellows, who the day 
 before had lacked the ration of beef and hard bread, resaling 
 themselves with confectioner)-, sardines, and tropical fruits. 
 Their spoils, howev^er, were about to produce a serious evil. 
 The stores of clothing captured by the men in these shops, 
 and ia the baggage of the fugitives, were so enormous, that 
 in a day the army seemed to be almost metamorphosed. 
 The Confederate grey was rapidly changing into the 
 Yankee blue. Had this license been permitted, the pur- 
 poses of discipline would have been disappointed, and the 
 dangers of battle multiphed. General Jackson speecUly 
 suppressed it bj- this adroit and simple measure. He 
 issued an order that eveiy person in Federal uniform 
 should be arrested, and assumed to be a prisoner of war 
 going at large improperly, until he himself presented 
 
116 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 adequate evidence of the contrary. The men of the Pro- 
 vost-Marshal had not acted npon this order many hours 
 before the army became grey again as rapidly as it had 
 been becoming blue. The men either deposited their gay 
 spoils in the bottom of their knapsacks, or sent them 
 by the baggage-trains which were carrying the captured 
 stores to the rear, and donned their well-worn uniforms 
 again. 
 
 General Jackson was not the man to lose the oppor- 
 tunities gTOwing out of such a victory by inaction. The 
 use to be made of his present successes was dictated by 
 the authorities at Eichmond ; but it is believed their de- 
 signs met the full approbation of his own judgment. 
 Immediately after the battle of "Winchester he had sent 
 a trusty officer to the capital with despatches explaining 
 his views. The decision of the Government was, that he 
 should press the enemy at Harper's Ferry, threaten an 
 invasion of Maryland, and an assault upon the Federal 
 capital, and thus make the most energetic diversion pos- 
 sible to draw a part of the forces of M'Clellan and 
 M'Dowell from Eichmond. After allowing his troops 
 two days of needed rest, the army was moved, ^Yednes- 
 day morning. May 28th, toward Charlestown, by Summit 
 Point, General Winder's brigade again in advance. Charles- 
 town is a handsome village, the seat of justice of Jefferson 
 county, eight miles from Harper's Perry. "When about 
 five miles from the former place, General "U^inder received 
 information that the enemy was in possession of it in 
 heavy force. Upon being advised of this General Jackson 
 ordered General Ewell with reinforcements to his support. 
 
MOVEMENTS AEKESTED. 1 1 7 
 
 But General Winder resolved not to await tliem, and ad- 
 vanced cautioush" toward Charlestown. As he emerged 
 from the wood, less than a mile distant from the to'mi, he 
 discovered the enemy in line of battle about fifteen hun- 
 dred strong, and decided to attack tliem. Upon the 
 appearance of our troops, the enemy opened upon them 
 with, two pieces of artillerv. Carpenter's battery was 
 immediately placed in position, with the 33d Yu-ginia 
 regiment as support; and was so admirably served that in 
 twenty minutes the enemy retired in great disorder, throw- 
 iug away their arms and baggage. The pursuit was con- 
 tinued rapidly with artillery and infantry to Hall-to\vn, a 
 hamlet a couple of miles from the Potomac. A short 
 distance beyond that point, General Winder observing the 
 enemy strongly posted on Bolivar Heights, and in con- 
 siderable force, concluded that prudence required him to 
 await his supports ; and he therefore arrested the pursuit, 
 and returned to the %icinity of Charlestown. 
 
 On the following day, the main body of the army took 
 position near Hall-town, and the 2d regiment, Virginia 
 infantry, was sent t« Loudon Heights, with the hope of 
 beiug able to drive the enemy from Harper's Ferry, across 
 the Potomac. But this movement was no sooner made, 
 than General Jackson received intelligence which imperi- 
 ously required hiTn to arrest it, and provide for his own 
 safet;\'. The Federal Government, awakened by its disas- 
 ters to a portion of sense and activity, gave orders to 
 General Shields to move upon General Jackson's com- 
 munications from the Eappahannock, and General Fremont 
 from the valley of the South Branch. Both these bodies 
 
118 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 ^vere now threatening to close in upon liis rear with a 
 speed wliich left not a moment for delay. At Front Eoyal, 
 the 12 th Georgia regiment, so distinguished for its gal- 
 lantry at jM'Dowell, and previous engagements, had been 
 stationed to watch the approaches of the enemy from 
 the east, and to guard the prisoners and valuable stores 
 captured there the previous week. Through the indis- 
 cretion of its commander, it was driven from the place, 
 with the loss of all the prisoners, and a number of its 
 own members captured; whde the stores were only 
 rescued from falling auain into the hands of the Federal- 
 ists by the energy of a Quarter-master, who fired the 
 warehouses containing them. Thus a loss of three 
 hundred thousand dollars, in provisions and equipments, 
 was incurred at the outset. 
 
 In the afternoon of the 30th, the whole army was in 
 motion, retreating upon Strasbourg, the point at which it 
 was expected Shields and Fremont would attempt their 
 junction. General Winder was ordered to recall the 2d 
 regiment from Loudon Heights, and with the cavalry to 
 protect the rear of the army. On arriving at Winchester, 
 General Jackson learned that the approach of the enemy 
 to Strasljourg was so imminent, that it M-as essential his 
 rear should reach that place by mid- day of the 31st, in 
 order to avoid separation from the main bod)', and capture. 
 He therefore sent back orders to the Stonewall Brigade 
 not to pause in its march on the 30th, until it passed 
 Winchester. It travelled, in fact, from Hall-town to the 
 neighbourhood of Newtown, a distance of thirty-five miles; 
 and the 2d Virginia regiment, which had its steps to re- 
 
CAPTLTiED STORES. 119 
 
 trace from the heights beyond the Shenandoah, accomplished 
 a march of more than forty miles without rations. This 
 astonishing effort ^\'as made also over muddy roads, and 
 amidst continual showers ! The next morning the rear- 
 guard arose from their wet bivouac, stiff and sore of limb, 
 and completed the march to Strasbom-g in the forenoon. 
 When they arrived there, they found the army halted and 
 awaiting them ; while General Ewell, with his division, 
 facing tiiward the west, was sternly confronting Fremont, 
 and offering him gage of battle. The latter had arrived 
 in the neighbourhood of Strasbourg, by way of Wardens- 
 viUe, and issued from the gap of the great north mountain, 
 as though to attack the retreating army. But when it 
 stood thus at bay, he prudently withdrew, after a desul- 
 tory slvirmish, into the gorge from which he had issued. 
 General Jackson now resumed a deliberate retreat, with 
 his rear covered by his cavalry ; seeking some position in 
 the interior, where he could confront his foes without 
 danger to liis flanks. 
 
 During the week which embraced these brilliant events, 
 the Quartermasters' and Ordnance departments of the 
 army were laboriously engaged ia collecting and re- 
 moving the captured stores. The baggage trains of the 
 army, and those captru'ed from the enemy, were laden with 
 the precious spoils and sent towards Staunton. Every 
 carriage which could be hired or impressed from the 
 vicinity of Winchester was also employed ; and yet a vast 
 and unestimated mass, which could not be removed, was 
 consigned to the flames. Only those things which were 
 brought safely away wiU be enumerated. It has been re - 
 
120 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON". 
 
 lated how the soldiers themselves were permitted to dis- 
 pose of the contents of the sutlers' stores. A large part 
 of the army was thus equipped with clothing, boots and 
 shoes, blankets, oil-cloth coverings, and hats. One of the 
 largest storehouses in Winchester was found filled with 
 medicines, surgical instruments, and hospital appliances of 
 the choicest description. Of these a small portion were 
 distributed to the surgeons for the immediate wants of 
 their brave men ; and all the remainder were sent to Eich- 
 mond, where they were found abundant enough to replenish 
 the medical stores of the great army. The mercy of 
 Providence in this supply, was as manifest as His rebuke 
 of the barbarity of the enemy. With an inhumanity un- 
 known in modern history, they had extended the law of 
 blockade to all medicines and hospital stores ; hoping thus 
 not only to make the hurts of every wounded adversary 
 mortal (where brave men would have been eager to 
 minister to a helpless foe), but to deprive suffermg age, 
 womanhood, and infancy of the last succours which the 
 benignity of the universal Father has provided for their 
 pangs. This cold and malignant design was in part dis- 
 appointed by the victory of Jackson. The stores captured 
 at Winchester not only supplied the conquering army, but 
 carried solace and heahng to the sick and wounded 
 throughout the approaching campaign of Pdchmond. In 
 bright contrast with this barbarity of the enemy stands 
 the magnanimity of Jackson. Finding a large and well- 
 provided hospital at Winchester, filled with seven hundred 
 Federal sick and wounded, he ordered that nothing of their 
 stores or medicines should be removed, and having minis- 
 
COMMISSARIAT. 121 
 
 tered to the sufferers Avith generous attention during the 
 week they were in his power, he left everything untouched 
 when Winchester was again evacuated. The seven hun- 
 dred enemies were paroled not to fight again until ex- 
 changed. 
 
 Tlie 31st of May, the 21st Virginia regiment left 
 Winchester in charge of t^^ enty-three hundred prisoners 
 of war. The whole number of the enemy captured was 
 ahout three thousand and fifty. One hundred beeves, 
 thirty- four thousand pounds of bacon, and great masses of 
 flour, biscuit, and groceries, were secured by the Chief 
 Commissary, while the Quartermasters removed stores in 
 their department to the amount of one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand dollars. Two hundred waggons and 
 ambulances, with a number of horses, which would have 
 been very great, but for the rapacity of the Confederate 
 cavalry, were also secured. But the most precious 
 acquisition was the ordnance stores, containing, be- 
 sides ammunition, nine thousand three hundred and 
 fifty small arms, perfectly new, and of the most approved 
 patterns. 
 
 These results of the week's campaign were won with 
 smaU expenditure of blood by the patriot army. In all 
 the engagements, from Front Eoyal to Strasbourg, sixty- 
 eight men were killed, three hundred and twenty-nine 
 were wounded, and three were missing ; making a total 
 loss of four hundred men. The General closed his official 
 narrative with these words : " "WTiilst I have had to speak 
 of some of our troops in disparaging terms, yet it is my 
 gratifying privilege to say of the main body of the army. 
 
122 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON". 
 
 tliat its officers and men acted in a manner worthy of 
 the great cause for which they were contending ; and 
 to add that, so far as my Ivnowledge extends, the 
 battle of Winchester was, on our part, a battle without 
 a straggler." 
 
 It -was while reposing after his victory at Winchester, 
 that lie wrote thus to Mrs. Jackson : — 
 
 " Winchester, Maij 2&th, ] 862. — An ever kind Providence 
 blessed us witli success at Front Eoyal on Friday, between 
 Strasbourg and Winchester on Saturday, and here with a 
 successful engagement yesterday. ... I do not remember 
 having ever seen such rejoicing as was manifested by the 
 people of Winchester, as our army yesterday passed 
 througli the town in pursuit of the enemy. The town was 
 nearly frantic with joy. Our entrance into Winchester 
 was one of the most stirring scenes of my life. Such joy 
 as the inhabitants manifested, cannot easily b.e described. 
 The town is greatly improved in its loyalty." 
 
 A few days after, while threatening Harper's Ferry, 
 he sent messages to the Confederate Government by his 
 zealous supporter and assistant, the Hon. Mr. Boteler of 
 the Congress, begging for an increase of his force. He 
 pointed out again that an assault upon the enemy's 
 territory, indicating danger to their capital, was the most 
 ready and certain method to deliver FLichmond from the 
 approaches of General M'Clellan. " Tell them," he said, 
 " that I have now but fifteen thousand effective men. If 
 the present opening is improved as it shorild be, I must 
 have forty thousand." But the Government was unable to 
 advance these reinforcements, and Divine Providence re- 
 
IXHABITANTS PLUNDEEED BY FEDEKALS. 123 
 
 served to him the glory of assisting in the deliverance of 
 our eapitnl in a more direct manner. 
 
 This chapter will he closed with a reference to a fact 
 which assists in fixing the seal of infamy upon the Federal 
 Government, generals, and armies ; the anthorized rob - 
 beries now begun in the valley of A^irginia. Not only 
 were the inhabitants plundered by the Federal soldiers as 
 they marched through the peaceful country, liut they were 
 systematically robbed of their horses and other live-stock 
 by General Banks, in his march to and from ?Iarrisonburg. 
 This commander officially boasted to his Government, that 
 the results of his conquest had supplied his artillery and 
 trains with enough of excellent horses, besides many other 
 valuable resources. iSTow, none of these were prize of war ; 
 for so accomplished a leader was Jackson, in retreat as 
 well as in triumph, that nothing belonging to his army fell 
 into his enemy's hands. These horses and other animals 
 were simply stolen from the rich and peaceful farmers of 
 Eockiuham and Shenandoah. Here was the besfinnin"- of 
 a system of wholesale robbery, since extended to every 
 part of the Confederate States which the enemy has 
 reached ! But if the reader assigned to General Banks 
 any pre-eminence of crime or infamy, above his nation, he 
 would do him hrjustice. The Federal Congress and Exe- 
 cutive had already, by formal and unblushing legislation, 
 ordained that the war should be a huge piracy, as mon- 
 strous as the rapacity of any of their lieutenants could make 
 it. Under pretexts which could be used by any other 
 nation in any other war with equal plausibility, to steal 
 any species of private property whatever, laws had been 
 
124 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 passed, declaring all tobacco, cotton, and labour of slaves 
 in the Confederate States, or coming thence, to be " contra- 
 band of war," and liable to confiscation. The true intent 
 of this law was to subject these three kinds of property, 
 the most important in our country, to systematic theft ; 
 and this purpose has since been most diligently and con- 
 sistently carried out. 
 
POET REPUBLIC. 125 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 POET EEPUBLIC. 
 
 It has been related how General Jackson assembled his 
 army at Strasbourg before the occupation of that place by 
 Fremont, and thus eluded the combination designed by him 
 and Shields, in his rear. On the evening of June 1st, 
 he resumed his retreat up the Valley. The object immedi- 
 ately demanding his attention was the rescue of his army 
 from its perilous situation. The indirect purpose of the 
 campaign was already accomplished ; his rapid move- 
 ments and stunning blows had neutralized the efforts of 
 General iI'Dowell against Eichmond — Banks was driven 
 from Winchester the 25th of May, and the Federal 
 authorities were panic- struck by the thought of a victo- 
 rious Confederate army, of unknown numbers, breaking 
 into Maryland by Harper's Ferry, and seizing Washington 
 City. Just at this juncture, j\rClellan had pushed his 
 right wing to a point north of Eichmond, at Hanover 
 Court House, and within a single march of M'DoweH's 
 advanced posts. On the 27th of May, the Confederate 
 General Branch was defeated at that place with loss, and 
 the fruit of this success was the occupation of all the 
 roads, and of the bridges across the waters of the Pamun- 
 key, connecting Eichmond with Fredericksburg and 
 
120 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSOX 
 
 Gordonsville, by tlie Federalists. Had the advice of 
 M'Clellau been now followed, the result must have been 
 disastrous to General Lee, and might well have been 
 ruinous. The Federal commander urged his Government 
 to send General j\I'DoweIl, with all the forces near 
 IManassas, under Sigel and Augur, by the route thus 
 opened to them, to effect an immediate junction with bis 
 right wing, to hold permanently these lines of communi- 
 cation between Lee and Jackson, and to complete the in- 
 vestment of Eichmond. These operations, which the 
 Confederates had no means to resist, with the addition of 
 the forty thousand troops which they would have brought 
 to M'Clellan's army, already so superior in numbers, would 
 have greatly endangered Eichmond and its army. But 
 the terror inspired by Jackson caused the President to 
 refuse his consent ; he was unwilling to expose his Capital 
 to a sudden blow from this ubiquitous leader ; and instead 
 of sending General il'Dowell forward, he commanded him to 
 retire nearer to ^Vashington. General M'Clellan was fmther 
 ordered by telegraph to burn the bridges across the south 
 Pamunkey, won by his recent victory, and by which his 
 reinforcements should have joined him, lest the Confeder- 
 ates .should move by them against Washington ! Thus 
 Providence employed the movements of General Jackson's 
 little army to paralyse the forces of Fremont, Banks and 
 M'Dowell, amormting to eighty thousand men, during the 
 critical period of the campaign. It is therefore with 
 justice that his successes in the A'alley are said to have 
 saved Eichmond and Virginia. When the small means, 
 the trivial losses, and short time with which this meat 
 
HIS SELF-ABXEGATION. 127 
 
 result was wrouglit, are considered, it -will be admitted 
 that military genius has never, in any age, accomplished a 
 more splendid achievement. It was indeed so brilliant, 
 that the doubt has been suggested, whether the mind of 
 Jackson or of any other strategist was prophetic enough 
 to forecast and provide for so grand a conckision, or 
 whether it was the foi-trmate and unforeseen dis])ensation 
 of chance, or of Providence. To the latter he delighted 
 to attribute all his success ; and he would have been the 
 first to concur in the estimate, which made him only an 
 humble instrument in the hand of an omniscient Gvdde, who 
 superintended his fallible judgment, overruled the efforts 
 of his enemies, and, among the variety of possible effects, 
 connected his measures with those consequences which 
 were most beneficial to his country. But while this 
 Christian solution is fully admitted, the honour of General 
 Jackson, as an instrument, is vindicated by theSe facts, 
 that, from the first, he strongly urged the movements 
 which were at length made as the surest means for these 
 ends, and that he continued steadfastly of the same mind 
 amidst aU. the mutations in others, produced by the 
 fluctuating appearances of the campaign. The wisdom 
 of his plan was seconded by a devotion and energy in 
 action, which gave it such success as no other could have 
 commanded. 
 
 A more glorious sequel yet remains to be narrated, in 
 which General Jackson extricated himself from his baffled 
 enemies, and assisted in crushing the remainder of the 
 Federal forces near Kichmond. The former of these re- 
 sults was effected at Port Eepublic ; and to this spot the 
 
128 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 narrative now leads. When G-eneral Jackson, on the 
 evening of June 1st, resumed his retreat from Strasbourg, 
 he was aware that Shields had been for nearly two days 
 at Front Koyal. The fact that he had not attempted an 
 immediate junction with Fremont suggested the suspicion 
 that he was moving for a point farther upon the rear of 
 the Confederates, by way of Luray and ISTew Market Gap. 
 To frustrate this design, General Jackson now sent a 
 detachment of cavalry to burn the Wliite House bridge 
 across the South Shenandoah, by which the Luray turn- 
 pike passed the stream, and also the Columbia bridge, a 
 few miles above it. He knew that Shields had no pontoon 
 train, for Banks had been compelled to sacrifice it at 
 Newtown ; and the rivers were still too miich swollen to 
 be forded. Having taken this precaution, he retreated up 
 the Yalley turnpike in his usual stubborn and deliberate 
 fashion, with his cavalry and Chew's light battery in the 
 rear. It was the saying of his soldiers, that his marches 
 were always easy when in retreat, but hard when pursu- 
 ing. This calmness of movement not only promoted order, 
 and gave time to bring off his supplies, but wrought an 
 invaluable effect upon the spirits of the troops. A hurried 
 march in retiring from the enemy suggests insecurity, 
 and ministers a constant excitement to the minds of the 
 men, akin to panic, and easily converted into it. General 
 Jackson's deliberation reassured his army ; and they 
 never lost confidence or spirit because they were com- 
 pelled to retire for a time. It was by this means that he 
 was enabled to preserve the order of his troops equally 
 in retreat and in advance. 
 
POET REPUBLIC. 129 
 
 General Premont, having ascertained tliat the Con- 
 federates were withdrawing, pursued with spirit; and, 
 after nightfall, a portion of his horse came so near the 
 rear-guard that they were challenged by them. They 
 replied "Ashby's cavaby ;" and, having thus deceived 
 our forces, availed themselves of the advantage to charge 
 the 6th regiment of cavalry, which was next the rear. 
 These were thrown into disorder ; and a few of them 
 were ridden down, and wounded, or captured. Confusion 
 was also communicated, in some degree, to the 2d regi- 
 ment next it ; but the commander. Colonel Munford, soon 
 re-formed it, gallantly charged the enemy, repulsed them, 
 and captured some prisoners. On the 2d of June, the 
 enemy succeeded in takiag position, where their artillery 
 was able to cannonade the Confederate rear. The cavalry 
 was thrown into disorder by the shells, and fled, carrying 
 a part of its supporting battery with them. The Federal 
 cavalry now pushed forward to reap the fruits of this suc- 
 cess, when Ashby displayed that prompt resource and 
 personal daring which illustrated his character. Dis- . 
 mounting from his horse, he collected a small body of 
 riflemen who were lagging, foot-sore and weary, behind 
 their commands, and posted them in a wood near the road- 
 side. AwaitrQg the near approach of the enemy, he poured 
 into their ranks so effective a fire that a number of saddles 
 were emptied, and a part of the survivors retired in con- 
 fusion. The remainder were carried past by their mo- 
 mentum, and even broke through the ranks of the rear 
 regiment in a brigade of infantry, — that of Colonel Camp- 
 bell, — commanded since his wounding at Winchester by 
 
 A'OL. II. I 
 
130 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Colonel J. M. Patton. But that officer, filing his next 
 regiment from the road in good order, made way for the 
 onset of the enemy, and, as they passed, gave them a 
 volley which terminated their audacity. Only one of the 
 party returned alive to his comrades, the remainder being 
 all killed or captured. Colonel Patton, while reporting 
 the events of the day to the General, at nightfall, remarked 
 that he saw this party of foes shot down with regret. He 
 seemed to make no note of the words at the time, hut 
 pursued his minute inquiries into all the particulars of the 
 skirmish. After the of&cial conversation was ended, he 
 asked : " Colonel, why do you say that you saw those 
 Federal soldiers fall with regret ? " It was replied, that 
 they exhibited more vigour and courage than anything 
 which had been attempted by any part of the Federal 
 army; and that a natural sympathy with brave men led to 
 the Avish that, in the fortunes of the fight, their lives might 
 have been saved. The General dryly remarked, " No ; 
 shoot them all : I do not wish them to be brave." It was 
 thus that he was accustomed to indicate, by a single brief 
 sentence, the cardinal thought of a whole chapter of dis- 
 cussion. He meant to suggest reasonings which show that 
 such sentiments of chivalrous forbearance, though amiable, 
 are erroneous. Courage in the prosecution of a wicked 
 attempt does not relieve, but only aggravates, the danger 
 to the innocent party assailed, and the guilt of the assail- 
 ants. There is, then, a sense in which the most vigorous 
 are the most wortliy of death ; and the interests of those 
 who wage a just defence prompt them _to visit retribution, 
 first, upon those who are most dangerous. 
 
PROMOTION OF ASHBY. 131 
 
 The 2d and 6th regiments of cavalry were now trans- 
 ferred from the command of General Stewart to that of 
 Ashby. When the latter returned to Winchester the week 
 before, from the pursuit of Banks, he was met by his com- 
 mission of Brigadier-General of cavalry; an honour well 
 earned by his arduous and important services. He was 
 now raised to that position best adapted to his powers. 
 While unsuited for the drudgery of the drill and the 
 military police, General Ashby had every quality of a 
 brilliant commander in the field. Seconded by diligent 
 and able colonels in his regiments, he would have led his 
 brigade to a career of glory surpassing all his previous 
 successes. But such a destiny was not in store for 
 him ; and bis sun was now about to set in its splendid 
 morning. 
 
 On the 3d of June, the Confederate army placed the 
 north fork of the Shenandoah behind it ; and General 
 Ashby was intrusted with the duty of burning the bridge 
 by which it passed over. Before this task was completed, 
 the Federalists appeared on tbe opposite bank, and a skir- 
 mish ensued, in which his horse was struck dead, and he 
 himself very narrowly escaped. The necessity of replacing 
 this bridge arrested Fremont for a day, and gave the tired 
 Confederates a respite, which they employed in retiring 
 slowly and unmolested to Harrisonburg. A mile south of 
 that vUlage, General Jackson left the valley road, and 
 turned eastward, toward Port Eepublic ; a smaller place 
 upon the south fork of the Shenandoah, and near the 
 western base of the Blue Eidge. It was not until the 
 evening of June 6th that the Federal advance overtook 
 
132 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 his rear-guard, which was still within two miles of Har- 
 risonhurg, posted at the crest of a wooded ridge, com- 
 manding the neighbouring fields. General Ashby, as 
 usual, held the rear ; and the division of General Ewell 
 was next. In part of the Federal army was a New Jersey 
 regiment of cavalry, commanded by one of those military 
 adventurers, whose appetite for blood presents so mon- 
 strous and loathsome a parody upon the virtues of the 
 true soldier. A subject of the British crown, and boast- 
 ing of his relationship to some noble Englisli house, this 
 person had offered his services to the Federal Govern- 
 ment, siding with the criminal and powerful aggressors, 
 against the heroic and righteous patriots, without one of 
 those pleas of native soil and sentiments which might 
 rescue his acts from the criminality of naked murder. It 
 had been his blustering boast, that at the first opportunity 
 he would deal with the terrible Colonel Ashby ; and for 
 this he sought service in this part of the Federal armies. 
 His opportunity was now come ; he advanced his regiment 
 to the attack, when General Ashby, taking a few com- 
 panies of his command, met them in the open field, 
 and, at the first charge, routed them, and captured their 
 Colonel, with sixty-three of his men. The remainder 
 fled into Harrisonburg in headlong panic ; and the brag- 
 gart mercenary found his fitting recompense in a long 
 captivity. 
 
 The sound of the firing now brought General Ewell to 
 the rear; and General Ashby, assuring him that the 
 Federal attack would be speedily renewed in force, asked 
 for a small body of infantry, and proposed a plan, most 
 
FALL OF ASHBT. 133 
 
 brilliantly conceived, for turning their onset into a defeat. 
 General Ewell intrusted to him the 1st Maryland regi- 
 ment of Colonel Bradley Johnson, and the 58th Virginia, 
 under Colonel Letcher. Ashby disposed the Marylanders 
 in the woods, so as to take the Federal advance in flank, 
 while he met them in front at the head of the 58th. 
 Indicating to General Ewell the dispositions of the enemy, 
 which he had exactly anticipated, and his own arrange- 
 ments to meet them, he seemed to the spectators to be 
 instinct with unwonted animation and genius. At this 
 moment the enemy's infantry advanced, and a fierce 
 combat began. They, approaching through the open fields, 
 had reached a heavy fence of timber ; whence, under the 
 partial cover, they poured destructive volleys into the 
 ranks of the 58th regiment. Ashby seeing at a glance 
 their disadvantage, galloped to the front, and ordered them 
 to charge, and drive the Federals from their vantage 
 ground. At this moment his horse fell ; but extricating 
 himself from the dying animal, and leaping to his feet, he 
 saw his men wavering. He shouted, " Charge, men ! for 
 God's sake, charge !" and waved his sword ; when a buUet 
 pierced him full in the breast, and he fell dead. The regi- 
 ment took up the command of their dying General, and 
 rushed upon the enemy, while the Marylanders dashed 
 upon their flank. Thus pressed, the Federals gave way, 
 the Confederates occupied the fence, and poured successive 
 voUeys into the fleeing mass, who were fully exposed to 
 them untH they passed out of musket range. If blood, by 
 comparison so vile, could have paid for that of the gener- 
 ous Ashby, he would have been fully avenged. The 
 
134 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel commanding tlie foremost Federal 
 regiment remained a prisoner in the hands of the Con- 
 federates, and the field was sprinkled over with killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 With this repulse the comhat ceased : resulting in a 
 loss to the Confederates of seventeen killed and fifty 
 wounded, which fell chiefly on the 58th Virginia. The 
 place where it occurred was not the one selected by 
 General Jackson to stand the brunt of a general action, 
 and it was therefore necessary to remove the wounded and 
 the dead at once. The oversight of this humane task he 
 intrusted to General Ewell. All the wounded who could 
 bear a hasty removal were set on horses, and carried to a 
 place of safety. A few remained whose hurts were too 
 painful to endure the motion ; and of these General Ewell 
 was seen taking a tender leave, replenishing their purses 
 from his own, that they might be able to purchase things 
 needful for their comfort in their "captivity, and encourag- 
 ing them with words of good cheer. The glorious remains 
 of Ashby were carried to Port Republic, and prepared for 
 the grave. After all the sad rites were completed, General 
 Jackson came to the room where he lay, and demanded to 
 see him. They admitted him alone ; he remained for a 
 time in silent communion with the dead, and then left 
 him, with a solemn and elevated countenance. It requires 
 little use of the imagination to suppose that his thoughts 
 were, in part, prophetic of a similar scene, where his 
 corpse was to receive the homage of all the good and 
 brave. But the duties of the hour were too stern to give 
 a longer time to grief At a subsequent day, his ofacial 
 
CHAEACTEE OF ASHBY. 135 
 
 report paid this brief but emphatic tribute to his com- 
 panion in arms : — 
 
 '' In this affair General Turner Ashby was killed. An 
 official report is not an appropriate place for more than a 
 passing notice of the distinguished dead ; but the close 
 relation which General Ashby bore to my command, for 
 most of the previous twelve months, wiU. justify me in 
 saying that, as a partisan officer, I never knew his superior. 
 His daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost 
 incredible, his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity 
 almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements 
 of the enemy." 
 
 General Ashby was of a spare and graceful figure, irre- 
 gular features, and swarthy complexion. His hair and 
 beard were profuse, and of jetty black, while his eye was 
 a clear, piercing grey. Accomplished from his youth in 
 all the feats of horsemanship and wood-craft, he was 
 already trained for irregular warfare, before he girded on 
 his sword. His private life had been marked by purity, 
 generosity, and a chivalrous spirit ; and the modest dignity 
 and cultivation of his manners showed him the true gentle- 
 man. These qualities remained untarnished, and shone 
 only the more when he became a military commander. 
 jSTo coarse excess soiled for a moment the maidenly deli- 
 cacy of his morals ; no plunder ever stained his hands, 
 nor did woman, nor disarmed enemy, ever meet anything 
 but magnanimous kindness from him. He was neces- 
 sarily intrusted, as commander of outposts and patrols, in 
 a district subject to martial law, with a large discretion in 
 dealing with private rights ; but his measures were always 
 
136 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 directed with such wisdom and equity as to command the 
 approval of friends and foes. His was an understanding 
 formed by nature for war. As a citizen, he would have 
 passed through life unmarked, save for his virtues, modesty, 
 and high breeding. But when his native State called her 
 sons to the field, he found his proper element. Excite- 
 ment roused his powers, danger only invigorated and 
 steadied them ; and his comrades instinctively recognised 
 in his decision, unerring judgment, magnanimity, and 
 resource, one born to command. "When he fell, the pre- 
 sence of the enemy in his native county forbade his burial 
 among his kindred ; so that although his venerable mother, 
 who had now given to her country her last son, with the 
 devotion of a Eoman matron, anxiously awaited his re- 
 mains there, it was necessary to seek for them another 
 resting-place. His friends selected the graveyard of the 
 State University ; thither they were conveyed with martial 
 pomp, and buried while the thunders of the distant battle 
 at Port Eepublic tolled a fitting knell for the great soldier. 
 There the tomb of Ashby should remain, a memorial to 
 the generous youth of Virginia, to suggest to them in all 
 future times the virtues and patriotism which he illus- 
 trated by his life and death. In all the qualities of the 
 citizen, the young man could find no nobler or purer 
 exemplar. 
 
 On 7th June, the main body of the army was assem- 
 bled in the neighbourhood of Port Eepublic. General 
 Jackson was now repeating with Premont the manoeuvre 
 by which he had confounded Banks, by turning aside 
 toward the base of the Blue Eidge. But his ready skill 
 
TOPOGKAPHY OF POKT EEPUBLIC. 137 
 
 dictated some important differences in his strategy, to 
 meet tlie different conditions of tlie case witli which he 
 now had to deal. The mountain was, to the Confederates, 
 not only a fastness, hut a base of operations ; for the 
 regions of Eastern A^irginia beyond it offered them, by the 
 various roads crossiag it, both supplies and a safe place of 
 retreat. The line of operations of the Federalists was 
 along the Great Valley turnpike ; and this was parallel to 
 the mountain. Hence, when Jackson took a position at 
 the western foot of the Blue Ridge, he gained the advan- 
 tage of a military base parallel to his enemy's line of 
 operations, which enabled him to strike it at right angles, 
 if it were prolonged by further advance into the country. 
 Twice he resorted to this strategy, and each time it arrested 
 the career of the superior army. His march from Swift 
 Eun Gap iu May had taught him another advantage be- 
 longiag to the poiut which he now selected. A good road 
 led from Port Eepublic across the mountain into Albe- 
 marle by Brown's Gap, offering him a safe outlet in case of 
 disaster, and a means for drawing supplies from that fertile 
 country. Before this road crowns the summit of the Blue 
 Eidge, it passes through a valley, which constitutes the 
 most complete natural fortress in all these mountains. 
 Two arms of the mountain, lofty and ragged as the mother 
 ridge, project from it on the right and left hand, embracing 
 a deep vale of many miles' circuit, watered by a copious 
 mountaia stream ; and while the mighty rim of this cup 
 is everywhere impracticable for artillery and cavalry, the 
 narrow gorge through which the road enters it from the 
 west affords scarcely room to set a regiment in battle 
 
138 LIFE OP LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 array between the two promontories of the mountains. 
 Here was obviously the place for a small army to stand at 
 bay against superior numbers. 
 
 But General Jackson did not purpose to withdraw into 
 this fortress, save in the last resort ; for to do this, he must 
 sacrifice the advantage which the unscientific strategy of 
 his adversaries gave him, by keeping their two armies 
 apart, and attempting to approach him upon convenient 
 lines, while his army was already concentrated. Befooled 
 with the old fallacy of crushing an inferior force by sur- 
 rounding it from different directions, Fremont and Shields 
 were pursuing this method, instead of uniting their troops 
 before the collision ; and they were destiaed to ULustrate 
 again, by their disasters, the correctness of the maxim, 
 that the inferior force possessing the interior position be- 
 tween its enemies must have the advantage, if it strikes 
 them in detail while separated. The two Federal com- 
 manders had neglected a junction below Strasbourg. By 
 burning the Columbia and White House Bridges, General 
 Jackson had prevented their union at New Market ; and 
 he was now prompt to make them continue their error. 
 Shields was still east of the Shenandoah, and there re- 
 mained but two bridges, above or below, by which he could 
 cross to the west side, to reach Fremont. One of these 
 was at Port Eepublic, and was ia Jackson's possession ; 
 the other was at the mouth of Elk Eun Valley, fifteen 
 miles below. This General Jackson now sent a detach- 
 ment of cavalry to burn ; when there occurred one of those 
 manifest interpositions of Providence which from time to 
 time showed the answer to his prayers for the Divine 
 
THE BRIDGE AT ELK EUN VALLEY. 139 
 
 blessing. A quarter of an hour before the Confederate 
 troopers reached the bridge, tlie advanced guard of General 
 Shields arrived there, sent by him to ascertain whether 
 the structure was still standing ; for he had now awakened 
 to some conception of its importance to him. They found 
 it safe ; but hearing that there was a corporal's guard of 
 Confederate soldiers a few miles above, watching a parcel 
 of stores, they dashed off to capture them, instead of re- 
 maining to guard the bridge, or else returning to report its 
 condition to their commander. The stores were captured, 
 and the guard escaped; but when the head of Shields's 
 main column reached the bridge, the Confederates had 
 arrived, and the work was hopelessly involved in flames. 
 The Shenandoah, still swollen by the rains of a late and 
 ungenial spring, was nowhere fordable, and the construc- 
 tion of a bridge in the presence of such a foe as Jackson 
 was not an inviting enterprise. He was now master of 
 the situation ; he had comprehended all the conditions of 
 the critical problem upon which he staked the very exist- 
 ence of his army ; and while all others were full of anxious 
 forebodings, he awaited the issue Avith calm determination. 
 The part which remained to him in the coming tragedy 
 was to hold fast his command of the brigade at Port 
 Eepuhlic, and to seize his opportunity to crush the one of 
 his assailants, now approaching from opposite directions, 
 whom he judged it most judicious to attack. But the 
 nearness of both of them (within less than a day's march) 
 left little room for seeking the advantage which he knew 
 so well how to use, by rapid movements and successive 
 blows. To any inferior leader the danger would have been 
 
1 iO LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 imminent of a simultaneous attack in front and rear ; for 
 if the converging detachments of enemies are allowed time 
 to make such attacks, then indeed all the success expected 
 from the hungling plan of thus surrounding an army may 
 be realized. To understand the consummate union of skill 
 and audacity with which Jackson obviated this danger, 
 and still compelled his enemies to fight him in detail, 
 although within sight of the smoke of each other's guns, 
 a more particular description of the ground is necessary. 
 Between Harrisonburg and Port Eepublic the country is 
 occupied by the wooded ridges characteristic of a lime- 
 stone region, elevated but rounded, and practicable for the 
 movements even of artillery ; and these are interspersed 
 with farms and fields which fill the vales. These bold 
 hills extend to the river's brink on that side ; while be- 
 tween the waters and the mountain, where SMelds was 
 approaching, the country stretches out in low and smooth 
 meadows, everywhere commanded from the heights across 
 the stream. Between these level fields and the mountain 
 itself is interposed a zone of forest of three miles' width, 
 broken into insignificant hillocks, and interposed with 
 tangled brushwood, which stretches parallel with the river 
 and the Blue Pddge, for a day's march above and below. 
 The little village is situated on the south-eastern side of 
 the Shenandoah, in the level meadows, and just within the 
 angle between the main stream and a tributary called 
 South Eiver. The only road to Brown's Gap, descending 
 from the bold highlands of the north-west bank, over the 
 long wooden bridge, passes through the hamlet, crosses 
 the South Eiver by a ford, and speedily hides itself, upon 
 
SHIELDS'S ADVANCE AT LEAVISTON. 141 
 
 its way to the mountain-base, in the impenetrable coppices 
 of the wood. 
 
 General Shields, disappointed in the hope of joining 
 Fremont by the bridge at Elk Eun Valley, continued hia 
 march up the south- eastern bank of the river, by the same 
 difficult road which the Confederates had followed in their 
 march from Swift Eun in April. On the evening of 
 Saturday, the 7th of June, his advance appeared at Lewis- 
 ton, the country-seat of General Lewis, three miles below 
 the village. The main object dictated by General Jackson's 
 situation now was, to keep his enemies apart, separated as 
 they were by the swollen stream, and to fight first the one 
 or the other of them, as his interest might advise him. 
 The defeat of one would obviously procure the retreat of 
 both ; for their cautious and timid strategy required the 
 concert of the two armies to embolden them for coping 
 with their dreaded adversary. It was manifest that good 
 generalship should select Shields as the victim of the first 
 blow. His force was smaller than that of Fremont, and 
 so it was reasonable to expect an easier victory over it. If 
 he were beaten, his retreat would be hemmed in between 
 the river and the mountain to a single scarcely practicable 
 road; whereas General Fremont would be able, if over- 
 thrown, to withdraw by a number of easy highways. If, 
 on the other hand, the attack of the Confederates upon 
 Shields were unsuccessful, they would be able to retire 
 into their own country, and nearer their supplies ; while, 
 if they were defeated in an assault on Fremont upon the 
 other side of the river, they would have that barrier to a 
 retreat in theii rear, with Shields's army unbroken, threat- 
 
142 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 ening them with destruction. It might appear, at first 
 thought, that the obvious way to carry out the purpose of 
 attacking Shields and defeating him separately, was to with- 
 draw the whole Confederate army at once to the same side of 
 the river -s^ith him, burn the bridge, thus leaving Fremont 
 alone and useless upon the other bank, and then fall with 
 full force upon the former. This, any other good soldier 
 than Jackson would probably have done ; but his designs 
 were more audacious and profound still. With whatever 
 promptitude he might attack Shields, he saw that the 
 battle-field must be upon the south-eastern margin of the 
 Shenandoah, and under the heights of the opposite bank ; 
 which, if he yielded all the country on that side to Fre- 
 mont, would, of course, be crowned by his artillery. And 
 then the struggle would have been virtually against both 
 his foes combined, although the waters still flowed between 
 their troops. In addition, his powerful artillery, the right 
 ai'm of his strength, would then have beeir paralysed by 
 the inferiority of its positions as compared with those 
 ceded to Fremont upon the north-western bank. Further, 
 General Jackson was not willing to deprive himself of the 
 power to take the aggressive against Fremont, after dis- 
 posing of Shields, should his success in assaiUng the latter 
 prove sufficiently crushing to encourage him to a second 
 battle. 
 
 For these reasons. General Jackson neither ceded the 
 north-western bank to Fremont, nor burned the bridge. 
 Where an inferior genius would have purchased the fuU 
 union of his forces at the expense of allowing to his two 
 enemies a virtual concert as injurious as an actual junc- 
 
HIS TACTICS. 143 
 
 tion ; he accepted a nominal separation of his own troops, 
 perceiving that he would thus have the most effective 
 co-operation. He purposed thus to hold both his adver- 
 saries at bay, until the propitious moment arrived to strike 
 one of them a deadly blow. For this end he selected for 
 General Ewell an excellent position upon the road lead- 
 ing to Harrisonburg, five miles from the bridge, while he 
 posted the other division of his army, witli several bat- 
 teries of artillery, upon the heights next the river, but 
 stUl upon the north-west side. Thence his guns could 
 overlook and defend the bridge, the village, the narrow 
 champaign extending towards Brown's Gap, and all the 
 approaches on the side of Shields. In Port Eepublic 
 itself he stationed no troops save a detachment of horse, 
 which guarded the roads towards Lewiston, and protected 
 his own quarters in the village. His dispositions were 
 completed by bringing all his trains across the bridge and 
 placing them near by, where they might be withdrawn 
 either to the mountain or to Staunton. Two companies 
 of cavalry were detached to watch the approach of Gen- 
 eral Shields, of which one was sent to reconnoitre, and the 
 other was stationed as a picket-guard upon the road to 
 Lewiston. 
 
 The morning of June 8th, which was the Sabbath-day, 
 dawned with all the peaceful brightness appropriate to 
 the Christian's sacred rest ; and General Jackson, who 
 never infringed its sanctity by his own choice, was pre- 
 paring himself and his wearied men to spend it in devotion. 
 But soon after the sun surmounted the eastern mountain, 
 the pickets next the army of Shields came rushing to the 
 
144 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 head-quarters in the village, in confusion, with the Federal 
 cavalry and a section of artillery close upon their heels. 
 So feeble was the resistance which they offered, the ad- 
 vance of the enemy dashed across the ford of the South 
 Eiver almost as soon as they, and occupied the streets. 
 The General had barely time to mount and gallop towards 
 the bridge, with a jpart of his staff, when the way was 
 closed ; two others of his suite, attempting to follow 
 him a few moments after, were captured in the street ; 
 and one or two preceiving the hopelessness of the attempt, 
 remained with the handful of troops thus cut off But 
 out of this accident, to them so involuntary. Providence 
 ordained that a result should proceed essential to the 
 safety of the army. As the captured Confederate officers 
 stood beside the commander of the Federal advance, some 
 of his troopers returned to him, and pointed out the long 
 train of waggons hurrying away, apparently without armed 
 escort, just beyond the outskirts of the village. He im- 
 mediately ordered a strong hody of cavalry in pursuit; 
 and the hearts of the Confederates sank within them ; for 
 they knew that this was Jackson's ordnance train, con- 
 taining the reserve ammunition of the whole army ; and 
 that all its other baggage was equally at the mercy of the 
 enemy. But as the eager Federals reached the head of 
 the village, they were met with a volley of musketry, 
 which sent them scampering back ; and when they re- 
 turned to the charge, two pieces of artillery opened upon 
 them, to the equal surprise and delight of their anxious 
 captives, and speedily cleared the streets with showers 
 of canister. The explanation was, that one of the officers 
 
ESCAPE OF THE OEDNANCE TRAIN. 145 
 
 separated from the General's suite, seeing the impossibility 
 of joining him, had addressed himself to rallying a hand- 
 ful of the fugitive picket guards, and with these, and a 
 section of raw artillerists from the reserves, had boldly 
 attacked the enemy. Thus the trains were saved, and a 
 diversion was made, until the General could bring forward 
 more substantial succours. 
 
 ISTor was it long before these were at hand. Galloping 
 across the bridge, and up the heights, to the camp of the 
 3d and 1st brigades of his own division, he ordered the 
 long roU to be instantly beaten, and the artillery to be 
 harnessed. The horses were stUl grazing in the luxuriant 
 clover-iields, and the men were scattered under the shade 
 of the groves ; but in a few moments the guns were 
 ready for action, and two or three regiments were in line. 
 Jackson ordered the batteries of Poague, Wooding, and 
 Carpenter to crown the heights overlooking the river, and 
 placing himself at the head of the leading regiment of the 
 3d brigade, — the 37th Virginia of Colonel Fulkerson, — 
 rushed at a double-quick toward the all-important bridge, 
 now in the enemy's possession. When he approached it, 
 he saw the village beyond crowded with Federal cavalry, 
 but now checked in their pursuit of his trains ; while one 
 of their two field-pieces was replying to the Confederate 
 artillery, and the other was placed at the mouth of the 
 bridge, prepared to sweep it with murderous discharges of 
 grape. One lightning glance was enough to decide him. 
 Ordering Captain Poague to engage with one of his pieces 
 the gun at the southern end of the bridge, he led the 37th 
 regiment aside from the high road, so that they descended 
 
 VOL II. K 
 
146 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the declivity obliquely against the upper side of that 
 structure, inarching by the flank. Without pausing to 
 wheel them into line, as they came within effective dis- 
 tance, he commanded them, with a tone and mien of inex- 
 pressible authority, to deliver one round upon the enemy's 
 artillerists, and then rush through the bridge upon them 
 with the bayonet. They fired one stinging volley, whicli 
 swept every cannoneer from the threatening gun, and then 
 dashed with a yell through the narrow avenue. As soon 
 as Jackson uttered his command he drew up his horse, 
 and, dropping the reins upon his neck, raised both his 
 hands towards the heavens while the fire of battle in his 
 face changed into a look of reverential awe. Even while 
 he prayed, the G-od of battles heard ; or ever he had with- 
 drawn his iiplifted hands the bridge was gained, and the 
 enemy's gun was captured. Thus, in an instant, was a pas- 
 sage won, with the loss of two men wounded, which might 
 have become a second bridge of Lodi, costing the blood of 
 hundreds of brave soldiers. So rapid and skiLful was the 
 attack, the enemy were able to make but one hurried 
 discharge, before their position and their artillery were 
 wrested from them. To clear the village of their advance 
 was now the work of a moment, for the batteries frowning 
 upon the opposite bank rendered it untenable by them ; 
 and the Confederate troopers next the baggage trains, 
 plucking up heart, scoured the streets of every foe. Their 
 retreat was so precipitate that they left their other piece 
 of artillery behind them also, and dashed across the fords 
 of South Eiver by the way they came. 
 As they retired toward Lewiston, they met the infantry 
 
RETREAT OF SHIELDS's TROOPS. 147 
 
 of Shields's army advancing to their support. But it was 
 too late : the batteries were now all in position, and 
 greeted their approach with a storm of projectiles from 
 the further side of the river, before which they were com- 
 pelled to recoil with loss. The novel sight was now pre- 
 sented, of a retreating army pursued by two or three 
 batteries of field guns, and retiring before them in help- 
 less confusion. For as the Federal troops withdrew along 
 the south side of the stream, the Confederates limbered 
 their guns and galloped over the swelling fields upon the 
 north side, to other lofty positions, whence they still com- 
 manded the ground occupied by the retreating foe, until 
 he concealed himself behind the forest near Lewiston. 
 He thus verified the judgment of General Jackson, by 
 finding himself as effectually debarred, by these masterly 
 dispositions, from co-operating in the contemplated 
 
 : attack of Fremont, as though he had been separated from 
 him by many days' marches. And although the most 
 urgent motives prompted Shields to renew his attack in 
 
 : concert with his associate on the other side, so manifest 
 was the triumph of Jackson's generalship, he did not 
 
 r, again venture the hopeless attempt ; but sat all day idle, 
 withiu sound of the cannonade, which told him that 
 Fremont was compelled to risk and lose the field, without 
 
 ; his aid. One element of General Jackson's greatness and 
 success was the decision and confidence with which he 
 held the conclusions of his own judgment after he had 
 
 ;/ once matured them. His reflection was careful, his 
 caution in weighing all competing considerations great; 
 
 jiv but when his mind once adopted its verdict, it held to it 
 
148 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 with unwavering and giant grasp. This characteristic was 
 strongly illustrated in these events. As the reader viewed 
 the considerations detailed ahove, by which the plan of 
 action was dictated at Port Eepublic, some of them have 
 probably appeared to him so nice and delicate, that he 
 was inclined to deem it rashness, to stake the existence of 
 an army upon deductions drawn from them. But when 
 General Jackson had weighed them all, his decision was 
 made with an absolute confidence, and he was calmly pre- 
 pared to risk everything upon it. When it was argued 
 with him that, surely, General Shields would not suffer 
 the critical hour to pass, without attempting again to co- 
 operate with Fremont by a more serious and persistent 
 attack, his only answer was, to wave his hand towards the 
 commanding positions of his artillery, and say, " No sir ! 
 No ! he cannot do it ; I should tear him to pieces." And 
 he did not do it ! During all the remainder of the day's 
 struggle he remained passive ; visited, doubtless, by mis- 
 givings not very comfortable, as to his own coming share 
 in the attentions of the Confederate General The latter 
 now placed the third brigade, under Brigadier- General 
 Taliaferro, in the village, to wateh the fords of South 
 Kiver and the roads toward Lewiston on the one hand, 
 while, on the other, he guarded the course of the Shen- 
 andoah above the village and opposite to General Eweh's 
 left by a few pickets. The first brigade of General 
 Winder was sent down the river with a portion of the 
 artillery, and posted upon the north side, to observe the 
 discomfited enemy about Lewiston. The remainder of his 
 division was disposed so as to be ready for the support 
 of Ewell. 
 
ATTACKED BY FEEMONT. 149 
 
 These dispositions had not been completed, when the 
 firing to the north told that he was seriously engaged with 
 Fremont. This General had moved out to the attack from 
 Harrisonburg (doubtless expecting the assistance of Sliields 
 upon the other side) with the divisions of Blanker, IMilroy, 
 and Schenck, making seven brigades of infantry, a brigade 
 of cavalry, and a powerful train of artillery. This army 
 was correctly estimated by General Ewell at eighteen 
 thousand men. His own division had now been recruited, 
 by the addition of the six regiments of General Edward 
 Johnson, known as the army of the north-west. Of these, 
 the 12th Georgia, and the 25 th and 31st Virginia, had been 
 attached to the brigade of Elzey; and the 5 2d, 58th, and 
 44th Virginia, lately under Colonel Scott, had been given 
 to General George Stewart, and associated with the Mary- 
 land line. The position chosen for meeting Fremont was 
 a continuous ridge, a little south of the point where the 
 Keezletown road crosses that from Harrisonburg to Port 
 Republic. This range of hills crosses the latter highway 
 obliquely, in such manner that General Ewell's left, occupy- 
 ing it, was much advanced beyond his right, and rested, at 
 its extremity, very near the prolongation of the Keezletown 
 road, toward the west. The hills are elevated, but occupied 
 by arable fields. In front runs an insignificant rivulet, 
 while the rear and flanks of the position are covered by 
 woods of noble oaks, penetrable even by a column of ar- 
 tillery, in many places, but yet affording excellent cover 
 for sharpshooters. On this ridge, then. General Ewell de- 
 liberately posted his troops to receive the shock, while 
 Colonel Canty, with the 5th Alabama infantry, stubbornly 
 
150 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 contested the advance of the enemy along the road from 
 llarrisonburg. In the centre, upon the best positions, he 
 placed four picked batteries, those of Courtney, Lusk, 
 Brockenborough, and Eains, with General Elzey's brigade 
 in their rear, as a reserve force. On his right was the 
 brigade of General Trimble, in advance of the centre, and 
 on his left, that of General Stewart. The guns were placed 
 on the reverse of the hills, a little behind the crest, where 
 the cannoneers were protected from all missiles which came 
 horizontally ; and the lines of infantry lay in the vaUeys 
 behind them, almost secure from danger. 
 
 About ten o'clock a.m., the Federal artillery was posted 
 opposite to this position, and a spirited cannonade began, 
 which continued for several hours. Indeed, the battle was 
 chiefly one of artillery ; for this arm was the only one 
 which the Federalists employed with any perseverance or 
 courage. After feeling the Confederate lines for a time 
 with this fire of cannon, Fremont advanced a part of 
 Blenker's German division upon his left. Finding no 
 enemies near the front of his left, save a few videttes, who 
 were easily repulsed, he sent back glowing accounts of his 
 success in driving in the Confederate right wing. When 
 he had thus swung around for nearly a mile he was rudely 
 undeceived. The veteran General Trimble held his excel- 
 lent brigade well in hand, behind the crest of a forest ridge, 
 which, in front descended by a gentle declivity to the 
 margin of a wide meadow, and was there bounded by a 
 heavy fence of timber. He commanded the troops to re • 
 serve their fire until the enemy appeared above the hiU, 
 within point-blank range, when he poured a deadly dis- 
 
ATTACK ON EWELL'S LEFT. 151 
 
 charge into their ranks. The Germans recoiled in disorder, 
 and Trimble, seizing the moment, charged them with the 
 bayonet, and drove them down the slope and across the 
 meadow. It was then, especially, that the foe paid the 
 penalty of his assault. The Confederates pausing at the 
 fence, and firing from it in security, and with deliberate 
 aim, continued their murderous discharges, until the enemy 
 had crossed the open ground, and taken refuge in the oppo- 
 site wood. The green vale was strewn with hundreds of 
 the dead and wounded ; and the remainder left the field, 
 to be rallied no more that day. The Federals now attempted 
 to arrest Trimble's career, by posting a battery half a mile 
 in front of his extreme right. But having received the 
 25th and 13th Virginia regiments of Elzey's brigade as 
 reinforcements, he at once advanced with the purpose of 
 capturing it. After several spirited skirmishes with' its 
 infantry supports, he forced his way to the ground and 
 found it deserted. General Trimble had now advanced 
 more than a mile from his original position, whUe the 
 Federal advance had fallen back to the ground occupied 
 by them before the beginning of the action. 
 
 The enemy then developed a strong movement toward 
 General EweU's left, for which the Keezletown road, pro- 
 ceeding westward from Cross Keys, provided such facih- 
 ties. This advantage, with the superior numbers of the 
 opposing army, manifestly suggested the fear of such a 
 movement, and nothing but the most impotent general- 
 ship on their part could account for the fact that they 
 allowed the day to close, disastrously for them, without 
 making it. General EweU's left being necessarily thrown 
 
152 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 strongly forward, would have been enfiladed by troops 
 advancing from that quarter. Hence, he wisely guarded 
 that wing, and employed the most of his reinforcements to 
 strengthen it. A Little after mid-day, when the battle 
 was at its height, General Jackson rode to the field, from 
 his post near Port Eepublic, and calmly examined the 
 progress of the struggle. Eeturning, he sent back to 
 Ewell the Louisiana brigade of Taylor, which had been 
 moved to his support during the alarm at the bridge, and 
 also detached the second brigade of his division, under 
 Colonel Patton. The remainder of General Elzey's brigade 
 was then moved to the left, leaving their post in the rear 
 of the centre to these troops. Thus prepared. General 
 Ewell awaited for a long time the expected onset upon his 
 flank. It resulted in nothing more than a feeble demon- 
 stration, which was easily repulsed by two or three regi- 
 ments of Elzey. Seeing this, Ewell advanced his own line 
 just before nightfall, drove in the enemy's skirmishers, and 
 assiimed a new position on ground which they had held 
 during the battle. Thus the day closed, and his troops lay 
 upon their arms, upon the vantage-ground they had won, 
 ready to resume the strife, and hoping to rout Fremont at 
 dawn on the morrow. 
 
 In this combat of Cross Keys, Ewell had about six 
 thousand men in his line of battle, and only three thousand 
 five hundred actually engaged. Yet Fremont reported to his 
 Government that he was compelled to yield to superior force, 
 and found himself outnumbered at everj^ point where he 
 attempted a movement. The veteran Ewell remarked, that 
 he felt all day as though he were again fighting the feeble 
 
BKIDGE ACROSS SOUTH EIVER. 153 
 
 semi-civilized armies of Mexico. Tlie loss with which the 
 Confederates achieved this success was surprisingly small, 
 heing only forty-two (42) killed, and two hundred and 
 thirty-one wounded. The chief loss of the enemy was 
 probably ra front of Trimble, where it amounted to many 
 hundreds. 
 
 General Jackson, regarding Fremont as only repulsed, 
 and not routed, still adhered to his purpose to risk his 
 first decisive blow against Shields, for the reasons which 
 have been explained ; and he deemed the present the 
 proper hour to strike it, while the former was reeling and 
 confused from his rude rebuff, and the latter was standing- 
 irresolute in. an exposed attitude. He therefore summoned 
 General Ewell, after he had completed his dispositions for 
 the night, to his quarters, and instructed him to send the 
 trains over to the troops, for the purpose of issuing food 
 to them ; to have them again withdrawn to the south side 
 of the Shenandoah, and at break of day to march to Port 
 Eepublic, leaving a strong rear-guard to amuse and retard 
 the enemy. Then, awaiting the rising of the moon, which 
 occurred about midnight, he collected his pioneers, and 
 caused them, under his own eye, to construct a foot-bridge 
 across the fords of the South Eiver, by which he designed 
 to pass his infantry down toward Lewiston. This structure 
 was hastily made by placing waggons, without their bodies, 
 longitudinally across the stream. The axles formed the 
 cross-beams for the support of the floor; and the latter 
 was composed of long boards borrowed from a neighbouring 
 saw-mill, laid loosely from one to another. This bridge, on 
 the morrow, furnished an instance of the truth, that very 
 
154 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 great events may be determined by very trivial ones. It 
 was intended that the flooring should occupy the whole 
 breadth between the wheels of the waggons, giving passage 
 to several men abreast. But by an oversight, just at the 
 deepest and angriest part of the stream, the hinder axle of 
 a large waggon was placed next the foremost axle of the 
 next. The inequality in the height, with the increasing 
 depth of the current, made a space of nearly two feet, 
 which, when the flooring was placed in order, presented a 
 step, or sudden descent, of that amount ; and aU the boards 
 of the higher stage proved to be unsupported at their ends, 
 and elastic, but one. As the men began to pass over in 
 column, several were thrown into the water by this 
 treacherous and yielding platform, until, at length, grow- 
 ing skittish of it, they refused to trust themselves to any 
 except the one solid plank ; and thus the column was con- 
 verted, at this point, into a single file. 
 
 The actual achievements of General Jackson at Port 
 Eepublic were as brilliant as anythiag in the history of 
 war. But his secret design embraced still more. It has 
 already been explained that he did not arrest the pursuit 
 of Fremont by at once burning the bridge across the 
 Shenandoah, because he was unwilling to deprive himself 
 of the ability to take the aggressive against that General, 
 He now formed the bold purpose to concentrate his army, 
 and fight both Shields and him, successively, the same day. 
 Hence his eagerness to begin the attack on the former at 
 an early hour. Stronger evidence of tliis startling design 
 will be given. During the night, he held an interview 
 with Colonel Patton, commanding the 2nd brigade, which 
 
DEFECT IN THE BRIDGE. 155 
 
 he then proposed to employ as a rear-guard to cover the 
 withdrawal of General Ewell's forces from the front of 
 Fremont. This officer found him, at two o'clock in the 
 morning of the 9th, actively engaged ra making his dis- 
 positions for battle. He immediately proceeded to give 
 him particular instructions as to the management of his 
 men ia covering the rear, saying : " I wish you to throw 
 out all your men, if necessary, as skirmishers, and to make 
 a great show, so as to cause the enemy to think the whole 
 army are behind you. Hold your position as well as you 
 can ; then faU back when obliged ; take a new position ; 
 hold it in the same way ; and I will be hack to join you in 
 the morning." Colonel Patton reminded him that his 
 brigade was small, and that the country between Cross 
 Keys and the Shenandoah offered few advantages for pro- 
 tracting such manoeuvres. He therefore desired to know 
 for how long a time he would be expected to hold the army 
 of Fremont in check. He replied, " By the blessing of 
 Providence, I hope to be back by ten o'clock." 
 
 Here, then, we have revealed his whole purpose : He 
 allotted five hours to crushing the army of Shields, and 
 expected the same day to recross the Shenandoah and assail 
 Fremont, or at least re-occupy his strong position upon the 
 north bank, and again defy his attack. The Stonewall 
 Brigade was accordingly ordered to begin the movement 
 at the dawn of day ; and by five o'clock it had crossed the 
 South Eiver and was ready to advance against Shields. 
 The Louisiana brigade of General Taylor came next, and as 
 soon as they had passed the foot-bridge, the General eagerly 
 moved with them to the attack, directing the trains to be 
 
156 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 passed toward Brown's Gap in the mountain, and the re- 
 mainder of the troops to be hurried across as rapidly as 
 they arrived and sent to his support. But now the defect 
 which has been described in the footway disclosed itself; 
 proposals to arrest the passage of the troops long enough 
 to remedy it effectually, or else to disuse the bridge, and 
 force the men through the water, were all neglected by the 
 commanders of brigades ; and while six or eight thousand 
 men were passed over in single file, ten o'clock arrived and 
 passed by. The consequence was, that the first attack 
 made upon the Federalists, being met with a stubborn re- 
 sistance, and unsustained by adequate numbers, was re- 
 pulsed with loss, and the battle was protracted far beyond 
 the hour which permitted a second engagement that day 
 on different ground. Thus three ill-adjusted boards cost 
 the Confederates a hard-fought and bloody battle, and de- 
 livered Fremont from a second defeat far more disastrous 
 than that of the previous day. 
 
 When General Jackson led the brigades of Winder and 
 Taylor against the Federalists, he found their main army 
 posted advantageously at Lewiston. The level tract which 
 intervenes between the Shenandoah and the forest-zone 
 which girdles the mountain's base has been described. 
 The whole space was here occupied with smooth fields of 
 waving clover and wheat, divided by the zigzag wooden 
 fences of the country. Near the edge of the forest stood 
 the ample villa of General Lewis, surrounded by substantial 
 barns, and stables, and orchards ; while a lane, enclosed 
 by a double fence, led thence direct to a mill, and dweUing 
 upon the margin of the stream. This lane marked the 
 
DISPOSITION OF HIS TEOOPS. 157 
 
 basis of the enemy's line of defence. His right was sup- 
 ported upon the river, and his left upon the impenetrable 
 wood, while his centre was defended by the extensive en- 
 closures and buildings at Lewiston. Upon a hillock, just 
 at the edge of the thickets, were planted six field-pieces, 
 which commanded the road from Port Eepublic, and all 
 the fields adjacent to it. 
 
 General Jackson's plan of battle was now promptly 
 formed. He placed the Stonewall Brigade, commanded 
 by Brigadier- General Winder, in front, supported on its 
 right by one of the regiments of Brigadier -General Taylor, 
 and on its left by the 5 2d and 31st Virginia regiments. 
 The battery of Poague was posted in its front, while that 
 of Carpenter was ordered to make its way through the 
 tangled forest upon the right and find some command- 
 ing position whence they could silence the enemy's guns 
 above Lewiston. The brigade of General Taylor was also 
 sent to the right, by a detour through the woods, to capture 
 those guns, and then to turn the position of the Federalists. 
 But the almost impenetrable thickets rendered their pro- 
 gress slow, and by a slight mistake of their direction in 
 these pathless coverts, they approached the left front 
 rather than the flank of the dangerous battery. Meantime 
 the Stonewall Brigade, with its supports, had advanced 
 across the level fields, without any shelter from the ani- 
 mated fire of artillery and rifles from the orchards and 
 fences about Lewiston, and after a stubborn contest with 
 overpowering numbers, was compelled to retire, leaving 
 one six-pounder in the enemy's possession. As the Louisi- 
 ana troops emerged from the woods on the hiU-sides above, 
 
158 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 they saw with admiration the Virginians sustaining the 
 unequal combat with heroic courage, until they M^ere at 
 length forced back, their ammunition exhausted, by sheer 
 weight of numbers. The Federalists now advanced from 
 their cover, with loud and taunting cheers, pierced the 
 centre of Jackson's feeble line, and threatened to throw 
 , back the fugiti-^cs against the river which was upon their 
 left, and thus to cut them off from retreat. But the regi- 
 ments of Taylor, nothing daunted, charged the Federal 
 battery, and driving the supports away, seized the six 
 guns, which they held for a short time. General EweU, 
 who had now passed the whole of his division across the 
 South River, was also hurrying to the front. He had just 
 placed the 44th and 58th Virginia Eegiments, as a reserve, 
 on the right of the roadway, and fronting towards it, 
 under cover of the wood. Seeing Winder forced back, and 
 two brigades of the enemy impetuously advancing through 
 the Confederate centre, he now most opportunely launched 
 the two regiments against their iiank, and poured in a 
 galling fire. The Federalists wheeled and confronted 
 them, and, after a furious conflict, forced them back also 
 with heavy loss. Bat a saving diversion had been made. 
 The attack of Taylor upon their left had silenced their 
 artillery for the time, and placed him far in rear of their 
 advancing lines. The indefatigable Winder rallied his 
 scattered infantry, and sought new positions for the re- 
 maining guns of Poague, and for the battery of Carpenter, 
 who had now returned from his ineffectual struggle with 
 the thickets ; and the batteries of Chew, Brockenborough, 
 Courtenay, and Eains, contributed to reinstate his battle 
 
PliOGRESS OF THE CONTEST. 159 
 
 ■with such pieces as had not been crippled in the contest 
 of the pre^T-ous day. Thus the insolent foe was steadily 
 borne back toward his original position at Lewiston, and 
 the buUdings, orchards, and fences, which he occupied 
 there, were scourged by a pitiless storm of cannon-shot. 
 
 But it is time to return to General Taylor, who was left 
 in possession of the Federal battery of six guns upon the 
 right. He was now, in turn, driven from them by a 
 brigade which made a detour through the thicket and fell 
 irpon his right flank. At this critical juncture, General 
 Ewell brought up the 44:th and 58th Virginia regiments 
 to his support, which had been rallied after their bloody 
 contest on the centre, and advanced under Colonel Scott, 
 with a steadiness unexampled in volunteer troops, after 
 losses so severe as theirs. By their assistance, and that of 
 the 2d Virginia regiment from the Stonewall Brigade, 
 Taylor's attack was renewed. Twice more was the con- 
 tested battery lost and won. The Confederates, driven off 
 for a time by the enfdading fire of the enemy in the woods 
 above them, and the murderous volleys of canister in front, 
 rushed again and again to the charge ; and after the third 
 capture the prize remained in their possession, while the 
 Federahsts suUenly retired. The dead of both armies 
 were intermingled around the guns, while nearly all the 
 horses belonging to them lay slaughtered behind them. 
 
 Meantime, General Jackson perceived that the struggle 
 had become too protracted and serious to permit another 
 colhsion with Fremont that day. The brigade of General 
 Trimble, with two regiments from that of Colonel Patton, 
 were slowly retiring before him from Cross Keys toward 
 
160 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the river. At 10 o'clock a.m. a messenger was despatched 
 to them by the General, with orders to hasten their march 
 to his assistance, and to burn the bridge behind them. 
 The brigade of General Taliaferro, which had been left to 
 occupy the village, was also hurried to the front, and 
 arriving with great celerity, gave the parting volley to the 
 retreating foe. The cavalry of Ashby was now launched 
 after them, and their ilight became a rout. Nearly half of 
 an Ohio regiment were separated from their comrades by 
 General Taliaferro, and surrendered in a body ; and the 
 pursuit was continued eight miles farther by the cavalry, 
 who gathered, as spoils of war, small arms and vehicles, 
 with many prisoners. 
 
 In the battle of Port Eepublic, the Federalists had eight 
 thousand men engaged, and the Confederates three small 
 brigades of infantry, with three regiments of cavalry and 
 a superior artillery. The enemy fought with a steadiness 
 and courage unwonted, and inflicted upon the troops of 
 General Jackson a serious loss of ninety-one ofBcers and 
 men killed, and six hundred and eighty- six wounded. 
 They owed their escape from ruin only to the narrow road 
 by which they retreated, and the impenetrable wilderness 
 by which it was bordered, which made the manoeuvres of 
 cavalry impossible, and enabled a small rear- guard to 
 cover their flight successfully. It was said that General 
 Shields was fifteen miles in the rear with his reserves 
 when the battle occurred, and that the forces engaged 
 were commanded by Brigadier- General Tyler. 
 
 As the evening approached. General Jackson recalled 
 his jaded men from the pursuit, and led them by a side 
 
FEDERAL INHUMANITY. 1 6 1 
 
 way from Lewiston towards tLe mouth of Brown's Gap, iii 
 the Bh^e Eidge. As they passed the fiekl of battle on 
 their return, they saw the hills opposite to Port Republic 
 black with the troops of Fremont, who had arrived in time 
 to be impotent spectators of the flight of their friends. 
 That commander now vented his disappointed malice in 
 an act of inhumanity for which he will be execrated until 
 his name sinks into its merited oblivion. The tall wheat 
 and the tangled thickets were full of the dead and of 
 mangled wretches, difficult to be discovered, and scattered 
 over a length of three miles. A dreary and chilling rain 
 was commencing. The Confederates were busy searching 
 out and relieving the sufferers, and collecting the dead for 
 a decent burial. Many wounded men had been carried 
 into a farm-house near the river, and its surrounding 
 buildings, and the yellow flag, the sacred badge of suffer- 
 ing, was conspicuously displayed from its roof, while the 
 surgeons and chaplains were busily plying their humane 
 labours. Suddenly Fremont advanced his artillery and 
 riflemen to the heights from which General Jackson had 
 caimonaded the troops of Shields the previous day, and 
 swept the whole field, and the hospital, with a storm of 
 shot. The ambulances, with their merciful attendants, 
 were driven away, and the wounded fled precipitately 
 from their cots. The design of this outrage was obvious ; 
 it was supposed that the humanity of General Jackson 
 would prompt him to demand, by flag of truce, an unmo- 
 lested opportunity to tend the wounded ; and, on that 
 request, the Federal General designed to found a pretext 
 for claiming, in his despatches, the command of the field 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
162 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEKERAL JACKSON. 
 
 and the victory, which he knew belonged to Jackson. 
 But the latter was as clear-sighted and as determined as 
 he was humane. N'o flag of truce, no request was sent. 
 Thanks to the affectionate zeal of the soldiers, all the 
 Confederate dead and wounded had been already removed ; 
 and they were just proceeding to extend the ofiices of 
 humanity to their enemies, when this treacherous inter- 
 ruption occurred. So that the only result of Fremont's 
 savage generalship was, that his own suffering comrades 
 lay under the drenching rain until he retired to Harrison- 
 burg. By that time many had died miserably of h£emor- 
 rhage, exhaustion, and hunger, whom their generous 
 enemies would have rescued ; and not a few of their dead, 
 with some, perchance, of the mangled living, were par- 
 tially devoured by swine before their burial ! 
 
 It was. as General Jackson was returning on this day 
 from the pursuit of the routed Federalists, that he first 
 saw their diabolical explosive rifle-balls. A soldier pre- 
 sented him several, which he had found in the dust of the 
 road, unexploded. On examination they were found to 
 be composed of two pieces of lead, enclosing a cavity 
 between them, and cemented together by pressure. The 
 hollow space was filled with fulminating powder, which 
 was intended to explode by percussion upon the impact 
 of the ball against the bone of the penetrated body. Thus 
 the fragments of lead would be driven in various and 
 erratic directions through the mangled flesh, baffling the 
 surgeon's probe, and converting the wound into a mortal 
 one. 
 
 While Jackson sought a season of secure repose for his 
 
FKUITS OF THE VICTOEY. 163 
 
 overtasked men within the mountain cove of Brown's Gap, 
 Fremont made pretence of bridging the Shenandoah Eiver 
 in order to assail him again. The Confederate pickets 
 reported that on the evening of the 9th he was bringing 
 timber to the bank, and on the morning of the 10th he 
 was using it for some structure in the water. But soon 
 after, he seemed to think better of his dangerous position, 
 and disappeared from the neighbourhood. Doubtless he 
 had now learned the true condition of General Shield s's 
 army. The Confederate cavalry, under Colonel Munford, 
 crossing the river above Port Eepublic, pursued to Har- 
 risonburg, which they entered June 12 th, Fremont having 
 retired precipitately down the Valley, leaving his hospitals 
 and many arms and carriages to capture. Four hundred 
 and fifty prisoners were taken upon the field ; and the sick 
 and wounded found in the hospitals swelled the number 
 to nine hundred. One thousand small arms, and nine 
 beautiful field -pieces, with all their apparatus, fell to the 
 victors as prize of war. On the 9th of June, the loss of 
 the Federalists in killed and wounded did not much differ 
 from that of the Confederates. On the 8th the dispro- 
 portion was enormous. In front of General Trimble's 
 brigade alone, the dead were two hundred and ninety. 
 When the most moderate addition is made for the loss 
 inflicted by the terrific cannonade of the centre, and 
 the spirited skirmishing on the left of General EweU's 
 line, the whole number of Federal killed and wounded 
 cannot be placed at less than two thousand. And to 
 this agreed the testimony of the prisoners and of the 
 citizens. 
 
1G4 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 The heavy loss of the Confederates on the 9th was due 
 to the superior position occupied by the Federalists, to the 
 fact that General Shields's brigades fought better than 
 Fremont's, and to the detention of General Jackson's 
 column at the imperfect foot-bridge across South Eiver, 
 which caused his first attack to fail through deficient 
 numbers. His zeal and eagerness led him to forget that 
 no subordinates could be expected to urge their commands 
 to the field with his fiery energy ; and in this sense he 
 required them to undertake too much. If there had been 
 no bridge, and the infantry had Ijeeu required to ford the 
 summer stream in dense columns, so as to reach the field 
 more simultaneously, the victory would have been more 
 promptly and cheaply won. Again, if the Louisiana brigade 
 of General Taylor had been more accurately directed by 
 its guides, through the tangled wilderness to the right of 
 the battle-field, so as to strike the rear of the enemy's 
 left, as was the purpose of their commander, instead of 
 their left front ; and if they had arrived at the moment of 
 the front attack by Brigadier-General "Winder, in place of 
 appearing after he was repulsed, the army of Shields would 
 have been destroyed. For, just below Lewiston, the cham- 
 paign suddenly terminates, the hill-side thickets approach 
 the river-bank, and to the mouth of the single narrow 
 woodland track, by which the Federalists must have all 
 retreated. General Taylor would have been nearer than 
 they ; while he would have commanded their approach to 
 it from a superior and a sheltered position. The discom- 
 fited enemy, thus arrested on the one side, and driven on 
 the other by the whole weight of the Confederate army. 
 
THE TROOPS ENCAMP. 165 
 
 into the neck of such a funnel, would have been crushed 
 to pieces. Such was Jackson's masterly plan ; natural 
 obstacles, and the mistakes of some subordinates, caused 
 the performance to fall short of it. 
 
 But enough was accomplished to cover General Jackson 
 with a blaze of glory. Fifteen days before he was a hun- 
 dred miles from his base, with a little army of fifteen 
 thousand men, while forty thousand enemies were on his 
 immediate front and flanks. Now, he was disembarrassed 
 of them all, with a loss of not more than one thousand 
 five hundred men ; while two armies, whose aggregate 
 was double his own, were flying from him, C[uivering with 
 disaster, leaving his vict(jrious hands full of trophies. 
 From this hour doubt and detraction were silenced ; he 
 stood forth as a general of transcendent abilities. His 
 mere name, henceforth, brought assurance of triumph to 
 his friends, and panic to his enemies. "Within forty days 
 he had marched four hundred miles, fought four pitched 
 battles, — defeating four separate armies, — with numerous 
 combats and skirmishes, sent to the rear three thousand 
 five hundred prisoners, killed and wounded a still larger 
 number of the enemy, and defeated or neutralized forces 
 three times as numerous as his own, upon his proper 
 theatre of war, besides the corps of ]\['Dowell, which was 
 rendered inactive at Fredericksburg by the fear of his 
 prowess. 
 
 On the 1 2th of June, before the dawn, the army were 
 marched out from their confined and uneasy bivouac in 
 Brown's Gap to the plains of j\Iount Meridian, upon the 
 middle fork of the Shenandoah, a few miles above Port 
 
166 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 Eepublic. The two days' rain was now succeeded by the 
 brilliant suns and genial warmth of June. The troops 
 were encamped in a range of woodland groves between 
 the two rivers, surrounded with the verdure of early sum- 
 mer, and the luxuriant wheat-fields whitening for the 
 harvest. In this smiling paradise they solaced themselves 
 five days for their fatigues, the men reposing under the 
 shade, or bathing in the sparkling waters of the Shenan- 
 doah, and the horses feeding in the abundant pastures. 
 The Saturday following the battle was proclaimed by 
 General Jackson as a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and 
 all the troops were called to join with their general and 
 their chaplains, in praises to God for his deliverances. 
 The next day a general communion was observed in the 
 3d Virginia brigade, at which the Lord's Supper was 
 dispensed, ' in the wood, to a great company of Christian 
 soldiers from all the army. At this solemnity the General 
 was present as a worshipper, and modestly participated 
 with his men in the sacred feast. The quiet diffidence 
 with which he took the least obtrusive place, and received 
 the sacred emblems from the hands of a regimental chap- 
 lain, was in beautiful contrast with the majesty and autho- 
 rity of his bearing in the crisis of battle. 
 
 The follov/ing brief extract from his correspondence with 
 his wife exhibits the same humble and devout temper, 
 which ever characterized him : — 
 
 "Neae Weik's Cave, June \ith. 
 
 " Our God has thrown His shield over me in the various 
 apparent dangers to which I have been exposed. This 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 167 
 
 evening we have religious services in the army, for the 
 purpose of rendering thanks to the Most High for the 
 victories with which He has crowned our arms ; and my 
 earnest prayer is that our ever kind heavenly Father will 
 continue to crown our arms with success, until our in- 
 dependence shall, through His Divine blessing, be estab- 
 lished." 
 
1G8 LIFE OF LIEUT. - GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 THE EICHMOND CAMPAIGN. 
 
 After the victory of Winchester in iNIay, General 
 Jackson had requested his friend, Hon. A. 11. Boteler, to 
 represent to the authorities near Eichmond liis desire for 
 reinforcements, that he might carry tlie war toward the 
 Federal Capital. " Tell them," said he, " that I have now 
 fifteen thousand men ; I should have forty thousand, and 
 with them I would invade the North." "When this mes- 
 sage was delivered to General Lee, the Commander-in- 
 Chief, he replied, " But he must help me to drive these 
 people away from Eichmond first." Thus it appears tliat 
 his sagacious mind had already formed the design of con- 
 centrating the army of Jackson with his own, in order to 
 take the aggressive against JM'Clellan. Had the battle of 
 Port Eepublic been a disaster, this would have been im- 
 possible, and Eichmond would probably have fallen into 
 the hands of the assailants. As soon as the news of Jack- 
 son's victory there was received in Eichmond, it was judged 
 that the proper time had arrived for the great movement. 
 To make it successful, it was necessary to mask Jackson's 
 removal from the Valley, lest his enemies, lately defeated, 
 should assail some vital point, and to continue the diver - 
 
EXPEDIENT TO DECEIVE THE ENEMY. 169 
 
 siou of General JM'Dowell's army from a union with 
 M'Clellan. To farther these objects, a strong detach- 
 ment, consisting of the brigades of Whiting, Hood, and 
 Lawton, which made an aggregate of seven thousand men, 
 was sent to Jackson by tlie way of Lyncliburg and Char- 
 lottesville. It was so arranged that the captives from 
 Port Eepublic on their way to the military prisons of 
 Eichmond should meet all these troops upon the road, and 
 on their arrival there. General Lee dismissed the officers 
 amoug them upon parole. He knew that they would 
 hasten to Washington and report what they had seen. 
 The report of General il'Clellan reveals the success of 
 the expedient. He states that the answer made by Mr. 
 Lincoln to the next of his repeated requests for the co- 
 operation of General M'Dowell, was the following : that 
 he could Dot now need that aid, inasmuch as the army of 
 General Lee was weakened by fifteen thousand men just 
 sent to General Jackson, and the dangers of Washington 
 City were to the same extent increased (the Federal 
 officers, with their customary exaggeration, had doubled 
 the number of Jackson's reinforcements). 
 
 He meanwhile was deceiving the enemy in the Valley 
 with equal adroitness. As soon as Colonel INIunford 
 established his cavalry at Harrisonburg, he sent him 
 orders to arrest all transit up and down the Valley, and 
 even to limit the communication between his own troops 
 on the outposts and the Confederate infantry to the nar- 
 rowest possible bounds, so that no intelligence might steal 
 through to the enemy. He also instructed him to press 
 his outposts with energy against those of the enemy, and 
 
170 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 to drive him as far below as practicable. He desired thus 
 to produce in Fremont the persuasion that the whole Con- 
 federate army was about to advance upon him, to improve 
 its victory in that direction. Last, he requested Colonel 
 Munford to do all in his power by other means to foster this 
 belief. Opportunity was already provided for carrying out 
 this order. As the advance of the Confederates pressed 
 toward Fremont, they met, twelve miles north of Harri- 
 sonburg, a Federal flag of truce in the hands of a major, 
 followed by a long train of surgeons and ambulances 
 bringing a demand for the release of their wounded men. 
 Colonel Munford had required the train to pause at his 
 outposts, and had brought the major, with one surgeon, to 
 his quarters at Harrisonburg, where he entertained them 
 with military courtesy until their request was answered 
 by the commanding General. He found them full of boasts 
 and arrogance : they said that the answer to their flag was 
 exceedingly unimportant, because Fremont and Shields 
 were about to effect a junction, when they would recover 
 by force all they had lost, and teach Jackson a lesson 
 which would cure his audacity. When Colonel Munford 
 received the instructions we have mentioned, he called for 
 Mr. William Gilmer of Albemarle, a gentleman of infinite 
 spirit and humour, who was serving with his young kins- 
 man as an amateur trooper, and gave him his cue. He 
 silently left the village, but presently returned in very 
 different fashion, as an orderly, with despatches from 
 General Jackson and from Staunton. With an ostenta- 
 tious clanking of spurs and sabre, he ascended to Colonel 
 Munford's quarters, and knocked in a hurried manner. 
 
FEDEEAL FLAG OF TRUCE. 1 7 1 
 
 " Come in/' said the gallant Colonel. " And what answer 
 do you bring, orderly, from General Jackson?" At this 
 word the Yankee officers in the adjoining chamber were 
 heard stealthily approaching the partition for the purpose 
 of eavesdropping. ""Why,"' said Gilmer, "the General 
 laughed at the demand for the surrender of the wounded 
 prisoners. He has no notion of it." " Do you bring any 
 good news ?" asked the Colonel. " Glorious news," he 
 answered. " The road from Staunton this way is chock- 
 full of soldiers, cannon, and waggons, come to reinforce 
 Jackson in his march down the Valley. There is General 
 Wloiting, General Hood, General Lawton, and General 
 I-don't-know-who. I never saw so many soldiers and 
 cannon together in my life. People say there are thirty 
 thousand of them." After a few such questions and 
 answers, framed for the edification of the eavesdroppers, 
 Colonel Munford dismissed him, and he descended, to 
 fill the hotel and the town with his glorious news. The 
 whole place was speedily in a blaze of joy and excitement. 
 Citizens came to offer supplies for the approaching hosts ; 
 and bullocks, flour, and bacon were about to be collected 
 for them in delighted haste. After leaving his guests to 
 digest their contraband news for several hours. Colonel 
 Munford at length sent for them, and told them that he 
 had a reply from his General, respectfully declining to 
 accede to their request ; so that nothing now remained 
 but to send them back to their friends in the same honour 
 and safety in which they had come. They departed much 
 humbler, and, as they imagined, much wiser men. He 
 pushed his advance soon after them to New Market ; and 
 
172 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 upon their arrival at the quarters of General Fremont 
 near j\Iount Jackson, the Federal army precipitately broke 
 up its camp, and retreated to Strasbourg, where they began 
 busily to fortify themselves. The Confederate cavalry 
 then drew a cordon of pickets across the country just 
 above them, so strict that the befooled enemy never learned 
 General Jackson's -^vhole army was not on his front until 
 he discovered it by the disasters of M'Clellan. 
 
 The larger part of the reinforcements sent from Pdch- 
 mond had halted near Staunton. On the evening of Jime 
 17th, General Jackson began to move his troops from 
 ]\fonnt Jferidian, and leaving orders with his staff to send 
 away the remainder the next morning, he went to the 
 town to set the new brigades in motion. Xo man in the 
 whole army knew whither it was going. General Ewell, 
 the second in command, was only instructed to move 
 towards Charlottesville, and the rest were only ordered 
 to follow him. Two marches brought them to the neigh- 
 bourhood of the latter town, Avhere General Jackson re- 
 joined them, and confiding to his chief of staff the direction 
 of his movement, with strict injunctions of secrecy, de- 
 parted by railroad to hold a preluninary conference with 
 General Lee in Eichmond. He directed that an advanced 
 guard of cavalry should precede the army continually, and 
 prohibit all persons, whether citizens or soldiers, from 
 passing before them toward Eichmond. A rear-guard was 
 to prevent all stragglmg backward, and when they en- 
 camped, all lateral roads were to be guarded, to prevent 
 communication between the army and country. 
 
 But on reaching GordonsviUe, whither the brigade of 
 
VISITS EICHMOND. 173 
 
 General Lawton had gone by railroad, lie was arrested 
 for a day by a groundless rumour of the approach of the 
 enemy from the Rappahannock. Then, resuming the 
 direction of the troops, he proceeded to a station called 
 Frederickshall, fifty miles from Eichmond, where he 
 arrested his march to give the army its Sabbath rest. No 
 General knew better than he how to employ the trans- 
 portation of a railroad in combination with the marching 
 of an army. While the burthen trains forwarded his 
 stores, he caused the passenger trains to proceed to the 
 rear of his line of march, which was chosen near the rail- 
 I'oad, and take up the hindmost of his brigades. These 
 were forwarded, in a couple of hours, a whole day's march ; 
 when they were set clown, and the trains returned again 
 to take up the hindmost, and give them a like assistance. 
 
 After a quiet Sabbath, the General rose at 1 o'clock 
 A.M., and mounting a horse, rode express with a single 
 courier, to Eichmond. A few miles from his quarters, 
 a pleasing evidence of the fidelity of his pickets was pre- 
 sented to him. He endeavoured to pass this outpost, first 
 as an officer on military business, and then as an officer 
 bearing important intelligence for General Lee. But the 
 guard was inexorable, and declared that his instructions 
 from General Jackson especially prohibited him to pass 
 army men as well as citizens. The utmost he would con- 
 cede was, that the captain commanding the picket should 
 be called, and the appeal made to him. When he came, 
 he recognised his General, who, praising the soldier for 
 his obedience to instructions, bound them both to secrecy 
 touching his journey. Having held the desired interview 
 
174 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 with the Commander-in-Chief, he returned the next day 
 to the line of march pursued by his troops, and led them, 
 the evening of June 25th, to the village of Ashland, twelve 
 miles north of Eichmond. 
 
 To understand the subsequent uarrative, the reader 
 must have a brief explanation of the position of the two 
 great armies. The Chickahominy Eiver, famous for the 
 adventures and capture of Captain John Smith, in the 
 childhood of Virginia, is a sluggish stream of fifteen yards' 
 width, which flows parallel to the James, and only five 
 miles north of Eichmond. It is bordered by extensive 
 meadows, which degenerate in many places into marshes, 
 and its bed is miry and treacherous ; so that it constitutes 
 an obstacle to the passage of armies far more formidable 
 than its insignificant width would indicate. During this 
 year, especially, the excessive rains and repeated freshets 
 had converted its little current into an important stream, 
 its marshes into lakes, and its rich, level cornfields into 
 bogs. But at the distance of half a mile from the channel, 
 the country on each side rises into undulating hills, with 
 farms interspersed irregularly among the tracts of forest, 
 and the coppices of young pine, General M'Clellan, 
 taking his departure from the White House on the Pa- 
 munkey, and using the York Eiver Eailroad as his line of 
 supply, had pressed his vast army to the east and north 
 of Eichmond. Its two wings placed like the open jaws of 
 some mighty dragon, the one on the north and the other 
 on the south side of the Cliickahominy, almost embraced 
 the north-east angle of the city. To connect them with 
 each other he had constructed three or four elaborate 
 
FEDERAL POSITION BEFOEE RICHMOND. 175 
 
 bridges across the stream, with causeways leading to them, 
 and along the length of the valley, by which he hoped to 
 defy both mire and floods. On both sides his front was 
 so fortified with earthworks, abatis, and heavy artiUery, 
 that they could not be assailed, save with cruel loss. 
 These works, on his left, were extended to the front of the 
 battle-field of Seven Pines, and on his right to the hamlet 
 of Mechanicsville ; which, seated upon the north bank of 
 the Chickahominy, six miles from Eichmond, commanded 
 the road thence to Hanover Court- House. 
 
 The Confederate army, now under the immediate order 
 of General Eobert E. Lee, confronted JM'Clellan, and 
 guarded the course of the Chickahominy as high as the 
 half sink farm, north-west of Eichmond, where Brigadier- 
 General Branch, of Major-General A. P. Hill's division, 
 was stationed within a few miles of Ashland. General 
 Lee, after the battle of Seven Pines, had fortified his front, 
 east of Eichmond, in order that a part of his forces might 
 hold the defensive against the Federal army ; while, with 
 the remainder, he attempted to turn its flank north of the 
 Chickahominy. To test the practicability of this grand 
 enterprise, and to explore a way for General Jackson's 
 proposed junction, he had caused General J. E. B. Stuart, 
 of the cavalry, to make his famous reconnaissance of the 
 12th of June; in which that daring officer had marched 
 a detachment of cavalry from north to south around 
 M'Clellan's whole rear, and had discovered that it was 
 unprotected by works, or by proper disposition of forces, 
 against the proposed attack. 
 The conception of the Commander- in- Chief is thus de- 
 
176 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 veloped in his own general order of battle, communicated 
 to General Jackson. He was to march from Ashland on 
 the 25th of June, to encamp for the night, west of the 
 Central Eailroad, and to advance at three a.m., on the 
 26th, and turn the enemy's works at Mechanicsville, and 
 on Beaver-Dam Creek, a stream flowing into the Chicka- 
 hominy a mile in the rear of that hamlet, where he had a 
 powerful reserve entrenched. ^Major-General A. P. Hill 
 was to cross the Chickahominy, to the north side, at the 
 meadow bridges, above Mechanicsville, and associating to 
 himself Branch's brigade, which was to advance so soon as 
 the march of General Jackson opened a way for it, was to 
 sweep down against the enemy's right. As soon as the 
 Mechanicsville bridge should be uncovered, Longstreet 
 and D. H. Hill were to cross, the latter to proceed to the 
 support of Jackson, and the former to that of A. P. HiU. 
 The four commands were directed to sweep down the 
 north side of the Chickahominy, toward the York Eiver 
 Eailroad ; Jackson on the left and in advance, Longstreet 
 nearest the river and in the rear. Huger and Magrudei 
 were to hold their positions south of the Chickahominy 
 against any assault of the enemy, to observe him closely, 
 and to follow him should he retreat. General Stuart, with 
 his cavalry, was thrown out on Jackson's left, to guard his 
 flank, and give notice of the enemy's movements. 
 
 Tlie evening of June 25th found the army of General 
 Jackson a few miles short of their appointed goal — at 
 Ashland — instead of the line of the Central Eailroad. 
 The difficulties of handling so large a force with inexperi- 
 enced subordinates, concurred with tlie loss of the bridges 
 
HIS ARMY AT ASHLAND. 177 
 
 on his direct line of march (lately burned by order of the 
 Federalists) to delay him thus much. No commander 
 ever sympathized more fully -n'ith the spirit of ISTapoleon's 
 answer, when he replied to one of his marshals, in view 
 of a similar combination of his armies for a great battle, 
 " Ask me for anything but time." Jackson's ardent soul, 
 on fire A^ith the grandeur of the ojjerations before him, 
 and with delight in their boldness and wisdom, and chaf- 
 ing at the delays of blundering and incompetent agents, 
 forbade rest or sleep for him on this important night. 
 He deliberately devoted the whole of it to the review of 
 his preparations, and to prayer. Eations were to be dis- 
 tributed and prepared by the men for three days. The 
 leaders of the different divisions, encamped around Ash- 
 land, were to be instructed in their routes, so that the 
 several commands might take their places in the column 
 without confusion or delay. After all his staff were dis- 
 missed for a short repose, he stiU. paced his chamber in 
 anxious thought, or devoted to wrestling with God the 
 intervals between the visits of his officers. In the small 
 hours of the night, two of the commanders of divisions 
 came to suggest that he should move the army by two 
 columns, on parallel roads, instead of by one. He listened 
 respectfully, but requested that they would await his 
 decision until morning. When they left liim the one 
 said to the other, " Do you know why General Jackson 
 would not decide upon our suggestion at once ? It was 
 because he has to pray over it, before he makes up his 
 mind." A moment after, the second returned to Jackson's 
 quarters to fetch his sword, which he had forgotten ; and, 
 VOL. n. M 
 
178 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 as he entered, found him upon his knees ! praying doubt- 
 less for Omniscient guidance in all his responsible duties, 
 for his men, and for his country. 
 
 ISTotwithstanding his efforts, the army did not move until 
 after sunrise ; when, all being ready, it advanced in gallant 
 array toward the south-east, crossed the Central Eailroad, 
 and, meeting here and there the vigilant cavalry of General 
 Stuart, which came in from the left at the cross-roads, 
 approached the Pole-Green church — a century before sanc- 
 tified by the eloquence of the Eev. Samuel Davies— atfour 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Jackson was now abreast of the 
 enemy's right flank at Mechanicsville, and but a few miles 
 north of it. Between him and the church was the Tot- 
 topottamoy, a little stream which still bears its Indian 
 title. The pickets of M'Clellan occupied the opposite 
 bank, and had destroyed the light wooden bridge, and 
 obstructed the road beyond with prostrate trees. The 
 Texan brigade of Hood, which was in front, deployed a 
 few skirmishers, who speedily cleared the opposing bank 
 with their unerring rifles ; and the wood beyond was 
 shelled by one of Whiting's batteries while the bridge was 
 rapidly repaired. This initial cannonade was intended to 
 subserve the additional purpose of a signal, by which the 
 Confederates before Mechanicsville might be advertised of 
 his presence. 
 
 For many hours the brigades of A. P. Hill had been 
 patiently awaiting the expected sound before the enemy's 
 works. They now pressed forward, and a furious cannonade 
 opened on both sides. General Hill, supported by Eipley's 
 brigade, of D. H. Hill's division, speedily carried the little 
 
THE SEVEN DAYS FIGHT. 179 
 
 village, with the field-works and camp of the enemy, 
 while the latter retired a mile to the eastward, to their 
 stronger lines upon Beaver-Dam Creek. Jackson's ad- 
 vance would in due time have turned this position, as it 
 had ^lechanicsviUe, and would thus have given to the two 
 Hills an easy conquest ; but the presence of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief and the President of the Confederate 
 States upon the field, with their urgency that the place 
 should be carried without delay, impelled them to the 
 attack. The heroic troops pressed up to the stream, and 
 held the nearer brink throughout the niglrt, but could 
 efl'ect no lodgement within the hostile works ; and thus, at 
 nine o'clock, the cannonade died away, and the opposing 
 forces lay down upon their arms, after a bloody and useless 
 struggle. As General Jackson's forces passed the Pole- 
 Green church, and went into camp a little below, at 
 Hundley's Corner, the sound of the guns and the roar of the 
 musketry told them that the gigantic struggle had begun. 
 Thus opened the seven days' tragedy before Eichmond. 
 The demeanour of its citizens during the evening of June 
 26th, gave an example of their courage, and their faith 
 in their leaders and their cause. For many weeks, the 
 Christians of the city had given themselves to prayer; 
 and they drew from heaven a sublime composure. The 
 spectator passing through the streets saw the people 
 calmly engaged in their usual avocations, or else wend- 
 ing their waj' to the churches, while the thunders of the 
 cannon shook the city. As the calm summer evening 
 descended, the family groups were seen sitting upon their 
 door-steps, where mothers told the children at their knees. 
 
180 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSOF. 
 
 how Lee and his heroes were now driving away the in- 
 vaders. The young people promenaded the heights north 
 of the town, and watched the distant shells bursting 
 against the sky. At one church, a solemn cavalcade 
 stood waiting ; and if the observer had entered, saying to 
 himself, " This funeral reminds me that Death claims all 
 seasons for his own, and refuses to postpone his dread 
 rites for any inferior horrors," he would have found a 
 bridal before the altar. The heart of old Eome was not 
 more assured and steadfast, when she sold at full price in 
 her Foruvi the fields on which the %'ictorious Carthaginian 
 was encamped. 
 
 During the night, detachments of the enemy approached 
 General Jackson's camp at Hundley's Corner, but were 
 checked by Brockenborough's battery, and the 1st ilary- 
 land, 13th Virginia, and 6th Louisiana regiments. At an 
 early liour the troops were put in motion, and speedily 
 crossed the higher streams of the Beaver-Dam, thus turn- 
 ing the right of the enemy's position. The way was now 
 opened by their retreat for the advance of General D. H. 
 Hill, who, crossing Jackson's line of march, passed to hi.s 
 front and left. The evacuation of the lines of Beaver- 
 Dam also soon followed. At the dawn of day, the contest 
 between the Federal artillery there, and that of General 
 A. P. Hill, had been resumed ; but perceiving the divisions 
 of General Jackson approaching their rear, the enemy re- 
 treated precipitately down the Chickahominy towards Cold 
 Harbour, pursued by Generals A. P. Hill and Longstreet, 
 burning vast quantities of army stores, and deserting 
 many iminjured. As General Jackson approached Wahiut 
 
MAECHES TO COLD HAEBOUE. 181 
 
 rirove Church, he met the Commander-ih Chief; and 
 while he halted his column to l■ecei^"e his final instructions 
 from him, the gallant division of A. P. Hill filed past in as 
 perfect array as though they had Leen unscathed of battle. 
 General Lee presuming that the FederaUsts would continue 
 to withdraw, if overpowered, toward the York Eiver Rail- 
 road and the AVliite House, directed General Jackson to 
 proceed, with General D. H. Hill, to a point a few miles 
 north of Cold Harbour, and thence to march to that place, 
 and strike their line of retreat. Two roads led thither, 
 the one direct, the other circuitous. The latter, which 
 passed first eastward, and then southward, was the one 
 which offered the desired route for General Jackson ; for 
 thii former would ha,yb conducted him to ground in the 
 rear of the retreating army, already occupied by General 
 A. P. Hill. Gyueral Jackson had selected young men of 
 the ^•icinage, found in a company of cavaliy near him, for 
 guides. '\Mien he asked them the road to Cold Harbour, 
 his habitual reticence, in this instance too stringent, with- 
 held all explanation of his strategic designs. They there- 
 fore naturally pointed him to the direct and larger road 
 as the route to Cold Harbour. After marching for a mile 
 and a half, the booming of camion in his front caught 
 his ear, and he demanded sharply of the guide near him, 
 " Where is that firing ?" The reply was, that it was in 
 the direction of Gaines's ilill. " Does this road lead 
 there ?" he asked. The guide told him that it led by 
 Gaines's Mill to Cold Harbour. " But," exclaimed he, " I 
 do not wish to go to Gaines's Alill. I wish to go to Cold 
 Harbour, leaving that place to the right." " Then,'' said 
 
182 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the guide, " the left-hand road was the one which should 
 have been taken ; and had you let me know what you de- 
 sired, I could have directed you aright at first." Nothing 
 now remained but to reverse the column, and return to thp 
 proper track. It was manifest that an hour of precious 
 time must be lost in doing this, while the accelerated 
 firing told that the battle was thickening in the front, 
 and every heart trembled with the anxious fear lest the 
 irreparable hour should be lost by the delay. But Jackson 
 bore the same calm and assured countenance, and when 
 this fear was suggested to him, he replied, "No, let us 
 trust that the providence of our God ^^•ill so overrule it, 
 that no mischief shall result." Nor was he mistaken in 
 this confidence ; for the time thus allowed to General D. 
 H. Hill enabled him to reach the desired point of meetiDg 
 north of Cold Harbour, just in front of Jackson, and 
 brought them into precise conjunction. They then turned 
 to the right, and moved directly toward the supposed 
 position of the enemy, with the division of Hill in front, 
 followed by those of Ewell, Wliiting, and Jackson, in the 
 order of their enumeration. After passing Cold Harbour, 
 and arresting at that spot a few Federal carriages, they 
 perceived the enemy about a half mile southward, drawn 
 up in battle array, and fronting to the north. General 
 Jackson, with a numerous suite, rode forward to observe 
 their position ; and, at his suggestion, a battery from Hill's 
 division was posted opposite to them. But before they 
 began to fire, several Federal batteries opened upon them 
 a furious cannonade, by which the Generals were speedily 
 driven to a distant part of the field, and the Confederate 
 
UNCERTAINTY. 183 
 
 giins were silenced, after a gallant but unequal contest of 
 half an hour. 
 
 It was now two o'clock in the afternoon. The firing 
 west of Cold Harbour told that General A. P. Hill was 
 fully engaged with the enemy there. In fact, he was 
 fighting single-handed the whole centre of the opposing 
 host. For a time, General Jackson held his troops back 
 in the margm of the woods looking toward the highway, 
 and along the line of their march, in the hope that the 
 enemy, retreating before Generals A. P. Hill and Long- 
 street, would expose their flank to a crushing blow from 
 him. But the firing on his right began evidently to recede, 
 showing that Hill, instead of driving the savage game 
 into his toils, was giving way before their overpowering 
 numbers. He then determined to bring his whole infantry 
 into action. Assigning to General D. H. Hill the extreme 
 left, he placed General Ewell's division next him, and 
 sent orders to Generals Whiting and Lawton, and to the 
 Brigadiers of his own original division, which brought up 
 the rear, to form for battle along the road by which they 
 were marching, and then moving in Echelon, beginning on 
 the left, to feel for the position of the enemy and engage 
 him. The topography was unknown to Jackson and to his 
 subordinates, the forests forbade a connected view of the 
 country, and no time was left for reconnaissances. Nothing 
 remained, therefore, but to move toward the firing, and 
 engage the foe wherever he was found. 
 
 The expectations that the Federalists would continue 
 their retreat, when hard pressed, toward the White House, 
 was erroneous. Their commander proposed to himself 
 
184 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 another expedient : to concentrate his troops on the sonth 
 of the Chickahominy, and relinquishing his connexions 
 with the York Pdver, to open for himself communications 
 with the Piiver James below Eichmond, now accessible 
 to his fleets up to Drewry's Bluffs, Accordingly, his 
 present purpose was to stand at bay upon the northern 
 bank of the former stream, until he could withdraw his 
 troops across it in safety. He chose, for this end, a 
 strong position, covering two of his military bridges, and 
 confronting with a convex array, the Confederates who 
 threatened him from the north and west. His right or 
 eastern wing occupied an undulating plateau, protected 
 in front by thickets of pine and the rude fences of the 
 country, and presenting numerous commanding positions 
 for artillery. In front of that wing a sluggish rivulet 
 speedily degenerating into a marsh, thick-set with briers 
 and brushwood, stretched away to the east, affording a 
 seeming protection to that flank. An interval of a few 
 hundred yards in front of his right was unprotected by 
 any such obstruction ; but the fields were here swept by 
 a. powerful artillery. And as his line passed westward, 
 another rivulet commenced its course, and flowed in front 
 of his whole centre and left wing, in an opposite direction 
 to the first, until, merging itself into Powhite Creek, it 
 passed into the Chickahominy above. His centre was en- 
 veloped in a dense forest, which, with the marshy stream 
 in front, precluded the use of artillery by the assailants. 
 His left was posted in a belt of woodland, which descended 
 with a steep inclination from the plateau to a deep and 
 narrow gully, excavated for itself by the rivulet. Three 
 
DISPOSITION OF FOKCES. 185 
 
 formidable lines of infantry held this hill-side, the first 
 hidden in the natiiral ditch at its bottom, the second 
 behind a strong barricade of timber a little above, and the 
 third near the top. The brow of the eminence was crowned 
 with numerous batteries, which, screened by the narrow 
 zone of trees, commanded every approach to the position. 
 Last, a number of heavy rifled cannon upon the heights 
 south of the Chickahominy protected the extreme left, 
 and threatened to enfilade any troops advancing across 
 the open coimtry to the attack. These formidable disposi- 
 tions were only disclosed to the Confederates by their 
 actual onset, so that manoeuvre was excluded, and the 
 only resort was to stubborn courage and main force. And 
 it was only on General Jackson's extreme left that the 
 Confederate artillery could find any position from which 
 the enemy could be reached effectively. The front upon 
 which these two great armies were to contend was less than 
 three miles in extent. Hence, as the brigades of Long- 
 street and A. P. Hill from the Confederate right, and of D. 
 H. Hill and Jackson from the left, moved into the combat 
 on convergent radii, they formed, in many places, an order 
 of battle two or three lines deep ; and those first engaged 
 were supported by those which arrived later. 
 
 The road along which General Jackson drew up his 
 line for battle, made with the enemy's front an angle of 
 forty or fifty degrees. Hence, the troops toward the right 
 had the longer arc to traverse, in reaching the scene of 
 combat, and all were required to incline toward their left, 
 in order to confront the enemy. General D. H. Hill, on 
 the Confederate left, moved first, and was soon furiously 
 
1 86 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 engaged. For two or three hours he struggled with the 
 enemy with wavering fortunes, unable to rout them, but 
 winning some ground, which he stubbornly held against a 
 terrible artillery and musketry fire. General Ewell moved 
 next, with one brigade upon the left and two upon the 
 right of the road which led from Gaines's Mill toward the 
 Federal left. Crossing the marsh, he ascended the oppos- 
 ing hill-side, and engaged the enemy in the forest. Before 
 their terrific fire, General Elzey, commanding his left 
 brigade, fell severely wounded, and Colonel Seymour, 
 commanding the Louisiana brigade of Taylor, was slain. 
 Whole regiments were killed, wounded, or scattered under 
 this leaden tempest ; but still their dauntless General 
 rallied his fainting men, repaired his line, and held all his 
 ground against the double and triple lines of the enemy; 
 iintil, just as his ammunition was exhausted, welcome 
 succours arrived under General Lawton. 
 
 One cause of delay in the arrival of the remaining 
 troops lias already been seen, in the larger space which 
 they were required to pass over in order to reach the 
 enemy. Another, and a more dangerous one, arose out of 
 a fatal misconception of General Jackson's orders by his 
 messenger. Communicating to all the commanders in the 
 rear of Ewell the plan for their advance, he had concluded 
 by instructing them to await further orders before engag- 
 ing the enemy! But another officer of the staff, com- 
 prehending better the General's true intentions, and the 
 urgency of the occasion, corrected the error, and at length 
 moved the remaining brigades into action. Their leaders 
 could learn nothing of the country, to which they were all 
 
D. H. HILL ENGAGES A BA.TTEKY. 187 
 
 strangers ; and their movements were partially concealed 
 from each other by the numerous tracts of coppice and forest. 
 Hence, instead of advancing toward the enemy in parallel 
 lines, they unconsciously crossed each other ; and several 
 of them, at last, went into action far aside from the points 
 at which they were expected to strike. But the providence 
 of that God to whom their General ever looked, guided 
 them aright to the places wliere their aid was most essential 
 The Stonewall Brigade, under General Winder, was 
 next the last in the line of march, and should therefore 
 have formed almost the extreme right of General Jackson's 
 battle. Their General, so soon as he comprehended the 
 error of the instructions which held him inactive, ad- 
 vanced with chivalrous zeal. But his neighbours on the 
 left, with whom he should have connected his right, 
 having already passed out of sight in the thickets, he had 
 no other guide than the din of the battle. Feeling his way 
 rapidly toward this, he passed transversely from right to 
 left, across the ground over which the corps had already 
 swept, and found himself behind the struggling line of 
 D. H. HilL This indomitable soldier was just devising, 
 with his two Brigadiers, Garland and Anderson, upon his 
 left, a daring movement, to break the stubborn resistance 
 of the Federalists. Garland proposed to swing around 
 their extreme right with his brigade ; and, taking them in 
 reverse, to charge with the bayonet, while the rest of the 
 division renewed their attack in front. One formidable 
 obstacle existed : a hostile battery at that extremity of the 
 field threatened* to enfilade his ranks while marching to 
 the attack. To obviate this danger. Hill determined to 
 
188 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 storm the battery with five regiments ; but only one— tliat 
 of Colonel Iverson, of North Carolina —arrived at it. He 
 was severely wounded; and, after ten minutes, his men were 
 driven from it by overpowering numl lers ; but this interval, 
 during which its guns were silenced, v.'as decisive. For, 
 meantime, Winder had advanced tlie famed Stonewall 
 Brigade in perfect order ; had rallied to him all the shat- 
 tered regiments of Elzey and Hill which he found lurking 
 under cover, or waging a defensive struggle ; and now 
 swept with an imposing line and a thundering cheer across 
 the whole plateau occupied by the enemy's right. Gar- 
 land and Anderson dashed simultaneously upon their 
 flauk ; the contested battery was in an instant captured a 
 second time, and the whole wing of the Federal army, 
 with their reinforcements, hurled back into the swamps 
 (if the Chickahominy. There they broke into a scattered 
 rabble in the approaching darkness, and crouched behind 
 the trees, or found their way across the stream to their 
 friends. This brilliant movement, with the simultaneous 
 successes upon other parts of the field, decided the day. 
 Nowhere were the panic and confusion of the beaten army 
 more utter than here. The fields which were the scene of 
 this terrific struggle composed the farms of two respectable 
 citizens, named ilaghee. The one of these farthest in the 
 Federal rear was spectator of their rout. Eegiments sent 
 over by M'Clellan to support the wavering battle were 
 seen to pause, even before they came under fire ; to break 
 without firing a musket, and to throw away their arms, 
 and fly to the swamp. As ordnance waggons and ambul- 
 ances galloped toward the scene of action, they were , 
 
THE ENEMY GIVE WAY. 189 
 
 arrested by the frantic fugitives, who snatched the animals 
 froia them, and, mounting two or three on each, fled 
 toward the bridge, leaving ammunition and wounded com- 
 rades to their fate. One officer was seen, delirious with 
 terror, with his hat in one hand, and his empty scabbard 
 in the other, screaming as he ran, " Jackson is coming ! 
 Jackson is coming!" Indeed, the baseness of the North ern 
 soldiery was shown by the fact that, throughout this battle, 
 it was usually the supporting regiments in the rear, un- 
 scathed as yet, which gave way first ; while the resistance 
 was sustained by the old United States regulars of Sykes 
 and Porter in the front. In the volunteer regiments, the 
 " will of the majority," which was usually a determination 
 to retire at the critical moment, was sometimes expressed 
 against the authority of the officers by a formal popular 
 vote. To the entreaties of their commanders their answers 
 were, " AYe're tired out fighting ;" " Got no more ammuni- 
 tion , " " Guess the rebels will be down to them bridges 
 soon." And so they broke away, and the rout was pro- 
 pagated from the rear to the front. 
 
 The two other brigades of Jackson's old division, the 
 2d and 3d A'irginia, under the lead of Colonels Cunning- 
 ham and Fulkerson, also advanced with spirit as soon as 
 they received coiTect orders. Having met messengers 
 from the Commander-in-Chief, and General A. P. Hill, 
 they obtained more correct guidance, and advanced to the 
 Confederate right. The second brigade supported Briga- 
 dier-General Pi, H. Anderson, near General Longstreet's 
 extreme right. Just as they arrived, the troops of Ander- 
 son were giving ground, momentarily before the enemy. 
 
190 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Colonel Cunningiiam proposed to take the front, and give 
 him an opportunity to re-form behind his lines ; hut the 
 gallant Carolinian insisted upon completing his own work. 
 The shout was raised, " Jackson's men are here !" and his 
 regiments answering with a cheer, rushed forward again, 
 and swept all before them, leaving to the Virginians little 
 more to do than to fire a parting volley. In like manner, 
 the third brigade reinforced the line of A. P. Hill, near the 
 centre, but only arrived in time to see the enemy give 
 way before Whiting's division, which had come earlier to 
 its help. As Colonel Fulkerson advanced to relieve these 
 wearied and decimated troops of the labours of the pur- 
 suit, the retreating enemy iired a last volley, by which he 
 was mortally wounded. In him General Jackson lost an 
 able and courageous subordinate, who had proved liimself 
 equal to every task imposed upon him. Had he lived, 
 the highest distinction must have crowned his merits ; for 
 his judgment, diligence, and talent for command were 
 equal to his heroic courage. 
 
 Just before the three original brigades of Jackson, had 
 marched tlie Georgia brigade of Lawton, nearly four 
 thousand strong. The time had now come for them to 
 fight their maiden battle. As they advanced towards the 
 enemy's centre, they unconsciously crossed the luie of 
 march just before pursued hy General ^Miiting, and pass- 
 ing under a severe fire from a battery upon the plateau 
 near Maghee's they crossed the marsh, and entered the 
 wood in rear of General Ewell, passing between two regi- 
 ments which had retired from the contest after exhausting 
 their ammunition. Here the brigade was thrown into Une, 
 
HUZZAII FOK GEORGIA ! 191 
 
 and advanced firing, -vvitli imposing force. Tlieir appear- 
 ance was most timely ; for tlie shattered remnant with 
 which Ewell still stood at Lay were firing their last rounds 
 of cartridges. As the gTim veteran saw this magnificent 
 line of thirty-five hundred bayonets sweeping through the 
 woods, he waved his sword with enthusiasm and shouted, 
 " Huzzah for Georgia !" Lawton, receiving directions from 
 him, pressed forward with a steady ad\'ance, drove the 
 enemy's centre from the woods iuto the open fields nearer 
 the river, and connecting with D. H. Hill and Winder 
 on his left, assisted them in sweeping the Federalists at 
 nightfall into the swamps. 
 
 But the most brilliant achievement of the day was re- 
 served for the division of General AVhiting, consisting of 
 the ilississippi brigade of Colonel Ijaw, and the Texan 
 brigade of General Hood. In Jackson's initial order of 
 battle, they filled the space between Ewell and Lawton, 
 thus being the third division, counting from the left. 
 Whiting, after being sorely embarrassed by the confused 
 and erroneous instructions received, was properly informed 
 of General Jackson's wishes, and put his two brigades in 
 motion. Before they had advanced far, he met the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, who directed him to the part of the field 
 held, at the beginning of the battle, by A. P. Hill. Pass- 
 ing through the forest from which this general had already 
 driven the enemy, he emerged into a broad open field in 
 front of that ravine and gully which have already been 
 described as covering the left centre and left of the Federal 
 army. Farther toward the Confederate right, Longstreet 
 was bringing up his division simultaneously, to storm this 
 
192 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON, 
 
 desperate line ; and after other brigades had recoiled, 
 broken by a fire under which it seemed impossible that 
 any troops could live, was just sending in his never-faihng 
 reserve, Pickett's veteran brigade. These troops, after 
 advancing heroically over the shattered regiments of their 
 friends, within point blank range of the triple lines before 
 them, unfortunately paused to return the fire of the con- 
 cealed enemy. The entreaties of their officers to charge 
 bayonets were unheard amidst the terrific roar of musketry. 
 It was as they stood thus, decimated at every voUey, 
 unable to advance, but too courageous to flee, that the 
 brigades of Hood and "Whiting were launched against the 
 Federal lines on the left. The charge may be best de- 
 scribed in the language of General Jackson himself : — 
 
 " Advancing thence through a number of retreating and 
 disordered regiments, he came within range of the enemy's 
 fire, who, concealed in an open wood, and protected by 
 bi'castwnrks, poured a destructive fire, for a quarter of a 
 mile, into his advancing line, under which many brave 
 officers and men fell. Dashing on with unfaltering step, 
 in the face of these murderous discharges of canister and 
 musketry, General Hood and Colonel Law, at the heads of 
 their respective brigades, rushed to the charge with a yell. 
 Moving down a precipitous ravine, leaping ditch and 
 stream, clambering up a diflicult ascent, and exposed to an 
 incessant and deadly fire from the entrenchments, these 
 brave and determined men pressed forward, driving the 
 enemy from his well- selected and fortified position. 
 
 " In this charge, in ^^'hich upwards of a thousand men 
 fell, killed and wounded, before the fire of the enemy, and 
 
BEAVEEY OF THE TEXANS. 193 
 
 in which fourteen pieces of artillery and nearly a regiment 
 were captured, the Fourth Texas, under the lead of General 
 Hood, was the first to pierce these strongholds and seize 
 the guns." . . . . " The shouts of triumph which rose from 
 our brave men as they, unaided by artillery, had stormed 
 this citadel of their strength, were promptly carried from 
 line to line, and the triumphant issue of this assault, 
 with the well-directed fire of the batteries, and successful 
 charges of Hill and "Winder upon the enemy's right, deter- 
 mined the fortunes of the day. The Federalists, routed 
 at every point, and aided by the darkness of the night, 
 escaped across the Chickahominy." 
 
 The next morning, as Jackson inspected this position, 
 and saw the deadly disadvantages under which the Texans 
 had carried it, he exclaimed, "These men are soldiers 
 indeed !" Here, and in front of Pickett's charge near by, 
 aU the Confederate dead were on the north side of the 
 gorge. Just as soon as the enemy saw them determined 
 to advance, in spite of their fire, and the first line was 
 dislodged from the channel of the rivulet in front, the 
 other two lines incontinently fled from their barricades, 
 although well able still to have repulsed the shattered 
 assailants twice over ; nor did the artillery hold their 
 ground with more firmness upon the brow of the ascent. 
 But now, as the troops of Longstreet and Whiting drove 
 the throng of their foes from cover into the open fields, 
 they speedily reaped a bloody revenge for all previous 
 losses. The Federal infantry, resigning all thought of 
 battle, fled across the fields or huddled together in the 
 open vales, where the furious Confederates mowed them 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
194 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 down by hundreds. The Federal artillery flying to another 
 position a few hundred yards in the rear, opened upon 
 retreating friends and advancing foes, distinguished nothing 
 in the gathering gloom ; and as the victors rushed upon 
 the guns again, they drove before them, as a living shield, 
 a confused herd of fugitives, whose bodies received the 
 larger part of the volleys of canister. 
 
 During the afternoon General Jackson with his escort 
 occupied a position near Cold Harbour, where five roads 
 met, in the rear of his left centre. Ignorant of the delay 
 which had kept his reserves for two hours out of the strife, 
 and of its unlucky cause, he grew more and more anxious 
 as the sun approached the horizon, and the sustained firing 
 told him that the enemy was nowhere broken. Sending 
 first for Stuart, he suggested to him a vigorous charge of 
 cavalry ; but this was relinquished as impracticable. His 
 gigantic spirit was manifestly gathering strength, and its 
 rising tides were chafing stormily against their obstacles. , 
 Eiding restlessly to and fro to the different points of in- 
 terest, he issued his orders in a voice M'hich rang with thf 
 deadly clang of the rifle, rather than the sonorous peal 
 of the clarion. Cheek and brow were blazing with the 
 crimson Ijlood, and Ijeneatli the vizor of his old drab cap, 
 his eye glared with a fire, before which every other eye 
 quailed. But a half hour of sunlight now remained. Un- 
 conscious that his veteran brigades were but now reaching 
 the ridge of battle, he supposed that all his force had been 
 put forth, and (what had never happened before) the enemy 
 was not crushed. It was then that he despatched mes- 
 sengers to all the commanders of his divisions with these 
 
DIRECTS THE PUESUIT. 195 
 
 words : " Tell them this affair must hang ui suspense no 
 longer; sweep the field with the bayonet." The officers 
 darted away with their messages ; but before they reached 
 the line the ringing cheers rising from every side out of 
 the smoking woods told that his will was anticipated, and 
 the day was won. At this sound no elation lighted up 
 his features, but subduing the tempest of his passion, he 
 rode calmly forward to direct the pursuit of the enemy. 
 
 In this battle General Jackson employed little artillery. 
 Upon his wing a few of the batteries of D. H. Hill were 
 put in action at the extreme left, with small effect at 
 first upon the enemy's fire. Later in the day Major Pel- 
 ham, of Stuart's horse-artillery, whose splendid courage 
 Jackson then first witnessed, took position in front of 
 Cold Harbour, with two guns, and engaged the Federal 
 batteries which obstructed the movements of Hill. One of 
 his pieces was speedily disabled ; but with the other he 
 continued the unequal duel to the close of the day. At 
 sunset the batteries upon the extreme left were reinforced 
 by those of Courtenay and Brockenborough. Thirty guns 
 now opened upon the retreating enemy, and contributed 
 much to his final discomfiture. 
 
 In the battle of Chickahominy the Confederates used 
 about forty thousand men, of whom twenty thousand be- 
 longed to the command of General Jackson, exclusive of 
 the division of D. H. Hill, temporarily associated with it. 
 General M'Clellan asserted that he had but thirty-six 
 thousand men engaged. The length of his triple Lines of 
 battle, and the superior numljers met by the Confederates 
 at every point, show that, if this statement was correct, it 
 
■196 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 excluded the Reserves engaged at the close of the day ; and 
 if a similar subtraction were made on the other side, their 
 numbers also would be reduced far below that amount. 
 General Lee declared that the principal part of the Federal 
 army was engaged. When it is remembered that this 
 force embraced all of their regulars, and that the adroit 
 use of the position selected by M'Clellan debarred the 
 Confederates from the employment of artillery, whUe it 
 exposed them on both wings to that powerful implement 
 of war, their victory will be received as a glorious proof of 
 their prowess. They captured twenty-five pieces of artil- 
 lery, and more than four thousand prisoners ; while the 
 field showed that the carnage among the Federalists was 
 considerably heavier than among the patriots. The victory 
 was purchased by a lose of five hundred and eighty-nine 
 men killed on the field, two thousand six hundred and 
 seventy-one wounded, and twenty-four missing, in Jack- 
 son's corps. In the other divisions engaged the loss was 
 also heavy. Several circumstances made the price paid 
 for the splendid advantages of this achievement heavier 
 than it might have been, and the fruits more scanty. Of 
 these, the one most worthy of the attention --oi the Con- 
 federates, because susceptible of a remedy, was the lack 
 of a competent general Staff, by which the plans of the 
 Commander-in-Chief .might be carried out with accuracy, 
 and rmity of action secured. Next, it shoiuld be remarked, 
 that the generals were possessed of no topographical sur- 
 veys, and were therefore compelled to manoeuvre their 
 troops without any acquaintance with the ground, in an 
 intricate country, obscnred by woodlands, and devoid of 
 
THE ENEMY CROSS THE CHICKAHOMINY. 197 
 
 any elevated points of view. The whole space over which 
 Jackson's troops moved was occupied by a succession of 
 thickets of pine and insignificant farms, so that scarcely 
 anywhere did two brigades move in sight of each other, 
 and an advance of a quarter of a mile invariably hid them 
 from view. It was vain, therefore, for the General to 
 depend upon his own eyes ; and with a scanty and ill- 
 organized staff, he had no means of knowing, for a con- 
 siderable time, whether his orders were executed or not. 
 
 On the morning of Saturday, June 28th, there was not a 
 Federal soldier in arms north of the Chickahominy. The 
 two bridges by which M'Clellan had retreated were jeal- 
 ously guarded by his sharpshooters, and by commanding 
 batteries upon the southern heights, which forbade their 
 passage, save at an expense of blood too great to be con- 
 templated. EweU's division, with the cavalry of Stuart, 
 marched early in the morning for the York Eiver EaU- 
 road, which they occupied without opposition at Despatch 
 Station. The enemy thereupon retreated to the south side 
 of the river, and burned the railroad bridge, whde General 
 Ewell destroyed a part of the track. Stuart, pursuing a 
 detachment of cavalry toward the White House, found all 
 the stations in flames, including the dwelling and farm- 
 buildings of General Lee, at the latter place, and a vast 
 amount of military stores destroyed. It was now manifest 
 from the enemy's own act that this line of retreat was 
 finally suiTendered. Two other alternatives remained to 
 him : one was to cross the Chickahominy below, by the 
 Williamsburg road and the neighbouring ways ; the other, 
 to turn to the river James. To prevent the adoption of 
 
198 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the former, General Ewell was. ordered to guard Bottom's 
 Bridge, the next below the railroad, while the cavalry 
 watched the lower course of the stream. To resist the 
 latter, General Holmes's division was directed to watch 
 the roads leading toward the James with a portion of the 
 cavalry, while Generals Magruder and Huger guarded his 
 front, and stood prepared to })ress the Federalists upon 
 the first appearance of retreat. The Confederate forces 
 upon the north bank of the Chickahominy remained there 
 until their purposes were developed. 
 
 il'Clellan, although still superior to Lee in numbers 
 and maUriel of war, was now in a situation whicli might 
 well excite his solicitude. His vast army, cut off from its 
 established line of supplies, must either move at once or 
 starve. Before him, and on botli his flanks, was a de- 
 termined and victorious foe. Behind him was a forest 
 country, possessing few good roads, and intersected by 
 sluggish water-courses, which the unprecedented rains had 
 this year converted into swamps. But the forests were, in 
 another aspect, his friends ; for they concealed his designs 
 and prevented the watching of his movements. One 
 vigorous day's march, moreover, would bring him to his 
 powerful fleet, which would give him a secure refuge and 
 the needed supplies. Saturday evening, there were mani- 
 fest signs of movement behind the Federal entrench- 
 ments, and Sunday morning they were abandoned, and the 
 the bridges across the Chickahominy were broken down. 
 General Longstreet now marched to the south side by 
 the New Bridge ; but the Grapevine Bridge opposite 
 General Jackson's position was so destroyed that the 
 
DESTKUCTION OF AMMUNITION BY THE FEDERALS. 199 
 
 pioneers consumed nearly the whole day in repairing it. 
 Late in the afternoon, the Stonewall Brigade, with the 
 General and his Staff, passed over, and inspected the 
 country. At the Trent farm near by, were extensive 
 howers, ingeniously woven of cedar boLighs, which had 
 surroimded the headquarters where M'Clellan had recently 
 resided, in a village of canvas, provided with every appli- 
 ance of luxury. Here also was his telegraph ofdce, 
 whence lines diverged to each corps of his army and to 
 Washington, with the floor littered with the originals of 
 those fictitious despatches with which his Government was 
 wont to delude its people. A little farther, General Jack- 
 son found the forces of General Magruder, with the Com 
 mander-in- Chief, watching the retreating enemy ; and, 
 it was agreed, after consultation, that the evening was too 
 far advanced for an effective movement, and that General 
 Jackson should return to his bivouac, and commence his 
 march in pursuit at dawn the next morning. As he rode 
 across the fields this evening, he witnessed a spectacle of 
 inexpressible grandeur. The attention was attracted toward 
 the east by the roar of an invisible railroad train, which 
 seemed to be rushing toward the Chickahominy, far beyond 
 the distant woods, with a speed which was constantly ac- 
 celerated until it became frightful. Suddenly, as the be- 
 holders were speculating upon the cause of this sound, a 
 vast pillar of white smoke was seen to spring upwards into 
 the sky, which rose higher and higher, and continually un- 
 folded itself from within, in waves of snowy vapour, until 
 it filled that quarter of the heavens. And, a moment 
 after, the atmosphere, slower than the sunbeams, brought 
 
200 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 to the ear an astounding explosion, in which a multitude 
 of nearly simultaneous thunder-claps were mingled into a 
 roar louder than cannon. The explanation was learned 
 afterwards. The retreating foe had loaded a train with 
 a vast hulk of ammunition, and, firing the engine to its 
 most intense heat, had launched it from Savage's Station, 
 without a guide, with a slow match lighted. Just as it 
 plunged into the Chickahominy, at the chasm where the 
 bridge had lately been, the powder caught ; and am- 
 munition, engine, and carriages were blown iato one 
 huge wreck. 
 
 This was not the only form of destruction which the 
 Federalists employed to prevent their enemies from pro- 
 fiting by the spoils. Their industry in attempting to de- 
 molish was equal to the haste of their flight. The whole 
 country was full of deserted plunder ; and this, indeed, 
 was equally true of the tracts over which they had been 
 driven on the north side of the river, from Mechanics- 
 ville downward. Army waggons and pontoon trains, par- 
 tially burned or crippled ; mounds of grain and rice, and 
 hiUocks of mess beef smouldering ; tens of thousands 
 of axes, picks, and shovels ; camp-kettles gashed with 
 hatchets ; medicine -waggons with their drugs stkred into 
 foul medley ; and all the apparatus of a vast and lavish 
 host, encumbered the roads ; while the mire under foot 
 was mixed with blankets lately new, and overcoats torn 
 in twain from the waist up. For weeks afterwards, the 
 agents of the army were busy gathering ia the spoils; 
 while a multitude of the country people found in them 
 partial indemnification for the ruin of their farms. Great 
 
TAKES MANY PRISONERS. 201 
 
 stores of fixed ammunition were saved, while more was 
 destroyed. 
 
 Scarcely had General Jackson returned to the northern 
 bank, when a rapid outbreak of firing told that General 
 Magruder had attacked the enemy near Savage's Station. 
 Here were the last entrenchments behind which M'Clellan 
 could stand at bay. By a vigorous attack in flank and 
 front, he was driven out of them just at sunset, and pirr- 
 sued for a short space with great slaughter. The sound of 
 this combat kindled again in Jackson's heart the fire of 
 battle, and as he lay down under the open sky for a short 
 repose, he gave orders that everything should be ready to 
 move in pursuit at the earliest dawn. At midnight, how- 
 ever, a sudden shower awoke him, and finding liimself wet 
 through, he determiaed to sleep no more, but to precede 
 the troops to the position of General Magruder, in order 
 to have time for fidler conference. Wlien the head of his 
 column, composed again of the division of D. H. Hill, 
 reached the scene of the evening's combat, the General 
 was found drying himself by a camp-fire. Without pro- 
 curing any food or refreshment, he now advanced through 
 the troops of Magruder, and took the old highway which 
 led to Wniiamsburg. ^^^len the station near Savage's 
 came in view, a city of canvas was seen upon a distant 
 hiU-side, glittering in the morniag sun. This was a vast 
 field-hospital of ]\rCleUan, where twenty-five hundred 
 sick and wounded, with their nurses, had been left by him 
 to the care of the Confederates. General Jackson, having 
 sent a suitable officer to receive the submission of these, 
 advanced rapidly upon the enemy's traces. At every step, 
 
202 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the Federal stragglers issued from the thicket, and sub- 
 mitted themselves as prisoners of war, until a thousand 
 additional men were sent to the rear. A vast drove of 
 mules deserted by the Federal army was gathered from 
 the woods. Every hut and dwelling near the roadside 
 was also converted into a refuge for the wounded, whose 
 numbers showed the sanguinary nature of the struggle 
 of the previous evening. An officer congratulating the 
 General upon the great number of his prisoners, said 
 jocularly, that they surrendered too easily, for the Con- 
 federacy would be embarrassed with their maintenance. 
 He answered, smiling, " It is cheaper to feed them, than 
 to fight them." 
 
 Before reaching "^^'liite Oak Swamp, an inconsiderable 
 stream wliich crossed the road, he diverged toward the 
 right in the direction of the Court House of Charles' City 
 County, pursuing still the wrecks of the enemy's flight. It 
 now became manifest that he had relinquished all thought 
 of a retreat toward Yorktown, and had turned decisively 
 toward the river James. To explain the suljsequent 
 movements, the disclosure of M'Clellan's plans, still doubt- 
 ful to the Confederate commander, must be a little antici- 
 pated. His purpose was to collect his army and all its 
 apparatus vipon the bank of the James, at some pouit be- 
 low the mouth of the Appomattox ; where the greater 
 width and depth of the stream would enable his great 
 fleets to approach him with convenience, and manoeuvie 
 for his defence. To disencumber the roads leading directly 
 thither, and leave them free for the march of his columns, 
 he sent his whole baggage trains down the way which 
 
m'clellan's plaks. 203 
 
 Jackson had now reached, leading from the neighbour - 
 hood of Savage's Station on the railroad, to Charles' City 
 Court House. Having followed this route until they were 
 effectually protected, they made their way across from 
 this thoroughfare to the deep water at Harrison's Land- 
 ing. To protect them, Franklin's corps was stationed 
 on the eastern bank of White Oak Swamp ; and when 
 Jackson reached it, he stubbornly contested its passage 
 with him during the whole of Monday, June 30th. On 
 the other hand, the corps of Keyes, from M'Clellan's left, 
 with the beaten troops of Porter, were rapidly marched to 
 j\Ialvern Hill, a range of highlands accessible by the 
 shortest march from the southern end of the Federal line, 
 and overlooking at once the river James, and the New 
 Jlarket, or river road, which leads from the city of Eich- 
 naond down its northern side. The object of this move- 
 ment on the part of M'CleUan was to protect his com- 
 munications with the deep water from an advance down 
 the New Market road, which he had good reason to fear. 
 The remainder of his great army was massed on Monday 
 midway between the "White Oak Swamp and Malvern 
 HUl, under Generals Heintzelman and M'C'all, to watch 
 the roads going eastward, by which the Confederates might 
 insinuate themselves between his right and left, and pursue 
 his baggage trains. These judicious dispositions, made in 
 a forest country, and chiefly by night marches, were not 
 immediately disclosed in aU their details to the Con- 
 federate leader. But his troops were now directed, with 
 a masterly and comprehensive foresight, to meet every con- 
 , tiagency, in such sort, that had all his purposes been 
 
204 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 carried out, the adroit concealments of his adversary would 
 have been vain. Major- General Holmes was ordered to 
 cross from the south bank of the river James, which he 
 had been left to guard, on the 29th, and march down the 
 New Market road, to prevent the enemy from reaching 
 the water. He did not approach Malvern Hill until the 
 30th, when he found it already powerfully occupied by 
 the enemy under Keyes and Porter, ■ crowned by a for- 
 midable artillery, and flanked by gunboats in the river. 
 Early on the 29th, Major- Generals Longstreet and A. P. 
 Hill were directed to cross the Chickahominy at the New 
 Bridges, and march eastward by the Darby-town road, a 
 highway parallel to the New Market road, and north of it. 
 Major-Generals Huger and Magruder were directed to 
 press the enemy in front by the road leading direct from 
 Eichmoncl to Charles' City ; while Jackson was to advance 
 rapidly upon the left, scour the south side of the Chicka- 
 hominy, and endeavour to attain the enemy's rear. 
 
 Longstreet and A. P. Hill, who moved first on the 29th, 
 first came up with the enemy's centre upon the SOth, 
 posted a little below the termination of the Darby-town 
 road. MagTuder, who advanced by the same road, was 
 diverted by a request of General Holmes for reinforce- 
 ments, and thus, unfortunately, was turned aside from the 
 centre, where a fatal blow was practicable, toward the 
 heights of Malvern Hill, which were now unassailable, 
 and did not retrace his steps until the day was decided, 
 But General Huger still remained to support the attack of 
 Longstreet and Hill upon the right ; and General Jack- 
 son, on the other hand, if able to force his passage across 
 
WHITE OAIi SWAMP. 205 
 
 "White Oak Swamp, would have found himself upon the 
 enemy's flank and rear. Such was the attitude of the 
 respective parties at mid- day of June 30th. 
 
 When Jackson approached the stream last named at 
 this hour, he found in the fields near it extensive camps 
 deserted and full of spoils, and another field-hospital 
 crowded mth wounded. The hills descended by long and 
 gentle declivities on both sides toward the little water- 
 course, and the meadows along its margin were soft and 
 miry from the recent rains. On the Confederate side, the 
 right of the road was occupied by the open fields of an 
 extensive farm, and the left by a dense forest of pines. 
 On the side occupied by Franklin, the fields extended far 
 both to the right and left of the highway ; but the low 
 margia of the stream opposite the Confederate right was 
 covered by a belt of tall forest, in full leaf, which effec- 
 tually screened all the Federal left from view. But the 
 hiUs on their right were occupied by fifteen or twenty 
 cannon in position, and were black witli long lines of 
 infantry. General Jackson, riding, as was his wont, with 
 the advanced guard, no sooner saw the ground than he 
 halted his army, and ordered twenty-eight guns to be 
 brought up by a little vale through the fields on his right, 
 just deep enough to hide them effectually from the enemy's 
 view. These, although upon his right wing, were directed 
 to the batteries of the Federalists opposite his left. At a 
 preconcerted signal, the guns, ready shotted, were now 
 moved forward upon the brow of the eminence, and 
 opened their thunders upon the enemy. So sudden and 
 tenible was the revelation, they scarcely made an effort 
 
206 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 to reply, but galloped away, leaving two or three rifled 
 pieces behind them ; while the ranks of infantry melted 
 swiftly into the woods far in their rear. After a little, 
 several batteries upon the enemy's left, concealed behind 
 the belt of forest, began to reply to this fire ; and from 
 this time the two parties kept up a desultory artillery 
 duel during the day. But as each was invisible to the 
 other, much damage was neither given nor received 
 
 The General now advanced a section of artillery near 
 the crossing of the stream, which speedily drove the 
 Federal sharpshooters from the opposite bank and trees, 
 and he ordered over the cavalry regiment of Colonel Mun- 
 ford. They found the wooden bridge broken up, and its 
 timbers floating, a tangled mass, in the waters. But just 
 above was a deep and narrow ford, by which they passed 
 over, followed immediately by the General. They scoured, 
 with drawn sabres, over the ground lately occupied by the 
 Federal right wing, noted the deserted cannon, and picked 
 up a few prisoners. But the enemy's left, behind the 
 long screen of forest, was found standing fast, while they 
 were bringing both artillery and infantry into position to 
 command the crossing. Colonel Mrmford therefore passed 
 down the stream to his left, and finding a spot where 
 it was practicable, returned to his friends without loss. 
 Jackson, upon observing this, advanced the divisions of 
 1). H. Hill and Whiting into the pine wood on his left, 
 detailed a working party to act with their support, and 
 attempted to repair the bridge, with the purpose of forcing 
 his way by a simultaneous advance of his infantry and 
 artillery. But the men could not be induced to labour 
 
WHITE OAK SWAMP. 207 
 
 steadily, exposed to the skirmishers of the enemy, and the 
 attempt was abandoned. The remainder of the afternoon 
 was spent in endeavours to discover some way, on the 
 right or the left, by which the vexatious stream could be 
 crossed, and the enemy's position turned ; but the roads 
 were so effectually obstructed with fallen trees that no 
 hope appeared of removing them in time to fight a battle 
 that evening. The troops were then A'i'ithdrawn out of 
 reach of the enemy's shells, and bivouacked, to await a 
 more propitious morning. On this occasion it would 
 appear, if the vast interests dependent on General Jack- 
 son's co-operation with the proposed attack upon the centre 
 were considered, that he came short of that efficiency in 
 action for which he was everywhere else noted. Surely 
 the prowess of the Confederate infantry might have been 
 trusted, for such a stake as Lee played for that day, to do 
 again what it had so gloriously done, for a stake no greater, 
 on the 27th; it might have routed the Federal infantry 
 and artillery at once, without the assistance of its own 
 cannon. Two columns, pushed with determination across 
 the two fords at which the cavalry of Munford passed 
 over and returned, the one in the centre, and the other at 
 the left, and protected in their onset by the oblique fire of 
 a powerful artillery so well posted on the right, would not 
 have failed to dislodge Franklin from a position already 
 half lost. The list of casualties would indeed have been 
 larger than that presented on the 30th, of one cannoneer 
 mortally wounded. But how much shorter would have 
 been the bloody list filled up the next day at Malvern 
 Hill? This temporary eclipse of Jackson's genius was 
 
208 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 probably to be explained by physical causes. The labour 
 of the previous days, the sleeplessness, the wear of gigantic 
 cares, Avith the drenching of the comfortless night, had 
 sunk the elasticity of his will and the quickness of Ms 
 invention, for the once, below their wonted tension. And 
 which of the sons of men is there so great as never to 
 experience this? The words which fell from Jackson's 
 lips as he lay down that night among his Staff, showed 
 that he was conscious of depression. After dropping 
 asleep from excessive fatigue, with his supper between 
 his teeth, he said, " Now, gentlemen, let us at once to bed, 
 and rise Avith the dawn, and see if to morrow we cannot 
 do something !" Yet he found time, amidst the fatigues 
 of this day, to write to ]Mrs. Jackson, with a heart full of 
 piety and of yearning for domestic happiness :— 
 
 "Near White Oak Swamp Bridge, June 30th. 
 
 " An ever kind Providence has greatly blessed our 
 efforts, and given us great reason for thankfulness in 
 having defended Eichmond as he has. 
 
 " I hope that our God will soon bless us with an honour- 
 able peace, and permit us to be together at home, in the 
 enjoyment of domestic happiness." 
 
 Meantime, (Generals Longstreet and A. P. Hill, after con- 
 fronting the enemy's powerful centre until 4 o'clock P.M., 
 heard firing upon the Charles' City road, which they sup- 
 posed indicated the near approach of ITuger. The former 
 placed a battery in position and discharged it against the 
 enemy to give notice of his presence. The Federalists 
 replied, and the old war-horse, whose metal forbade his 
 
prazier's farm. 209 
 
 ever declining tlie gage of battle, rushed to the contest. 
 None of his expected supports came up ; and the advan - 
 tage of position and numbers was wholly with his adver- 
 saries. But after a sanguinary conflict, lie drove them 
 from their wliole line save at one point, and captured 
 many prisoners, including a general of division, several 
 batteries, and some thousands of small arms, when night 
 arrested the furious struggle. This action has been known 
 as the battle of Frazier's Farm. So near did its issue bring 
 the enemy's left wing to destruction, even without the 
 expected assistance of Jackson, Huger, and Magruder, that 
 when it closed, at dark, the victorious troops of Longstreet 
 were, unconsciously, within sight of the cross road by 
 which Franklin was required to march his corps, in the 
 rear of the Federal centre, in order to reach the appointed 
 place of concentration at Malvern Hill. Nay, the corn 
 fields beyond that road were ploughed up with Longstreet's 
 cannon-shot. What then might not the triumph have 
 been, if the intended co-operation had been given ? As 
 soon as the night grew quiet, Franklin, informed of his 
 critical position, moved off from White Oak Swamp, glided 
 silently behind the shattered ranks which still confronted 
 Longstreet, and retired, with them, to the protection of 
 M'Clellan's lines at Malvern Hill. When the morning 
 dawned, there was nothing in front of Jackson save the 
 forsaken cannon of the enemy, and they had deserted to 
 Longstreet a field ghastly with multitudes of their slain 
 and wounded. His wearied troops, with those of A. P. 
 Hill, were drawn off to seek the needed repose, and 
 Magruder took his place. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
210 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 General Jackson putting his corps in motion at an early 
 hour, July 1st, with Whiting's division in front, crossed 
 the Wliite Oak Swamp ; and a little after, turning south, 
 marched upon the traces of the enemy toward Malvern 
 HiU.. As he approached Frazier's Farm, a Confederate line 
 of battle was seen a little distance from the right of the 
 road, with their skirmishers upon the opposite side, looking 
 eastward. These were the forces of Magruder, which had 
 relieved those of Longstreet during the night Jackson 
 passed between the line and the skirmishers, lustily cheered 
 by them, and pursued the enemy swiftly. The road now 
 plunged into an extensive woodland, with the Willis' 
 Church upon the right hand, filled with the wounded of 
 both armies. After advancing for a mile and a half 
 through this forest, the General's suite was suddenly 
 greeted with a volley of rifle-balls from the Federal out- 
 posts, and a moment after by a shower of shells. Retiring 
 to a safer spot, he now ordered up his troops, and prepared 
 to attack. His reconnaissance showed him the enemy most 
 advantageously posted upon an elevated ridge in front of 
 Malvern Hdl, which was occupied by several lines of 
 infantry partially fortified, and by a powerful artilleiy. 
 In short, the ^^■hole army of M'Clellan, with three hundred 
 pieces of field artillery, was now, for the first time, as- 
 sembled on one field, determined to stand at bay and con- 
 tend for its existence ; while the whole Confederate army 
 was also converging around it, under the immediate eye of 
 the Commander-in-Chief and the President. The war of 
 the giants was now about to begin indeed, before which 
 the days of Gaines's Mill and Frazier's Farm were to pale. 
 
POSITION OF THE FEDERALISTS. 211 
 
 ■The position of tlie Federalists had been selected by 
 M'Clellan himself with consummate skill. His line 
 fronted north, covering the river road behind it, and pre- 
 senting a convex cm?ve towards the Confederates. His 
 right was covered by a tributary of Turkey Creek, and his 
 left by the fire of his gunboats, which threw their mon- 
 strous projectiles beyond his whole front. The ground 
 occupied by him dominated by its height over the whole 
 landscape ; and nowhere in his front was there a spot 
 where artUlery could be massed to cope with his on equal 
 terms. For the country before him was not only of inferior 
 altitude, but covered with woods and thickets, save within 
 a few hundred yards of his own lines. And here the open 
 fields sloped gently away, offering full sweep to his mur- 
 derous fire ; while this approach was only reached, before 
 his right and centre, by struggling across the treacherous 
 rivulet in front. 
 
 General Lee now assigned the left to Jackson, and 
 the right to Magruder, supported by Huger and Holmes. 
 Longstreet and A. P. Hill, with their wearied divisions, 
 were held in reserve. The only spot where open ground 
 appeared in opposition to the enemy's, was upon Jackson's 
 extreme left. Here an extensive farm, belonging to a 
 gentleman named Poindexter, indented the forests, and its 
 luxuriant wheat-fields, partially reaped, descended to the 
 stream from which the Federal position rose on the oppo- 
 site side. This field offered the only ground for the 
 manoeuvring of artillery. After an examination of it, 
 General Jackson ordered a few batteries to enter it from 
 the covert of the woods and engage the enemy. But the 
 
212 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 number of guns directed against them by him was too 
 great, and after a short contest they retired crippled. 
 The batteries of Poague and Carpenter from the Stonewall 
 Brigade, and of Balthis from the division of Whiting, were 
 then ordered forward, and by approaching the enemy more 
 nearly, found a position which, though of inferior altitude, 
 offered some shelter. Here they maintained a stubborn 
 and gallant contest with the numerous batteries opposed 
 to them during the remainder of the day, and barred the 
 way to the advance of the enemy's infantry. The infantry 
 of Whiting was now disposed upon the left, the brigade of 
 Colonel Law concealed in the tall wheat of the field, and 
 that of General Hood in the adjoining forest, while the 
 3d Virginia Brigade, of Jackson's division, commanded by 
 General Hampton, supported the guns. The centre was 
 occupied by the Louisiana brigade of Taylor, and the 
 right by D. H. Hill. The reserve was composed of the 
 remainder of the division of Eweli, and the brigades of 
 Lawton, Winder, and Cunningham. These dispositions 
 were completed by 2 o'clock p.m., and the General an- 
 xiously awaited the signal to begin. But the corps of 
 Magruder, moving after Jackson's and delayed by a mis- 
 conception of the route, was later in reaching its position. 
 Instructions were sent by General Lee, that the onset 
 should begin upon the right with the brigades of Magruder, 
 and that when D. H. Hill heard the cheer with which they 
 charged the enemy, he should attack with the bayonet, to 
 be followed immediately by the leaders upon his left. To 
 approach the Federal centre. Hill was compelled to emerge 
 from the forest, and cross an open field, where he suffered 
 
D. H. hull's attacks unsupported. 213 
 
 a preliminary loss of no small amount from their artillery. 
 His own batteries had been left in the rear, their ammu- 
 nition exhausted ; and the Confederate artillery sent to his 
 support was advanced, piecemeal, only to be crippled in 
 detail and driven from the field. Fording the rivulet, how- 
 ever, in despite of his losses, he found a partial shelter for 
 his division under a body of woodland within four hundred 
 yards of the enemy's front. Accompanied by General 
 Jackson, he then made a more particular examination of 
 the ground, and found himself confronted by two or three 
 hues of infantry and batteries, whose murderous fire com- 
 manded every approach. Five o'clock had now arrived, 
 when suddenly Hill heard a mighty shout upon his right, 
 followed by an outburst of firing. Eega,rding this as 
 doubtless the appointed signal, and the beginning of 
 Magruder's onset, he gave the word, and his men advanced 
 devotedly to the charge under a storm of artillery and mus- 
 ketry. The first line of the enemy was forced, and their 
 guns were compelled to withdraw to avoid capture ; but 
 the other points of their line, unoccupied by a simulta- 
 neous attack, advanced reinforcements to them ; and Hill 
 was beaten off, after inflicting and suffering a severe loss. 
 Jackson reinforced him, by sending the brigades of Trim- 
 ble, Lawton, Winder, and Cunningham ; but the difficulties 
 of the position, the approaching darkness, and the terrific 
 fire of the enemy, prevented their doing more than hold- 
 ing their ground and maintaining an uncertain conflict. 
 
 As sunset approached, and after the attack of Jackson 
 was checked, Magruder at length got his troops into posi- 
 tion, and advanced, with similar results. Much heroism 
 
214 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 was exhibited by his men, some ground was won from the 
 enemy, a bloody loss was inflicted upon them, and received 
 in his own command. At these attacks, the fire of the 
 Federal artillery, which had been heavy, became inex- 
 pressibly furious. Along their whole line, whether assailed 
 or not, their countless field-pieces belched forth their 
 charges of flame with an incessant din, which was an- 
 swered back by the hoarser bellowings of the gunboats in 
 the rear. Wherever the eye turned, it was met by a cease- 
 less stream of missiles shrieking and crashing through the 
 forest. A moonless night descended on the turmoil, and 
 the darkness was lighted up for miles with the glare flash- 
 ing across the heavens, as when two thunder-clouds illu- 
 minate the adverse quarters of the horizon with sheet 
 lightning. Beneath, the fitful lines of light danced amidst 
 the dark foliage, showing where the stubborn ranks of in- 
 fantry plied their deadly work ; and the roar of the mus- 
 ketry filled the intervals of the mightier din with its angry 
 monotone ; while a fierce yell from time to time told of 
 some hardly won vantage ground gained by the Confede- 
 rates. At ten o'clock, the battle died away ; for the 
 Federalists were silently withdrawing from the field, under 
 the friendly veil of the darkness. Indeed, much of the 
 cannonade was doubtless intended to cover this retreat ; 
 and no sooner had it sunk into silence, than the rumbling 
 of the multitude of wheels began to tell that the artillery 
 was withdrawing from a field which was already aban- 
 doned by their infantry. The Confederates lay down upon 
 their arms where the battle had ceased, in many places 
 within a few paces of the opposing pickets, and during the 
 
HIS FIRMNESS. 215 
 
 niglit they saw the lanterns flitting over the field, where 
 they were busy removing the wounded. 
 
 When the battle had ceased thus, General Jackson re- 
 tired slowly and wearily to the rear, to seek some refresh- 
 ment and rest. In the midst of a confused multitude of 
 waggons and stragglers, his faithful servant had prepared 
 a pallet for him upon the ground ; and here, after taking 
 a morsel of food, he lay down and slept. At one o'clock 
 his division commanders awoke him, to report the condi- 
 tion of their forces, and receive instructions for the morrow 
 None of them knew, as yet, those signs of retreat and dis- 
 comfiture, which the advanced pickets were observing 
 they only knew what they had suffered in their own com- 
 mands. Their imaginations were awe-struck by the sights 
 and sounds of the fearful struggle, and every representation 
 which they gave was gloomy. At length, after many de- 
 tails of losses and disasters, they all concurred in declaring 
 that M'Clellan would probably take the aggressive in the 
 morning, and that the Confederate army was in no condi- 
 tion to resist him. Jackson had listened silently, save as 
 he interposed a few brief questions, to all their statements ; 
 hut now he replied, with an inexpressible dryness and non- 
 chalance : " No ; I think he will clear out in the morning." 
 These words reveal one element of his power and great- 
 ness. Such was the clearness of his military intuitions, 
 and the soundness of his judgment, such the steadfastness 
 of his spirit, that he viewed every fact soberly, without dis- 
 tortion or exaggeration. His excited fancy played no tricks 
 with his understanding. Dangers never loomed into undue 
 proportions before his steady eye. Hence, in the most 
 
216 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEKEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 agitating or even appalling circumstances, his conclusions 
 were still correct. Such they proved to be now ; for when 
 morning dawned upon the battle-field, M'Clellan was gone 
 indeed, leaving every evidence of precipitate retreat. 
 
 The morning dawned with a dreary and pitiless rain, in 
 contrast with the splendour of the harvest sun of the pre- 
 vious day, as though the heavens had clad themselves in 
 mourning, and were weeping a flood of tears for the 
 miseries of the innocent, and the crimes of the guilty 
 aggressor. The woods which, the evening before, were 
 thick with sulphureous smoke, were now wreathed in 
 vapour ; and the deep dust of the roads, trampled into 
 ashes by the myriad feet of men and horses, was now as 
 speedily converted into semi-fluid mire. All were of course 
 without tents ; and fatigued and hungry, they wore an 
 aspect of squalid discomfort. The only activity visible 
 was the humane labour of the surgeons aud their assist- 
 ants, who were still bringing in the wounded, exhausted 
 by their sufferings and drenched with rain. General Jack- 
 son, however, arose, and without breakfast, hurried to the 
 front to watch over his men. The air was too thick with 
 mist to distinguish anything upon the opposite hill ; but 
 soon the reports from his outposts, and from the cavalry of 
 Munford, convinced him that the enemy was gone. He 
 now issued orders that the troops should form in the woods 
 which they had occupied the day before, kindle liberal 
 fires, cook their food, and refresh themselves after their 
 fatigues ; while he repaired to the house of Poindexter to 
 meet the Commander-in-Chief. General Stuart, whom 
 the latter had recalled from the north side of the Chicka- 
 
VEXATIOUS DELAY. 217 
 
 hominy, had reached Turkey Creek on the left of the lines 
 of Jackson just as the battle closed. He was now wit- 
 ness of the precipitate retreat of the enemy, and following 
 him down the river road, found numerous carriages fast 
 stuck in the mire, or wrecked, with ammunition, clothing, 
 equipments and muskets strewn broadcast over the country. 
 He was informed by the country people that the Federal 
 army reached the open fields of Haxall's at morning, 
 without the semblance of organization, observing no ranks 
 nor obedience, spreading over the fields and woods at will, 
 and lying down to sleep under the pelting rain. Instead 
 of meditating the aggressive, the whole host would have 
 surrendered to the summons of ten thousand fresh men. 
 But, alas ! the Confederates had not those men to pursue 
 them. Every division of the army had been worn by 
 marching and fighting, and a certain disarray prevailed 
 throughout. It must also be declared that this inability 
 to reap the fruits of their heroic exertions arose partly 
 from that lack of persistence which is the infirmity of the 
 Southern character. The army of Lee was as able to 
 pursue as that of ]\I'Clellan was to flee ; and to the true 
 soldier, tlie zeal to complete a hardly-won victory, and 
 to save his country by one successful blow, should be as 
 pungent a motive for intense exertion as the instinct of 
 self-preservation itself Another cause of delay in the 
 pursuit was the hesitation of the Commander-in-Chief, 
 who, uninformed as yet of aU tlie signs of defeat given by 
 his enemy, and prudently sceptical of the extent of his 
 own success, was uncertain whether this was a flight, or a 
 ruse of M'Clellan to draw him from his bridges and from 
 
218 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Fort Drewrj, in order that he might suddenly pass to the 
 south side, now denuded of defenders, and occupy Peters- 
 burg and Eichmond without resistance. The remainder 
 of July 2d was therefore consumed in replenishing the 
 ammunition of the batteries, and in refreshing the men. 
 Orders were given that on Thursday morning, the 3d, all 
 the army should pursue the enemy by way of Turkey 
 Creek and the river road, with Longstreet in front. But 
 after that General had put his troops in motion, General 
 Lee determined to march toward Harrison's Landing, where 
 the Federalists were now assembled, by returning to the 
 Charles City road, and making his way thence down to the 
 river. His purpose was to avoid the obstructions which they 
 were reported to have left behind them to cover their rear. 
 The brigades of Longstreet were therefore countermarched 
 by Willis' Church, and Jackson was directed to give him 
 the road. The guides of the former proved incompetent 
 for their duties, and he ^vas compelled to halt his division 
 before half the day's march was completed. Hence General 
 Jackson only moved three miles on Thursday. Chafing 
 like a lion at the delay, he moved his troops at early dawn 
 of Friday, and pressing close upon the heels of Longstreet, 
 reached the enemy's front by the middle of the day. 
 
 The opportunity was already almost gone. M'Clellan 
 had now Ijeen allowed two unmolested days to select and 
 fortify his position, and to reduce again the huge mob 
 which followed him into the form of an army. The return 
 of genial suns, with rest and rations, and the immediate 
 proximity of their gunboats, were fast restoring their 
 spirits. The ground occupied by them was a beautiful 
 
JIALVEEN, A DRAWN BATTLE. 2 1 9 
 
 peninsula, between the river James and a tributary called 
 Herring Creek, composing the two estates of Westover 
 and Berkeley. The creek, which enters the river at the 
 eastern extremity of this peninsula, is, first, a tide stream ; 
 then, an impracticable marsh, and then a mill-pond, 
 enlarged by an artificial embankment. West of Berkeley 
 another stream of the like character descends to the river ; 
 so that the only access was through a space between the 
 two creeks, of no great extent, and rapidly closing with 
 earthworks. The fire of the gunboats, it was supposed, 
 might also assist to cover this approach, over the heads of 
 their friends. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief was disappointed to learn, 
 on his arrival in front of the Federalists, that no oppor- 
 tunity had been found for striking a blow, either on their 
 retreat or in their present position. He immediately rode 
 forward with General Jackson ; and the two, dismounting, 
 proceeded, without attendants, to make a careful recon- 
 naissance on foot of the enemy's whole line and position. 
 Jackson concurred fully in the reluctant opinion to which 
 General Lee was brought by this examination, — that an 
 attack would now be improper ; so that, after mature dis- 
 cussion, it was determined that the enemy should be left 
 unassailed to the effects of the summer heats and the 
 malaria, which were now at hand. 
 
 To this the condition of his troops powerfully inclined 
 him. On Saturday, General Jackson obtained returns of 
 all his corps in front of the enemy and ready for duty ; 
 and found them just ten thousand men, exclusive of the 
 division of D. H. Hill, which had been left to bury the 
 
220 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 dead at Malvern Hill. Half his men appeared, therefore, 
 to be out of their ranks, from death or wounds, from the 
 necessary labours of the care of the wounded, from strag- 
 gling, and from the inefficiency of their inferior ofiicers. 
 The army were therefore allowed to lie quiet in front of the 
 enemy, and refresh themselves after their fatigues. The 
 waggons of the General also arrived ; and, for the first time 
 in a fortnight, the Staff enjoyed the luxury of their tents. 
 These were now pitched beside a beautiful fountain, under 
 the shade of a group of venerable oaks and chestnuts ; and 
 here the quiet Sabbath was spent in religious worship, and 
 in much-needed repose. 
 
 The battle of IMalvern Hill was technically a victory 
 for the Confederates, for they held the field, the enemy's 
 killed and wounded, and the spoils ; while the Federalists 
 retreated precipitately at its close. But, practically, it 
 was rather a drawn battle ; because tlie loss inflicted on 
 them was probably no greater than that of the assailants ; 
 and, especially, because the enemy would have retired to 
 the same spot, and at the same time, if no assault had 
 been made. The loss of Jackson's corps was three hun- 
 dred and seventy-seven men killed, and one thousand 
 seven hundred and forty-six wounded, with thirty-nine 
 missing. The larger part of this bloodshed was in the 
 division of D. H. Hill. The divisions under command of 
 General Magruder lost about two thousand nine hundred 
 men killed and wounded. 
 
 The struggle for the possession of the Confederate 
 capital was now closed. The results of Lee's victories 
 were indeed far less than the overweening hopes and ex- 
 
OBSTACLES TO THE FULLEST SUCCESS. 221 
 
 pectations of the people ; for Eichmond was agitated with 
 daily rumours that the Federal army was wholly dissi- 
 pated ; and then that it was about to surrender in a body. 
 But, in the language of the Commander-in-Chief, " Ee- 
 gret that more was not accomplished, gives way to grati- 
 tude to the Sovereign Euler of the universe for the results 
 achieved. The siege of Eichmond was raised; and the 
 object of a campaign, which had been prosecuted, after 
 months of preparation, at an enormous expenditure of men 
 and money, completely frustrated. More than 10,000 
 prisoners, — including officers of rank, — 52 pieces of artil- 
 lery, and upwards of 35,000 stand of small arms were cap- 
 tured. The stores and supplies of every description which 
 feU into our hands were great in amount and value ; but 
 small in comparison with those destroyed by the enemy. 
 His losses in battle exceeded our own, as attested by the 
 thousands of dead and wounded left on every field ; while 
 Ills subsequent inaction shows in what condition the sur- 
 vivors reached the protection to which th-ey fled." 
 
 But yet, the same exalted authority has declared that, 
 " under ordinary circumstances, the Federal army should 
 have been destroyed." ^\^lile that which is effected is 
 creditable to the Confederates, yet the ruin of the enemy 
 was within the scope of probability ; and might have been 
 effected by them by a higlier degree of skill and effort. It 
 is therefore of interest to the student of the military art 
 'to learn what were the obstacles and blunders which pre- 
 vented the fullest success. Of these, some were unavoid- 
 able ; and among these latter must be reckoned a large 
 part of the ignorance concerning the movements of 
 
222 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 M'Clellan, and the proper directions to be taken by the 
 Confederates, by which General Lee found himself so much 
 embarrassed. There were no topographical surveys of the 
 country, and all the general officers were strangers to it 
 It was a country of numerous intricate roads, of marshy 
 streams, and of forests. Hence every march and every 
 position of the enemy was enveloped in mystery, until it 
 was disclosed in some way at the cost of the Confederates; 
 and every movement made by them in pursuit was in 
 some degree tentative. 
 
 Among the unavoidable difficulties may, perhaps, he 
 also ranked that which was, directly or indirectly, the 
 fruitful parent of every miscarriage. The army was not 
 sufficiently instructed, either in its officers or its men, for 
 its great work. The capacity to command, the practical 
 skiU. and tact, the professional knowledge, the devotion to 
 duty, which make the efficient officer, do not come in a 
 day ; and few are the natures which are capable of learn- 
 ing them to a high degree. When the Confederate 
 Government attempted to produce extempore officers of 
 all grades for armies so great, out of a people who had 
 been reared in the pursuits of peace, it could only be 
 partially successful. The company and field officers com- 
 petent to instruct and govern their men thoroughly, and 
 to keep them to their colours amidst the confusion of 
 battle and the fatigues of forced marches, were far too few 
 for the regiments to be commanded. There were not 
 enough Brigadiers who knew how to manoeuvre a brigade 
 quickly or vigorously ; nor enough Major- Generals ahle 
 to handle a great mass of troops. Hence that deficiency 
 
OBSTACLES TO THE FULLEST SLTCCT.SS. 223 
 
 in the functions of the Staff which has been ah'eady ex- 
 plained, by reason of which the Commander was ever in 
 imperfect communication with his forces, and was never 
 certain that his wishes were properly conveyed to all of 
 them, or that he was possessed of their whole situation 
 when out of his sight. Through so imperfect a medium 
 perfect unison in action could never be gained, upon a 
 theatre like that of j\Ialvern Hill, extended over miles of 
 wooded country, and including the convergent movements 
 of several separate armies. It was from these causes the 
 bungling combinations proceeded, upon every important 
 field of this brief campaign. Enough officers always 
 manoeuvred their commands so slowly, as to compel the 
 Commander-in-Chief to let slip critical hours, and to wear 
 away the day which should have been employed in attack- 
 ing and pursuing. Thus it was ever : at MechanicsviHe, 
 at Cold Harbour, at Savage's Station, at Frazier's Parm, 
 and especially at Malvern HiU ; the prime of the day was 
 spent in waiting for somebody, or in getting into position ; 
 the battle, which should have been the business of that 
 prime, was thrust into the late afternoon ; and when the 
 bloody victory was won, no time remained to gather in its 
 fruits fully by a vigorous pursuit. 
 
 The event also taught, what no forecast, perhaps, would 
 have foreseen, that a more efficient employment of the 
 cavalry upon the enemy's flanks wotdd have put the Com- 
 mander-in- Chief in earlier possession of essential informa- 
 tion. It has been seen that General Stuart, after his 
 return from the White House, was directed to remain 
 upon the north side of the Chickahominy, guarding the 
 
224 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Long Bridge, and the other crossings below ; and that he 
 only rejoined the army the night of July 1st. He should 
 rather have been required to cross the Chickahominy im- 
 mediately, and press as closely upon the line of the enemy's 
 actual operations, let it be where it might, as was possible. 
 He would thus have equally fulfilled the purpose of his 
 stay upon the north side, to ascertain that they did not 
 retire toward Yorktown by the lower roads ; and he would 
 probably have discovered at once their real movement. 
 It afterward appeared that the whole baggage train of 
 M'Clellan, with numerous stragglers, passed nearly to 
 Charles City Court House by a road parallel to the Chicka- 
 hominy, and only a few miles distant from it, on the 29tli 
 of June. Had this fact been reported to General Lee by 
 the 1 st of July, it might have thrown a flood of new hght 
 upon the momentous question which he was required that 
 day to decide : Must M'Clellan be attacked in his almost 
 impregnable position or not ? It was not known that he 
 was assembling all the corps of his army at Malvern HiU ; 
 that his gunboats had ascended thither ; that he was be- 
 ginning to entrench himself there. Was it his purpose to 
 convert this spot into a permanent entrenched camp, to 
 defend it from all such assaults as he had just experienced 
 on the Chickahominy, by his engineering skill ; to pro- 
 vision it from his ships, and thus to establish himself 
 again within fifteen miles of Eichmond, upon a base which 
 General Lee's wisdom taught him to be a better one than 
 that which he had lost ? If this was his design, then it 
 was imperative that he should be dislodged ; and the more 
 speedily it was attempted, the less patriot blood would it 
 
MISTAKES OF THE SEVEN DAYS. 225 
 
 cost. For if lie were permitted to fix himself here, all the 
 ton and loss of the glorious week would be vain. But now, 
 add the fact that M'Clellan had sent all his trains to 
 another spot, and that he stood upon Malvern Hill with 
 nothing but his ammunition and the supplies of a day ; 
 and it became probable that he would retreat from this 
 place whether he were attacked or not ; that he would re- 
 treat whither his trains had preceded him, and that he 
 was only standing at bay for a short time to secure the 
 privilege of that retreat. The question thus assumed a 
 new aspect, whether it were better to assail him on his 
 chosen ground, at such a cost of blood, or to wait for a 
 fairer opportunity as he withdrew. 
 
 If it were granted that IM'Clellan ought to have been 
 attacked at once on his own ground, much yet remains in 
 the management of the battle on the Confederate side, 
 which, though excused, cannot be justified. The attack 
 was made in detail, first at one point, and then at another, 
 instead of bemg simultaneous. Had the corps of Jackson 
 and Magruder charged simultaneously, with the devoted 
 gallantry wMch a part of each exhibited, the Federal lines 
 would doubtless have given way, and a glorious success 
 would have rewarded the Confederates, without any greater 
 expenditure of blood than they actually incurred. But it 
 is worthy of question whether M'Clellan's advantage of 
 position could not have been neutralized. Malvern Hill 
 is upon the convexity of a sharp curve in the river James, 
 which just below that neighbourhood flows away toward 
 the south, while the river road pursues still an easterly 
 course. If M'Clellan moved eastward, he must either 
 
 VOL. II. p 
 
226 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 forsake the coveted help of his gunboats, or, to continue 
 near the water, he must leave the highlands, and descend 
 to a level region commanded from the interior. These 
 facts seemed to point to the policy of extending the Con- 
 federate left, until his egress by the river road was so 
 violently threatened as to compel him to weaken his im- 
 pregnable front. The great body of forest which confronted 
 his centre might have been safely left to the guardianship 
 of a skirmish line ; for their weakness would have been 
 concealed by the woods, and the enemy was, on that day, 
 in no aggressive mood. A powerful mass of artillery and 
 infantry displayed beyond their extreme right would 
 probably have produced the happiest effects. Last, the 
 tardy and indirect pursuit which followed the battle was 
 the least excusable blunder of all. The two days which 
 were allowed to M'Clellan proved the salvation of his 
 army. But what are all these criticisms more than an 
 assertion, in different form, of the truths, that all man's 
 works are imperfect, and that everj^ art must be learned 
 before it is practised ! When it is remembered that the 
 South had very few professional soldiers, that the men 
 who formed the victorious army of Lee were, the year 
 before, a peaceful multitude occupied, since their child- 
 hood, in the pursuits of husbandry, and that half the 
 brigades into which they were organized had never been 
 under fire before the beginning of the bloody week, the 
 only wonder will be that the confusion was not worse, and 
 that the failures were not greater. That so much was ac- 
 complished is proof of the eminent courage of the people, 
 and their native aptitude for war. 
 
FIEE OF THE GUNBOATS. 227 
 
 It is a fact worthy of note in this narrative, that the 
 fire of the gunboats, so much valued by the Federals, 
 and at first so dreaded by the Confederates, had no 
 actual influence whatever in the battle. Their noise and 
 fury doubtless produced a certain effect upon the emotions 
 of the assailants ; but this was dependent on their 
 novelty. The loss inflicted by them was trivial when 
 compared with the ravages of the field artniery, and it 
 was found chiefly among their own friends. For more of 
 their ponderous missiles fell ia their own lines than in 
 those of the Confederates. Indeed, a fire directed at an 
 invisible foe, across two or three miles of intervening 
 hUls and woods, can never reach its aim, save by acci- 
 dent. Is or is the havoc wrought by the larger projectiles 
 proportioned to their magnitude. "Where one of them 
 explodes against a human body, it does indeed crush 
 it into a frightful mass, scarcely cognizable as human 
 remains. But it is not likely to stiike more men, in the 
 open order of field operations, than a shot of ten pounds ; 
 and the wretch blown to atoms by it, is not put hors de 
 combat more effectually, than he whose brain is penetrated 
 by half an ounce of lead or iron. The broadside of a 
 modern gunboat may consist of three hundred pounds of 
 icon, projected by thirty or forty pounds of powder. But 
 it is fired from only two guns. The effect upon a line 
 
 , of men is therefore but one-fifteenth of that which the 
 same metal might have had, fired from thirty ten-pounder 
 
 ■ rifled guns. 
 
 In conclusion, a statement of the numbers composing 
 the two armies in this great struggle is necessary to esti- 
 
228 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 mate its merits. Under the orders of General Lee there 
 were, at its beginning, about seventy-five thousand effec- 
 tive men, including the corps brought to his aid by General 
 Jackson. M'Clellan confidently represented the numbers 
 opposed to him as much larger than his own; but the 
 habitual exaggerations of his apprehensive temper were 
 patent even to his own Government. He states that his 
 own force was reduced to eighty thousand effective men. 
 It must be remembered that, during the campaign before 
 Eichmond, the motives of M'Clellan's policy dictated a 
 studied depreciation of his own numbers. In the returns 
 given by himself in another place, his effective force pre- 
 sent for duty is set down at one hundred and six thousand 
 men, inclusive of the garrison of Fortress Monroe under 
 General Dix. Halleck declared, in his letter of Aug. 6tli, 
 that M'Clellan stiU had ninety thousand men at Berkeley, 
 after aU his losses ! These M'Clellan had estimated at fifteen 
 thousand, how truthfully may be known from this, that 
 he places the men lost by desertion and capture under six 
 thousand, whereas the Confederates had in their hands 
 more than ten thousand prisoners ; and the woods of the 
 peninsula were swarming with stragglers. Whatever may 
 have been his numerical superiority, it is indisputable 
 that every advantage of equipments, arms, and artillery 
 was on his side. 
 
 But the arrival of General Jackson brought a strength 
 to the Confederates beyond that of his numbers. His 
 fame as a warrior had just risen to the zenith ; while all 
 the other armies of the Confederacy had been retreating 
 before the enemy, or at best, holding the defensive with 
 
EFFECT OF HIS PRESENCE WITH THE ENEMY. ! 
 
 difficulty, his alone had marched, and attacked, and con- 
 quered. A disaster had never alighted on his banners. 
 His assault was regarded by friends and foes as the stroke 
 of doom, and his presence gave assurance of victory. 
 Hence, when the army before Eichmond learned that he 
 was with them, they were filled with unbounded joy and 
 confidence, wliile their enemies were struck with a corre- 
 sponding panic. 
 
230 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 CEDAR RUN. 
 
 While the army lay near Westover, resting from its 
 toils, General Jactson called his friend, the Honourable 
 Mr. Boteler, to his tent, to communicate his views of the 
 future conduct of the war, and to beg that on liis next 
 visit to Eichmond he would impress them upon the 
 G-overnment. He said that it was manifest by every sign 
 that M'Clellan's was a thoroughly beaten army, and was 
 no longer capable of anything, until it was reorganized 
 and reinforced. There was danger, he foresaw, of repeat- 
 ing the error of Manassa's Junction ; when the season of 
 victory was let slip by an ill-timed inaction, and the 
 enemy was allowed fuU leisure to repair his strength. 
 Now, since it was determined not to attempt the destrnc- 
 tion of M'Clellan where he lay, the Confederate army 
 should at once leave the malarious district, move north- 
 ward, and carry the horrors of invasion from their own 
 borders to those of the guilty assailants. This, he said, 
 was the way to bring them to their senses, and to end the 
 war. And it was within the power of the Confederate 
 Government to make a successful invasion, if their re- 
 sources were rightly concentrated. Sixty thousand men 
 
GENERAL LEE. 231 
 
 could march into Maryland, and threaten "Washington 
 City, producing most valuable results. But, he added, 
 while he wished these views to be laid before the Presi- 
 dent, he would disclaim earnestly the charge of self-seek- 
 ing in advocating them. He wished to follow, and not 
 to lead, in this glorious enterprise ; he was willing to 
 foUow anybody — General Lee, or the gaUant EweU. 
 " Why do you not at once urge these things," asked Mr. 
 Boteler, "upon General Lee himself?" "I have done 
 so," replied Jackson. " And what,'' asked Mr. Boteler, 
 " does he say to ■ them ?" General Jackson answered, 
 "He says nothing. But," he added, "do not under- 
 stand that I complain of this silence ; it is proper that 
 General Lee should observe it : he is a sagacious and 
 prudent man ; he feels that he bears a fearful responsi- 
 bility : he is right in declining a hasty expression of his 
 purposes, to a subordinate like me.'' The advice of Jack- 
 son was laid before the President. What weight was 
 attached to it is unknown, but the campaign soon after 
 took the direction which he had indicated. 
 
 He was extremely anxious to leave the unhealthy region 
 of the lower James, where his own health, with that of his 
 command, was suffering, and to return to the upper country. 
 He longed for its pure breezes, its sparkling waters, and 
 a sight of its familiar mountains. Events had already 
 occurred which procured the speedy gratification of his 
 wish. After the defeat of Fremont and Shields, the 
 Washington Government united the corps of these Gene- 
 rals, of Banks, and of M'Dowell into one body, under the 
 name of the " Army of Virginia." These parts made an 
 
232 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 aggregate of fifty or sixty thousand men, who were now 
 sent, under Major -General John Pope, upon the mission 
 of making a demonstration against Eichmond by the 
 Orange and Alexandria Eailroad, and thus effecting a 
 diversion which would deliver M'Clellan from his duresse. 
 The former was directed to seize GordonsviUe, the point 
 at which the Orange and Central Eailroads cross each 
 other, and thus to separate Eichmond from the interior. 
 General Pope, who was supposed to have distinguished 
 himself at New Madrid, on the Mississippi, was chiefly 
 noted for his claim of ten thousand prisoners captured from 
 General Beauregard in his retreat from Corinth, where the 
 former commanded the advance of the Federalists (a boast 
 which was reduced, by the truthful statement of the Con- 
 federate General, to one hundred). He was the most 
 boastful, the most brutal, and the most unlucky of the 
 Federal leaders who had yet appeared in Virginia. In 
 a general order issued to his troops, he ostentatiously 
 announced his purpose, to conduct the war upon new 
 principles. " He had heard much," he said, " of lines of 
 communication, and lines of retreat. The only hne a 
 general should know anything of, in his opinion, was the 
 line of his enemy's retreat." He declared, also, that hitherto 
 he had never been able to see anything of his enemies but 
 their backs ; and announced, that during his campaign 
 the head -quarters should be in the saddle. So coarse a 
 braggart was sure to be in sympathy with the race for 
 which he promised to fight, and they did not need to wait 
 for any deeds actually accomplished to proclaim him " the 
 coming man " of his day. The reader may easily imagine 
 
HE MARCHES TO GOEDONSVILLE. 233 
 
 tlie quiet smile with which Jackson would hear these 
 shallow threats of his antagonist, and the silence with 
 which he accepted them as auguries of a certain victory. 
 General Pope's method of dealing with the people of Vir- 
 ginia was to he as novel as his strategy. He deliberately 
 announced his purpose to subsist his troops on the country, 
 and authorized an indiscriminate plunder of the inhabitants. 
 His army was let loose upon them, and proceeded like a 
 horde of brigands through the rich counties of Fauquier and 
 Culpepper, stripping the people of food, live stock, horses, 
 and poultry, and wantonly destrojdng what they could not 
 use. Their General also ordained that all the citizens 
 within his hues must perjure themselves by taking an 
 oath of allegiance to Lincoln, or be banished South, to 
 retm-n no more, under the penalty of being executed as 
 spies. 
 
 Jackson was now moved toward Gordonsville, to meet 
 this doughty warrior, who, as he left Alexandria to assume 
 command of his army at Manassa's Junction, celebrated 
 the triumphs to be achieved, before they were won, with 
 banners and laurels. The corps returned from Westover 
 to the neighbourhood of Eichmond, the 10th of July. 
 There they remained until the 17th, preparing for their 
 march ; and it was during this respite that General Jack- 
 son first made his appearance openly in the city which he 
 had done so much to deliver. He gives the following 
 account of it in a letter to his wife : — 
 
 "Richmond, July Mtli. 
 " Yesterday I heard Doctor M. D. Hoge preach in his 
 church, and also in the camp of the Stonewall Brigade. 
 
234 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 It is a great comfort to have the privilege of spending a 
 quiet Sabbath within the walls of a house dedicated to 
 the service of God. . . . People are very kind to me. 
 How God, our God, does shower blessings upon me, an 
 unworthy sinner !" 
 
 The manner of his entrance was this : He came to the 
 church without attendants ; and just after the congrega- 
 tion was assembled, they saw an officer, who was mani- 
 festly a stranger, in a faded and sunburned uniform, enter 
 quietly, and take his seat near the door. The immediate 
 commencement of the worsliip forbade any notice or in- 
 quiry; they could only observe that he gave a devout 
 and fixed attention to the services. AVhen they were con- 
 cluded, it began to be whispered that he was General 
 Jackson ; but he scarcely gave them time to turn their 
 eyes upon liim before he was gone, after modestly greet- 
 ing one or two acquaintances. After visiting a mother, 
 whose son had fallen in his command, he returned to his 
 tent. 
 
 On the 1 9th of July he reached Gordonsville with his 
 corps, and took quarters in the hospitable house of the 
 Eev. D. B. Ewing, where he had before found a pleasant 
 resting-place, when passing through the village. He ap- 
 peared jaded by his excessive labours, and positively 
 unwell ; and said he had not suffered so much since his 
 return from Mexico. But the rest, the mountain breezes, 
 and the fresh fruits in which he so much delighted, speedily 
 restored the vigour of his frame. He loved to refresh 
 himself here, after the labours of the day were finished, 
 
GOEDONSVILLE. 235 
 
 with the social converse of the amiable family which sur- 
 rounded Mr. E-n'ing's board, and with the prattle of his 
 children. One of these, while sitting upon his knee, was 
 captivated with the bright military buttons upon his coat, 
 and petitioned that when the garment was worn out he 
 should give her one as a keepsake. This he promised ; 
 and months afterwards, amidst all his weighty cares, he 
 remembered to send her the gift ; which she ever after 
 hoarded among her treasures. It was his greatest pleasure 
 to share the family prayers of this Christian household, 
 and he did not refuse to take his turn in conducting them. 
 His host remarks of these services : " There was something 
 very striking in his prayers — he did not pray to men, but 
 to God. His tones were deep, solemn, tremulous. He 
 seemed to realize that he was speaking to heaven's King. 
 I never heard any one pray who seemed to be pervaded 
 more fully by a spirit of utter self-abnegation. He seemed 
 to feel more than any man I ever knew the danger of 
 robbing God of the glory due for our success." Although 
 he was incapable of making an ostentatious display of 
 himself, and would never permit the interruption of busi- 
 ness by society, yet, when time sufficed for social enjoy- 
 ments, he was easily approached by aU who sought to 
 know him, and was careful to contribute to their enter- 
 tainment by bearing a modest part in conversation. 
 
 After a few days spent near Gordonsville, he retired 
 southward a few miles into the county of Louisa, whose 
 fertile fields offered ' abundant pasturage for his jaded 
 animals. Here he devoted himself to reorganizing his 
 command, and recruiting his artillery horses for the 
 
236 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 approaching service. It was at this time that he com- 
 plained, in his letters to his wife, of being overhurthened 
 with cares and labours ; but he chided himself by referring 
 to the Apostle of the Gentiles, who " gloried in trikilation," 
 and declared that it was not like a Christian to murmur at 
 any toil for his Eedeemer. 
 
 Learning that Pope was advancing toward the Eapi- 
 dan Eiver in great force, he called upon General Lee for 
 reinforcements ; and the division of General A. P. HiU 
 was sent to join him. This fine body of troops continued 
 henceforth to be a part of his corps. On the 2d of August, 
 the Federal cavalry occupied the village at Orange Court 
 House, when Colonel William E. Jones, the comrade of 
 Jackson at West Point, commanding the 7th Virginia 
 cavalry, attacked them in front and flank while crowded 
 into the narrow street, and repulsed them with loss. They, 
 however, speedily perceiving the scanty numbers of their 
 assailants, returned to the charge ; and threatening to en- 
 velop Jones, forced him back in turn. But he retired 
 skirmishing with so much stubbornness, that they pursued 
 him a very short distance, when they withdrew across the 
 river. This affair occurred ten miles north of Gordons- 
 viUe. Pope's infantry paused in the county of Culpepper, 
 which lies over against Orange, across the Eapidan. He 
 indiscreetly extended his army a few miles in rear of that 
 stream, upon a very wide front, while some of the troops 
 designed to serve under his orders were still at Fredericks- 
 burg, two marches below. This was an opportunity which 
 the enterprise and sagacity of Jackson were certain to 
 seize. He knew that the army of Lee, still detained to 
 
HE BESOLVES TO ATTACK POPE. 237 
 
 watch M'Clellan upon the lower James, could not come to 
 his support before that of Pope would be assembled. The 
 mass of the latter would then be irresistible by his little 
 army; and there was reason to fear that Gordonsville 
 would be lost, the railroad occupied, and a disastrous pro- 
 gress made by Pope before he covld be arrested. He 
 therefore determined to strike his centre immediately at 
 Culpepper Court House, and to cripple him so that he 
 would be unable to advance, before other dispositions 
 could be made for resisting him. Another powerful reason 
 dictated an attack. Jackson's soldierly eye had shown 
 him that the line of the Eapidan was the proper one to be 
 held by a defensive army guarding the communications at 
 Gordonsville, and the centre of Virginia ; for the com- 
 manding heights of the southern bank everywhere domi- 
 nated over the level plains of the Culpepper border. This 
 judgment was afterwards confirmed by the high authority 
 of General Lee, who selected that line for defence against 
 Generals Meade and Grant ; and, by its strength, baffled 
 every attempt to force it in front. Pope, then, must not 
 he permitted to occupy it ; but it suited the temper of 
 General Jackson to prevent it by an aggressive blow, 
 rather than by a dangerous extension of his inadequate 
 force upon it. Hence, on the 7th of August, he gave 
 orders to his three divisions to move toward Culpepper, 
 and to encamp on that night near Orange Court House. 
 
 It was on this occasion that the striking witness was 
 borne by his African servant, Jim, to his devout habits, 
 which was so currently (and correctly) related. Some 
 gentlemen were inquiring whether he knew when a battle 
 
238 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 was about to occur. " Oh, yes, sir," lie replied, " the 
 G-eneral is a great man for praying ; night and morning — 
 all times. But when I see him get up several times m 
 the night besides, to go off and pray, then I know there is 
 going to be something to pay; and I go straight and pack 
 his haversack, because I know he will call for it in the 
 morning." 
 
 August 8th, the division of Ewell, which led the way, 
 bearing off to the north-west, crossed the Eapidan at the 
 Liberty Mills, as though to attack the extreme right of 
 Pope. The other divisions crossed at Barnett's Ford, 
 below ; and Ewell, turning to the east, returned to their 
 line of march, and bore toward Slaughter's Mountaui. 
 The division of A. P. HiU, delayed by the trains which 
 followed the precedmg troops, and by a misconception of 
 orders, did not cross the river until the morning of the 
 9 til. This derangement of the march arrested General 
 Jackson many miles from Culpepper Court House, and he 
 reluctantly postponed his attack to the next day. On the 
 morning of August 9th, having ascertained that A. P. Hill 
 was now witliin supporting distance, he moved early ; and 
 with his cavalry in front, pressed toward the Court House. 
 About eight miles from that place, the advance reported 
 the enemy's cavalry before them, guarding the roads, and 
 manoeuvring in a manner which indicated a force behind 
 them ; and, a little after, the line of horse was discovered 
 upon a distant ridge, drawn up as if for battle. A few 
 cannon shot from a rifled gun dislodged them; but 
 speedily the fire was returned by the Federal artillery 
 from a distant position, and the line of cavalry re- 
 
TOPOGRAPHY OF CEDAE EUN. 239 
 
 appeared. General Jackson, convinced that he had a 
 strong body of the enemy in his front, now made his dis- 
 positions for battle, a little after the middle of the day. 
 
 His army had by this time fallen into the main road, 
 leading north-eastward to Culpepper Court House ; and 
 to this quarter his front was directed during the remainder 
 of the day. The neighbourhood around him was a region 
 of pleasant farms, of hills and dales, and of forests inter- 
 spersed. But parallel with the road which he was pur- 
 suing, distant about a mile on his right, was an insul- 
 ated ridge, rising to the dignity of a mountain, running 
 perfectly straight from south-west to north-east, and 
 dropping into the plain as suddenly as it arose. This 
 is called by the country-people, Slaughter's Moimtain. 
 The fields next its base are smoother and more akin to 
 meadows than those along the highway at the distance of 
 a mile. Across the north-eastern end of the ridge flow 
 the rivulets which form, by their union, Cedar Eun, and 
 make their way thence to the Eapidan. General Early's 
 brigade of EweU's division, which held the front, was 
 ordered to advance along the great road and develop the 
 position of the enemy, supported by the di^dsion of Jack- 
 son, commanded by Brigadier -General Winder. The re- 
 mainder of EwelL's division, consisting of the brigades of 
 Trimble and Hays (lately Taylor's), diverged to the right, 
 and skirting the base of Slaughter's Mountain, by an 
 obscure pathway, at length reached the north-east end, 
 whence, from an open iield elevated several hundred feet 
 above the plain, they saw the whole scene of action un- 
 folded beneath them. The battery of Lattimer, with half 
 
240 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 that of Johnson, was drawn up to this promontory, and 
 skilfully posted, so as to cover with its fire the whole 
 front of the Confederate right and centre. It was to the 
 promptitude with which General Jackson seized this 
 point, and the adroitness with which he employed its ad- 
 vantages, that he was chiefly indebted, in connexion with 
 the bravery of his troops, for his victory. The guns of 
 Lattimer and Johnson, in consequence of the elevation 
 of their position, commanded a wide range of the country 
 below, and were themselves secure from the fire of the 
 enemy. Every shot aimed at them fell short, and buried 
 itself, without ricochet, in the hillside beneath them; 
 while their gunners, in perfect security, and in a clear 
 atmosphere above the smoke of the battle-field, played 
 upon the enemy with all the deliberation and skiU of 
 target practice. Thus the level and open fields next the 
 mountain, which otherwise were most favourable to the 
 display of the Federalists' superior numbers, were effec- 
 tually barred from their approach ; or, if they braved the 
 fire of the mountain-battery, the two brigades of Ewell 
 lay hid in the dense pine thickets which clothed the side 
 of the ridge, ready to pour upon their flank a crnshing fire 
 from superior ground. These dispositions at once decided 
 the security of Jackson's right wing for the whole day. 
 He placed no troops in the meadows next the mountain 
 base ; for on this ground the artillery of the enemy could 
 play with best effect. But though this marked hiatus 
 in his line seemed to invite attack, none was seriously 
 attempted ; the disadvantage imposed upon the assailants 
 revealed itself to them so powerfully, at their first ap- 
 
EAKL\''S DISPOSITIONS. 241 
 
 proach, that they observed the deadly trap afterwards with 
 respectful avoidance. 
 
 Before these dispositions upon the right were completed, 
 General Early had become engaged with the enemy. 
 Throwing his brigade into line of battle across the road, 
 he advanced obliquely to the right, scouring the woods 
 before him with his skirmishers, and driving back the 
 observing force of cavalry. A march of a half-mile brought 
 him to the top of a gentle hill, where the road emerged 
 from the forest, and ran forward for a third of a mile 
 farther between the wood and a large pasture field of 
 undulating ground. In other words, the open ground 
 here cut into the forest by an angle, so that the traveller 
 advancing thenceforward had the field upon his right, and 
 the wood upon his left, for that distance. There the wood 
 terminated upon the brow of a hillock overlooking the 
 rivrdet, and there were open fields upon both sides of the 
 highway. That on the right was covered for a great 
 extent with a tall growth of Indian corn in all its summer 
 glory; that on the left was a stubble field of narrow 
 extent, with wheat in the shock ; and still farther to the 
 left of this was another piece of ground of about equal 
 size, which had been denuded of its timber, but was now 
 densely overgrown with brushwood of the height of a 
 man's shoulders. The stubble field and the clearing to- 
 gether constituted in fact but a species of bay, penetrating 
 the surrounding forests to the left of the main road, for on 
 their farther side the woods commenced again. The corn- 
 
 "to" 
 
 field, the stubble field, the brushwood, and the angle of 
 forest on the Confederate side, were destined to be the 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
242 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 Aceldama. By the time General Early had reached the 
 rear angle of the great pasture-field just described, his 
 whole line was, in consequence of his oblique advance, on 
 the left of the road, and was soon, by his farther advance, 
 separated from it by a considerable space. Sweeping the 
 Federal skirmishers before him, he pushed his line, in 
 perfect order, to the front of the declivity which descended 
 to the rivulet and the Indian corn. Several batteries on 
 his right and in front were now opened on him, and the 
 wheat-field on the left of the highway was observed full 
 of squadrons of cavahy. Withdrawing his men into a 
 slight depression behind the foremost crest of the hill, he 
 obtained partial shelter from the enemy's artillery, and 
 brought up four guns from the batteries of Captains Brown 
 and Dement to a favourable position upon his right, 
 whence they engaged the opposing batteries with great 
 credit. But no line of infantry was yet visible before 
 him, for it was masked in the thick corn. 
 
 The division of Winder had now arrived, and its com- 
 mander was posting several of its best batteries in echelon 
 along the road in the rear of Early's left, whence they 
 delivered a most effective oblique fire toward the right 
 and front. The second brigade of the di\asion was ad- 
 vanced on the left of the road to the further edge of the 
 wood, presenting a convex line toward the corn-field and 
 the stubble field; the third brigade was left in cohmin 
 parallel to the road and in rear of their artillery ; and the 
 first, or Stonewall Brigade, was disposed as a reserve to 
 support the left. A rapid and continuous thunder of 
 artillery now began on both sides, which was prolonged 
 
GENERAL WINDEE MORTALLY WOUNDED. 213 
 
 for two hours. Distant spectators perceived that the aim 
 of the Confederates was much more accurate than that of 
 the enemy. While the shells of the latter mostly exploded 
 high in the air and above the tree tops, those of the former 
 were seen ploughing the ground among the guns of their 
 adversaries, and throwing the dust, with their iron hail, 
 m their midst. But one fated shot from the Federal 
 batteries robbed the patriots of one of the chief ornaments 
 of their army. While General Winder was standing be- 
 side the guns of Poague and Carpenter, directing their 
 working with his customary coolness and skill, a shell 
 struck him upon the side, dashed his field-glass from his 
 hand, and inflicted a ghastly wound, of which he died 
 three hours after. No more just or graceful tribute can 
 be paid to his memory than that of General Jackson's 
 report : " It is difficult within the proper reserve of an 
 official report to do justice to the merits of this accom- 
 plished officer. Urged by the medical director to take no 
 part in the movements of the day, because of the enfeebled 
 state of his health, his ardent patriotism and military 
 pride could bear no such restraint. Eichly endowed with 
 those quahties of mind and person which fit an officer for 
 command, and which attract the admh-ation and excite the 
 enthusiasm of troops, he was rapidly rising to the front 
 rank of his profession. His loss has been severely felt." 
 Succeeding General Eichard Garnett in the command of 
 the Stonewall Brigade, after the battle of Kernstown, and 
 coming to it wholly a stranger, he had unavoidably in- 
 herited some of the odium of that popular officer's re- 
 moval. During the first two months of his connexion with 
 
244 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEBAL JACKSON. 
 
 it, he was respected and obeyed, for his dignity, bearing, 
 and soldierly qualities were such as to insure this every- 
 where ; but he inspired no enthusiasm. It was at Win- 
 chester, when General Jackson assigned him the command 
 of his left wing, that his prowess broke forth to the appre- 
 hension of his men, like the sun bursting through clouds. 
 The heroism with which he shared their dangers, and the 
 mastery with which he directed their strength, placed him 
 thenceforth in their hearts. 
 
 At five o'clock in the afternoon, the struggle began in 
 earnest, by the advance of the Federal infantry against 
 Early, through the Indian corn. This general, handhng 
 his regiments with admirable coolness and daring, held 
 the heavy masses in his front at bay, with slight loss to 
 Idmself Soon after, the enemy advanced a strong force 
 of infantry to turn his right ; but just as the movement 
 was endangering the guns of Brown and Dement, a brigade 
 was seen advancing rapidly to their support. It was the 
 command of Thomas (from the division of A. P. Hdl, who 
 had now arrived upon the scene), which, with two addi- 
 tional batteries, took post upon Early's right. The Con- 
 federate line of battle was thus extended within a half-mile 
 of the mountain, and all the efforts made against it on this 
 side were hurled back with loss. But, upon the other 
 extremity of the field, grave events were occurring. It 
 lias been related how the second brigade of the divi- 
 sion of Winder, under Colonel Garnett, had been sta- 
 tioned on the left of the great road, with its line 
 conformed to the convexity of the wood. The Stonewall 
 Brigade, which was its reserve, was, unhappily, too far to 
 
CONFEDEEATE LEFT BROKEN. 245 
 
 the rear to give it immediate support. One moment it 
 was declared that there was no hostile infantry visible in 
 its front ; but the next, the men at the extreme left beheld 
 a formidable line, whose length overlapped them on either 
 hand, advancing swiftly from the opposite woods, and 
 across the stubble field, to assail them. The battalion at 
 that end of the line, seeing themselves thus overmatched, 
 fired a few ineffectual volleys, and gave way ; the Federal 
 right speedily swept around, entered and filled the woods, 
 and even threatened the rear of the batteries of the 
 division, from which the third brigade of Taliaferro had a 
 little before been removed to the front, to fill the interval 
 between the second and that of Early. The whole angle 
 of forest was now filled with clamour and horrid rout. 
 The left regiments of the second brigade ^^'ere taken in 
 reverse, intermiagled with the enemy, broken, and mas- 
 sacred from front and rear. The regiments of the right, 
 and especially the 21st Virginia, commanded by the brave 
 Christian soldier, Colonel Cunningham, stood firm, and 
 fought the enemy before them like bons, until the invad- 
 ing hne had penetrated within twenty yards of their rear. 
 For the terrific din of the musketry, the smoke, and the 
 dense foliage, concealed friend from foe, until they were 
 only separated from each other by this narrow interval. 
 Their heroic Colonel was slain, the orders of officers were 
 unheard amidst the shouts of the assailants and all the 
 vast uproar; yet the remnants of the second brigade 
 fought on, man to man, without rank or method, with 
 bayonet thrusts and muskets clubbed, but borne back like 
 the angry foam on a mighty wave, toward the high road. 
 
246 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 The third brigade also, upon the right of the second, was 
 broken, and on both sides of the way tlie enemy made a 
 vast irruption, in which half of Early's brigade was in- 
 volved. On his extreme left, next to Taliaferro, stood the 
 famous 13th Virginia, which, under the gallant leading of 
 its sturdy Colonel, J. A. Walker, still showed an unbroken 
 front, and fell back, fighting the flood of enemies. The 
 right regiments of Early, under the immediate eye of theii- 
 veteran General, held their ground like a rampart. But 
 the Federalists were fast gaining their rear in the open 
 field. 
 
 It was at this fearful moment that the genius of the 
 storm reared his head amidst the tumultuous billows, and 
 in an instant the threatening tide was turned. Jackson 
 appeared in the mid torrent of the highway, his iigure 
 instinct with majesty, and his face flaming with the inspi- 
 ration of battle ; he ordered the batteries which "Winder 
 had placed to be instantly withdrawn, to preserve them 
 from capture ; he issued his summons for his reserves ; he 
 drew his own sword (the first time in this war), and shouted 
 to the broken troops with a voice which pealed higher than 
 the roar of battle : " Eally, brave men, and press forward ! 
 Your general wUl lead you. Jackson will lead you. Fol- 
 low me ! " ^ The fugitives, with a general shame, gathered 
 around their adored general, and rushing with a few score 
 of them to the front, he posted them behind the fence 
 which bordered the roadside, and received the pursuers 
 with a deadly volley. They recoiled in surprise; while 
 
 ^ Hia own words, aa repeated by a member of his staff, who was 
 present. 
 
THE TIDE TURNED. 247 
 
 officers of every grade, catching the generous fervour of 
 their commander, flew among the men, and in a moment 
 reinstated the failing hattle. The fragments of Early and 
 TaUaferro returned to their places, forming around that 
 heroic nucleus, the 1 3th Virginia, and swept the open field 
 clear of the enemy. The Stonewall Brigade had already 
 come up and changed the tide of battle in the bloody 
 woodland, for some of the regiments sweeping far around 
 to the left through the field of brushwood, had taken the 
 Federalists, in turn, upon their flank, and were driving 
 them back with a fearful slaughter into the stubble field. 
 Scarcely was this Titanic blow delivered, when the fine 
 brigade of Branch, from the division of A. P. Hill, hardly 
 allowing itself time to form, rushed forward to second 
 them, and completed the repulse. 
 
 The Federal commander, loth to lose his advantage so 
 quickly, now brought forward a magnificent column of 
 cavalry, and hurled it along the highway, full against the 
 Confederate centre. 'So cannon was in position to ravage 
 their ranks ; but, as they forced back the line for a little 
 space by their momentum, the infantry of Branch closed 
 in upon their right, and that of Taliaferro and Early upon 
 their left. Especially did the 13th Virginia now exact a 
 bloody recompense of them for aU their disasters. Wheel- 
 ing instantly toward the left, they rushed to the fence 
 beside the road ; and, just as the recoil of the shock began, 
 poured a withering volley into the huddled mass from the 
 distance of a few yards. On both sides of the devoted 
 column, the lines of Branch and of Taliaferro blazed, until 
 it fled to the rear, utterly scattered and dissipated. And 
 
24S LIFE OF LreUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 now Jackson's blood was up ; and lie delivered blow after 
 blow from his insulted left wing, witb stunning rapidity 
 and regulated fury. Scarcely was the charge of this cavalry 
 repelled, when he again reinforced the ranks of Branch, in 
 front of the bloody stubble field, with the brigades of 
 Archer and of Pender, from the division of Hill, extending 
 them far to the left. These fresh troops, with the re- 
 mainder of the first and second brigades of Jackson's divi- 
 sion, were ordered by him to advance across the field, 
 throwing their left continually forward, and attack the 
 enemy's line in the opposite wood. They advanced imder 
 a hea^fy fire, when the foe yielded the bloody field, and 
 broke into full retreat. The brigade of Taliaferro also 
 charged, bearing toward the right, and pierced the field of 
 Indian corn in front of General Early, where they captured 
 four hundred of the enemy, with Brigadier- General Price. 
 The two brigades which had hitherto remained with 
 General EweU upon the mountain now advanced also 
 upon the right, turned the left flank of the Pederahsts, and 
 captured one piece of artillery. Thus at every point the 
 foe was repulsed, and hurled into full retreat. When night 
 settled upon the field, they had been driven two miles, 
 Jackson urgmg on the pursuit with the fresh brigades of 
 Stafford and Pield. It was his cherished desire to pene- 
 trate to Culpepper Court House, for he would then have 
 struck the centre of Pope's position, and his chief depot of 
 supplies ; whence he hoped to be able to crush the frag- 
 ments of his army before the corps of M'Dowell could 
 reach him. With this object, he purposed at first to con- 
 tinue the pursuit all night. Ascertaining by his scouts 
 
HIS TKOOPS BIVOUAC. 249 
 
 that the enemy had paused in their flight just in his front, 
 he now placed the battery of Pegram in position, and 
 opened a hot fire upon them at short range. This new 
 cannonade threw them for a time into great confusion ; 
 and had the darkness of the night permitted the victor to 
 see distinctly where Ms blows should be aimed, he would 
 probably have converted the retreat of the Federals into a 
 disastrous rout. But, after a time, three batteries began 
 to reply to Pegram with such vigour as plainly indicated 
 that Pope had received some fresh supports since the night 
 fell. The indefatigable Colonel William E. Jones also, 
 returning with his regiment of cavalry from a fatiguing 
 expedition, had passed to the front, and ascertained the 
 arrival of the remainder of the corps of Fremont, now 
 commanded by Sigel. The General therefore determined 
 not to hazard more in the darkness of the night, and com- 
 manded the troops to halt and bivouac upon the ground 
 which they had won. 
 
 The long day, sultry with an August sun, and with the 
 heats of battle, had now given place to a night, moonless, 
 but placid Jackson at length gathered his wearied Staff 
 about him, and rode languidly back through the field of 
 strife, lately so stormy, but now silent, save where the 
 groans of the wounded broke the stdlness, seeking a place 
 of repose. Applying at two or three farm-houses for 
 shelter, he was informed that they were full of wounded 
 men, when he persistently refused to enter, lest he should 
 be the occasion of robbing some sufferer of his resting- 
 place. Eesuming his way, he observed a little grass-plot, 
 and declared that he could go no farther, but must sleep 
 
250 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 then and there. A cloak was spread for him upon the 
 ground, when he prostrated himself on it upon his hreast, 
 and in a moment forgot his toils and fatigues in deep 
 slumber. 
 
 The morning of the 10th of August, General Jackson 
 withdrew his lines a short distance, and proceeded to bury 
 his dead, and collect from the field the spoils of his victoiy. 
 These consisted of one piece of artUlery and three caissons, 
 three colours, and five thousand three hundred small arms. 
 The loss of the Confederates in this battle was two hun- 
 dred and t\venty-three kUled, one thousand and sixty 
 wounded, and thirty- one missing, — making a total of one 
 thoiisand three hundred and fourteen. General Jackson 
 modestly estimated the loss of his enemy as double Ms 
 own. How moderate that estimate was will appear in tlie 
 sequel. The Federalists, according to their own returns, 
 had thirty-two thousand men engaged in this battle. The 
 numbers of General Jackson were between eighteen and 
 twenty thousand. The prisoners captured from the enemy 
 were chiefly from the corps of General Banks ; but a few 
 from those of Sigel and M'DoweU showed that parts of 
 their commands were also engaged. On the 11th of 
 August, Pope requested, by flag of truce, access to tlie 
 field to bury his dead. This privilege was granted to Mm, 
 and General Early was appointed commandant of the field, 
 to enforce the terms of the temporary truce. Soon tlie 
 ground was covered with those who had lately been 
 arrayed against each other in mortal strife, minghng 
 unarmed. While the burying parties collected their bloody 
 charge, and excavated great pits in which to cover them, 
 
HIS TROOPS BIVOUAC. 251 
 
 the rest were busy trading their horses with each other, 
 artniing upon the politics of the great controversy, and 
 discussing the merits of their respective generals. The 
 Federals, with one consent, were loud in their praises of 
 Jackson, and declared, that if they had such generals to 
 lead them, they also could win victories and display 
 prowess. Not a few of them were prompt to draw parallels 
 between the simplicity, self-reliance, and courage of the 
 Confederate generals, and the ostentation and timidity of 
 their own, little complimentary to them. " See old Early," 
 they said, " riding everywhere, without a single guard, 
 among his enemies of yesterday. If it were one of our 
 mutton-headed generals, he must needs have half a regi- 
 ment of cavalry at his heels, to gratify his pride, and 
 defend him from unarmed men !" General Early saw 
 them bury seven hundred corpses. How many were 
 borne from the field by them during the progress of the 
 battle cannot be known. If they, like the Confederates, 
 had fi^'e wounded for every one slain (the usual ratio), 
 then their total loss was, at the least, four thousand six 
 hundred. "While the field of Indian corn was sprinkled 
 over with dead, the most ghastly accumulation was in the 
 - stubble field and the brushwood in front of the Confederate 
 , left, which one of their own generals (taking his metaphor 
 from his own former trade) denominated " the slaughter- 
 . pens." The battle of Cedar Eun, like aU those where 
 , Jackson was the assailant, was remarkable for the narrow- 
 ness of the front upon which the true contest was enacted. 
 ^ A space of a mile in width here embraced the whole of 
 . the ground upon which his centre and left wing had 
 
252 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 wrestled, for half a clay, against thirty thousand men. 
 When it is remembered that these were enough to man a 
 line of battle six miles long, this fact will appear a singular 
 evidence of the incompetency of the Federal tactics, — that 
 their boastful commander should have accepted defeat 
 with all the advantage of his superior numbers, in an 
 open country, without effecting any more extended develop- 
 ment of his lines, or resort to the resources of manceim'e. 
 General Jackson, on his part, pronounced this the most 
 successful of his exploits. But he announced it to his 
 superior. General Lee, in these devout and modest terms :— 
 
 " Augtist WtJi, 6 J A.M. 
 " On the evening of the 9th instant, God blessed our 
 arms with another victory. The battle was near Cedar 
 Eun, about six miles from Culpepper Court House. The 
 enemy, according to statements of prisoners, consisted of 
 Banks's, M'Dowell's, and Sigel's commands. "We have 
 over four hundred prisoners, including Brigadier- General 
 Price. Wlrilst our list of killed is less than that of the 
 enemy, we have to mourn the loss of some of our best 
 officers and men. Brigadier-General Charles S. Winder 
 was mortally wounded whilst ably discharging his duty 
 at the head of his command, which was the advance of 
 the left wing of the army. We have collected about 1500 
 small arms, and other ordnance stores." 
 
 Whilst General Jackson was engacfed on the 10th, 
 caring for his killed and wounded, he caused careful 
 reconnoissances to be made under the care of General J. 
 
EEASONS FOR BATTLE OF CEDAR RUN". 253 
 
 E. B. Stuart, who providentially visited his army on tliat 
 day, on a tour of inspection. He was convinced by this 
 inquiry that the army of Pope was receiving constant 
 accessions, and that before he could resume the offensive 
 it would be swelled to sixty thousand men. The bulk of 
 the forces of M'Dowell was upon the march to join the 
 enemy, by a route which seemed to threaten his rear. He 
 therefore determined that it was imprudent to hazard 
 further offensive movements. Having sent back all his 
 spoils and his wounded, he retired from the front of the 
 enemy the night of August 11th, and returned unmolested 
 to the neighbourhood of Gordonsville, hoping that Pope's 
 qyH star might tempt him to attack his army there, where 
 the proximity of the railroad would enable him to receive 
 adequate reinforcements. 
 
 A part of the leisure of his day of truce was employed 
 in writing to Mrs. Jackson a letter, from which the follow - 
 ing extract is taken : — 
 
 " On last Saturday our God again crowned our arms 
 with victory, about six miles from Culpepper Court House. 
 All glory be to God for his unnumbered blessings. 
 
 "I can hardly think of the fall of Brigadier-General C. 
 S. "Winder without tearful eyes. Let us all unite more 
 earnestly in imploring God's aid in figliting our battles for 
 us. The thought that there are so many of God's people 
 praying for His blessing upon the army, which, in His 
 providence, is with me, greatly strengthens me. If God 
 be for us, who can be against us ? That He will still be 
 with us, and give us victory after victory, until our inde- 
 pendence shall be established, and that He will make our 
 
254- LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 nation that people whose God is the Lord, is my earnest 
 and oft-repeated prayer. Wliilst we attach so much im- 
 portance to being free from temporal bondage, we must 
 attacli far more to being free from the bondage of sin." 
 
 His report of the battle is closed with these words :— 
 
 " In order to render thanks to God for the victory at 
 Cedar Eun, and other past victories, and to implore His 
 continued favour in the future, divine service was held in 
 the army on the 1 4th of August." 
 
 This battle was claimed by the Federalists, with their 
 usual effrontery, as a victory, under the pretext that 
 General Jackson had after two days retreated and re- 
 crossed the Eapidan. Had these measures on his part 
 been caused by anything that was done upon the battle- 
 field by the forces engaged against hina August 9th, that 
 pretext would have worn the colour of a reason. But 
 since his withdrawal was caused by the arrival of fresli 
 troops in great numbers, after the battle was concluded, it 
 might with as much truth be said that any other victory 
 in history was a defeat, because the material resources of 
 the two parties were afterwards modified or reversed. 
 
 The opinion has been expressed that although Jackson 
 fought well at Cedar Eun, it would have been better not 
 to have fought at all ; because his victory, while glorious, 
 was without other result ; and thus the brave men lost 
 were made a useless sacrifice. This criticism should be 
 met by two answers. The battle was not without solid 
 results, for it arrested the career of Pope until the army of 
 ISTorthern Virginia arrived, and prevented his gaining 
 positions decisive of future operations. It must he re- 
 
REASONS FOR BATTLE OF CEDAR RUN". 255 
 
 membered that on the 2d of August the vanguard of the 
 invading army had crossed the Eapidan, and penetrated 
 within twelve miles of Gordonsville. The troops which 
 came to support Jackson did not move against the enemy 
 from that place until August 16th. What disastrous 
 progxess might not the invaders have made withiii that 
 time if Jackson had not arrested them by his timely 
 blow ? But second : designs, which must necessarily be 
 made hi. advance, are entitled to be tried, when the ques- 
 tion is of the wisdom of him who formed them, not by the 
 strict rule of the actual event, but by the milder one of 
 the probable result. General Jackson proposed to strike 
 the enemy, not at Cedar Eun, but at Culpepper Court 
 House, and not upon the 9 th, but the 8th of August. 
 The space to be traversed to effect this was not unreason- 
 able (but one day's rapid marching), and the blunder by 
 which it was prevented was unforeseen. Had his wishes 
 been attained, it is not unreasonable to say that his victory 
 would have been so much more complete as to silence 
 every charge of fruitlessness. Por we have seen that the 
 supports which saved Pope from destruction only arrived 
 at nightfall upon the 9th. 
 
56 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEKEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SECOND MANASSAS. 
 
 The battle of Cedar Eun was but the prelude to a more 
 bloody struggle, which was destined, by a strange coin- 
 cidence, for the historic plains of Manassas. General 
 Jackson had scarcely returned to his encampment near 
 Gordonsville, when the gathering of the hostile masses 
 in larger volume began. General Lee, convinced that 
 M'Clellan was incapable of further aggression, and that 
 the surest way to remove him finally from the peninsula 
 would be to threaten Washington more violently, began 
 to remove the remainder of his army from Richmond to 
 the Eapidan, August 1 3th, proposing to leave only a small 
 force for observation upon his lines there, until the suc- 
 cess of his experiment was verified. On that day General 
 Longstreet commenced his march for Gordonsville, and 
 the remainder of the troops were moved in the same 
 direction, the division of General D. H. Hill bringing up 
 the rear near the end of the month. Halleck, the new 
 Federal generalissimo, was also eagerly dictating the same 
 movement to M'Clellan. He found the " Grand Army" 
 divided into two widely separated fragments, and trembled 
 before the activity of Jackson, and the danger of his 
 
SECOND MANASSAS. 257 
 
 capital M'Clellan accordingly broke up his camps at 
 Berkeley on the 1 7th of August, and with sore reluctance 
 shipped the decimated remains of his troops to Aquia 
 Creek, on the Potomac. Disease had been carrying on 
 the work which the sword had begun, and the fever and 
 dysentery of the country had fearfully thinned his ranks. 
 But meantime, General Burnside had broiight his corps 
 from North Carolina, and landing it at the same spot on 
 the Potomac, had marched it to the support of General 
 Pope in Culpepper. 
 
 That commander now had his forces tolerably concen- 
 trated along the Hue of the Orange Eailroad. But ignor- 
 ant of the first principles of strategy, and possessed with 
 the vain conceit of crossing the Eapidan nearer its 
 source, and thus turning Jackson's left wing, he had ex- 
 tended his right toward Madison. He did not advert, 
 seemingly, to the fact that this manoeuvre gave him a line 
 of operations nearly parallel to his adversary's base, and 
 thus exposed his own left and his communications to a 
 more mortal thrust from him. The course of the Eapidan, 
 which had now manifestly become Jackson's temporary 
 base, is north of east ; while the curvature of the Orange 
 Eailroad is such that its course, eastward of Culpepper 
 Court House, is parallel to that river, or even brings its 
 stations near the Eapjjahannock, nearer to it than at the 
 Court House. Thus the Confederates, without exposing 
 their own communications, had it in their power to strike 
 those of Pope at Brandy Station by a march shorter than 
 that which would fetch the Federal advance back to that 
 place. So obvious an advantage could not escape any one 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
258 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 except the doughty Pope. Jackson of course seized it 
 upon the instant. Upon an elevated hill which is called 
 Clarke's Mountain, east of Orange Court House, he had 
 established a signal station. From this lofty look-out, all 
 the course of the Eapidan and the plains of Culpepper, 
 white with the enemy's tents toward Madison, were visible. 
 As soon, therefore, as the troops from Eichmond began to 
 arrive, GeneralJackson left Gordonsville, and on the 15th 
 of August marched to the eastern base of Clarke's Moun- 
 tain, where he carefully masked his forces near the fords 
 of the Eapidan. His signal officer upon the peak above 
 reported to him that the enemy were quiet, or even ex- 
 tending their right stUl farther up the country, unconscious 
 of their danger. The Commander-in-Chief, who was now 
 upon the ground, appointed the morning of the 18th, at 
 dawn of day, for the critical movement ; but the dilatori- 
 ness of a part of his subordinates disappointed the com- 
 pleteness of his combinations, and overruling the eagerness 
 of Jackson, he postponed it until the 20th. He again 
 issued orders for that day, that all the troops should be 
 prepared to advance in light marching order, with three 
 days' rations, and throw themselves that afternoon upon 
 the enemy's rear. Jackson was to cross the stream at 
 SomerviQe's Ford, so as to occupy the left, supported by 
 the division of General Anderson ; while Longstreet passed 
 below, at Eacoon Ford, and formed the right. General 
 Stuart, now Major-General of cavalry, was to cross with 
 his two brigades of Eobertson and FitzHugh Lee, and his 
 flying artillery, at Morton's Ford, march direct for the 
 Eappahannock bridge, destroy it, and then turning back 
 
POPE ESCAPES TO EAPPAHANNOCK. 259 
 
 along the enemy's line of communication, destroy his 
 trains, and fill every place with panic, until he connected 
 with the infantry of Longstreet upon the extreme right. 
 It was hoped that by these sMlfuI dispositions the enemy, 
 cut off from his line of retreat, and fiercely attacked upon 
 his left, would be routed, insulated, and destroyed. 
 
 But the issue showed the importance of that element 
 of strategic combinations which Jackson so keenly esti- 
 mated, time. The propitious moment was already for- 
 feited by delay. On the night of the 18th of August, the 
 day when the movement should have been made, a hand- 
 ful of fugitive negroes reached the army of Pope, and 
 revealed to him enough of the movements of the Confede- 
 rates to open his eyes to his danger. On the 19th, as 
 the Commander-in-Chief stood upon his look-out on 
 Clarke's Mountain, the encampments of the enemy farthest 
 west were seen to disappear, and as the day advanced the 
 rest vanished from view like a fleeting vision. Pope was 
 in full retreat, eager to place the Piappahannock between 
 himself and his adversary. This was his first lesson 
 upon the soundness of his maxim, that a conquering 
 general should leave his communications to take care of 
 themselves; and he was destined to receive others still 
 ruder. General Lee hastened to pursue, and put his army 
 ia motion on an early hour of the 20th of August, accord- 
 ing to the plan already arranged. General Jackson, 
 crossing the Eapidan at Somerville's Ford, marched rapidly 
 toward Brandy Station, while General Longstreet, crossing 
 simultaneously below, pressed toward Kelley's Pord, on 
 the Eappahannock. No Federal infantry awaited their 
 
260 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 approach ; before their arrival, all had crossed the latter 
 stream. But their cavalry still occupied the Culpepper 
 bank, and were driven across by the brigades of Stuart 
 One of these, the brigade of Robertson, formerly the 
 lamented Ashby's, under the eye of its jMajor-General, 
 had a brilliant combat with the enemy's horse near Brandy 
 Station, and drove them across the river with loss. Pope's 
 whole army was now found massed upon the northern 
 bank of the Eappahannock, with a powerful artUlery, 
 prepared to dispute the passage of General Lee. He 
 therefore formed the plan of striking his rear at a point 
 stin farther north, and thus dislodging him, and fighting 
 a general battle. But the conditions under which the 
 second movement must be made were far less favourable 
 than those of the one projected from the Eapidan, and 
 the results could not be expected to be so great. The 
 Eappahannock, which was then in Pope's rear, and would 
 have been a fatal obstacle to the retreat of his defeated 
 army, was now in his front, and was his defence. His 
 communications were no longer exposed to a direct blow, 
 but could only be reached by a dangerous, arduous, and 
 circuitous march. And when the battle was fought and 
 won, the beaten army would be within a day's march of 
 its place of refuge, the lines of Arlington. Yet the vigour 
 and courage of Jackson were trusted to effect this difficult 
 enterprise. It was determined to march up the Eappa- 
 hannock Eiver, until a practicable crossing was found, 
 and then to throw the corps of Jackson, which, being on 
 the left, became the front in this movement, by forced 
 marches to Manassa's Junction : and when his threaten- 
 
NEW PLAN AGAINST POPE. 261 
 
 ing presence there had called Pope away, to follow with 
 the remainder of the army. 
 
 The first essay in pursuance of this plan was made on 
 the 21st of August. General Jackson, leaving the hamlet 
 of Stevensburg, where he had bivouacked, crossed the 
 raUroad, and approached the river above it, at Beverly's 
 Ford. A lodgement was effected here by a regiment of 
 cavalry, upon the northern bank, which was held until 
 the evening ; but the enemy was approaching in such 
 force, that it was deemed inexpedient to make the passage 
 in their presence, and the advanced party was withdrawn. 
 The artOlery of General Longstreet had meantime en- 
 gaged that of the enemy at the raHroad crossing, a few 
 miles below, with such success as to compel them to with- 
 draw to their works on the north side, and then to burn 
 the bridge and desert the position. The morning of 
 August 22nd witnessed a renewal of the same proceed- 
 ings : the two armies advanced slowly up the Eappahan- 
 nock, upon its opposite banks, contestiag with each other 
 every available crossing, by fierce artillery duels ; and 
 attempting upon each other such assaults as occasion 
 offered. The corps of Jackson having passed the Hazel 
 Eiver, a tributary of the Eappahannock near its mouth, 
 left its baggage train parked there, under the protection 
 of Brigadier-General Trimble, of Ewell's division ; while 
 the main force pressed on to secure the bridge leading 
 from Culpepper to Warrenton. The cupidity of the 
 enemy was excited by this tempting prize, and they 
 crossed to seize it, capturing a few ambulances. These 
 were almost immediately regained, and Trimljle, upon re- 
 
262 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 ceiving the support of General Hood, who formed the van 
 of Longstreet's corps, attacked the intruders, and drove 
 them with loss to the north bank, fiUing the stream with 
 their floating corpses. A similar enterprise attempted on 
 the other hand by the Confederate General Stuart, on this 
 day, was as much more successful than the Federals', as it 
 was more audacious. Crossing the Eappahannock, above 
 the enemy's outposts, with a brigade of cavalry, he pressed 
 on through the village of Warrenton, and struck the rear 
 of their army at Catlett's Station after nightfall Finding 
 here a detachment of troops, with an extensive encamp- 
 ment, in the midst of a furious thunder-storm and 
 Egyptian darkness, they dashed into it with a yeU, scatter- 
 ing the astounded occupants to the wiads, and capturing 
 a great spoil, wdth a number of prisoners. This encamp- 
 ment was found to contain the headquarters of General 
 Pope ; and the baggage, clothing, horses, and money of 
 his Staff, as well as his own, rewarded the boldness of the 
 assailants. Great exertions were also made to destroy the 
 important railroad bridge spanning a large creek near by ; 
 but the deluge of rain had saturated the timbers beyond 
 the possibility of ignition, and the rising freshet under- 
 neath, with the iatense darkness, forbade the men to ply 
 their axes with success. Stuart therefore, gathering up 
 his spoils and prisoners, returned the way he came, leaving 
 the enemy confounded by his seeming ubiquity. Pope 
 thus learned, in a second hard lesson, that the commmi- 
 cations of an army are worthy of its commander's atten- 
 tion. The gravest loss which he experienced in this 
 capture, was that of his letter-book, which contained copies 
 
HE CROSSES AT \VAEEENTON SPEINGS. 263 
 
 of his confidential despatches to "Washington, and thus 
 reyealed to General Lee the most intimate secrets of his 
 numhers, his plans, and his pitiable embarrassments. 
 
 General Jackson, reaching the Warrenton road the 
 afternoon of the 2 2d, foimd the bridge destroyed, and 
 other evidence that the enemy were in close proximity. 
 But they were not yet prepared to dispute his passage. 
 Opposite to him, on a beautiful hill, rose the buildings of 
 a watering-place, known as the Warrenton Springs, or 
 Fauquier "White- Sulphur ; while to Ms right, a mile be- 
 low, stretched a forest which clothed the ridge overlook- 
 ing the river on that side. He sent the 13th Georgia 
 from Lawton's brigade across to occupy the Springs ; 
 while Early's brigade, supported by two batteries, was 
 passed over on a ruinous mill-dam a mile below, and 
 occupied the wooded ridge. But now the darkness of the 
 approaching night and storm arrested the passage of other 
 troops ; the floods descended, and the current was speedily 
 swollen so as to become impassable. This accident placed 
 the command of Early in extreme peril. The advanced 
 parties of the Pederalists were hovering around him in 
 the darkness, and he had nothing to expect but to be 
 crushed at the dawn of day by the whole weight of their 
 army, within sight of his friends, but beyond their reach. 
 But his own skill, with the vidse and firm support of Jack- 
 son, rescued him without the loss of a man. When the 
 morning came, the latter sent word to General Early to 
 associate the 13th Georgia with his own brigade, and form 
 the whole across the highlands near the watering place, 
 with his left upon the river, and his right upon a creek. 
 
264 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 now equally swollen and impracticable, which here ap- 
 proached from the north to mingle its waters with the 
 Eappahannock. He urged forward, meantime, the con- 
 struction of a temporary bridge ; and, in the afternoon, 
 passed the remainder of Lawton's brigade to the support 
 of Early. But the freshet which had protected his right 
 was now receding into its banks, and the whole army of 
 Pope was manifestly at hand. Yet Early so adroitly con- 
 cealed his force m the woods, and held his foes at bay 
 with his artillery, that they were able to make no decisive 
 attack before nightfall. During the darkness he retired 
 safely to the southern bank, with his batteries, leaving 
 not a man nor a trophy behiad. The deliverance of Early 
 was scarcely completed before the dawn of the 24th. The 
 troops of Longstreet had now arrived and relieved those 
 of Jackson ia the afternoon of that day. A fierce can- 
 nonade was kept up across the river, chiefly by the guns 
 of A. P. Hill, by which the enemy was occupied, while 
 Jackson retired a few miles from the river-bank to the 
 village of Jeffersonton, relinquishing to Longstreet the 
 task of amusing Pope by the appearance of a crossing at 
 the Springs. 
 
 While the enemy was thus deluded with the belief that 
 the race up the Eappahannock was ended, and that he 
 now had nothing more to do than to hold its northern bank 
 at this place. General Jackson was preparing, under the 
 instructions of the Commander-in-Chief, for the most 
 adventurous and brUliaut of his exploits. This was no 
 less than to separate himself from the support of the re- 
 mainder of the army, pass around Pope to the westward. 
 
HE CROSSES AT WAEEENTON SPRINGS. 265 
 
 and place his corps "between liim and Washington City, at 
 Manassa's Junction. To effect this, the Eappahannock 
 must be passed on the upper part of its course, and two 
 forced marches made through the western quarters of the 
 county of Fauquier, which lie between the Blue Eidge and 
 the subsidiary range of the Bull Eun jMountains. Having 
 made a hasty and imperfect issue of rations, Jackson dis- 
 embarrassed himself of all his trains, save the ambulances 
 and the carriages for the ammunition, and left Jeffersonton 
 early on the morning of August 25th. j\Iarching first 
 westward, he crossed the two branches of the Eappahan- 
 nock, passed the hamlet of Orlean, and paused at night, 
 after a march of twenty- five miles, near Salem, a village 
 upon the Manassas Gap Eailroad. His troops had been 
 constantly marching and fighting since the 20th; many 
 of them had no rations, and subsisted upon the green corn 
 gathered along the route; yet their indomitable en- 
 thusiasm and devotion knew no flagging. As the weary 
 column approached the end of the day's march, they found 
 Jackson, who had ridden forward, dismounted, and stand- 
 ing upon a great stone by the roadside. His sunburned 
 cap was hfted from his brow, and he was gazing toward 
 the west, where the splendid Augiist sun was about to 
 kiss the distant crest of the Blue Eidge, which stretched 
 far away, bathed in azure and gold ; and his blue eye, 
 beaming with martial pride, returned the rays of the even- 
 ing with almost equal brightness. His men burst forth 
 into their accustomed cheers, forgetting all their fatigue 
 at his inspiring presence ; but deprecating the tribute by 
 a gesture, he sent an officer to rec[uest that there should 
 
2G6 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 be no cheering, inasmuch as it might betray their presence 
 to the enemy. They at once repressed their applause, 
 and passed the -word down the column to their comrades : 
 " 'No cheering, boys ; the General requests it." But as 
 they passed him, their eyes and gestures, eloquent with 
 suppressed affection, silently declared what their lips were 
 forbidden to utter. Jackson turned to his Staff, his face 
 beaming with delight, and said : " "Who could not conquer, 
 with such troops as these ?" His modesty, ever attribut- 
 ing his glory to his brave men rather than to himself, 
 caused him to forget that it was his genius which had 
 made them such soldiers as they were. 
 
 On the morning of the 26th, he turned eastward, and 
 passing through the Bull Eun Mountains, at Thoroughfare 
 Gap, proceeded to Bristoe Station, on the Orange Eailroad, 
 by another equally arduous march. At Gainsville, he was 
 joined by Stuart, with his cavalry, who now assumed the 
 duty of gTiardrng his right flank, and watchiag the main 
 army of Pope, about Warrenton. As the Confederates 
 approached Bristoe Station, about sunset, the roar of a rail 
 road train proceeding eastward was heard, and dispositions 
 were made to arrest it, by placing the brigade of Hays, 
 under Colonel Forno, across the track. The first train 
 broke through the obstructions placed before it, and 
 escaped. Two others which followed it were captured, 
 but were found to contain nothing. The corps of Jackson 
 had now marched fifty mUes in two days. The whole 
 army of Pope was interposed between it and its friends, 
 They had no supplies whatever, save those which they 
 might capture from the enemy. But they were between 
 
HE AKKIVES AT BEISTOE. 267 
 
 tiiat enemy and his capital, and were cheered by the hope 
 of inflicting a vital blow upon him before he escaped. 
 This movement would be pronounced -rn-ong, if judged by 
 a formal and commonplace application of the maxims of 
 the military art. But it is the very prerogative of true 
 genius to know how to modify the application of those 
 niles according to circumstances. It might have been 
 objected, that such a division of the Confederate army 
 into two parts subjected it to the risk of being beaten in 
 detail; that while the Federal commander detained and 
 amused one by a detachment, he would turn upon the 
 other with the chief weight of his forces, and crush it into 
 fragments. Had Pope been a Jackson, this danger would 
 have been real; but because Pope was but Pope, and 
 General Lee had a Jackson to execute the bold conception, 
 and a Stuart to mask his movement during its progress, 
 the risk was too small to forbid the attempt. The 
 promptitude of General Stuart in seizing the only signal 
 station whence the Hne of march could possibly be per- 
 ceived, and the secrecy and rapidity of General Jackson 
 in pursuing it, with the energy of his action when he had 
 reached his goal, insured the success of the movement. 
 
 The first care of the General, after he reached Bristoe, 
 was to secure the vast stores accumulated at the Junction, 
 four miles north. He determined not to postpone this 
 essential measure until the morning, lest the enemy should 
 be able to destroy them ; and he therefore accepted the 
 offer of Brigadier-General Trimble, with the 21st North 
 Carohna and 21st Georgia regiments, to volunteer for this 
 service. Major-General Stuart was ordered to support the 
 
268 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 attack with a part of his cavalry, and as the superior officer 
 in rank, to command the whole detachment. The two 
 regiments of General Trimble had abeady marched twenty- 
 five miles, and the additional distance to the Junction 
 made them thirty; but they set out with an eagerness 
 which emulated that of the cavalry. Stuart having im- 
 masked the enemy's pickets in front of the fortifications of 
 Manassas, and having sent the regiment of Wickham to 
 the north, in order to arrest the retreat of the garrison, 
 Trimble placed his regiments in line right and left of the 
 railroad, and advanced steadily to the attack. The night 
 was rayless, and the artillery of the place opened upon 
 them at short range. They knew not what force awaited 
 them in the darkness, but dashing forward, they snr- 
 mounted the works, and seized two batteries of field-guns, 
 with all their men and horses, almost without loss to 
 themselves. The whole entrenchments now fell into their 
 hands without further resistance, with vast spoils. This 
 gallant attack was a happy illustration of the success 
 which may usually be expected from bold and rapid 
 movements. The place was found crowded with stores 
 for Pope's army, all of which, with three hundred pri- 
 soners, eight field-pieces, and two hundred and fifty 
 horses, fell into the hands of the victors, besides two 
 miles of burden cars, laden -with army stores and luxuries. 
 The storehouses were found filled with bacon, beef, flour, 
 and ammunition. Everything was here which the Con- 
 federates needed. The confessions of Pope show that the 
 loss of these stores was a chief element of his subsequent 
 disasters. It discouraged and intimidated his men, and 
 
HE AEEIVES AT BRISTOE. 269 
 
 compelled them to enter the arduous struggle of the three 
 bloody days without adequate rations or ammunition. 
 
 On the morning of August 27th, the two regiments of 
 General Trimble, who had been under arms all night, 
 were relieved by General Jackson's arrival from Bristoe. 
 He brought with him the divisions of A. P. HOI and Talia- 
 ferro, leaving that of Ewell at Bristoe to watch for the ap- 
 proach of Pope, with orders to make head against him as long 
 as practicable; but when pressed by Iris main force, to retire 
 and join him at Manassas. Scarcely had General Jackson 
 come upon the ground, when a shot from a distant battery 
 upon the left announced the purpose of the Federalists to 
 contest it with him, and a brigade made its appearance 
 advancing along the railroad from Alexandria. This was 
 the detachment of Brigadier- General Taylor, of New Jersey, 
 sent out by Halleck to re-open Pope's communications, 
 and to brush away what they supposed was a mere inroad 
 of cavalry. They advanced with all the confidence of 
 ignorance, until they found themselves almost enveloped 
 in the toils. The captured guns were turned against them 
 by Stuart and Trimble ; the batteries of Poague and Car- 
 penter poured destructive volleys upon them in front, and 
 the infantry of A. P. Hill threatened them on both sides. 
 General Jackson now pitying their desperate situation, 
 rode toward them alone, waving a white handkerchief as a 
 signal of truce, inviting them to accept qiiarter. Their 
 answer was a volley of rifle-balls. Seeing his compassion 
 thus requited with treachery, he hastened back to his 
 troops and commanded them to let loose their full fury 
 against their foes. In a moment the detachment was 
 
270 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 routed, their commander slain, and the fugitives, pursued 
 by Hill and- Stuart, were cut to pieces and scattered. 
 
 The General now gave the wearied troops a respite, to 
 recompense themselves with the spoils, for their labours. 
 Knowing that means of transportation would be utterly 
 wantiag to remove the larger part, he allowed the men to 
 use and carry away whatever they were able to appro- 
 priate. And now began a scene in ludicrous contrast with 
 the toils of the previous forced march. Dusty Confede- 
 rates were seen loading themselves with new clothing, 
 boots, hats, and unwonted luxuries. The men who had 
 for days fed on nothing but green apples and the roasted 
 ears of Indian corn, now regaled themselves with sardines, 
 potted game, and sweetmeats. For several hours the troops 
 held carnival. 
 
 General Ewell was not allowed to remaia unmolested 
 at Bristoe aU the day. In the afternoon, heavy columns 
 of Federalists were seen approaching on the west of the 
 raHroad, from the direction of Warrenton. The 6th and 
 8th Lousiana regiments of Hay's brigade, with the 60tli 
 Georgia, were posted to receive them, masked in the edge 
 of the pine thickets, and supported by several batteries. 
 Two heavy columns of the enemy advanced against them, 
 each consisting of not less than a brigade ; but almost at 
 the first volley they broke and fled in confusion, many of 
 them throwing away their arms. Fresh columns, how- 
 ever, speedily supplied their places, and it was evident that 
 Pope's main force was at hand. General Ewell therefore 
 gave the word to retire, in order to join his friends at 
 Manassas. This retreat, which must be conducted in the 
 
COMBAT AT BRISTOE. 271 
 
 face of a superior force actually engaged with tliem, was a 
 most delicate and difficult work ; but was effected iu per- 
 fect order and without loss. As the three regiments which 
 had received the enemy's first attack were withdrawn, the 
 brigade of Early took their places, and held the enemy in 
 check, with so much steadiness and adroitness, that the 
 stream which separated Bristoe from Manassas was crossed 
 safely without the capture of a single man. The Federalists 
 then halted at the former poiat, and left Ewell to pursue his 
 way unmolested, his rear covered by the cavalry regiments 
 of Munford and Eosser. The railroad bridge across Broad 
 Eun was now burned, and after all the troops had supplied 
 their wants from the captured stores, the remainder was 
 destroyed. This task was committed to the division of 
 Tahaferro, which devoted to it the early part of the night, 
 and then retired toward Sudley Church, across the battle- 
 field of July 21st, 1861. There they were joined, on the 
 morning of the 28th of August, by the division of A. P. 
 Hill, which had marched northward to CentrevUle, and 
 then returned across the Stone Bridge, and by -the divi- 
 sion of Ewell, which had crossed Bull Eun, and marched 
 up its north bank until it fell into the same route. The 
 cavalry, which had scoured the country as far as Fairfax 
 Court House, also assembled on the flanks of the infantry, 
 and the concentration of the corps was completed. 
 
 General Jackson had now successfully executed the first 
 part of the task intrusted to him. He had pierced the 
 enemy's rear, destroyed his supplies, and secured a posi- 
 tion between him and his Capital But in doing this he 
 had drawn upon himself the whole of the Federal army. 
 
272 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 and until the remainder of General Lee's forces should 
 arrive, he must either bear the brunt of their attacks with 
 his single corps, reduced by straggling and casualties to 
 eighteen thousand men ; or he must retire again towards 
 his friends, leaving Pope's operations unobstructed, and 
 thus surrender the larger part of the advantages of his 
 brUliant movements. Jackson was not the man to do 
 the latter ; he therefore selected a position where he could 
 hope to stand successfully at bay, and prevent Pope's 
 retreat, until sufficient forces arrived to deal with him 
 successfully. One alternative was to remain at Manassa's 
 Junction within the old Confederate entrenchments, but 
 to this there were many conclusive objections. The direct 
 turnpike road from Warrenton, where Pope's army was 
 massed, to Alexandria, ran five miles northwest of the 
 Junction, and would be still left open : an avenue more 
 valuable to that general than the railroad, since its bridges 
 and trains were destroyed. The Junction, moreover, was 
 a post of limited extent, ill furnished with water, situated 
 in a champaign every way favourable to the operations of 
 the force having the numerical superiority, and denuded 
 of all cover by the presence of previous armies. The 
 other alternative was to retire to the north side of the 
 Warrenton and Alexandria turnpike, nearer to Thorough- 
 fare Gap, through which Longstreet was expected to ad- 
 vance, and there occupy the stronger ground, with the 
 advantage of retreat upon the Confederate reserves in case 
 of disaster. Prom this position, although the road was 
 not directly obstructed, yet the passage of Pope was for- 
 bidden ; for his army could not expose itself by marching 
 
TOPOGKAPIIY OF SUDLEY. 273 
 
 past such a leader as Jackson, who sat, with eighteen 
 thousand men, ready to pounce upon its exposed flanks. 
 
 If the reader will recall the description of the battle- 
 field of the tirst Manassas, he will have before him the 
 position by Jackson. The Warrenton turnpike, running 
 due east toward Alexandria, is crossed at right angles, a 
 mile and a half before it passes the Bull Eun at the stone 
 bridge, by the country road which proceeds northward from 
 the Junction to Sudley Ford, at which the Federal right 
 first crossed the stream on the morning of Jidy 21st, 1861. 
 At this ford, Jackson now rested his left wing, protected 
 by the cavalry brigade of Eobertson, while his right 
 stretched eastward across the hills, in a line oblique to the 
 course of Bull Eun, toward the road by which Longstreet 
 was expected from Thoroughfare Gap. His front was 
 nearly parallel to the Warrenton turnpike, and distant 
 from it between one and two miles. The division of A. 
 R Hill formed his left, that of Ewell his centre, and that 
 of Taliaferro, strengthened by the remainder of the cavalry 
 and the horse-artillery of Pelham, his right. 
 
 Scarcely had these dispositions been completed, when 
 the enemy was found to be advancing along the Warren- 
 ton turnpike in heavy masses, as though to force his way 
 back to Alexandria. Mid-day had now arrived. Tlie 
 second brigade of Taliaferro's division, under the temporary 
 command of Colonel Bradley T. Jolmson, which had been 
 detached to watch the turnpike, was directed to skirmish 
 with the front of the Federal column, and obstruct their 
 advance. The remainder of the division of Taliaferro, sup- 
 ported by that of Ewell, was marched by its right flank, 
 
 VOL. II. s 
 
274 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 and toward the turnpike, to attack the enemy in flank 
 He, perceiving this movement, and the obstruction in his 
 front, at first attempted to file his masses across the open 
 country toward Manassa's Junction, as though to seek 
 some passage over Bull Eun below the stone bridge. But 
 Jackson now threw forward his line with so much energy 
 as to compel him to relinquish this movement, and make 
 a stand. The batteries of AVooding, Carpenter, and Boague 
 were advanced to an elevated hill upon the left and rear 
 of Taliaferro's luie of skirmishers, whence they delivered 
 so effective a fire of shell and solid shot upon the dense 
 lines of the Federalists, that their numerous batteries were 
 halted, and placed in position to reply. The Confederate 
 artillery was then promptly removed to another position 
 upon Taliaferro's right, whence they were enabled to en- 
 filade the Federal guns ; and the infantry line was again 
 pressed forward, with its front parallel to the Warrenton 
 turnpike, and within a hundred yards of it. Sunset was 
 now near at hand, when a struggle commenced unprece- 
 dented in its fury. On Taliaferro's right, the partial 
 screen of an orchard and a cluster of farm -buildings sepa- 
 rated him from the highway, which was occupied by the 
 Federal infantry. But, on his left, his line occupied the 
 open field, and received and returned their volleys at the 
 distance of a hundred yards. Until nine o'clock at night, 
 the first, third, and fourth brigades maintained a stubborn 
 contest upon this ground with successive lines of the 
 enemy, when the latter sullenly retired, and gave up the 
 field. On the left of Taliaferro, Ewell, with a part of Ms 
 forces, waged a contest of almost equal fury, and with the 
 
FIEST DAY S BATTLE. 275 
 
 same results, when the darkness closed the battle, and the 
 Confederates remained masters of the field. In this bloody- 
 affair, both the Commanders of the divisions engaged, with 
 many field-officers, were wounded, Taliaferro painfully, 
 and EweU severely. The latter was struck upon the knee 
 by a rifle-ball, and the joint was so shattered that ampu- 
 tation was necessary to save his life. During the remainder 
 of Jackson's career he was unable to return to the field, 
 and the General was deprived of his valued co-operation. 
 The first of the three bloody days was now closed, and 
 Jackson stoutly held his own. With one more struggle his 
 safety would be assured; for the Commander-in-Chief, 
 with the corps of Longstreet, leaving the neighbourhood of 
 Jeffersonton on the afternoon of the 26th, and following 
 the route of Jackson through Upper Fauquier, was now at 
 the western outlet of Thoroughfare Gap, preparing to force 
 his way through, the next morning, and come to the relief 
 of the labouring advance. On the morning of the 29 th 
 this pass was forced ; and the corps of Longstreet, stimu- 
 lated by the sound of the distant cannon, which told them 
 that Jackson was struggling with the enemy, hurried along 
 the road to Gainsville, where they entered the Warrenton 
 turnpike. Before they reached that village, the inde- 
 fatigable Stuart, with his cavalry, met them, opened their 
 communication with Jackson's right wing, and informed 
 the Commander-in-Chief of the posture of affairs. 
 
 But the narrative must return to the lines of General 
 Jackson. Anxiously did that General watch the distant 
 road which led from Thoroughfare Gap down to the War- 
 renton turnpike, on the morning of the 29th. His little 
 
276 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 army was now manifestly confronted by the whole Federal 
 host, which, concentrating itself more toward his left, was 
 preparing to force him back from Bull Eun, and to crush him 
 before his supports could arrive. His lines, exhausted by 
 their almost superhuman exertions, thinned by battle, and 
 pallid with hunger, stood grimly at bay ; but the stoutest 
 hearts were anxious, in view of the more terrible struggle 
 before them. In the early morning, clouds of dust arising 
 along the Thoroughfare road had mocked their hopes ; but 
 they were raised by the Federalists, who, having occupied 
 that pass the day before to obstruct the march of Long- 
 street, were now retiring upon their masses toward Bristoe 
 Station. As the day verged toward the meridian, other 
 and denser clouds again arose along the same highway ; 
 and soon the couriers of Stuart came with the welcome 
 news, that it was the corps of Longstreet advancing to 
 connect with the right of Jackson. Abeady the Federal- 
 ists, warned of the shortness of their time, had begun the 
 attack by a heavy cannonade upon that part of his posi- 
 tion, at ten o'clock. The batteries of Taliaferro's division, 
 now commanded by the brave General Starke, replied. 
 But the head of General Longstreet's coliunn was now at 
 hand, and threatened to insinuate itself behind the Federal 
 left. They therefore shifted their demonstration to Jack- 
 son's left, opening upon that part of his position with a 
 furious cannonade, and preparing vast masses of infantry 
 to force it. While Longstreet deployed his line across the 
 Warrenton turnpike, and fronting toward the east, Jack- 
 son's corps was now disposed at right angles to it, along 
 the excavations and embankments of an unfinished rail- 
 
SECOND day's battle. 277 
 
 road, which, crossing Bull Eim a half mile below Sudley, 
 ran westward, parallel to the "\A'arrenton turnpike. This 
 work had been begun to connect the city of Alexandria 
 directly with the ilanassa's Gap road near Thoroughfare. 
 Eunnhig across the hUls and vales of an undulatins 
 country, and presenting now an elevated embankment and 
 anon a cut, it offered to the Confederates almost the ad- 
 vantages of a regular field-work. Here General Jackson 
 had arranged his infantry in two lines of battle, with the 
 artillery chiefly posted upon eminences in the rear. A. P. 
 Hill formed his left, Ewell his centre, and Starke his right. 
 An interval between his right and the left of Longstreet 
 was occupied by a large collection of the artUlery of the 
 latter, posted upon a large hill, whence they assisted, by 
 their fire, in the repulse of the enemy on either hand. 
 Pope, now contenting himself with showing a front against 
 Longstreet, began, at two o'clock p.m., to hurl his infantry 
 with fury and determination against the lines of Jackson. 
 Especially did the storm of battle rage in front of the left, 
 occupied by the division of A. P. Hill. In defiance of his 
 deadly fire, deUvered from the shelter of the railroad 
 embankments, line after line was advanced to close quar- 
 ters, only to be mowed down, and to recoH in confusion. 
 Soon the second line of Hill was advanced to the support 
 of the first. Six times the Federahsts rushed forward in 
 separate and obstinate assaults, and as many times were 
 repulsed. At an interval between the brigade of Gregg, 
 on the extreme left, and that of Thomas, the enemy broke 
 across in great numbers, and threatened to separate the 
 former from his friends, and surround him. But two 
 
278 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEBAL JACKSON. 
 
 regiments of the reserve, advancing within ten paces of 
 the triumphant foe, poured such voUeys into their dense 
 masses tliat they were hurled back before this murderous 
 fire, and the lines re-established. The brigade of Hayes, 
 from the division of Ewell, now commanded Ijy General 
 Lawton, was first brought to the support of Gregg. The 
 struggle raged until the cartridges of the infantry were in 
 many places exhausted. When Hill sent to the gallant 
 Gregg to ask if he could hold his own, he answered, " Tell 
 lam I have no ammunition, but I will hold my position 
 with the bayonet." In several places, the Confederate hnes, 
 without a single round of cartridges, lay in the railroad cuts, 
 within a few yards of their enemies, sternly defying their 
 nearer approach with the cold steel, while the staff-officers 
 from the rear sent in a scanty supply of ammunition, by 
 the hand of some daring volunteer, who ventured to run tlie 
 gauntlet of a deadly fire to reach them. In other parts the 
 men, laying aside their empty muskets, seized the stones 
 which lay near, and with them beat back the foe. "When 
 the bloody field was reviewed, not a few were found whose 
 skulls were broken by these primitive weapons. But the 
 strength of the extreme left was now exhausted by seven 
 hours of strife ; nature could do no more ; and General 
 Jackson ordered Early with his brigade, and the 8th 
 Louisiana and the 13tli Georgia, to relieve Gregg and 
 Hayes. The enemy had by this time occupied a consider- 
 able tract of the railroad, and the woods in front of it. 
 Early advanced upon them, drove them out of the thickets 
 and across the excavation with fearful slaughter, and pur- 
 sued them for a distance beyond it, ^vllen he was recalled 
 
fetUUJNU JJAI & iJAiiijli. 
 
 279 
 
 to tlie original line. "With this magnificent cliarge, the 
 struggle of the clay closed. It had raged in similar manner 
 along the centre, where that sturdy veteran, Brigadier- 
 General Trimble, was severely wounded. But the carnage 
 upon the left was most ghastly. Here might be seen upon 
 the fields the black lines of corpses, clearly defining the 
 positions where the Federal lines of battle had stood and 
 received the deadly volleys of the Confederates ; while the 
 woods and railroad cuts were thickly strewn for a mile 
 with killed and wounded. In the division of Hill the loss 
 was also serious ; and among the severely wounded were 
 two brigade commanders, Field and Fornij. During the 
 heat of the battle, a detachment of Federal troops had 
 penetrated to Jackson's rear, near Sudley Church, and 
 captured a few woimded men and ambulances. The horse- 
 artdlery of Pelham, with a battalion of cavalry, under 
 JIajor Patrick, speedily brushed the annoyance away, and 
 recovered the captures. But this incident cost the army 
 the loss of one of its most enlightened and efficient officers, 
 the chivalrous Patrick, who was mortally wormded while 
 pursuing the fugitives. 
 
 ^^Tiile this struggle was raging along Jackson's lines, 
 the corps of Longstreet continued to confront the observing 
 force of Federalists before them, and the batteries of his 
 left engaged those of the enemy in a severe cannonade. 
 As the afternoon a'lvanced, Stuart reported to him the 
 approach of a heavy column of the enemy upon his right 
 and rear, from the direction of Bristoe. This was indeed 
 a corps of the army of M'Clellan from the peninsula, which, 
 landing on the Potomac, had been pushed forward to sup- 
 
280 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 port Pope. Against this new enemy Longstreet showed a 
 front, while Stuart, raising a mighty dust along the road 
 near Gainsville, by causing a number of his troopers to 
 drag bundles of brushwood along the highway, persuaded 
 him that some heavy mass of fresh Confederate troops was 
 advancing from Thoroughfare to meet his assault upon 
 Longstreet's right. The Federal commander therefore 
 recoiled, after a feeble demonstration ; and, passing by a 
 circuit to the eastward, sought to unite himself with the 
 forces in front of Jackson. Longstreet now advanced 
 several brigades to the attack, with those of Hood in the 
 van, and, until nine o'clock at night, drove back the enemy 
 before him with great vigour, capturing a number of 
 prisoners, a cannon, and three colours. Darkness then 
 closed the bloody day, and the Confederates on every side 
 withdrew to lie upon their arms upon their selected lines 
 of combat. From this respite, the boastful Pope took the 
 pretext to despatch to his masters a pompous bulletui of 
 victory, claiming that the Confederates were repulsed on 
 all hands ! With a stupidity equal to his impudence, he 
 concealed from himseK the fact that this lull in the tem- 
 pest was but the prelude to its final and resistless burst. 
 The mighty huntsman now had the brutal game secure in 
 his toils, and only awaited the moment of his exhaustion 
 to despatch him. 
 
 As Jackson gathered his officers aroimd him in the 
 darkness, at the close of this second act of the tragedy, 
 and prepared to lie down for a short repose under the 
 open ,sky, their triumph wore a solemn hue. A week of 
 marching and fighting, without any regular supply for 
 
LEE RESUMES THE DEFENSIVE. 281 
 
 their wants, had -worn down their energies to a grade 
 where nothing but a determined will could sustain them. 
 Many of the bravest and best had fallen, and the sufferers 
 and the dead were all around them. The Medical Director, 
 Doctor il'Guire, recounting the many casualties which he 
 had witnessed, said, " General, this day has been won by 
 nothing but stark and stern fighting." " No," said Jack- 
 son, " it has been won by nothing but the blessing and 
 protection of Providence." It was strong evidence of the 
 devout spirit of the patriot troops, that amidst all these 
 fatigues and horrors they yet found time for acts of devo- 
 tion. The chaplains, after spending the day in attentions 
 to the wounded, at nightfall returned to their regiments, 
 and gathered such groups in the woods as could be spared 
 from the watches, where they spent a season in prayer 
 and praise. j\Iany were the brave men who joined in 
 these strange and solemn prayer-meetings, whose next 
 worship was offered in the upper sanctuary. 
 
 The advance of Longstreet at nightfall upon the Con- 
 federate right had disclosed the fact that the Federalists 
 were posted, in heavy masses, upon a position of great 
 natural strength. The choice offered to General Lee now 
 was, to leave the favourable ground which he had chosen, 
 and taking the aggressive, to dislodge them at a great 
 cost ; or else to await their attack, with the prospect of 
 turning their retreat into a disaster if they attempted to 
 cross Bull Eun in his immediate front, and retire without 
 fighting. He well knew that Pope -would scarcely be so 
 rash as to attempt the latter expedient, for the two armies 
 were now at such close quarters that there was no room 
 
282 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 for either to turn away without a deadly side-blow from 
 the other ; and the Federal commander had been so oblig- 
 ing as to manoeuyre himself into a position which had the 
 stream immediately in its rear, with two practicable cross- 
 ings for artillery, of which one ^\'as a stone arch, which a 
 few well-directed round shot might have dismantled. 
 General Lee, therefore, calmly awaited the final struggle, 
 standing on the defensive in his previous lines. These 
 formed a vast obtuse foivrclutU, presenting its concavity 
 toward the enemy. The left of Longstreet did not touch 
 the right of Jackson at the angle ; l)ut a space of half a 
 mile between the two was occupied by an elevated ridge, 
 which commanded the fronts of both wings. This hill 
 was now crowned with the artillery battalions of Shumaker 
 of Jackson's corps, and S. D. Lee of Longstreet's, making 
 an aggregate of thirty-six pieces. Fi'om this arrangement 
 it resulted, first, that the troops of Pope, operating within 
 the jaws of the Confederate army, would naturally become 
 more densely massed than their opponents, and would 
 thus afford a more certain mark for their accurate fire, 
 which no force on earth could ever face in close order 
 without murderous loss. The second result was, that the 
 superior momentum of the Federal masses must j'et result 
 only in a bloody failure, when hurled against either wing 
 of the Confederates, because they would be enfiladed from 
 the other wing. By these dispositions, the battle was 
 decided before it was fought. The only gleam of good 
 sense wdiich the ill-starred Federal leader showed, was in 
 delaying the decisive hour until the late afternoon, so that 
 the friendly darkness might speedily supervene upon the 
 
THE THIKD DAY'S BATTLE. 283 
 
 disaster which was destined to follow, and save him from 
 utter destruction. The forenoon of Saturday, August 
 30th, was therefore spent in a desultory cannonade, ad- 
 dressed first to one, and then to another part of the Con- 
 federate lines, with irregular skirmishes interspersed. 
 He was employed in disposing his infantry, under cover 
 of the woods and valleys, chiefly in Jackson's front, for 
 against him he again destined his main attack. The 
 infantry of the latter was still posted along the unfinished 
 raihoad, in two lines, the first sheltered, where the ground 
 was favourable, by the excavations and embankments, and 
 the second massed upon the wooded hills above. At half- 
 past three o'clock the enemy made a show of attack along 
 the lines of Longstreet. But scarcely had this begun 
 when they advanced, without preliminary skirmishing, in 
 enormous masses, against Jackson. Three lines of battle 
 surged forward like mighty waves, and roUed up to the 
 Confederate position. As one recoiled before their fire, 
 another took its place, with a dogged resolution, as though 
 determuied to break through by sheer weight of numbers. 
 The Federal flags were planted sometimes within twenty 
 paces of the excavations which contained the opposing 
 line ; and again the Confederates, after exhausting their 
 ammunition, resorted to the stones of the field to beat 
 back their assailants. 'When this furious struggle had 
 raged for half an hour, and the wearied lines of Jackson 
 were yielding at some points, he sent word to Longstreet 
 to move for his relief But his desire was already antici- 
 pfited ; the artillery in the centre was advanced, and where - 
 ever the attacking lines of Federalists exposed themselves 
 
284 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 before Jackson's front, it showered a crusliing and enfilad- 
 ing fire upon them. The third and second lines were 
 first broken, and the woods in wliich they attempted to 
 rally searched with shells. ]\Ieantime, the artillery of 
 Ewell's and Hill's divisions, from Jackson's rear and left, 
 joined in the meMe, as position offered. Before this fire in- 
 front and flank, the Federal lines wavered, broke, and 
 resolved themselves into huge hordes of men, without 
 order or guidance. General Jackson now ordered the 
 advance of his whole line of infantry, and the Commander- 
 in-Chief seeing that the moment for the final blow had 
 come, sent a similar order to his right wing. But its 
 energetic leader had divined his wishes, and had already 
 begun the movement. Over several miles of hill and dale, 
 of field and fi.irest, the two lines now swept forward, with 
 a terrible grandeur, closing upon the disordered masses of 
 the enemy like the jaws of a leviathan ; while Jackson 
 upon the left, and Stuart upon the right, urged forward 
 battery after battery at a gallop, to seize every command- 
 ing hill whence they could fire between the gaps, or over 
 the heads of the infantry, and plough up the huddled 
 crowds of fugitives. But at many points these did not 
 yield without stubborn resistance. The brigades of Jack- 
 son dashed at them with fierce enthusiasm, and such 
 scenes of close encounter and murderous strife were wit- 
 nessed as are not often seen on fields of battle. The 
 supreme hour of vengeance had now come ; in the expres- 
 sive phrase of Cromwell, the victors " had their will upon 
 their enemies." As they drove them for two miles toward 
 BuU Eun, they strewed the ground with slaughter, until 
 
THE KOUT AND CARNAGE. 285 
 
 fury itself was sated and fatigued with the carnival of 
 blood. And now night again closed upon the third act of 
 the tragedy, black with a double gloom of the battle 
 smoke and a gathering storm ; but still the pursuers phed 
 their work with cannon-shot and fierce volleys, fired into 
 the populous darkness before them. At ten o'clock they 
 ceased their pursuit, for they found that amidst the con- 
 fusion of the field, and the obscurity, friend could no 
 longer be distinguished from foe. The army then lay 
 down to rest upon the ground they had won ; while all 
 night long the broken fragments of the Federalists were 
 steahng across the stream, and retreating to the heights of 
 Centreville. 
 
 In this three days' battle the Confederate loss was 
 heavy, but that of their enemies was frightful. Compared 
 to it, the carnage of the Chickahominy was child's play. 
 The bloody field told the story of the disproportion for it- 
 seK ; and when the Federal surgeons came upon it under a 
 flag of truce, such was the multitude of the wounded lying 
 helpless upon it, that days were exhausted in collecting 
 them, while many wretches perished miserably of neglect 
 during the delay. This disproportionate carnage was due 
 to the masterly handling of the Confederate troops, to their 
 advantageous position, to the density of the enemy's masses, 
 and especiaEy to the terrible moment of the rout, when the 
 work of destruction ^vas pursued, for a time, without lesist- 
 ance. The Sabbath morning dawned upon a scene in most 
 fearful contrast with its peace and sanctity. Tlie storm 
 which had gathered during the night was descending in a 
 comfortless rain, drenching the ghastly dead, the miserable 
 
286 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 wounded, and the weary victors. The soldiers of Jackson 
 arose from the ground stiffened with the cold, and after 
 devoting a few hours to refresliment, resumed the march, 
 while those of Longstreet remained to bury the dead and 
 collect the spoils. Stuart had reported that he found the 
 enemy rallied upon the heights of Centreville, commanding 
 the Warrenton turnpike, where General Joseph E. John- 
 ston had constructed a powerful line of works, the iirst 
 winter of the war, wliich were capable of defence either in 
 front or rear. Here the fragments of Pope, supported by 
 large reinforcements from the army of ]\I'CleUan, again 
 showed a front against the pursuers. Jackson was there- 
 fore directed to turn this position, and compel the retreat 
 of the enemy from it without a battle. To effect this, he 
 crossed the Bull Eun at Sudley, and marchmg northward 
 by a country road, came the next day into the Little Eiver 
 turnpike, which leads eastward, and intersects the Warren- 
 ton road at Fairfax Court House, far in the rear of Centre- 
 ville. No sooner was this movement perceived by the 
 enemy, than they resumed a hasty retreat. But as their 
 crowded column approached Fairfax Court House, they 
 found Jackson at hand, prepared to strike their line of march 
 from the side. They therefore detached a strong force to 
 make head against him, and posted it upon a ridge near the 
 little hamlet of Germantown. As soon as Jackson ascer- 
 tained the position of this force, he threw liis infantry into 
 line (jf battle, Hill on the right, Ewell in the centre, and his 
 old division on the left, and advanced to the assault. The 
 enemy, knowing that the salvation of their army depended 
 upon them, made a desperate resistance, and the combat 
 
HIS SHARE IN THE VICTOBY. 2.* 7 
 
 assumed a sudden fury in the front of Hill, equal to that 
 of any previous strug,i;ie. The enemy ^vere encouraged by 
 a momentary success in breaking Hayes' brigade, but his 
 lines were immediately reinstated by the reserves, and after 
 a short but bloody strife, the battle died away as suddenly 
 as it had begun, and the enemy retired in the darkness. 
 This affair, which was known as the battle of Ox Hill, 
 closed the evening of September 1st. Its thunders were 
 aggravated by those of a tempest, ■which burst upon the 
 combatants just before the battle was joined, and the Con- 
 federates fought under the disadvantage of the rain, "\Yhich 
 was swept by a violent wind directly into their faces. Two 
 Federal Generals fell here, in front of Hill's division, 
 Kearney and Stephens, and their death doubtless com- 
 pleted the discouragement of their troops. The next morn- 
 ing, the Federalists were within reach of their powerful 
 works before Washington, and the pursuit was arrested. 
 The Commander-in-Chief now proposed to transfer the 
 strife to a new arena. 
 
 The total loss of the Confederate army in this series of 
 battles was about seven thousand five hundred, of whom 
 eleven hundred were killed upon the field. Of this loss, 
 nearly five thousand fell upon the corps of Jackson ; out 
 of which number eight hundred and five officers and men 
 were killed. The captures from him, in the whole of the 
 long struggle, amounted to only thirty-five. The excessive 
 loss in his command is explained by the fact that it was 
 always the advance, and that the enemy continually 
 directed the chief fury of his attacks upon him. The re- 
 sults of the battle of Manassas were the capture of seven 
 
288 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 thousand prisoners, in addition to two thousand wounded 
 left in the hands of the Confederates ; with twenty thou- 
 sand small arms, thkty pieces of artillery, numerous 
 colours, and a large amount of stores ; and the deliverance 
 of Nortliern Virginia from the footsteps of the invader, 
 save where he stiU clung to a few miles along the Potomac 
 included within his works. General Jackson closed his 
 report of the campaign with these words : — 
 
 " For these gTcat and signal victories our sincere and 
 humble thanks are due unto Almighty God. We should 
 in all things acknowledge the hand of Him who reigns in 
 heaven, and rules among the armies of men. In view of 
 the arduous labours and great privations the troops were 
 called to endure, and the isolated and perilous position 
 which the command occupied, while engaged with greatly 
 superior numbers of the enemy, we can but express the 
 grateful conviction of our mind, that God was with us, and 
 gave us the victory ; and unto His holy name be the 
 praise." 
 
 Few words are needed to point out the share which 
 Jackson and his corps merited, in the glory of the second 
 victory of Manassas. To the rapidity of his march, the 
 promptitude and skill of his action in seizing and destroy- 
 ing the Junction, the wisdom which guided his selection 
 of a position, and the heroic tenacity with which he held 
 it against fearful odcls until the arrival of General Lee, was 
 the splendid result chiefly due. It was so ordered, as if to 
 illustrate the superior prowess of the Confederate soldiery, 
 that in this battle the positions of the combatants in July 
 1861 were almost precisely reversed. The ground heldhy 
 
REMARKS. 289 
 
 Jackson in the second battle was that held by M'Dowell 
 in the first ; and the ground from which the Confederates 
 drove Pope at nightfall, the 30tli of August, was that from 
 which M'Dowell could not drive them on the 21st of 
 July ; while the preponderance of numbers was still upon 
 the Federal side. 
 
 The blunders of Pope in this short campaign, — which 
 were almost as numerous as it was possible to make them, 
 — are an instructive study to the commanders of armies. 
 First, it was little short of lunacy to adopt, in Culpepper, 
 a line of operations along the Orange Eailroad, and even 
 west of it, which was parallel to the Eapidan, the tem - 
 porary base of the Confederates, in the presence of such 
 masters of the art of war as Lee and Jackson. Instead of 
 extending his right so far toward Jladison, with the pre- 
 posterous design of turning Gordonsville, upon the west, 
 he should have directed the head of his column toward the 
 lower course of the Eapidan, and perpendicular to it. He 
 would thus have covered his own line of advance ; and, if 
 he succeeded in crossing that riA-er, would have uncovered 
 the communications of his adversary, which would then 
 have been by the Central Eailroad. ISTothing but the delay 
 of Lee's reserves in reaching Eaccoon Ford saved Pope 
 here from a disaster far worse than that of Manassas. 
 Second, after retiring across the Eappahannock, which 
 was a mea.sure dictated by so stringent a necessity that a 
 fool could not err therein, he repeated the old but seduc- 
 tive folly of attempting to hold a river as a defensive line, 
 by extending his whole force along its immediate bank to 
 watch and resist the passage of his opponent. Although a 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
290 LIFE or LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 river is, to some extent, a barrier to the assailant attempt- 
 ing to cross it in tlie face of a force defending it ; yet, if 
 the latter consigns itself to the stationary defensive along 
 its banks, the other is always enabled thereby to baffle his 
 vigilance at some one point ; or to mass at a single spot a 
 preponderance of force which x^iU. more than compensate 
 him for the resistance of the natural obstruction, and break 
 its way over it. Tlien the barrier, broken at one point, 
 becomes useless, and must be forsaken at all. Such was 
 the result here ; the stream was passed above Pope's right 
 before he was in condition to prevent it. His next mis- 
 take was in the singular inefficiency of his cavalry, which 
 seems to have been more busy in harrying the hen-roosts 
 of the citizens, than in ascertaining whither the swift- 
 footed Jackson was bent, when he disajjpeared to the north- 
 west from his position before Warrenton Springs. Thus 
 Pope was left in a shameful ignorance, even after his com- 
 munications were cut at Pristoe Station, wdiether it was 
 done by a serious force, or by an audacious incursion of 
 horse. But on the evening of the 27th, at least, he was 
 taught, in a bloody lesson by Ewell, that he had a formid- 
 able foe in his rear. The plainest deduction might have 
 convinced him that such a general as Lee would not have 
 placed such a body of infantry and artillery, as he saw 
 grimly confronting him across Broad Run at tlie close of 
 that combat, so far from its base, without powerful sup- 
 ports. 
 
 From that moment the goal of safety for Pope should 
 have been Centreville ; and he should have lost no time 
 in concentrating his whole army, by forced marches, to 
 
EEMARKS. 291 
 
 strike the formidable obstruction from his rear, and secure 
 his retreat thither. There he would have been front to 
 front with his adversary once more, and within reach of 
 the support of M'Clellan, by whose aid he might have 
 advanced again, and quickly resumed his lost ground. 
 But although it is but one march from Warrenton, where 
 his headquarters were, to Manassas, two and a half 
 precious days were wasted between the 26th, when Jack- 
 son struck Bristoe, and the 29th, when Longstreet reached 
 his right ; and neither was Jackson crushed, nor Thorough- 
 fare Gap effectually held, nor the army safely transferred 
 to Centreville. At mid-day on the 29th, the arrival of 
 Longstreet rendered his fortunes difficult enough ; but, as 
 though he were intent to make them desperate, when his 
 left was incommoded by the appearance of Longstreet's 
 column behind it, instead of retiring squarely from his 
 antagonists, keeping his right upon Bull Eun, nntH his 
 left met the support of the approaching column of Fitz- 
 John Porter, from Aquia, he weakly sought to disengage 
 his left, by manceuvring to his right, and again confining 
 Ills onset to the lines of Jackson. These were skilfully 
 retracted, to lead him into the trap ; and the result was, 
 that on the third and decisive day he was compelled to 
 fight with the stream in his immediate rear, and with 
 his whole army enclosed within the limits of the fatal 
 fourchettc. The Confederates might well pray that 
 such leaders should ever command the armies of their 
 enemies. 
 
 This chapter will be closed with a characteristic letter 
 from General Jackson to his wife :- - 
 
292 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 "September 1st, 1862. 
 
 " We were engaged with the enemy at and near 
 Manassa's Junction Tuesday and Wednesday, and again 
 near the battle-field of Manassa's on Thursday, Friday, 
 and Saturday, in all of which God was with us, and gave 
 us the victory. All glory be to His holy name ! May He 
 ever be with us, is my earnest prayer, and we ever be His 
 devoted people. It greatly encourages me to feel that so 
 many of God's people are praying for that part of om 
 forces under my command. The Lord has answered their 
 prayers ; and my trust is in Him, that He will still con- 
 tinue to do so. God, in His providence, lias agaui placed 
 us across Bull Eun ; and I pray that He will make our 
 arms entirely successful, and that the glory will be given 
 to His holy name, and none of it to man. 
 
 " God has blessed and preserved me through His great 
 mercy." 
 
 Thus his soul dwelt habitually upon the plain and 
 familiar promises of gospel blessings, with a simplicity of 
 faith like that of the little child. He did not entertain 
 his mind with theological refinements and pretended pro- 
 fundities or novelties, but fed it with those known truths 
 which are the common nourishment of all God's people, 
 wise and simple, and which are, therefore, the greatest 
 truths of redemption. The eminence of his Christian 
 character was not in that he affected to see doctrines 
 unknown or recondite to others ; but in this, that he em- 
 braced the doctrines common to all, with a faith so entire 
 and prevalent. This character of his religion often siig- 
 
EMINENCE OF HIS CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 293 
 
 gested to those less spiritually miaded than himself the 
 opinion that his was a commonplace understanding. 
 They forgot that it is by receiving the kingdom of God as 
 a little child that we must enter therein. When they met 
 Jackson in council or in action, in his own profession, they 
 soon learned their mistake, and recognised in him the 
 original force and power of true greatness. 
 
294 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN IN MARYLAND. 
 
 The Confederates had abundant reason to be satisfied 
 with the results of the summer's operations. With an 
 aggregate of about eighty thousand men in all Virginia, 
 they had rescued the State from the grasp of il'Clellan, 
 with his two hundred and twenty-three thousand. No 
 invaders now polluted its soil, save at the fortified posts 
 along the coast, where they were protected by their over- 
 whelming naval forces, at Alexandria, and at Harper's 
 Ferry, and Martinsburg, in the Great VaUey. The power- 
 ful expedition of Burnside had been recalled from North 
 Carolina, leaving no fruits of its exertions in the hands of 
 his Government, except the occupation of a few feeble 
 places. The "grand army" had been reduced by battle, 
 desertions, captures, and sickness from its huge propor- 
 tions, so that jNI'Clellan was now able to set in the field 
 only ninety thousand men, by concentrating all those parts 
 which had lately outnumbered and oppressed the Con- 
 federates, from the extreme west of Maryland to the capes 
 of the Carolinian coast. The grateful people of the South 
 might well exclaim with Jackson, in view of so grand a 
 deliverance : " Behold ! what hath God Avrought !" 
 
POLICY OF INVASION OF MARYLAND. 205 
 
 General Lee now determined to pursue his advantages 
 by invading the country of his enemy ia turn, and thus 
 giving such occupation to him as would secure to A^irginia, 
 during the remainder of the season, a respite from the cruel 
 devastations it had so long suffered. The temper of the 
 South demanded it, swelling with the grief of its mighty 
 wrongs, and hungering for righteous retribution. Wise 
 policy dictated that the soil of A'irginia should, if possible, 
 be relieved of the burden of the iavading and the patriot 
 armies, which it had so long borne, and that their ravages 
 should be retorted upon the aggressor, ilaryland, it was 
 known, had succumbed reluctantly to his yoke, and the 
 hope was entertained that the presence of the southern 
 army would inspirit its people to attempt something in aid 
 of their own liberation ; or that, at least, the well-grounded 
 fears of the despot lest their discontent should endanger 
 his Capital, would detain so large a force to defend it and 
 to hold them prostrate, that his army in the field might be 
 defeated upon their own soil, and a successful incursion 
 might carry a wholesome terror into the heart of Pennsyl- 
 vania. The two veteran divisions of E. H. Anderson and 
 D. H. HiU had now overtaken the main army, diminished 
 indeed by the losses of the peninsular compaign, but iii 
 excellent condition. Indeed, the former of these had 
 reached Manassa's plains on the 30th of August, early 
 enough to support Longstreet's centre in its decisive ad- 
 vance against Pope. The fragments of his army, reinforced 
 by M'CleUan, were now ensconced within their lines near 
 Alexandria, under the skilful direction of the latter gene- 
 ral ; and to attack them there would be attended with too 
 
290 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 prodigal a waste of patriot "blood. General Lee therefore 
 determined to turn aside and promptly cross the Potomac. 
 But notwithstanding the accessions he had just received, 
 he was made conscious, in the very attempt, of that cruel 
 disparity of means and numliers which robbed the Con- 
 federates of the larger part of the fruits of their heroism. 
 The invasion of Maryland, he well knew, would stimulate 
 that recruiting of the depleted armies of the enemy, which 
 their population made so easy ; while he could expect no 
 material increase of his force. They would operate along 
 great railroads, and sustain their troops with a lavish 
 supply of transportation, stores, and ammunition, from 
 their vast depots just at hand. He had now left his rail- 
 road communication far behind, and must provide for the 
 wants of his army with scanty trains of waggons ; while 
 ordnance, clothing, and shoes were deficient, and impossible 
 to obtain in adequate quantities. No generals, therefore, 
 ever adopted a bolder project than that of Lee and Jackson, 
 or executed it with greater promptitude. The battle of 
 Ox Hill ended at nightfall, September 1st, amidst thunder, 
 tempest, and a deluge of rain. On the 2d the last remains 
 of the beaten Federals were whipped in under the shelter 
 of their ramparts. On the 3d the Confederate army was 
 upon the march for the fords of the Potomac ! 
 
 The invasion determined on, two places offered them- 
 selves to General Lee for penetrating into Maryland. If 
 he removed his army directly across the Blue Eidge to the 
 Lower Valley, he could easily brush away the force which 
 occupied Martinsburg ; when the valley of central Penn- 
 sylvania would lie open before him, and his own hne of 
 
HE CEOSSES THE POTOMAC. 297 
 
 communication could be establislied with the Central 
 Vhsinia Railroad at Staunton, alonj,' that still abundant 
 country. Or else he might cross the Potomac between the 
 Federal fortifications and the Blue Eidge, and entering the 
 middle regions of Slaryland, proceed as the movements of 
 the enemy should indicate. He adopted the latter plan. 
 His purpose was first to draw the Federal army from the 
 Virginian bank by violently threatening their Capital and 
 Baltimore, from the other side, so that his field hospitals 
 at Manassa's Plains, his own communications toward 
 Orange, and the important work of removing his prisoners, 
 wounded, and spoils from the scene of his late triumphs 
 might be reheved from their incursions for a season. He 
 also hoped that when the head of his gxeat column began 
 to insinuate itself between Washington and Harper's Ferry, 
 the Federal detachment at the latter place would act upon 
 the obvious dictate of the military art, evacuate that place 
 to him without a struggle, and rethe into communication 
 with their friends ; thus clearing his left of that annoyance. 
 His purpose was then to move toward Western Maryland 
 and Central Pennsylvania, establish his communications 
 with the valley of Virginia, and drawing the Federalists 
 afar from their base at Washington, fight them beyond the 
 mountains. He therefore put the army in motion, Sep- 
 tember the 3d, with the cavalry of Stuart and the fresh 
 division of D. H. Hill in front, followed by the corps of 
 Jackson, which still formed the body of the advanced force. 
 He marched to Drainsville that day, and to Leesburg, the 
 county-seat of Loudoun, the 4th of September, On the 
 5th, the corps passed the Potomac, at "White's Ford, near 
 
298 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Edwards' Ferry, a few miles distant, just below the scene 
 of the bloody repulse of Ball's Bluff, and established them- 
 selves upon the soil of Maryland without opposition. At 
 this place the great river spreads itself out to the width of 
 more than half a mile, over a pebbly and level bed ; and 
 its floods, reduced in volume by the summer heats, were 
 but two or three feet deep. The infantry, and even the 
 cannoneers, passed by wading through the water. All day 
 long the column poured across, belting the shining river 
 with a thin, dark line ; and as the feet of the men were 
 planted upon the northern bank, they uttered their enthu- 
 siasm in hearty cheers. JNIany a gallant man who now 
 touched that soil was destined to sleep, till the last day, 
 within it, in a stranger's grave. The first care of the Con- 
 federates, after gaining the northern bank, was to interrupt 
 the navigation of the canal effectually, by destroying its 
 locks and opening the embankments, so that the waters 
 escaped and left its bed dry. Jackson then advanced 
 northward, and on the 6th of September occupied the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad, and the flourishing town of 
 Frederick. The arrival of the Confederates in Maryland 
 awakened in a part of the population a faint glow of 
 enthusiasm. A committee of citizens met General Jackson 
 with the present of a costly horse, and a few hundreds of 
 the young men enlisted in the patriot army. But the 
 opinions of the people in the upper regions of the State 
 were divided, and the major part merely acquiesced in the 
 occupation of the country with a truckling caution. Gene- 
 ral Jackson employed the most stringent measm-es against 
 stragglmg, and every outrage ; and established in the town 
 
GEXEEAL HALLECK .VLAEMED. 299 
 
 a police so strict, that its citizens were almost unconscious 
 of the inconveniencies of hostile occupation. Two appear- 
 ances were now manifest in strong contrast, which have 
 not failed to re-appear at every return of the Confederate 
 army to the northern soil ; on their part a generous for- 
 bearance and respect for private rights, almost incredible 
 in men who had left their own homes desolated by out- 
 rages so diabolical ; and on the part of the so-called Union 
 population, a disgusting brutality, which declared itself 
 incompetent even to comprehend their magnanimity, by 
 imputing it uniformly to fear. 
 
 All direct communication between Washington and 
 Harper's Ferry was now severed. The first effect which 
 General Lee hoped from his movement was immediately 
 gained. M'Clellan, who was placed by the ^'erbal request 
 of Lincoln in supreme command, began at once to with- 
 draw his troops to the north bank of the Potomac ; and the 
 Confederate rear was delivered fi'om all serious annoyance, 
 save the insults of flying parties of cavalry. The other con- 
 sequence, the evacuation of Harper's Ferry and Martins - 
 burg, would also have followed, if the sound discretion of 
 il'CleUan had prevailed. No sooner had he fuUy dis- 
 covered General Lee's drift, than he requested of Halleck 
 that the troops there and at Harper's Ferry, useless and in 
 peril where they were, should be withdrawn and brought 
 into connexion with him. His advice was disregarded, 
 and the speedy capture of both those detachments evinced 
 at once the soundness of his counsel and the soundness of 
 General Lee's expectation, that his advance on Frederick 
 ought naturally to result in the peaceable occupation of 
 
300 LIFE OF LIEDT.-CxENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Harper's Ferry by the Confederates. The blunder of the 
 Federalists in remaining there did, indeed, exert an un- 
 foreseen and indirect influence in favour of their army, as 
 will ajipear in the sequel ; but, as it was one which -was 
 not designed by either Halleck or M'Clellan, it does not 
 acquit the former of these generals from the charge of an 
 error of judgment. This commander was now seized with 
 a panic for the safety of Washington, which obfuscated his 
 own senses, and obstructed, for a time, every effort of 
 M'Clellan to act with vigour against the invaders. He 
 was haunted with the fear that the march into Maryland 
 was a feint, — that only a small detacliment was there, 
 while the bulk of their army was somehow hidden away 
 in some livibus in the woods of Fairfax, whence the terrible 
 Jackson would suddenly emerge, seize the lines of Arling- 
 ton while denuded of their defenders, and thunder witli 
 his cannon upon the White House. Again, he imagined 
 that he would suddenly recross the Potomac somewhere 
 in the mountains, march down its southern bank, pass it 
 a third time below M'Clellan's army, and, approaching 
 Washington by its north side, capture the place, with the 
 precious persons of the President and his mhiions before 
 the latter general could turn about. A few days after, 
 when he heard that Jackson M^as indeed passing to the 
 south side of the Potomac at WiUiamsport, a hundred 
 miles away, he was sure that the catastrophe was at hand. 
 Plence, he detained M'Clellan in his march ; he entreated 
 him not to proceed far from the Capital ; he warned him 
 to look well to his endangered left. These fancies of the 
 Generalissimo are of interest only as showing the convic- 
 
GEKEEAL LEE'S PLAN OF JIAECH. 301 
 
 tion of Jackson's enemies, that there was nothing that was 
 not within reach of his rapid audacity, and as evincing 
 how happily his prowess confounded tlieir counsels. 
 
 These uncertain and dilatory movements of the enemy 
 gave General Jackson a respite from the 6th to the 10th 
 of September, at Frederick, which he improved in resting 
 and refitting his command. The day after his arrival was 
 the Sabbath. Such was the . order and discipline of the 
 invading army, that all the churches were opened, and the 
 people attended their worship, with their wives and 
 children, as in profound peace. Jackson himself ap- 
 peared in the German Eeformed Church, as a devout 
 worshipper. He expressed to his wife his lively delight 
 in participating in the divine service again, after so many 
 weeks of privation, with a regular Christian assembly, and 
 in a commodious temple consecrated to God. 
 
 Meantime his cavalry, under the gallant Colonel ]\Iun- 
 ford, with some supporting force, observed the approaches 
 of the enemy on the side of Washington. This officer, 
 who had just distinguished himself on the plains of 
 Manassas ia the most brilliant cavalry charge of the war, 
 skirmished daily with the enemy's advance ; and, as their 
 masses began to press more heavily upon him, fell back 
 toward Frederick. The whole Confederate army had 
 arrived there, and was encamped near the town. General 
 Lee now assembled his leading generals in council, to de- 
 vise a plan of operations for the approaching shock of 
 arms. Harper's Ferry had not been evacuated, as he 
 hoped. His first design of withdrawing his army in a 
 body towards Western Maryland, for the purpose of 
 
302 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 threatening Pennsylvania, and figliting M'Clellan upon 
 ground of liis own selection, was now beset with this 
 difficulty : that its execution would leave the garrison at 
 Harper's Ferry to re-open their communications with their 
 friends, to receive an accession of strength, and to sit upon 
 his flank, threatening his new line of supply up the valley 
 of Virginia. Two other plans remained : the one was to 
 leave Harper's Ferry to itself for the present, to con- 
 centrate the whole army in a good position, and fight 
 M'Clellan as he advanced. The other was to withdraw 
 the army west of the mountains, as at first designed, but 
 by different routes, embracing the reduction of Harper's 
 Ferry by a rapid combination in this movement ; and then 
 to re- assemble the whole at some favourable position in 
 that region, for the decisive struggle with M'Clellan. The 
 former was advocated by Jackson ; he feared lest the other 
 system of movements should prove too coraplex for reahz- 
 ing that punctual and complete concentration which sound 
 policy required. The latter, being preferred by the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, was adopted. It would be unjust to 
 point to its partial results as proof of superior sagacity 
 iu Jackson, for the impartial reader would remember that 
 the plan of his preference was never tried ; and, if it had 
 been, the test of experiment might have shown that it also 
 was only capable of imperfect success. It should be 
 added, that the execution of the plan which was actually 
 adopted was marred, in some measure, by the untimely 
 disclosure of it to the enemy. Either project was bold, 
 and its execution would have been delicate and hazardous. 
 The purposes of General Lee cannot be so clearly set forth 
 
UK-U-CiB UJ! MAltDH. 
 
 303 
 
 in any way as by the order wliich unfolded them to his 
 heutenants, issued at Frederick, September 9th : — 
 
 " The army will resume its march to-morrow, taking the 
 Hagerstown road. General Jackson's command will form 
 the advance, and after passing Middletown with such 
 portion as he may select, will take the route towards 
 Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient 
 point, and by Friday night take possession of the Baltimore 
 and Ohio Eailroad, capture such of the enemy as may be 
 at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt to 
 escape from Harper's Ferry. 
 
 " General Longstreet's command will pursue the same 
 road as far as Boonesborough, where it will halt with the 
 reserve, supply, and baggage trains of the army. 
 
 " General M'Laws, with his own division and that 
 of General E. H. Anderson, wiU follow General Long- 
 street ; on reaching Middletown he will take the route to 
 Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of 
 the Maryland heights, and endeavour to- capture the 
 enemy at Harper's Ferry and its vicinity. 
 
 " General "Walker, with his division, after accomplishing 
 the object in which he is now engaged, will cross the 
 Potomac at Cheek's Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovetts- 
 viUe, take possession of Loudoun heiglits, if practicable, 
 by Friday morning ; Key's Ford on his left, and the road 
 Ijetween the end of the mountain and the Potomac on his 
 right. He wiU, as far as practicable, co-operate with 
 General iI'Laws and General Jackson in intercepting the 
 retreat of the enemy. 
 
 " General D. H. HiU's division will form the rear-guard 
 
SOi LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 of tlie army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. 
 The reserve artillery, ordnance, and supply-trains, etc., 
 wiU precede General Hill. 
 
 " General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to 
 accompany the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson, 
 and M'Laws ; and with the main body of the cavalry will 
 cover the route of the army, and bring up all stragglers 
 that may have been left behind. 
 
 " The commands of Generals Jackson, IM'Laws, and 
 Walker, after accomplishing the objects for which they 
 have been detached, will join the main body of the amiy 
 at Boonesborough or Hagerstown." 
 
 It wid be seen that the advance was again committed 
 to General Jackson, together with the task of making the 
 longer circuit, and reducing Harper's Ferry. On the 
 morning of "Wednesday, September 10th, he set out, and 
 marched across the mountains to Boonesborough. The 
 next day, leaving Hagerstown on his right, General Jack- 
 son marched to Williamsport ; and crossing the Potomac 
 at that place, re-entered Virginia a full day's march west 
 of Harper's Ferry. Then, dividing his forces, he sent 
 General A. P. Hill on the direct road to Martinsburg; 
 while he, with the other two divisions, moved to the 
 North Mountain Depot, the nearest station west of that 
 town. The object of these movements was to prevent the 
 garrison of Martinsburg from escaping by the west or 
 north. Their commander. Brigadier- General White, find- 
 ing no other outlet, deserted the place on the approach of 
 the Confederates, and retired to Harper's Ferry. They 
 entered Martinsburg on the morning of the 12th of Sep- 
 
ORDEE OF MARCH. 305 
 
 tember, and found many valuable stores aliandoned by 
 the enemy. By the patriotic part of the population of 
 this' oppressed town General Jackson was received with 
 an uncontrollable outburst of enthusiasm. He was now 
 in his own military district again, — his beloved valley ; 
 and he appeared among the astonished and delighted 
 people almost as a visitor fi-om the skies. The females, 
 especially, to whom his purity and domestic virtue made 
 him as dear as his lofty chivalry, crowded around him 
 with their affectionate greetings ; while the foremost be- 
 sieged him for some little souvenir. Blushing with em- 
 barrassment, he said, ' Eeally, ladies, this is the first time 
 I was ever surrounded by the enemy ;' and disengaged 
 himself from them. Allotting scanty time to tlie indulg- 
 ence of this popular emotion, he pressed forward the 
 same day toward Harper's Ferry, and approached it from 
 the west at eleven o'clock on the morning of the 13th. 
 His two partners in the enterprise. Generals iI'Laws and 
 Walker, had not yet arrived ; and it is striking evidence 
 of his celerity, that while they had but the distance of a 
 day's march to traverse, he completed a circuit of more 
 than sixty miles, and arrived first. Placing his signal 
 ofiicer upon a conspicuous eminence, he began imme- 
 diately to question the neighbouring heights of Loudoun 
 and iMaryland, but received no response. He then sent 
 by couriers; and, during the night of the 13th, received 
 answer that General if Laws had succeeded in seizing the 
 Maryland heights, after a spirited and successful combat, 
 about half-past four o'clock V.M., while General AValker 
 
 VOL. II. u 
 
306 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEKEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 had the same evening occupied the Loudoun heights witli 
 two regiments without opposition. 
 
 Tl^e village of Harper's Ferry has already been described 
 as occupying the angle between the Potomac and Shenan- 
 doah, where these tA\'o rivers unite, immediately before 
 their passage through the gorge of the Blue Eidge. The 
 town ascends, in a rambling fashion, a ridge which fills 
 the space lietween the two rivers, and "which is itself 
 almost a mountain. This range of highlands, known as 
 Bolivar heights, upon its reverse presents a regular 
 acclivity, looking toward the south-west over the open 
 country of the ^'alley, which extends from the Shenan- 
 doah to the Potomac. The former stream separates them 
 from the Loudoun heights, and across the latter they are 
 confronted by the Maryland heights. Along the crest of 
 p}olivar heights the Federalists had constructed a defen- 
 sive line of earthworks, with heavy abattis, and many 
 batteries of artillery. On the morning of September 14th, 
 General Jackson placed himself iu communication with 
 his associates, and taking the chief dhection as senior 
 officer, proceeded to dispose everything for the capture of 
 the place M-itli its entire garrison. Brigadier- General 
 Walker carried four rifled cannon to the crest of Loudoun 
 heights, supported by a portion of his infantry; while 
 with the remainder he guarded the roads by which the 
 enemy might seek to escape eastward. Major-General 
 IVLLaws established himself in Pleasant Valley, a moun- 
 tain vale embraced between the main crest of the Blue 
 Eidge, and a subsidiary range parallel to it on the west, 
 known as Elk Eidge. It is the southern promontory of 
 
AERANGEMEKTS FOR CAPTURE OF HARPEE'S FERRY, 307 
 
 this which, immediately overlooking the river and village, 
 is known as Maryland heights. After seizing this com- 
 manding position, as has been related, he devoted the 
 night of the 13th and the forenoon of the 14th to con- 
 structing a road along the crest of Elk Eidge, by which 
 cannon could be carried out upon its southern extremity. 
 By two o'clock p.m. four pieces of artillery were established 
 there, with great labour, overlooking the whole town and 
 a part of the enemy's works on Bolivar heights. The re- 
 mainder of General M'Laws' force was employed in watch- 
 ing the outlets from Harper's Ferry down the Potomac, 
 where the main road, the railroad, and the canal passed 
 under the mountain's foot, and to guarding his rear against 
 tlie approach of the heavy force of ^M'Clellan ; who sought 
 to raise the siege by pressing him from the north. But 
 while the guns of ]\rLaws and Walker upon the moun- 
 tains now rendered the town untenable to the Federalists, 
 they could not dislodge them from their main line upon 
 Bolivar heights ; and here, it was plain, they would cling, 
 in the hope of being relieved by ^M'Clellan, until the place 
 was actually forced. So that the main struggle, after aU, 
 fell to the corps of General Jackson. He directed the 
 division of Hill towaTd the Shenandoah, and that of Talia- 
 ferro, tmder Bri^idier- General J. E. Jones, to the banks 
 of the Potomac. The division of Ewell, under Brigadier- 
 General J^awton, marched upon the Charlestown turnpike, 
 and supported HilL On the 1 4th General Jackson, ob- 
 serving an eminence upon the extreme right of the 
 enemy's bne, and next the Potomac, occupied only by 
 horsemen, directed the Stonewall Brigade, under Colonel 
 
308 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Grigsby, to seize it. This was done without much diffi- 
 culty ; and tlie liill was at once crowned by the batteries 
 of Poague and Carpenter. ( )n his right, a similar opera- 
 tion, of still greater importance, was happily effected by 
 General A. P. Hill. Perceiving an elevated piece of 
 ground (\\lience the Federal position along Bolivar 
 heights could be enfiladed at the distance of only a 
 thousand yards), which seemed to be defended by 
 infantry behind a heavy abattis without artillery. Hill 
 sent three brigades under General Pender to storm it 
 This was effected in most gallant style, and with shght 
 loss. During the night, i\fajor Walker, director of his 
 artillery, by indefatigable exertions carried several bat- 
 teries to the position thus won ; while the remainder of 
 the infantry of the division, availing themselves of the 
 darkness, and the precipitous ravines which descend to 
 the Shenandoah, insinuated themselves down its left bank, 
 and took post in rear of the enemy's left. By these dis- 
 positions the fate of the garrison was sealed. But General 
 Jackson, to make sure of his work, also directed his chief 
 of artillery. Colonel Crutchfield, to pass eleven pieces of 
 artillery from Ewell's di\ision across the Shenandoah, and 
 establish them upon its right bank, so as to take a part 
 of the Federal line in reverse. To the division of Ewell 
 was assigned the front attack, in the centre. 
 
 This arrangement of the Confederate forces has been 
 described in its completeness, because there is no more 
 beautiful instance in the whole history of the military art, 
 (jf a grand combination, absolutely complete and punctual, 
 irrevocably deciding the struggle before it was l)egun, and 
 
THE PLACE SUKKENDERS. 309 
 
 yielding a perfect result, M'liich left notliiiig more to be 
 desired. In the afternoon of the 1 -1th, the guns of M'Laws 
 and "Walker, npon the two mountains, had given the 
 enemy a foretaste of their overthrow, by silencing their 
 batteries nearer the Potomac, and searching the whole en- 
 campment and barracks with their shells at will. But 
 Jackson was now ready also ; and at dawn on the 15th he 
 proceeded to give to his adversary the coitp de grace. He 
 ordered all the different batteries ti > open at once. JNI'Laws 
 and AA'alker plunged their shot among the Federal masses 
 from the heights ; Poague and Carpenter scourged their 
 right with a resistless fire ; Lawton advan(:'C(i to the attack 
 with artillery and infantry in front ; and the enfilading 
 batteries of General Hill and Colonel Crutchfield swept 
 their men from the ramparts by a storm of projectiles. 
 After an hour of furious cannonading, all the Federal bat- 
 teries were silenced. General Jackson had directed that 
 at this signal Hill should instantly advance, and storm 
 the place upon the right. His brigades were just moving, 
 the gallant Pender again in front, supported by two ad- 
 vanced batteries, when amidst the surges of smoke a white 
 flag was seen waving from a prominent height within the 
 town. Hill arrested the tempest of battle at once ; and 
 sending an ofBcer to ascertain the purpose of the enemy 
 to surrender, soon after entered the town, and received the 
 submission of its commander. The senior officer present, 
 Colonel ililes, had just fallen by a mortal wound ; Briga- 
 dier General White, the next in command, surrendered at 
 discretion, with a garrison of eleven thousand men, seventy- 
 three pieces of artillery, thirteen thousand stand of small 
 
310 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 arras, a great number of waggons and horses, and a vast 
 accumulation of stores of every description. When Gene- 
 ral Hill entered the place, all was confusion and panic, 
 and the defenders had already lost every appearance of 
 subordination. 
 
 General Jackson granted most liberal terms to the 
 prisoners, although they had placed themselves at his will. 
 The officers were dismissed with their side-arms and per- 
 sonal effects, upon their parole, and waggons, with horses, 
 lent them to remove their baggage to the Federal lines. 
 The privates also were disarmed, and released upon parole. 
 The force of General Lee was too small to permit, at this 
 critical hour, the detachment of men to conduct them into 
 the interior. Tliis magnificent capture confirmed the 
 judgment of General Joseph E. Johnston, who decided in 
 1861 that Harper's Ferry was an untenable position for a 
 garrison menaced by a large army. The only resource for 
 the Federal commander, when he saw his enemies ap- 
 proaching, was a retreat to the ]\Iaryland heights. These 
 commanded the Loudoun heights, as they, in turn, com- 
 manded the village. He should have retreated thither at 
 the beginning with his light artillery, destroyed his stores, 
 and broken up the bridges between himself and Harper's 
 Ferry. That place would have then been as untenable to 
 Jackson as it had been to him, and he would have speedily 
 restored communication between himself and M'Clellan, 
 Avho was approaching from the north. 
 
 The surrender of Harper's Ferry was received at nine 
 o'clock A.M., the 15th of September. General Jackson, 
 assigning to Hill the receiving of the captured persons 
 
M'CLELLAN'S MOVEMENTS. 311 
 
 and property, immediately resumed his march to rejoin 
 General Lee at Sharpsbiirg with his two remaining divi- 
 sions. By a toilsome night marcli, he reached that place 
 on the morning of Tuesday, Septemljer 16th. He also 
 ordered JNI'Laws and Walker to descend, pass through 
 Harper's Ferry, and follow him. The Commander-in- 
 Chief was now demanding their presence with urgenc}'. 
 To imderstand its cause, other lines of events must be 
 resumed. 
 
 On the 12th of September, the advance of M'Clellan's 
 grand army having discovered that all the Confederates 
 had left Frederick, ventured to enter the place. The 
 next day, a copy of General Lee's order, directing the 
 movements of liis whole army, which had been unfortun- 
 ately dropped in the town, was discovered, and sent to 
 the Federal general. Satisfied at once of its authenticity, 
 he perceived that he now had the clue for which he had 
 been groping so cautiously, and determined to disregard 
 the groundless fears of the despotism at Washington, and 
 to press the Confederates henceforward ^vith vigour. He 
 saw correctly that celerity of movement might now make 
 him master of the situation, and adopted a plan of opera- 
 tions dictated by the highest skill. This was to push his 
 great army westward as rapidly as jiossible by several 
 parallel routes, so near together as to render a concentra- 
 tion on either rapid and easy ; to feel all the passes across 
 the mountain which were held by Lee, and, as soon as he 
 effected an entrance at any, to collect his whole force 
 beyond that barrier between the Confederates near Har- 
 per's Ferry and the other wing, supposed to be tending 
 
312 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 toward Haserstown ; to crush the former first, delivering 
 the beleaguered garrison, and then turn upon the latter. 
 Tliat all this was not effected, was due to the surprising 
 promptitude with which Jackson reduced Harper's Ferry, 
 and to the heroic tenacity of M'Laws and D. H. HUl in 
 holding the Pleasant Valley and Boonsborough Gap against 
 him, until the Confederate army could be concentrated. 
 On the l-ltli, the Federal left wing, in great force, under 
 General Franklin, forced Crampton's Gap, by which 
 M'Laws had approached Harper's Ferry. But when they 
 passed the first crest of the mountain, they found jM'Laws, 
 with a strong rear-guard, drawn up across the Pleasant 
 Valley with so bold a front that they feared both to attack 
 him and to expose their flank by proceeding farther west. 
 Here Franklin lost a day invaluable to his commander, by 
 pausing to confront M'Laws, until the fall of Harper's 
 Ferry on* the 15tli opened to the latter a safe exit, by 
 which he retired toward the appointed rendezvous. On 
 the 1 ith of September, also, the remainder of the Federal 
 army, moving from Frederick by the main road toward 
 Boonsborough, hurled its vast masses all day against D. 
 H. Hill, in the mountain pass in front of that place. This 
 determined soldier held his ground with less than five 
 thousand men, when General Longstreet, coming to his 
 support in the afternoon, sustained the onset rmtil night- 
 fall. They then withdrew their divisions toward Sharps- 
 burg, under favour of the darkness, and arrived at that 
 position on the 15th, while their enemies pursued slug- 
 gishly, bravely resisted by the cavalry of FitzHugh Lee. 
 In the combat of Boonsborough Gap, M'Clellan, with that 
 
SHAKPSBUEG. 313 
 
 usual exaggeration of tlie numbers of his enemy to whicli 
 his timid temperament inclined him, placed the force of 
 D. H. Hill at fifteen thousand, and that of Longstreet at 
 as many more. A large portion of his army arrived in 
 front of the Confederate position at Sliarpsburg on the 
 same day with them, and he might have immediately 
 attacked with the prospect of overwhelming the three 
 divisions opposed to him. But the absence of Franklin, 
 with his whole left wing, \vhich was detained in Pleasant 
 Valley by iI'Laws, the cumbrous size of his vast and^ 
 sluggish host, and his own caution, consumed both that 
 day and the 16th. Then two divisions of the corps of 
 Jackson and that of General Walker were in position, and 
 the hope of beating the Southern army in detail was at 
 an end. 
 
 The position selected )jy General Lee for his final con 
 centration is marked liy the little village of Sliarpsburg, a 
 cluster of German farm-houses, which had spent its quiet 
 existence amidst the hills and woods, dreaming little ol' 
 the fame which Avas to connect its name for ever Avith the 
 greatest battle of tliis gigantic campaign. It is situated 
 at the intersection of six roads, two and a half miles east 
 of the Potomac, and one mile west of Antietam Creek, a 
 picturesque mill-stream, which descends from the north, 
 and separates between the rolling hills of the great valley, 
 and the long sloping ridges wldch form the western bases 
 of the Blue Eidge, or South jNIountain. The roads which 
 centre at the village lead southward to Harper's Ferry, 
 northward to Hagerstown, westward to Shepherdstown, 
 upon the Virginian shore of the Potomac, eastward to 
 
314 LIFE OF LIECT.-GEXERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Boonsborougli, and south -eastward to Pleasant Valley. It 
 was by the last two that M'Clellan's army approached ; 
 and these highways passed the Antietam upon substantial 
 bridges of stone ; wliile other practicable crossings, above 
 and below, were ohered by fords and country roads of less 
 note. The country around Sharpsburg is elevated and 
 rolling, with woods, fields, farm-houses, and orchards in- 
 terspersed, divided by stone fences, and scarred here and 
 there with ledges of limestone, which project a few feet 
 from the soil. It offered, therefore, a strong defensive 
 position for an army receiving the attack of its enemies ; 
 but the ground lay under two grave objections, of which 
 the one was, that this army had the Potomac in its imme- 
 diate rear ; and the other, that its lines were almost enfi- 
 laded by the heavy rifled artillery of the assailants, posted 
 upon the ascending ridges which rose from the eastern 
 margin of the Antietam toward the mountain. Here, how- 
 ever, General Lee began the formation of his line of battle 
 on tlie 15th of .September, by placing the divisions of 
 D. H. Hill, Longstreet, and Hood iipon the range of hiUs in 
 front of Sharpsburg, and overlooking Antietam Creek. His 
 line was nearly parallel to this stream, and had Longstreet 
 upon the right and Hill upon the left of the road which 
 led to Boonsborougli ; while Hood's two brigades, stationed 
 upon the left of Hill, extended that wing to the highway 
 leading to Hagerstown. The evening of that day was 
 expended by the Federalists in feeble reconnaissances. But 
 on the in(3rning of the 1 Gth they were evidently busy in 
 posting their batteries, and disposing their vast masses for 
 a pitched battle. At mid-day General Jackson arrived, 
 
CONFEDERATE POSITIONS AT SHAErSBUEG. 315 
 
 with the two divisions under the command of Brigadier- 
 Generals Jones and Lawton, and, after granting his men a 
 few hours' repose, took position on the left of Hood, nearly 
 fiUing the space between the Hagerstown road and the 
 Potomac. To rest his extreme left in the neighbourhood 
 of the river, he was compelled to retract it somewhat from 
 the direct line. This exposed him to two inconveniences, 
 — that his position was thereby more completely eniiladed 
 by hostile batteries in front of his right, and that space 
 was thus left between him and the Antietam for the col- 
 lectmg of a heavy force of the Federalists before his left, 
 aud on the hither side of that barrier. But no other choice 
 was left him ; the vast numbers of jM'Clellan would other- 
 wise have enabled that general to swing around between 
 his extreme left and the river. General Walker, arriving 
 with his two brigades a little after Jackson, was posted on 
 the right of Longstreet. After spending the day in a heavy 
 hut useless cannonade, M'ClelLan advanced to the assault 
 about sunset on the 1 6th, and attacked the two brigades of 
 Hood, on the left of the centre, in great numbers. These 
 veteran commands received the onset with firmness, and 
 inflicted serious loss upon the assailants. The combat 
 continued far into the night, and was suspended without 
 r&sult ; when Hood's troops were relieved by the brigades 
 of Trimble and Lawton, from the division of Ewell (now 
 commanded by Lawton), that they might have a much- 
 needed respite during the night, to prepare food and re- 
 plenish their ammunition. The two divisions of Jackson 
 now occupied the whole left, from that of D. H. Hill forth, 
 and the command of Hood became the reserve. Thus the 
 
316 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 troops lay down upou their arms, with tlie skirmishers 
 immediately confronting the lines of the enemy, and 
 sought such repose as they might, amidst the alarms of a 
 continual dropping fire. 
 
 The morning of the 17th of September dawned with 
 all the mellow splendour of the American autumn ; hut 
 scarcely had the sun arisen, when its quiet and beauty 
 were obscured by the thunders and smoke of a terrific can- 
 nonade, which burst from the whole Federal line. The 
 plan of iTClellan's battle was, to advance his right first, 
 under the lead of Generals Hooker and j\Iansfield, who had 
 already made a lodgment west of the Antietam, to over- 
 power the Confederate left, and then to sweep down the 
 stream, taking the remainder of General Lee's line in 
 reverse, and forcing it simultaneously by a front attack. 
 To effect the first part of this design, he hurled against the 
 left the corps of Hooker, Mansfield, and Sumner, contain- 
 ing, by his owir statement, forty-four thousand combatants, 
 and supported by five or six batteries of rifled artillery 
 from his reRer^■es, besides the numerous guns attached 
 directly to their movements. But so far was this force 
 from pr(i-\-ing adequate to his purpose, he relates that the 
 corps of Franklin, then numbering t^^-elve thousand men, 
 was necessarily brought up as a reserve, and a part of it 
 engaged, to prevent the Confederates from retorting his 
 assault upon their left by a serious disaster. Thus the 
 pi.ist of danger and of glory again fell to the devoted corps 
 of Jackson The divisions present were now diminished 
 by battle, straggling, and overpowering fatigues, to an 
 aggregate of less than seven thousand men. With this 
 
JACKSON'S STUBBORN EESISTANCE. 3 1 7 
 
 little band, supported by five thousand reserves under 
 Hood and M'Laws', of whom the latter only arrived from 
 Harper's Ferry in the crisis of the battle, did Jackson hold 
 his ground throughout the day, and breast every onset of 
 the deluge of enemies. His dispositions have already been 
 described in part. The brigades of Lawton and Trimble 
 were between the Hagerstown road and the command of D. 
 H. Hill. On the left of these, and parallel to that road, was 
 the division of Jones. The brigades of Early and Hayes were 
 at first detached to support the horse-artillery of General 
 Stuart, who, with a portion of his cavalry, had seized an 
 elevated hill distant nearly a mile from the infantry, 
 whence he proposed to threaten the extreme right of the 
 Federalists. Hayes was immediately recalled from this 
 movement to the support of Lawton's brigade, lea^•ing 
 Early to guard the batteries of Stuart. This general, 
 finding that the wide interval between him and (General 
 Jackson's left allowed the intrusion of the enemy, almost 
 immediately removed his guns to a height somewhat 
 farther to the rear, and nearer to his friends. From this 
 position he rendered essential service, not only in guarding 
 their flank, but in repulsing the onsets of the Federalists, 
 by a spuited cannonade. But the advance of their infantry 
 had begun simultaneously with the furious fire of their 
 batteries, and by sunrise the skirmishers were hotly en- 
 gaged in the woods east of the Hagerstown road. Very 
 soon the Confederates were driven out, and the position 
 was occupied by large masses of Federal infantry, with 
 several batteries of artillery, which assailed the Confederate 
 hne in front, while the rifled guns in the distance raked 
 
318 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 them witli a murderous fire from their right. But under 
 this double ordeal the veterans of Jackson stood firm, and 
 returned the fire, inflicting a terrible slaughter upon their 
 enemies. I'or more than an li<jur this unequal contest 
 raged with unabated fury. The brigade of Hayes was 
 speedily called from the second line into the first. General 
 Lawton, cummanding the division, was se^'erely wounded. 
 Colonel Douglass, leading his brigade, was killed. Colonel 
 AValker, commanding Trimble's brigade, was wounded and 
 unhorsed. CJeneral J. E. Jones, commandmg the old divi- 
 sion of Ja(dison, was compelled to leave the field, and the 
 gallant General StarlvC, succeeding him, was immediately 
 slain. Trimble's brigade had one-third, and the others 
 half their men linrs dc combat ; and four out of five of 
 their field officers were killed or wounded. The whole 
 line was speedily reduced to a shattered remnant, which 
 still fought with inA'incible tenacity, from hillock to hil- 
 lock, and ledge to ledge, as they retired. It was in this 
 terrific crisis that General Jackson commanded Hood to 
 return to the front and relieve the division of Lawton, and 
 recalled Early with his Ijrigade, to assume the command 
 vacated by the w(3unding of the latter. 'With his accus- 
 tomed prowess, the heroic Texan rushed forward against 
 the teeming multitudes ( >f the enemy, and stayed the tide 
 of battle. His Uvo little brigades engaged five times their 
 own numbers, and in a deadly grapple, of several hours' 
 duration, drove them steadily back a quarter of a mile, 
 and re-established the Confederate lines. After firing 
 away all his cartridges, he caused his men to replenish 
 their suppl}^ from the slain of both armies, and still main- 
 
M'LAWS AEEIVES — EXEMY EEPULSED. 319 
 
 tained the struggle, until the Federalists, about mid-day, 
 remitted their exertions. 
 
 But General Early brought other succours to the failing 
 lin e at the same time with Hood. Marching his brigade 
 by its right flank over sheltered ground in the rear of tlie 
 Confederate lines, he brought it, at the moment when the 
 division of Starke was almost overpowered, to their assist- 
 ance. They had been driven from the Hagerstown road, 
 across an elevated field, and into a wood beyond, where 
 the dauntless Colonels Grigsby and Stafford were endea- 
 vouring to rally a few score of their brigades. The Fede- 
 ralists had already posted a battery in the road ; and, 
 thinking the left successfully turned, were advancing 
 heavy columns of infantry against both the right and the 
 left of the ground which Early had just assumed. Inform- 
 ing General Jackson of his critical position, he assigned t(j 
 Colonel Grigsby the task of holding the left column in 
 check for a few moments, and moved his own brigade 
 farther to the right, so as to confront the other, concealed 
 from them by the undulations of the gTound. Having 
 gained the desired position, he suddenly disclosed his 
 line, advanced, and attacked them with fury. They gave 
 way before him, and he pursued them with great slaughter 
 to the road. At this opportune moment the brigades of 
 General M'Laws began to arrive to his support, — Kershaw 
 and Barksdale upon his right, and Semmes upon his left. 
 The Federal column, threatening that part of his line, had 
 just come far enough to endanger his left flank and rear, 
 as he advanced against the routed enemy in his front. 
 Early therefore arrested his men in the ardour of their 
 
320 LIFE OF LIEUT. GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 pursuit, clianged his front, and advanced upon this second 
 body of enemies, in conjunction with Semmes, Grigsby, 
 and Stafford. By this combined attack they Avere swept 
 summarily, with great loss, from the woods, and the lines 
 were finally restored. At the same time, the other 
 brigades of IM'Laws were advanced on Early's right ^yitll 
 admirable skill and spirit, by their commander, and drove 
 the enemy across the woods and fields for half a mile, 
 strewing the ground with killed and wounded. The 
 whole of General Jackson's line was then re-established 
 by tlie united troops of Hood, M'Laws, and Early; and 
 the conflict of the infantry sunk into a desultory skirmish 
 of outposts. But the baffled Federalists kept up, during 
 the remainder of the day, a furious cannonade upon his 
 position, under which his men lay quiet behind the hil- 
 locks, rocky ledges, and fences, suffering but little loss. 
 The share of his wearied troops in the glories of the day 
 ■was now completed. In the afternoon, indeed, instructed 
 by the Commander-in-Chief, he made an attempt to effect 
 a diversion in favour of his comrades upon the right and 
 centre, by attacking the extren:e right of the Federalists 
 in conjunction with General Stuart. But theu' lines were 
 found to extend so near the Potomac, and to be so fortified 
 with artillery, that the exp)eriment was relinquished. 
 During this terrible conflict General Jackson exposed his 
 life with his customary imperturbable braver}-, riding 
 among his batteries and directing their fire, and communi- 
 cating his own indomitable spirit to his men. Yet he 
 .said to a Christian comrade that on no day of battle had 
 he ever felt so calm an assurance that he should be pre- 
 
BATTLE OF SHAEPSBUEG. 321 
 
 served from all personal harm through the protection of 
 his Heavenly Father. 
 
 "While M'Clellan was accumulating his chief strength 
 against the Confederate left, he was also diligently pre- 
 paring for an attack in force upon the centre, by feeling- 
 its lines with a hea^y artillery fire. No sooner had the 
 tempest exhausted its fury upon Jackson than it biirst 
 upon D. H. Hill and Longstreet with almost equal vio- 
 lence ; but it was met with the same determined resist- 
 ance. To describe its course would lead the reader over 
 a precisely parallel storj- of fourfold numbers, resisted by 
 the thin Confederate lines with a sublime heroism which 
 supplied every defect of force ; of the lamentable martyr- 
 dom of devoted officers and men, but avenged by bloody 
 slaughters of the assailants ; of shattered brigades reduced 
 to handfuls, and of fearful onslaughts, turned back by the 
 rally of these unconquerable men, when the effort seemed 
 almost madness. At one moment he would see vast 
 masses of the enemy pouring through a breach in the 
 single line of Hill, and about to seize the very key of the 
 Confederate position, arrested and turned back by that 
 general with four field-pieces, and a few hundreds of 
 bayonets, rallied from several broken brigades. At another, 
 he would see Longstreet sitting alone upon his horse, near 
 a battery of four field-pieces, which was supported by the 
 Korth Carolina regiment of Cooke, without a single car- 
 tridge, and thus confronting and beating back a whole line 
 of battle. 
 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon, M'CleUan transferred 
 his attack to the Confederate right, and attempted with 
 
 VOL, n. X 
 
322 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 tlie corps of Buriiside to force the bridge over the Antietam, 
 leading from the Pleasant A^alley. This was immediately 
 defended by several batteries, and two regiments of Gene- 
 ral Toombs's Georgia brigade, stationed near the stream. 
 These troops held the enemy's advance in cheek until 
 they had passed the stream in great nnmbers below, when 
 they were necessarily withdrawn, to avoid capture. Burn- 
 side now crossed the bridge in great force, and attacked 
 Longstreet's right, under General D. E. Jones, forcing him 
 from the range of hills which commanded the approaches. 
 An advance of a few hundred yards more would have 
 given the enemy control of the roads leading from Sharps- 
 burg to the Potomac ; but here also, through the provi- 
 dence of the Commander-in-Chief, timely succour was at 
 hand. The remaining division of General Jackson's corps, 
 under General A. P. HiE, having been ordered up from 
 Harper's Perry, had just reached the field, and was now 
 sent to the support of the right wing. This general, 
 advancing four of his brigades, with his batteries, attacked 
 the Federalists, flushed with confidence, but disordered ty 
 the rapidity of their advance, and immediately arrested 
 their career. Assailed in flank by Toombs, and in front 
 by Branch, Gregg, and Archer, they wavered, broke, and 
 fled in confusion to the banks of the Antietam, where 
 they sought protection under the fire of the numerous 
 artillery upon the opposite hills. In this splendid combat 
 two thousand men of Hill's division, assisted by the brigade 
 of Toombs, routed the fourteen thousand of Burnside, and 
 drove them under the shelter of jM'CleUan's reserves. 
 The general was now compelled to pass from the aggres- 
 
A. P. HILL REPULSES THE FEDEEAL LEFT. 323 
 
 sive to the defensive, and ^vas happy to be able to prevent 
 the Confederates from crossing the bridge in turn, forcing 
 back his left, and separating him from the mountain base, 
 which he destined for his refuge in case of disaster. To 
 the anxious appeals of Burnside for more men and more 
 guns to meet " the overpowering odds " against him, he 
 had no reply to give. Contenting themselves with posting 
 their beaten infantry and their artillery so as to contest 
 the passage of HiU, they awaited the night, M-liii;h speedily 
 came to their assistance. AVith this affair the bloody day 
 was closed. The two armies held the same positions which 
 they occupied when it began, save that in the centre the 
 Confederate line was retracted about tw^o hundred yards, 
 In no battle of the war had the shock of arms been so 
 violent as in this, or the cannonade so terrible. On both 
 sides portions of the forces engaged were almost totally 
 disintegrated by the fury of the struggle. The whole 
 organized remaiader of brigades appeared in the form of a 
 few companies, and divisions were reduced to the size of 
 regiments. 
 
 The exhaustion of the Confederates forbade the thouglit 
 of following up their successes. But had they been 
 stronger, the adroit position of JM'Clellan gave them little 
 encouragement to attempt it. He was able to place the 
 Antietam in his front, and to occupy upon the eastern side 
 ground of commanding height. Had he been forced back 
 from this, he would have retired to ranges of hills still 
 more elevated, whence his numerous and powerful artillery 
 would have been employed with still more fatal effect; 
 and had he been defeated, this would only have driven 
 
324 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSOX. 
 
 him to the mountain, where he wouki have been unassail- 
 able. But on the morning after the battle, General Lee 
 firmly awaited another attack in his first position. His 
 army had been recruited already by the return of thou- 
 sands of the foot-sore and the stiagulers to their raaks, 
 and he was nothing loth to try conclusions again, upon the 
 same ground, with his gigantic adversary. M'Clellan had 
 no stomach whatever for another wrestle of the sort he had 
 just escaped; and thus, during the IStli, the two adver- 
 saries stood at bay, and busied themselves in burying their 
 dead and removing their wounded. In the afternoon, 
 General Lee, leariring that jM'Clellan was about to receive 
 large accessions of fresh troops, and having no correspond- 
 ing increase of his own strength in prospect, determined 
 to re-cross the Potomac at Sliepherdstown. As soon as the 
 darkness set in this movement was commenced, and was 
 continued all night. The trains, the artillery, the wounded, 
 were passed safely over ; while the troops forded the shal- 
 low stream in a continuous column. Nothing was left to 
 the enemy except a few hundred wounded men, whose suf- 
 ferings would have been aggravated 1 )y their removal, and 
 a few disabled guns and caissons. The corps of General 
 Jackson now brought up the rear ; and its passage was not 
 completed until 10 o'clock A.M. on the 19tli. For houi'S 
 he was seen seated upon his horse in the middle of the 
 river, as motionless as a statue, watching the jsassage of 
 his faithful men ; nor did he leave this station until the 
 last man and the last carriage had touched the southern 
 shore. He then retired with his troops ; and having made 
 suitable dispositions for guarding the fords, sought en- 
 
LEE'S AIM IX THE BATTLE OF SHAKPSBUKa. 325 
 
 campments for them, wliere they might find the much 
 needed repose. 
 
 "When JM'Clellan perceived that the Confederates had 
 retired he began to ehiim the battle of Sharpsbnrg as a 
 glorious victory. He forgot that at ]\Ialvern HiU he had 
 also claimed a splendid victory because he was permitted 
 to do something similar to that which General Lee had 
 now done, except that it was less successful. There he 
 had stood on the defensive, in the position of his choice ; 
 he had beaten off the assailants ^vith a loss equal to his 
 own ; he had held his ground, in the main, until the close 
 of the battle ; and he had then stolen off in the darkness, 
 leaving his enemy to bury his dead, and to care for many 
 of his wounded. Here General Lee had received the 
 attacks of his foe in his chosen position ; had repelled 
 them all with enormous slaughter ; had slept upon his own 
 groimd ; had sent his wounded to the rear ; had buried his 
 dead, save where the impetuosity of his victorious men 
 had carried them into the enemy's line ; had offered battle 
 defiantly on the succeeding day ; and, after this, had 
 retired at his leisure, and unmolested. If Malvern Hill 
 was a victory for jM'Clellan, by parity of reasoning 
 Sharpsburg ^vas more a victory for Lee. But the Con- 
 federates did not claim it as a decisive victory, for it did 
 not gain them the main object for which it was fought. It 
 has been said that this object was gained, for it was the 
 whole end of the battle to win a safe exit out of j\Iaryland, 
 after the brilliant capture of Harper's Ferry. This state- 
 ment is incorrect. The evening of the day on which 
 Harper's Ferry fell, more than half of the army was safely 
 
32G LIFE OF LIErX.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 out of Maryland, the corps of Jackson, and the divisions 
 of M'Laws, Anderson, and Walker ; it was necessary for 
 them to re-enter Maryland, in order to fight at Sharps- 
 burg. ISTor is it true that their return was necessary to 
 extricate the remaining divisions of L(jngstreet, D. H. Hdl, 
 and Jones. These crossed the Antietam to Sharpsburg 
 with impunity, in the face of M'Clellan's huge host, dur- 
 ing the forenoon of Sepjtember 15th, and the onset upon 
 them did not begin in earnest until the dawn of the 17tli, 
 Surely the same skill and firmness might have conducted 
 them in safety four miles farther across the Potomac to 
 Shepherdstown. The battle of Sharpsburg was fought by 
 the Confederates, not to purchase a secure retreat, but to 
 open their way for triumphant invasion ; to redeem their 
 offers of aid to oppressed Maryland ; to conquer a peace, by 
 defeating their opponents upon their own soil. This trutli 
 displays at once the daring and hardihood of General Lee's 
 conceptions, and his confidence in the prowess of his army. 
 He believed them capable of everything, and so was not 
 afraid to require of them the greatest things. 
 
 In the daring policy of delivering this battle, General 
 Jackson had emphatically concurred with him upon his 
 arrival from Harper's Ferry in advance of his corps. When 
 the Commander-in-Chief determined to withdraw across 
 the Potomac again, he also approved this movement ; but 
 added that, in \iew of all the circumstances, it was better 
 to have fought the battle in Maryland than to have left' it 
 without a struggle. In the larger part of this admirable 
 army, it may be truly said, his confidence was justly 
 reposed ; but in this instance he exacted of them that of 
 
HIS AKMY KJiJJUCEi) BY HTliAl ii ILfNG. 327 
 
 wliicli human nature Avas scarcely capable. The marches 
 and combats which introduced the great day of Sharps - 
 burg exhausted tlie strength of the men in advance. ]Many 
 were absent, because they were unable to march with 
 deiicient rations, and ill shod ; and many others, ^^dlO had 
 faithfully dra;4ged their weary limbs to the field, had 
 neither strength of muscle nor animal spirits for its duties. 
 This army, jaded, foot-sore, and haK famished, ■was sus- 
 tained under the toils of the bloody day only by its lofty 
 principle and its devotion to its leaders. To their adver- 
 saries even, they appeared wan and haggard, albeit they 
 were as terrible as hungry wolves. Men among them weie 
 seen, whUe advancing to the charge through orchards of 
 the German farmers under a hail of death, greedily 
 devouring the apples from the trees. 
 
 Here, then, was one explanation of the imperfection of 
 General Lee's victory. Another, more important, was in 
 the miserable vice of strag"ling, which the mistaken j'uod 
 nature of officers had fostered. Tor in this army, so heroic 
 as a body, there were two elements commingled, — the 
 precious metal and the vile dross, — the true patriot, 
 citizen-soldier, animated by a high principle, and the base 
 skulker, who did nothing, save under compulsion. The 
 great vice of the Southern armies was on this occasion 
 prevalent : that the ignorance of the practical details of 
 duty among officers, with the easy ionJwmmic of their 
 character, remitted the bonds of discipline ; so that the 
 liase were not compelled to act with the true, as one body. 
 The losses of the army from straggling had begun upon 
 the Rappahannock. AVhen it moved thence against Pope, 
 
328 LIFE OF LIEUT. GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 at Manassas, the country behind it was left infested with 
 thousands of laggers and deserters, who preyed upon the 
 substance of tlie citizens, and wandered about, with arms 
 in their hands, defying arrest. At every stage of the 
 march this depletion increased, until, at the final struggle, 
 there were fewer Confederate soldiers in line of battle, 
 along the Antietam, than there Avere along the course of the 
 Potomac, and the roads over which the army had marched. 
 General Lee declares that the battle was fought with less 
 than forty thousand men. The confusion reigning in 
 many parts of the army make an accurate enumeration 
 for ever impossible. But the highest estimate made by 
 well-informed actors in the scene gave him thirty-three 
 thousand effective men. General M'Clellan declares offi- 
 cially that Lee's line of battle was exceedingly short. All 
 who fought in it testified that it was also exceedingly thin. 
 In contrast with this sober revelation of facts, the confi- 
 dent estimates of the Federal general are set in a ridicul- 
 ous light, when he formally announces, to a man, the 
 exact number present in each of the Confederate corps, 
 and makes up an aggregate of ninety- seven thousand four 
 hundred and forty-five combatants opposed to him on the 
 Antietam. The fact that the Confederates defended them- 
 selves successfully against the ninety thousand men whom 
 he hurled against them, supported by the most numerous 
 and complete artillery ever arrayed on a field of battle, is 
 a testimony to the heroism of the men and the skill of the 
 officers, almost inexpressibly glorious. The commendation 
 of Jackson is best written by his adversary, when he says, 
 in his report, " One division of Sumner's, and all of Hooker's 
 
THE ODDS AGAINST LEE. 329 
 
 corps on the riglit, had, after fighting most valiantly for 
 several hours, heen ovcrpmocrccl hy numhcr^, driven back in 
 oreat disorder, and much scattered." Those numbers, so 
 overpowering, were, as the reader has seen, less than seven 
 thousand jaded men, supported by a few hundreds of re- 
 serves from JtI'Laws. That the Confederates accomplished 
 so much with their fragment of an army, is the best apology 
 for the daring policy of their commander. Had all his 
 men been in their places, and had they fought as the 
 thirty-three thousand fought, it is no idle vaticination to 
 say that the battle of Sharpsburg would have been a 
 magnificent and decisive triumph. The apprehensions 
 which il'Clellan confessed as possessing his breast after 
 its close (September 18th), shall express its probable 
 results. "At that moment, Virginia lost, "Washington 
 menaced, jMaryland invaded, the national cause could 
 afford no risks of defeat. One battle lost, and almost all 
 would have been lost. Lee's army might then ha-\-e 
 marched, as it pleased, on AVashington, Baltimore, Phila- 
 delphia, or Xew York. It could have levied its supplies 
 from a fertile and undevastated country, extorted tribute 
 from wealthy and popmlous cities ; and nowhere east of 
 the Alleghanies was there another organized force able to 
 arrest its march." 
 
 But it will be well to pause here, and answer a ques- 
 tion which has doubtless been frequently raised in the 
 reader's mind, by the astonishing discrepancies between 
 the confident estimates made by M'Clellan of his adver- 
 saries' numbers and the sober statements of the Confe- 
 derate reports. The doubt has arisen, " Can it be, that a 
 
330 LIFE OF IJEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 general of M'Clellan's acknowledged skill should be so in- 
 capable of measuring the size of the force acting before 
 him, or that an official, occupying so high a position 
 among a civilized jDeople, can be so capable of deliberate 
 lying concerning matters of fact?" The answer is to be 
 found chiefly in the traits of his people. Their general 
 vanity and falsehood prompted his officers and men, when 
 beaten by the Confederates, to cover their own cowardice 
 under wondrous tales of the overpowering numbers before 
 which they gave way. Thus M'Clellan, who, it was well 
 known, was not accustomed to risk his person by too near 
 an inspection of the incidents of battle, was perpetually 
 made the -^'ictim of a system of lies and exaggerations, 
 passed upon him by his subordinates, to cloak their own 
 cowardice. It is to precisely this source that the most 
 of his military blunders are traceable. And this is one 
 among the manifold illustrations of the intrinsic weak- 
 ness of sin. Virtue is always the stronger, in the end. 
 
 To return. Another cause of imperfect success to the 
 Confederate arms was the too great dispersion of their 
 forces before the battle. The fact, that so much was 
 effected witli the portion present on the morning of the 
 17th, shows how complete the victory might have been 
 had all the divisions been on the ground, and suitably re- 
 freshed by rest and food. The prize at Harper's Ferry, 
 left within General Lee's grasp, not by the forecast, but 
 by the folly of the enemy, yet proved the occasion of their 
 rescue from destruction. The splendid bait was seized; 
 but it caused Jackson to arrive wearied and depleted by 
 forced marches, and it detained the divisions of A. P. Hill, 
 
JI'CLELLAS'S OYER-CAUTIOX. 331 
 
 M'Laws, and Anderson, and then placed tliem at the scene 
 of combat with exhausted strength, after it had been 
 raging for hours. Had those forces been present at the 
 beginning which arrived during the day, a concerted 
 onset would have converted the repulse of ]\['Clellan into 
 a disastrous defeat. 
 
 The cause of the Confederates suffered also from indis- 
 creet management of their artillery in some parts of the 
 field. Inferior m number and range of guns, in the quan- 
 tity and quality of ammunition, and in the experience of 
 the gunners, it should not have attempted to cope with 
 the distant Federal batteries. To them it should have 
 made no reply ; but, protecting itself from their fire until 
 the auspicious moment, it should have confined itself to 
 driving back their masses of infantry, when they ventured 
 to expose themselves at close quarters. 
 
 The prime error of M'Clellan in this campaign was his 
 mistake concerning the numbers of his opponent ; for out 
 of this his other errors grew. Of these, not the least was 
 his timid delay in pressing General Lee at Sliarpsburg, 
 and il'Laws at Pleasant Valley, on the 15th and 16th. 
 He had then attained that opportunity to deal with, the 
 parts of the in^■ading army separated, for which he repre- 
 sented himself as manceuvxing; a great captain would 
 have used the precious advantage while it lasted, by hurl- 
 ing his troops at once, ^vith such imperfect preparation a:i 
 they might have, against their foes. His handling of his 
 forces on the 17th was also faulty in two important par- 
 ticulars. His attacks upon the Confederate left, centre, 
 and right were successive, instead of simultaneous. The 
 
332 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 one movement -was decided adversely before the next was 
 seriously begun, and the wings of his army consequently 
 gave each other little mutual support. And second : it 
 was an inexcusable error to permit the day to be decided 
 against liim, with fifteen thousand reserves of veteran 
 troops lying passive behind the Antietam. For all useful 
 purposes, the corps of Fitz-John Porter miglit as well 
 have been in Washington City. It may be right for the 
 general who is very distant from his supplies and rein- 
 forcements tij husband his reserves, even at the cost of 
 surrendering a victory ; but iM'Clellan was very near to 
 his, having two or three fresh divisions within a few hours' 
 march. It appears, therefore, that the faults of his tactics 
 here were again those of over-caution. His best apology 
 is to be found in the indomitable quality of the troops 
 opposed to him. 
 
 It remains to speak of the losses of the two parties to 
 this sanguinary battle. General Jackson reported a total 
 loss in his command, during the operations at Harper's 
 Ferry and Sharpsburg, of tliree hundred and fifty-one 
 officers and men killed, two thousand and thirty wounded, 
 and fifty-seven missing. Nearly all of this loss was in- 
 curred at the latter place. The loss of the whole Con- 
 federate army, while in jMaryland, was ten thousand three 
 hundred killed and wounded, of whom one thousand 
 five hundred and sixty-seven were kiUed. The confusions 
 of the campaign left no means to discriminate between 
 those lost at Boonsborougli and Crampton's Gaps, at Har- 
 per's Ferry, and in the final struggle. General il'CleUan 
 asserts that the losses of the Confederates in killed and 
 
RESPECTIVE LOSSES. 333 
 
 wounded at the two places first named were as great as 
 two thousand five hundred. If this is true, then the 
 casualties of the Confederates at Sharpsburg were under 
 eight thousand. He sets down the aggregate of his own 
 losses during the Maryland campaign at about fifteen 
 thousand two hundred men, of whom two tliousand were 
 killed and wounded in the preliminary skirmishes and 
 combats. He thus leaves tliirteen thousand as his loss in 
 the battle of Sharpsburg. His own blunders, in the indis- 
 creet attempts he so often made to estimate the casualties 
 of his adversary, are a lesson of caution against a too dog- 
 matic attempt to correct this statement. It will therefore 
 be left, with the accompanying fact, that the iiospital 
 returns of the medical authorities of his Government 
 showed an increase of thirty thousand patients, from his 
 command, as consecpient upon the operations of this short 
 campaign. 
 
 The close of this series of events was marked by one 
 more combat, which slied a parting beam of glory upon the 
 military genius of General Jackson, and the bravery of a 
 part of his troops. After crossing the Potomac upon the 
 19th of September, he withdrew his corps four miles, upon 
 the road toward Martinsburg, and caused them to encamp. 
 Brigadier-General Pendleton, the chief of the reserved 
 artillery of General Lee's army, was stationed with thirty 
 guns upon the heights overlooking the river, supported by 
 the shattered remnant of Lawton's brigade, to guard it 
 against the passage of the enemy in pursuit. These 
 arrangements had not long been made, when the Federalists 
 began to establish heavy batteries of artilleiy upon the 
 
334 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 oi)posite heights, to protect the advance of their troops to 
 the attack ; and Pitz-Johii Porter's corps, which had been 
 held in resei've at Sharpsburg, appeared on the river-bank. 
 This general, after nightfall, seat a detachment across a 
 ])oint above the batteries of Pendleton ; wliich, advancing 
 unobserved, came so near the base of the heights upon 
 ■\\liich he was posted, as to Ije protected from an effectual 
 cannonade ; ^\■hile the infantry, discouraged by their pre- 
 vious losses, and the absence of their accustomed com- 
 mander, were seized with panic, and fled. The thirty guns 
 of Pendleton wcie now exposed to capture, and four of 
 them fell at once into the hands of the Federalists ; while 
 the captains of tlie other batteries withdrew the remainder, 
 to rescue them from a similar fate. At midnight General 
 Pendleton came to the camps of the army, to report these 
 alarming facts ; and added to them, ^\dlat he then supposed 
 to be true, that all liis guns had met the fate of the four 
 first taken. 
 
 Lee had already made provision against a pursuit of 
 M'Clellan, although deeming him probably too much 
 crippled at Sharpsburg to venture immediately into Vir- 
 ginia, by intrusting the defence of his rear to General 
 -Jackson, and by sending General Stuart with his cavalry 
 back across tlie river at Williamsport, to tlireaten tlie 
 enemy's right flank and harass his movements. But now, 
 concluding from the report of General Pendleton that the 
 Federal army might be attempting to follow him, he sent 
 at once to General Jackson, directing him to prepare for 
 assailing them, and informing him of his purpose to 
 support the attack, if necessary, with his whole army. But 
 
COMBAT OF BOTELEK S FOED. 335 
 
 General Jackson, to ^^-llom Pendleton had made tlie same 
 report, as to the general commanding the approaches next 
 the enemy, did not tarry for further prompting. He had 
 already risen, and gone toward Boteler's Ford, a crossing a 
 little below the position just lost by Pendleton, and had 
 ordered the division of A. P. Hill, that of Early (who was 
 now the successor of Lawton), and that of D. H. Hill 
 (which had the day before been permanently assigned to 
 his corps), to follow him thither immediately. IMeantime 
 General Lee had sent orders to General Longstreet to 
 countennarch his corps and rejoin him, that he might pro- 
 ceed with him to the support of Jackson. The messengers 
 sent to place the latter in communication with the Com- 
 mander-in-Cliief with difficulty found him, in advance of 
 aU his troops, without escort, examining the posture of the 
 enemy's force, while the division of A. P. Hill was rapidly 
 advancing to the front. 
 
 On the north bank of the Potomac were planted seventy 
 pieces of heayy artillery, while, under their protection, a 
 considerable force of infantry had passed to the southern 
 side, and were drawn up in line upon the high Ijanks next 
 the river. Under the direction of General Jackson, Hill 
 formed his gallant division in two lines, and advanced to 
 the attack, regardless of the terrific storm of projectiles 
 from the batteries beyond the river. The enemy attempted 
 for a time to resist him, by bearing heavily against his 
 left ; but his second line, marching by the left flank, dis- 
 closed itself from behind the first, and ad^'anced to its 
 support ; when the two charging simultaneously, and con- 
 verging toward the mass of the Federalists, swept them 
 
336 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 down the hill, and drove them into the river. Now 
 occurred a scene of carnage, in which the bloodiest spirit of 
 revenge might have sated itself for all the losses suffered 
 at the hands of the enemy. The troops of Hill rushed 
 down the declivity regardless of the plunging shot and 
 shell of the opposing batteries, hurled their adversaries by 
 hundreds into the water, and as they endeavoured to 
 struggle across, picked them off with unerring aim. The 
 surface of the broad river was black with the cor^ises of the 
 foe, and few of the lucldess column ever reached the 
 northern bank. This was one of those rare opportunities 
 which victory sometimes gives to her favourites, to repay 
 themselves in one triumphant hour for all the sufferings 
 and injuries of a campaign ; and well did the veterans of 
 Hill emploj' the precious season. When the last of the 
 intruders was destroyed or escaped, they withdrew a short 
 distance, and guarded the ford for the remainder of the 
 day ; but M'Clellan had learned a lesson which inspired 
 due regard for the Confederate rear, and henceforth kept 
 a respectful distance. AVhen a second messenger from 
 General Lee arrived, to seek for General Jackson, he fomid 
 him watching the repulse of the enemy. His only remark 
 was, ' ^^'ith the blessing of Providence, they will soon be 
 driven back." In this combat, General A. P. Hill did not 
 employ a single piece of artillery, but relied upon the 
 musket and bayonet alone. Early was at hand with his 
 division to support him ; but no occasion arose for his 
 assistance. The whole loss of the Confederates was thirty 
 killed, and two hundred and thirty-one wounded. The 
 Federalists admitted a loss of three thousand killed and 
 
M'CLELLAN'S NOTICE OF IT. 337 
 
 drowned, and two hundred prisoners ; and one large bri- 
 gade was nearly extinguished by the disaster. 
 
 G-eneral IM'Clellan, in his narrative of the war, only 
 notices the combat of Boteler's Ford as a reconnaissance 
 of secondary importance, which he despatches in a few 
 hnes. But it does not admit of question that it was the 
 beginning of a general advance against General Lee. 
 Commanders do not make mere reconnaissances with 
 seventy pieces of heavy artillery, laboriously posted upon 
 difficult heights. General M'Clellan declared himself 
 under the most urgent pressure from "Washington not to 
 allow the " Eebels," whom he had described to his masters 
 as a herd of fugitives discomfited by his mighty arm, to 
 escape without destruction. He was commanded to follow 
 stroke with stroke, until they were consumed from off the 
 face of the earth. He found it necessary to make a formal 
 argument, to show that he was not blameworthy for post- 
 poning their destruction later than the morning of Sep- 
 tember 18th. He declared that all his dispositions were 
 made to fight a general action on the 19th, and that 
 nothing prevented it, save the retreat of General Lee 
 during the night. The reader who duly weighs these 
 things will hardly believe but that the advance of the 
 20th, at Boteler's Ford, was the commencement of that 
 general assault intended for the previous day. 
 
 This truth is necessary to enable him to apprehend the 
 value of the service now rendered to his country by the 
 military genius of Jackson. The Confederate army, 
 wearied by almost superhuman exertions, reduced by 
 battle and straggling, deprived of its known leaders, by 
 
 VOL. II. Y 
 
338 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOK 
 
 the wounding or death of the larger number of the gallant 
 field ofhcers present, and disheartened by its terrible suffer- 
 ings, was in no condition to fight another pitched battle. 
 General Jackson appreciated these facts, and hence felt 
 the urgent necessity of avoiding a general action by a 
 prompt resistance to the initial movements of the Pederal- 
 ists. When he had decided this, he showed equal judg- 
 ment in selecting the division of A. P. Hill to lead the 
 attack. This body of troops, arriving at Sharpsburg late 
 in that dreadful day, had taken a short and comparatively 
 bloodless, but glorious share in its labours in repulsing 
 the corps of the feeble Burnside. Their numbers were 
 less diminished and their spirits less worn than those of 
 any other troops in the army. To them, therefore, General 
 Jackson intrusted the post of honour on this morning, — 
 and well did they discharge the trust. Through them 
 General Jackson probaUy saved the army on that occasion 
 from destruction. 
 
 It is always as unwise as it is evil to misrepresent the 
 truth. The Federalists, in their overweening vanity and 
 arrogance, claimed a victory at Sharpsburg to which they 
 knew they were not entitled, and filled the public ear with 
 fictions of the discomfiture of the Confederates, which they 
 knew were exaggerated. They thus created for themselves 
 a moral necessity to press them with boldness, and the 
 penalty was the slaughter of September 20th. The three 
 thousand corpses floating down the Potomac, or lining its 
 banks, were the price paid by them for the vain boastings 
 of September 1 7th. 
 
THE AKMY KESTS AND KECKUITS. 339 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 FKEDERICKSBUEG. 
 
 A EESPITE now occurred in the stonns of war, when it 
 was permitted to contemplate General Jackson and his 
 soldiers in a more peaceful and pleasing attitude. The 
 army was withdrawn a few miles, to the banks of the 
 Opequon, a tributary of the Potomac, which flows to the 
 eastward of "Winchester and Martinsburg, and empties into 
 it a little above Harper's Ferry. Here they encamped 
 for a number of weeks, in the bosom of the most charming 
 regions of the lower valley. The beauty of the season 
 surpassed even the accustomed glories of the Virginian 
 autumn ; and amidst days of unclouded serenity, free 
 ahke from the ardours of summer and the extremes of 
 winter, the tired soldiers recruited their strength, reposing 
 upon the rich meadows and pastures of the Opequon. 
 ilan and beast alike revelled in abundance, for the teeming 
 productiveness of those valley famis seemed to defy the 
 exhaustion of war, and the sweet and luxuriant green- 
 sward made the war-horse forget the necessity of other 
 provender. Here a few days of repose restored the elastic 
 spirits of the men ; for the Southern soldier is quick to 
 forget his toils and resume his hopes. The bivouacs 
 
3-10 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 under the golden and crimson foliage of the trees echoed 
 with exuberant laughter and mirth ; and the heroes of a 
 .score of deadly fields, with the light hearts of pleased 
 children, made a jest of every trifle. Their passionate 
 attachment to "Old Stonewall" was now at its height, 
 and his appearance rarely failed to evoke a burst of en- 
 thusiasm. As the men heard the mighty cheer roUing 
 to^\'ard them like a wave from the distant camps, they 
 sprung to their feet, saying, " There comes old Jack," and 
 prepared to join in swelling the chorus. His heart also 
 ^v'as soothed and gladdened, with the rest, and the society 
 of the people of his beloved district. He was now in the 
 A'alley for which he had fought first and longest, the 
 region of his chosen home, the scenery in which he most 
 (hdighted, and amidst that sturdy population whose loyalty 
 so cheered his heart. Winchester, that gallant and hospi- 
 table town, was near by ; and he could once more muigle 
 there with the friends of the first year of the war, and see 
 them emancipated from the hated yoke of the Federals. 
 
 But General Jackson's rest was never idleness. He 
 v~-a.il, diligently improving the interval of quiet in refitting 
 his men with shoes and clothing, in recalling the stragglers 
 to the ranks, and composing the disorders of organization, 
 ])roduced by the arduous service of the summer. His 
 n^giments were again rapidly filled up by the return of 
 the foot-sore, the wounded, and the sick, and the addition 
 of new recruits ; and his corps was enlarged to the pro- 
 portions of a gallant army. On the 1 1th of October the 
 Government conferred on him the rank of Lieutenant- 
 General, next to the highest military grade in its service. 
 
AKIVIY UmiAiMZ,AilUJN. 
 
 341 
 
 The army of General Lee was now divided into two great 
 corps or wings, of which the one was permanently assigned 
 to Jackson, and the other to Longstreet. Henceforth these 
 two great soldiers became as the two hands of their com- 
 mander, and served him with a generous emulation and 
 mutual respect, as honourable to them as their well-proved 
 heroism. The organization of General Jackson's corps 
 was now confirmed. It consisted of four divisions : the 
 original division commanded by him in the Valley cam- 
 paign, now led by Brigadier-General William B. Taliaferro ; 
 the division of Ewell, commanded by Brigadier- General 
 Early, who was soon after rewarded for his eminent ser- 
 vices by the rank of Major- General ; the division of 
 Major-General A. P. Hill ; and that of Major-General 
 D, H. Hill. To these were attached numerous batteries, 
 arranged into battalions of artillery under the varimis 
 division generals, but all supervised by Colonel Crutch- 
 field. A part of the spoils of Harper's Ferry was now 
 assigned to the most meritorious of these batteries ; and 
 their equipment became more perfect than ever before. To 
 the famous company of Poague, of the Stonewall Brigade, 
 especially were assigned four of the heavy rifled guns, upon 
 the construction of which the Federals had exhausted all 
 their resources of skill and wealth ; and this battery con- 
 tinued to hold its hardly earned place as the 4lite body of 
 the corps. 
 
 This pleasing leisure was also employed in a manner yet 
 congenial to the heart of Jackson, in extraordinary labours 
 for the spiritual good of the men. Not only did the 
 chaplains now redouble their diligence in preaching, and 
 
342 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEIiAL JACKSON. 
 
 instructing the soldiers from tent to tent ; but many emi- 
 nent ministers availed themselves of the lull in the storm 
 of war, and of the genial Aveather, to visit the camps, and 
 preach the gospel as missionaries. These were received hy 
 General Jackson with affectionate hospitality ; and while 
 no military duty was neglected for a moment to make way 
 for their ministrations, his pious ingenuity found abundant 
 openings for them. It was now that the series of labours, 
 and the ingathering of precious souls, began in the Con- 
 federate army, which have continued ever since so extra- 
 ordinary a feature of its character. The most enlightened 
 and apostolic clergfymen of the country, forgetting for the 
 time the distinctions of sect, joined in these meetings. 
 Nightly these novel and sacred scenes might be witnessed 
 after the drill and the labours of the day were over. From 
 the bosom of some moonlit grove a hymn was heard, 
 raised by a few voices, the signal for the service ; and at 
 this sound the multitudinous noises of the camps died 
 away, while the men were seen gathering from every side 
 until the group from which the hymn had arisen was 
 swelled into a great crowd. The man of God then arose 
 and began his seiwice by the light of a solitary candle or a 
 fire of resinous pinewood, elevated on a rude platform. 
 Wliile his face and the pages of the Holy "Word were illu- 
 minated thus, all else was in solemn shadow ; and his eye 
 could distinguish nothing of his audience, save the dusky 
 outline of the multitude seated all around in a wide chcle 
 upon the dry leaves or the greensward. But though his 
 eye could not mark the impress of the truth, it was drunk 
 in by eager ears ; and many was the bearded cheek, which 
 
KELiUlOUS KEVIVAL. 343 
 
 had not been blanched amidst the horrors of Sharpsburg, 
 which was now wet with silent tears. At some of these 
 meetings General Jackson was a constant worshipper, 
 seated modestly in an unnoticed corner amidst the com- 
 mon soldiers, but setting the example of the most devout 
 attention. In his letters to his friends he related the suc- 
 cess of the T\"ord among his men, with ascriptions of warm 
 and adoring gratitude to God. One of these, addressed to 
 Mrs. Jackson, must suffice as an instance : — 
 
 "BuNKEK Hill, October 13. 
 
 " Mr. G. invited me to be present at conamunion in his 
 church yesterday, but I was prevented from enjoying the 
 privilege. But I heard an excellent sermon from the Eev. 
 Dr. S. His text was 1 Tim. ii. .5, 6 : ' For there is one 
 God, and one Gladiator between God and men, the man 
 Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be 
 testified in due time.' It was a powerful exposition of the 
 Word of God. He is a great revival minister ; and when 
 he came to the word ' himself' he placed an emphasis on it, 
 and gave to it, through God's blessing, a power that I 
 never before felt. . . . And I felt, with an intensity that 
 I never before recollect having realized, that truly the 
 sinner who does not under gospel privileges turn to God, 
 deserves the agonies of perdition. The Doctor several 
 times, in appealing to the sinner, repeated the sixth verse, 
 ' Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due 
 time.' What more could God do than give himself a 
 ransom? . . . He is labouring in a revival in General 
 Ewell's division. Oh, it is a glorious privilege to be a 
 
.344 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENET! AL JACKSON. 
 
 minister of the gospel of the Prince of Peace ! There is 
 no equal position in this world." 
 
 Such -was the estimate of the worth of the minister's 
 work, by one whose fame was filling the civilized world. 
 It may be added, once for all, that this religious reforma- 
 tion, which was destined to be spread so widely through 
 the army by General Jackson's efforts, bore the fruits of a 
 true work of God's grace. That there was more apparent 
 bloom than fruit, as in every other ingathering which ever 
 blessed the Church, from the Pentecostal down, is, of 
 course, fully admitted. It is not to be supposed that there 
 were no good people engaged in it, whose mistaken zeal 
 led them to push it on by indiscreet means, and no con- 
 verts whose temporary warmth was due rather to the 
 gregarious sympathies of the camp than to the truth and 
 Spirit. But still there was a glorious reformation in many 
 souls to true holiness, diminishing permanently the 
 wickedness of the camps, turning many finally away from 
 their sins. It was the uniform testimony of even the 
 ungodly, that the commands most largely blessed by this 
 reform became the most efficient in the service of their 
 country; with the best discipline, the fewest stragglers, 
 and the steadiest behaviour in battle. It was the general 
 conclusion of the whole people, that the subsequent effi- 
 ciency of the corps was promoted as much by this work 
 of divine grace as by the professional ability of General 
 Jackson, 
 
 It was a little after the date of the letter just quoted, 
 that one of those instances arose in which he disclosed to 
 others his spiritual emotions. The night was damp and 
 
HIS SPIRITUAL JOY. 345 
 
 rainy, when a brother officer whom he greatly valued 
 visited him on business. After this was despatched, 
 Jackson seemed to have a leisure unwonted for liim, and 
 urged his friend to remain, and spend a short time in 
 relaxation. Although the latter did not yet call himself 
 a Christian indeed, he was one for whose spiritual good 
 the General was greatly concerned. The conversation was 
 soon insensibly turned on the things of Eedemption. 
 His friend related how Dr. S., — the eminent minister 
 mentioned in the last letter, — had been understood 1 ly him 
 to declare, that the fear of wi'ath did not enter at all as an 
 element of that godly sorrow for sin which marks true 
 repentance, but that it was prompted solely by love and 
 gratitude. The General answered that the doctrine in- 
 tended by Dr. S. had probably been misapprehended by 
 liim. For his part, he supposed that, in the new- born 
 behever, both fear and love actuated his repentance. But 
 as his assurance became more clear of the Eedeemer's 
 mercy to his soul, his obedience became less servile, and 
 more affectionate, until, as in the most favoured saints, per- 
 fect love cast out fear. He then declared that he had 
 been himself for a long time a stranger to fear of wrath, 
 because he Icneio and was assured of the love of Christ to 
 his soul ; that he felt not the faintest dread that he should 
 ever fall under the Avrath of God, although a great sinner, 
 because he knew that it was for ever reconciled by the 
 righteousness of Christ, and that love for God and Christ 
 was now the practical spring of all his penitence. Speak- 
 ing thus, Jackson arose from his seat, and, with an impres- 
 sive union of humility and solemn elation, continued in 
 
34G LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 substance thus : " Nothing earthly can mar my happmess. 
 I know that heaven is in store for me, and I should re- 
 joice in the prospect of soing there to-morrow. Under- 
 stand me : 'I am not sick, I am not sad ; God has greatly 
 blessed me, and I have as much to love here as any man, 
 and life is very bright to me. But still, I am ready to 
 leave it any day, without trepidation or regret, for that 
 heaven wdrich I know awaits me, through the mercy of 
 my heavenly Father. And I would not agree to the 
 slightest diminution of one shade of my glory there"— 
 [Here he paused, as though to consider what terrestrial 
 measure he might best select to express the largeness of 
 his joys] — " No ; not for all the fame which I have 
 acquired, or shaU ever win in this world." With these 
 words he sunk into his chair, and his friend retired— awe- 
 struck, as though he had seen the face of an angel. But 
 he did not fail to notice the revelation made of Jackson's 
 master-passion by nature, in the object lie had chosen to 
 express the value of his heavenly inheritance. It was 
 fame ! Not wealtli, nor domestic joys, nor literature ; but 
 well-earned fame. Let the young aspirant consider also, 
 how even this passion, which the world calls the most 
 honourable of all, -was chastened and crucified in him by 
 a nobler longing. 
 
 It was manifestly about the same time that the follow- 
 ing letter was vrritten to Mrs. Jackson. Mentioning 
 several presents, he says ; — 
 
 " Oct. 27. 
 
 " Our God makes me so many friends ! I mention 
 these things in order that you may see how much kindness 
 
IIAILKOAD DESTKOYED. 317 
 
 has been shown me, and to express things for which I 
 should be more grateful, and to gi\'e you renewed cause 
 for gratitude. . . 
 
 " Don't trouble yourself about representations that are 
 made of me. These things are earthly and transitory. 
 There are real and glorious blessings, I trust, in reserve 
 for us lieyond this life. It is best for us to keep our eyes 
 fixed upon the throne of God, and the realities of a more 
 glorious existence beyond the verge of time. It is gratify- 
 ing to be beloved, and to have our conduct approved by 
 our feUow-men ; but this is not worthy to be compared 
 with the glory that is in reservation for us, in the presence 
 of the glorified Eedeemer. Let us endeavour to adorn the 
 doctrine of Christ our Saviour in aU things, knowing that 
 there awaits us ' a far more exceeding and eternal weioht 
 of glory.' I would not relinquish the slightest diminution 
 of that glory for all this world, and all that it can give. My 
 prayer is that such may ever be the feeling of my heart. 
 It appears to me that it would be better for you not to have 
 anything written about me. Let us follow the teaching of 
 inspiration : ' Let another praise thee, and not thyself I 
 appreciate the loving interest that prompted the desire." 
 
 On the 18th of October, General Jackson removed his 
 headquarters from Bunker Hill to Martinsburg, to superin- 
 tend the destruction of the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad, 
 which was committed to his corps. The importance of 
 this great thoroughfare between Washing-ton and the 
 West has been already described ; and it was determined 
 that the enemy should be as thoroughly deprived of its 
 
348 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 use as possible. General Jackson now applied a system 
 of his own to dismantle it. Besides burning all bridges, 
 and breaking up all culverts, he ripped the iron rails from 
 the cross -ties, using the former as levers, collected the 
 latter into heaps two or three feet high, and laying the 
 bars of iron across the top, set fire to the whole. The heat 
 of such log-heaps in full blaze rendered the ii'on red-hot, 
 and the weight of the projecting ends warped and bent 
 it into every imaginable shape. But as though this were 
 not enough, the soldiers, seizing the great bars while 
 heated in the middle, bent them around trees, and amused 
 their ingenuity in reducing them to every fantastic use. 
 From the hamlet of Hedgesville, west of Martinsburg, to 
 a point near Harper's Ferry, the track was thus utterly 
 destroyed, for a distance of thirty miles ; and after the 
 work was done, Jackson rode deliberately over the whole 
 to assure himself of its completeness. 
 
 At the end of tlie month, the corps moved toward the 
 Shenandoah river and the Blue Ridge, and encamped upon 
 the road from Charlestown to Berryville. The purpose of 
 this change was to watch M'Clellan, who had now begun 
 to cross the Potomac below Harper's Ferry. The Govern- 
 ment at "Washington had indicated their discontent with 
 the sluggish movements of this general in many ways, and 
 had urged him to advance into Virginia, and assail the 
 Confederates again, before they could recruit their strength. 
 But he had contented himself with a few reconnaissances 
 of cavalry, and had refused to move until his vast army 
 received large accessions, and a new outfit of clothing and 
 equipments. At length all his requisitions were met, and 
 
M'CLELLAN REPULSED. 319 
 
 with a thoroughly furnished army of one hundred and 
 forty thousand men, he began to cross the Potomac from 
 Berlin into the county of Loudoun, on the 23d of Octoher. 
 But so vast was the apparatus of this huge host, six days 
 were consumed in transferring it to the south bank of the 
 river. The plan which its leader seemed to propose to 
 himself was to occupy the passes of the Blue Eidge 
 between himself and General Lee as he proceeded south- 
 ward, so as to protect himself from an attack in flank, and 
 by advancing toward the interior of the State, to compel 
 Mm to leave Maryland free from invasion, in order to 
 place himself between the Federalists and Pdchmond. In 
 its first results this strategy was successful ; the Confede- 
 rate army was promptly recalled from the neighbourhood 
 of the Potomac. As soon as the direction of jNrClellan's 
 advance was disclosed, a part of General Longstreet's 
 corps was thrown before him at Upperville, and the 
 remainder speedily followed it, and took position in 
 ]\I'Clellan's front, on the east of Blue Pddge, while the 
 corps of General Jackson was left to guard the A^alley. 
 M'Clellan, after his usual cautious fashion, advanced his 
 outposts as far south as Warrenton, in Pauquier County, 
 while his masses occupied the line of the ]\Ianassas Gap 
 road, and the country thereabouts. On the 5th of 
 Xovember one of his detachments, proceeding westward 
 through Snicker's Gap, attempted to pass the Shenandoah 
 at Castleman's Ferry, in the face of two brigades of A. P. 
 Hill's division. They were chastised by him with a severe 
 repulse, and the loss of two hundred men, and made no 
 further attempts to penetrate the Valley. 
 
350 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 General Lee, accompanying the corps of Longstreet and 
 Stuart's cavalry, now took post at Culpepper Court House, 
 and the two adversaries again confronted each other, with 
 the Eappahannock between them. jM'Clellan was appa- 
 rently pursuing the same line of operations which the 
 unlucky Pope had found so difficult. If his purpose was 
 to follow the Orange Eailroad to Gordonsville, and thence 
 turn eastward to Eichmond, it was beset by the gTave in- 
 conveniences, that in oblirpiely approaching the Eapidan 
 by this line, he exposed his communications to a fatal side- 
 thrust ; and that, at Gordonsville, he must pass around an 
 acute angle, which must present his flank most awkwardly 
 to his adversary. If, forsaking the Orange Eailroad, he 
 marched du-ectly south-east, the vast dimensions of his 
 army, and the enormous consumption of supplies by it, 
 would render it a difficult problem how it was to he pro- 
 visioned without other transportation than waggon trains 
 over the country roads of Virginia. If M'CleUan had 
 expedients for overcoming these difficulties, they remained 
 undisclosed ; for about this time the political jealmisies 
 between him and his Government became so irrepressible, 
 that he was suddenly relieved of his command, and ordered 
 to retire into private life. His successor was Major- 
 General Burnside, who seems to have been commended to 
 the authorities chiefly by the fact, that the impatient 
 public could say nothing against him, because nothing 
 was known of him. 
 
 AAdiile the Federalists were advancing into Fauquier, 
 and General Lee was confronting them in Culpepper, it 
 was a subject of anxious discussion between him and 
 
M'CLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BUEKSIDE. 351 
 
 General Jackson, what disposition sliould be now made of 
 his corps. The latter desired to remain with it in the 
 VaUey, or at least to continue to threaten the enemy's 
 right wing by the passes of the Blue Eidge. Eeasoning 
 from the axiom, that one ought never to do the thing 
 which his adversary desires him to do, he concluded 
 that the manifest wish of iM'CleUan to draw the Con- 
 federates away from the A'alley, by his threatened advance 
 into Eastern A^irginia, should not be gratified. He believed 
 that if one wing of the army held fast to that country and 
 the Blue Piidge, his advance would be effectually checked ; 
 or if it were not, his communications would speedily be 
 exposed to a side blow as disastrous as that which he had 
 dealt to Pope at ]\lauassas. Moreover, his lo\'e for the 
 country, and his knowledge of the inestimable value of its 
 teeming resources, made him reluctant to see it vacated to 
 the enemy. True, the disposition of forces which he 
 advocated seemed to give the enemy the power to place 
 himseK between the two parts of the Confederate army. 
 But Jackson's knowledge of the sluggish movements of 
 that unwieldy force, and of its lack of enterprise, with his 
 own vigilance and celerity, removed all fear of being beaten 
 in detail. The Commander-in-Chief acquiesced for a time 
 in his suggestions. An expedition to assail the Federal 
 right and rear was proposed ; but the lack of shoes and 
 clothing in Jackson's corps jirevented its execution. And 
 new movements of Burnside, after a time, required the 
 relinquishment of all the plans Avhich have been detailed. 
 This general, after gathering the reins of authority into 
 his hands, determined to direct his command to a new 
 
352 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 base, whence to attack the Confederate capital. The route 
 by Fredericksburg, wlrence tliere ran a railroad of sixty 
 miLes' length, direct to Eichniond, possessed at least the 
 advantage that it had not yet been signalized by any 
 Federal disaster. Burnside determined to adopt this line, 
 making his base of supplies the landing of Acquia Creek, 
 upon the Potomac, where the Fredericksburg Eailroad 
 terminated, thirteen miles north of that town. It was an 
 important recommendation of tliis route to his jealous 
 masters in Washington, that by pursuing it, he kept that 
 city covered during his advance upon the rival metropolis, 
 and composed the fears in the breast of the Government 
 which had so retarded the operations of M'Clellan on the 
 peninsula. In truth, the reasonings of the latter General 
 in favour of the James river as the true line by which to 
 take Eichmond were just. But next to that bne, the one 
 selected by Burnside obviously offered the fewest difficul- 
 ties. It gave him an unobstructed water-carriage for his 
 supplies, more than one-third of the way. It was the most 
 direct route between the two cities ; and therefore he 
 uncovered his one line of operations least, as he advanced. 
 It gave him, from the Potomac to Eichmond, a con- 
 tinuous line of railroad to transport the apparatus of his 
 army. It was true that this route brought him upon the 
 Eappahannock where its current was enlarged by the acces- 
 sion of the Eapidan ; but Burnside might have argued that 
 military experience has proved a river is not usually an 
 effectual obstacle to an attacking army, and that the vast 
 resources of his Government would easily enable him to 
 overcome it. The result, moreover, justified his action, so • 
 
jiUKJNsiuj!; s PLANS. 353 
 
 far as the river was concerned ; for he did, in fact, experi- 
 ence little difficulty in the actual passage of the stream. 
 How much influence he may have allowed to the threaten- 
 ing attitude of General Jackson upon the right of his 
 position in Fauquier, cannot be known ; but his proposed 
 change of base was manifestly the most ready way to elude 
 that danger. About the middle of November, therefore, 
 he began to transfer his army, by a side march, down the 
 north bank of the Eappahannock to the heights opposite 
 Fredericksburg. He hoped to arrive there before his 
 designs were known to General Lee, to occupy the town 
 and the crossings of the river without resistance, and to 
 commence the race for Eichmond in advance of the Con- 
 federates. 
 
 But the vigilance of his adversary, and the customary 
 heaviness of the movement of his plethoric army, dis- 
 appointed his hopes. On the 18th of November, General 
 Stuart, crossing the Eappahannock from Culpepper, made 
 a thorough reconnaissance as far as Warrenton, and learned 
 with certainty that the whole Federal army was moving 
 upon Fredericksburg. When the Federal General Simmer 
 reached Falmouth, on the north side of the Eappahannock, 
 he found a force of Confederates guarding the passage 
 across it ; and before he could overpower them, the divi- 
 sions of M'Laws and Eansom appeared. The whole re- 
 mainder of Longstreet's corps foUowed from Culpepper soon 
 after, and took up a strong position on the southern bank. 
 
 As soon as this movement of Burnside was unmasked, 
 General Lee suggested to General Jackson the propriety of 
 his leaving the Valley of Virginia to support Longstreet. 
 
 VOL. II. z 
 
354 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 He therefore complied at once, and beginning hi.s march 
 from Winchester, ISTovember 2 2d, in eight days transferred 
 his corps, with an interval of two days' rest, to the vicinity 
 of Fredericksburg. His journey was through the great 
 Valley to New Market, and thence by the Colnmhia 
 Bridge, Fisher's Gap, and Madison Court House to 
 Guinea's Station upon the railroad, a few miles south of 
 Longstreet's position, where the troops arrived the 1st of 
 December. But on the 21st of November, Sumner had 
 summoned the town to surrender, under a threat of can- 
 nonading it the next day. The weather was rainy and tem- 
 pestuous, and only a few hours of darkness were allowed 
 the inhabitants to remove from their homes. General 
 Lee assured the city authorities that he would pledge him- 
 self not to use the place for military purposes ; but that he 
 could not permit the enemy to occupy it. Although no 
 garrison was within its precincts at that time to justify 
 the outrage of a bombardment, yet the Federal commander 
 refused to retract his threat, and only extended to the 
 people the poor privilege of a prolongation of the time for 
 removal to forty-eight hours. Nearly the -whole population 
 of the city now deserted their homes, at the beginning of 
 winter, and with an unexampled patriotism, accepted all 
 the horrors of exile, rather than submit to the yoke of the 
 enemies of their country. The bombardment was, however, 
 deferred. 
 
 When General Jackson arrived near Fredericksburg, 
 several Federal gunboats had appeared at the village of 
 Port Eoyal, upon the Eappahannock, twenty miles below, 
 As the positions upon the southern bank were there less 
 
FKEDEEICKSBURG DESEKTED. 355 
 
 strong, it was surmised that the enemy might design a 
 landing or a crossing. General Jackson was therefore 
 directed to send the division of D. H. Hill to guard that 
 place. When he gave him this order, he said to him, " I 
 am opposed to fighting here. "We will whip the enemy, 
 but gain no fruits of victory. I have advised the line of 
 the North Anna, but have been overruled." These words 
 were prophetic. The objection which General Jackson 
 stated had also been maturely weighed by the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief; but it was counterpoised by other con- 
 siderations, which he did not feel at liberty to disregard. 
 To adopt the North Anna as his line of defence, would 
 have been to surrender to the occupation of the enemy a 
 breadth of thirty-five miles of territory. The Confederate 
 Government was reluctant to submit to the political effect 
 of such a retreat ; and the waning resources of the Com - 
 monwealth warned them to relinquish no space to the 
 enemy which might yield important supplies for the sus- 
 tenance of the army. 
 
 General D. H. Hill proceeded to Port Eoyal on the 3d 
 of December, constructed a slight entrenchment above that 
 village during the night, and the next day chose positions 
 for his artillery. Carter's battery of Parrot guns was 
 placed on a commanding hill west of the place, and 
 Hardaway's, with one EngUsh Whitworth gun of great 
 power and range, was posted three miles below. On the 
 5th these two officers opened upon the Federal gunboats 
 with such effect as to compel them promptly to change 
 their position. / By retiring behind the village, they 
 shielded themselves from the fire of Carter, but were still 
 
356 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 exposed to that of Hardaway. They now proceeded to 
 vent their spleen in a dastardly outrage, which, were it 
 not overshadowed hy so many others more enormous, 
 would fix upon them the detestation of all men. Although 
 the peaceful village was not occupied as a position hy any 
 Confederate battery or other force, the ships of war 
 now opened a furious bombardment upon it, without a 
 moment's notice. The little town was battered half into 
 ruins ; but although all the females, aged, sick, and chil- 
 dren were caught within it in unsuspecting security, the 
 superintending mercy of Providence delivered them all 
 from death. The only casualties were the killing of a dog, 
 and the wounding of a poor African slave. But while 
 this dastardly attack was proceeding, Hardaway continued 
 pertinaciously to pound them with his Whitworth shot, 
 until they gave up the contest, and retired with loss down 
 the river, running the gauntlet of the guns of Major 
 Pelham's horse-artillery, which lined the bank. A few 
 days after, they returned toward Port Eoyal with five 
 additional ships ; but were again driven away hy the 
 artillery of Hill, reinforced by Colonel Brown from the 
 reserves. 
 
 A few miles above Port Eoyal, an insignificant stream, 
 at a place known as the Hop Yard, enters the Eappahan- 
 nock. The attention of General D. H. Hill was somehow 
 called to it, as offering an eligible place for the passage 
 of the enemy, and he resolved to examine it thorouglily. 
 He found that the configuration of the country did uideed 
 give special advantages to the force attempting to pass 
 from the north side, and, moreover, that there were marks 
 
buenside's delays. 357 
 
 not to be mistaken of its occupation for that purpose by 
 the enemy. When these facts were reported to General 
 Jackson, he immediately appreciated their importance, 
 and sent the division of Early to the place, which began 
 diligently to fortify the southern bank. The reports of the 
 Federal generals subsequently disclosed the importance of 
 these precautions. Halleck had himself selected the Hop 
 Yard as the place for crossing, and Burnside had planned 
 a surprise there, which was relinquished when they per- 
 ceived that the ground was preoccupied. 
 
 ileantime the Federal Government was urging that 
 unhappy commander to force the line of the Eappahan- 
 nook before further obstacles were accumulated in his 
 front ; and he was excusing himself by complaining that 
 his pontoon trains had not been forwarded to him from the 
 Upper Potomac. Twenty days were spent in these mutual 
 criminations. Of the merits of the quarrel, it is enough to 
 say, that the delay of the bridge trains probably evinced 
 the incompetency both of himself and HaUeck. But the 
 interval was diligently improved by him in perfecting his 
 communications at Acquia Creek, fortifying the heights 
 north of the Eappahannock, and arming them with the 
 most potent equipment of heavy guns ever marshalled in 
 the field by any general. The lavish preparations of his 
 Government supplied him with an apparatus, compared 
 with which the gigantic artillery of ISTapoleon was puny. 
 Besides innumerable iield-batteries of lighter guns, which 
 were intended to march and fight with his divisions of 
 infantry, one hundred and eighty heavy cannon, some of 
 them throwing shot of a hundred pounds' weight, frowned 
 
358 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 upon the town and its approaches from the opposing hills. 
 The " Grand Army" was now arranged into three great 
 corps, under Sumner, Hooker, and Franklin, which made 
 an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
 men, hesides a corps of twenty-five thousand more under 
 the German Sigel, which performed the duties of a rear- 
 guard. 
 
 On the 10th of December, Burnside at length received 
 his pontoon trains, and he determined at once to prepare 
 for forcing his way in front of the Confederate army, and 
 beginning his onward march to Eichmond. He was con- 
 fronted, upon the heights before Fredericksburg, by the 
 corps of Longstreet. At Port Eoyal was the division of D, 
 H. Hni ; between him and Longstreet was the division of 
 Early; and the remainder of Jackson's corps was held in 
 reserve about Guinea's Station, ready to support either 
 point. The cavalry division of Stuart guarded the course 
 of the Eappahannock for many miles above and below; 
 and prosecuted, with their usual audacity, their raids 
 within the enemy's lines. The defensive force may he 
 stated with substantial, although not with exact correct- 
 ness, at sixty-five thousand men of all arms. Of these, 
 General Jackson's corps included about twenty- five thou- 
 sand effective men. 
 
 The impressive drama which was now about to occur 
 upon the plains of Fredericksburg, presents to the stadent 
 of history one of the most brilliant examples of defensive 
 warfare. To comprehend its true merits, he must acquire 
 a distinct conception of the topography of the arena upon 
 which it was enacted. The general course of the Eappa- 
 
TOPOGRAPHY. 359 
 
 hannock, though sinuous, may be said to be here from 
 west to east ; and it divides the county of Stafford on the 
 north from that of Spottsylvania on the south. The 
 town of Fredericksburg is in the latter ; and the village of 
 Falmouth, a mile above, is in the former. The tides flow 
 to the foot of the town ; so that below the stream is deep, 
 though narrow, while immediately above it is shallow 
 and fordable during dry seasons. The cormtry along its 
 banks here has, in a marked degree, those features which 
 characterize the tidal streams of Eastern Virginia. There 
 are three stages, or grades, proceeding from the water, of 
 which the second is more elevated than the first, and the 
 third than the second. The first of these levels, next the 
 water's edge, is the modern alluvium, or low ground 
 proper, rarely marshy, yet subject to the inundations of 
 the great freshets, with a horizontal surface, and a deep, 
 black soil It is of very variable width, spreading in 
 some places to the extent of a beautiful meadow, and in 
 others contracted to a narrow strip of land. The traveller 
 moving directly from the river, after passing over this low 
 belt, ascends a short, steep hill, thirty or fortj' feet high, 
 and then finds himself upon a table-land of greater extent, 
 which is of an older alluvial deposit, but nearly horizontal 
 likewise. It is this level, extending to the width of miles 
 in many places, which constitutes the great grain region of 
 the Eappahannock. Its dry, kindly and fertile soil has 
 long ago tempted the inhabitants to strip it of its forest ; 
 and the whole surface was divided into extensive fields, 
 enclosed by wooden fences or hedge-rows, and dotted over 
 with country mansions, and the humbler homes of the 
 
3G0 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 servants. The streams making their way across the table- 
 land from the interior to the Eappahaunock, as may easily 
 be surmised, have excavated for themselves deep channels 
 through its alluvial structure; along vs^hich they flow 
 sluggishly upon the level of the first bottoms below. 
 Finally, the river, like all other great streams, is inclined to 
 throw the main bulk of its flats wholly on the one side or 
 the other, by running at, or near, the base of the highlands; 
 and at Fredericksburg nearly all the level lands are on 
 the south side. It is on the second stage, or table-land, 
 that the town of Fredericksburg is seated ; and it stretches 
 along the river for more than a mile, with a breadth of 
 a half mile backward. 
 
 If the traveller would proceed farther from this table- 
 land toward the interior, he next ascends the highlands 
 proper, which rise in swelling hiUs of the altitude of fifty 
 or a hundred feet, nowhere rocky or craggy, but sometimes 
 bold ; and pierced here and there by the vales through 
 which the inland rivulets descend to the lower stages. 
 From the top of this range of hills, the interior stretches 
 away into a region of gentle hills and dales, of which the 
 average altitude is far above the table-lands. And as the 
 soil of the highlands is thin and gra^'elly, the larger part of 
 the bordering front of hills was left to the original forest, 
 whence the fuel and timber for the vast farms of the table- 
 land were taken. It will now be easily understood how 
 the town of Fredericksburg, with the narrow plain in 
 which it is seated, is commanded both from the hills of 
 Stafford and from those of Spottsylvania, which are here 
 separated by the distance of a mile. These heights are 
 
TOPOGEAPHY. 361 
 
 lofty, and perhaps of equal altitude near tlie toM'n. Where 
 the main country road going south issues from the streets, 
 it is overlooked near at hand by a noble hill, known, from 
 the country seat upon its brow, as Marye's Hill. The 
 highway, striking the base of this height, turns aside to the 
 eastward, in order to avoid its acclivity, and thus skirts its 
 base for a few hundred yards, until reaching the course 
 of a sparkling rivulet called the Hazel, it again resumes 
 its southern direction, and finds its way up the vale of that 
 stream into the interior by a gradual ascent. It will be 
 perceived from this that the road has a tract of a few hun- 
 dred yards which runs parallel with the edge of the town. 
 This is bordered on the left or townward side by a mas- 
 sive stone fence, embanked with earth ; and between it 
 and the edge of the suburb is a narrow and level field. 
 After passing the Hazel, the highlands take a wide sweep 
 to the south-eastward (receding from the Eappahannock, 
 until the ample table-land acquires a breadth of nearly 
 three miles), and continually declines in elevation and 
 boldness as it is followed in that direction. At the 
 broadest place, the plain is watered by another rivulet, 
 called Deep Eun, whose springs, breaking from the base of 
 the heights, coUect into a stream, and make their way along 
 a deep channel to the Eappahannock, half a mile below 
 the mouth of the Hazel, and a mile below the town. The 
 rim of highland, after encircling the sources of Deep Eun, 
 again approaches the river somewhat, continually diminish- 
 ing its altitude, until, at the distance of four and a half 
 miles east of Fredericksburg, the height gently declines 
 into a series of soft waves of land, which terminate at the 
 
362 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 valley of the Massaponax. This is a tributary of the Eap- 
 pahannock, which, taking its rise in the iuterior of Spott- 
 sylvania, flows northward with a current of greater 
 pretensions than the Hazel and Deep Eun, and enters the 
 river five miles below Fredericksburg. It is itself bor- 
 dered, for several miles upward, by an expansive valley of 
 broad meadows and gentle slopes, which are, in fact, an 
 extension of the greater table-land of the Eappahannook 
 Immediately east of the Massaponax, the highlands 
 approach the very margin of the river on both sides, and 
 hug it closely for several miles. 
 
 A country road, known as the Port-Eoyal or River 
 Eoad, issues from the town at its eastern corner, and pro- 
 ceeds down the middle of the great table-land, at the dis- 
 tance of a mile from the river, and a mile and a half from 
 the heights, until it crosses the Massaponax, and penetrates 
 the eastern highlands. This road runs, the greater part of 
 its course, between two fences, each of which is set upon 
 an earthen bank of a yard's height, thickly grown with 
 cedars and other hedge-row trees. It therefore offered to 
 the occupants the advantages of a double line of low hut 
 very substantial field-works ; for the embankments, con- 
 solidated by time, and interlaced with the roots of trees, 
 offered a perfect defence against rifle-balls, and no mean 
 protection against heavier projectiles. This whole lane of 
 four and a half miles' length was commanded by a multi- 
 tude of Federal guns of long range upon the Stafford 
 heights. The railroad to Eichmond, also emerging from the 
 eastern end of the town, passed through the plain upon an 
 embankment a couple of feet high, parallel to the river 
 
ROADS. 363 
 
 road and between it and the liills, until approaching the 
 Massaponax it turned southward with a wide and sweep- 
 ing curve, seeking to make its way, by tlie valley of that 
 stream, to the interior. It is just where the heights finally 
 sink into the vdie valley of that creek that the railroad 
 crosses an old country thoroughfare, known as the Mine 
 road ; and here was seated a little wayside station, called 
 Hamilton's Crossing. The plain of Fredericksburg, which 
 was destined to be the great battle-field, may be roughly 
 compared to the half of a vast ellipse, divided by its longer 
 axis, with the west end containing the town, contracted to 
 a narrow apex, and the eastern expanded into an ample 
 section of a circle. 
 
 The reader is requested to master this somewhat parti- 
 cular description, because it is necessary to the correct 
 imderstanding of transactions much misunderstood. The 
 zeal of the Federals, of all mortals most passionately thirst- 
 ing for that reputation for military prowess to which they 
 are so little entitled, has led them with one voice to excuse 
 their disaster, after it occurred, by attributing it to the 
 excellence of the Confederate position, and the natural 
 difficulties of the crossing. Justice both to the much- 
 abused Burnside, and to the Confederate army, requires 
 that the topography be correctly conceived. It will then 
 be seen, that while the position of General Lee was good 
 as a whole, and on his left strong, it gave him no advan- 
 tage whatever upon his right (save a slight superiority of 
 elevation for his batteries) which was not matched by at 
 least equal advantages in the position of the enemy. The 
 ground which Jackson so successfully held against the 
 
364 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 double numbers of Franklin and Hooker in the coming 
 battle, was no stronger than that which he wrested from 
 Shields at Port Eepublic, and not near so strong as that 
 which he and Longstreet stormed at the Chickahominy 
 with inferior forces. When the battle of Fredericksburg 
 
 O 
 
 was fought, General Jackson had not a yard of entrench- 
 ment in his front ; indeed his corps only came upon their 
 ground during the night and the early morning preceding 
 the struggle. The elaborate lines which the military tourist 
 saw afterward, were all the work of subsequent weeks, pro- 
 vided by General Lee against the possibility of future 
 attacks. On the left, the battle-line of Longstreet was 
 strengthened, at several places, by light earthworks, or 
 barricades of timber, and abattis ; while the heavy field- 
 guns upon Marye's heights, and thence toward the west, 
 were protected by slight lunettes or 4paulements. It should 
 also be remembered, that the position of General Lee gave 
 no effectual advantage toward the resistance of the passage 
 of the river by Burn side and his quiet establishment on 
 the southern bank, in a situation perfectly tenable and 
 secure. The configuration of the Stafford heights, and of 
 the river flats and bluffs, the superiority of the Federal 
 numbers, and the power of their countless batteries, made 
 him master of those points. It was therefore with perfect 
 truth that he claimed, in his despatches of the 12th of 
 December, that the difficulties of the Eappahannock were 
 surmounted, and that nothing remained between him and 
 the march to Eichmond except the equal grapple with the 
 army of Lee upon a fair and open battle-field. It was only 
 after that grapple had occurred, and the heroism of the 
 
iSAl^Ji.i3-UAljJl O CKiljAJJJi. 
 
 365 
 
 Confederate soldiery, with tlie masterly skill of their 
 leaders, had made it a frightful disaster, that these facts 
 were dihgently obscured. The river bank in the posses- 
 sion of the Federalists did not, indeed, present that concave 
 curve which the military authorities recommend as favour- 
 able to the success of the assailants seeking to pass a 
 stream in the face of an enemy. But it showed, in every 
 other respect, all the requisites which they ask for a suc- 
 cessful crossing; and the peculiar form of the opposite 
 flats made the absence of this curvature whoUy unimport- 
 ant to Burnside. These truths wiU. manifest themselves 
 without discussion as the narrative proceeds. 
 
 Before the break of day, on the 11th of December, the 
 signal-guns of the Confederates gave note that Burnside 
 was moving, and the whole army stood to its weapons. 
 The guardianship of the river bank had been committed 
 to Barksdale's Mississippi brigade, from M'Laws' division. 
 One regiment was at the mouth of Deep Run, and the re- 
 mainder, assisted by the 8th Florida, was in the town; 
 two of the regiments being posted in the cellars of houses 
 overlooking the water, and in trenches and other hiding- 
 places, to resist the construction of bridges. At Deep 
 Eun there was no protection from the overpowering fire 
 of the numerous batteries on the Stafford heights, and of 
 the large bodies of infantry which lined the opposing 
 bank. After a struggle, protracted beyond aU expecta- 
 tion to the middle of the day, this detachment was com- 
 pelled to retire ; and about one o'clock p.m. the Federalists 
 completed a pontoon bridge, and immediately began the 
 passage of a heavy column of infantry and artillery. Upon 
 
366 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the low and narrow bench of the first bottom, and beneath 
 the steep bluff which separates it from the second level, 
 they found a secure place to land and extend their lines. 
 Unless the Confederates could advance across the wide 
 plain to the very brink of that bluff, which was rendered 
 impossible by the frowning batteries of the opposing 
 heights, the enemy was as completely shielded from their 
 fire as though behind the walls of a great castle. Having 
 gained this lodgment, the Federalists busied themselves 
 in laying down other bridges, and passing over additional 
 troops. But at Fredericksburg they found sterner work 
 The riflemen of Barksdale, availing themselves of every 
 covert, poured so deadly a fire upon the working parties 
 and their guards, that they were again and again driven 
 back with great slaughter, in their attempts to gain the 
 southern bank. Nine times did the thronging multitudes 
 encourage each other to return to the task. The floating 
 bridge projected itself nine times from the northern shore, 
 covered with a busy swarm of men bearing timbers; 
 when the Mississippians, awaiting their approach within 
 their deadly aim, opened upon them stinging voUeys, 
 which strewed the bridge and the water with corpses. 
 Unto, one o'clock P.M. this contest continued, and no 
 progress was made toward winning the southern bank. 
 Burnside then opened upon the town every piece of artil- 
 lery which could be brought to bear upon it. One hmidred 
 and eighty cannon began to belch their thunders upon the 
 devoted city. To the spectators upon the opposing hill it 
 seemed wrapped in a whirlwind of smoke and flame; 
 while from the bosom of the gloom the crash of falling 
 
BAEKSD ale's COMBAT IN FEEDEKICKSBUEG. 367 
 
 buildings, the explosion of shells, the hissing of the fires, 
 . and the yells of the combatants arose in frightful chorus, 
 as from a pandemonium. Yet, amid this terrific tempest, 
 the httle brigade of Barksdale clung to the bank with in- 
 vincible tenacity ; and it was only after three hours more 
 that they stubbornly retired a couple of squares, before a 
 heavy detachment of infantry landed from boats under the 
 protection of the cannonade. But here they again resumed 
 the contest, and, fighting from street to street, held the 
 enemy at bay until far into the night. "When they were 
 told that they had now accomplished all that was desired, 
 and commanded to withdraw, they said that their position 
 was tenable enough still, and entreated to be allowed to 
 remain and fight the enemy. He had now completed two 
 or three bridges, by which heavy columns of infantry were 
 pouring into the town. It was no part of General Lee's 
 plan to contest the occupation longer ; for his position was 
 chosen, not to prevent the crossing of the river, but the 
 advance from it. He therefore withdrew the regiments of 
 Barksdale, during the early part of the night, to his lines 
 about Marye's Hill. The desired time for preparing a re- 
 ception for the enemy had been gained. 
 
 During all the next day the landscape was obscured by 
 a dense fog, beneath which as a mask the Federals carried 
 on their preparations for attack. Whenever this curtain 
 was lifted up momentarily, the ravines leading from the 
 Stafford heights to the river bank were seen black with 
 the vast masses of Federal infantry pressing toward the 
 bridges, and their lines were perceived upon the plain 
 advanced as far as the river road. The Confederate artil- 
 
368 LIVE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSOK. 
 
 lerists now and then seized these glimpses to direct a 
 cannon shot where the throngs were thickest, never failiag 
 to elicit an angry reply from the opposing heights. But, 
 otherwise, the whole day passed without hostile collision. 
 The two divisions of General Jackson near Guinea's Sta- 
 tion were brought forward to strengthen the right; and 
 as it was now beyond a doubt that Fredericksburg was to 
 be the place of the great collision, messengers -were sent to 
 Port Eoyal for the other divisions. The summons reached 
 General D. H. Hill a little before sunset on the 12th. His 
 troops were then eighteen miles from the post they were 
 designed to occupy upon the battle-field ; but such was 
 the promptitude of their action, by dawn on the next 
 morning they were in their places, and ready to meet the 
 enemy. The division of Early, which was somewhat 
 nearer at hand, preceded them in their arrival upon the 
 field. 
 
 The morning of Saturday, December 13th, now arose, 
 like its predecessor, cahn and foggy. The city and the 
 extended plain were wrapped in the impenetrable mantle 
 of mist, until ten o'clock A.M. ; but on both sides, every 
 sound which arose from the obscurity gave token of grim 
 preparation. The line of General Lee was stretched for 
 five and a half miles, from the heights overlooking Fal- 
 mouth, along the edge of the highlands, to Hamilton's 
 crossing, near the Massaponax. Upon the crests of the 
 hills were placed his numerous batteries, while Marye's 
 Hin, as the post of honour, was assigned to the Louisiana 
 battalion of Colonel Walton. The corps of Longstreet 
 held the left, and that of Jackson the right. Next the 
 
JACKSON KEVIEWS IltS LIXE. 369 
 
 river, upon tlie extreme left, was the di\ision of J\Iajor- 
 General Anderson, extending to the neiglibourliood of 
 Marye's Hill. Then came that of ]\I'La\vs in the front 
 line, supported by that of Eansom in reserve. To the 
 brigade of General T. E. Cobb of Georgia, from M'Laws's 
 division, was assigned the post of advanced guard, along 
 the road and stone wall which has been described as skirt- 
 ing the base of that hill. Upon another still more com - 
 manding height in its rear were planted other powerful 
 batteries, designed to sweep the Federalists from its crest, 
 should they succeed in gaining it. Xext to iM'Laws came 
 the division of I'ickett, occupying the edge of the high 
 lands opposite to the widest part of the plain, and next to 
 him the division of Hood. On the right, the country was 
 less elevated ; it offered every way fewer difficulties to the 
 enemy ; and it was flanked by the wide and smooth valley 
 of the Massaponax, which was so favourable to the opera- 
 tions of his -^'ast masses. Here, therefore. General Jack- 
 son strengthened himself with a triple line of battle, to 
 compensate for the weakness of his ground. His front 
 line was formed of two regiments of the brigade of Keld, 
 from the division of A. P. Hill, with the brigades of Archer, 
 Lane, and Pender. These stretched in the order named, 
 from Hamilton's Crossing to the right of Hood. But they 
 did not form a continuous line ; for the brigade of Lane in 
 the centre was advanced two hundred yards to the front, 
 to occupy a tongue of woodland which here projected itself 
 far into the plain. This patch of forest was low and 
 marshy, and behind it, the ridge sunk almost into the 
 same level, so that no position for artillery could be 
 VOL. II. 2 A 
 
370 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 obtained upon Jackson's centre. Behind the interval 
 thus left between the brigades of Archer and Lane was 
 placed that of Gregg, and behind the space which sepa- 
 rated the brigades of Lane and Pender was that of Thomas. 
 Thus the whole front was composed of the division of A. 
 P. Hill. A second line was composed of the two divisions 
 of Taliaferro and Early, the former behind Pender and 
 Thomas, and the latter behind Gregg and Archer. The 
 division of D. H. Hill was held as a reserve in the third 
 line. All these troops were posted in the woods, which 
 covered the base and the gentle acclivities of the hills, so 
 that they were not disclosed to the view of the enemy. 
 They formed a line of battle a mile and a half long. On 
 General ,Tuckson's right was Stuart with two brigades of 
 cavalry, and his famous horse- artillery, under the boy hero, 
 Pelham, thrown forward toward the enemy's left flank in 
 the plain. In front of Archer, near Hamilton's Crossing, 
 the range of hills Avhich, behind Pender, had sunk almost 
 into the plain, rises again to the altitude of forty feet, 
 with the open field extendmg to its sammit. Here 
 Jackson placed fourteen picked guns from the artillery 
 of A. P. Hill, under the command of Colonel Lindsay 
 Walker. On the left of his line were posted thirty-three 
 guns, fr( im the batteries of Early and Taliaferro, twelve of 
 them advanced into the plain beyond the railroad track, 
 and all on level ground ; for the place offered no superior 
 position for them. On the right, twelve more guns were 
 also advanced to assist the movements of Stuart, and to 
 cross their fire ^A'ith those of Colonel Walker. And Cap- 
 tain Hardaway, from the division of D. H. Hill, was sent 
 
JACKSOK REVIEWS HIS LIXE. 371 
 
 with liis long WhitM'orth rifle to the highlands east of 
 the Massaponax, whence he enfiladed the Federal line of 
 battle as it advanced from the river road. 
 
 Having ordered these dispositions, General Jackson now 
 rode along his whole front, to assure himself of then- com- 
 pleteness, accompanied by several general officers, and a 
 brilliant staff. As he appeared tliis morning upon his 
 favourite battle-steed, clad in a new and elegant suit of 
 uniform, the gift of his friend Stuart, and the old drab 
 fatigue cap, which had so long been to his followers as 
 glorious a guide to victory as the white plume of Harry of 
 Navarre, replaced by tlie hat of a lieutenant-general, 
 resplendent with gold braid, he was scarcely recognised 
 by his old veterans. They saw not in this gallant cavalier, 
 so instinct in his gait with martial elation, the sunburned 
 " old Stonewall " to ^\'hom their eyes were accustoined upon 
 the field of battle. As he passed along his lines, his suite 
 was made the target of the Federal sliarpshooters. ^Mieii 
 he reached the tongue of woodland occupied by the brigade 
 of Lane, he said, " The enemy will attack here," — a pre- 
 diction which a few hours fully verified. Thence he pro- 
 ceeded to the station of the Commander-in-C'hief, upon a 
 commanding hill near the Hazel, overlooking the ^'shole 
 plain, to receive his last suggestions. It was now pawt 
 nine o'clock, and the sun, mounting up the eastern sky 
 with almost a summer power, was rapidly exhaling the 
 mist. As the white folds dissolved and roUed away, dis- 
 closing the whole plain to view, sucli a spectacle met the 
 eyes of the generals as the pomps of earth can seldom 
 rival. Marshalled upon the vast arena beneatli them stood 
 
373 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEXERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 the Inuidred and twenty-five thousand foes, with count- 
 less batteries of field-guns blackenin.n' the ground. Long 
 triple lines of infantry crossed the field from right to left, 
 and hid their western extreme in the streets of the little 
 city; while down the ^•alleys, descending from the Stafford 
 heights to the bridges, were pouring in vast avalanches of 
 men, the huge reserves. For once, war unmasked its ter- 
 rible proportions to the vie^v -with a distinctness hitherto 
 unknown in the forest -clad landscapes of America, and 
 the plain of Fredericksburg presented a panorama that was 
 dreadful in its grandeur. To the Confederate soldiers, the 
 midtitudinous hosts of their enemies appeared as thougli 
 all the families of men had been assembled there for the 
 great assize of the Last Daj- ; but confident in their leaders, 
 they beheld their numbers with steady courage. Not a 
 cheek was blanched, nor a heart appalled. Lee stood upon 
 liis chosen hill of observation, inspiring e^'cry spectator by 
 his calm heroism, with his two great lieutenants beside 
 liim, and reviewed every quarter of the field with his glass. 
 It was then that Longstreet, to whose sturdy breast the 
 approach of battle seemed to bring gaiety, said to Jackson, 
 " General, do not all these multitudes of Federals frighten 
 you ?" He replied, " We shall see very soon whether 1 
 shall not frighten them." Sucli was the jest in which the 
 stern joy of battle in their spirits found utterance, while 
 other hearts stood still with awe. They then separated to 
 seek their several posts ; and as the last remnants of the 
 mist rolled away, the battle began with a general cannonade. 
 Three hundred guns now burst forth fronr the opposing 
 heights ; hill answered to hill witli their thunders, while 
 
THE BATTLE JOIXED. 373 
 
 the battle smoke, rolling sullenly down their sides, again 
 enveloped the plain in a more dreadful pall than the 
 morning fogs ; and through the gloom the fiery projectiles 
 flew shrieking across in stunning confusion. Under the 
 cover of tMs tempest Burnside advanced his columns to 
 the attack at once upon the right and upon tlie left. 
 
 In the plain before him General Jackson saw the wing 
 of Franklin, supported by a part of the grand division of 
 Hooker, drawn out in three vast lines of battle, which he 
 estimated at fifty- five thousand men. They were supported 
 by numerous batteries, which advanced with them upon 
 the plain. But as they passed the line of the river road, 
 Pelham dashed forward into the open fields with two 
 chosen guns of his horse-artillery, and unlimberiug upon 
 their left flank, began to rake their massive line with a 
 rapid and damaging fire. At this audacious di^-orsion the 
 Federalists paused, threw a division of infantry into 
 crotchet at right angles to their main line, si > as to confront 
 Pelham, and directed upon him the ^vhole fire of four 
 batteries, besides the distant heavy guns upon the Stafford 
 heights. But for a whole hour the two guns maintained 
 the unequal duel, shifting their position upon the plain as 
 fast as the enemy obtained their range accurately, disturb- 
 ing the aim of their cannoneers by an occasional shot of 
 deadly accuracy, and still pouring a rapid fire into the 
 infantry. It was not until Pelham was recalled by 
 positive orders that he would surrender his hazardous 
 position ; and yet he brought off his command without 
 serious loss. Such was the prelude to the tragedy upon 
 Jackson's side ; and this splendid example, doubtless, did 
 
374 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXERAL JACKSUN. 
 
 mucli to inspire the rest of the artillery -with high deter- 
 mination. 
 
 The Federalists having been relioved of this antagonist, 
 now advanced in earnest, feeling the A\'hole forest, which 
 enveloped Jackson's position, with a shower of cannon- 
 shots. He commanded his batteries to make no response. 
 Apparently satisfied that the woods were not ocenpied by 
 any lieavy force, they now moved forward with confidence, 
 but still covering their front with a storm of projectiles. 
 AVhen their lines of inhintry had approached within eight 
 lumdred yards of Jackson's position, they at last awoke 
 the response. The guns of Colonel A\'alker, upon the front 
 of Archer, were thrust forward, and opened furiously upon 
 the Federal infantry, firing to their front and left, ■while 
 Pelhani, supported by the twelve guns of Jackson in front 
 of his extreme right, again scourged them with a cross fire. 
 The Federals paused, 'i\avered, while \'isible gaps were 
 made in their ranks by every discharge, and then broke 
 and retreated to the river road. For two hours the'struggle 
 now degenerated into a desultory skirmisli of sharpshooters. 
 While this lull in the tempest continued, General Jackson 
 rode toward his extreme right, and dismounting advanced 
 on foot far into the plain, followed by no escort save a 
 single aide. This was Lieutenant James Power Smith, a 
 young man of that class, of which the (Confederate army 
 contained so many honourable members, who, though 
 educated and weU-connected, had served long and faith- 
 fully as a jjrivate in the I'nague battery. Jackson having 
 noted his devotion and intelligence, -with his wonted 
 sagacit}' selected him from the ranks, and promoted him 
 
HIS INSENSIBILITY TO FEAR. 375 
 
 to be his aide-de-camp, — a favour which, as will appear in 
 the sequel, was requited by young Smith with a fidelity 
 which deserves to link his name in enduring bonds with 
 the memory of his patron. The General, followed by this 
 zealous attendant, now walked far out into the fields, to 
 observe the dispositions of the enemy, when a sharp- 
 shooter, suddenly arising out of the tall weeds at two 
 hundred yards' distance, levelled his rifle and fired at him. 
 The bullet hissed between the heads of the General and 
 his aide, who were standing about tw(j paces asunder. 
 Thereupon he turned to him with a sunny smile upon his 
 face, and said, " [Mr. Smith, had you Jiot better go to the 
 rear? they may shoot you !" The audacity of the sharp- 
 shooter seemed to strike him as a pleasant jest ; but, in- 
 sensible to fear for himself his caution only concerned 
 itself for those committed to his care. After he had 
 deliberately satisfied his curiosity, he returned to his lines, 
 to await another attack, which he knew was at hand. 
 
 Having remained passive until past noon, the Federal- 
 ists now moved their left again. Three lines of battle 
 advanced to the charge, preceded by clouds of skirmishers, 
 and strengthened by ten batteries of field-guns upon the 
 flanks. Again they approached under a furious cannonade, 
 to which the batteries of Jackson made no response until 
 their infantry was within point-blank range, when they 
 replied with equal violence. But the Federal lines now 
 advanced with determination, and, as Geueral Jackson 
 foresaw, directed their attack to the projecting point of 
 woods occupied by Lane's brigade. They hoped to find 
 here a lodgment and a protection from the Confederate 
 
376 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXEEAL JACKSOX. 
 
 artillery ; for, when they came to close quarters, tlie 
 oblique fire of the batteries on the right and left wa:^ 
 necessarily suspended, to avoid overwhelming friend witli 
 foe, and the place occupied by Lane offered no position for 
 cannon. Yet his sturdy infantry stood their ground for a 
 time against triple odds, until tlie thronging multitudes of 
 enemies insinuated themselves into the gap between his 
 right and the left of Arclier, deployed rapidly in the woods, 
 and attacked his flank and rear. Si anf of his men wheeled, 
 and made front against the new advance of the Federalists 
 upon their side ; a part of his line was broken and over- 
 whelmed in the tangled woods, and the remainder retired 
 upon its supports, fighting stubbornly ; -nhile the twelve 
 guns which had been advanced upon his left, across the 
 railroad track, were hurriedly withdrawn to avoid capture, 
 suffering not a little from the Federal sharpshooters. 
 The left of Archer's brigade met a like fate with Lane's. 
 Finding themselves taken in reverse, they broke and fled 
 before oA'erpowering numbers, thus widening the great 
 breach in the front line, through which the Federal 
 columns poured into the woods. But Archer still held 
 fast to the right of his position A\ith two or three regi- 
 ments with a stubborn tenacity, which contributed much 
 to save the day, and attempted, ^vitli another regiment, to 
 form a new front against the enemy's flank. 
 
 Ihit Jackson had provided many additional resources 
 against this casualty. The triumphant irruption of the 
 Federalists was first checked by the brigades of Thomas 
 and Gregg, which covered the intervals of the front line. 
 As the throng of enemies spread themselves from the 
 
SECOND ATTACK OX JACKSOX. 377 
 
 breach in divergent columns, the one bearing most toward 
 the Confederate right found itself suddenly confronted, at 
 close quarters, by Gregg. His foremost regiment, mistak- 
 ing them for friends, received a sudden volley, and was 
 thrown into confusion. As their lion-hearted general, 
 Gregg, rushed forward to reinstate his battle, he was shot 
 down with a mortal wound. But Colonel Hamilton 
 speedily rallied a part (if his brigade, and made head 
 agauist the enemy until other succours could arrive. 
 Another torrent of Federalists, directing themsehes along 
 Lane's rear, and toward the Confederate left, was met liy 
 Thomas, and their efforts were partially contained. The 
 battle.had now passed within the range of the artillery, 
 which suspended its fire ; but the struggle raged in a con- 
 fused manner within the woods, and the fragments of the 
 hne of Hill and of his enemies were mixed in inextricable 
 confusion. It was at this critical moment that General 
 Jackson ordered up his second line. But the generals 
 commanding it, anticipating his wishes with intelligent 
 zeal, were aliout to rush into the wavering conflict when 
 they received his instructions. General Early, whose 
 division covered all the right of A. P. Hill's broken line, 
 through the GeorL;ia briuade of Lawton, commanded bv 
 Colonel Atkinson, directly forward, and then moved the 
 brigade of "Walker by its left flank at a double-quick, 
 until it covered the yawning chasm upon Atkinson's left. 
 The two now dashed forward upon the confused nmsses of 
 the enemy with such a yell as only the Confederate 
 soldiers know how to give. "Walker connected his left 
 with the right of Tliomas, of Hill's division, who was still 
 
378 • LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEXEKAL JACKSO>". 
 
 showing an unbroken front ; and the three brigades swept 
 the intruders in a moment from the woods, and pmsued 
 them, witli hea^-y cai'nage, across the railroad track, and 
 far into the fields beyond. Here, indeed, the enthusiasm 
 of the Georgians led them too far; for, rushing several 
 hundred yards in advance of the railroad, they exjiosed 
 their right to a whole di^dsion of Federal infantry, which 
 fired into their ilank, and forced them back to that em- 
 bankment, capturing among their wounded the command- 
 ing colonel and his adjutant. 
 
 But no sooner had General Early assisted in restoring 
 the •^^'a^-ering fortunes of the centre, than he was entreated 
 for succoiu's for the fragment of the line of Archer, which 
 was staggering \inder the unequal pressure. He therefore 
 ad^'anced the brigade of Trimble, under Colonel Hoke, 
 supported by Hayes, upon the extreme right, relieved 
 Ai'cher, and driving the enemy across the radroad here 
 also, established his men along that line. As soon as the 
 enemy's iiifantrj^ was sufficiently disengaged from the 
 woods on their retreat, the gallant Colonel "Walker opened 
 his guns upon them again, and before they reached the 
 shelter of the river road, inflicted a sevei-e prmishment 
 ^^'hile these events occurred on Jackson's right, the divi- 
 sion of Taliaferro also advanced i,\'ith the gTeatest enthu- 
 siasm, to support the front line upon his left. But so 
 speedily was the irruption of the enemy repulsed, nothing 
 remained for them to do, sa\'e that the 2d Virginia Regi- 
 ment, of the Stoue-\\-all Brigade, assisted in driving out the 
 Federalists \^dio had threatened the riaht of Thomas. 
 
 The division of Genei-al Hood, also, upon General Jack- 
 
HIS LIXE ADVANCED. 379 
 
 son's left, instructed l>y Longstreet to lend a generous aid 
 to their neighliours, liad assisted with two or three regi- 
 ments, to repulse a threatening attack there. A large 
 detachment of the enemy advancing up the channel of 
 Deep Eun, shielded from view, suddenly emerged in line 
 of battle, and confronted the left of Pender's brigade, and 
 the numerous batteries which he supported. One of his 
 regiments, assisted liy those of Hood, immediately attacked 
 them, and drove them back with great spirit. Especial!}' 
 did the 57th and 54tli Xorth CaroKna, two new regiments 
 of conscripts, wdiich had never been under fire before, 
 cover themselves with glory. They pursued the broken 
 enemy, the 5 7th in front, across the railroad, and for a 
 mile into the plain, although scourged by a flank fire from 
 the channel of the creek ; and it was not until repeated 
 messengers had been sent to repress their ardour that 
 they were recalled. The gallant Hood said, that he verily 
 thought the mad fellows would go to the Eappahannock in 
 spite of him and the enemy together. And as they re- 
 turned, some were seen weeping with vexation, because 
 they were dragged from the bleeding haunches of the foe, 
 and exclaiming, " It is because he has not confidence in 
 Carolinians. If we had been some of his Texans, he 
 would ha^■e let us go on." But the men of Pender dis- 
 played ecjual merit, in enduring an ordeal of a different 
 nature. Their chief part was to sustain the numerous 
 batteries with which General Jackson had guarded his 
 left upon the open plain. Lying behind these guns, in- 
 sulted by a cloud of skirmishers, and receiving a large 
 part of the projectiles aimed at the artillery, they patiently 
 
?,8Q LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 held their ground, unrelieved by the solace of active 
 resistance, until the day was won. 
 
 A new front line was now foruied by the Confederates, 
 composed of portions of the divisions of A. P. Hill and 
 Early, with the Stonewall Brigade, under General Paxton, 
 alon" the railroad embankment in front of their former 
 position. It began near Hamilton's Crossing on tlie ex- 
 treme right, and extending along the wide curve with 
 which that thoroughfare sweeps into the plain, confronted 
 the enemy all the way to the position of General Hood. 
 The division of D. H. Hill, whose services had not been 
 needed to complete the enemy's repulse, was now advanced 
 to the second line ; while the shattered portions of A. P. 
 Hill's division were drawn to the third. The Federalists 
 did not seriously renew their attack upon General Jackson 
 during the day, but kept up a spiteful cannonade, under 
 which he suffered some loss. In this battle, Franklin had 
 almost equal advantages of ground, and double numbers. 
 But such was the skill of Jackson and his assistants, and 
 the superior prowess of the Confederate soldiery, he was 
 beaten, and driven hopelessly back to his starting-place, 
 before more than half of his antagonist's force had been 
 displayed. He left about five hundred prisoners, besides 
 many wounded men, and five thousand muskets in Jack- 
 son's grasp, as trophies of his victory. 
 
 While this battle was raging with General Jackson's 
 corps, events of equal magnitude were occurring upon the 
 left, in front of Fredericksburg, which are detailed with 
 less fulness, only because the immediate subject of this 
 narrative was unconnected with them. Here Burnside, 
 
TilK ATTACK (J.\ MAllYE 8 HILL. 381 
 
 witli an almost insane policy, selected ^Marye's Hill, as 
 the point of pertinacious attack ; a position which, in 
 the hands of (Jonfederate soldiers, was impregnable ; 
 and ^^•llich, if captured, would ha^-e been found com- 
 manded in turn by other positions of greater strength. 
 But, endeavouring to silence the batteries of Colonel 
 Walton upon its crest, by the tremendous fire of liis heavy 
 guns upon the Stattbrd heights, he hurled brigade after 
 brigade of Sumner's wing against it throughout the day, 
 with no other result than the pitiable slaughter of his men. 
 Six times his fresh reserves were advanced to the attack. 
 But "Walton, disregarding the hurricane of shells from the 
 opposing hills, reserved his fire for the dense lines of in- 
 fantry ; and as soon as they emerged from the town, and 
 formed for the charge, shattered them with well-directed 
 plunging volleys. The advanced line of Cobb, behind the 
 stone fence at the base of the hill, supported by Eansom 
 upon the face of the declivity, awaited t]re Federals, when- 
 ever tliey advanced, with withering discharges of musketry. 
 The narrow field before them was literally encumbered 
 with corpses ; the gallant Cobb, statesman and orator, as 
 weU as soldier, was borne from his post mortally wounded, 
 assigning it to Kershaw; but still tlie night closed upon 
 the carnage, and the Confederates had not been dislodged 
 from a single foot of the outworks of their position. The 
 depressions of ground along the Hazel, in which the 
 routed columns of the Federalists souglit refuge from the 
 scathing fires of ilarye's Hill, were raked by the more dis- 
 tant batteries near General Lee's position upon the centre ; 
 and the frightened wretches found no refuge save behind 
 
382 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 the dwellings of the town. There, also, they were only 
 secure because the Commander-in-Chief spared the city 
 from bombardment, in mercy to a few hundreds of the 
 inhabitants who, lie knew, had clung to their homes 
 tliroughout these horrors. In a word, the Confederates at 
 length had here a position which was really strong, and 
 whicli they had adequate forces to defend. It was such a 
 position as they had been accustomed to wrest from Fede- 
 ralists in previous battles. The consequence was, that 
 the attempt to wrest it from them never approximated 
 the first appearance of success, and resulted only in a 
 frightful loss. 
 
 On the right, the afternoon was wearing away without 
 event, save that the contest of artillery was still actively 
 sustained between Stuart and Colonel Walker, supported 
 by some of the guns of Colonel Brown, and the Federalists. 
 General Jackson desired them to attack him again in his 
 position ; but when he perceived that they had learned too 
 much wisdom by their chastisement, he was desirous that 
 the important juncture should not pass without at least 
 an attempt to turn their repulse into a defeat. He longed 
 to try, whether by one grand advance, disregarding the 
 fire from tlie Stafford hills, their shattered masses might 
 not be routed from their hold along the river road, forced 
 back upon the deep river, mowed down at the narrow 
 approaches to the bridges, and hurled into the water. He 
 thirsted for at least one victory, where the blood of his 
 faithful men, and his own cares and toils, should be re- 
 warded by grand results, like those of an Austerlitz or a 
 Waterloo. But he knew something of the double embank- 
 
HIS UNFULFILLED PLAN. 383 
 
 ments of the river road before him, and of the double 
 numbers of the enemy's men and guns. He knew that 
 while the Federal was no match in prowess for the Con- 
 federate soldier, yet he never permitted any advantage to 
 fail him which could be gained by adroit cunning or 
 mechanical industry. He was well aware that it ^vas no 
 easy task for the inferior force to inflict an utter overthrow 
 upon the superior, sustained by such resources, however 
 the latter might be repelled by a higher courage. As the 
 sun declined toward the west, he was seen sitting upon his 
 horse a long time, with his watch in his hand, considering 
 the effect of the cannonade with Avhich Stuart was still 
 plying the enemy's left, and counting the minutes imtil 
 the sun should touch the horizon. After anxious hesita- 
 tion, his resolve was formed; he determined to make tlie 
 essay, postponing it until the approach of night, in order 
 that, if it were successful, the death grapple with the 
 Federal infantry might be shielded from the fire of their 
 protecting artillery by the darkness, and might be en- 
 hanced in its confusion and horrors ; or. if it were unsuc- 
 cessful, the same friendly veil might assist him in drawing 
 off his forces without serious disaster. He therefore issued 
 orders that every gun, of whatever calibre or range, which 
 was not disabled, should be advanced to the front ; that 
 at sunset they should move across the plain together, and 
 open upon the enemy ; tho.t all the infantry should follow 
 in lines of battle, and that as soon as the Federal front 
 showed signs of wavering under the cannonade, the whole 
 should charge with fixed bayonets, and sweep the invaders 
 into the river. The attempt ^\'as hurriedly made to effect 
 
384 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXERAL JACKSON. 
 
 these dispositions ; a niiiiiber of fresli batteries were 
 advanced and opened upon the enemy ; and the first hne, 
 which the General had committed to the cliarge of Early, 
 was just springing to its work, when he recalled his orders. 
 He perceived that the concert between his different bat^ 
 teries of artillery was too imperfect to promise him success; 
 that his subordinates proceeded to the enterprise with 
 doubtful determination ; and that the enemy covered Lis 
 whole front with so terrible a fire from his countless 
 artiUery, that it threatened too great a loss of patriot 
 blood. He therefore unwillingly relinquished the endea- 
 vour, and made his dispositions for tlie night, assigning 
 the front to Early, and ordering all the troops to be 
 relieved for a short time, by detachments, that they 
 might replenish tlreir ammunition for the morrow. With 
 this exception the whole army lay upon their weapons 
 during the night, in the positions they had held during 
 the day. 
 
 The unfulfilled plan of General Jackson has not been 
 related to impress the imagination of the reader with a 
 picture which was, perhaps, impossible to be realized, of 
 the horrors of Boteler's Ford re-enacted on a grander 
 scale, amidst the accessories of darkness and a stupendous 
 confusion ; of murderous lines of Confederate bayonets 
 rusliing througli the gloom, revealed to the affrighted in- 
 vaders by the angry glare of the cannon alone ; of huddled 
 masses of fugitives, mowed down by shot and thrust of 
 invisible hands, and engulfed in the black waters ; while 
 Jackson and his fierce subordinates urged on the carnival 
 of death. The purpose is to prove, by a great and notable 
 
jiiji iviutni ADl'fiK THE BATTLE. 385 
 
 instance, that General Jackson's determination had none 
 of that headstrong imprudence which has sometimes been 
 imputed to him. He was capable of grand resolves ; no 
 commander ever engaged his adversary with more of " the 
 unconquerable will, and purpose never to submit or yield," 
 than he ; but none was ever more careful of the blood of 
 his men, or tempered his daring with greater wisdom. 
 
 Thus ended the great battle of Fredericksburg, in which 
 the Federalists confessed a loss of twelve thousand men 
 killed and wounded, nine thousand small arms, and about 
 a thousand prisoners. In repelling the attacks of their 
 vast army, General Lee had employed less than twenty- 
 five thousand men, and had experienced a loss of four 
 thousand two hundred. Of these, nearly twenty-nine 
 hundred were killed and wounded in the corps of General 
 Jackson ; and there were, in addition, five hundred and 
 twenty-six of&cers and men captured, chiefly from the 
 division of A. P. HiU. That division also bore the heavier 
 part of the loss in killed and wounded : a price which the 
 brave are accustomed to pay for the post of honour. The 
 batteries which were long engaged suffered much in this 
 action, and especially those of Colonel Lindsay Walker. 
 Placed in a prominent position, from which there was no 
 retreat, and made the target for a continual fire for many 
 hours, they were often struck, and lost many men and 
 horses. 
 
 After all the necessary dispositions had been made for 
 the night. General Jackson retired to his tent to seek a 
 few hours' repose. There his friend. Colonel Boteler, 
 awaited him, to whom he offered a share of his pallet ; but 
 
 VOL. II. 2 B 
 
386 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 long after the other had lain down, he continued to write 
 and send despatches. At length, near midnight, he lay- 
 down beside him, without removing any of his clothing, 
 and slept for two or three hours, when he again arose, 
 lighted his candle, and resumed his writing. But, observ- 
 ing that the rays fell full in the face of his friend, whom 
 he supposed to be stni asleep, he immediately procured a 
 book, which he so adjusted upon his table as to screen 
 him from the light, that he might not disturb his slumbers. 
 About four o'clock in the morning he called to his faithful 
 Jim for his horse ; and, after a friendly altercation with 
 him, concerning his desire to ride the same one which had 
 borne him through the battle of the previous day, in 
 which Jim came off victorious, he rode away with a single 
 aide. He had mounted thus early in order to redeem an 
 hour before the day dawned to pay a visit to the dying 
 soldier, General Maxey Gregg. This heroic man had 
 fallen the day before, shot through the body in the irrup- 
 tion of the enemy through the line of A. P. Hill, and now 
 lay in a neighbouring dwelling, drawing near to his last 
 hour ; but still as calm as upon the field of battle, and as 
 ready to render up his Life a sacrifice for ^his country. 
 General Jackson spent a few solemn moments by his 
 couch, and bade adieu to him with tender sympathj^. 
 He- then returned to the front, to meet the first 
 dawn of day among his men, and to assure himself 
 that they were prepared for the expected renewal of 
 the assault. 
 
 General Lee, on his part, had spent the night ia dihgent 
 preparations for such an event. The enemy had been so 
 
MANCEUVEES OF THE FEDERALISTS. 387 
 
 easily repulsed by a fraction of the Confederate army, 
 and still possessed so enormous a superiority of numbers, 
 that he could not believe Burnside would accept a final 
 defeat on those terms. He therefore supposed that the 
 attempt of Saturday was but the prelude to a more 
 strenuous attack to be made on the Sabbath. He ear- 
 nestly desired that the assault should be renewed ; be- 
 cause the strength of his position assured him that it 
 would only result in the further destruction of the enemy. 
 His troops were therefore all prepared with supplies of 
 ammunition for another day of yet more tremendous 
 battle ; and the weaker points of his line were strength- 
 ened with works hastily thrown up during the night. 
 The morning disclosed the Federalists stiU drawn up on 
 the plain, in full array, and showing a steady front ; but 
 the day wore away without any demonstration, save a 
 continual skirmish of the sharpshooters and artillery. In 
 truth, Burnside purposed a renewal of the attack ; but his 
 three heutenants, who seem to have assumed a practical 
 independence of his will, remonstrated so boldly, and gave 
 such representations of the demoralization of their troops, 
 that he was compelled to relinquish his design. The next 
 subject for his consideration therefore was, in what way he 
 might best extricate himseK from his perilous position. 
 This was a problem which was not easy of solution ; for, 
 to retreat across his narrow floating bridges, in the face of 
 a watchful and victorious foe, was to invite destruction. 
 He therefore spent the day strengthening his position, 
 especially before the front of the town, with hastily- dug 
 trenches, and kept his outposts pressed close up to those 
 
388 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 of General Lee, as though preparing for further aggressive 
 movements. 
 
 Duriag the night of the 14th of December, General 
 Jackson, held his troops in the same lines, except that the 
 division of D. H. Hill was placed in the front, and that of 
 Early was relieved by retiring to a less exposed place. 
 During Monday, the 15th, a flag of truce was sent, request- 
 ing a few hours' truce between the Confederate right wing 
 and the Federal left, in order that the latter might relieve 
 their wounded, many of whom had now been lying upon 
 the freezing ground two days and two nights. The note 
 containing this request was signed by a general of subor- 
 dinate rank. At Sharpsburg some of the Confederate 
 generals had granted a temporary truce upon a similar 
 application, which had been afterwards disclaimed by 
 M'Clellan. General Jackson therefore replied to this, 
 that when authenticated by the general commanding the 
 Federal army, the application would receive an answer. 
 After a time, it was returned with the authority of Burn- 
 side, when the truce was promptly granted. In his front 
 grim-visaged war now smoothed its horrors for a few 
 hours ; and wMle the hospital attendants were busy in 
 removing the dead and wounded, officers and men from 
 the adverse ranks mingled together in familiar inter- 
 course. 
 
 The second day after the battle was now ended. The 
 Confederates were eager in their hopes that the enemy 
 would attack again on the morrow, when an opportunity 
 would be again found to avenge upon the invaders of their 
 homes the barbarities which had marked the war. Such 
 
THE ENEMY WITHDRAWS. 389 
 
 was the enthusiasm which reigned among them, that the 
 division of D. H. Hill, which should in turn have been 
 reheved from the front on the 15 th, sent a written re- 
 quest to Jackson to be allowed to remain there another 
 night, in the hope that they might have the honour of 
 receiving the enemy's first attack the next morning. Their 
 request was granted; but with the morning came a grievous 
 disappointment. The whole opposing army was gone, with 
 all its appurtenances, and had removed its bridges, and 
 resumed its post upon the Stafford heights. The weather 
 had come to their assistance in the shape of a storm of 
 rain, accompanied with a tempestuous wind from the 
 south, which, driving from the Confederates toward the 
 enemy, had effectually stifled the sound of every note of 
 preparation for the march. Under cover of this wind and 
 the Egyptian darkness, they had been busy all night with- 
 drawing their army and artillery over a number of bridges, 
 while the numerous sentries close to the Confederate front 
 kept up a bold show to the last. After all the rest had 
 retired, these outposts also were called in, their officers 
 passing from man to man, and giving the order to fall 
 back in a whisper. With such industry and adroitness 
 was the retreat conducted, that the vast multitude, with its 
 countless carriages, was withdrawn in one night, in the 
 midst of intense darkness, and without the aid of even a 
 lamp ; for they feared to draw on themselves the fire of 
 the Confederate cannon. When some of the citizens, who 
 had remained shut up in their houses during the whole 
 struggle, came with candles to their doors to learn the 
 cause of the strange dull buzz which filled the air, they 
 
390 LIFE OF LIEDT.-GENEEAL JACKSON'. 
 
 were startled to find tlie streets packed with dense columns 
 of men, -whose faces were aU turned toward the river, and 
 who instantly greeted their appearance with the stern 
 whisper, " Put out that light ! Put out that light !" Some 
 of the officers also sprang from the ranks, snatched the 
 lights from their hands, extinguished them, and thrust the 
 bearers back within doors. The movement was aU accom- 
 plished before the Confederate pickets learned anything. 
 "When the duU and dreary dawn began to steal over the 
 ground, they perceived that the sentries who had con- 
 fronted them were either gone or were motionless ; and 
 upon approaching the latter, they found that they were 
 dead corpses, stiff and stark, which the Federals had 
 propped up against stones or posts, placing muskets in 
 their hands ! 
 
 On re-entering the afflicted city, the Confederates dis- 
 covered also that the enemy had employed the leisure of 
 the two days after the battle in sacking its dwellings from 
 one end to the other. The only houses which escaped 
 were those which, being occupied by wounded men, or 
 by the quarters of general officers, were guarded by their 
 sentries. Not only was every species of food and other 
 portable property, which a soldier could desire, carried 
 away, but the most ingenious and laborious destruction 
 was wrought upon that which they did not need. Costly 
 furniture and pianos were hewn to pieces with axes, the 
 wardrobes of ladies torn into shreds, mirrors precipitated 
 upon the pavements, and the morocco-bound books of 
 gentlemen's libraries carried in hampers to the river, and 
 tumbled into the slime of the tides. But otherwise, the 
 
FREDERICKSBURG SACKED. — REMARKS. 391 
 
 general aspect of the buildings gave singular proof of thel 
 difficulty of actually destroying a city by a bombardment. 
 After all the tempest of projectiles by which it seemed the 
 doomed city must be levelled with the ground, only a few 
 houses were burned, and a few seriously broken down. In 
 the others, the only signs of bombardment were a few 
 small holes perforated in the walls and roofs by the shot, 
 and a number of places where glass and plastering had 
 been broken by the explosions ; while many buildings had 
 almost miraculously escaped. 
 
 In this retreat the Federalists had every circumstance 
 to favour the secrecy of their movements ; yet their suc- 
 cess casts a reflection upon the watchfulness of the Con- 
 federates. It was true that the darkness, the rain, and the 
 tempestuous wind were sufficient to hide all the move- 
 ments of the fugitives from the sentries ; but surely, on all 
 that extended front, there ought to have been some scouts 
 adventurous and shrewd enough to penetrate the enemy's 
 lines, by some mode, and gather some data which would 
 be decisive of their purpose to fight or flee. The Con- 
 federate commander was much disappointed by the result. 
 Another imperfect victory had been added to the list of 
 his exploits, in which the glory of a masterly strategy and 
 heroic courage at the beginning was overclouded by a 
 partial forfeiture of the anticipated fruits of victory. His 
 beaten enemy had again extricated himself from a situa- 
 tion which promised a complete triumph and a speedy 
 peace to the Confederacy. Doubtless, General Lee ad- 
 mitted in his own breast, that had he foreseen this escape 
 of Burnside, he ought to have taken the aggressive against 
 
392 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 him during the two days of inaction in some way. But 
 what that way should have been it was still not so easy to 
 determine. His advantage over Burnside in position and 
 facility of attack was, after all, more seeming than real. 
 In front of the Confederate right the Federalists held fast 
 to the two embankments of the river road, which they 
 made almost impregnable with countless batteries, and 
 double lines of infantry, and where they were protected by 
 the fire of their guns of long range from the north bank. 
 If General Jackson would reach these lines he must leave 
 his position in the wooded hills and advance into the plain, 
 where every advantage passed from his side to that of his 
 enemy. At Fredericksburg the more contracted space 
 brought either party which took the aggressive imme- 
 diately under a murderous fire from the opposing heights. 
 If the Confederates advanced, they seemed to incur the 
 same disadvantages which the Federalists had found so 
 disastrous at Marye's HilL 
 
 But in one particular General Jackson differed from his 
 associates in his estimate of the situation. He did not 
 consider the battle of the 13th of December as a mere pre- 
 lude to a greater struggle. He appreciated the full 
 influence of the events of that day upon the army of 
 Burnside, and was convinced that it was at the end of 
 that day a beaten army, and would attempt nothing more 
 on that ground. He did not expect a renewal of their 
 assaults the next morning, although his vigilance prompted 
 him to take every precaution against it. He saw clearly 
 that it was for the Confederates to take the initiative next, 
 or else the affair would continue incomplete. In this he' 
 
POSSIBLE MODE OF IMPEOVIXG THE VICTORY. 393 
 
 showed his customary sagacity, and that almost infallible 
 insight into his adversary's condition and temper, which 
 had guided him in previous campaigns. But his habitual 
 modesty prevented his obtruding his opinions ; and there 
 is no certain evidence what plan of action he would have 
 recommended. 
 
 The handling of Captain Hardaway's Whitworth rifle 
 during the 14th, upon the highlands east of the Massa- 
 ponax gave one indication which deserved to be followed 
 up. Moimting a straw-rick which stood upon a bold hill 
 there, in range with the distant line of the river road, he 
 stationed his gun beside it ; and glass in hand, directed a 
 slow and accurate fire upon the enemy's position. They 
 could make no effective reply ; and with his one piece, he 
 so eniiladed and raked that road as to compel them to re- 
 move their batteries to other ground. One of his shells 
 was supposed to have slain the Federal General Bayard, 
 near the centre of the Federal army, and three miles dis- 
 tant. Now, had a strong detachment of Jackson's guns 
 of longest range been likewise posted in the highlands, 
 during the 14th, their fire might so far have counter- 
 balanced that of the Federal artillery, as to enable him, 
 with the remainder of his corps, to overwhelm their left, 
 without ruinous loss to himself, by a front and flank 
 attack combined. But the most obvious expedient for 
 completing the discomfiture of Burnside's army, was to 
 concentrate powerful masses of artillery on all the hills 
 commanding the city itself, and disregarding the reply 
 from the Stafford heights, to overwhelm the whole locality 
 with a sustained cannonade. The drift of the Federal 
 
394 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEXEEAL JACKSOX. 
 
 troops was continually toward the streets of the town, 
 after the battle of Saturday; there were their most 
 numerous bridges; and thither the stragglers rushed for 
 spoils. The streets and open spaces were doubtless so 
 crowded with men during the whole occupation, that such 
 a bombardment must have inflicted a bloody loss ; and 
 the approaches to all the bridges near the town being thus 
 made impracticable, the sense of its insecurity might have 
 plimged the whole army into panic. Two motives held 
 back the hands of the Confederates from this ob\'ious ex- 
 periment ; the expectation of having a more urgent use 
 for the ammunition, to fight another general action in 
 their chosen position ; and compassion for two or three 
 hundred citizens of the gallant town, who were supposed 
 to be still clinging to their ruined homes. 
 
 The failure of this grand attempt of Burnside plunged 
 the Federal Government and people into mortification and 
 rage. For once, the disappointment was too bitter to be 
 concealed ; and their anguish rendered them temporarily 
 honest enough to forego their customary boastings. The 
 butchery of their men and the profound discouragement 
 of the survivors were fully avowed. The Federal min- 
 istry compelled poor Burnside to make himself the scape- 
 goat for the fault, by assuming, in a published order, the 
 whole responsibility of the movement. The blatant press 
 now denounced their late flivourite with an injustice equal 
 ■to their former senseless adulation. And a Congressional 
 Committee of inquiry visited the army, and gathered the 
 evidence for completing his disgrace. He was, after a 
 little, removed from his command, and succeeded by his 
 
ELUXBEES OF THE FEDERALISTS. 395 
 
 insubordinate and boastful lieutenant, Hooker. His 
 army was quietly withdraAvn a few miles from the river, 
 and cantoned in winter-quarters in the counties of 
 Stafford and King George. 
 
 It is believed that the reader, in reviewing the affair of 
 Fredericksburg, will concur in the assertion with which 
 the narrative began — that Burnside's plan was not ill- 
 conceived. With the means which his Government placed 
 at his disposal, the attempt to cross the Eappahannock at 
 Fredericksburg, in the face of Lee's army, was feasible ; 
 and since Burnside's masters dictated to him the necessity 
 of marchmg on Eichmond by some route, the essay which 
 lie chose was proper for him to make. The only real ob- 
 stacle was the Confederate army ; but that must be met 
 somewhere ; and his Government and people were unani- 
 mous in asserting that he both could and must overthrow it 
 in some way. The conception of Burnside, then, was good. 
 His fii-st fault was, that he did not estimate '^^ith practical 
 wisdom the uncertainties and bureau impotency of the 
 administration ; so as to make sure of all the apparatus 
 necessary for a prompt movement, such as pontoon trains, 
 by his own personal superintendence. He began to move 
 from "Warrenton to his new base on the 1 3 th of Xovember. 
 Two marches should have brought him to Fredericksburg. 
 The last of Longstreet's corps did not arrive until the 21st. 
 With all his preparations duly anticipated, and with rea- 
 sonably prompt movements, he should have crossed the 
 river in force, and been master of the southern bank, be- 
 fore the Confederates were in a condition to meet him. 
 But the very odds which they found themselves compelled 
 
39G LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 'to bring against the Confederates, in order to cope with 
 them, always rendered their army an unwieldy monster, 
 too cumljrous for any one mind to comprehend or handle 
 with precision. 
 
 After the opportunity for a sudden surprise was thus 
 lost, Burnside proceeded with skill and judgment in the 
 disposition which he made of his superior artillery, and in 
 the measures by which he forced the passage of the river. 
 But then his blunders began again. Of these the greatest 
 was the direct attempt to storm Marye's HiU, which was 
 the very last point to which his efforts should have been 
 directed. An attack upon the extreme of the Confederate 
 left, or upon their centre, — anything would have been less 
 reprehensible. But his opportunity was, in fact, only upon 
 the right ; and all his real weight should have been thrown 
 against Jackson. If he had moved promptly under the 
 dense fog of the 12th of December, while as yet neither 
 Early nor D. H. Hill was in position, he might have car- 
 ried, by his infantry, positions which would have trans- 
 ferred the decisive battle to the interior of Spottsylvania, 
 or to the North Anna. Or else, if he had employed that 
 day in bridging the Massaponax near its mouth, and in 
 opening ways for liis vast artillery force near the eastern 
 highlands ; if he had made aU his operations nearer Frede- 
 ricksburg, on the 1 3th, a feint, and instead of allowing a 
 large part of Hooker's grand division to hang as a useless 
 reserve about the Stafford heights until the day was prac- 
 tically lost, had pressed forward the whole of it to support 
 Franklin, and had thus moved in force upon both sides of 
 the Massaponax, lie might have reasonably promised him- 
 
jivvjanun A J. muoo njiuiv. 397 
 
 self a successful issue. It was manifest that the railroad 
 from Fredericksburg to Eichmond must be the essential 
 part of General Lee's line of operations. But the direction 
 of that thoroughfare down the valley of the Eappahannock 
 indicated that Burnside should advance only by his left ; 
 besides that, the country on his left flank was every way 
 the more favourable to him. There is no boast in say- 
 ing, that if it had been Jackson with the Confederate 
 army who had seized the northern edge of the plateau of 
 Fredericksburg, and Burnside who stood on the defensive 
 upon the Spottsylvania hills, the former would have been 
 as sure of occupying enough of the hills of the Massaponax 
 to turn the position of the latter successfully, as the sun of 
 the 13th rose upon the two armies. 
 
 It was manifest that the retreat of Burnside was the 
 end of the campaign for the winter. The army of General 
 Lee therefore proceeded to construct its winter quarters in 
 the wooded country behind the Eappahannock, the corps 
 of General Jackson stretching from the neighbourhood of 
 Guuiea's Station toward Port EoyaL Very soon the men 
 were comfortably housed in huts of their own construction, 
 and settled down into the monotonous routine of the can- 
 tonment. General Jackson, after a few days' hesitation, 
 estabhshed his head-quarters at Moss Neck, the hospitable 
 mansion of Mr. Corbin, midway between Fredericksburg 
 and Port Eoyal, and near the centre of his troops. De- 
 clining the offer of rooms in the commodious dwelling, 
 lest he should unavoidably trespass upon the convenience 
 of its inmates, he accepted the use of a sporting-lodge at 
 the edge of the lawn for his lodgings. In the upper room 
 
398 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 of this cottage his pallet was spread ; and the lower, still 
 ornamented with the prints and trophies of the chase ap- 
 propriate to its former uses, was occupied as his office. A 
 large tent, erected near by, supplied the place of a dining- 
 room for his mess. With these humble arrangements he 
 addressed himself diligently to the improvement of his 
 command, and the preparation of his official reports, to 
 which the bustle of the extraordinary campaign just closed 
 had forbidden his giving attention before. While the 
 troops were steadily engaged in the construction of their 
 winter quarters, of roads to the stations whence they drew 
 their supplies through the railroad, and of an elaborate 
 line of entrenchments, which covered the whole country 
 from Fredericksburg to Port Eoyal, he set himself busily 
 to bring up this arrear of office- work. In the composition 
 of the reports of his battles his reverence for truth and 
 justice was conspicuous. The facts were laboriously ex- 
 amined by him ; and then every sentence of his narrative 
 was reviewed and scanned with most anxious care, that aU 
 might be true to the reality. The language of exaggera- 
 tion was jealously avoided, nor did he descend to rheto- 
 rical portraiture : all was the severe simplicity of history. 
 Yet these reports are models of perspicuity, of transparent 
 plainness, and of true gTaphic power; and the literary 
 man of true taste will esteem them as excellent specimens 
 of narrative. This labour was continued, at intervals, 
 throughout the winter ; and was just completed when the 
 ad\'ance of Hooker, in the following spring, summoned 
 him to that crowning exploit, of which his death left the 
 narration in other hands. 
 
EVILS OF AESENTE FKOM THE EAXKS. 390 
 
 His attention ^n-as now addressed to an evil ^vliich had 
 always been grievous in the Confederate armies, — absence 
 from the ranks vithont leave. Emploj-iug his friend, the 
 Hon. ilr. Boteler, as his advocate in Congress, he tu'gently 
 called the attention of the Committee on ^initary Aflairs 
 to this abuse. He declared that if it corrld be corrected, 
 even approximately, and the larger part of the ab.sentees 
 could be recalled to the ranks, the army woiild be so 
 increased that, with the Di^'ine blessing, one more cam- 
 paign would sweep the enemy from the soil of the Con- 
 federate States. One of his brigades reported twelve 
 htmdred absentees ! He proposed a novel plan, in which 
 he expressed great confidence, for abating the nuisance. 
 This was, to offer a pecuniary reward for the apprehension 
 and dehvery of all men reported as absent without leave, 
 to be paid at iirst by the Government, btit afterwards 
 reimbursed from the pay of the delinquent. To carry out 
 this conception, he proposed that it should be embodied 
 substantially in the following form :'- — 
 
 " Suppose, for instance, that a brigade-commander makes 
 an arrangement with persons not liable to military duty, 
 to arrest and deliver his absentees, and that he rec[nires 
 each company-commander, as soon as he knows that one 
 of his men is alisent withoitt leave, to send np to brigade- 
 headquarters a certiticate of the fact, and the brigade- 
 commander sends the certificate to one of the persons 
 with whom he has pre'S'iou^ly agreed to arrest and bring 
 back his absentees ; and that irlicnevcr the delinquent and 
 certifieate d.-dl be deliirrcd to the eommanding officer of a 
 military post or camj^ such eommanding officer gives a 
 
400 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 receipt for the same; and upon the presentation of sua 
 receipt to the quartermaster of the post or camp, he pays th 
 reivard, — say fifteen dollars. In order to indemnify thi 
 Government, let the commanding officer of the post o: 
 camp not only send to the company-commander the man 
 but also a notification that a receipt has been given for his 
 delivery, in order that the company- commander may entei 
 the reward opposite the man's name on the muster anc 
 pay-roll, so as to have it stopped from his pay." 
 
 This proposal was never submitted to the test of experi- 
 ment. General Jackson at least endeavoured to set a 
 wholesome example of the duty of adherence to the service. 
 He had never had a day of furlough. When invited by a 
 friend to allow himself a little respite for a visit at his 
 house, where he might meet his wife and the infant 
 daughter which he had never seen, he replied, expressing 
 the delight which such a vacation would give him, but 
 firmly decliaing the proposal. A characteristic letter to 
 Mrs. Jackson may b'e introduced here, mustrating this 
 matter : — 
 
 " Christmas, 1862. 
 
 " I do earnestly pray for peace. Oh that our country 
 was such a Christian, God-fearing people as it should be ! 
 Then might we very speedUy look for peace. 
 
 " It appears to me that it is better for me to remain 
 with my command, so long as the war continues, if our 
 ever gracious Heavenly Father permits. The army suffers 
 immensely by absentees. If aU our troops, officers, and 
 men, were at their posts, we might, through God's bless- 
 
jjjiLiJiitAi. iJAKJBAltiTl' AT WINCHESTER 401 
 
 ing, expect a more speedy termination of the war. The 
 temporal affairs of some are so deranged as to make a 
 strong plea for their returning home for a short time ; but 
 mtr God has greatly blessed me and mine during my 
 absence ; and whilst it would be a great comfort to see 
 you, and oui darling little daughter, and others in whom I 
 take special interest, yet duty appears to require me to 
 remaia with my command. It is important that those at 
 head-quarters set an example by remaining at the post 
 of duty. 
 
 " Dr. — writes, ' our little prayer-meeting is still meet- 
 ing daily, to pray for our army and leaders.' This prayer- 
 meetuig may be the means of accomplishing more than an 
 army. I wish that such existed everywhere. How it 
 does cheer my heart to hear of God's people pra}'ing for 
 our cause, and for me ! I greatly pri^e the prayers of the 
 pious." 
 
 The new year brought him the sad news of the re-occu- 
 pation of Winchester by the Federal army. His friends 
 there were now subjected to the tyranny and outrages of 
 the Federal general Milroy. Under his rule, the most 
 vexatious and cruel restrictions were placed upon the 
 people, and the plunder of their dwellings was shamelessly 
 transferred to the private baggage of the commander. 
 Nothing which could characterize the baseness of a petty 
 despot was lacking to the history of this man ; and when, 
 after the fall of General Jackson, Winchester was re-cap- 
 tured by his corps under General Ewell, ]\Iilroy crowned 
 his infamy by running away from his command through 
 
 VOL. II. 2 c 
 
402 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 by-roads, leaving them without a leader in the clutches of 
 the avenging patriots. The story of the wrongs of the 
 people now stirred the depths of Jackson's heart. His 
 estimate of the value of the district to the Confederacy 
 was revived by his grief and indignation, and he exerted 
 all his influence with the Commander-in-Chief to have an 
 army sent for its deliverance. His constant judgment was 
 still that a force stationed in the lower valley, and sup- 
 ported by the resources of the country, would render a 
 service more efiicient than the same numbers could render 
 elsewhere, by preserving the riches of the country to the 
 Confederacy, and by making a threatening diversion, 
 which would embarrass any iavasion of Northern Vir- 
 ginia. He declared that the country would still sustain 
 twenty thousand men, who should be sent there under an 
 energetic leader, and he proposed General Early for the 
 post. But General Lee did not deem that he had men to 
 spare for the detachment, although the difficulty of pro- 
 visioning his army ia Spottsylvania did induce him, later 
 in the season, to send General Longstreet, with a part of 
 his corps, to south-eastern Virginia, where they were de- 
 tained untd after the battle of Chancellorsville, without 
 other result than some successful foraging. 
 
 While General Jackson was himself the commander in 
 the Valley District, his modesty and disinterestedness had 
 prevented his asking for larger powers, although he had 
 felt, in the campaign of 1862, the cruel inconvenience of 
 his subordination to a distant commander who was neces- 
 sarily ignorant of much which should guide his action 
 there. But now, in asking that another should command 
 
JACKSON IN QUAETEES. 403 
 
 there, he urged that the country should be elevated to an 
 independent military department, with its own general, 
 who should receive Iris orders directly from the supreme 
 power. He strenuously declared that he did not desire to 
 he again detached for that service, but every way preferred 
 a subordinate command near General Lee's person. 
 
 Indeed, it was manifest that his happiness was greatly 
 increased by the removal of the load of separate responsi- 
 bility and administrative cares which his present position 
 gained for him. His companions in arms noted in him a 
 considerable and pleasing change. The brow of care was 
 more frequently relaxed ; his warm social impulses were 
 more freely indulged ; and his meals, which had been 
 \isiially despatched in haste and silence, became now 
 seasons of cheerful relaxation, in which he was a quiet and 
 unobtrusive, but joyous participant. Especially did he 
 unbend when visited, after the hours of business, by his 
 valued comrade in arms. General Stuart. In patriotism, 
 in zeal for duty, in daring courage, and in military enter- 
 prise, these two men were kindred and sympathetic spirits ; 
 but in temperament, Stuart's exuberant cheerfulness and 
 humour seemed to be the happy relief as they were the 
 opposites to Jackson's serious and diffident temper. To 
 Jackson himseK it was a pleasure to have his sobriety 
 thawed by the gay laugh and jest of the gxeat cavalier, 
 while his occasional visits to the mess were the signals of 
 high fun to the young men of the Staff. While Stuart 
 poured out his " quips and cranks," not seldom at Jackson's 
 expense, the latter sat by, sometimes unprepared with any 
 repartee, sometimes blushing, but always enjoying the 
 
404 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 jest with a quiet and sunny laugh. The ornaments which 
 the former proprietor of Moss Neck had left xipon the 
 walls of the General's quarters gave Stuart many a topic 
 for badinage. Affecting to beheve that they were of 
 General Jackson's selection, he pointed now to the portrait 
 of some famous racer, and now to the print of some dog 
 celebrated for his hunting feats, as queer revelations of the 
 private tastes of the great Presbyterian. He, with a quiet 
 smile, only replied, that perhaps he had, in his youth, had 
 more to do with race-horses than his friends suspected. 
 He referred to his school-boy days at the forest home of 
 his uncle, Cummings Jackson. It was in the midst of 
 such a scene as this, one day, that dinner was announced, 
 and the two generals passed to the mess-table. It so 
 happened that Jackson had just received, as a present 
 from a patriotic lady, some butter, upon the adornment of 
 which the fair donor had exhausted her housewife's skdl, 
 and that the priut impressed upon its surface was a gaUant 
 cock. The servants, in honour of General Stuart's presence, 
 had chosen this to grace the centre of the board. As his 
 eye fell upon it, he paused, and with mock gravity pointed 
 to it, sayiag, " See there, gentlemen ! If there is not the 
 crowning evidence of our host's sporting tastes. He even 
 puts his favourite game-cock upon his butter!" The 
 dinner of course began with inextinguishable laughter, in 
 which General Jackson joined with as much enjoyment 
 as any. 
 
 His fame had now become world-wide ; and whUe he 
 attracted the enthusiastic admiration of his countrymen, 
 strangers from Europe made pilgrimages to the army to 
 
LITTLE JANE COKBIN. 405 
 
 "ain a view of tlie tireat soldier. Tliey found him, not the 
 hi:arrc and austere hero he had been described by popular 
 fancy, but the modest, courteous gentleman, who offered 
 the scanty hospitality of his quarters, and cared for their 
 comfort with an almost feminine tenderness. His domestic 
 tastes soon began to seek their solace among the children 
 of the family near by, and he selected one, a sweet girl of 
 six years, Jane Corbin, as his special favourite. He re- 
 quested of her mother that she should visit liim eveiy 
 afternoon after the labours of the day were finished, and 
 he always provided himseK with some present, suitable for 
 her child's taste, which he laid away in his drawer : an 
 apple, an orange, a bundle of candy, or a gay print. 
 Sometimes the interview was passed with his little friend 
 sitting upon his knee, engaged iu eager converse ; while 
 at others, the noises which proceeded from the office 
 showed that they were indulgiag in a good, hearty romp 
 together. One evening when she came he had no gift for 
 her. At the close of their play, his eye fell upon a new 
 cap, which ilrs. Jackson had latelj- sent him, which was 
 far plainer than that appropriate to a lieutenant-general, 
 but which stni was encircled with one band of broad gold 
 braid. Taking his penknife, he ripped this off, and saying 
 to the child, " This shall be your coronet," fastened it with 
 his OAvn hand round her fail- locks, and then stood contem- 
 platmg her with delight. A letter to his -nufe contains the 
 following reference to it : — 
 
 " I became so much ashamed of the broad gold lace that 
 was on the cap you sent me, as to induce me to take it off. 
 I Uke simplicity." This gift, the reader will say, Jane 
 
406 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEEAL JACKSOK. 
 
 Corbin doubtless preserved with jealous care, to be the 
 most cherished ornament of her womanhood. Alas ! no. 
 The sweet child was destined to precede her hero-friend to 
 that world where they both wear a purer crown ; and the 
 sad mother, now also a soldier's widow, guards it as the 
 memorial of her bereavement. The very day General Jack- 
 son left Moss Neck to prepare for the spring campaign, 
 little Jane was seized with that fearful scourge of the 
 innocents, scarlet fever, and expired after a sickness of a 
 day. The General felt her loss with a pungent grief, but 
 the sterner cares of the army forbade his expending time 
 in the indulgence of sorrow. He left his quarters for the 
 last time, cumbered with the thousand wants of his great 
 command, while the child lay dying. His sympathy with 
 the bereaved parents was also quickened by his own par- 
 ental anxieties. It was about this time that his letters 
 brought him news that his own infant daughter, whose 
 face he had never seen, was ill with a threatening disease. 
 He stated the accounts of its symptoms to his friend Dr. 
 M'Guire, in whose medical wisdom he so confided, and 
 a3ked his advice, that he might M-rite it to his wife. As 
 he closed his inquiries, he said, with a voice quivering 
 with emotion, " I do wish that dear child, if it is God's 
 wiU, to be spared to us." This prayer was answered, and 
 the witnessing of its smUes was the last earthly joy which 
 was assigned to him as he finished his course. 
 
 The winter at Moss Neck was also marked by a further 
 increase of General Jackson's spirituality and Cliristian 
 activity. Like the planet approaching its central sun, his 
 soul moved with accelerated speed toward the Sun of 
 
COREESPONDENCE. 407 
 
 righteousness. As he drew nearer to the centre of his 
 divme attraction his spiritual joy became more abundant. 
 WTiile his modesty was undiminished, his plans of exertion 
 for the Church of God became more bold and comprehen- 
 sive. His enjoyment of the Sabbath day became higher 
 than ever, and every source of happiness was traced up 
 more gratefully to the Heavenly Giver. A few extracts 
 from his letters to his wife are introduced here, evincing 
 the glowing piety of his affections : — 
 
 " Our ever gracious Heavenly Father is exceedingly 
 kuid to me, and strikingly manifests it by the kindness 
 with which He disposes people to treat me." (Then men- 
 tioning a number of presents.) " And so God, my exceed- 
 ing great joy, is continually showering His blessings 
 upon me, an unworthy creature. 
 
 " I hope to have the privilege of joining in prayer for 
 peace at the time you name, and hope that all our Chris- 
 tian people wlH ; but peace should not be the clrief object 
 of prayer in our country. It should aim more specially at 
 imploring God's forgiveness of our sins, and praying that 
 He will make our people a holy people. If we are but 
 His, aU things shall work together for the good of our 
 . country, and no good thing wiU He withhold from it." 
 . ..." If I know my unworthy self, my desire is to live 
 entirely and unreservedly to QodJs glory. Pray that I may 
 so live." 
 
 January nth, 1863. — "I derive an additional pleasure 
 in reading a letter, resulting from a conviction that it has 
 not been travelling on the Sabbath. How delightful will 
 he our heavenly home, where everything is sanctified !" 
 
408 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 January 22d. — " I regret to see our Winchester friends 
 again in tlie hands of the enemy. I trust that, in answer 
 to prayer, our country will soon be blessed with peace. If 
 we were only that obedient people that we should be, I 
 should, with increased confidence, look for a speedy ter- 
 mination of hostilities. Let us pray more, and live more 
 to the glory of God. 
 
 " Our Heavenly Father is continually blessing me with 
 presents. He withholds no good thing from me. I desire 
 to be more thankful, and trust that through His blessing 
 I shall grow in grace." 
 
 Fcbruarij 3d — " I trust that, in answer to the prayers of 
 Ood's peo'pU, He will soon give us peace. I haven't seen 
 my vdfe for nearly a year, and my home for nearly two 
 years ; and I never have seen my sweet little daughter." 
 . . . . " My old brigade has built a log church ; as yet I 
 have not been in it. I am much interested in reading 
 Hunter's ' Life of Moses.' It is a delightful book, and I 
 feel more improved in reading it than by an ordinary 
 sermon. I am thankful to say that my Sabbaths are 
 passed more in meditation than formerly. Time thus 
 spent is genuine enjoyment." 
 
 Writing of some presents from London, he says, " Our 
 ever kind Heavenly Father gives me friends among 
 strangers. He is the source of every blessing, and I desire 
 to be more grateful to Him. 
 
 " To-morrow is the Sabbath. My Sabbaths are looked 
 forward to with pleasure. I don't know that I ever en- 
 joyed Sabbaths as I do this winter. I do hope, trust, and 
 pray, that our people will religiously observe the 27th day 
 
HIS LETTERS AGAINST SABBATH MAILS. 409 
 
 of next month as a day of humiliation, prayer, and fasting, 
 as the President has designated in his proclamation." 
 
 General Jackson, hoping, in common with many of his 
 fellow- citizens, that the victories which God had vouch- 
 safed to the Confederate arms in the year 1862 would 
 convince the Federal people of the wickedness and un- 
 reasonable nature of their war, indulged some expectation 
 that peace was not far off. It was his earnest desire that, 
 when the people of the Confederate States then proceeded 
 to adjust the working of their institutions, they should 
 recognise the rights of God more distinctly, and that the 
 Christian Church should put forth more saving power in 
 society. One subject of his pious solicitude was the laws 
 of Congress which required the carrying and opening of 
 the maUs on the Sabbath ; thus not only permitting, but 
 exacting of a class of the citizens the profaning of the 
 day by secular labour. He had ever been accustomed to 
 cherish a peculiar reverence for the Sabbath day ; and 
 hearing that the propriety of this anti-Christian legislation 
 was discussed in Congress, he exerted every lawful influ- 
 ence to bring about its repeal To his friend the Hon. 
 Mr. Boteler he wrote as follows : — 
 
 " December 10, 1862. 
 
 " My dear Coloxel, — I have read with great interest 
 the Congressional Eeport of the Committee, recommending 
 the repeal of the law requiring the mails to be carried on 
 the Sabbath, and I hope that you will feel it a duty, as 
 well as a pleasure, to urge its repeal. I do not see how a 
 nation that thus arrays itself, by such a law, against God's 
 
410 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 holy day, cau expect to escape His wrath. The piinish- 
 ment of national sins must be confined to this world, as 
 there are no nationalities beyond the grave. For fifteen 
 years I have refused to mail letters on Sunday, or to take 
 them out of the office on that day, except since I came 
 into the field ; and, so far from having to regret my course, 
 it has been a source of true enjoyment. I have never 
 sustained loss in observing what God enjoins, and I am 
 well satisfied that the law should be repealed at the 
 earliest practicable moment. My rule is, to let the Sab- 
 bath mails remain unopened, unless they contain a de- 
 spatch ; but despatches are generally sent by couriers or 
 telegraph, or some special messenger. I do not recollect 
 a single instance of any special despatch having reached 
 me, since the commencement of the war, by the mails. 
 
 " If you desire the repeal of the law, I trust you will 
 bring all your influence to bear in its accomplishment. 
 Now is the time, it appears to me, to effect so desirable an 
 object. I understand that not only our President, hut 
 also most of his Cabinet, and a majority of our Congress- 
 men, are professing Christians. God has gTeatly blessed 
 us, and I trust He will make us that people whose God 
 is the Lord. Let us look to God for an illustration in our 
 history, that ' righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is 
 a reproach to any people.' .... Very truly, your friend, 
 
 " T. J. Jackson." 
 
 Similar letters were also written to others, engaging 
 their assistance to further the repeal of the law. To his 
 friend Colonel Preston of Lexington, an elder of his 
 
LETTER TO COLONEL PRESTON. 411 
 
 ; clrarch, he wrote to the same effect, seeking to enlist his 
 {pen; and afterward to secure, through him, the weight of 
 ;the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church at its 
 '-; approaching meeting. To Colonel Prestoii he wrote 
 It thus : — 
 
 " I greatly desire to see peace, — Messed j^eacc. And I 
 
 ■;am persuaded that if God's people throughout our Con- 
 
 I! federacy will earnestly and perseveringly unite in implor- 
 
 u ing His interposition for peace, we may expect it. Let 
 
 :•' our Government acknowledge the God of the Bible as its 
 
 ;, God, and we may expect soon to be a happy and inde- 
 
 s: pendent people. It appears to me that extremes are to 
 
 be avoided, and it also appears to me that the old United 
 
 I States occupied an extreme position in the means it took 
 
 i to prevent the union of Church and State. We call our- 
 
 selves a Christian people, and it seems to me that our 
 
 ^ Government may be of the same character, without con- 
 
 ._ aecting itself with an established church. It does appear 
 
 ; to me that as oui President, our Congress, and our people 
 
 - have thanked God for victories, and prayed to Him for 
 
 additional ones, and He has answered such prayers, and 
 
 , gives us -a Government, it is gross ingratitude not to 
 
 acknowledge Him in the gift. Let the framework of 
 
 our Government show that we are not ungrateful to 
 
 5 Him." 
 
 But the great work which most engrossed his heart was 
 the spiritual improvement of the army, and especially of 
 his corps. His soul had rejoiced, with unspeakable glad- 
 ness, at the incipient showers of Divine grace which began 
 to descend during the autumn. He had from the first 
 
412 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 lamented the destitution of the army, where more tin 
 half the regiments wei'e without chaplains, and the i 
 efficiency of those who were present. He saw the 
 labouring without plan and concert, and therefore witho 
 efficiency. He saw them leaving their charges in tl 
 midst of hardships and dangers, upon unnecessary gTounc 
 thus unconsciously fostering the feeKng of the unbelievii 
 many, that the spiritual officer was less essential to tl 
 regiment than the secular, and so inviting indifference 
 their labours when they were present. He was accustonK 
 to say, that if an ecclesiastical organization and contr 
 for clergymen had been found necessary in civU life, tht 
 should equally be applied to these military pastors ; ai 
 again, that it was as reasonable that they should be he] 
 to their duties by a due subordination, as surgeons ( 
 captains. It had long been his desire to have son 
 impulse communicated to their labours, and he now mac 
 the following suggestions to the Eev. Dr. White : — 
 
 " Cakoline County, Virginia, 
 March 9th, 1863. 
 " My dear Pastor, — Your letter of the 5th inst ws 
 handed me yesterday. I am much obliged to you for i 
 and thankful to God and yourself for the deep interest yo 
 take in the arni}^, I feel that, if you were a young mai 
 you would delight to labour in the army. Though joi 
 health will not admit of such constant labour, yet I trui 
 that you will find it convenient to come and preach a fe' 
 sermons. I do not feel that I can adequately express b 
 letter the inducements that exist for Christian laboi 
 among our troops. If you could come for a few days aa 
 
LETTER ON chaplains' LABOURS. 413 
 
 f: 
 
 see for yourself, I believe that good would be accomplisbed, 
 not only by your labours here, but by the impressions 
 which you would carry away. 
 ! " When I wrote the letter to Colonel Preston which he 
 i; showed you, I had given up the idea that the Rev. B. T. 
 : Lacy would return." (The letter here referred to had 
 ■ authorized and requested Colonel Preston to invite the 
 i Eev. Dr. Palmer, an eminent minister recently driven from 
 ; his pulpit in ISTew Orleans by the enemy, to come to his 
 . head- quarters and labour as a missionary in his corps ; 
 ^ promising to make a contribution of five hundred dollars 
 i per year to his support out of his private purse.) " He 
 a had visited me soon after my arrival here, and I desired 
 ■° him to labour in my army corps, and expected him to 
 S; return in about a week, though not necessarily to accept a 
 fe proposition which I had made him ; for he told me that, 
 , as he was in charge of a congregation, he could not decide 
 ;.. what his course would be until he should see more respect- 
 ing his charge. Shortly after my writing to Colonel Pres- 
 "; ton, Mr. Lacy returned ; and I hope that, through God's 
 ;i; blessing, his labours will be with the army until the war 
 i-,,- terminates. . . . 
 
 ,- " "Wliilst 1 hope to have Mr. L. in my corps, yet if you 
 J J think that our church, in making a proper distribution of 
 J her ministerial talent and piety, can send to my corps 
 ^f another of her gifted sons, I will be greatly gi-atified, and 
 I wdl contribute to his support as promised in my letter to 
 ,,. Colonel Preston. And I should like very much to have 
 ., Dr. Palmer, judging from what I have heard of him. But 
 j^, I do not wish to make invidious distinctions. My desire 
 
414 LIFE OF LTEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 is to see just such a distribution of labours as will most 
 promote tlie glory of God. . . . 
 
 " You suggest that I give my views and wishes in such 
 form and extent as I am willing should be made public. 
 This I shrink from doing, because it looks like presump- 
 tion in me to come before the public and even intimate 
 what course I think should be pursued by the people of 
 God. I have had so little experience in church matters, 
 as to make it very proper, it appears to me, to keep quite 
 beyond the expression of my views to friends. Whilst I 
 feel that this is the proper course for me to pursue, and 
 the one which is congenial to my feelings, yet if you and 
 Colonel Preston, after prayerful consultation, are of opinion 
 that my name, in connexion with my wishes, wUl be tlie 
 means of doing good, I do not desire any sensibility that I 
 may have to be a drawback in the way of doing good. I 
 desire myself and all that I have to be dedicated to the 
 service of God. So averse am I to appearing as though I 
 would like to attempt in any way publicity to suggest 
 what, in my opinion, the church should do, that I do not 
 feel justified in consenting to my name being used as you 
 have suggested, except after prayerful consultation between 
 yourself and Colonel Preston. I take the liberty of writing 
 to you and him my views ; both of you have had large 
 experience in the church ; you have both been known to 
 the church for years, and, after maturely considering what 
 I write, ymi, can with propriety publish, should you thint 
 best, anything that I may have said, withoiot saying' that 
 such was my view. 
 
 " My views are summed up in a few words, which are 
 
ms PLAN OF ORGANIZATION. 415 
 
 these : each Christian branch of the Church should send 
 into the army some of its most prominent ministers, who 
 are distinguished for their piety, talents, and zeal; and 
 such ministers should labour to produce concert of action 
 among chaplains and Christians in the army. These minis- 
 ters should give special attention to preaching to regiments 
 which are without chaplains, and induce them to take 
 steps to get chaplains, to let the regiments name the 
 denomination from which they desire chaplains selected, 
 and then to see that suitaljle chaplains are secured. A 
 bad selection of a chaplain may prove a curse instead of a 
 blessing. If the few prominent ministers thus connected 
 with each army would cordially co-operate, I believe that 
 glorious fruits would be the result. Denominational dis- 
 tinctions should be kept out of view, and not touched 
 upon ; and, as a general rule, I do not think that a chap- 
 lain who would preach denominational sermons should be 
 in the army. His congregation is his regiment, and it is 
 composed of persons of various denominations. I would 
 like to see no question asked in the army as to what deno- 
 mination a chaplain belongs ; but let the question be, does 
 he preach the Gospel ? The neglect of spiritual interests 
 in the army may be partially seen in the fact that not half 
 of my regiments have chaplains." 
 
 On the 1st of March, the Eev. Mr. Lacy, a minister of the 
 Presbyterian Church, came, on General Jackson's invita- 
 tion, to his head- quarters, to begin the species of labours 
 described in the above letter. The Government, after a 
 time, commissioned him as an army chaplain, without 
 
416 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 assigning him to a particular regiment ; an exceptional act 
 of courtesy accorded to General Jackson's high character 
 and express request. In his letter to his other friends, he 
 had modestly expressed his inexperience of ecclesiastical 
 affairs, and his intention to commit the details of the plan 
 of evangelical laboiirs in the army to the advice of the 
 clergyman, after Mr. Lacy had examined the ground. But 
 the scheme adopted was that which the General had enter- 
 tained in his own mind in the beginning of the campaign 
 of 1862, and which indeed he had then attempted to effect. 
 The exacting nature of the campaign, and the failure to 
 enjoy at that time the assistance upon which he relied for 
 its execution, had caused its postponement. But it was 
 his design which was now in substance resumed. His 
 objects were three : to supply regiments destitute of chap- 
 lains with a partial substitute in the shape of the itinerant 
 labours of efficient ministers ; to supply a channel of in- 
 tercourse between the army and the bodies of clergy of 
 diiferent denominations, through which the latter might 
 learn the wants of the former, and to give to the labours 
 of the chaplains and other ministers in the army the unity 
 and impulse of an ecclesiastical organization within their 
 own peculiar field. His chaplain was intended by him to 
 be an exemplar, who, he hoped, would be followed by 
 many others from among the most efficient preachers of 
 all churches, until they should be brought into vital sym- 
 pathy with the army. 
 
 One of the measures adopted was the preaching of the 
 Gospel at the head-quarters of General Jackson, and 
 under his immediate countenance, every Sabbath, while 
 
THE GAMP CHAPELS. 417 
 
 the troops were in their camps. For tliis end, a place in 
 the open field was prepared near Hamilton's Crossing (to 
 which General Jackson removed his quarters soon after), 
 with rude seats and a temporary pulpit, where public 
 worship was held in the open air. The example of so 
 famous a warrior, always potent among soldiers when 
 sustained by official rank, the curiosity to see him and the 
 galaxy of celebrities who came to worship with him, the 
 eloquence of the preachers, and the purer motives which 
 the great religious awakening now began to propagate far 
 and wide, soon drew a vast congregation to this spot on 
 the Sabbath days. From hundreds it grew to thousands, 
 until the assemblage surrounded the preacher in a com- 
 pact mass, as far as his voice could be distinctly heard. 
 Here, on a bright Sabbath in the spring, might be seen 
 the stately head of the Commander-in-Chief, with a crowd 
 of generals, whose names had been borne by fame across 
 the ocean, and of legislators and statesmen, bowed along 
 with the multitude of private soldiers in divine worship ; 
 while the solemn and tender wave of sacred emotion sub- 
 dued the great and the unknown alike before it. At 
 these scenes, which were so directly produced by his 
 instrumentality, General Jackson was the most unobtru- 
 sive assistant. Seated in some retired spot amidst the 
 private soldiers, he listened to the worship and the preaching 
 with an edifying attention, and watched the power of the 
 truth upon the great congregation, with a glow of elevated 
 and tender delight. Never, since the days when White- 
 field preached to the mingled crowd of peers and beggars 
 VOL. H. 2 D 
 
418 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 in Moorfields, has the sky looked down iipon a more 
 imposing worship. 
 
 Another enterprise which marked the evangelical 
 labours of this winter was the building of temporary 
 chapels by the men for their own worship. Two or three 
 contiguous regiments usually concurred in the work. Tall 
 trees were cut down and brought to the spot by the teams 
 of the quartermasters, and built into walls of logs. 
 Chimneys were built of the same rude material, and 
 plastered with clay, whence the huge fires and the torches 
 of resinous pine diffused a ruddy glow of warmth and 
 light. The structure was roofed with clapboards, and 
 seated with rude benches formed from the split bodies of 
 trees. The Stonewall Brigade was the first to begia this 
 work, to General Jackson's great delight. No sooner 
 had they completed their own huts, than they set to 
 work, and, by a multitude of wUling hands, completed 
 their church in a few days. The next Sabbath it was for- 
 mally dedicated to the worship of God, and, during the 
 winter, was constantly occupied in turn by the chaplains 
 of the several regiments. During the week frequent 
 meetings for prayer and Bible classes were held here by 
 torchlight, and the men were encouraged to expend theii 
 leisure in the study of the Scriptures and in sacred music, 
 instead of the degrading amusements of the card-table. 
 As this chapel was near the quarters of General Jackson, 
 he often came to worship in it with his favourite brigade. 
 Instead of affecting the chief seat in the synagogue, he 
 delighted to sit among the rough, weather-beaten privates, 
 and lay aside all official dignity to accompany them to the 
 
THE chaplains' ASSOCIATION. 419 
 
 Throne of Grace on tlie common footing of worshippers. 
 Their reverence for his person sometimes led them to 
 leave a respectful distance between themselves and tlie 
 seat he occupied ; but he would never consent that any 
 space should be thus lost, where so many were crowding 
 to hear the word. As he saw them seeking seats else- 
 where, he was accustomed to rise and invite them by 
 gestmre to the vacancies near him, and was never so well 
 satisfied as when he had an unkempt soldier touching his 
 elbow on either hand, and all the room about him com- 
 pactly filled. Then he was ready to address himself with 
 his usual fixed attention to the services. 
 
 The most important measure which he introduced was 
 the weekly chaplains' meeting. This was a temporary 
 association of all the chaplains and evangelists of his 
 corps, who, on meeting, appointed one of their own number 
 to preside as a chairman or moderator, and another as 
 their secretary, and, after joining in public worship, pro- 
 ceeded to consult upon the spiritual interests of their 
 charges, to arrange and concert their labours, and to 
 devise means for supplying the destitution of the army. 
 These councils were a true evangelical union. By a 
 common and silent consent, which bears high testimony 
 to the dultivation and honour of these laborious men, all 
 subjects of sectarian debate were effectually excluded, and 
 their deliberations were confined to the interests of our 
 common Christianity. But it was also a high evidence of 
 the general soundness of religious opinion in the Confede- 
 rate States, that there was not a single regiment in the 
 army which showed a disposition to introduce a minister 
 
420 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 wlio did not belong to an evangelical and ortliodox com- 
 munion as their chaplain, except one or two priests of the 
 Eomish Church. On the other hand, the office in the 
 Federal army was as frequently filled by Universalists 
 and other erratic heretics, or by laymen who never 
 preached, as by regular ministers of the gospel. 
 
 General Jackson displayed liis delicate sense of pro- 
 priety by not attending these weekly synods of his chap- 
 lains statedly himself But he watched them with lively 
 interest. As soon as his own chaplain returned from 
 them he was accustomed to call him, and say, " JS'ow, 
 come and report." He inquired into aU that was said and 
 done, and all the measures proposed, for evangelizing his 
 command. When he was told of the fraternal love which 
 reigned among his chaplains, of the devout spirit mani- 
 fested in their worship, and of the news of the ingathering 
 of souls which they brought from their several charges, his 
 eyes were often fiUed with happy tears, and he blessed 
 God for the grace. The stated meetings of the chaplains 
 were the means of awakening them to a greatly increased 
 zeal and fidelity, as well as for adding system and concert 
 to their labours. So that this service, which, whde adorned 
 by the fidelity of a number of truly apostolic men, had 
 yet fallen, in general, into no little disfavour, was now 
 thoroughly renovated. Thus the energy of General Jack- 
 son's will, though so modestly exerted, made itseK felt 
 among his chaplains, just as among his staff and field- 
 officers, in communicating efficiency and vigour to all 
 their performance of duty. It was remarked of him, that 
 while no general officer had so unpretending a stafl^ none 
 
Jackson's interest in the weekly meetings. 421 
 
 other was so efficient as his. This was due not so much 
 to the character of the men who constituted it, as to the 
 force of his own example and energy in inspiring the spirit 
 of endeavour among all who were subject to his authority. 
 The weekly meetings of the chaplains effected more 
 good than he had hoped from them ; for he had warned 
 others not to anticipate too much. Hence, when he found 
 that his plans were bearing so much fruit, he was fiUed 
 with delight. One of the benefits of the movement was 
 the briuging of the ministers in the army into closer con- 
 nexion with his person. His own chaplain was a bond of 
 union also between himself and the others, through which 
 they were encouraged to visit his quarters more unreserv- 
 edly, and to know and love him, not as a commander only, 
 but also as a Christian. To every worthy preacher of the 
 gospel his manner was full of warmth and tenderness, 
 showing that he esteemed him very highly in love for 
 his work's sake. Everything was done with a thoughtful 
 affection to facilitate their labours, and provide for their 
 comforts. His contributions from his private purse were 
 also large, to provide them with means for supplying their 
 charges with Bibles and religious reading. The Govern- 
 ment had never made any provision for the support of the 
 chaplains in their work, other than a very inadequate 
 salary. The General now applied to the Military Com- 
 mittee of Congi-ess to bring in a law enabling quarter- 
 masters to provide chaplains, like other officers, with tents, 
 fuel, and forage for horses. This just measure was indeed 
 neglected amidst the hurry of the closing session, but was 
 finally adopted by a subsequent Congress. 
 
423 LIFK OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 General Jackson, in his intercourse with his chaplains, 
 often inculcated their obligation to " endure hardness, as 
 good soldiers of Jesus Christ," to live with their regiments, 
 and acquire their confidence by sharing their exposures, 
 and to cleave to their work amidst all the pains and crosses 
 which the common soldiers were compelled by the law of 
 their country to endure. He said that a cliaplain should 
 not think of resigning his post for any less cause than 
 would justify a field-officer in laying down his commis- 
 sion ; and that they should no more think than he, of 
 leaving his regiment without a regular furlough, founded 
 upon just cause. To do so, he argued, taught the men by 
 a practical lesson that the soul was less important than 
 the body, and that secular duties were more urgent than 
 the business of redemption. 
 
 AVhen with chaplains whom he esteemed like-minded. 
 General Jackson was very sure to turn all conversation 
 speedily into a spiritual channel. With intimate Chris- 
 tian friends, the things of God were almost his exclusive 
 topics in private. His favourite subjects now were, the 
 importance of an unshaken faith ; of casting all our care 
 upon God in the diligent performance of duty ; and of the 
 evidences of the Divine faithfuhiess in the course of Pro- 
 vidence and redemption. He spoke emphatically of the 
 duty of conforming our wills to God's, and of a thoroughly 
 cheerfid acquiescence whenever His will was manifested. 
 He was often delighted to speculate upon the modes in 
 which the Divine will might be safely ascertained. His 
 favourite maxim was : " Duty is ours ; consequences are 
 God's." He spoke much also of the blessedness of a full 
 
SUBJECTS OF CONVERSATION. 423 
 
 and hearty obedience, in its effects upon the Christian's 
 own happiness. He often declared that it was his first 
 desire to command a " converted army." This, he believed, 
 enjoying the spiritual favour of God upon their individual 
 souls, engaged in a just cause, and undertaking every 
 enterprise with prayer, must meet with success, and prove 
 in the end invincible. He spoke frequently also of the 
 connexion between national obedience and public pros- 
 perity; declarkig that it is holiness which exalteth a 
 people; and showing the supreme importance of the 
 Government at least refraining from placing itself in any 
 way in opposition to God's laws and institutions. Hence 
 his zeal for the outward and spiritual observance of the 
 Sabbath, which has been noted. 
 
 One more favourite project remains to be mentioned, in 
 which about this time he sought to interest those who met 
 him. This was the establishment of a Christian daily 
 newspaper, which should honour God by refraining from 
 aU Sabbath work. He argued that their issue of Monday 
 should contain nothing printed after Saturday evening, 
 . and that Christians should be willing to receive their 
 news later by one day once during the week in order to 
 honour God's law. If this delay should diminish the cir- 
 culation of such a journal, and make it less remunerative 
 than others, he declared that he was wiUing to repay a 
 part of this loss out of his own means. 
 
 As soon as his quarters were established at Hamilton's 
 Crossing, he began the custom of regular domestic worship 
 in his mess each morning. These services were wdlingly 
 attended by all his staff, out of respect for his Christian 
 
424 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 character, or from their own interest in tliem. He, who 
 was of all men least obtrusive in his religion, forbore from 
 commanding their attendance, although his beaming face 
 indicated plainly enough the pleasure he felt in seeing 
 them present. Whenever his chaplain was not there, he 
 alwaj's conducted these services himself, with his cus- 
 tomary unction and humility. On Wednesday and Sun- 
 day nights, there was also a prayer-meeting observed at 
 his quarters, where he was always a worshipper, and led 
 the devotions of his brethren when desired to do so by a 
 minister. A few of the young men upon his staff had 
 cultivated the delightful art of sacred music. On the 
 afternoon of the Sabbaths, when the necessary business, 
 which he always reduced within the narrowest limits, was 
 despatched, it was his favourite occupation to have sing- 
 ing ; and frequently, as the little choir was concluding, he 
 said, "ISTow let us have the hymn" — 
 
 ' ' How happy are they 
 Who their Saviour obey." 
 
 On every intelligent Christian who approached him at this 
 time he made the impression of the most eminent sanctity. 
 They all left him with this testimony: that he was the 
 holiest man they had ever seen. 
 
 The following extracts from letters to Mrs. Jackson may 
 be introduced here : — 
 
 "March lith, 1863. 
 
 " On next Monday there is to be a meeting of the chap- 
 lains of my corps, and I pray that good may result from 
 the meeting. 
 
LETTEES. 425 
 
 "The time lias about come for campaigning, and I hope 
 early next week to leave my room and go into a tent near 
 Hamilton's Crossing, which is on the railroad, about five 
 miles from Fredericksburg. It is rather a relief to get 
 where there will be less comfort than in a room ; as 1 hope 
 thereby persons will be prevented from encroaching so 
 much on my time. I am greatly behind with my reports, 
 and am desirous of getting through with them before 
 another campaign commences." 
 
 ''April Wth. 
 
 " I trust that God is going to bless us with great suc- 
 cess, and in such a manner as to show that it is all His 
 gift ; and I trust and pray that it will lead our country to 
 acknowledge Him, and to live in accordance with His will 
 as revealed in the Bible. There appears to be an increased 
 rehgious interest among our troops here. Our chaplains 
 have weekly meetings on Tuesdays ; and the one of this 
 week was more charmmg than the preceding one," etc. 
 
 The effort thus begun in General Jackson's corps was 
 imitated in the others. The movement was not limited 
 to the army of Virginia, but was also propagated in the 
 South and West. Soon the General Assembly of the 
 Presbyterian Church, and the other ecclesiastical authori- 
 ties, encouraged by the advice which the friends of General 
 Jackson were permitted to quote from him, began to take 
 action on behalf of the army, and a number of the most 
 distinguished ministers were sent to the different corps 
 to labour with the chaplains as itinerants, and to commu- 
 nicate the wants of the army to the churches. The speedy 
 
42 G LIFE OF LIEUT. GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 fall of the originator of the work rather gave new impetus 
 to it than retarded it; and the result was, that general 
 revival of religion in the Confederate armies, which has 
 been even more astonishing to the world than the hercu- 
 lean exertions of the Confederate States. A wide-spread 
 reform of morals was wrought, which was olovious to every 
 spectator, in the repression of profanity and drunkenness, 
 the increase of order and discipline, and the good conduct of 
 the troops in battle. It was just those commands in which 
 this work of grace was most powerful that became the 
 most trustworthy in the post of danger. The brigade of 
 Barksdale, for instance, which had held its gTOund in 
 Fredericksburg with almost incredible resolution under 
 the great bombardment, was equally noted for its religious 
 zeaL Eeturning to their post of honour in the city, they 
 occupied one of the deserted churches as their chapel, and 
 maintained a constant series of nightly meetings, attended 
 by numerous conversions, for many weeks. In short, the 
 conversions in the various Confederate armies within the 
 ensuing year were counted, by the most sober estimate, at 
 twelve thousand men. The strange spectacle was now 
 presented of a people among whom the active religious 
 life seemed to be transferred from the churches at home 
 — the customary seats of piety — to the army; which, 
 among other nations, has always been dreaded as the school 
 of vice and infidelity. Thus the grief and fears of the 
 good, lest this gigantic war should arrest the religious 
 training of the whole youth of the land, cut off the supply 
 of young preachers for its pulpits, and rear up for the 
 country a generation of men profane and unchristian, were 
 
NEW CAJirAIGN OPENS. 427 
 
 happily consoled ; they accepted this new marvel, of an 
 army made the home and source of the religious life of a 
 nation, with grateful joy, as another evidence of the favour 
 of God to the afflicted people. 
 
 The reader has seen an allusion of General Jackson's 
 letter to the bright hopes which he entertained of a pros- 
 perous campaign. ]3y his diligence during the winter his 
 corps had been brought to such numbers and efficiency as 
 it had never reached before. It now contained more than 
 thirty thousand fighting men ; and it was animated by a 
 towering spirit of determination and confidence. It was 
 soon after his removal to Hamilton's Crossing that a 
 member of his staff, alluding to the reported vast prepa- 
 rations of the enemy, described to him the temper of his 
 own men, and their eagerness for the coming collision. As 
 he listened the fire of battle kindled more and more in his 
 face, until he sprang from his seat, and exclaimed : " I 
 wish the enemy would come on !" Then raising his eyes 
 reverently, he added : " My trust is in God." Thus his 
 spirit was girding itself for the coming struggle with faith 
 and prayer. The collision which was approaching pro- 
 mised indeed to be one which might well have made the 
 heart stand still with awe. Hooker, was again recruiting 
 his monstrous army to its former numbers, and was pre- 
 paring every means for a new advance on Eichmond. 
 The precursor of the new campaign was an irruption of 
 three thousand Federal cavalry across Kelly's Ford into 
 the county of Culpepper. The design of their general, 
 AveriU, was to reach the Central Eailroad, ascertain some- 
 thing of the positions and numbers of the Confederates, 
 
428 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 and break up their line of supplies toward Gordonsville. 
 But General Stuart met him near Kelly's Ford with eight 
 hundred men of the brigade of TitzHugh Lee, and after a 
 stubbornly-contested combat drove him back across the 
 Eappahannock. 
 
 Tlie season of quiet was happily closed for General 
 Jackson by a visit from his wife and daughter. Having 
 secured lodgings for them at the neighbouiing country-seat 
 of a gentleman, near Hamilton's Crossing, he yielded at 
 length to Mrs. Jackson's solicitations, and to his own 
 affection, and about the middle of April met them at the 
 railroad station. The arrival of the mail-train from 
 Richmond was the signal every day for the assemblage of 
 a great crowd of of&cers and soldiers off duty around the 
 place. In the midst of these the General came forward to 
 the doors of the cars to receive his expected treasures. 
 
 The infant, refreshed by long slumber, had just 
 awakened, and looked up at him with a countenance very 
 fresh and liright. His first care after the accustomed 
 salutation was to get the mother and child safely through 
 the crowd and rain into the carriage which was to convey 
 them to their temporary home. Arrived there, he divested 
 himself of his wet overcoat, and taking his baby into his 
 arms, caressed it with tender delight, exclaiming upon its 
 beauty and size. Henceforth his chief pleasure was in. 
 caressing her, and he was several times seen, while she was 
 sleeping, kneeling long over her cradle, watching her with 
 a face beaming with admiration and happiness. 
 
 This visit was a source of unalloyed delight to him. 
 His first care was to make arrangements for the baptism of 
 
VISIT FROM MRS. JACKSOX. 429 
 
 tlie child; for the uncertainties of the day warned him 
 that both the parents might not speedily meet again to 
 concur in the sacred rite. He therefore caused his chap- 
 lain to administer baptism to it at the quarters of Mrs. 
 Jackson, among a small circle of their personal friends. 
 Such was his devotion to duty, that the attractions of his 
 family made slight change in his busy habits ; and his 
 time was employed as strictly as e^'er in the care of his 
 command. After the labours of the day were completed, 
 he wag accustomed to leave his tent and dine with one or 
 two comrades with Mrs. Jackson, spending his evenings 
 with her, chiefly in joyous romps with little Julia. She, 
 on her part, immediately formed the closest intimacy with 
 her new admirer, and learned to prefer his caresses to all 
 others. 
 
430 LIFE OF LtEaT.-GESEEAL JACKSOX. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX, 
 
 CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 As the time drew near for that resumption of active 
 hostilities, which General Jackson knew to be inevitable, 
 his temper began to rise in its animation and resolve to 
 meet the crisis. He now spoke with less reserve than 
 before to the members of his military family concerning 
 the general principles which should govern the war upon 
 the Confederate side. Speaking of the coming campaign, 
 he said, with an intense concentration of fire and wiU, 
 " We must make it an exceedingly active one. Only thus 
 can a weaker country cope with a stronger ; it must make 
 up in activity what it lacks in strength. A defensive 
 campaign can only be made successful by taking the 
 aggressive at the proper time. Napoleon never waited for 
 his adversary to become fully prepared ; but struck him 
 the first blow by virtue of his superior activity." 
 
 Early upon the 29tli of April, he was aroused by a mes- 
 sage, which said that an officer was below with something 
 important to communicate immediately. As he arose he 
 remarked, "That sounds as if something stirring were afoot." 
 After a few moments he returned and informed Mrs. 
 Jackson that General Early, to whom he had committed 
 
ENEMY CHOSS THE RIVER. 431 
 
 the guardianship of the river bank, had sent his adjutant 
 to report that Hooker was crossing in force. He said that 
 great events were probably at hand, and that he must go 
 immediately to verify the news he had received ; that if it 
 were as he supposed, and the hostilities were about to be 
 resumed on a great scale, Mr. Yerby's would be no place 
 for a lady and infant ; and she would be compelled to 
 retire to Richmond. He therefore requested Mrs. Jackson 
 to make immediate preparations for her journey, so that, 
 if his surmises proved true, she might leave at a moment's 
 warning in the forenoon. He promised, if it were prac- 
 ticable, to return in person and assist her departure, but 
 added that, as his duties might deprive him of the power 
 to do so, he would say good-bye now. Thus, after an affec- 
 tionate leave-taking, he hurried away, without breakfast, 
 and she saw him no more until she returned to the side of 
 his dying bed. Her heart was oppressed with gloomy 
 forebodings for his safety, arising from her anticipation of 
 the desperate struggle into which she well knew it was 
 his purpose to plunge, rather than yield ground to his 
 gigantic adversary ; his animated eagerness seemed to 
 leave him no time for such thoughts for self. 
 
 Hurrying to his troops, he now made it his first busi- 
 ness to communicate the movements of the enemy to the 
 Commander-in Chief. The aide whom he sent found him 
 still in his tent ; and in reply to the message, he said, 
 " Well, I heard firing, and I was beginning to think it was 
 time some of you lazy young fellows were coming to tell 
 me what it was all about. Say to General Jackson that 
 he knows just as well what to do with the enemy as I do." 
 
432 LIFE OF LIBUT.-GENERAL JACKSOiN. 
 
 This answer indicated his high confidence in his great 
 Lieutenant ; and the strain of kindly pleasantry habitual 
 with Lee had a happy influence in infusing into all who 
 came near him his own composure and serene courage in 
 great emergencies. When General Jackson joined his 
 troops, he found so much demanding his oversight that he 
 did not return to the assistance of his wife, but sent her 
 brother, his aide, Lieutenant Joseph Morrison, to provide 
 her with an ambulance, and escort her to Guinea's Station, 
 whence she was to proceed by railroad to Eichmond. This 
 young oflicer, eager to be in the post of danger with his 
 chief, transferred his task to his chaplain, who convoyed 
 her to Guinea's, and then also hurried back to his duties 
 with the army. 
 
 When General Jackson got his corps under arms, he 
 saw that the Federalists were crossing in great force below 
 Deep Run, and entrenching themselves at the edge of the 
 plateau, on the same ground occupied by FrankUn and 
 Hooker at the battle of Fredericksburg. He estimated 
 their numbers at thirty-five thousand men. But he saw 
 at a glance that there was, as yet, no sufficient evidence 
 that Hooker was about to provoke a serious collision on 
 the ground which had been so disastrous to Burnside. 
 That ground had now been strengthened by a continuous 
 line of field-works along the edge of the plateau near the 
 Spottsylvania hills, and by a second partial line within the 
 verge of the forest. He suspected that this crossing was 
 the feint, while the real movement was made upon one or 
 the other flank, and he therefore awaited the reports of the 
 vigilant Stuart, whose cavalry pickets were stretched from 
 
hooker's true plan. 433 
 
 Port Eoyal to the higher course of the Eappahanock. It 
 has abeacly been explained that the character of the 
 ground rendered an assault upon the enemy near the 
 northern edge of the plain inexpedient, because of their 
 commanding artDIery upon the Stafford heights. 
 
 The Confederate generals were not long left in doubt. 
 Stuart soon reported appearances which indicated a passage 
 of the Eappahannoek by Hooker west of Fredericksburg. 
 He had now restored the Federal army to the same vast 
 numbers which had accompanied Burnside, and discarding 
 , the three grand divisions with their C(jmmanders, which 
 had afforded to him, when one of the three, so good a pre- 
 text for insubordination, had thrown his forces into nine 
 corps cTarm4e, commanded by as many generals, besides the 
 cavahy division under Stoneman. The plan of campaign 
 which he now adopted was a complicated one. , He pro- 
 posed with three corps under General Sedgwick to cross 
 the Eappahannoek below Fredericksburg, and make a de- 
 monstration sufficiently formidable in appearance to occupy 
 General Lee there. Meantime, the remainder of his great 
 army was to proceed by forced marches up the northern 
 bank of the Eappahannoek, screened from observation by 
 the forest country and an intervening line of pickets, to 
 Kelly's Ford. There he proposed to force a passage into 
 Culpepper, and marching rapidly to Germanna and Ely's 
 Fords, upon the Eapidan, in a south-easterly direction, 
 to cross them while the Confederates were amused at 
 Fredericksburg, establish himself in the wilderness of 
 Spottsylvania, and fortify on General Lee's flank. If he 
 remained at Fredericksburg, Hooker persuaded himself 
 VOL. n. 2 E 
 
434 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JAUJibUW. 
 
 that he would be able, from this new temporary base, to 
 command his communications with Eichmond. If he left 
 Fredericksburg, to make head agauist this formidable 
 threat upon his left and rear, Hooker proposed to withdraw 
 the larger part of his troops employed in tlie feint there, 
 to bring them over byj;lie United States Ford, which his 
 movement into the wilderness would uncover to him, and 
 receive the attack of General Lee in his entrenched posi- 
 tion. While his infantry was thus employed, nearly all 
 his cavalry, under Stoneman, was to cross the Eapidan 
 above the army, upon a grand raid, to penetrate the 
 country across the Central Eailroad, destroy it, pass down 
 toward the junction of the Central and Fredericksburg 
 roads, cut the latter, and thus break up all communication 
 between the Confederates and their capital The Federal 
 Commander had persuaded himself that General Lee was 
 laid aside by sickness, that aU his force, except Jackson's 
 corps, was either absent with Longstreet, or disaffected and 
 scattered, and that with his vast numbers he would easily 
 surround and crush the remainder, leaving no organized 
 foe between him and Eichmond. In his usual boastful 
 spirit he exalted the invincibility of his host, declaring it 
 to be the " finest army upon the planet." 
 
 To meet this tremendous force. General Lee had the 
 corps of General Jackson, and two divisions of the corps 
 of General Longstreet, those of Anderson and M'Laws. 
 The other three, with Longstreet, under Hood, Pickett, 
 Eansom, were absent in south-eastern Vii-ginia, ruaking a 
 demonstration against Suffolk, whither they had been 
 directed by the scarcity of forage and food in Spottsyl- 
 
MOVEMENTS AGAINST HOOKER. 435 
 
 vania. The corps of General Jackson now consisted 
 of four divisions, — those of A. P. Hill ; D. H. Hill, 
 commanded by Brigadier General Ehodes; Trimble, 
 commanded by Brigadier-General Colston ; and Early. 
 General D. H. Hill had been detached to another and more 
 important command, and jNIaj or- General Trimble was 
 detained by infirmity at his home. The four divisions 
 now contained about t^venty- eight thousand muskets, and 
 an aggregate of more than thirty thousand men and 
 officers. They were supported by twenty- eight field 
 batteries, containing one hundred and fifteen guns, but of 
 these many were deficient in horses to move them with 
 promptitude. The scarcity of forage had reduced the 
 larger part of the artillery horses, and had destroyed not a 
 few. Besides these batteries, the army was still accom- 
 panied by a reserved corps of artillery, commanded by 
 Brigadier-General Pendleton. Stuart's division of cavalry 
 was also acting upon the left. So that General Lee had, 
 in all, an aggregate of about forty-five thousand men, with 
 which to meet one hundred and twenty-five thousand. 
 
 The enemy no sooner appeared upon the Eapidan, 
 than General Anderson's division was marched westward 
 to meet them, supported by a part of M'Laws's. On 
 Thursday, the remainder of iI'Laws's brigade, except one 
 left upon Marye's Hill, was sent to the support of Ander- 
 son. Meantime, General Jackson lay in the lines occu- 
 pied by the Confederate army on the 13th of December, 
 watching the proceedings of Sedgwick before him, who 
 was ostentatiously parading his force, and seeking to 
 magnify the impression of his numbers. The attitude of 
 
d36 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Hooker was now most threatening to the Confederates ; 
 l3ut he had committed the capital error of dividing his 
 army, and operating with the parts upon two lines, which, 
 although convergent, were exterior lines to General Lee. 
 The latter had his option to attack the one or the other 
 part with the weight of his main force, and thus to deal 
 with the two fragments in detail. No doulDt could be 
 entertained by the true strategist as to this leading prin- 
 ciple. When some person about the staff, after the 
 development of Hooker's x^lan, expressed his anxiety and 
 his fear lest the army should be compelled to retreat 
 before him. General Jackson replied sharply, " Who said 
 tliat ? No, sir, we shall not fall back ; we shall attack 
 tliem." But the question to be decided was, which part 
 should be attacked first ? In favour of assailing Sedgwick 
 were some plaiisible reasons. Time was an important 
 element in the movements of the inferior army, possessing 
 the interior lines ; and if it were not improved, the loss of 
 its own line of communications, or the approximation of 
 the two separated parts of its enemy would speedily 
 transfer the advantage of concentration to him again. 
 But Jackson was already in front of Sedgwick, and no 
 march was necessary to bring him into collision with him ; 
 whereas a day must be consumed in going to the wilder- 
 ness to seek Hooker. Sedgwick's was also the smaller 
 force ; but still, its overthrow would probably decide the 
 failure of Hooker's grand combination. These considera- 
 tions were counterbalanced by the facts that Sedgwick 
 had now entrenched himself, and that the assault upon 
 him must be made under the tire of the Stafford batteries. 
 
MOVEMEXTS AGAINST HOOKEK. 437 
 
 After animated discussion between Generals Lee and 
 Jackson, the former decided to meet Sedgwick's feint by a 
 feint ; to lea.ve Early's division, of about seven thousand 
 men, in the entrenchments with Barksdale's brigade, upon 
 Marye's Hill, to confront his thirtj^'-five thousand, while 
 the whole remainder of the army stole away to reinforce 
 Generals Anderson and M'Laws, and to take the aggressive 
 against Hooker. In this plan General Jackson cheerfully 
 acquiesced. 
 
 Thursday, the 30th of April, had now arrived, and he 
 prepared to break up his quarters. The opening of the 
 campaign had metamorphosed the whole man. Those 
 who had seen him in his winter quarters, toiling with a 
 patient smile o^'er his heaps of official papers, who had 
 received his gentle and almost feminine kindnesses there, 
 who had only beheld him among his chaplains, or at 
 public worship, the deferential and tender Christian, had 
 been tempted to wonder whether this were indeed the 
 thunderbolt of -war he was described by fame ; and 
 whether so meek a spirit as his would be capable of 
 directing its terrors. But when they met him on this 
 mornmg, all such doubts fled before his first glance. His 
 step was quick and firm, his whole stature unconsciously 
 erected and elate with genius and majesty, while all- com- 
 prehending thought, decision, and unconquerable will, 
 burned in his eye. His mind seemed, with equal rapidity 
 and clearness, to remember everything, and to judge 
 everything. In a firm and decisive tone he issued his 
 rapid orders to every branch of his service, overlooking 
 nothing which could possibly affect the efficiency of his 
 
438 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 corps. The tents, -whicli for a month and a half had 
 formed his quarters, Avere now alDoiit to be struck and 
 removed, when he rode up to them for the last time. A 
 mob of officers, aides, soldiers, and teamsters, was bustling 
 around, in all the confusion of a hurried removal, when he 
 dismounted and threw the rein of his horse to his servant 
 Jim, and retired within his tent. A moment after, he 
 raised his hand to the people around, with a warning- 
 gesture, and whispered, " Hush. . . . The General is 
 praying !" An instant silence fell on every person. After 
 a full quarter of an hour he raised the curtain and came 
 out, with an elevated and serene countenance, and mount- 
 ing his horse, after some final directions, rode away. That 
 tent had, doubtless, been pitched with prayer ; and now 
 the last act of its occupant was prayer. With this final 
 preparation he turned to meet the enemies of his country. 
 General Lee had now proceeded in person to examine 
 the formidable demonstration of Hooker above, and had 
 written back to General Jackson informing him of the 
 situation of affairs, and instructing him to move to his 
 support. The enemy, in great force, had crossed the Eapidan 
 at Germanna and Ely's Fords, driving back the guards 
 placed there by General Stuart; had advanced into the 
 country a number of miles, uncovering for themselves the 
 United States Ford, which crosses the Eappahannock a 
 mile below the junction of the two rivers, and had estab- 
 lished themselves at the villa of Chancellorsville, fifteen 
 miles west of Fredericksburg. The reader's attention must 
 now be claimed for a description of the place. Two main 
 roads lead from Fredericksburg, westward, to Orange, — the 
 
COUNTET ROUND CHANCELLOESVILLE. 439 
 
 one called the old turnpike, because first made ; the other, 
 called the plank-road, becgjise once paved with wooden 
 hoards. The plank-road is south of the old turnpike, and 
 separated from it during the most of its course by a space 
 of a few miles. But the traveller who proceeds along it 
 from Fredericksburg, westward, at the distance of fifteen 
 miles from the town finds the two thoroughfares merge 
 themselves into one, and continue to pursue the same track 
 for three miles, when they again diverge, even more widely 
 than before ; the plank-road, as before, bearing towards 
 the left or south. At the spot where the two highways 
 unite stood the ample villa of Chancellor, in the midst of a 
 farm of a mile in extent, which, like an island amidst the 
 waters, was surrounded on every side by forests. From 
 the same spot two other roads diverged, — the one leading 
 toward the north-east and Banks' Ford ; the other, toward 
 the north-west. This last, after proceeding two miles, 
 di^dded into two, of which the right or northern branch 
 led to the United States Ford, and the left or western to 
 the ford of Ely, over the Eapidan. The surface of the 
 country around ChancellorsvilLe is undulating, but presents 
 no hnis of great altitude. Immediately west of that farm 
 begins the country known as the wilderness of Spottsyl- 
 vania, — a region interspersed with a few small and inferior 
 farms, but whose poor and gravelly soil is otherwise 
 covered, for a few miles, with a tangled forest of oak and 
 shrubbery. It was in this region that the fuel had been 
 cut, ever since the days -when Governor Spottiswoode of 
 the colony first wrought the iron mines of the neighbour- 
 hood, to supply the furnaces. Hence arose the dense cop - 
 
440 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 pices which covered the larger part of the surface of the 
 country, in which every stump had sent up two or three 
 minor stems in place of the parent trunk removed by the 
 axe of the woodsman, and the undergrowth had availed 
 itself of the temporary flood of sunlight let in upon the 
 soil, to occupy it with an almost impenetrable thicket of 
 dwarf oak, chinc[uepin, and M'hortlebeiTy. But six or 
 seven miles west of Chancellorsville, the Wilderness Eun, 
 a pellucid stream flowing northward to the Eapidan, 
 presents a zone of better soil, which is covered with hand- 
 some farms and country seats. 
 
 Hooker had concentrated his forces at Chancellorsville 
 by the 30th of April, and was now bu.sy in protecting 
 himself by barricades and earthworks fronting toward the 
 east, south, and south-west ; which, with an irregular cir- 
 cuit, conformed to the gentle declivities of the surface, 
 embraced not only the whole farm of Chancellor, but an 
 annular belt of the forest in which it was embosomed also. 
 By this arrangement. Hooker's whole circuit of defences 
 was masked in the woods ; and, as the thickets in front 
 were infested with his sharpshooters, an exact discovery 
 of the position and nature of his works could only be made 
 by an attack in force. The difficulties of the assault were 
 thus vastly increased ; and it was with some show of 
 reason that the braggart General declared on Thursday 
 that he now had a position from which nothing could dis- 
 lodge him. The longer axis of the partially entrenched 
 camp thus formed, extending from east to west, was about 
 two miles. But other works were stretched two or three 
 miles farther westward, fronting toward the south and 
 
HOOKEli ARRESTED AT CHANCELLORSVILLE. 441 
 
 south-west, and designed to cover the turnpike and the 
 two farms of Melzi Cliancellor and Talley, which were 
 also occupied with Federal camps, from an attack coming 
 from the south. 
 
 Having thus established himself, Hooker hegan on 
 Thursday to push forward his skirmishing parties to the 
 east, in order to feel his way toward General Lee's sup- 
 posed rear, and to reach his hand toward Sedgwick. Pro- 
 ceeding three miles toward Fredericksburg, he was estopped 
 by the division of lieneral Anderson at Tabernacle Church, 
 which was dra^vn up on a strong north and south line, and 
 defended on its flanks by artillery and cavalry. To his 
 assistance M'Laws came speedily ; and it was expected 
 that General Stuart, who had retired out of Culpepper 
 before the Federalists, and had placed himself upon their 
 south front, would connect himself with General Ander - 
 son's left before dawn on Friday morning. Meantime 
 Hooker was endeavouring to watch every Confederate 
 movement by means of sundry balloons raised to the sky 
 from the north side of the Eappahannock, from which 
 his scouts maintained a constant intercourse 'with the 
 earth and with his headquarters by telegraph wires. Such 
 was the position of affairs at nightfall on the last day of 
 April. 
 
 General Jackson now debated with himself the question 
 of moving to the support of General Anderson at once by 
 a night march, or of awaiting the dawn of Friday the 1 st 
 of May. He was reluctant to adopt the former determina- 
 tion, because the troops would be unfitted for the arduous 
 work before them, by occupying in the toil of a march the 
 
442 LIFE OF LIEUT. GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 hours which should be devoted to sleep. But, on the other 
 hand, he was powerfidly persuaded to it by the facts that 
 Anderson and M'Laws might be assailed with overwhelm- 
 ing numljers at the dawn of the next morning, and that a 
 night march would conceal his withdrawal much more 
 effectually from Sedgwick. Having obtained trusty guides, 
 he therefore determined to draw his whole corps, except 
 the division of Early, out of the trenches silently, beginning 
 at midnight, to retire a few miles southward, as though 
 proceeding toward Spottsylvania Court House, and then 
 make his way by the country roads of the interior across 
 to the Orange plank-road, and thus proceed westward. 
 Orders were accordingly issued to all the staff departments 
 and commanders of divisions, and the movement was 
 begun at the appointed time by the light of a brilliant 
 moon. The column was led by the division of General D. 
 H. Hill, under Brigadier-General Ehodes. Before the mists 
 of the morning had cleared away, the whole corps was far 
 on its way, and securely out of view amidst the woods 
 of the interior, beyond the most piercing espionage of 
 Hooker's balloonists. General Jackson reached the posi- 
 tion of Anderson about eleven o'clock a.m., and found him 
 still confronting the detachments of Hooker, which were 
 <jf unknown strength. The Confederate line now reached 
 from the plank-road northward to the old turnpike, and 
 thence toward the Eappahannock through a region chiefly 
 covered with dense woods and thickets. 
 
 General Jackson, as the superior officer under the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, was now intrusted with the direction of 
 the field, and was ordered to take the aggressive and press 
 
HE SKIEMISIIES WITH HOOKEK. 4-1:3 
 
 back the Federal outposts, until Hooker's real Btrengtli and 
 position were disclosed. This he proceeded to do with all 
 Ms accustomed vigour. Some of the best regiments of 
 Anderson's and his own divisions were deployed as sldr- 
 mishers, and steadily advanced through the woods, hunt- 
 ing out the concealed enemy, and driving them in with 
 contmual slaughter. The rattle of the rifles was heard 
 creeping along, upon a front of several miles' extent, like 
 the crackling of some vast forest conflagration, while a few 
 light field-pieces advanced along the several roads, abreast 
 of the riflemen, cleared the way as often as the enemy 
 attempted to gather a force in any open space. General 
 Jackson himself rode with the line of skirmishers, and 
 often before them, urging them on whenever they paused, 
 and assuring them of his powerful support. There are few 
 services which put the nerve of the brave soldier to a more 
 trying test than such an advance upon a concealed enemy 
 in a tangled wood. He knows not what danger is near 
 him in front, or at what moment the stealthy shot may 
 biust upon him from an unseen foe. He cannot practise 
 the same concealment with the enemy who lies in ambush 
 for him, because he is continually in motion. But the 
 Confederate line, urged on by General Jackson and his 
 staff, kept up a slow but steady advance throughout the 
 afternoon, until the Federal pickets were at nightfall 
 driven in upon their main line. Hooker, on his part, 
 endeavoured to retard their advance by detachments of 
 riflemen, and by batteries, which, masked behind the dense 
 woods, dropped their shells over in every direction toward 
 the roads which were occupied by the Confederates. But 
 
444 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 all this proved rather an annoyance than a resistance, and 
 the successes of the day were won with slight loss. 
 
 Wlien Friday night arrived, Generals Lee and Jackson 
 met at a spot where the road to the Catharine Iron Furnace 
 turned south-westward from the plank-road, which was 
 barely a mile in front of Hooker's works. Here, upon the 
 brow of a gentle hill, grew a cluster of pine-trees, while 
 the ground was carpeted with the clean dry sedge and 
 fallen leaves. They selected this spot, with their respec- 
 tive staffs, to bivouac, while the army lay upon their 
 weapons, a few yards before them, and prepared to sleep 
 upon the ground like their men. General Stuart had now 
 joined them, and reported the results of his reconnaissances 
 upon the south and west of Hooker's position. He had 
 ascertained that the Federal commander had left a whole 
 corps under General Eeynolds at Ely's Ford, to guard his 
 communications there, and that he had massed ninety 
 thousand men aroiind Chancellorsville, under his own eye, 
 fortifying them upon the east, south, eaii south-west, as has 
 been described. But upon the west and north-west his 
 encampments were open, and their movements were 
 watched by Stuart's pickets, who were secreted in the 
 wilderness there. He had also ascertamed that almost all 
 their cavalry had broken through the line of the Eapidan 
 in one body, and had invaded the south, followed 
 and watched by the brigade of W. H. Lee, evidently 
 bent upon a grand raid against the Confederate com- 
 munications. 
 
 Generals Lee and Jackson now withdrew and held an 
 anxious considtation. That Hooker must be attacked, and 
 
that speedily, was clear to the judgments of both. It was 
 not to be hoped that the absence of Jackson's corps from 
 the front of Sedgwick could remain very long unknown to 
 that general ; or that Early's seven thousand could per- 
 manently restrain his corps with such additions as it 
 might receive from Hooker. To hold the stationary 
 defensive in front of Chancellorsville would, therefore, be 
 equivalent to the loss of the whole line of the Eappahan 
 nock, with a hazardous retreat along a new and crooked 
 line of operations ; for the success of Sedgwick would 
 deprive them of the direct one, and place him in alarming 
 proximity to any other which they might adopt. Hooker, 
 then, must be at once fought and beaten, or the initial act 
 of the campaign would close in disaster. 
 
 General Lee had promptly concluded that whUe, on 
 the one hand, immediate attack was proper, some more 
 favoiuable place for assault must be sought, by moving 
 farther toward Hooker's right. The attempt to rout ninety 
 thousand well-armed troops, entrenched at their leisure, 
 by a front attack, with thirty-five thousand, ^\'ould be too 
 prodigal of patriot blood, and would offer too great a risk 
 of repulse. He had accordingly already commanded his 
 troops to commence a movement toward their left, and 
 communicated his views to General Jackson, who warmly 
 concurred in their wisdom. A report was about this time 
 received from General FitzHugh Lee, of Stuart's command, 
 describing the position of the Federal army, and the roads 
 which he held with his cavalry leading to its rear. 
 General Jackson now proposed to throw his command 
 entirely into Hooker's rear, availing himself of the absence 
 
446 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEBAL JACKSON. 
 
 of tlie Federal cavalry, and the presence of the Confederate 
 horse, and to assail him from the west, in concert with 
 Anderson and M'Laws. 
 
 Stuart was there with his active horsemen to cover this 
 movement ; and he believed that it could be made with 
 comparatively little risk, and, when accomplished, would 
 enable him to crush the surprised enemy. He well knew 
 that he was apparently proposing a "grand detachment;" 
 a measure pronounced by military science so reprehen- 
 sible in the presence of an acti^-e adversary. It might 
 seem that, in venturing one instance of this hazardous 
 measure, — the detaching of Early to remain at Fredericks- 
 burg, — they had tempted fortune sufficiently far, without 
 again repeating it by a further division of forces before 
 Hooker. But the maxims of the military art should be 
 our servants, and not our masters ; and the part of good 
 sense is to modify their apphcation to actual instances, 
 according to circumstances. In this case, the only choice 
 was between his proposed expedient, which he well knew 
 was unusual and hazardous, and another measure still 
 more hazardous. The unwieldy and sluggish strategy of 
 the huge Federal armies was to be considered, and, along 
 with that, the unsuspecting, boastful, and overweening 
 temper of their chief, who was precisely the man to be 
 thus dealt with. He was known to be a man who would 
 make a stubborn fight against a plain front attack, but 
 whose lack of vigilance would make surprise practicable, 
 and whose small resources of mind in the moment of con- 
 fusion would probably offer him little aid in extricating 
 himself from that surprise. It must be remembered, also. 
 
JACKSON SEEKS A EOUTE TO THE EEAK. 447 
 
 that if General Jackson's proposal were adopted, it would 
 be tlie body moving with him which would really be the 
 main army, and the divisions of Anderson and M'Laws 
 which would be the detachment. But if the issue of 
 affairs at Chancellorsville were adverse, whatever were the 
 plan of assault adopted, the retreat which must follow 
 must be by a new line at any rate ; so that the separation 
 of his corps from its original line of operations was not, in 
 this case, a valid objection. It would still have its chance 
 of retreat upon the Central Eailroad, in Louisa county ; 
 and in whatever shape a repulse came at Chancellorsville, 
 if it should perchance come, the army there would have 
 no other resort. But if the assault were a victory, then 
 the question of lines of retreat lost all its importance. 
 Last, the two parts of the army would be in supporting 
 distance during the whole movement. 
 
 After profound reflection. General Lee gave the sanction 
 of liis judgment to this plan, and committed its execution 
 to General .Jackson. He proposed to remain with Ander- 
 son and Jil'Laws, and superintend their efforts to " con- 
 tain ''the vast army of Hooker until the hour for the 
 critical attack should arrive. They then lay down upon 
 the ground to seek a few hours of repose, which they so 
 much needed. General Jackson, with his usual self-forget- 
 fulness, had left his quarters, his mind absorbed in the care 
 of the army, without any of those provisions of overcoat 
 or blanket which the professional soldier is usually so 
 careful to attach to his saddle. He now lay down at the 
 foot of a pine-tree, without covering. One of his ad- 
 jutants, Colonel Alex. S. Pendleton, urged upon him his 
 
448 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 overcoat; but he, with persistent politeness, declined it. 
 He then detached the large cape, and spread it over the 
 General, retaining the body of the garment for himself. 
 The General remained quiet until Pendleton fell asleep, 
 when he arose and spread the cape upon him, and resumed 
 his place without covering. In the morning he awoke 
 chilled, and found that he had contracted a cold, but made 
 no remark about it. 
 
 When his chaplain awoke in the morning, before the 
 dawn of day, he perceived a little fire kindled under the 
 trees, and General Jackson sitting by it upon a box, such 
 as was used to contain biscuit for the soldiers. Tlie Gene- 
 ral knew that his former pastoral labours had led Mm to 
 this region, and desired to learn something from him 
 about its by-roads. He therefore requested him to sit 
 beside him on the box, and when the other declined to 
 incommode him by doing so, made room for him and 
 repeated, " Come, sit down ; I wish to talk with you." As 
 he took his seat, he perceived that Jackson was shudder- 
 ing with cold, and was embracing the little blaze with 
 expressions of great enjoyment. He then proceeded to 
 state tliat the enemy were in great force at Chancellors- 
 ville, in a fortified position, and that to dislodge them by 
 a front attack, would cost a fearful loss of life. He wished 
 to know M'hether he was acquainted with any way by 
 which their flank might be turned, either on the right or 
 the left. He was informed in reply, that after proceeding 
 southward along the Furnace road for a space, a blind road 
 would present itself, leading westward and nearly parallel 
 to the Orange plank-road, which, in its turn, would con- 
 
THE ROUTE TO THE REAE. 449 
 
 duct into a plainer route, that fell into the great road four 
 miles ahove Chancellorsville. The General, quickly draw- 
 ing from his pocket an outline map, prepared for him by 
 one of his engineers, and a pencU, said, " Take this map, 
 and mark it down for me." AVlien he saw it, he said, 
 "That is too near ; it goes within the line of the enemy's 
 pickets. I wish to get around iccJl to his rear, without 
 being observed. Do you know no other road ?" He 
 rephed that he had no perfect knowledge of any other, but 
 presumed that the road which he had described as enter- 
 ing the Orange plank-road four miles above Chancellors- 
 ville, must intersect the Furnace road somewhere in the 
 interior, because their directions were convergent. " Then," 
 said Jackson, "where can you find this out certainly?" 
 He was told that everything could doubtless be learned 
 at the house of the proprietor of the Furnace, a mile and a 
 half distant, whose son, a patriotic and gallant man, would 
 be an excellent guide. He then said, " Go with Mr. 
 Hotchkiss (his topographical engineer) to the Furnace, 
 ascertain whether those roads meet, at what distance, and 
 whether they are practicable for artillery. Send Mr. 
 Hotchkiss back with the information, and do you procure 
 me a guide." 
 
 The desired information was speedUy obtained, and it 
 was discovered that the two roads crossed each other at 
 the distance of a few miles ; so that, by a circuit of fifteen 
 miles, a point would be reached near Wilderness Eun, 
 several miles above the farthest outposts of Hooker. The 
 intersecting road, by which the Orange plank-road was to 
 be regained, was known as the Brock road. Leading from 
 
 VOL. II. 2 F 
 
450 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEKAL JAUKHUA. 
 
 Culpepper south-eastward, it crosses the old turnpike near 
 the Wilderness tavern, and the plank-road two or three 
 miles south of it ; so that by this route General Jackson's 
 purposes were perfectly met. As soon as he received the 
 necessary assurance of this, he gave orders for his corps to 
 begin their march, and a little after sunrise appeared 
 at the Purnace at the head of the column. He declined 
 the urgent request of the family there to partake of the 
 breakfast which they were preparing for him, and with- 
 out any refreshment busied himself in pushing on his 
 troops. 
 
 Forgetful of no prudent precaution, he directed that a 
 regiment of General M'Laws should be sent to guard the 
 entrance of the blind road near the Furnace, lest the 
 Federalists should attack the side of his passing column 
 by that outlet. He then caused the regiments of Stuart, 
 which "vvere present, to patrol the country between his line 
 of march and their outposts, that they might learn nothing 
 of his journey. 
 
 But before the whole column had passed the Furnace, 
 some of Hooker's scouts, mounted in the tops of the 
 highest trees south-east of Chancellor's house, perceived it, 
 and reported its movement to him. That sagacious com- 
 mander was now perfectly certain that the disheartened 
 " Eebels " were in full retreat upon Eichmond. Their 
 early march to the southward could bear, in his judgment, 
 no other explanation. He therefore prepared to harass 
 the rear of their flight ; and to this end posted some 
 artillery upon the declivities facing the Furnace road, 
 which cannonaded the ammunition train of General Jack- 
 
HOOKER MISUNDERSTANDS JACKSON'S MOVEMENT. 451 
 
 son; and sent down a few regiments, after a time, to 
 ascertain the direction of his retreat. These came into 
 collision with the regiment of M'Laws, captured a part of 
 them, and were in turn driven off by a demonstration of 
 other Confederate troops from the plank-road. Hooker 
 now found the same firm resistance upon his eastern front 
 which he had met the day before, and, after some feeble 
 skirmishing of artillery and riflemen, became quiescent, 
 awaiting further developments. It was here that he com- 
 mitted his fatal blunder, — a blunder inexcusable even 
 when judged, in the absence of the light cast upon his 
 situation by sulisequent events, by his own professed con- 
 clusions. If he believed that the Confederate army was 
 indeed retreating into the interior of Spottsylvania, and 
 thence toward Eichmond, it is strange that the bold front 
 stiU maintained against him on the east by General Lee 
 did not suggest an anxious doubt. Was not this a new 
 manner for the rear-guard of a baffled and fleeing army to 
 behave ? Did it not point, too strongly for a moment's 
 hesitation, to the propriety of his at once attacking them in 
 such force as to learn what they truly meant ? And if he 
 found them obstinate and immovable upon his east front, 
 would not that result dictate still more clearly that he 
 should move upon their south or left flank, if necessary, 
 with his whole force, until they were forced back, and the 
 mystery of Jackson's disappearance on that side, and of 
 the unaccountable gap which he was placing between 
 himself and his friends, was cleared up ? The history of 
 war contains no stronger instance of the danger of the 
 policy of " the stationary defensive," when adhered to in 
 
452 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOX. 
 
 disregard of new circumstances. It was very properly a 
 part of Hooker's programme, after gaining his strong posi- 
 tion at ChancellorsviUe, to await the attack of the Con- 
 federates. But the prudence of this plan depended whoUy 
 upon their making that attack in that mode in which he 
 had prepared himself to receive it. Just as soon as it 
 became doubtful whether they purposed to do this, the 
 defensive policy became of doubtful propriety ; and sound 
 judgment dictated that Hooker should modify his pur- 
 poses also, and should immediately assume the aggressive, 
 sufficiently, at least, to determine their true project. By 
 sitting still now, he forfeited all the strength of his defen- 
 sive position. The best justification of General Jackson's 
 strategy is found in the fact that he so correctly estimated 
 the temper of his adversary, and anticipated the blunder 
 which he would commit. 
 
 The narrative returns now to his march. The troops, 
 comprehending instantly that he was engaged in one of 
 his famous assaults upon his enemy's flanks, responded to 
 his eager spirit zealously, and pressed forward along the 
 narrow country road at a rapid gait. Often the men were 
 compelled to advance at a donble-quick, in order to close 
 up the column. After proceeding south-west, a few miles 
 beyond the Catharine furnace, they came to the intersec- 
 tion of the Brock road, and turning to the right at a sharp 
 angle, assumed a north-western direction. When General 
 Jackson reached the plank-road again, he quietly advanced 
 the Stonewall Brigade down it, under General Paxton, 
 with instructions to form across it at the junction of the 
 road which led thence toward Germanna Ford, so as to 
 
ms POSITION IN hooker's kear. 453 
 
 prevent egress at that place. He then continued his 
 march, with the remainder of the corps, until he found 
 himself in the old turnpike near Wilderness Eun. He 
 had marched fifteen miles, and three o'clock in the after- 
 noon had arrived. He was six miles west of ChanceUors- 
 viUe, and upon precisely the opposite side of the enemy 
 to that occupied by General Lee. He now addressed 
 to him the following, which is the last of his official 
 notes : — 
 
 "Near 3 p.m., May 2, 1863. 
 
 " General, — The enemy has made a stand at Chan- 
 cellor's, which is about two miles from ChanceUorsville. 
 I hope, so soon as practicable, to attack. 
 
 " I trust that an ever kind Providence will bless us 
 with success. — Eespectfully, 
 
 "T. J. Jackson, Lieut-General 
 
 " General Robert E. Lee. 
 
 "P.8. — The leading division is up, and the next two 
 appear to be weU closed. T. J. J." 
 
 The place here mentioned as Chancellor's, two miles 
 west of ChanceUorsville, was the farm of Melzi Chancellor, 
 which was embraced within the western wing of Hooker's 
 defences, and occupied by the corps of Sigel, now com- 
 manded by General Howard. General Jackson found 
 both the plank-road and the old turnpike guarded on the 
 west by the vigilant pickets of Stuart. Advancing to 
 these outposts, he gained a glimpse of the position of the 
 enemy, which convinced him that he had obtained the 
 desired vantage ground from which to attack them. He 
 
454 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKxVL JACKSOX. 
 
 therefore directed his column to advance across the old 
 turnpike, and then to Avheel to the eastward, so as to pre- 
 sent a line toward the foe. The open fields near the old 
 Wilderness tavern afforded him space in which to com- 
 plete his array. He now formed his army in three par- 
 allel lines : the division of Ehodes in front, that of Colston 
 next, and that of A. P. Hill in the rear. He detailed one or 
 two picked batteries to advance along the turnpike, which 
 marked the centre of his lines ; and such was the extent of 
 the thickets into whicli he was about to plunge, that no 
 position could be gained for his other artillery. Two hours 
 were consumed by the issuing of orders, and the galloping 
 of aides and orderlies, when, between five and six o'clock, 
 everything was ready for the advance. The three lines 
 swept grandly forward, at the word, in battle array, and 
 speedOy buried themselves in the tangled forests. So 
 dense were the thickets, that the soldiers had the clothing 
 almost torn from their bodies, and could only advance by 
 creeping through the thickest spots ; but still the hues 
 swept forward, in tolerable order, and with high enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 General A. P. Hill, finding this toilsome march uimeces- 
 sary to support Ehodes, whose division had Colston just 
 in their rear, was allowed to withdraw his men from line 
 into column again, and thus advanced along the turn- 
 pike, leaving a part of its breadth open for the passage of 
 artniery and ambulances, but ready to reinforce any part 
 of the line which might waver. 
 
 As the Confederates approached the little farms of 
 Talley and Melzi Chancellor, after a march of two miles 
 
TUE EOUT OF THE FEDERALS. 455 
 
 througli the woods, tliey came upon the right wing of 
 Hoolier's army, in all the security of unsuspicious indol- 
 ence. Their little earthworks, which fronted the south, 
 were taken in reverse, and the men were scattered about 
 the field and woods, preparing for their evening meal. 
 "With a wild hurra, the line of Ehodes burst upon thein 
 from the woods, and the iirst volley decided their utter 
 rout. The second line, commanded by Colston, unable to 
 restrain their impetuosity, rushed forward at the shout, 
 pressed upon the first, filling up their gaps, and firing over 
 their heads, so that thenceforward the two were almost 
 merged into one, and advanced together, a dense and im- 
 petuous mass. For three miles the Federals were now 
 swept back by a resistless charge. Even the works which 
 confronted the west afforded them no protection ; no 
 sooner were they manned by the enemy than the Con- 
 federates dashed upon them with the bayonet, and the 
 defenders were either captured or again put to flight. The 
 battle was but a continued onward march, with no other 
 pause but that required for the rectification of the line, 
 disordered by the density of the woods. The eleven thou- 
 sand German mercenaries of Howard fled almost without 
 resistance, carrying away with them the troops sent to 
 their support ; they did not pause in Hooker's entrenched 
 camp, but dashing through his whole army in frantic 
 terror, without muskets, without hats, they rushed toward 
 the fords of the Eappahannock. Fugitives, armed men, 
 ambulances, artillery, were mixed together in vast masses, 
 aU struggling madly to flee as rapidly as possible from the 
 deadly volleys which were scourging their rear, and those 
 
456 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 terrible war-cries of the vengeful patriots. While these 
 confused herds offered an unfailing mark for the bullets of 
 the Confederates, they were able to make no effective 
 reply. Hence the slaughter of the Federalists was heavy, 
 and the loss of the assailants trifling. The ground, more- 
 over, was left strewed with incalculable amounts of spoils. 
 The lavish equipments with which the Federal Govern- 
 ment fitted out its armies now fell a prey in a moment to 
 the victors. Blankets, clothing, arms, ammunition, cook- 
 ing utensils, food, almost covered the surface of the high- 
 way, and were thickly scattered through the fields and 
 coppices for three miles. 
 
 In this fashion General Jackson urged forward the 
 attack until after nightfall. After the dispositions for the 
 first attack were made, the only order given by him had 
 been his favourite battle-cry, '' Press forward." This was 
 his message to every general, and his answer to every 
 inquiry. As he uttered it, he leaned forward upon his 
 horse, and waved his hand as though endeavouring, by its 
 single strength, to urge forward his whole line. Never 
 before had his preoccupation of mind, and his insensi- 
 bility to danger, been so great. At every cheer from the 
 front, which announced some new success, the smile of 
 triumph flashed over his face, followed and banished im- 
 mediately by the reverential gratitude with which he 
 raised his face and his right hand to the heavens in prayer 
 and thanksgiving. It was evident that he regarded this 
 as his greatest victory, and never before was he seen so 
 frequently engaged in worship upon the field. Eight 
 o'clock arrived, and the moon was shedding a doubtful 
 
JACKSON EE-FOEMS HIS LIXE. 457 
 
 lio-ht through the opeuings of the forest, but the darkness 
 was suf&cient to arrest the pursuit of the fugitives. The 
 .line of Ehodes was now within a mile of Chancellorsville, 
 but still enveloped within the bushy woods which sur- 
 rounded the entrenchments there ; and they had no means 
 of knowing what was the character of the ground or of 
 the defences before them. Their array had been much 
 disordered by their rapid advance ; and now, by a species 
 of common impulse, the whole line, finding no visible 
 enemy, and no firing in their front, paused to rest. The 
 men, leaving their places in the ranks, were clustering in 
 groups to discuss the triumphs of the evening, and many 
 ■were reclining at the roots of the trees. They had now 
 marched more than twenty miles since the morning, had 
 fought over three miles of difficult ground, and their 
 weariness demanded repose. General Jackson perceiving 
 this, determined to relieve his front line by replacing them 
 with the fresh troops of A. P. Hill, who had closely 
 followed up his advance, keeping the head of his columns 
 a Httle behind the line of battle upon both margins of the 
 turnpike. He therefore directed that general to file a 
 part of his brigade to the right, and a part to the left of 
 the highway, to replace those of Ehodes and Colston, 
 , which were to be withdrawn to the second line as fast as 
 the others were ready to take their places. But his vigil- 
 ance was dissatisfied with the disorder to which the men 
 , in front had yielded; he knew that the present quiet was 
 •> hut a lull in the storm of war, and that the completion of 
 ■ his own movement would be so ruinous to Hooker, it was 
 • impossible that general could fail to make another attempt 
 
458 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 to arrest it. He therefore expected another collision with 
 fresh troops, and knew not when it might begin. 
 
 It was just at this moment that the gallant Colonel 
 Cobb, of the 44th Virginia regiment, in Colston's division, 
 came to report to him that, advancing through the woods 
 on the right of the turnpike, a little space beyond the line 
 where the Confederates had paused in their career, he had 
 captured a number of prisoners, and had also ascertained 
 the existence of a strong barricade of timber, fronted by an 
 abattis, which, beginning at the right margin of the road, 
 seemed to run down a gentle, sinuous vale of the forest an 
 indefinite distance, toward the south and east, and was 
 now deserted by the Federalists. (This defence was, ia 
 fact, a part of the main circuit by which Hooker had 
 enclosed his entrenched camp at Chancellorsville, and was 
 now surrendered into General Jackson's hands, almost 
 without a struggle. So complete were the results of liis 
 attack, the very citadel of Hooker was now ui his grasp.) 
 He found General Jackson near the road, busily engaged 
 in correcting the partial disorder into which the men had 
 fallen. Eiding along the lines, he was saying, " Men, get 
 into line ! get into line ! "Whose regiment is this ? Colonel, 
 get your men instantly into line." He was almost unat- „ 
 tended, and had obviously sent away his Staff to aid in 
 correcting the confusion, or to direct the advance of A. P. 
 Hill's division to the front. Upon receiving the report of 
 Cobb, he said to him, " Find General Rhodes, and tell him 
 to occupy that barricade at once with his troops." He 
 added, " I need your help for a time ; this disorder must 
 be corrected. As you go along the right, tell the troops, 
 
PEKFIDY OF THE ENEJIY'S TACTICS. 459 
 
 from me, to get into line and preserve tlieir order." He 
 then busily resumed his efforts for the same object, and a 
 moment after rode along the turnpike toward Chancellors- 
 viUe, endeavouring to discover the intentions of the enemy. 
 His anticipations were indeed verified at once. Hooker 
 was just then advancing a powerful body of fresh troops 
 to endeavour to break the fatal cordon which General 
 Jackson was drawing around his rear, and to escape from 
 General Lee, who was pressing his front. He was push- 
 ing a strong battery along the highway, preceded by 
 iafantry skhmishers, and in front of General Jackson's 
 right was sending a heavy line of infantry through the 
 woods to retake the aU-important barricade. The latter, 
 according to the usual perfidy of the enemy's tactics, was 
 preceded by a flag of truce, which attempted to amuse 
 General Ehodes with some trumpery fable until the enemy 
 could creep upon him unprepared. Ehodes, instantly per- 
 ceiving the cheat, directed him to be taken to General 
 Jackson with his message, and resumed the effort to man 
 the barricade in accordance with his order. But the trick 
 was partially successful. The men had not yet resumed 
 their ranks, nor was the work inllj occupied, before the 
 Federal line of battle appeared upon the brow of the little 
 hUl within it, and poured a heavy volley upon the Confe- 
 derates at point-blank distance. They replied, firing 
 wUdly, and made efforts to sustain the strife, but in a 
 feeble and irregular fashion. The coinbat upon the right 
 was the signal for the resumption of the battle along the 
 whole hne ; and in its opening upon the turnpike, General 
 Jackson received a mortal wound. 
 
4G0 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 He had now advanced a hundred yards beyond his line 
 of battle, evidently supposing that, in accordance with his 
 constant orders, a line of skirmishers had been sent to the 
 front, immediately upon the recent cessation of the advance. 
 He probaljly intended to proceed to the place where he 
 supposed his line crossed the turnpike, to ascertain from 
 them what they could learn concerning the enemy. He 
 was attended only by a half-dozen mounted orderlies, his 
 signal of&cer, Captain Wilbourne, with one of his men, 
 and his aide. Lieutenant JMorrison, who had just returned 
 to him. General A. P. Hill, with his staff, also proceeded 
 immediately after him to the front of the line, accompanied 
 by Captain Boswell of the Engineers, whom General Jack- 
 son had just detached to assist him. After the General and 
 his escort had proceeded down the road a hundred yards, 
 they were surprised by a volley of musketry from the right, 
 which spread toward their front, ujitil the bullets began 
 to whistle among them, and struck several horses. This 
 was, in fact, the advance of the Federal line assailing the 
 barricade, which they were attempting to regain. General 
 Jackson was now aware of their proximity, and perceived 
 that there was no picket or skirmisher between him and 
 his enemies. He therefore turned to ride hurriedly back 
 to his own troops ; and, to avoid the fire, M^hich was thus 
 far limited to the south side of the road, he turned into 
 the woods upon the north side. It so happened that 
 General Hill, with his escort, had been directed by the 
 same motive almost to the same spot. As the party 
 approached within twenty paces of the Confederate troops, 
 these, evidently mistaking them for cavalry, stooped, and 
 
xiib VVUUKDS. 461 
 
 delivered a deadly fire. So sudden and stunning was this 
 volley, and so near at hand, that every horse which was 
 not shot dcwn recoiled from it in panic, and turned to 
 rush back, bearing their riders toward the approaching 
 enemy. Several fell dead upon the spot, among them the 
 amiable and .coui-ageous Boswell ; and more were wounded. 
 Among the latter was General Jackson. His right hand 
 was penetrated by a ball, his left forearm lacerated by 
 another, and the same limb broken a little below the 
 shoulder by a third, which not only crushed the bone, but 
 severed the main artery. His horse also dashed, panic- 
 stricken, toward the enemy, carrying him beneath the 
 boughs of a tree which inflicted severe blows, lacerating 
 his face, and almost dragged him from the saddle. His 
 bridle-hand was now powerless, but seizing the reins with 
 the right hand, notwithstanding its wounds, he arrested 
 his career, and brought the animal back toward his own 
 lines. He was followed by his faithful attendant. Captain 
 Wilbouxne, and his assistant, Wyim, who overtook him as 
 he paused again in the turnpike, near the spot where he 
 had received the fatal shots. The firing of the Confederates 
 had now been arrested by the officers ; but the wounded 
 and frantic horses were rushing, without riders, through 
 the woods, and the ground was strewn with the dead and 
 dying. Here General Jackson drew up his horse, and sat 
 for an instant gazing toward his own men, as if in astonish- 
 ment at their cruel mistake, and in doubt whether he 
 should again venture to approach them. To the anxious 
 inquiries of Captain Wilbourue, he replied that he believed 
 his arm was broken ; and requested him to assist him from 
 
4G2 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 his liorse, and examine whether the wounds were bleeding 
 dangerously. But before he could dismount he sunk 
 fainting into their arms, so completely prostrate, that they 
 were compelled to disengage his feet from the stirrups. 
 They now bore him aside a few yards into the woods north 
 of the turnpike, to shield him from the expected advance 
 of the Federals ; and while "Wynn was sent for an ambul- 
 ance and surgeon, Wilbourne proceeded, supporting his 
 head upon his bosom, to strip his mangled arm and bind 
 up his woiind. The warm blood was flowing in a stream 
 down his wrist ; his clotliing impeded all access to its 
 source, and nothing was at hand more efficient than a 
 penknife to remove the obstructions. But at this terrible 
 moment he saw General Hill, with the remnant of his 
 staif approaching, and called to him for assistance. He, 
 with his volunteer aide. Major Leigh, dismounted, and 
 taking the body of the General into his arms, succeeded in 
 reaching the wound, and stanching the blood ^^'ith a 
 handkerchief The swelling of the lacerated flesh had 
 already performed this office in part. His two aides. Lieu- 
 tenants Smith and Morrison, arrived at this moment, the 
 former having been left at the rear to execute some orders, 
 and the latter having just saved liimself, at the expense of 
 a stunning fall, by leaping from his horse, as he was 
 carrying him in uncontrollable fright into the enemy's 
 ranks. Morrison, the General's brother by marriage, 
 was agitated by grief; but Smith was full at once of 
 tenderness, and of that clear self-possession which is so 
 valuable in the hour of danger. With the skUful direc- 
 tion of General Hill, they now effectually arrested the 
 
il-lJi Ei\EMY EENKW THE ATTACK. 403 
 
 liEemoriiiage, and adjusted a sling to support tlie mangled 
 arm. 
 
 It was at this moment that two Federal skirmishers 
 approached within a few feet of the spot where he lay, 
 with their miiskets cocked. They little knew what a prize 
 was in their grasp ; and when, at Jhe command of General 
 Hill, two orderlies arose from the kneeling group and 
 demanded their surrender, they seemed amazed at the 
 nearness of their enemies, and yielded their arms without 
 resistance. Lieutenant ilorrison, suspecting from their 
 approach that the Federalists must be near at hand, stepped 
 out into the road to examine ; and by the light of the 
 moon saw a field-piece pointed toward him, apparently not 
 more than a hundred yards distant. Indeed it was so near 
 that the orders given by the officers to the cannoneers could 
 be distinctly heard. Eeturning hurriedly, he announced 
 that the enemy were planting artillery in the road, and 
 that the General must be immediately removed. General 
 Hill now remounted, and hurried back to make his dis- 
 positions to meet this attack. In the combat which ensued 
 he was himself wounded a few moments after, and com- 
 pelled to leave the field. ISTo ambulance or litter was yet 
 at hand, although Captain "Wilbourne had also been sent 
 to seek them; and the necessity of an immediate removal 
 suggested that they should bear the General away in their 
 arms. To this he replied, that if they would assist him to 
 rise, he would walk to the rear, and he was accordingly 
 raised to his feet, and, leaning upon the shoulders of Major 
 Leigh and Lieutenant Smith, went slowly out into the 
 highway, and toward his troops. The party was now met 
 
4G4 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JAUIISUJN. 
 
 by a litter, which some one had sent from the rear, and 
 the General was placed upon it, and borne along by two 
 soldiers and Lieutenants Smith and ]\Iorrison. As they 
 were placing him upon it, the enemy fired a volley of 
 canister-shot up the road, which passed over their heads. 
 But they had proceeded only a few steps before the dis- 
 charge was repeated, with a more accurate aim. One of 
 the soldiers bearing the litter was struck down, severely 
 wounded ; and had not Major Leigh, who was walking 
 beside it, broken his fall, the General would have been 
 precipitated to the ground. He was placed again upon 
 the earth ; and the causeway was now swept by a hurri- 
 cane of projectiles of every species, before which it seemed 
 that no living thing could survive. The bearers of the 
 litter, and all the attendants, excepting Major Leigh and 
 the General's two aides, left him and fled into the woods 
 on either hand, to escape the fatal tempest ; while the 
 sufferer lay along the road, with his feet toward the foe, 
 exposed to all its fury. It was now that his three faithful 
 attendants displayed a heroic fidelity which deserves to go 
 down with the immortal name of Jackson to future ages. 
 Disdaining to save their lives by deserting their chief, they 
 lay down beside him in the causeway, and sought to pro- 
 tect him as far as possible with their bodies. On one side 
 was Major Leigh, and on the other Lieutenant Smith. 
 Again and again was the earth around them torn with 
 volleys of canister, -while shells and Minie-balls flew 
 hissing over them, and the stroke of the iron had raised 
 sparkling flashes from the flinty gravel of the roadway. 
 General Jackson struggled violently to rise, as though to 
 
FIDELITY OF HIS AIDES. 465 
 
 , eudeavoiir to leave the road ; but Smith threw his arm 
 over him, and with friendly force held him to the earth, 
 saying, " Sir, you must lie still ; it wOl cost you your life 
 if you rise." He speedily acquiesced, and lay quiet ; but 
 none of the four hoped to escape alive. Yet, almost by 
 miracle, they were unharmed ; and after a few moments 
 the Federalists, ha^'ing cleared the road of all except this 
 little party, ceased to firfe along it, and directed their aim 
 to another quarter. 
 
 They now arose, and resumed their retreat, the General 
 leaning upon his friends, and proceeding along the gutter 
 at the margin of the highway, in order to avoid the troops 
 who were again hurrying to the front. Perceiving that he 
 was recognised by some of them, they diverged stni farther 
 into the edge of the thicket. It was here that General 
 Pender of North Carolina, who had succeeded to the com- 
 mand of HlU's division upon the wounding of that ofilcer, 
 recognised General Jackson, and, after expressing his 
 hearty sympathy for his sufferings, added, '' My men 
 are thrown into such confusion by this fire, that I fear I 
 shaU not be able to hold my ground." Almost fainting 
 with anguish and loss of blood, he stUl replied, in a voice 
 feeble, but full of his old determination and authority, 
 " General Pender, you must keep your men together, and 
 hold your ground." This was the last military order ever 
 given by Jackson. How fit was the termination for such 
 a career as his, and how expressive of the resolute purpose 
 of his soul ! His bleeding country could do nothing better 
 than to adopt this as her motto in her hour of trial, in- 
 VOL. II. 2 G 
 
466 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEBAL JACKSON. 
 
 scribe it on all her banners, and make it the rallying-cry 
 of all her armies. 
 
 General Jackson now complained of faintness, and was 
 agaia placed upon the litter; and, after some difficulty, 
 men were obtained to bear him. To avoid the enemy's 
 fire, which was again sweeping the road, they made their 
 way through the tangled brushwood, almost tearing his 
 clothing from him, and lacerating "his face in their hurried 
 progress. The foot of one of the men bearing his head 
 was here entangled in a vine, and he fell prostrate. The 
 General was thus thrown heavily to the ground upon his 
 wounded side, inflicting painful bruises on his body, and 
 intolerable agony on his mangled arm, and renewing the 
 flow of blood from it. As they lifted him up he uttered 
 one piteotis groan, — the only complaint which escaped his 
 lips during the whole scene. Lieutenant Smith raised his 
 head upon his bosom, almost fearing to see him expiring 
 in his arms, and asked, "General, are you much hurt?" 
 He replied, " ISTo, Mr. Smith ; don't trouble youself about 
 me.'' He was then replaced a second time upon the litter, 
 and, under a continuous shower of shells and cannon-balls, 
 borne a half mile farther to the rear, when an ambulance 
 was found, containmg his chief of artillery. Colonel Crutch- 
 field, who was also wounded. In this he was placed, and 
 hurried towards the field-hospital near Wilderness Eun. 
 As the vehicle passed the house of Melzi Chancellor, Dr. 
 M'Guire met the party. Colonel Pendleton, the faithful 
 adjutant of General Jackson, upon ascertaining the mis- 
 fortune of his chief, had taken upon himself the task of 
 seeking him, and bringing him to the General's aid. In- 
 
HE IS CAEKIED OFF THE FIELD. 467 
 
 deed, one of the first requests made by the latter was to ask 
 for his well-tried friend ; and he was therefore summoned 
 from the rear, where he was busily engaged organizing 
 the relief for the numerous wounded from the battle. 
 Upon meeting the sad cavalcade. Dr. M'Guire obtained a 
 candle, and sprang into the ambulance to examine the 
 wound. He found the General almost pulseless, but the 
 hsemorrhage had again ceased. Some alcoholic stimulant 
 had been anxiously sought for him, but hitherto only a 
 few drops could be obtained. Now, through the activity 
 of the Eev. Mr. Yass, a chaplain in the Stonewall Brigade, 
 a sufficient quantity of spirits was found, and the patient 
 was freely stimulated. They then resumed their way to 
 the field-hospital near Wilderness Euu, Dr. M'Guire sup- 
 porting the General as he sat beside him in the carriage. To 
 his anxious inquiries he replied that he was now somewhat 
 revived, but that several times he had felt as though he were 
 about to die. This he said in a tone of perfect calmness. 
 It was, doubtless, the literal truth, and during the removal 
 he was indeed vibrating upon the very turn between life 
 and death. The artery of his left arm was severed ; and, 
 in consequence of the inexperience and distress of his 
 affectionate assistants, and yet more of the horrible con- 
 fusion of the battle, he had nearly bled to death before his 
 wound was stanched. Arriving at the hospital, he was 
 tenderly removed to a tent which had been erected for 
 him ; where he was laid in a camp-bed, and covered with 
 blankets, in an atmosphere carefully warmed. Here he 
 speedily sank into a deep sleep, which showed the thorough 
 prostration of his energies. 
 
468 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GEXEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 The melancholy scene which has now been simply and 
 exactly described occupied but a few minutes; for the 
 events followed each other with stunning rapidity. The 
 report of the discovery of the deserted barricade by Colonel 
 Cobb, the order to General Ehodes to occupy it, the at- 
 tempt to restore the order to his line of battle, the advance 
 of the General and his escort down the road, his colhsion 
 with the advancing enemy, his hurried retreat, and the 
 fatal fire of his own men, all followed each other almost 
 as rapidly as they are here recited. While he lay upon 
 the ground, assisted at first only by Captain Wilbourne 
 and his man, and afterwards by General A. P. HOI and 
 the officers of the two escorts, the battle was again joined 
 between Hooker and the Confederates ; and it was just as 
 the difficult removal of the General was made that it 
 raged through its short but furious course. General Hill 
 had scarcely flown to assume the command of his line, in 
 order to resist the onset, and protect General Jackson from 
 capture, when he was himself struck down with a violent 
 contusion, and compelled to leave the field, surrendering 
 the direction of affairs to Brigadier-Generals Ehodes and 
 Pender. Colonel Crutchfield, chief of artillery, and his 
 assistant. Major Eogers, attempting to make an effective 
 reply to the cannonade which swept the great road, were 
 both severely wounded. In the darkness and confusion 
 the Federalists regained their barricade, and pushed back 
 the right of the Confederates a short distance ; but here 
 their successes ended ; and the brigades of Hill stubbornly 
 held their ground in the thickets near the turnpike. The 
 fire now gradually died away into a fitful skirmish, which 
 
JACKSON'S DEMEANOUE. 469 
 
 was continued at intervals all night, without result on either 
 side. 
 
 While General Jackson lay bleeding upon the ground, 
 he displayed several traits very characteristic of his nature. 
 Amidst all his sufferings, he was absolutely uncomplain- 
 ing ; save when his agonizing fall wrung a groan from his 
 breast. It was only in answer to the questions of his 
 friends that he said, " I believe my arm is broken," and, 
 " It gives me severe pain ;" but this was uttered in a tone 
 perfectly calm and self-possessed. When he was asked 
 whether he was hurt elsewhere, he replied, "Yes, iii the 
 right hand." (He seemed to be unconscious that the 
 other fore-arm was shattered by a third baU ; nor did the 
 surgeons themselves advert to it, until they examined it 
 in preparing for the amputation.) When he was asked 
 whether his right hand should not also be bound up, he 
 replied, " No, never mind ; it is a trifle." Yet two of the 
 bones were broken, and the palm was almost perforated 
 by the bullet ! To the many exclamations touching the 
 source of his misfortune, he answered decisively, but 
 without a shade of passion, "All my wounds were un- 
 doubtedly from my own men ;" and added that they were 
 exactly simultaneous. When he was informed, in answer 
 to his first demand for the assistance of Dr. JM'Guire, that 
 that officer must be now engaged in his onerous duties far 
 to the rear, and could not be immediately brought to him, 
 he said to Captain Wilbourne, " Then I wish you to get 
 me a skilful surgeon." On the arrival of General HiU, 
 the anxious inquiry was made of him where a surgeon 
 could be most quickly found. He stated that Dr. Barr, 
 
470 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 an assistant-surgeon in one of the regiments of Pender, 
 whicli had just come to the front, was near at hand ; and 
 tliis gentleman being called, promptly answered. General 
 Jackson now repeated in a whisper to General Hill the 
 question, "Is he a skilful surgeon?" He answered, in 
 substance, that he stood high in his brigade ; and that, at 
 most, he did not propose to have him do anything until 
 Dr. M'Guire arrived, save the necessary precautionary 
 acts. To this General Jackson replied, "Very good;" 
 and Dr. Barr speedily procured a tourniquet to apply 
 above the wound; but finding the blood no longer flow- 
 ing, postponed its application. "When General Jackson's 
 field-glass and haversack were removed, they were pre- 
 served by Captain Wilbourne. The latter was foimd to 
 contain no refreshments ; its only contents were a few 
 official papers and two gospel tracts. Xo sooner had 
 friends begun to gather around him, than numerous sug- 
 gestions were made concerning the importance of conceal- 
 ing his faU. from his troops. While he was lying upon 
 General HHl's breast, that officer commanded that no one 
 should tell the men he was wounded. General Jackson 
 opened his eyes, and looking fixedly upon his aides, Smith 
 and Morrison, said, "Tell them simply that you have a 
 wounded Confederate officer.'' He recognised, on the one 
 hand, the importance of concealment ; but, on the other 
 hand, he was anxious that the truth should not be violated 
 in any degree upon his account. With these exceptions, 
 he lay silent and passive in the arms of his friends ; his 
 sold doubtless occupied with silent prayer. As he was 
 led past the column of Pender, the unusual attention paid 
 
ARM AMPUTATED. 471 
 
 him excited the lively curiosity of the men. Many asked, 
 "Whom have you there ?" and some made vigorous exer- 
 tions to gain a view of his face. Notwithstanding the 
 efforts of Captain Wilbourne to shield him from their 
 view, one or two recognised him, and exclaimed, their 
 faces blanched with horror and grief, " Great G-od ! it is 
 General Jackson." Thus the news of the catastrophe 
 rapidly spread along the lines ; but the men believed 
 that his wounds were slight, and their sorrow only made 
 them more determiaed. 
 
 About midnight. Dr. M'Guire summoned as assistants 
 Drs. Coleman, Black, and Walls, and watched the pulse of 
 the General for such evidences of the reaction of his 
 exhausted powers as would permit a more thorough deal- 
 ing with his wound. Perceiving that the animal heat had 
 returned, and the pulsations had resumed their volume, 
 they aroused him ; and, on examining the whole extent of 
 his injuries, were convinced, beyond all doubt, that his 
 left arm should be immediately removed. Dr. M'Guire 
 now explaiaed to him that it seemed necessary to ampu- 
 tate his arm ; and inquired whether he was willing that it 
 should be done immediately. He replied, without tremor, 
 " Dr. M'Guire, do for me what you think best ; I am re- 
 signed to whatever is necessary." Preparations were then 
 made for the work. Chloroform was administered by Dr. 
 Coleman; Dr. M'Guire, with a steady and deliberate hand, 
 severed the mangled limb from the shoulder ; Dr. Walls 
 secured the arteries, and Dr. Black watched the pulse; 
 while Lieutenant Smith stood by holding the lights. The 
 General seemed insensible to pain, although he spoke once 
 
472 Lli<'E Oi' LiEUT.-tiJJMJiiiAL JSTCKSON. 
 
 or twice, as though conscious, saying with a placid and 
 dreamy voice, " Dr. M'Guire ; I am lying very comfort- 
 ably." The ball was also extracted from his right hand, 
 and the wound was dressed. The surgeons then directed 
 Smith to watch beside him the remainder of the night ; 
 and after an interval of half an hour, to arouse him, in 
 order that he might drink a cup of coffee. During this 
 interval he lay perfectly quiet, as though sleeping; but 
 when he was called, awoke promptly, and in full possess- 
 sion of his faculties. He received the coffee, drank it 
 with appetite, and remarked that it was very good and 
 refreshing. This was, indeed, the first nourishment which 
 he had taken since Friday evening. He now looked at 
 the stump of his arm ; and comprehenduig its loss fuUy, 
 asked Mr. Smith, "Were you here?" (meaning when 
 the operation was performed.) He then, after a moment's 
 silence, inquired whether he had said anything when 
 under the power of the chloroform ; and continued, after 
 being satisfied on this point, in substance thus : " I have 
 always thought it wrong to administer chloroform, in cases 
 where there is a probability of immediate death. But it 
 was, I think, the most delightful physical sensation I ever 
 enjoyed. I had enough consciousness to know what was 
 doing ; and at one time thought I heard the most delight- 
 ful music that ever greeted my ears. I believe it was 
 the sawing of the bone. But I should dislike above all 
 things to enter eternity in such a condition." His mean- 
 ing evidently was, that he would not wish to be ushered 
 into that spiritual existence from the midst of sensations 
 so thoroughly physical and illusory. He afterwards ex- 
 
ADKOIT MANdUVEE. 473 
 
 claimed to other friends, " "What an inestimable blessing 
 is chloroform to the sufferer ! " His condition now ap- 
 peared to be every way hopeful ; and ilr. Smith exhorted 
 him to postpone conversation, and to resign himself to 
 sleep. He acquiesced in this, and being well wrapped up, 
 soon fell into a quiet slumber, which continued until nine 
 o'clock in the Sabbath morning. 
 
 t Leaving him to his much-needed sleep, the narrative 
 will now return to the history of the great battle which 
 he had so gloriously begun ; that the interest of the reader 
 in it may be briefly satisfied. About dark on Saturday 
 evening, General Jackson had directed Brigadier- General 
 Pender to send biTn a regiment for a special service. The 
 16th North Carolina, Colonel M'Elroy, was sent. Jackson 
 commanded him to accompany a squadron of cavalry, 
 detached by General Stuart, to Ely's Ford, where they 
 would find a corps of Federal troops encamped ; to ap- 
 proach th'em as nearly as possible, and, at a preconcerted 
 signal, to fire three volleys into them, with loud cheers, 
 and then make their way back to their brigade. Colonel 
 M'Ehoy reached the enemy's encampment about midnight, 
 and carried out his instructions to the letter. He returned 
 to the field of battle at three o'clock in the morning, and 
 remained for a time ignorant alike of the reasons and 
 results of this strange proceeding. The Federal officers 
 of Eeynolds' corps at last revealed it. They stated that, 
 while resting for the night at Ely's Ford, on their way to 
 ChancellorsviUe, they were so furiously attacked by the 
 "Eebels" in the darkness, that their leader arrested his 
 march, and commenced fortifying his position; and in this 
 
474 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 work the Sabbath was consumed. Had this large corps 
 arrived at the main scene of battle that morning, the odds 
 already so fearful against the Confederates might have 
 become overpowering. But by this adroit manoeuvre 
 they were detained where they were, wholly useless. 
 Such was the last of the strokes by which the ubiquitous 
 Jackson was accustomed to astonish and baffle his foes. 
 
 Upon the retirement of General Hill from the field, a 
 hurried consultation was held between Colonel Pendleton, 
 the acting-adjutant of the corps, and the remaining gene- 
 rals, touching the command of the troops. The night was 
 passing away, and they well knew that the morning must 
 bring a fierce renewal of the struggle, or all that had been 
 won would be lost. Brigadier- G-eneral Ehodes, commanding 
 the former division of D. H. HiU, was found to be the 
 senior officer upon the field, and his modesty, with the 
 lack of acquaintanceship between him and the army, made 
 him concur in the suggestion that Major-General Stuart 
 should be sent for and requested to assume the direction 
 of affairs until the pleasure of the Commander-in-Chief 
 should be known. This measure was therefore adopted. 
 It has been said that he was selected by General Jackson 
 to complete the battle after he was himself disabled. This 
 is an error. He was too strict in his obedience to the 
 rules and proprieties of the service to transcend, under any 
 circumstances, his powers as the commander of a corps; 
 and he knew that all his authority could do, was to trans- 
 mit his functions to the general next in rank in his own 
 command. If any other disposition was to be made of 
 them, he knew that it must be done by an authority 
 
Gt.NJiKAL STU/UtT ASSUMES TEMPOEAEY COMMAND. 475 
 
 higher than his own. But when Colonel Pendleton, the 
 next morning, reported to hini the assumption of tempo- 
 rary command by General Stuart, he cheerfully acquiesced. 
 In reply to the request of Stuart, that he would communi- 
 cate, through Pendleton, his plans for the second day, he 
 answered .that he preferred to leave everything to his own 
 judgment. This reply was an eminent instance of his 
 wisdom. He knew, on the one hand, that as all the 
 reconnaissances on which he himself had acted had been 
 made by General Stuart, that officer was fully possessed of 
 the enemy's attitude. But, on the other hand, he was not 
 now informed what changes in the posture of affairs might 
 have occurred, which, if he were on the field, might modify 
 his plans. To seem to enjoin upon General Stuart the 
 execution of all his purposes of yesterday might therefore 
 impose on him mischievous trammels. He well knew, 
 moreover, that the wisdom of the methods adopted by 
 himself depended in part on his own prestige, his moral 
 power over his men, his celerity in action, the momentum 
 of his tremendous will, — properties in which no other 
 leader might be able to imitate him. He therefore left 
 General Stuart to adopt his own plan of battle, believing, 
 what was doubtless true, that an inferior conception of 
 that commander's mind, applied by him, would be more 
 successful than the impracticable effort to unite the plan 
 of one with the execution of another. 
 
 But both General Stuart and General Ehodes proved 
 themselves worthy of the command ; and both of them 
 followed their great exemplar to a soldier's grave in the 
 subsequent campaigns of 1864. The brilliant execution of 
 
476 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 General Jackson's orders by Ehodes at Chancellorsville 
 won his warm applause ; and he declared that his com- 
 mission as Major-General should date from the 2d of 
 May, when, with one division, he drove before him the 
 -whole right wing of Hooker for three hours. This pur- 
 pose of General Jackson the Government fulfilled imme- 
 diately after his death, and General Ehodes was promoted 
 and placed in permanent command of the division. He 
 continued to lead this with consummate gallantry and 
 skill until the disastrous battle of Winchester, in the 
 autumn of 1864, when he fell at its head in the execution 
 of an attack against the enemy as splendid and as success- 
 ful as that of ChancellorsvUle. And with his fall victory 
 departed from the Confederate banners to perch upon 
 those of the oppressors. 
 
 But we are not left in doubt concerning General Jack- 
 son's own designs. Speaking afterwards to his friends, he 
 said that if he had had an hour more of daylight, or had 
 not been wounded, he should have occupied the outlets 
 towards Ely's and United States Fords, as well as those on 
 the west. (It has been already explained that of the four 
 roads diverging from Chancellorsville, the one which leads 
 north, after proceeding for a mile and a half in that direc- 
 tion, turns north-westward, and divides into two, the left 
 hand leading to Ely's, and the right to United States Ford. 
 And the point of their junction, afterwards so carefully 
 fortified by Hooker, was on Saturday night entirely open.) 
 General Jackson proposed, therefore, to move stiU farther 
 to his left during the night and occupy that point. He 
 declared that if he had been aljle to do so, the dispersion 
 
DIFTEKEFnAUTlCS OF STUAET AXD JACKSON. 477 
 
 or capture of Hooker's army would liave been certain. 
 "For," said he, "my men sometimes fail to drive the 
 enemy from their position ; but the enemy are never able 
 to drive my men from theirs." It has already been seen, 
 tliat in the confusion of his fall an important vantage- 
 ground, w.on by him almost without loss, was forfeited ; 
 and it was necessary to fight over this ground again on 
 the morrow. General Stuart now departed from the 
 plans of General Jackson, by extending his right rather 
 than Ms left, so as to approximate the Confederate troops 
 on the south-east of Chancellorsville, under the immediate 
 command of General Lee. Thus the weight of his attack 
 was thrown against the south-west side of Hooker's posi- 
 tion. General Jackson would rather have thrown it 
 against the north-west. But the true design of the latter 
 was to assume the defensive for a few hours on Sabbath 
 morning, after occupying both the Orange turnpike and 
 the road to Ely's Ford. He purposed to stand at bay there, 
 and receive, amidst the dense thickets, the attack which he 
 knew this occupation of his line of retreat would force 
 upon Hooker, while General Lee thundered upon his other 
 side. Then, after permitting him to break his strength in 
 these vain assaults, he would have advanced upon his dis- 
 heartened masses over ground defended by no works ; and 
 Hooker would have been crushed between the upper and 
 the nether mill- stones. To comprehend the plausibility of 
 this design, it must be remembered that Chancellorsville, 
 with its few adjoining farms, was an island, completely 
 environed by a sea of forests, through whose tangled 
 depths infantry could scarcely march in line, and the 
 
478 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 passage of carriages was impossible. Of the four roads 
 whicli centred at the villa, General Lee held two, the old 
 turnpike and the plank-road leading towards Fredericks- 
 burg. General Jackson proposed to occupy the other two. 
 Had this been done, the strong defence of the surrounding 
 woods in which Hooker trusted would have been his 
 ruin. He would have found his imaginary castle his 
 prison. The necessity which compelled him again to take 
 the aggressive in the leafy woods would have thrown the 
 advantage vastly to General Jackson, by rendering the 
 powerful Federal artillery, in which they so much trusted, 
 a cipher, and by requiring the Federals to come to close 
 quarters with the terrible Confederate infantry. And this 
 was a work always more dreaded by them than the meet- 
 ing of a "bear bereaved of her whelps." But on the 
 south-west side of his position, within the open farm of 
 Chancellor, Hooker had constructed a second and interior 
 line of works upon the brow of a long declivity, consisting 
 of a row of lunettes, pierced for artillery, and of rifle-pits. 
 General Stuart's line of battle, after running the barricade, 
 once before won by General Jackson, and emerging from 
 the belt of woods which enveloped it, found themselves 
 confronted by these works, manned by numerous batteries, 
 and hence the cruel loss at which the splendid victory of 
 Sunday was won. 
 
 The brigadiers of General Jackson's corps, after deter- 
 mining to offer the temporary command to General Stuart, 
 sent Captain "Wilbourne to General Lee, to announce what 
 had been done, and to request that he would himself come 
 to that side and assume the direction of affairs. That 
 
MESSAGES TO GENERAL LEE. 479 
 
 officer, accompanied by Captain Hotclikiss, reached the 
 cluster of pines east of Chancellorsville, where he lay, be- 
 fore the break of day, and they announced themselves to 
 his Chief- of- Staff. They found the General lying upon 
 the ground, beneath a thick pine-tree ; and he at once 
 requested them to come to him and tell the news. They 
 related the incidents of the battle, and described the 
 glorious victory ; but when they told him of the wounding 
 of their General, he said, after a pause, in which he was 
 struggling to suppress his emotion, " Ah ! any victory is 
 dearly bought which deprives us of the services of Jackson, 
 even for a short time." "When reminded that General 
 Eliodes was now the senior officer in the corps, he said 
 he -was a gallant, efficient, and energetic officer. But he 
 acquiesced in the selection of General Stuart to lead the 
 troops on that day ; and, after a multitude of inquiries, 
 called his adjutant to write instructions for him. He also 
 dictated that generous note to General Jackson, which has 
 conferred equal honour on its author and its recipient, and 
 which deserves to be immortalized along with the fame of 
 the two noble men. It was in these words : — ■ 
 
 " Geneeal, — I have just received your note, informing 
 me that you were wounded. I cannot express my regret 
 at the occurrence. Could I have directed events, I should 
 have chosen, for the good of the country, to have been dis- 
 abled in your stead. 
 
 " I congratulate you upon the victory which is due to 
 your skill and energj'. — ]\Iost truly yours, 
 
 (Signed) " E. E. Lee, General." 
 
480 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JAUKSUJN. 
 
 One of the messengers then informed him that General 
 Jackson, after his wounding, had only expressed this 
 thought concerning the future manangement of the cam- 
 paign, that " the enemy should be pressed in the morn- 
 ing." General Lee replied, " Those people shall be pressed 
 immediately ;" arose, and in a few moments was in the 
 saddle, and busy with his dispositions for attack. Mean- 
 while General Stuart, on his side, brought forward the 
 Stonewall Brigade from the junction of the Orange and 
 Culpepper plank-roads, and joined it to his line of battle. 
 The remainder of the night was spent in busy preparation. 
 When the light appeared, both wings of the Confederate 
 army assumed the aggressive, and advanced against the 
 Federal lines. General Lee thundered from the east and 
 south, and General Stuart from the west. The latter, especi- 
 ally, hurled his infantrj^ impetuously against their enemies, 
 and a furious and bloody struggle ensued. Twenty-one 
 thousand men now composed the whole of Jacksoij's corps 
 present upon the field ; and these, assisted by the two 
 divisions of M'Laws and Anderson, now assailed eighty 
 thousand. In three hours seven thousand men, one-third 
 of the whole number, were killed and wounded from the 
 corps. But the enemy were steadily driven from every 
 work, with frightful losses in killed, wounded, and pri- 
 soners, until they took refuge in a new line of entrench- 
 ments covering the United States Ford. Seven thousand 
 captives, forty thousand muskets, and a quantity of spoil 
 almost incredible, fell into the hands of the conquerors. 
 "When the general onset was ordered by Stuart, the Stone- 
 wall Brigade advanced with the cry, ' Charge ; and re- 
 
SEQUEL OF THE CAMPAIGN. 481 
 
 member Jackson !" Even as they moved from their posi- 
 tion, their General, Paxton, his friend and former adju- 
 tant, was struck dead where he stood ! His men rushed 
 forward unconscious of his absence, and, without other 
 than the name which formed their battle-cry, swept every- 
 thing before them. 
 
 The sequel of the campaign of Chancellorsville may 
 now be related in a few words. While this great struggle 
 was raging there. General Sedgwick retired to the north 
 bank of the Eappahannock, and, laying down his bridges 
 again opposite to Fredericksburg, on Sunday morning 
 crossed into the town, and with one corps captured 
 Marye's HiU by a surprise. His other corps were des- 
 patched, through Stafford, to the support of Hooker, 
 while he retained about eighteen thousand men. General 
 Early now confronted Marye's Hill on another line, while 
 Sedgwick, leaving a detachment to hold him in cheek, 
 marched westward to open his way to Hooker, at Chan- 
 cellorsville. But the fate of that general had been already 
 sealed. General Lee was now at liberty to send a part of 
 Ms force to meet Sedgwick ; so that on Monday he found 
 himself confronted and arrested in his march by his troops, 
 while General Early re-captured Marye's Hill, and cut ofi' 
 his retreat toward Fredericksburg. Nothing now remained 
 for him save a retreat across the river at Banks's Ford, — a 
 point between that town and Hooker's position, — which, by 
 the aid of his artillery upon the northern bank, he effected, 
 though not without heavy loss. The next day, his chief 
 also made preparation to retire ; and during the night of 
 Tuesday withdrew the remainder of his army. Thus 
 
 VOL. n. 2 H 
 
482 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 ended the invasion, and tlie short career of Hooker as a 
 commander. His cavalry, which had met with slight 
 resistance, had penetrated as far south as the river James, 
 which they reached fifty miles above Eichmond. Thence 
 they spread themselves downward through the country, 
 and some detachments had the audacity to venture within 
 ten miles of the city. They caused temporary interrup- 
 tions in the Central and Fredericksburg Eailroads, and 
 the James Eiver Canal ; and then, upon hearing of 
 Hooker's disasters, retired precipitately, having eifected 
 no other result than a villanous plundering of the peace- 
 ful inhabitants. 
 
 The short campaign of Chancellorsville was the most 
 brilliant of all which General Lee had hitherto conducted, 
 and stamped his fame as that of a commander of tran- 
 scendent courage and ability. With forty-five thousand 
 men he had met and defeated one hundred and twenty- 
 five thousand, who were equipped for their onset with 
 everything which lavish wealth, careful discipline, and 
 deliberate preparation could provide. He had inflicted 
 on them a total loss nearly equal to his whole army, had 
 captured enough small arms and camp equipage to furnish 
 forth every man in his command, and, in precisely a week, 
 had hurled back the fragments of this multitudinous host 
 to its starting-point baffled and broken. His line of de- 
 fence was successfully turned on his right and left by an 
 adroit movement, his communications severed, and his 
 little army seemingly placed within the jaws of destruc- 
 tion. But with au impregnable equanimity he had 
 awaited the full development of his adversary's designs ; 
 
RESULTS EVINCE LEES GREATNESS. 483 
 
 and then, disregarding for the time those parts of his 
 assault -^hich his wisdom showed him were not vital, had 
 concentrated his cliief strength upon the important point, 
 and with a towering courage which no odds could appal, 
 had assailed his gigantic adversary on his vulnerable side 
 with resistless fury. How much of the credit of this un- 
 exampled success is due to the assistance of General 
 Jackson has already been indicated. But the history 
 would be incomplete if it failed to refute the statement 
 which has been made by some of the pretended assertors 
 of Jackson's fame, — that the victories of Lee were due 
 wholly to his military genius, and ceased when he fell. 
 The reputation of Jackson does not need to be supported 
 by these invidious follies. The Commander-in-Chief was 
 the first to recognise, with unrivalled grace and magnani- 
 mity, his obligations to Jackson's valued assistance. But 
 lie fen in the midst of the struggle, and Lee conducted it to 
 its close with the same skill, genius, and happy audacity, 
 with which it was commenced. It was the glory of 
 Virginia that, superior to the lioness, which rears but one 
 young lion, her fruitful breasts could nourish at once the 
 greatness of more than one heroic son. 
 
484 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 DEATH AND BURIAL. 
 
 The history of Jackson now turns finally from the camp 
 and the battle-field to the sacred quiet of the sick-room 
 and the dying bed. The far different scenes which are to 
 be unfolded may be appropriately introduced by a refer- 
 ence to the calm and thorough acquiescence of G-eneral 
 Jackson in his sudden helplessness. So eager and deter- 
 mined a spirit as his might have been expected to chafe 
 at his enforced inactivity at such a time. It might be 
 expected that he would now be seen, like an eagle with 
 broken pinion, beating against the bars of his cage, with a 
 tumultuous struggle to soar again into the storm-cloud, 
 which was his native air. Such anticipations did injus- 
 tice to the Christian temper which he constantly culti- 
 vated. To the amazement of his own nearest friends, 
 from the moment he felt the hand of Providence laid upon 
 his efforts, in the shape of those wounds, he dismissed all 
 the cares of command, and the heat of his soul sank into 
 a sweet and placid calm. He who just before seemed to 
 be pursuing victory with a devouring hunger, was now all 
 acquiescence. He cast upon God every anxiety for his 
 country, and seemed unconscious of the gTand designs 
 
JACKSON S CHRISTIAN SUBMISSION. 485 
 
 whicli, the day before, were burning in his heart. When 
 he awoke from his long and quiet slumber on the Sabbath 
 moTning, the distant sounds of a furious cannonade told 
 his experienced ear that a great battle was again raging. 
 But the thought did not quicken his pulse, nor draw from 
 him a single expression of restlessness. He waited for 
 news of the result with full faith in God, and in the valour 
 of his army, only expressing such anxieties as an affection- 
 ate woman might feel, for the safety of his comrades in 
 aims. 
 
 His first act, after receiving instructions, was to request 
 Lieut. Morrison to go to Eichmond, and bring Mrs. Jack- 
 son to his bedside. He then admitted his chaplain, the 
 Eev. Mr. Lacy, who had just arrived, and learned his mis- 
 fortune, to his tent. As he entered, and saw the stump 
 where the left arm had lately been, he exclaimed in dis- 
 tress, "Oh, General! what a calamity!" Jackson first 
 thanked him, with his usual courtesy, for his sympathy, 
 and then proceeded, with marked deliberation and em- 
 phasis, as though delivering his Christian testimony 
 touching God's dealing with him, to speak in substance 
 thus, and at a length which was unusual with his taciturn 
 habits. " You see me severely wounded, but not de- 
 pressed, not unhappy. I believe that it has been done 
 according to God's holy wiU, and I acquiesce entirely in 
 it. You may think it strange ; but you never saw me 
 more perfectly contented than I am to-day, for I am sure 
 that my Heavenly Father designs this affliction for my 
 good. I am perfectly satisfied that either in this life, or 
 in that which is to come, I shaU discover that what is now 
 
480 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 regarded as a calamity is a blessing. And if it appears a 
 great calamity (as it surely wiU be a great inconvenience, 
 to be deprived of my arm), it will result in a great bless- 
 ing. I can wait until God, in His own time, shall make 
 known to me the object He has in thus afflicting me. 
 But why should I not rather rejoice in it as a blessing, and 
 not look on it as a calamity at all ? If it were in my 
 power to replace my arm, I would not dare to do it, unless 
 I could know it was the will of my Heavenly Father." 
 
 He then spoke, in answer to inquiries, of all the inci- 
 dents of his fall, with entire freedom and quiet. After a 
 little he added, that he thought when he fell from the 
 litter that he should die upon the field, and gave himself 
 up into the hands of his Heavenly Father without a fear. 
 He declared that he was in possession of perfect peace, ' 
 while thus expecting immediate death. " It has been,'' 
 he said, " a precious experience to me, that I was brought 
 face to face with death, and found all was well. I then 
 learned an important lesson, — that one who has been the 
 subject of converting grace, and is the child of God, can, 
 in the midst of the severest sufferings, fix the thoughts 
 upon God and heavenly things, and derive great comfort 
 and peace ; but that one who had never made his peace 
 with God would be unable to control his mind under such 
 sufferings, so as to understand properly the way of salva- 
 tion, and repent and believe on Christ. I felt that if I 
 had neglected the salvation of my soul before, it would => 
 have been too late then." 
 
 These are nearly the exact words in which this valuable 
 witness was borne by General Jackson ; for the minister, ^ 
 
nio KJiMAKliS OX THE VICTOEV. -187 
 
 impressed with their solemn weight, charged his memory 
 with them, and speedily committed them to writing. It 
 is needless to moralize upon them, in order that their 
 lesson may be felt by every reader. The General was dis- 
 posed to speak yet more upon these themes, but acqui- 
 esced in the friendly caution of his nurse and physician, 
 and remained for a long time in perfect quiet. 
 
 About eleven o'clock a.m. Captain Douglass, his Assist- 
 ant Inspector, arrived from the field with definite news of 
 the victory, and taking his faithful nurse, Lieutenant 
 Smith, aside, detailed such things as he thought would 
 most interest the General The latter went into the tent, 
 and recited them to him, relating, among other things, the 
 magnificent onset of the StonewaU Brigade. General 
 Stuart had gone to them at the crisis of the battle, and 
 pointing out to them the work which he wished them to 
 do, had commanded them to "charge, and remember 
 Jackson !" "Whereupon they had sprung forward, and 
 driving before them threefold numbers with irresistible 
 enthusiasm, had decided the great day. The General 
 listened with glistening eyes, and after a strong effort to 
 repress his tears, said, " It was just like them to do so ; 
 just like them. They are a noble body of men." Smith 
 rephed, " They have indeed behaved splendidly ; but you 
 can easily suppose, General, that it was not without a loss 
 of many valuable men." His anxiety was immediately 
 aroused, and he asked quickly, " Have you heard of any 
 one that is killed ?" Said Smith, "Yes, sir ; I am sorry 
 to say they have lost their commander." He exclaimed, 
 "Paxton ! Paxton !" Smith—" Yes, sir, he has fallen." 
 
488 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 Thereupon he turned his face to the wall, closed his eyes, 
 and remained a long time quiet, labouring to suppress his 
 emotion. He then, without any other expression of his 
 own sense of bereavement, began to speak in a serious 
 and tender strain of the genius and virtues of that officer. 
 Smith said that Mr. Lacy had talked confidentially with 
 General Paxton about his spiritual interests, had found 
 him by no means the stranger that some supposed him to 
 the religion of the heart, and believed him a regenerate 
 man. Jackson replied, in a tone of high satisfaction, 
 " That's good ! that's good !" It may be added, in confir- 
 mation of this judgment, that the last occupation of General 
 Paxton on the battle-field, after he had placed his regi- 
 ments in position, was to employ the interval of leisure in 
 reading his New Testament ; and that as he received the 
 order to carry them into action, he replaced the book in 
 his pocket, and accompanied his command to move, 
 with a brief exhortation to those around him to in- 
 trust their safety into the hand of the Almighty in the 
 faithful performance of their duty. It was by this 
 Christian courage that the victories of the Confederacy 
 were won. 
 
 General Jackson now directed Lieutenant Smith to ob- 
 tain materials for writing, and dictated to him a note to 
 General Lee. In the most unpretending words, he stated 
 that he had been disabled by his wounds, and had accord- 
 ingly demitted his command to the general next him in 
 rank, A. P. Hill. He then congratulated the Commander- 
 in-Chief upon the great victory which God had that day 
 vouchsafed to his arms. He received soon after the note 
 
i>jiJNJil-tAL CHAEACTEK OF HIS STRATEGY. 489 
 
 of General Lee, which was given above. When this was 
 read to him, he was evidently much gratified ; and after a 
 little pause, said, " General Lee is very kind ; but he 
 should give the glory to God." At a later hour he re- 
 marked, " Our movement yesterday was a great success : 
 I think, the most successful military movement of my life. 
 But I expect to receive far more credit for it than I de- 
 serve. Most men wUl think that I had planned it all 
 from the first ; but it was not so — I simply took advantage 
 of circumstances as they were presented to me in the pro- 
 vidence of God. I feel that His hand led me : let us give 
 Him all the glory." These words undoubtedly give the 
 most exact representation of the character of his strategy. 
 While no commander was ever more painstaking in his 
 forecast, none was ever fuller of ready resorrrce, or more 
 prompt to modify his plans according to the new circum- 
 stances which emerged. And when he was once possessed 
 of the posture of affairs, his decision was as swift as it was 
 con'ect. The plan of attacking Hooker from the west was 
 conceived and matured on the evening of Friday, almost 
 in a moment. At that time he met General Stuart at the 
 old Furnace in front of Chancellorsville ; he gained a view 
 thence of the comparative altitude of that place ; he saw 
 the position of the Federal batteries which Stuart was then 
 engaging ; and, at a glance, divined thence the disposition 
 of Hooker's forces ; he learned the absence of the hostile 
 cavalry ; and the friendly screen of forests which sur- 
 rounded ChancellorsviQe was described to him. It was 
 then that his decision was made ; and after a few moments' 
 .- anxious conference with General Stuart, he rode rapidly 
 
490 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 back to seek General Lee, and to communicate his conclu- 
 sion to him. 
 
 During the Sabbath, General Lee sent word to him that 
 he regarded the Wilderness as so exposed to the insults oi 
 the Federal cavalry, that it would be prudent to remove to 
 Guinea's Station as soon as possible. Dr. M'Guire there- 
 fore determined to attempt the journey on the morrow. 
 The General hoped, after resting there for a day or two, to 
 proceed to Ashland, a rural village on the same railroad, 
 twelve miles from Eichmond, and thence to his beloved 
 Lexington. He dreaded the bustle of the capital, and 
 sighed for the quiet of his home ; where, he said, the pure 
 mountain air would soon heal his wounds, and invigorate 
 his exhausted body. On Monday morning he appeared so 
 exceedingly well, that it was determined to attempt the 
 journey. A mattress was placed in an ambulance, and he 
 was laid upon it, with every appliance for his comfort 
 which could be devised. Dr. M'Guire took his place 
 within, by his side, while Lieutenant Smith rode near, 
 and Mr. Hotchkiss, with a party of pioneers, preceded the 
 vehicle, removing everything from the road which might 
 cause a jostle to the sufferer. He seemed bright and 
 cheerful during the journey, and conversed with spirit 
 concerning military affairs and religion. The route taken 
 led southward, by Spottsylvania Court House, and the 
 distance to Guinea's was thus made twenty-five miles. 
 The road was encumbered by the army teamsters, usually 
 a rude and uncouth race, conveying supplies to the army 
 at Chancellorsville. But when they were told that the 
 ambulance contained the wounded General, they made 
 
Jilb KEMOVAL TO GUINEA'S STATION. 491 
 
 way for it with tender respect ; aud their frequent reply 
 to the escort was : " I wish it was I who was wounded." 
 At nightfall, the party reached the house of Mr. Chandler, 
 near the railroad station, whose hospitality General Jack- 
 son had shared the previous winter, when he first came 
 from the Valley. Here he was gladly received, and every- 
 thing possible was done for his comfort; for it was a 
 notable trait of his character, that he inspired in all the 
 people, and especially in the purest and most Christian, 
 that unbounded devotion, which counted every exertion 
 made for him a precious privilege. The house of Mr. 
 Chandler was already full of wounded officers, to whom 
 he sent, by his attendants, most courteous and sympathiz- 
 ing messages. He arrived at this resting-place wearied 
 and painful, complaining of some nausea, and pain in his 
 braised side ; but still declared that he had made the 
 journey with unexpected comfort, for which he should be 
 very grateful to God. Eeferring to his previous advantage 
 in the use of the remedies of Preissnitz, he earnestly en- 
 treated that wet towels should now be placed on his 
 stomach and side. Dr. M'Guire consenting to this, the 
 ambulance was arrested, fresh water was obtained from a 
 spring on the roadside, and the application was made, as 
 he declared, to hLs great relief When he was removed to 
 his bed at Mr. Chandler's he took some supper with relish, 
 and then spent the night in quiet sleep. 
 
 During this journey, it has been remarked. General 
 Jackson appeared full of vivacity and hope, conversing 
 with his physician, his chaplain, and Mr. Smith on every 
 topic of common interest. He referred again to the Stone- 
 
492 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GEXEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 wall Brigade, and to the proposal which was mooted among 
 them, to ask formal authority from the Government to 
 assume that name as their own, on their rolls and colours. 
 He said with enthusiasm, " They are a noble body of 
 patriots ; when this war is ended, the survivors will be 
 proud to say, ' I was a member of the old Stonewall 
 Brigade.' The Government ought certainly to accede to 
 their request, and authorize them to assume this title ; for 
 it was fairly earned." He then, with characteristic 
 modesty, added, that "the name Stonewall ought to be 
 attached wholly to the men of the brigade, and not to 
 him ; for it was their steadfast heroism which had earned 
 it at first Manassas." Some one asked him of the plan of 
 campaign which Hooker had just attempted to execute. 
 He said, " It was, in the main, a good conception, sir; an 
 excellent plan. But he should not have sent away his 
 cavalry ; that was his great blunder. It was that which 
 enabled me to turn him, without his being aware of it, 
 and to take him by his rear. Had he kept his cavalry 
 with him, his plan would have been a very good one." It 
 may be added, in accordance with this verdict of the 
 highest authority, that the strategy of the Federal generals, 
 from that of M'Dowell on the first field of Manassas, on- 
 ward, was usually good enough, had it been seconded by 
 the courage of their troops. The Federal is rarely found 
 deficient in anything which cunning or diligence can sup- 
 ply ; his defect is in the manhood of the soldiery. 
 
 On Monday morning General Jackson awoke refreshed, 
 and his wounds were pronounced to be in an admirable 
 condition. He now began to look forward to his restoration 
 
HIS RELIGIOUS CONVERSATION. 493 
 
 to his command, and inquired of Dr. M'Guii-e how many 
 weeks would probably elapse before lie would be fit for the 
 field. He also requested his chaplain to visit him at ten 
 o'clock each morning for reading the Scriptures and prayer. 
 These seasons were the occasions of much religious con- 
 versation, in which he unbosomed himself with unusual 
 freedom and candour. He declared that his faith and hope 
 in his Eedeemer were clear. He said he was perfectly 
 willing to die at that time ; but believed that his time was 
 not yet come ; that his Heavenly Father still had a work 
 for him to do in defence of his beloved country, and that 
 until that was completed he should be spared. Dur- 
 ing these morning hours he delighted to enlarge on his 
 favourite topics of practical religion, which were such as 
 these : The Christian should carry his religion into every- 
 thing. Christianity makes man better in any lawful call- 
 ing; it equally makes the general a better commander, 
 and the shoemaker a better mechanic. In the case of the 
 cobbler or the tailor, for instance, religion will produce 
 more care in promising work, more punctuality, and more 
 fidehty in executing it, from conscientious motives ; and 
 these homely examples were fair illustrations of its value 
 in more exalted functions. So prayer aids any man, in any 
 lawful business, not only by bringing down the Divine 
 blessing, which is its direct and prime object, but by har- 
 ,moiiizing his own mind and heart. In the commander of 
 an army at the critical hour, it calmed his perplexities, 
 moderated his anxieties, steadied the scales of judgment, 
 and thus preserved him from exaggerated and rash con- 
 clusions. Again, he urged that every act of man's life 
 
494 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEKAL JACKSON. 
 
 should be a religious act. He recited with much pleasure 
 the ideas of Doddridge, where he pictured himself as spiri- 
 tualizing every act of his daily life ; as thinking, when he 
 washed himself, of the cleansing blood of Calvary; as 
 praying, while he put on his garments, that he might he 
 clothed with the righteousness of the saints ; as endea- 
 vouring, while he was eating, to feed upon the Bread of 
 Heaven. General Jackson now also enforced his favourite 
 dogma, that the Bible furnished men with rules for every- 
 thing. If they would search, he said, they would find a 
 precept, an example, or a general principle, applicable to 
 every possible emergency of duty, no matter what was a 
 man's calling. There the military man might find guidance 
 for every exigency. Then, turning to Lieutenant Smith, 
 he asked him smiling, " Can you tell me where the Bible 
 gives generals a model for their official reports of battles?" 
 He answered, laughing, that it never entered his mind to 
 think of looking for such a thing in the Scriptures. " Never- 
 theless," said the General, " there are such, and excellent 
 models too. Look, for instance, at the narrative of Joshua's 
 battle with the Amalekites ; there you have one. It has 
 clearness, brevity, fairness, modesty ; and it traces the 
 victory to its right source, the blessing of God." 
 
 After Monday the bright promise of his recovery began 
 to be overcast ; pain and restlessness gradually increased, 
 and he was necessarily limited in conversation. It became 
 necessary again to resort to his favourite remedy, the wet 
 napkins, and to employ anodynes to soothe his nerves. 
 Under the influence of opiates his sleep became disturbed 
 and full of dreams. He several times inquired anxiously 
 
HIS SYMPTOMS TIIKEATENIXG. 495 
 
 about the issue of the battles. On Tuesday he was told 
 that Hooker was entrenched north of Chancellorsville ; 
 when he said, " That is bad ; very bad." Falling asleep 
 afterwards, he aroused himself, exclaiming, " Major Pen- 
 dleton, send in and see if there is liigher ground back of 
 ChancellorsviUe." His soul was again struggling, in his 
 dreams, for his invaded coimtry ; and he thought of his 
 artUlery crowning some eminence, and thence pelting the 
 intruder from his stronghold. It was also on this day that 
 the whole line of the railroad was agitated with rumours 
 of the approach of Stoneman's vagrant cavalry, which had 
 attacked Ashland, and was expected to advance thence 
 toward Fredericksburg, ravaging all the stations. Gene- 
 ral Jackson expressed the most perfect calmness in view 
 of this danger, and said that he doubted not, if they cap- 
 tured him, God would cause them to treat him with kind- 
 ness. The confusion prevalent along the railroad had 
 retarded Mr. Morrison in his journey to Eichmond, and 
 now made it dangerous for Mrs. Jackson to travel by that 
 route. On Thursday, however, she determined to delay 
 no longer, and setting out by railroad, reached Mr. Chand- 
 ler's in the forenoon. 
 
 But meantime the symptoms of General Jackson's case 
 had become still more ominous. Wednesday brought a 
 cold, drenching rain, with a chilling atmosphere, un- 
 healthy for his enfeebled system. Wednesday evening. 
 Dr. M'Guire, who had scarcely permitted himself to sleep 
 for three or four nights, overpowered by fatigue, retired to 
 rest But during the night the General began to complain 
 of an hatense pain in his side, and urged his servant Jim, 
 
496 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 who was watching with him, to apply wet towels. He 
 complied, but the remedy failed to bring relief, and as 
 morning approached he summoned the doctor again. The 
 General was found with a quickened pulse, labouring 
 respiration, and severe pain. Pneumonia was clearly de- 
 veloped, but not with alarming intensity ; the pain and 
 difficult breathing being more accounted for by a neuralgic 
 Pleurodinia, constricting the muscles of the chest, than 
 by actual inflammation of the lungs. The physician, there- 
 fore, resorted to the more vigorous remedies of siaapisms 
 and cupping, but with only partial effect. The chaplain 
 was now despatched to the army, which had returned to 
 its old quarters near Fredericksburg, to bring the Gene- 
 ral's family physician, Dr. Morrison, now chief surgeon of 
 Early's division. Mr. Lacy, while seeking him, called on 
 General Lee, and told him that the General's condition 
 was more threatening. He replied that he was confident 
 God would not take Jackson away from him at such a 
 time, when his country needed him so much. " Give 
 him," he added, " my affectionate regards, and tell him to 
 make haste and get well, and come back to me as soon as . 
 he can. He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right 
 arm." 
 
 Meantime Mrs. Jackson had arrived with her infant. 
 The duties of the sick-room delayed her introduction 
 for an hour, and they sought to prepare her feelings for 
 the change which she must see in her husband. He had 
 asked for a glass of lemonade, and some one proposed, as 
 a kindly relief to her anxiety, that she should busy herself 
 in preparing it. "When Mr. Smith took it to him, he tasted, 
 
MEDICAL AID OBTAIXED. 497 
 
 and looking up, said quickly, " You did not mix this, it is 
 too sweet ; take it back." Disease had produced a sur- 
 prising change in his temper in one respect, that he who 
 in health was almost indifferent to the quality of his food 
 and drink, and satisfied with the simplest, had become 
 critical and exacting in those particulars. He was now 
 informed that Mrs. Jackson had arrived, and expressed 
 great delight. When she entered his room she saw him 
 sadly changed ; his features were sunken by the prostra- 
 tion of his energies, and were marked by two or three 
 angry scars, where they had been torn by his horse as he 
 rushed through the brushwood. His cheeks burned with 
 a swarthy and almost livid flush. Yet his face beamed 
 with joy, when, awaking from his disturbed slumber, he 
 saw her near him. When he noted the shade of woful 
 apprehension which passed over her face, he said tenderly, 
 " Now, Anna, cheer up, and don't wear a long face ; you 
 know I love a bright face in a sick-room." And nobly 
 did she obey. With a spirit as truly courageous as that 
 of her warrior husband, she commanded her grief, and 
 addressed herself cheerfully to the ministry of love. Many 
 a tear was poured out over her unconscious suckling, yet 
 she returned to his sick-room always with a serene coun- 
 tenance ; and continued to be, until the clouds of death 
 descended upon his vision, what he had delighted to call 
 her in the hours of prosperity, his " Sunshine." He now 
 added, with reference to his impaired hearing, that he 
 wished her to speak distinctly while in his room, because 
 he wanted to hear every word she said. 
 
 At two o'clock P.M. Dr. Morrison arrived. When he 
 VOL. IL 2 I 
 
4 98 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 ypoke to liim, the General looked up and said affectionately, 
 "That's an old, familiar face." His condition was now 
 examined thoroughly, and was found so critical that it was 
 determined to send Mr. Smith to Eichmond to bring some 
 female friend to Mrs. Jackson's assistance, and to call in 
 the aid of Dr. Tucker of that city, whose skill in pul- 
 monary diseases was greatly valued. But the best treat- 
 ment which medical science could suggest was immediately 
 commenced, and the symptoms of pneumonia were par- 
 tially subdued. Nature, however, did not rally as this 
 enemy receded ; the vital forces were too much exhausted 
 to be effectually revived. There remained no organic 
 disease of sufificient force to destroy the lungs of an infant, 
 but still his " constitutional symptoms" grew steadily 
 more discouraging. The causes of this decline were several; 
 the cold which he had contracted on Friday night, the 
 fatigue and exhaustion of his long- continued abstinence, 
 labour, and intense excitement during the march and 
 battle ; the cruel fall from the litter, and, above aU, the 
 fatal haemorrhage. It was during the honid confusion of 
 that night combat in the thicket that his strength was 
 drained away ; the deceitful appearance of the succeeding 
 days was but a partial flowing again of the tides of life, 
 which were proved too weak to fill their accustomed 
 channel, and so ebbed for ever. During his remaining 
 hours, he was at times oppressed by something, which 
 was not delirium, but the burden of a profound prostra- 
 tion, combined with the slumberous drugs which were 
 given to command his pain. Whenever he was E^ddressed 
 by any one whom lie knew, he roused himself, and 
 
HIS THOUGHTS IN SICKNESS. 499 
 
 memory, reason, and consciousness were found in full 
 exercise ; but at other times he lay with closed eyes, 
 seemingly engaged in silent prayer, or overcome by sleep, 
 which was visited with disturbed visions ; and at others 
 again he entered into the conversation around his bed 
 with so much intelligence and animation that his physi- 
 cians checked his exertions of his failing strength. During 
 Thursday night Dr. Morrison had occasion to arouse him 
 from sleep to take some draught, saying, " Will you take 
 this. General?" He looked steadily into his face and 
 said, " Do your duty." Then, as though to signify that 
 he intended what he said, and wished the physician to do 
 for him precisely what his judgment dictated, he repeated, 
 "Do your duty." His vagrant thoughts in sleep were 
 obviously wandering back to the field of strife ; at one 
 time he was heard to say quickly, " A. P. Hill, prepare for 
 action;" and several times, "Tell Major Hawks to send 
 forward provisions for the troops." 
 
 On Friday morning Dr. Morrison suggested his fear of 
 a fatal termination of his disease. He dissented from this 
 expectation positively, and said, precisely in these words, 
 " I am not afraid to die ; I am willing to abide by the 
 will of my Heavenly Father. But I do not believe that I 
 shah die at this time ; I am persuaded the Almighty has 
 yet a work for me to perform." It was not at random 
 that he then employed two different terms to denote God : 
 but their use was intentional, and was a remarkable mani- 
 festation of his religion. The favourite term by which he 
 was accustomed to speak of God in the relations of redemp- 
 tion to his own soul, as the attentive reader will have 
 
500 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 noticed already, was, " My Heavenly Pather." It was this 
 dear name which he now used, when he would express his 
 acquiescence in the Divine will concerning himself. But 
 when, in the next breath, he spoke of the work which he 
 expected God, as the Euler of nations, to assign to him, 
 he called Him " The Almighty." He also insisted that 
 Dr. M'Guire should be called in, and the appeal be made 
 to him. When he entered he candidly admitted that he 
 shared his fears; but General Jackson, while perfectly 
 willing to die, was still as sturdy as ever in declaring his 
 expectation of life. It may be added that, even so late as 
 Saturday night, when Dr. Morrison renewed the expres- 
 sion of his fears, he still dissented, saying, " I don't think 
 so ; I think I shall be better by morning." 
 
 On Friday morning Mr. Smith returned from Eichmond 
 with the additional assistance which he had gone to seek. 
 But medical skiU could suggest no means to replace the 
 vital forces which were surely failing at the fountain of 
 life. It was on the afternoon of this day that he asked 
 Dr. M'Guire whether he supposed the diseased persons 
 healed by the miraculous totich of the Saviour ever suffered 
 again from the same malady. He continued to say that 
 he did not believe they did ; that the healiag virtue' of the 
 Eedeemer was too potent, and that the poor paralytic to 
 whom He had once said, " I will ; be thou healed," never 
 shook again with palsy. He then, as though invoking the 
 same aid, exclaimed, " Oh for infinite power ! " After a 
 season of quiet reflection, he said to Mr. Smith (who, being 
 designed for the pulpit, had received a thorough theologi- 
 cal training), " What were the headquarters of Christianity 
 
liNTjJllJfiST IN EARLY CHRISTIAN HISTORY. 501 
 
 after tlie crucifixion ?" He replied that Jerusalem was at 
 first the chief seat, but after the dispersion of the disciples 
 thence by persecution, there was none for a time, until 
 Antioch, Iconium, Eome, and Alexandria were finally 
 established as centres of influence. Tlie General inter- 
 rupted him, "Why do you say ' centres of influence !' is 
 not Headquarters a better term ?" He then requested 
 him to go on, and Smith, encouraged by Dr. M'Guire, 
 proceeded to explain how the Apostles were directed, by 
 Divine Providence seemingly, to plant their most flourish- 
 ing churches, at an early period, in these great cities, 
 which were rendered by their political, commercial, and 
 ethnical relations " headquarters" of influence for the 
 whole civflized world. Jackson was much interested in 
 the explanation, and at its end said, " Mr. Smith, I wish 
 you would get the map, and show me precisely where 
 Iconium was." He replied that he thought there was no 
 map at hand where that ancient city would be found. 
 Said the General, " Yes, sir, you will find it in the Atlas 
 which is in my old trunk." This trunk was searched, but 
 the Atlas was not found there, and Mr. Smith suggested 
 that it was probably left in his portable desk. He said, 
 " Yes, you are right, I left it in my desk" (mentioning the 
 shelf). Then, after musing for a moment, he added, " Mr. 
 Smith, I wish you would examine into that matter, and 
 report to me!' His meaning was, that he should refresh 
 his knowledge of this interesting feature of the history of 
 the infant Church, by reference to books, and thus prepare 
 himself to unfold it more fuUy to him. 
 On Saturday morning, while he was suffering cruelly 
 
502 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 from fever and restlessness, and tossing about upon his 
 bed, Mrs. Jackson proposed to read him some psahns 
 from the Old Testament, hoping their sublime •consola- 
 tions would soothe his pains. He at first replied that he 
 was suffering too much to attend, but soon after added, 
 " Yes, we must never refuse that ; get the Bible, and read 
 them." In the afternoon he requested that he might see 
 his chaplain. He was then so ill, and his respiration so 
 difficult, that it was thought all conversation would he 
 injurious, and they attempted to dissuade him. But he 
 continued to ask so repeatedly and eagerly, that it was 
 judged better to yield. When Mr. Lacy entered, he in- 
 quired whether he was endeavouring to further those 
 views of Sabbath observance of which he had spoken to 
 him. On his assuring him that he was, he entered at 
 some length into conversation with him upon that subject. 
 Thus, his last care and labour for the Church of God was 
 an effort to secure the sanctification of His holy day. As 
 the evening wore away, his sufferings increased, and he 
 requested Mrs. Jackson to sing some psalms, with the 
 assistance of all his friends around his bed, selecting the 
 most spiritual pieces they could. She, with her brother, 
 then sung several of his favourite pieces, concluding, at 
 his request, with the 51st Psalm — 
 
 " Show pity, Lord, Lord, forgive," — 
 
 sung to the " Old Hundredth." The night was spent hy 
 him in feverish tossings, and without quiet sleep. Dur- 
 ing all its weary hours the attendants sat by his side, 
 sponging his brow with cool water, the only palliative of 
 
DEATH VEEY NEAR. 503 
 
 his pain which seemed to avail. Whenever they paused, 
 he looked up, and by some gesture or sign, begged them 
 to continue. 
 
 Thus the morning of Sabbath, the 10th of May, was 
 ushered in, a holy day which he was destined to begin on 
 earth, and to end in heaven. He had often said that he 
 desired to die upon the Sabbath ; and this wish was now 
 about to be fulfilled. His end was evidently so near that 
 Dr. Morrison felt it was due to Mrs. Jackson to inform 
 her plainly of his condition. She remembered that he 
 had often said, when speaking of death, that although he 
 was willing to die at any time, if it was the will of God, 
 he should greatly desire to have a few hours' notice of the 
 approach of his last struggle. She tlierefore declared that 
 he must be distinctly informed of his nearness to death ; 
 and agonizing as was the task, she would herself assume 
 the duty of breaking the solemn news to him. He was 
 now lying quiet, and apparently oppressed by the incubus 
 of his deep prostration. She went to his bedside and 
 aroused him, when he immediately recognised her, although 
 he did not appear at first to apprehend distinctly the tenor 
 of her announcement. The progress of the disease had 
 now nearly robbed him of the power of speech. She re- 
 peated several times, "Do you know, the doctors say 
 you must very soon be in heaven ? Do you not feel will- 
 ing to acquiesce in God's allotment, if He wills you to go 
 to-day ? " He looked her full in the face, and said, with 
 difficulty, " I prefer it." Then, as though fearing that 
 the intelligence of his answer might not be fully appreci- 
 ated, he said again, " I prefer it." She said, " Well, be- 
 
504 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSOK. 
 
 fore this day closes, you will be with the blessed Saviour 
 in His glory." He replied with great distinctness and 
 deliberation : " I will be an infinite gainer to be trans- 
 lated.' 
 
 He had before requested that the chaplain should 
 preach, as usual, at his headquarters, but he now seemed 
 to be oblivious of the fact. When Colonel Pendleton, his 
 adjutant, entered the room, he greeted him with his un- 
 failing courtesy; and then asked, who was preaching at 
 headquarters. When he was told that the chaplain was 
 gone to do it, he expressed much satisfaction. Mrs. Jack- 
 son now determined to employ the fleeting moments to 
 learn his last wishes ; first asking for one final assurance 
 more, that his Saviour was present with him in his ex- 
 tremity. To this he only answered with a distinct " Yes." 
 His wife asked him whether it was his will that she and 
 his daughter should reside with her father, Dr. Morrison. 
 He answered, "Yes, you have a kind and good father; 
 but no one is so kind and good as your Heavenly Father." 
 She then inquired where he preferred that his body should 
 be buried. To this he made no reply. When she sug- 
 gested Lexington, he assented, saying, " Yes, in Lexing- 
 ton;" but his tone expressed rather acquiescence than 
 lively interest. His infant was now brought to receive 
 his last embrace ; and as soon as she appeared in the 
 doorway, which he was watching with his eyes, his face 
 was lit up with a beaming smile, and he motioned her 
 toward him, saying fondly, " Little darling ! " She was 
 seated on the bed by his side, and he embraced her, and 
 endeavoured to caress her with his poor lacerated hand — 
 
HIS LAST AVOEDS AND DEATH. 505 
 
 while she smiled upon him with infantile delight. Thus 
 he continued to toy with her, until the near approach of 
 death unnerved his arm, and unconsciousness settled down 
 upon him. 
 
 In his restless sleep he seemed attempting to speak; 
 and at length said audibly, " Let us pass over the river, 
 and rest imder the shade of the trees.'' These were the 
 last words he uttered. Was his soul wandering back in 
 dreams to the river of his beloved valley, the Shenandoah 
 (the "river of sparkling waters"), whose verdant meads 
 and groves he had redeemed from the invader, and across 
 whose floods he had so often won his passage through the 
 toils of battle 1 Or was he reaching forward across the 
 river of Death . to the golden streets of the Celestial City, 
 and the trees whose leaves are for the healing of the 
 nations? It was to these that God was bringing him, 
 through his last battle and victory ; and under their 
 shade he walks with the blessed company of the re- 
 deemed. 
 
 His attendants, now believing that consciousness had 
 finally departed, ceased to restrain his wife ; and she was 
 permitted to abandon herself to all the desolation of her 
 grief But they were mistaken. Bowing down over him, 
 her eyes raining tears upon his dying face, and covering it 
 with kisses, she cried, " Oh, doctor, cannot you do some- 
 thing more?" That voice had power to recall him once 
 more, for a moment, from the very threshold of heaven's 
 gate ; he opened his eyes fuUy, and gazing upward at her 
 face, with a long look of fuU intelligence and love, closed 
 them again for ever. His breath then, after a few more 
 
506 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 inspirations, ceased, and his labouring breast was stilled. 
 And thus died the hero of so many battles, who had so 
 often confronted death when clothed with his gloomiest 
 terrors ; with his last eartlily look fixed upon the face 
 which was dearer to him than all else, except that 
 Saviour, whom he was next to behold in glory. 
 
 While he was thus passing down beneath the shadow 
 of the portals of death, two different scenes were enacting 
 connected with his fate, contrasted in their actors and 
 accessories as widely as the extremes of earth will admit. 
 But it is not easy to decide which paid the most touching 
 tribute to the dying warrior. Mrs. Chandler, the hostess 
 to whose affectionate hospitality the General was now in- 
 debted for a shelter, had a daughter of five years old, 
 whose heart he had won, as he stole the hearts of all the 
 ingenuous, during his short visit of the previous winter. 
 This winning child had noticed the tears which moistened 
 her mother's cheeks, as she was engaged about her house- 
 hold duties ; and for a long time had followed her about 
 the house with a restless and wistful countenance. At 
 length she ventured to ask, " Mamma, will General Jack- 
 son die ?" She was told that the doctors said they could 
 not save him, and he was going to die. Fixing her large 
 solemn eyes upon her mother's face with a look of intense 
 earnestness, she replied, " Oh, I wish God would let me 
 die for him, for if I did, you would cry for me ; but if he 
 dies, all the people in the country will cry." ^ 
 
 The cotemporaneous scene was at the quarters of the 
 staff of General Jackson's corps, where a vast congregation, 
 of nearly two thousand men, with the Commander-in- 
 
MESSAGE OF LEE. 507 
 
 Chief, aad a brilliant assemblage of generals, was collected 
 for public worship. When General Lee saw the chaplain 
 approaching, he met him, and anxiously inquired after 
 the sufferer's condition. He was told that it was nearly, 
 or quite hopeless; when, with great feeling, he said, 
 , " Surely General Jackson must recover. God will not 
 take him from us, now that we need him so much. 
 Surely he a^tII be spared to us, ia answer to the many 
 prayers which are offered for him." He afterwards 
 added, "When you return, I trust you will find him 
 better. When a suitable occasion offers, give him my 
 love, and tell him that I wrestled in prayer for him last 
 night, as I never prayed, I believe, for myself" With 
 these words he hastily turned away, to hide his uncon- 
 troUable emotion. This message has not yet been delivered. 
 After pubHc worship, in which the whole multitude was 
 melted into grief while joining in. the prayers for his re- 
 covery, Mr. Lacy returned, only to find him gone. He 
 had expired about three o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 The dying scene has now been exactly related, without 
 attempt at any dramatic embellishment ; for it is be - 
 Ueved that this faithful and homely narrative will be 
 more impressive to every rightly constituted mind than 
 any effort of literary art. Nor wOl any reflections be 
 added upon the lessons of such a death to the hearts of 
 the readers ; but each one will be left, in the silence of 
 his own soul, to draw them for himself. They are too 
 plain and solemn to need repetition. 
 
 Colonel Pendleton immediately informed General Lee, 
 and the Governor of the Commonwealth, of the departure 
 
508 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 of Jackson's soul ; and by the latter it was communicated 
 to the Confederate Government. In a few hours the 
 electric telegraph had conveyed the news to all the Con- 
 federate States ; and to every heart it came as a chilling 
 shock. All over the land, hundreds of miles away from 
 the regions which he had illustrated by his prowess, the 
 people who had never seen his face grieved for him as 
 men grieve for their nearest kindred. Other countries 
 and ages may have witnessed such a national sorrow ; 
 but the men of this generation never saw so profound and 
 universal grief as that which throbbed in the heart of the 
 Confederate people at the death of Jackson. Women, 
 who had never known him save by the fame of his vir- 
 tues and exploits, wept for him as passionately as for a 
 brother. The faces of the men were black with dismay 
 as they heard that the tower of their strength was fallen. 
 All felt what many mouths expressed, that no language 
 could declare their sense of bereavement so well as the 
 requiem of David for his princely friend Jonathan: 
 " How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle ! 
 Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places. I am 
 distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan ; very pleasant 
 hast thou been unto me ; thy love was wonderful, passing 
 the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and the ^ 
 weapons of war perished !" Men said that had never ad- 
 mitted among their fears of possible calamity the appre- ; 
 hension that Jackson could fall in battle ; for he had 
 passed unscathed through so many perils, that he seemed , 
 to them to wear a charmed life. He was to his fellow- : 
 citizens the man of destiny, the anointed of God to bring 
 
JNATiOxNAl, ESTIMATE. 509 
 
 r 
 
 in deliverance for his oppressed Church and country. 
 
 They had seen his form leading the van of victory, with 
 
 such trust as the ancient Hebrews reposed in their kings 
 
 and judges, when they went forth to turn to iiight the 
 
 armies of the aliens, anointed with holy oil, and guided to 
 
 sure triumph by the oracles of Urim and Thumniini and 
 
 inspired seers. Even those who did not pray themselves, 
 
 heheved with a perfect assurance that his prayers found 
 
 certain, access to the heavens, and that the cause for which 
 
 he interceded was secure under the shield of Omnipotence. 
 
 The people of God, with a more intelligent and scriptural 
 
 trust, gloried in his sanctity and Christian zeal, as a signal 
 
 proof that the cause of their country was the cause of 
 
 righteousness, in his pious example as a precious influence 
 
 for good upon their sons who followed his banners, and in 
 
 the homage done to Christ and His gospel by his devotion. 
 
 His soldiers trusted in his prestige with a perfect faith ; 
 
 for they had seen Fortune perch so regularly upon his flag, 
 
 that the fickleness of her nature seemed to be changed 
 
 for him into constancy. Jackson's corps, when fighting 
 
 under his eye, always assailed the enemy with the certain 
 
 , expectation that victory, and nothing but victory, was to 
 
 . be the issue. His Commander-in Chief, who best knew 
 
 the value of his sleepless vigilance, his industry, his 
 
 - wisdom in council, and his vigour in action, appreciated 
 
 his loss most fuUy of all. Men were everywhere specu- 
 
 ; lating with solemn anxiety upon the meaning of his death. 
 
 They asked themselves : Has God " taken the good man 
 
 '■- away from the evU to come V Has He adjudged us as 
 
 ; unworthy, because of our ingratitude and disobedience, of 
 
510 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 sucIl a deliverer ; and after proving us for a time, by lend- 
 ing a Jacksoa to our cause, lias He now withdrawn the 
 gift in judicial displeasure ? Or does he only mean to 
 render the example of his military and Christian virtues 
 more shining and instructive by his translation, and thus, 
 while He teaches us to trust more exclusively in Himself, 
 raise up, after this model, a company of Jacksons to de- 
 fend their country ? While some answered these ques- 
 tions in both ways, according to their temperaments, the 
 greater number wisely left them to be solved by God 
 Himself, in the evolution of His providence. In one con- 
 clusion all agreed, that the imitation of Jackson's example 
 by his countrymen would make his people invincible, and 
 their final triumph absolutely certain, and that this was 
 the practical lesson set forth by God in his life and death. 
 General Jackson's remains were shrouded by his staff, 
 Sunday evening, in his military garments, and deposited 
 in an open coffin of wood, which was procured near by. 
 His coat had been almost torn to pieces by his friends, in 
 their eagerness to reach and bind up his wounds, the i 
 night he fell ; and it was now replaced by the civihan's . 
 coat, which he sometimes wore in his hours of relaxation. 
 But his military overcoat covered and concealed this excep- 
 tion. The Congress of the Confederate States had a short 
 time before adopted a design for their iiag, and a large and 
 elegant model had just been completed, the first ever made, 
 which was intended to be unfurled from the roof of the 
 Capitol. This flag the President now sent, as the gift of 
 the country, to be the winding-sheet of the corpse. The 
 Governor of Virginia, assuming the care of the funeral, 
 
UUKFSE REMOVED TO KICHMOND. 511 
 
 sent up a metallic cofQu, with a company of embalmers, 
 on Sunday night, together with a deputation of eminent 
 civihans and military men, to escort the remains to Eich- 
 mond. During that night they were finally prepared for 
 the tomb, and on Monday morning, May 11th, were con- 
 Teyed to the Capitol by a special train, attended by the 
 General's staff, his widow and her female friends, and the 
 Governor's Committee. When they approached the suburb 
 through which the Fredericksburg EaiLroad enters the city, 
 the gathering throng warned them to pause and seek a 
 more quiet approach for the afflicted ladies. The train 
 was therefore arrested, and the wife of the Governor, re- 
 ceiving Mrs. Jackson and her attendants into her carriages, 
 drove rapidly and by circuitous and less frequented streets 
 to his mansion on the Capitol Square. The cars then 
 slowly advanced into the city, through an avenue which, 
 for two nules, was thronged with myriads of men and 
 women. Business had been suspended, and the whole 
 city, as one man, was come forth to meet the mighty dead. 
 Amidst a solemn silence, only broken by the boom of the 
 minute guns and the wails of a military dirge, the coffin 
 was borne into the Governor's gates, and hidden for the 
 time from the eyes of the multitude, of which the major 
 part were wet with tears. 
 
 For the next day, a great civic and military pomp was 
 devised, which was thus described in a contemporary 
 pubhcation ; — " At the hour appointed, the coffin was borne 
 to the hearse, a signal gun was fired from near the Wash- 
 ington Monument, and the procession began to move to the 
 '. solemn strains of the Dead March in Saul. The hearse 
 
512 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 was preceded by two regiments of General Pickett's divi- 
 sion, with arms reversed, that General and his staff, the 
 Fayette artillery, and Wren's company of cavalry. Behind 
 came the horse of the dead soldier, caparisoned for battle, 
 and led by a groom ; his staff officers, members of the 
 Stonewall Brigade, invalids and wounded ; and then a 
 vast array of officials, headed by the President of the Con- 
 federate States, and members of his Cabinet, followed by 
 all the general officers in Eichmond ; after whom came a 
 mighty throng of civic dignitaries and citizens. The pro- 
 cession moved through the main streets of the city, and 
 then returned to the Capitol. Every place of business was 
 closed, and every avenae thronged with solemn and tearful 
 spectators, while a silence more impressive than that of 
 of the Sabbath brooded over the whole town. When the 
 hearse reached the steps of the Capitol, the paU-bearers, 
 headed by General Longstreet, the great comrade of the 
 departed, bore the corpse into the hall of the lower house 
 of the Congress, where it was placed upon a species of 
 altar, draped with snowy white, before the speaker's chair. 
 The coffin was still enfolded with the white, blue, and red 
 of the Confederate flag." 
 
 Tiiere the head was uncovered, and the people were 
 permitted, during the remainder of the day, to enter and 
 view the features of the dead for the last time. The face 
 was found to be in perfect repose ; the livid flush of fever s 
 had passed away ; the broad and lofty forehead was now , 
 smooth and snow white, the cheeks thin, and bronzed by 
 sun and breeze, the expressive mouth firmly closed ; while 
 an expression of shining calm shed a species of ghostly 
 
TKIBUTE OF A MUTILATED VETEEAN. 513 
 
 radiance over the countenance. During the whole after- 
 noon the people streamed through the room, — ladies, legis - 
 lators, old men, children, rugged soldiers, in a mingled 
 silent throng, looked a moment on the dead face, and 
 passed out another way ; until twenty thousand persons 
 had paid this last tribute of affection. The women brought 
 some exotic or sweet flower to lay upon the coffin ; and 
 these offerings became so numerous, that they loaded the 
 whole bier, and the table on which it rested, and rose to 
 a great heap. Before the pious interest of the people 
 could be satisfied, the hour had arrived for closing the 
 doors, and the officials warned the throng of people to 
 retire. Just then a mutilated veteran from Jackson's old 
 division was seen anxiously pressing through the crowd, 
 to take his last look at the face of his beloved leader. 
 They told him that he was too late, that they were already 
 closing up the coffin for the last time, and that the order 
 had been given to clear the halL He still struggled for- 
 ward, refusing to take a denial, until one of the marshals 
 of the day was about to exercise his authority to force 
 him back. Upon this, the old soldier lifted the stump of 
 his right arm toward the heavens, and with tears running 
 down his bearded face, exclaimed, " By this arm, which 
 I lost for my country, I demand the privilege of seeing 
 my General once more." Such an appeal as this was 
 irresistible ; and, at the instance of the Governor of the 
 Commonwealth, the pomp was arrested until this humble 
 comrade had also dropped his tear upon the face of his 
 dead leader. And this was the last, and surely not the 
 least, glorious tribute which was offered to him before his 
 VOL. II. 2 K 
 
514 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENERAL JAU^i3Ui\. 
 
 remains were finally sealed up for tlie tomb. The Govern- 
 ment shrouded Jackson in their battle-flag ; but the 
 people shrouded him in May-flowers. The former contri- 
 buted to the funereal pomp the outward circumstances of 
 grandeur, the procession, the drooping banners, the dirge, 
 and the gloomy thunders of the burial-salute ; but the 
 true tribute paid to the memory of Jackson was that given 
 by the unprompted homage of the people. No ceremonial 
 could be so honourable to him as the tears which were 
 dropped around his corpse by almost every eye, and the 
 order and solemn quiet in which the vast crowds as- 
 sembled and dispersed. No such homage was ever paid 
 to an American. 
 
 On Wednesday, the coffin, followed now by the widow 
 and the General's Staff, was carried by way of Gordons- 
 ville to Lynchburg. At every station the people, with a 
 similar spirit, were assembled in crowds, with offerings of 
 flowers. At Lynchburg the scenes of Eichmond were 
 repeated ; and the remains were placed upon a barge in 
 the canal, to be conveyed in that way to Lexington. 
 They reached the village on Thursday evening, and were 
 borne by the cadets to the Military Institute, where they 
 were laid in the Lecture Eoom, which Jackson had occu- 
 pied as Professor, and guarded during the night by his 
 former pupils. Friday, the 1 5th of May, they were finally 
 brought forth to the church where he had so much de- 
 lighted to worship, and committed to his venerable and 
 weeping pastor, Dr. White. This good man then cele- 
 brated the last rites before a great multitude of weeping 
 worshippers, with an unpretending simplicity and tender- 
 
BURIAL IN LEXINGTON CEMETERY. 515 
 
 ness, far more appropriate to the memory of Jackson than 
 the pomp of rhetoric. Thence they bore the coffin, followed 
 by the whole population of the vicinage, to the village 
 burying-gTound, and committed it to the earth. His grave 
 was marked by nothing but a green mound, and the fresh 
 garlands which the love of the people, unbidden, had 
 never forgotten to renew. The cemetery covers the 
 smooth crest of a hill, which swells up at the western 
 entrance of the village, and commands a full view of all 
 the smding landscape, and of the grand ramparts of moun- 
 tains in which it is encircled. It is a fit resting-place for 
 the body of the modest hero ; amidst the village fathers, 
 whose virtues had blessed their happy Christian homes 
 with the peaceful sounds of domestic life and of the 
 Sabbath worship near by, whose sanctities Jackson died 
 to protect from the poUuting invader. At the distance of 
 a few steps rest the remains of his lamented comrade, 
 General Paxton, and of his cousin, Alfred Jackson, who 
 gave his hfe for the liberties of his native soil, which had 
 exiled him for his patriotism. There is no mark to dis- 
 tmguish the grave of Jackson, the humblest in all that 
 simple resting-place ; but the stranger needs none to guide 
 Mm to it. Multitudes of feet, in their pilgrimage to it, 
 have worn a path which cannot be mistaken; and no 
 Confederate ever passes the spot without turnitig aside to 
 seek a new lesson of patriotism and fortitude from the 
 suggestions of the scene. 
 
 The Stonewall Brigade, while expressing their sense 
 of their bereavement, asked permission to assume the task 
 of building his tomb. An association of gentlemen also 
 
516 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 began to raise funds to erect, at the Capitol, a grand 
 monument to his memory. The continuance of the war 
 has for the present prevented the completion of both 
 these designs. It -would be tedious to recite all the formal 
 expressions of sorrow made by the military, legislative, 
 and judicial bodies of the country. Only the General 
 Order of Lee, announcing his death to the army, will be 
 appended, as giving utterance in the most happy and 
 dignified terms, to the universal grief. 
 
 Headquarters, Army op Northern Virginia, 
 May 11, 1863. 
 General Orders, No. 61. 
 
 With deep grief, tlie commanding General announces to the army 
 the death of Lieutenant-G-eneral T. J. Jackson, who expired on the 
 10th inst., at quarter past Three p.m. The daring, skill, and 
 energy of this great and good soldier, by the decree of an AU-Wise 
 Providence, are now lost to us. But whQe we mourn his death, we 
 feel that his spirit still lives, and will inspire the whole army with 
 hia indomitable courage, and unshaken confidence in God, as our hope 
 and strength. Let his name be a watchword to his corps, who have 
 followed him to victory on so many fields. Let his officers and 
 soldiers emulate his invincible determination to do everything in the ■ 
 defence of our beloved country. E,. E. LEE, General. 
 
 The narrative of General Jackson's career is now closed. , 
 The full description given of his person, character, and 
 capacity at a former part of this work, makes it unne- 
 cessary to enter at length into a discussion of his merits 
 as a commander here. Every reader wiH draw his own 
 conclusions for himself, from the facts which have been 
 faithfully related above. But a few observations remain 
 to be made, without which the historical portraiture oi'" 
 Jackson would be incorrect. It is to be remarked that, ' 
 
MILITAEY CHAEACTEK. 517 
 
 while lie rose very rapidly, in the first two years of this 
 war, to the foremost place as a great soldier, none of his 
 comrades have yet displaced him from his eminence. His 
 reputation is manifestly no " nine days' wonder," but one 
 which is destined to endure, and to leave his name among 
 the great of all ages. Few or none of those who inhabit 
 with him the temple of Fame won their way to it by a 
 career so short. All of the events by whicli his glory was 
 earned are comprised within two years' time. As a 
 strategist, the first N"apoleon was undoubtedly his model. 
 He had studied his campaigns diligently, and he was 
 accustomed to remark with enthusiasm upon tire evi- 
 dences of his genius. He said that he was the first to 
 show what an army could be made to accomplish, and to 
 replace the old technical art of war with the conceptions of 
 true science. Napoleon had shown what was the value of 
 time as an element of strategic combinations, and had 
 evinced that good troops, if well cared for, could be made 
 to march twenty-five miles daily, and win battles besides. 
 And this war should show that Confederate soldiers could 
 do as much. 
 
 Few generals have waged war with such unvarying 
 success as General Jackson. It has been truly remarked of 
 him, that he was never routed in battle ; that he was 
 never successfuUy surprised by his enemies; that he never 
 had a train, or any organized portion of his army, cap- 
 tured by them ; and that he never made entrenchments. 
 His success did not come by chance. WhUe no com- 
 mander recognised so devoutly and habitually the direc- 
 tion of Divine Providence, none was ever more rxnwearieJ 
 
518 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 in proYiding the conditions of success. It was Ms rule 
 that his chief Quartermaster and chief Commissary should 
 see him every morning at ten o'clock, unless sent for at 
 other hours, and report fully the condition of their de- 
 partments. Twenty-four hours never passed without 
 interviews with both of them ; and he knew the exact 
 state of all his supplies and trains at all times. He was 
 "exceedingly jealous for the comfort of his men, so far as 
 this was compatible with celerity of movement. Many 
 instances might be cited of his care about their rations. 
 When preparing for his march to Eomney ia the winter 
 of 1862, he directed the chief Commissary to carry along 
 rations of rice for the army, in addition to the other sup- 
 plies. That officer remarked that rice was not much 
 favoured by the men as an article of food, and that they 
 seldom drew it when in quarters. The General replied 
 that, nevertheless, they might desire it when on the 
 march, and he did not wish them to be deprived of any 
 part of their appointed supplies. Several hogsheads of 
 rice were accordingly carried along, and brought back 
 untouched. So, his care of his wounded was great, and 
 no commander kept his medical department more effi- 
 ciently organized than he. 
 
 General Jackson's personal demeanour toward his soldiers 
 was reserved, but courteous. It was impossible for any to 
 assume an improper familiarity towards him ; and no one 
 could be further than he from all the arts of the dema- 
 gogue. He never did anything for dramatic effect or for 
 popularity, and never practised any of those means for 
 inspiring enthusiasm, in which Napoleon was such an 
 
m« LIEMKAKOUK TO HIS SOLDIERS. 519 
 
 adept. The only manifestation which he ever made of 
 himself to his command was in the simple single-minded 
 performance of his duty. He never was known to show 
 himself, of set purpose, to his troops, never made them 
 speeches, and whenever they cheered him, escaped as 
 quickly as possible. But his politeness to the men 
 was unfailing, and carried its own evidence of sincerity. 
 For instance, he was one day riding where scores of sol- 
 diers off duty were passing, and whenever one of these 
 touched his hat to him he did not fail to return the same 
 salutation. After thus noticing perhaps a hundred of 
 them, one more deferential than the rest lifted his hat 
 from his head, when the General also, instead of touching 
 his hat again, removed his wholly, and returned the sol- 
 dier's bow. 
 
 His ideas of discipline and subordination were strict, 
 and he was exacting of his subordinates, in proportion as 
 their rank approximated his own. It was his maxim that 
 he who would govern others, must himself set the example 
 of punctilious obedience. Hence, to his colonels he was 
 a stricter master than to his private soldiers ; and to his 
 generals more exacting than to his colonels. If he found 
 ia an officer a hearty and zealous purpose to do all his 
 duty, with a willing and self-sacrificing courage and de- 
 votion, he was to him the most tolerant and gracious of 
 superiors, overlooking blunders and mistakes with un- 
 bounded patience, and repairing them by his own exer- 
 tions, without even a sign of vexation. But if he believed 
 that his subordinates were self-indulgent or contumacious, 
 he became a stern and exacting master, seeming even to 
 
520 LIFE OF LIEUT. -GENEBAL JACKSON. 
 
 watcli for an opportunity to visit their shortcomings upon 
 them. It must in candour be added, that by this temper 
 he was sometimes misled into prejudice ; and during his 
 career a causeless friction was produced in the working of 
 his government over several gallant and meritorious officers 
 who served under him. This was almost the sole fault of 
 his military character; that by this jealousy of intentional 
 inefficiency he diminished the sympathy between himself 
 and the general officers next his person, by whom his 
 orders were to be executed. Had he been able to exercise 
 the same energetic authority, through the medium of a 
 zealous personal affection, he would have been a more 
 perfect leader of armies. But where he had committed 
 unconscious injustice, he was ever ready to amend it, and 
 to correct his estimate of his officers' merits ; and nothing 
 was so sure to melt away the last particle of his prejudice 
 as an act of courage and vigour upon the field of battle. 
 The utter absence of the Puritanical turn of mind in him, 
 was strongly displayed in the liberal spirit with which he 
 disregarded his own personal tastes, and even his own 
 moral and religious appetencies, in promoting every man 
 who displayed the elements of efficiency, notwithstanding 
 his private repugnance to his personal character. The 
 man's manners, tastes, religious condition, might all be 
 utterly repulsive to General Jackson's private preferences, 
 but if he saw in him ability to serve the cause, he em- 
 ployed him. Yet all appearance of indifference to error 
 or vice, or of a Sadducean temper, was removed effectually 
 by the care with which he rebuked and suppressed every 
 impropriety in his own presence. 
 
liEYOTION TO DUTY. — COUCAGE. 521 
 
 Tliat devotion to duty which he exacted of others he 
 practised with most exemplary fidelity himself. Never 
 was there a man who lived more " as ever iii his great 
 Taskmaster's eye," consecrating every hour and every 
 energy to his country, with an utter disdain of ease and 
 self. From the day he left his home, in April 1861, to 
 that when he was brought back to it amidst the tears and 
 benedictions of his people, he never had a furlough, was 
 never off duty for a day, whether sick or well, never visited 
 his family, and never even slept one night outside the lines 
 of his own command. 
 
 His personal courage was of the truest temper. "When 
 the history of his early infiiinities is recalled, it will appear 
 Tery unlikely that he was by nature endowed with that 
 hardihood of animal nerve which makes the courage of 
 the pugihst and gladiator. This surmise will appear more 
 probable, when the strange confession is related which he 
 made to his medical director. Dr. M'Guire. His care for 
 Ms wounded and sick has been stated, yet he rarely visited 
 the hospital in person. He excused himself by saying 
 that he would often do so, but that when he was in cold 
 blood the sight of wounds and all tlieir disgusting acces- 
 sories was insupportable to his nerves ! It was not unusual 
 to see him pale and tremulous with excitement at the 
 firing of the first gun of an opening battle. But the only 
 true courage is moral courage ; and this was so perfect in 
 him, that it had absolutely changed his corporeal nature. 
 No man could exhibit a more calm indifference to personal 
 langer, and more perfect self-possession and equanimity 
 in the greatest perils. The determination of his spirit so 
 
522 LIFE OF LIEITT.-GENEEAL JACKSON. 
 
 controlled his body, that his very flesh became impassive ; 
 the nearest hissing of bullets seemed to produce no quiver 
 of the nerves ; and when cannon-balls hurtled across his 
 path, there was no involuntary shrinking of the bridle- 
 hand. The power of concentration was of unrivalled force 
 in his mind ; and when occupied in profound thought, or 
 inspired with some great purpose, he seemed to become 
 almost unconscious of external things. This was the true 
 explanation of that seeming recklessness with which he 
 sometimes exposed himself on the field of battle. The 
 populace, who love exaggerations, called him fatalist, and 
 imagined that, like a Mohammedan, he thought natural 
 precautions inconsistent with his firm belief in an over- 
 ruling Providence. But nothing could be more untrue. 
 He always recognised the obligations of prudence, and 
 declared that it was not his purpose to expose himself 
 without necessity. 
 
 But this perfect courage does not wholly explain the 
 position w'hich he held in the hearts of his people. In 
 this land of heroic memories and brave men, others 
 besides Jackson have displayed true courage. He was 
 not endowed with several of those native gifts which are 
 supposed to allure the idolatry of mankind towards their 
 heroes. He affected no kingly mien, nor martial pomp ; 
 but always bore himself with the modest propriety of the 
 Christian. His port on the battle-field was usually rather 
 suggestive of the zeal and industry of the faithful servant. 
 than of the contagious exaltation of the master-spirit. 
 His was a master-spirit ; but it was too simply grand to 
 study dramatic sensations. It impressed its might upon ., 
 
HIS KEPUTATIOS EXPLAINED. 523 
 
 the souls of his countrymen, not through deportment but 
 through deeds. Its discourses were toilsome marches and 
 stubhorn battles ; its perorations were the thunder-claps 
 of defeat hurled upon the enemies of his coimtry. It 
 revealed itself only through the purity and force of his 
 action; and thence, in part, the intensity of the im- 
 pression. 
 
 This helps to explain the enigma of his reputation. 
 How is it that this man, of all others least accustomed to 
 exercise his own fancy, or address that of others, has 
 stimulated the imagination not only of his own country- 
 men but of the civilLzed world above all the sons of genius 
 among us ? How has he, the most unromantic of great 
 men, become the hero of a living romance, the ideal of an 
 inflamed fancy, even before his life has been invested with 
 the mystery of distance ? How did that calm eye kindle 
 the fire of so passionate a love and admiration in the heart 
 of his people ? He was brave ; but not the only brave. 
 He revealed transcendent military talent ; but the diadem 
 of his country glowed with a galaxy of such talent. He 
 was successful ; but it had more than one captain whose 
 banner never stooped before an enemy. The solution 
 is chiefly to be found in the singleness, purity, and eleva- 
 tion of his aims. Every one who observed him was as 
 thoroughly convinced of his unselfish devotion to duty as 
 of his couracre ; it was no more evident that his was a soul 
 of perfect courage, than that no thought of personal ad- 
 vancement, of ambition or applause, ever for one instant 
 divided the homage of his heart with his great cause ; and 
 that "an the ends he aimed at were his country's, his 
 
524 LIFE OF LIEUT.- GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 God's, and trutli's." The corrupt men, whose own patriot- 
 ism was merely the mask of ambition or greedy avarice, 
 and who had been accustomed to mock at disinterested 
 virtue in their secret hearts as an empty dream, when they 
 saw the hfe of Jackson, had as heartfelt a conviction of his 
 ingenuous devotion as the noblest spirits who delighted to 
 form their souls by the mirror of his example. In the 
 presence of his sincerity the basest were as thoroughly 
 silenced and convinced as the good. The confidence of 
 his countrymen was, therefore, the testimony of the 
 common conscience to the beauty of holiness. It recog- 
 nised the truth, that the strength of Jackson was in his 
 exalted integrity of souL It was the confession of our 
 natures, that the virtue of the Sacred Scriptures is true 
 greatness ; grander than knowledge, talent, courage, philo- 
 sophy, or success. 
 
 May it not be concluded, then, that this was God's chief 
 lesson in this life and death ! He would teach the beauty 
 and power of true Christianity as an element of national ■ 
 life. Therefore He took an exemplar of Christian sincerity, 
 as near perfection as the infirmities of nature would per- 
 mit, and formed and trained it in an honourable retire- 
 ment. He set it in the furnace of trial, at an hour when 
 great events and dangers had awakened the popular heart 
 to most intense action ; He illustrated it with that species ■< 
 of distinction which, above all others, fires the popular en- *' 
 thusiasm, military glory ; and held it up to the admiring 
 inspection of a country grateful for the deliverances it had 
 wrought. Thus God teaches how good, how strong a ^ 
 thing. His fear is. He makes all men see and acknow- ^ 
 
HIS FALL TIMELY. — HIS STAFF. 525 
 
 ledge, that in tliis man Christianity was the source of 
 those virtues which they so rapturously applauded ; that 
 it was the fear of God which made him so fearless of all 
 else; that it was the love of God which animated his 
 energies ; that it was the singleness of his aims which 
 caused his whole body to he full of light, so that the im- 
 erring decisions of his judgment suggested to the unthink- 
 ing the behef of his actual inspiration; that the lofty 
 chivahy of his nature was but the reflex of the spirit of 
 Christ. Even the profane admit, in their hearts, this ex- 
 planation of his power, and are prompt to declare that it 
 was Jackson's rehgion which made him what he was. His 
 life is God's lesson, teaching that " it is righteousness that 
 exalteth a nation." 
 
 His fall in the midst of the great struggle for the exist- 
 ence of his country, and in the morning of his usefulness 
 and fame, has appeared to his people a fearful mystery. 
 But if his own interests be regarded, it will appear a time 
 well chosen for God to call him to his rest ; when his 
 powers were in their undimmed prime, and his glory at its 
 zenith ; when his greatest victory had just been won ; and 
 the last sounds which reached him from the outer world 
 were the thanksgivings and blessings of a nation in rap- 
 tures with his achievements, in tears for his fall. 
 
 This tribute to his memory will now be closed with a 
 record of the names of the zealous and faithful men who, 
 at the time of his death, composed his staff. In their 
 selection he had displayed a certain independence, or 
 what many deemed a singularity of judgment. Not many 
 of them were men of military education ; for he was of all 
 
526 LIFE OF LIEUT.-GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 men least restricted by professional trammels. But their 
 efficiency was the best justification of his j udgment. His 
 Adjutant and Chief of Staif, at the time of his fall, was 
 the Hon. Charles James Faulkner, lately Minister of the 
 United States to France, who succeeded General Paxtou 
 in this office, when the latter took command of the Stone- 
 wall Brigade. At the battle of Chancellorsville, Colonel 
 Faulkner was absent on sick leave. The Assistant Adju- 
 tant was Lieutenant Colonel Alex. S. Pendleton, a zealous 
 and spirited officer, who, after rising to the highest dis- 
 tinction, gave his life to his country in the disastrous 
 campaign of September 1864 in the Valley. The Chief 
 Quartermaster was Major John Harman, and the Chief 
 Commissary, Major Wm. Hawks. The iledical Director 
 was Dr. Hunter M'Guire. These four served under Jack- 
 son during his whole career. The Chief of Artillery was 
 Colonel S. Crutchfield, who was wounded at Chancellors- 
 ville a few moments after his General. The Chief of 
 Engineers was Captain Bos well, who fell by the same 
 fatal volley which cost Jackson his life. He was assisted 
 by Mr. J. Hotchkiss, as Topographical Engineer ; an ac- 
 complished draughtsman, whose useful labours are still 
 continued. Captain Wilbourne conducted the signal ser- 
 vice. Colonel Allan managed, with unrivalled efficiency, 
 the ordnance of the corps. Lieutenants Smith and Mor- 
 rison were Aides-de-Camp and personal attendants to 
 the General. The Inspectors of the corps were Colonel 
 A. Smead and Captain H. Douglass. These gentlemen 
 formed a military family of the happiest character, and 
 all, excepting those of the supply departments, messed 
 
HIS STAFF. 527 
 
 together. While their mess table was simple as that of 
 the privates of the army ; and tlie General forbade that 
 any luxuries should be babitually introduced, which were 
 excluded from the soldiers' rations ; refinement, courtesy, 
 and purity presided over aU their intercourse. JSTothing 
 was ever heard in that circle which could raise a blush 
 on the cheek of woman, or provoke a frown from the 
 sacred ministers of reUgion. It is no detraction from the 
 merit of the gallant men who composed it, to say that this 
 propriety was, in part, the result of the elevated example 
 of the General 
 
 THE END. 
 
 EDINIIUKGH : T. CONSTABLE, 
 PlUNTElt TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE HNIVERSITY.