THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER 
 
 OF 
 
 STONEWALL JACKSON. 
 
 By JAMES POWER SMITH, D. D., 
 Captain and A. D. C. Staff of General Jackson. 
 
 Delivered at the Inauguration of the Stonewall Jackson 
 
 Memorial Building, Virginia Military Institute, 
 
 June 23d, 189V. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. 
 
 LYNCHBURG, VA. 
 J. P. Bell Company, Book, Job and Commercial Peintkrs. 
 
 1897. 
 
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 5120 
 
The Religions Cliaracter of Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 It is not an accident that in the impressive exercises with which you 
 open this building, there is a place assigned for the religious character 
 of him whose name is here to abide. 
 
 It is not only that any study of his character and career would be 
 incomplete, but that it would be wholly unphilosophical and untruth- 
 ful, without a statement of that which lay so effectively in his heart, 
 and covered so entirely all that we know of him. It was Thomas Car- 
 lyle who said, "A man's religion is the chief fact with regard to him." 
 And more than of any man of renown of modern times, it is true of 
 Jackson, that his religion was the man himself. It was not only that 
 he was a religious man, but he was that rare man among men to whom 
 religion was everything. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that Oliver Cromwell, the great Puritan 
 protector, of whom Thackeray spoke as "our great king," whose 
 whole career has been the study of historians and critics, is in our day 
 receiving a final study in his personal religion. Eminent critics are 
 telling us that the campaigns of Jackson will be the study and admi- 
 ration of military schools for centuries to come. However true that may 
 be, of this we are sure, the religion of Stonewall Jackson will be the 
 chief and most effective way into the secret springs of the character and 
 career of the strange man, who as the years go by is rising into the 
 ranks of the great soldier -saints of history — Saint Louis of France, 
 Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Oliver Cromwell of England, Stonewall 
 Jackson of America. 
 
 In the brief address I am to make today; in the hurried sketch I 
 am to attempt of the inner springs of life and power in the story of 
 Stonewall Jackson, I cannot be unmindful of the laws of heredity, and 
 the strong inbred qualities that came in the blood of a stalwart race. 
 Nor can I forget the discipline of the hard life of his childhood, a 
 homeless orphan boy drifting from place to place, and in the tenderest 
 years of youth, unprotected and exposed, seeking his bread as he could 
 find it. Certainly, I must not fail to recall that a mother of piety and 
 love left him a little child of seven years, with nothing of religious 
 instruction, no mother's knee at which to say his childhood's prayer, 
 
nothing to gentle and refine, nothing to restrain and guide him into 
 an upright manhood, save the one unfading memory of that mother's 
 love and parting blessing. Running away from a harsh and unloving 
 home, with an older brother boating on the Ohio, camping in hunger 
 and cold, riding an uncle's horses on a race-course, attempting tlie 
 rude work of a country constable in the mountains of West Virginia, 
 there was absolutely no instruction, no counsel, and no ruling authority 
 in all the young years of growth and formation. 
 
 It is marvelous indeed that out of such a youth, he came with purity 
 and integrity, truthful, honest, modest, and writing in rude characters 
 that first brave maxim of life, ' ' You may be whatever you resolve to 
 be." I can find no mark of conscious religious sentiment in all this; 
 though I see plainly the directing hand of a Divine providence fitting 
 for a short life as rare and disciplined within, as it was brilliant and 
 heroic without. 
 
 The thoughts of religion began to stir in his heart under the influ- 
 ence of a pious friend at West Point, and were felt with some power 
 when, a young lieutenant at Fort Hamilton, he was, of his own desire, 
 baptized into the Christian faith, by an Episcopal clergyman. They 
 were moving efiectually upon heart and conscience, when in the City 
 of Mexico, applauded and promoted for conspicuous bravery, with a 
 rare candor and open-heartedness he sought instruction of a bishop of 
 the Catholic church, of whom he was accustomed to speak with the 
 most sincere respect. The truths of the religion of Christ found a 
 deep and abiding place in his heart, in the more quiet and regulated 
 conditions of his first years in Lexington, when under the ministry of 
 the venerable Presbyterian pastor, Dr. Wm. S. White, he made a 
 public confession of his personal faith in Christ. Acknowledging his 
 ignorance of religious truth, he came with entire candor and simplicity 
 to be taught as a little child. The truths he heard were not wholly 
 clear to him, and some things he antagonized with an honesty and 
 courage that were most admirable in the sincere seeker after truth. 
 Only through the long process of study, reflection and prayer, was he 
 led into a clear vision of the great essential truths of evangelical re- 
 ligion. As they came out, like stars fixed in the firmament of his 
 upward gaze, he bowed his head and his heart and gave them their 
 rightful authority over all his manhood. 
 
 The inspired Psalmist declares of the wicked man, ' ' God is not in all 
 his thoughts. ' ' The supreme fact in the character of Jackson was, that 
 far beyond any man of whom we read, ''God was in all his thoughts.'' 
 
It was not one truth or another about God, or one feature of our 
 Christian religion, rather than another, that became real and dominant 
 to him; but God, God himself, the living, personal and present God, 
 became the one trauscendant fact, that dwelt in all his thoughts, and 
 possessed his whole being. It was not God only as the surpassingly 
 glorious subject of reflection, or as living and working and revealing 
 himself in nature and in history, nor as partially known by Hebrew 
 prophets in the childhood of humanity; but God revealed in Christ, 
 the God of law and love, whose law is love, and whose love leads back 
 to law. 
 
 I am careful to say this, that I may also say, the supreme thought 
 of God gave unity to his religion and unity to his life. As it went 
 down into the hidden nature within, it possessed the whole man with 
 unwonted power, and made him one and the same, a man of God 
 within and without. Unto a personal and present God he gave the 
 undivided faith of his heart. He acknowledged his supreme authority 
 as maker and redeemer over every part of his being, and every breath 
 of his life, and to that authority he bowed his will implicitly. ' ' He 
 came nearer putting God in God's place," said Dr. Stiles, " than any 
 man we have ever known." And in this he put himself in the one 
 rightful place to which man belongs, the humblest and the most 
 majestic, the strongest, the safest, and the happiest that man can ever 
 occupy. 
 
 It gave simplicity and directness and personal humility in an un- 
 common degree. All things were viewed in the light of the supreme 
 fact of God. All things were referred to it. All things were sub- 
 mitted to the rulings of that fact. It covered all other facts, all other 
 truth, it ruled all action, it answered all questions of duty, and made 
 all his life and service one and simple forever. 
 
 How inevitably came his humility. He owed all to God, all that 
 he was, all he had attained, all he had accomplished in class-room or on 
 battlefield, and unto Him belonged all the praise and the glory, ' ' God 
 has given us a brilliant victory at Harper's Ferry to-day," he wrote 
 from the field; "Our Heavenly Father blesses us exceedingly." On 
 his camp-bed in the Wilderness hospital, when I read General Lee's 
 magnanimous note congratulating him on the victory Jackson had 
 won at Chancellorsville, he replied with emotion, ' ' General Lee is 
 very kind to me, but he should give the glory to God!" 
 
 How unquestionable was his dependence! As he lifted his hand in 
 the morning twilight, riding down to the field of Fredericksburg, he 
 
said, "I trust our God will give us a great victory to-day, Captain!" 
 
 How immediately came his obedience! A friend in Lexington asked 
 him whether he would obey, if the Lord bade him leave the home he 
 loved and all that it contained, and go on some mission to Africa. He 
 rose and with intense feeling and prompt decision declared, ' ' I would 
 go without my hat. ' ' And asked if it were required of him to give up 
 the activity and happiness of life, the exquisite happiness of energy, 
 and lie on a bed of pain, he said, "I could lie there a thousand years 
 without a murmur, if I knew it to be the will of my heavenly Father!" 
 
 I have been accustomed to recall two notable things in the religion 
 of Jackson: his belief in the providence of a present God, ruling and 
 directing in wisdom, power and goodness in all the affairs of men ; and 
 his consequent belief in the right and power of prayer, to Him whose 
 ears are always open to the cry of his children, and who is ready to 
 hear and answer above all that his children can ask or think. He 
 was, as all knew who were at all in touch with his daily life, a man of 
 prayer; humble, truthftil, confident prayer, from which he came as 
 the saint comes, with unspeakable joy in his heart, and serenity in all 
 his face and bearing. 
 
 It is an old jest, that the Puritan could scarcely be said to enjoy his 
 religion; but if Jackson were in any sense a puritan, his personal hap- 
 piness was unbroken and abiding. The performance of duty was not 
 hard, because the fear of the Lord he loved and served was the only 
 fear he knew. There was no asceticism in his life, because there was 
 no gloom in his heart. " I do rejoice," he said, "to walk in the love 
 of God." 
 
 There were not lacking those who neither knew or understood the 
 character of Jackson, nor had the most remote conception of the truth 
 and power of his religion. If it appeared to any that sternness and 
 rigidity marred his character, it was only because in such rare degree 
 among men he lived and acted from deep conviction of duty, and that 
 was strange to us. Whatever was remarkable about his personal 
 bearing, and was sometimes criticised or ridiculed, was due to the 
 absolute possession of him the gi'eat things of religion had taken. 
 
 These were the things that Avere the strong iron of his blood; they 
 were the constant inspiration of his gentler, simpler life in his Lexington 
 home, and as well the animating power of his matchless campaigns 
 that have given him undying fame. 
 
 His patriotism was a duty to God. His obedience to the State that 
 called him to the field was made clear and plain to him, as obedience 
 
to God. All soldierly duty was rendered as a service to his God. 
 He loved and reverenced the Sabbath day with great ardor; yet on a 
 Sabbath morning, he came from his knees in his happy home, turned 
 away from the services of the sanctuary he loved, and buckling on 
 his sword, took command of the Cadet corps on yonder parade grounds, 
 and rang out clear and sharp, his first command in the Civil War, 
 ' ' Battalion, march !' ' He went without fear, without regret, without 
 selfish ambition, to the unknown fortunes of war. Whatever was the 
 marvelous development of soldierly qualities, of brilliant generalship, 
 whatever the story of campaign and victory, from which he never 
 asked a furlough, and from which he never returned, he was the same 
 devout and single-hearted servant of the living God. 
 
 Capable of anger and indignation in high degree, he had cultivated 
 a self-control that gave him a self-mastery that was sometimes mar- 
 velous. An officer of rank came one Sunday afternoon to the little 
 office building at Moss Neck to urge his personal application for a 
 leave of absence. He violated the guard, and entered General Jack- 
 son's private apartment without announcement. Never had I seen 
 General Jackson so surprised and then so angry. His face flushed, 
 his form grew erect, his hands were clenched behind his back, he 
 quivered with the tremendous efl^ort at self-control. And no word was 
 permitted to pass his lips until his passion was entirely mastered, when 
 he quietly explained wherein the unfortunate colonel was violating all 
 rules and all propriety, and sent him to his quarters, the most thor- 
 oughly whipped man I ever saw. 
 
 Having strong attachment to the church of which he was a member, 
 and positive convictions concerning what he thought was true and 
 right, he was yet generous and catholic in his esteem of all other 
 churches, and had sincere respect for the views of others. Ruling 
 himself with a severe discipline in things he deemed right, he was 
 never censorious or dictatorial. He worshipped in all churches alike 
 with devoutness and comfort. He encouraged the chaplains of all 
 churches, Protestant and Catholic. A Protestant and a Presbyterian 
 of Presbyterians, he obtained the appointment of a Catholic priest to a 
 chaplaincy. 
 
 In nothing perhaps was the reality and power of his own religion so 
 evident as in his interest in the religious welfare of others. AVith an 
 unwearying diligence he conducted his Sunday-school for colored peo- 
 ple. Visiting at Beverly, of his own volition, he gathered the village 
 people to instruct them himself in the truths of religion. He was pro- 
 
8 
 
 foundly interested in the work of the army cliaplains, and used all his 
 great influence and opportunity to sustain tlieni. He was accustomed 
 to make individual friends the subject of his earnest and continued 
 prayer. He once came walking to the camp of the Rockbridge Artil- 
 lery, asking for a certain corporal, and leaving a package for him in 
 his absence. It was a matter of intense curiosity in the camp, as per- 
 haps containing some handsome gift or unexpected promotion for the 
 corporal; who, when he returned to camp, found the package to con- 
 tain religious tracts for distribution among his comrades. 
 
 Not at all devoid of humor was the earnest, reticent man. His 
 fondness for Gen. J. E. B. Stuart was very great, and the humor and 
 frolic of that genial and splendid cavalryman was a source of un- 
 bounded delight. Dr. George Junkin, President of Washington Col- 
 lege, and father of the first Mrs. Jackson, went back to Pennsylvania, 
 at the opening of the war, and wrote a vigorous book on the errors 
 into which he believed the South had fallen. He forwarded a copy of 
 his book, under a flag of truce, from General Hooker' s headquarters 
 to General Lee's. It came to us about the time of the battle of 
 Fredericksburg, and when I opened the package, and told our General 
 its title, ' * Political Heresies, ' ' he said with a grim smile, ' ' I expect 
 it is well named. Captain; that's just what the book contains, ' Politi- 
 cal Heresies.' " 
 
 I remember that two young girls in a mansion on the Rappahanock 
 were with great earnestness asking for locks of his hair. Blushing 
 like a girl himself, he plead that they had so much more hair than he 
 had, then that he had grey hairs, and their friends would think he 
 was an old man. They protested that he had no grey hair, and was 
 not an old man, when he said, ' ' Why, don' t you know the boys call 
 me 'Old Jack?'" 
 
 The stern warrior was one of the gentlest of men. He had the ten- 
 derest afiection for little children. Little Janie Corbin was a pleasure 
 and delight to him in the afternoons of his days of office toil at Moss 
 Neck, as she folded paper and cut lines of soldiers and paraded thera 
 on his table. He heard from me of her death with an outburst of 
 tears and a convulsed frame. 
 
 It was complained by one of his distinguished Generals of division, 
 in a severe paper, that ladies, mothers, wives and daughters had in- 
 vaded the vicinity of our camps, and were diverting officers and men 
 from military duty. When that paper was read to him, Jackson rose 
 and paced the room impatiently, and to the request that he would 
 
9 
 
 order the ladies to retire, he said, " I will do no such thing; I am glad 
 my people can have their friends with them; I \\dsh my wife could 
 come to see me. ' ' 
 
 No one who ever entered his house or obtained access to his office 
 at his corps headquarters can forget the marked courtesy with which 
 he was received. His attention was the same to his guest whether he 
 was the General commanding, or a private soldier. Your hat was 
 taken by his own hands, and his own black stool from the mess-hall of 
 this Institute must be your seat while you were his guest. 
 
 Are these the things that mark the gentleman ? Are purity and 
 truth, modesty and courtesy the things by which Ave know him ? These 
 things he had, not by conventionality, but as the constant expression 
 of a gentle nature, and the fruit of religious principle. An English 
 gentleman of rank, and of large touch with polite society, at the end 
 of a week's sojourn, spent chiefly in General Jackson's room, said, 
 "He is a revelation to me; Jackson is the best informed soldier I 
 have met in America, and as perfect a gentleman as I have ever 
 known!" 
 
 How surpassingly fitting it seems that the two Virginia heroes of 
 our civil war should meet again and find their resting place in tombs 
 so near; in this retired place among the strong mountains of the State 
 they loved so well! How unlike they were in many things, in origin, 
 in culture, in family tradition, in the conventionalities of society, and 
 in knowledge of the world! How much alike they were in unselfish 
 devotion to the same cause, in true and simple piety, and in the gener- 
 ous honor that each paid to the other! They who set one over against 
 the other, and study to give either one the greater glory of this cam- 
 paign or that, do an unworthy violence to their spirit, and are rebuked 
 in the presence of their silent tombs. Two lofty peaks, they stand on 
 fame's eternal camping-ground, each giving unfading glory to the other. 
 
 How happy and hopeful it is that here the young men of Virginia, 
 from mountains and low-lands alike, are to be gathered in growing 
 numbers, and to be trained for life under the pervading inspiration of 
 names and stories, than which none in all history are more true and 
 effulgent in all things pure and lovely and of good report. If any 
 young man shall go out from the institutions of Lexington to anything 
 in life that is corrupt, or unmanly, or forgetful of the honor of Vir- 
 ginia, he will do so against the example and the appeal of Robert E. 
 Lee and Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 Ten years of faithful toil Jackson gave to the Virginia Military 
 
10 
 
 Institute, with difficulties that have not always been well understood. 
 Through uncounted years to come his great name will rest upon this 
 building as a benediction! The memory of the soldier and his cam- 
 paigns and victories will abide in this hall, and the spirit of the honest 
 and God-fearing Christian gentleman will come back to speak forever 
 of that fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom, and of that 
 simple and humble faith which is the sure and only way to enduring 
 honor and exaltation. 
 
 In the lowly building at Guinea's Station, where he lay suffering, 
 failing, dreaming, passing away, he spoke of a grave ' * in Lexington, 
 in the valley of Virginia." And then his thoughts so easily passed 
 to another rest, and other shades. 
 
 " What are the thoughts that are stirring his breast? 
 What is the mystical vision he sees? 
 Let us pass over the river, and rest 
 Under the shade of the trees! 
 
 " Caught tlie high psalm of ecstatic delight, 
 
 Heard the harps harping like sounding of seas; 
 Saw earth's pure-hearted ones, walking in white. 
 Under the shade of the trees. 
 
 " Surely for him it was well — it was best — 
 War-worn, yet asking no furlough of ease. 
 There to pass over the river, and rest 
 Under tlie shade of the trees!" 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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