■^* -v ^ >=; c'^^^^:^^^ ■ <^ -> A 0° .^J4:> °o iV^^ . •*> ^^-v- 1-^^ ^2^ C^~ -^v WEARING OF THE GRAY; PERSONAL PORTPiAITS, SCENES AND ADVENTURES A\^A^R. By JOHN ESTEN COOKE, FORMERLY OF GENERAL STUARt's STAFF, AND AUTHOR OF " SURKY OF EAGLe's NEST," ''stonewall JACKSON," ETC. '•The blessed and over-glorious dead are not here to defend their menmries from the taint of the reproacli of rebellion and treason. Alas 1 I am alive and here, and am bound at every hazard to declare that these men were no rebels and no traitors . . , that they were pure patriots, loyal citizens, well tried and true soldiers, brave, honest, devoted men, who proved their faith in their principles by the deaths which canonized them immortal heroes and martyrs." Hf.kry a. Wise. NEW YOEK: E. B. TREAT k CO., 654 BROADwil^ BALTLMORE. ilD. : J. S. MORROW. NEW ORLEANS, LA. : J. H. HU^LilEL. NASHVILLE, TENS.: A. S. KIMZEY. 1867. Entered aocording to Act of Congress, iu the year 1867, by E. B. TREAT & CO., In the Clerk's Oflice of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District ot New York. JCL. U D.t. The New York Printing Comp.^ny, 8i, 83, and 85 CcnU-e Street, New York THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEMORY OF Major-General J. E. B. STUART, " Flmrer of Cavalier's,'''' Qttis 23ook is ffltbicattlr BY AN OI.P MEMBER OF HIS STAFF, Who loved him living, And mourns him . dead. JOHN ESTEN COOKE. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PORTRAITS ENGRAVED ON STEEL FROM PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM LIFE. 1. Major-General J. E. B. Stuart. Frontispiece. 2. General Robert E. Lee 17 o. General G. T. Beauregard 4. Major-General J. A. Early 5. Major-General Wade Hampton G. Major-General Turner Ashby 7. Major John Pelhain 8. Colonel John S. Mosbj BATTLE SCENES FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS. 9. Wade Hampton's Cavalry Fight at Gettysburg 57 ] 0. Ashby's Adventure at Winchester 74 1 1. Death of Major Pelham— " The Gallant " 127 i 2. Stuart's Ride around McClellan 177 13. Stuart's Escape from the Federal Cavalry 209 14. Death Wound of " Stonewall Jackson " SOI 1 5. How Darrell was captured .123 16. General Lee's Retreat from Petersburg 579 CONTENTS. Part I PERSONAL PORTRAITS. Introduction xiii I. Stuart IT II. Jackson 44 III. Hampton , 57 TV. Ashby ! .... 70 V. Beauregard 83 VI. Early 96 VII. Mosby 113 VIII. Pelhara •' the GaUant " 127 IX. Farley " the Scout " 141 X. Hardeman Stuart, the Young Captain of the Signal Corps 152 XI. Jennings Wise. Captain of " The Blues " 158 Part 2, IN THE CAVALRY. Introduction 169 I. Stuart's " Ride around McCleUan," in June, 1862 174 II. Stuart on the Outpost ; a Scene at " Camp Qui Vive " 192 III. One of Stuart's Escapes 204 rV. A Glimpse of Colonel " Jeb Stuart " 212 V. A Deserter 220 VI. A Young Virginian and his Spurs 228 VII. To Gettysburg and Back Again 236 Vril. From the Rapidan to Frying- Pan ; in October, 1863 263 IX. Major R 's Little Private Scout 279 X. A Dash at Aldie 284 XI. Jackson's Death- Wound 297 XII. Facetiffi of the Camp — Souvenirs of a C. S. Officer 310 CONTENTS. |)art 3. OUTLINES FROM THE OUTPOST. I. A Scout across the Rappahannock 323 II. How I was Arrested 333 III. Mosby's Raid into Fairfax S46 IV. My Friend Lieutenant Bumpo , 354. V. Corporal Shabrach : I. His Opinion of General Lee 365 II. His Description of the Passport Office 372 VI. The Band of the " First Virginia " 377 VIL The "Old Stonewall Brigade" 382 Vin. Annals of " The Third " 389 IX. Blunderbus on Picket 402 X. Adventures of Darrell : L How he took Upton's Hill 410 II. His Recollections of Manassas and the "G-amest Yankee". . .416 III. How he was Captured 423 IV. Incidents of the Peninsula 434 XI. Longbow's Horse 445 XII. Roslyn and the White House : Before and After 462 Xin. On the Wing 474 Ipart 5. SCOUT LIFE. I. The Scouts 483 II. Hunted Down 487 III. How S Overheard his Death- Warrant 500 IV. How S Captured a Federal Colonel's Hat 509 V. How S Carried off a Federal Field-OfBcer 514' VI. An Adventure with the '' Bluebirds " 520 part 5. LATTER DAYS. I. On the Road to Petersburg : Notes of an Officer of the C. S. A 527 II. A Family Rifle-Pit : an Incident of Wilson's Raid 536 IIL A Fight, a Dead Man, and a Coffin 542 IV. General Pegrara on tlie Night before his Death 553 V. Lee's Last Battles 556 PART I. PERSONAL PORTRAITS. These " Personal Portraits " were undertaken with the design of making better known and understood the great actors in the recent struggle who are the subjects of them. It is a matter of grave importance that the illustrious figures of the war should not be obscured bj the mists of ignorance or falsehood. Nor can they be. Dulness and slander do not long- blind the eyes of men ; and sooner or later the light, of truth makes all things visible in their natural colours and proportions. To the good work of placing upon record the actual truth in relation to the lives and characters of Stuart and some other noble soldiers of the Southern army, the writer of this page has here brought a few of his recollections — aiming to draw these "worthies" rather as they lived and moved, following their various idiosyncrasies, than as they performed their "official" duties on the public stage. This seemed best calculated to dis- play their real individuality — the embodiment of their personal characteristics in a portrait with the pen, as a painter draws the form and features of his sitter with the brush. Such personal details of the characters of these eminent men will not be uninteresting to the lovers of noble natures of what- ever "faction;" nor is the fondness for such particulars either trivial or ignoble. They elucidate biography and history — which are the same — for they present the likeness of the actor in the drama, his character and endowments ; and to know what great men a?*e, is better than to know what they perform. What Lee, Jackson, Johnston, Stuart, and their associates accomplished, history will record ; how they looked, and moved, and spoke, XIV INTRODUCTION. will attract much less attention from the " historian of the future." The august muse of history will make her partial and passionate, or fair and dignified, summary of the events of the late war ; will discuss the causas resum with learned philosophy ; and mete out in rounded periods what she thinks the due amount of glory or shame to the actors, in gray or in blue. But meanwhile the real personages disappear, and the colours fade ; figures become historical personages, not men. And events, too, "suffer change." They are fused in the mass; generalization replaces the particular incident as it does the impressive trait ; — the terrible dust of " official documents" obscures personages, characters, and events. This is trite, but it is true ; and the fact thus lamely stated is one of the " chiefest spites of fate." For what is the picture worth unless drawn in its actual colours ? — what the value of the figures unless they are likenesses? The war just ended was not an " official transaction," onlj'- to be calmly narrated with digni- fied generalization, philosophic reasoning, and commonplace comment upon peace conferences, grand tactics, and the political bearing of the result. It was a mighty drama, all life, passion, movement, incident, and romance — a singular melange, wherein tears, laughter, sighs and smiles, rapidly followed each other, communicating to the bitter and determined struggle all the pro- found interest of a tragedy whose scenes sweep on before the spectator to the catastrophe. Nor were the actors in the tragedy blocks of wood, or merely '• official personages" playing coldlj'" their stage parts. They were men of flesh and blood, full of high resolve, vehement passion ; subject to hope, fear, rejoicing, depression ; but faithful through all to the great principles which drove them on — principles in which they believed, and for which they were ready to die. They were noble types of the great Norman race of which the Southern people come — brave, honourable, courteous, social ; quick in resentment, proud, but placable ; and these conspicuous traits were everywhere seen in their actions and daily lives. The portraits here presented of a few of these men may be , rude and incomplete, but they are likenesses. No personage is l^'TliODUCTION. XV spoken of with wliom the writer was not more or less acquaint- ed; and every trait and incident set down was either observed bv himself or obtained from good authority. Invention has absolutely nothing to do with the sketches ; the writer has re- corded his recollections, and not his fancies. The " picturesque '' is a poor style of art, when truth is sacrificed to it. To repre- sent General Lee decked out in a splendid uniform bedizzened with gold lace, on a " prancing steed," and followed by a nume- rous and glittering staff, might " tickle the ears of the ground- lings;" but the picture would be apt to " make the judicious grieve." The latter class would much prefer the actual man, in his old gray cape and plain brown coat, riding, unattended, on his sober iron-gray along the lines ; would rather hear him say amid the storm of Gettysburg, in his calm brave voice, " Kever mind; it is not your fault, General; I am to blame," than read the most eloquent sentences which the imagination could invent for him. And in regard to others, the truth would possess an equal superiority over fiction. Jackson was a noble human soul; pure, generous, fearless, of imperial genius for making war ; but why claim for him personal graces, and the charm of social humour? Stuart ranked justly with the two or three greatest cavalry commanders of the woi'ld, and in his character combined gaiety, courage, resolution, winning manners, and the purest traits of the gentleman and Christian ; but why draw the gallant cavalier as utterly fliultless, never moved by anger, ever serious and devout as was Jackson ? By sucli a process the actual characters disappear; the real men, with faults and vir- tues, grand traits and foibles, become mere lay-figures to hang- uniforms upon. The pictures should either be made likenesses, or not be painted ; events should be represented in their real colours, or not at all. These few words will explain the character of the sketches here presented, and the theory upon which the writer has pro- ceeded in drawing them. They are conscientious "studies," and the result of an honest desire to elucidate the characters of their subjects, who are here described in rapid outline as they lived and moved before all eyes upon the stage of the war. Eulogy \ XVI INTRODUCTION. has not magnified them, as partisan rancour has not blackened their adversaries. Thej appeared as they are here drawn to the eyes of the writer; if the portraits are unfaithful, it is not be- cause he lacked the fairness, but wanted the ability, to " denote them truly." W H*.**^' -^iiOTld eipresdT fur'Tftam* o£** ' ¥EAEING OF THE GRAY. I. STUART. Stuart, chief of the Confederate cavalry in Virginia, was one of the Dii Majores of the recent conflict — his career rather a page from romance than a chapter of history. Everything stirring, brilliant, and picturesque, seemed to centre in him. There was about the man a flavour of chivalry and adventure which made him more like a knight of the middle age than a soldier of the prosaic nineteenth century, and it was less the science than the poetry of war which he summed up and illus- trated in his character and career. With the majority of those who took part in it, the late revo- lution was a hard and bitter struggle, which they entered upon resolutely, but with unconcealed distaste. To this soldier, how- ever, it seemed to be a splendid and exciting game, in which his blood coursed joyously, and his immensely strong physical or- ganization found an arena for the display of all its faculties. The affluent life of the man craved those perils and hardships which flush the pulses and make the heart beat fast. A single look at him was enough to convince anybody that Stuart loved danger and adventure, and that the clear blue eyes of the sol- dier, "with a frolic welcome took the thunder and the sunshine." He swung himself into the saddle, at the sound of the bugle, as 2 18 WEARING OF THE GRAY. the hunter springs on horseback; and at such moments his cheeks glowed, and his huge moustache curled with enjoyment. The romance and poetry of the hard trade of arms seemed first to be inaugurated when this joyous cavalier, with his floating plume and splendid laughter, appeared upon the great arena of the war in Virginia. This gay bearing of the man was plainly unaffected, and few persons could resist its influence. There was about Stuart an inspiration of joy and youth. The war was evidently like play to him — and he accepted its most perilous scenes and cruellest hardships with the careless abandon of a young knight-errant seeking adventures. Nothing seemed strong enough to break down his powerfid organization of mind and body ; and danger only aroused and brought his fall faculties into play. He greeted it with ardour and defied it with his joyous laughter — leading his column in desperate charges with a smile upon the lips. Others might despond, but Stuart kept his good spiHts; and while the air around him was full of hissing balls and bursting shell, he would hum his gay songs. In Culpeper the infantry were elec- trified by the laughter and singing of Stuart as he led them in the charge; and at Chancellors ville, where he commanded Jack- son's corps after that great man's fall, the infantry veterans as they swept on, carrying line after line of breastworks at the point of the bayonet, saw his plume floating in front — "like Henry of Navarre's," one of them said — and heard his sonorous voice singing, " Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the Wilder- ness! " This curious spirit of boyish gaiety did not characterize him on certain occasions only, but went with him always, surrounding every movement of the man with a certain atmosphere of frolic and abandon. Immense animal health and strength danced in his eyes, gave elasticity to the motions of his person, and rang in his contagious laughter. It was hard to realize that anything could hurt this powerful machine, or that death could ever come to him ; and the perilous positions from which he had so often escaped unharmed, appeared to justify the idea of his invul- nerability. Although he exposed his person recklessly in more STUART. 19 than a hundred hot engagements, he was never wounded in any. The rosebud in his button-hole, which some child or girl had given him, or rather say his mother's Bible, which he always carried, seemed to protect him. Death appeared to shrink be- fore him and avoid him ; and he laughed in the grim face, and dared it for three years of reckless fighting, in which he seemed every day to be trying to get himself killed. His personal appearance coincided with his character. Ever}''- thing about the man was youthful, picturesque, and brilliant. *Lee, Jackson, and other eminent soldiers of the South, seemed desirous of avoiding, in their dress and accoutrements every species of display, and to aim at making themselves resemble as closely as possible their brave soldiers, whose uniforms were sadly deficient in military gewgaws. Stuart's taste was exactly the opposite. He was as fond of colours as a boy or a girl. His fighting jacket shone with dazzling buttons and was covered with gold braid ; his hat was looped up with a golden star, and decorated with a black ostrich plume ; his fine buff gauntlets reached to the elbow ; around his waist was tied a splendid yel- low silk sash, and his spurs were of pure gold. The stern Iron- sides of Cromwell would have sneered at this " frivolous boy" as they sneered at Prince Eupert, with his scarlet cloak, his wav- ing plume, his white dog, and his twenty-three years— all the more as Stuart had a white dog for a pet, wore a cape lined with scarlet, had a plume in his hat, and — to complete the compari- son — is said to have belonged to that royal family of Stuarts from which Eupert sprang.* Many excellent people did not hesitate to take the Ironside view. They regarded and spoke of Stuart as a trifling military fop — a man who had in some manner obtained a great xommand for which he was wholly unfit. They sneered at his splendid costume, his careless laugh- ter, his "love of ladies;" at his banjo-player, his flower-wreathed horses, and his gay verses. The enemy were wiser. Buford, Baj^ard, Pleasanton, Stoneman, and their associates, did not com- mit that blunder. They had felt the heavy arm too often; and knew too well the weight of that flower-encircled weapon. * Princo Rupert was the nephew of Charles I., and the son of Elizabeth Stuart. 20 WEARING OF THE GRAY. There were three other men who could never be persuaded "that Stuart was no cavalry officer, and who persisted in regard- ing this boyish cavalier as their right-hand man — the " eye and ear" of their armies. These men were Lee, Johnston, and Jack- son. II. Stuart's great career can be alluded to but briefly here. Years crammed with incident and adventure cannot be summed up on a page. He was twenty-seven when he resigned his first-lieutenancy in the United States cavalry, and came to offer his sword to Vir- ginia. Pie was sprung from an old and honourable family there, and his love of his native soil was strong. Upon his arrival he was made lieutenant-colonel, and placed in command of the cavalry on the Upper Potomac, where he pi^oved himself so vigi- lant a soldier that Johnston called him " the indefatigable Stu- art," and compared him to "a yellow jacket," which was "no sooner brushed off than it lit back." He had command of the whole front until Johnston left the valley, when he moved with the column to Manassas, and charged and broke the New York Zouaves ; afterwards held the front toward Alexandria, under Beauregard ; then came the hard falling back, the struggle upon the Peninsula, the battle of Cold Harbour, and the- advancewhich followed into Marjdand. Stuart was now a general, and laid the foundation of his fame by the "ride around McClellan" on the Chickahominy. Thenceforth he was the right hand of Lee until his death. The incidents of his career from 'the spring of 1862 to May, 1864, would fill whole volumes. The ride around McClellan ; the fights on the Eapidan ; the night march to Catlett's, where he captured Greneral Pope's coat and official papers ; the advance to Manassas ; the attack on Flint Hill ; the hard rear-guard work at South Mountain ; holding the left at Sharpsburg ; the circuit of McClellan again in Maryland ; the bitter conflicts near Up- perville as Lee fell back ; the fighting all along the slopes of the STUART. 21 Blue Ridge ; the "crowding 'em with artillery" on the night at Fredericksburg; the winter march upon Dumfries; the battle of Chancellorsville, where he commanded Jackson's corps ; the advance thereafter, and the stubborn conflict at Fleetwood Hill on the 9th of June ; the hard, obstinate fighting once more to guard the flanks of Lee on his way to Gettysburg ; the march across the Potomac; the advance to within sight of Washington, and the invasion of Pennsj'lvania, with the determined fights at Hanovertown, Carlisle, and Gettysburg, where he met and drove before him the crack cavalry of the Federal army; the retreat thereafter before an enraged enemy ; the continuous com- bats of the mountain passes, and in the vicinity of Boonsboro' ; the obstinate stand he made once more on the old ground around Upperville as Lee again fell back ; the heavy petites guerres of Culpeper ; the repulse of Custer when he attacked Charlottes- ville ; the expedition to the rear of General IMeade when he came^overto MineEun; the bitter struggle in the Wilderness when General Grant advanced ; the fighting all along the Po in Spotsylvania ; the headlong gallop past the South Anna, and the bloody struggle near the Yellow Tavern, where the cavalier, who had passed through a hundred battles untouched, came to his end at last — these are a few of the pictures which rise up before the mjnd's eye at those words, " the career of Stuart." In the brief space of a sketch like this, it is impossible to attempt any delineation of these crowding scenes and events. They belong to history, and will sooner or later be placed upon record — for a thousand octavos cannot bury them as long as one fore- finger and thumb remains to write of them. All that is here designed is a rough cartoon of the actual man — not a fancy figure, the work of a eulogist, but a truthful likeness, however poorly executed. in. I have supposed that the reader would be more interested in Stuart the man than in Stuart the Major-General command- ing. History will paint the latter — my page deals with the 22 WEARING OF THE GRAY. former chiefly. It is in dress, habits, the tone of the voice, the demeanour in private, that men's characters are read ; and I have never seen a man who looked his character more perfect- ly than Stuart. He was the cavalier jpar excellence; and everything which he did, or said, was " in character." "We know a clergyman sometimes by his moderation, mild address, black coat, and white cravat ; a merchant by his quick movements and " busi- ness-like" manner; a senator by his gravity; and a poet by his dreamy eye. You saw in the same manner, at a single glance, that Stuart was a cavalry-man — in his dress, voice, walk, manner, everything. All about him was military; and, fine as his costume undoubted!}^ was, it " looked like work." There was no little fondness, as I have said, for bright colours and holiday display in his appearance ; and he loved the parade, the floating banner, the ring of the bugle, " ladies' eyes " — all the glory, splendour, and brilliant colouring of life ; but the soldier of hard fibre and hard work was under the gallant. Some day a generation will come who will like to know all about the famous " Jeb Stuart" — let me therefore limn him as he appeared in the years 1862 and 1868. His frame was low and athletic — close knit and of very great strength and endurance, as you could see at a glance. His countenance was striking and attracted attention — the forehead broad, lofty, and indicating imagination ; the nose prominent, and inclining to "Eoman," with large and mobile nostrils; the lips covered with a heavy brown moustache, curled upward at the ends ; the chin by a huge beard of the same colour, which descended upon the wearer's breast. Such was the rather brigandish appearance of Stuart — but I have omitted to notice the eyes. They were clear, penetrating, and of a brilliant blue. They could be soft or fiery — would fill with laughter or dart flame. Anything more menacing than that flame, when Stuart was hard pressed, it would be difficult to conceive; but the prevailing expression was gay and laughing. He wore a brown felt hat looped up with a star, and ornamented with an ebon feather; a double-breasted jacket always open and buttoned STUART. 23 back ; gray waistcoat and pantaloons ; and boots to the knee, decorated with small spurs, which he wore even in dancing. To proceed with my catalogue of the soldier's accoutrements : on marches he threw over his shoulders his gray cavalry cape, and on the pommel of his saddle was strapped an oil-cloth overall, used as a protection in rain, which, instead of annoying him, seemed to raise his spirits. In the midst of rain-storms, when everybody was riding along grum and cowering beneath the flood pouring down, he would trot on, head up, and singing gaily. His arms were, a light French sabre, balanced by a pistol in a black holster ; his covering at night, a red blanket, strapped in an oil-cloth behind the saddles. Such was the "outer man" of Stuart in camp and field. His fondness for bright colours, however, sometimes made him don additional decorations. Among these was a beautiful yellow sash, whose folds he would carefully wrap around his waist, skilfully tying the ends on the left side so that the tassels fell full in view. Over this he would' buckle his belt ; his heavy boots would be changed for a pair equally high, but of bright patent leather, decorated with gold thread ; and then the gallant Jeb Stuart was ready to visit some- body. This love of gay colours was shown in other ways. He never moved on the field without his splendid red battle-flag ; and more than once this prominent object, flaunting in the wind, drew the fire of the enemy's artillery on himself and staff. Among flowers, he preferred the large dazzling " Giant of Bat- tles," with its blood-red disk. But he loved all blooms for their brilliance. Lent was not his favourite season. Life in his eyes was best when it was all flowers, bright colours, and carnival. He was a bold and expert rider, and stopped at nothing. Frequently the headlong speed with which he rode saved him from death or capture — as at Sharpsburg, where he darted close along the front of a Federal regimient which rose and fired on him. The speed of his horse was so great that not a ball struck him. At Hanovertown, in 18G3, and on a hundred occasions, he was chased, when almost unattended, by Federal cavalry ; but, clearing fence and ravine, escaped. He was a "horse-man" in his knowledge of horses, but had no "passion" for them ; pre- 24 WEARING OF THE GRAY. ferred animals of medium size, which wheeled, leaped, and moved rapidly ; and, mounted upon his " Skylark," " Star of the East,'' "Lady Margaret," or "Lily of the Valley," he was the picture of a bold cavalier, prepared to go into a charge, or to take a gallop by moonlight — ready for a fight or a frolic. It was out of the saddle, however, that Stuart was most attrac- tive. There he was busy ; in his tent, when his work was once over, he was as insouciant as a boy. Never Was there a human being of readier laughter. He dearly loved a joke, and would have one upon everybody. They were not mild either. He loved a horse-joke, and a horse-laugh. But the edge of his satire, although keen, was never envenomed. The uproarious humour of the man took away anything like sarcasm from his Avit, and he liked you to " strike back." What are called " great people " sometimes break their jests upon lesser personages, with a tacit understanding that the great personage shall not be jested at in return. Such deference to his rank was abhorrent to Stu- art. He jested roughly, but you were welcome to handle him as roughly in return. If you could turn the laugh upon him, you were perfectly welcome so to do, and he never liked you the less for it. In winter-quarters his tent was a large affair, with a good chimney and fireplace; in the summer, on active service, a mere breadth of canvas stretched over rails against a tree, and open at both ends. Or he had no tent, and slept under a tree. The canvas "fly" only came into requisition when he rested for a few days from the march. Under this slight shelter, Stuart was like a king of rangers. On one side was his chair and desk ; on the other, his blankets spread on the ground : at his feet his two setters, "Nip" and "Tuck," whom he had brought out of Culpeper, on the saddle, as he fell back before the enemy. When tired of writing, he would throw himself upon his blankets, play with his pets, laugh at the least provo- cation, and burst into some gay song. He had a strong love for music, and sang, himself, in a clear, sonorous, and correct voice. His favourites were : " The bugle sang truce, for the night cloud had lowered;" "The dew is on the blossom;" "Sweet Evelina," and "Evelyn," among pathetic STUART. 25 songs ; but comic ones were equal or greater favourites with liim : " If you get there before I do ;"' " The old gray horse ;" " Come out of the wilderness," and " If you want to have a good time, join the cavalry," came from his lips in grand uproarious mer- riment, the very woods ringing with the strains. This habit of singing had always characterized him, li'rom the days in the valley when he harassed Paterson so, with his omnipresent cav- alry, he had fought and. sung alternately. Riding at the head of his long column, bent upon some raid, or advancing to attack the enemy, he would make the forest resound with his sonorous songs ; and a gentleman who met him one day, thus singing in front of his men, said that the young cavalier was his perfect ideal of a knight of romance. It might almost, indeed, be said that music was his passion, as Vive la joie! might have been regarded as his motto. His banjo-player, Sweeny, was the con- stant inmate of his tent, rode behind him on the march, and went with him to social gatherings. Stuart wrote his most im- portant dispatches and correspondence with the rattle of the gay instrument stunning everybody, and would turn round from his work, burst into a laugh, and join uproariously in Sweeny's chorus. On the march, the banjo was frequently put in requisi- tion ; and those "grave people" who are shocked by "frivolity" must have had their breath almost taken away by this extraor- dinary spectacle of the famous General Stuart, commanding all the cavalry of General Lee's army, moving at the head of his hard-fighting corps with a banjo-plaj^er rattling behind him. But Stuart cared little for the " grave people." He fought harder than they did, and chose to amuse himself in his own way. Lee, Johnston, and Jackson, had listened to that banjo without regarding it as frivolous ; and more than once it had proved a relaxation after the exhausting cares of command. So it rattled on still, and Stuart continued to laugh, without caring much about *Hhe serious family", class. He had on his side Lee, Jackson, and the young ladies who danced away gaily to Sweeny's music — what mattered it whether Aminadab Sleek, Esq., approved or disapproved ! The " young lady " element was an important one with Stuart. 26 WEARING OF THE GRAY. Never have I seen a purer, more knightly, or more charming gallantry than his. He was here, as in all his life, the Christian gentleman, the loyal and consistent professor of religion ; but with this delicacy of the chevalier was mingled the gaiety of the boy. lie was charmed, and charmed in return. Ladies were his warmest admirers — for they saw that under his laugh- ing exterior was an earnest nature and a warm heart. Every- thinsf drew them towards him. The romance of his hard career, the adventurous character of the man, his mirth, wit, gallantry, enthusiasm, and the unconcealed pleasure which he showed in their society, made him their prime favourite. They flocked around him, gave him flowers, and declared that if they could they would follow his feather and fight with him. With all this, Stuart was delighted. He gave them positions on his staff, placed the flowers in his button-hole, kissed the fair hands that presented them, and if the cheek was near the hand, he would laugh and kiss that too. The Sleek family cried out at this, and rolled their eyes in horror — but it is hard to please the Sleek family. Stuart was married, a great public character, had fought in defence of these young ladies upon a hundred battle- fields, and was going to die for them. It does'not seem so huge an enormity as the Sleeks everywhere called it — that while the blue eyes flashed, the eyes of women should give back their splendour ; while the lips were warm, they should not shrink from them. Soon the eyes were to grow dim, and the lips cold. Stuart was best loved by those who knew him best ; and it may here be recorded that his devotion towards his young wife and children attracted the attention of every one. His happiest hours were spent in their society, and he never seemed so well satisfied as when they were in his tent. To lie upon his camp- couch and play with one of his children, appeared to be the summit of felicity with him ; and when, during the hard falling back near Upperville, in the fall of 1862, the news came of the death of his little daughter Flora, he seemed almost overcome. Many months afterwards, when speaking of her, the tears gushed to his eyes, and he murmured in a broken voice : " I will STUART. 27 never get over it — never ! " He seemed rough and hard to those ■who only saw him now and then ; but the persons who lived with him knew his great kindness of heart. Under that care- less, jesting, and often cart demeanour, was a good, true heart. The fibre of the man was tough under all strain, and his whole organization was masculine ; but he exhibited, sometimes, a soft- ness of feeling which might almost be called tenderness, A marked trait of his character was this : that if he had offended anj'body, or wounded their feelings, be could never rest until he had in some way made amends. His temper was^ irascible at times, and he would utter harsh words ; but the flaming eyes soon softened, the arrogant manner disappeared. In ten minutes his arm would probably be upon the shoulder or around the neck of the injured individual, and his voice would become caressanie. This was almost amusing, and showed his good heart. Like a child, he must " make up " with people he had unintentionally offended ; and he never rested until he suc- ceeded. Let it not be understood, however, that this placability of temperament came into ^plaj in " official " affairs. There Stuart was as hard as adamant, and nothing moved him. He never forgave opposition to his will, or disobedience of his orders; and though never bearing malice, was a thoroughly good hater. His prejudices were strong ; and when once he had made up his mind deliberately, nothing would change him. He was immovable f^nd implacable ; and against these offenders he threw the whole weight of his powerful will and his high posi- tion, determined to crush them. That, however, was in public and official matters. In all the details of his daily life he was thoroughly lovable, as many persons still living can testify. He was the most approachable of major-generals, and jested with the private soldiers of his command as jovially as though he had been one of themselves. The men were perfectly uncon- strained in his presence, and treated him more like the chief huntsman of a hunting party than as a major-general. His staff were greatly attached to him, for he sympathized in all their affairs as warmly as a brother, and was constantly doing them some " good turn," When with them off duty, he dropped 28 WEARING OF THE GRAY. every indication of rank, and was as much a boy as the youngest of them — playing marbles, quoits, or snowball, with perfect abandon and enjoyment. Most charming of all in the eyes of those gentlemen was the fact that he would not hesitate to decline invitations to entertainments, on the plainly stated ground that " his staff" were not included" — after which I need give myself no further trouble to explain why he was the most beloved of generals ! I have spoken of his reckless exposure of his person in bat- tle. It would convey a better idea of his demeanour under fire to say that he seemed unaware of the presence of danger. This air of indifference was unmistakable. When brave men were moving restlessly, or unconsciously "ducking" to avoid the bul- lets showering around them, Stuart sat his horse, full front to the fire, with head up, form unmoved — a statue of unconscious- ness. It would be difficult to conceive of a greater coolness and indifference than he exhibited. The hiss of balls, striking down men around him, or cutting off" locks of his hair and piercing his clothes, as at Fredericksburg, did not seem to attract his at- tention. With shell bursting right in his face and maddening his horse, he appeared to be thinking of something else. In other men what is called "gallantry" is generally seen to be the effect of a strong will ; in Stuart it seemed the result of indiffer- ence. A stouter-hearted cavalier could not be imagined ; and if his indifference gave way, it was generally succeeded by gaiety. Sometimes, however, all the tiger was aroused in him. His face flushed ; his eyes darted flame ; his voice grew hoarse and stri- dent. This occurred in the hot fight of Fleetwood Hill, in June, 1863, when he was almost surrounded by the heavy masses of the enemy's cavalry, and very nearly cut off; and again near Upperville, later in the same year, when he was driven back, foot by foot, to the Blue Ridge. Stuart's face was stormy at such moments, and his eyes like " a devouring fire." His voice was curt, harsh, imperious, admitting no reply. The veins in his forehead grew black, and the man looked "dangerous." If an officer failed him at such moments, he never forgave him ; as the man who attracted his attention, or who volunteered for a STUART. 29 forlorn hope, was never forgotten. In his tenacious memory, Stuart registered everybody ; and in his command, his word, bad or good, largely set up or pulled down. To dwell still for a few moments upon the private and per- sonal character of the man — he possessed some accomplishments unusual in famous soldiers. He was an excellent writer, and his general orders were frequently very striking for their point and eloquence. That in which he called on his men after the ride around McClellan to " avenge Lataue ! " and that on the death of Major Pelham, his chief of artillery, are good examples. There was something of the Napoleonic fervour in these compo- sitions, and, though dashed off rapidly, they were pointed, cor- rect, and without bombast. His letters, when collected, will be found clear, forcible, and often full of grace, elegance, and wit. He occasionally wrote verses, especially parodies, for which he had a decided turn. Some of these were excellent. His letters, verses, and orders, were the genuine utterances of the man ; not laboured or "stiff," but spontaneous, flowing, and natural. He had in conversation some humour, but more wit; and o^ badinage it might almost be said that he was a master. His repartee was excellent, his address ever gay and buoyant, and in whatever society he was thrown he never seemed to lose that unaffected mirthfulness which charms us more perhaps than all other quali- ties in an associate. I need scarcely add that this uniform gaiety was never the result of the use of stimulants. Stuart never drank a single drop of an}'- intoxicating liquid in his whole life, ex- cept when he touched to his lips the cup of sacramental wine at the communion. He made that promise to his mother in his childhood, and never broke it. " If ever I am wounded," he said to me one day, " don't let them give me any whiskey or brandy." His other habits were as exemplary. I never saw him touch a card, and he never dreamed of uttering an oath under any provocation — nor would he permit it at his quarters. He attended church whenever he could, and sometimes, though not often, had service at his headquarters. One day a thoughtless ofl&cer, who did not " know his man," sneered at preachers in his presence, and laughed at some one who had entered the minis- 30 WEARING OF THE GRAY. try. Stuart's face flasbed; he exhibited unmistakable dis- pleasure, and said: "I regard the calling of a clergyman as the noblest in which any human being can etigage." This was the frivolous, irreverent, hard-drinking personage of some people's fancies — the man who was sneered at as little better than a reprobate by those whom he had punished, and who, therefore, hated and slandered him! IV. Such, in brief outline, was this " Flower of Cavaliers," as he moved in private, before the eyes of friends, and lived his life of gentleman. An estimate of the military and intellectual calibre of the man remains to be made — a rapid delineation of those traits of brain and nerve combined which made him the first cavalry officer of his epoch — 1 had nearly written of any epoch. Out of his peculiar sphere he did not display marked ability. His mind was naturally shrewd, and, except in some marked instances, he appeared to possess an instinctive know- ledge of men. But the processes of his brain, on ordinary occa- sions, exhibited rather activity and force than profoundness of insight. His mental organization seemed to be sound and prac- tical rather than deep and comprehensive. He read little when I knew him, and betrayed no evidences of wide culture. His education was that of the gentleman rather than the scholar. "Napoleon's Maxims," a translation of Jomini's Treatise on War, and one or two similar works, were all in which he appeared to take pleasure. His whole genius evidently lay in the direction of his profession, and even here many persons doubted the versatility of his foculties. It will remain an inte- resting problem whether he would have made a great infantry commander. He was confident of his own ability ; always resented the dictum that he was a mere " cavalry officer; " and I believe, at one time, it was the purpose of the Confederate author- ities to place him in command of a corps of infantry. Upon the question of his capacity, in this sphere, there will probably STUART. 81 be many opinions. At Chancellorsville, when he succeeded Jackson, the troops, although quite enthusiastic about him, com- plained that he had led them too recklessly against artillery; and it is hard for those who knew the man to believe that, as an army commander, he would ever have consented to a strictly defensive campaign. Fighting was a necessity of his blood, and the slow movements of infantry did not suit his genius. With an army under him, it is probable that he would either have achieved magnificent successes or sustained overwhelming defeats. I confess I thought him equal to anything in his pro- fession, but competent judges doubted it. What every one agreed about, however, was his supreme genius for fighting cavalry. He always seemed to me to be intended by nature for this branch of the service. Some men are born to write great works, others to paint great pictures, others to rule over nations. Stuart was born to fight cavalry. It was only necessary to be with him m important movements or on critical occasions, to realize this, nis instinct was unfailing, his coup dfoeil that of the master. He was a trained soldier, and had truly graduated at West Point, but it looked like instinct rather than calculation — that rapid and unerring glance which took in at once every trait of the ground upon which he was operating, and anticipated every movement of his adversary. I never knew him to blunder. His glance was as quick, and reached its mark as surely as the lightning. Action followed like the thunder. In moments of great emergency it was wonderful to see how promptly he swept the whole field, and how quickly his mind was made up. He seemed to penetrate, as by a species of intuition, every design of his opponent, and his dispositions for attack or defence were those of a master-mind. Sometimes nothing but his unconquer- able resolution, and a sort of desperation, saved him from destruction ; but in almost every critical position which he was placed in during that long and arduous career, it was his won- derful acumen, no less than his unshrinking nerve, which brought him out victorious. This nerve had in it something splendid and chivalric. It 32 WEARING OF THE GRAY. never failed him for a moment on occasions whicli would have paralysed ordinary commanders. An instance was given in October, 1863. Near Auburn his column was surrounded by the whole of General Meade's army, then retiring before Gene- ral Lee. Stuart n^assed his command, kept cool, listened hour after hour as the night passed on, to the roll of the Federal artillery and the heavy tramp of their infantry within a few hundred yards of him, and at daylight placed his own guns in position and made a furious attack, under cover of which he safely withdrew. An earlier instance was his raid in rear of General McClellan, in June, 1862, when, on reaching the lower Chickahominy, he found the stream swollen and unfordable, while at every moment an enraged enemy threatened to fall upon his rear with an overpowering force of infantry, cavalry, and artillerj^ Although the men were much disheartened, and were gloomy enough at the certain fate which seemed to await them, Stuart remained cool and unmoved. He intended, he said afterwards, to " die game " if attacked, but he believed he could extricate his command. In four hours he had built a bridge, singing as he worked with the men ; atfd his column, with the guns, defiled across just as the enemy rushed on them. A third instance was the second ride around McClellan in Maryland, October, 1862 ; when coming to the Monocacy he found General Pleasanton, with a heavy force of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, in his path, but unhesitatingly attacked and cut his way through. Still another at Jack's Shop, where he charged both ways — the column in front, and that sent to cut him off — and broKe through. Still another at Fleetwood Hill, where he was attacked in front, flank, and rear, by nearly 17,000 infantry and cavalry, but charging from the centre outwards, swept them back, and drove them beyond the Eappahannock. Upon these occasions and twenty others, nothing but his stout nerve saved him from destruction. This quality, however, would not have served him without the quick military instinct of the born soldier. His great merit as a commander was, that his conception of "the situation" was as rapid and JQst as his nerve was steady. His execution was unfaltering, but the brain STUART. BB had devised clearly what was to be done before tbe arm was raised to strike. It was this which distinguished Stuart from others — the promptness and accuracy of his brain work " under pressure," and at moments when delay was destruction. The faculty would have achieved great results in any department of arms; but in cavalry, the most "sudden and dangerous" branch of the service, where everything is decided in a moment as it were, it made Stuart one of the first soldiers of his epoch. With equal — or not largely unequal — forces opposed to him, he was never whipped. More than once he was driven back, and two or three times " badly hurt ; " but it was not the superior genius of Buford, Stoneman, Pleasanton, or other adversaries, which achieved those results. It was the presence of an obstacle which his weapon could not break. Numbers were too much for brain and acumen, and reckless fighting. The hammer was shattered by the anvil. Stuart was forced, by the necessities of the struggle, the nature of the country, and the all-work he had to perform, to depend much upon sharp-shooting. But he preferred pure cavalry fighting. He fought his dismounted skirmishers with obstinacy, and was ever present with them, riding along the line, a conspi cuous target for the enemy's bullets, cheering them on. But it was in the legitimate sphere of cavalry that he was greatest. The skirmishing was the "hard work." He had thus to keep a dangerous enemy off General Lee's flanks as the infantry moved through the gaps of the Blue Eidge towards Pennsylvania, or to defend the line of the Eappahannock, when some Federal commander with thousands of horsemen, " came down like a wolf" on General Lee's little "fold," It was here, I think, that Stuart vindicated his capacity to fight infantry, for such were the dismounted cavalry ; and he held his ground before swarm- ing enemies with a nerve and persistence which resembled Jack- son's. It was in the raid, the flank movement, the charge, and the 3 34: WEARING OF THE GRAY. falling back, with cavalry proper, however, that he exhibited the most conspicuous traits of the soldier. The foundation of his successes here was a wonderful energy. The man was a war- machine which never flagged. Day or night he was ready to mount at the sound of the bugle. Other commanders, like the bonus Eomerus, drowsed at times, and nodded, suffering their zeal to droop ; but Stuart was sleepless, and General Lee could count on him at any instant. To that inexhaustible physical strength was united a mentality as untiring. The mind, like the body, could " go day and night," and needed no rest. When all around him were broken down, Stuart still remained fresh and unwearied ; ready for council or for action ; to give his views and suggest important movements, or to march and make an attack. His organization was of the " hair- trigger " kind, and the well-tempered spring never lost its elasticity. He would give orders, and very judicious ones, in his sleep — as on the night of the second Manassas. When utterly prostrated by whole days and nights spent in the saddle, he would stop by the roadside, lie down without pickets or videttes, even in an enemy's country — as once he did coming from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in July, 1863 — sleep for an hour, wrapped in his cape and resting against the trunk of a tree, and then mount again, as fresh apparentl}'", as if he had slumbered from sunset to dawn. "^ As his physical energies thus never seemed to droop, or sprang with a rebound from the weight on them, so he never desponded. A stouter heart in the darkest hour I have never seen. No clouds could depress him or disarm his courage. He met ill-fortune with a smile, and drove it before him with his gallant laughter. Gloom could not live in his presence, and the whole race of "croakers " were shamed into hopefulness by his inspiring words and demeanour. Defeat and disaster seemed to make him stronger and more resolute, and he rose under pressure. In moments of the most imminent peril to the very existence of his command, I have seen him drum carelessly with his fingers on the knee thrown over the pommel of his saddle, reflect for an instant without any trace of excitement, and then give the order to cut a path through the enemy, without the STUART. 35 change of a muscle. At such moments, it was plain that Stuart coolly made up his mind to do his best, and leave the rest to the chances of arms. His manner said as plainly as any word : "I am going to make my way out or die — the thing is decided upon — why make a to-do about it ? " So perfect was his equanimity upon such occasions, that persons ignorant of the extent of the peril could not realize that any existed. It was hard to believe, in presence of this "heart of oak," with his cool and indifferent manner, his composed- -tones and careless smile, that death or capture stared the command in the face. And yet these were just the occasions when Stuart's face of bronze was most un- moved. Peril brought out his strength, Tiie heaviest clouds must obscure the landscape before his splendid buoyancy and " heart of hope " were fully revealed. That stout heart seemed invincible, and impending ruin could not shake it. I have seen him strung, aroused, his eye flaming, his voice hoarse with the mingled joy and passion of battle ; but have never seen him flurried or cast down, much less paralysed by a disaster. When not rejoicing like the hunter on the traces of the game, he was cool, resolute, and determined, evidently " to do or die." The mens cequa in arduis shone in the piercing blue eye, and his un- daunted bearing betrayed a soul which did not mean to yield — which might be crushed and shattered, but would not bend. When pushed hard and hunted down by a swarm of foes, as he was more than once, Stuart presented a splendid spectacle. He met the assault like an athlete of the Eoman amphitheatre, and fought with the ferocity of a tiger. He looked " dangerous " at such moments ; and those adversaries who knew him best, advanced upon their great opponent thus standing at bay, with a caution which was born of experience. These observations apply with especial justice to the various occasions when Stuart held with his cavalry cordon the country north of the Eappahannock and east of the Blue Ridge, while General Lee either advanced or retired through the gaps of the mountains. The work which he did here will remain among his most important services. He is best known to the world by his famous " raids," as they were erroneously called, by his circuits g6 WEARING OF THE GRAY. of McClellan's army in Virginia and in Maryland, and other movements of a similar character. This, however, was not his .great work. He will live in history as the commander of Lee's cavalry, and for the great part he played in that leader's most important movements. What Lee designed when he moved Northward, or fell back from the valley, it was a matter of the utmost interest to the enemy to know, and persistent efforts were made by them to strike the Confederate flank and discover. Stuart was, however, in the way with his cavalry. The road to the Blue Ridge was obstructed ; and somewhere near Middleburg, Upperville, or Paris, the advancing column would find the wary cavalier. Then took place an obstinate, often desperate struggle — on Stuart's part to hold his ground ; on the enemy's part to break through the cordon. Crack troops — infantry, cavalry, and artillery — were sent upon this important work, and the most determined officers of the United States Army commanded them. Then came the tug of war. Stuart must meet whatever force was brought against him, infantry as well as cavalry, and match himself with the best brains of the Federal army in command of them. It was often " diamond cut diamond." In the fields around Upperville, and everywhere along the road to Ashby's Gap, raged a war of giants. The infantry on both sides heard the distant roar of the artillery crowning every hill, and thought the cavalry was skirmishing a little. The guns were only the signal of a hand-to-hand struggle. Desperate charges were made upon them ; sabres clashed, carbines banged ; in one great hurly-burly of rushing horses, ringing sabres, cracking pistols, and shouts which deafened, the opposing columns clashed together. If Stuart broke them, he pressed them hotl}^, and never rested until he swept them back for miles. If they broke Stuart, he fell back with! the obstinate ferocity of a bulldog; fought with his sharpshooters in every field, with his Horse Ar- tillery upon every knoll ; and if they " crowded him " too closely he took command of his column, and went at them with the sabre, resolved to repulse them or die. It was upon this great theatre that he displayed all his splendid faculties of nerve, STUART. 37 judgment, dash, and obstinacy — his quickness of conception, rapidity of decision, and that fire of onset before which few opponents could stand. The infantry did not know much about these hot engagements, and cherished the flattering view that they did all the fighting. General Lee, however, knew accurately what was done, and what was not done. In Spotsylvania, after Stuart's fall, he exclaimed: " If Stuart only were here! lean scarcely think of him without weeping." The great cavalier had protected the Southern flanks upon a hundred movements ; guarded the wings upon many battle-fields, penetrated the enemy's designs, and given General Lee informa- tion in every campaign ; and now when the tireless brain was still, and the piercing eyes were dim, the country began to com- prehend the full extent of the calamity at Yellow Tavern, in May, 1864, and to realize the irreparable loss sustained by the cause when this bulwark fell. VL I have noticed Stuart's stubbornness, nerve, and coolness. His dash and impetuosity in the charge have scarcely been alluded to, and yet it was these characteristics of the man which chiefly impressed the public mind. On a former page he has been com- pared to Eupert, the darling of love and war, who was never so well satisfied as when dasliing against the Roundhead pikes and riding down his foes. Stuart seems to have inherited that trait of the family blood — for it seems tolerably well established that he and Rupert were descended from the same stock, and scions of that family which has given to the world men of brain and courage, as well as faineans and libertines. To notice briefly this not uninteresting point, the "family likeness" in the traits of Stuart and Prince Rupert is very curious. Both were utterly devoted to a principle which was their life-blood — in Rupert it was the love of royalty, in Stuart the love of Virginia. Both were men of the most impetuous temper, chafing at opposition, and ready at any instant to match themselves against their adver- saries, and conquer or die. Both were devoted to the "love of 88 WEAEING OF THE GRAY. ladies," gallant to the echo ; of a proud and splendid loyalty to their word ; of unshrinking courage ; kind and compassionate in temper, gay and smiling in address ; fonder of fighting than of looking to the commissariat ; adored by their men, who approached them without fear of a repulse ; cavalry-men in every drop of their blood ; fond of brilliant colours, splendid pageants, the notes of the bugle, the glitter of arms : Rupert with his snowy plume, Stuart with his black one ; — both throwing over their shoulders capes of dazzling scarlet, unworn by men who are not attached to gay colours ; both taking a white dog for a pet; both proud, gay, unswerving, indomitable, disdainful of low things, passionately devoted to glory ; both men in brain and character at an age when others are mere boys ; both famous before thirty — and for ever — such were the points of resemblance between these two men. Those familiar with the character of the greatest cavalry-man of the English struggle, and with the traits of Stuart, the most renowned of the recent conflict, will not fail to see the likeness. But I pass to " Stuart in the charge." Here the man was superb. It was in attack, after all, that his strongest faculties were exhibited. Indeed, the whole genius and temperament of the Virginian were for advancing, not retreating. He could fall back stubbornly, as has been shown ; and he certainly did so in a masterly manner, disputing every inch of ground with his adversary, and giving way to an enemy's advance under bloody protest. At these times he displayed the obstinate tamper of the old Ironsides of Cromwell, when they retired in serried ranks, ready to turn as they slowly retreated, and draw blood with their iron claws. But when advancing upon an adversary — more than all in the impetuous charge — Stuart was no longer the Roundhead ; he was the Cavalier. Cavalier he was by birth and breeding and temperament; and he sprang to meet an enemy, as Rupert drove forward in the hot struggle of the past in England. You could see, then, that Stuart was in his ele- ment. Once having formed his column for the charge, and given his ringing order to " Form in fours ! draw sabre ! " it was neck or nothing. When he thus " came to the sabre," there was no STUART. 39 such word as fail with him. Once in motion to hurl his column against his adversary, he seemed to act upon the Scriptural pre- cept to forget those things which were behind, and press on to those which were before. Tliat was the enemy in front ; and to ride over, and cut right and left among them, was the work befare him. At such moments there was something grand in the magnificent fire and rush of the soldier. He seemed strong enough to ride down a world. Only a glance was needed to tell you that this man had made up his mind to break through and trample under foot what opposed him, or "die trying." His men knew this ; and, when he took personal command of the column, as he most often did, prepared for tough work. His occasional roughness of address to both ofiicers and men had made him bitter enemies, but the admiration which he aroused was unbounded. The men were often heard to say, in critical places : " There goes old Jeb to the front, boys ; it's all right." And an of&cer whom he liad offended, and who hated him bitterly, declared with an oath that he was the greatest cavalry com- mander that had ever lived. The reported words of General Sedgwick, of the United States Army, may be added here: " Stuart is the greatest cavalry officer ever foaled in North America." The impetuosity here noted was undoubtedly one of the most striking traits of the man. In a charge, Stuart seemed on fire, and was more the Chief of Squadron than the Corps Commander. He estimated justly his own value as a fighting man, when he said one day: "My proper place would be major of artil- lery ; " and it is certain that in command of a battalion of field- pieces, he would have fought until the enemy were at the very muzzles of his guns. But in the cavalry he had even a better field for his love of close fighting. To come to the sabre best suited his fiery organization, and he did come to it, personally, on many occasions. He preferred saying, " Come on " to " Go on," The men declared that he was reckless, but no one could say that he had ever sent his column where he was not ready to go himself If he made a headlong and determined attack upon an overpowering force — a thing common with him — he was in 40 WEARING OF THE GRAY. front himself, or fighting among the men. He never seemed to feel, as far as my observation went, that his life was any more valuable than that of the humblest private soldier. After one of these occasions of reckless exposure of himself, I said to him : "General, you ought not to put yourself in the way of the bullets so ; some day you will be killed." He sighed and replied: "Oh, I reckon not; but if I am, they will easily find somebody to fill my place." He had evidently determined to spend and be sjjent in the Southern struggle, which had aroused his most passionate sympathies. This love of native land came to add a magnificent fervour to the natural combativeness of the man. As a " free lance," Stuart would have been careless of his person ; but in the Southern struggle he was utterly reckless. This indifference to danger was evidently a trait of blood, and wholly unaffected. Nor, for a long time, did his incessant expo- sure of himself bring him so much as a scratch. On all the great battle-fields of Virginia, Maryland, and Penns^dvania, as well as in the close and bitter conflicts of his cavalry at Fleet- wood, Auburn, Upperville, Middleburg, South Mountain, Monocacy, Williamsport, Shepherdstown, Paris, Barbee's, Jef- fersonton, Culpeper Court-House, Brandy, Kelly's Ford, Spot- sylvania — in these, and a hundred other hotly-contested actions, he was in the very thickest of the fight, cheering on the sharp- shooters, directing his artillery, or leading his column in the charge, but was never hurt. Horses were shot under him, bul- lets struck his equipments, pierced his clothes, or cut off curls of his hair, as at Fredericksburg, but none ever wounded him. In the closest melee of clashing sabres the plume of Stuart was unscathed ; no sword's edge ever touched him. He seemed to possess a charmed life, and to be invulnerable, like Achilles. Shell, canister, and round-shot tore their way through the ranks around him, overthrowing men and horses — many a brave fellow at his side fell, pierced by the hissing bullets of Federal carbines— but Stuart, like Kupert, never received a wound. The ball which struck and laid him low at the Yellow Tavern on that black day of May, 1864, was the first which touched him in the STUART. 41 war. In a hundred battles they had passed to the left and right of him, sparing him. VII. The foregoing presents as accurate an outline of Stuart as the present writer, after a close association with him for two or three years, could draw. No trait is feigned or fanciful, and the pic- ture is not exaggerated, though it may seem so to some. The organization of this man was exceptional and very remarkable. The picture seems a fancy piece, perhaps, but it is the actual portrait. The gaiety, nerve, courage, dash, and stubborn reso- lution of that man were as great as here described. These were the actual traits which made him fill so great a space in the pub- lic eye ; and as what he effected was not " done in a corner," so what he was became plain to all. He was hated bitterly by some who had felt the weight of his hot displeasure at their shortcomings, and some of these people tried to traduce and slander him. They said he was idle and negligent of his duties— he, the hardest worker and most wary commander I ever saw. They said, in whispers behind his back — in that tone which has been described as " giggle-gabble " — that he thought more of dancing, laughing, and trifling with young ladies than of his military work, when those things were only the relaxations of the man after toil. They said that ladies could wheedle and cajole him — when he arrested hundreds, remained inexorable to their petitions, and meted out to the "fairest eyes that ever have shone " the strictest military justice. They said that he had wreaths of flowers around his horse, and was " frolicking " with his staff at Culpeper Court-House, so that his headquarters on Fleetwood Hill were surprised and cap- tured in June, 1863, when he had not been at the Court-House for days ; sent off every trace of his headquarters at dawn, six hours before the enemy advanced ; and was ready for them at every point, and drove them back with heavy loss beyond the river. In like manner the Sleeks sneered at his banjo, sneered at his gay laughter, sneered at his plume, his bright colours, and 42 WEARING OF THE GRAY. his merry songs. The same good friends invented stories of rebukes he had incurred from General Lee, when he uniformly received from that great friend and commander the highest evi- dences of regard and contidence. These winged arrows, shot in secret by the hand of calumny, which in plain Saxon are called lies, accompanied Stuart everywhere at one period of his career; but the Southern people could not be brought to believe them. They flushed the face of the proud and honest cavalier, some- times, and made the blue eyes flash ; but what could he do ? The calumnies were nameless ; their authors slunk into shadow, and shrank from him. So he ended by laughing at them, as the country did, and going on his way unmindful of them. He answered slander by brave action — calumny by harder work, more reckless exposure of himself, and by grander achievements. Those secret enemies might originate the falsehoods aimed at him from their safe refuge in some newspaper office, or behind some other " bomb-proof" shelter — he would fight. That was his reply to them, and the scorn extinguished them. The honest gentleman and great soldier was slandered, and he lived down the slander — fighting it with his sword and his irreproachable life, not with his tongue. When death came to him in the bloom of manhood, and the flush of a fame which will remain one of the suprcmest glories of Virginia, Stuart ranked with the preux chevalier Bayard, the knight " without reproach or fear." The brief and splendid career in which he won his great renown, and that name of the "Flower of Cavaliers," has scarcely been touched on in this rapid sketch. The arduous work which made him so illustrious has not been described — I have been able to give only an outline of the man. That pic- ture may be rude and hasty, but it is a likeness. This was Stuart. The reader must have formed some idea of him, hasty and brief as the delineation has necessarily been. I have tried to draw him as the determined leader, full of fire and force ; the stubborn fighter; the impetuous cavalier in the charge; the, at times, hasty and arrogant, but warm-hearted friend ; the devoted Christian, husband, and father ; the gayest of companions ; full STUAET. 48 of fun, frolic, laughter, courage, hope, buoyancy, and a certain youthful joyousness which made his presence like the sunshine. Upon this last trait I have dwelt much — the youth, and joy, and hope, which shone in his brilliant eyes and rang in his sonorous laughter. He passed before you like an incarnate spring, all mirth and sunshine ; but behind was the lightning. In those eyes as fresh and blue as the May morning, lurked the storm and the thunderbolt. Beneath the flowers was the hard steel battle-axe. With that weapon he struck like Coeur de Lion, and few adversaries stood before it. The joy, romance, and splendour of the early years of chivalry flamed in his regard, and his brave blood drove him on to combat. In the lists, at Came- lot, he would have charged "before the eyes of ladies and of kings," like Arthur ; on the arena of the war in Virginia he fol- lowed his instincts. Bright eyes were ever upon the daring cavalier there, and his floating plume was like Henry of Na- varre's to man}' stout horsemen who looked to him as their chosen leader ; but, better still, the eyes of Lee and Jackson were fixed on him with fullest confidence. Jackson said, when his wound disabled him at Chancellorsville, and Stuart succeeded him : " Go back to General Stuart and tell him to act upon his own judgment, and do what he thinks best — I have implicit confi- dence in him." In Spots3dvania, as we have seen, General Lee " could scarcely think of him without weeping." The implicit confidence of Jackson, and the tears of Lee, are enough to fill the measure of one man's life and fame. Such was Stuart — such the figure which moved before the eyes of the Southern people for those three years of glorious encounters, and then fell like some " monarch of the woods," which makes the whole forest resound as it crashes down. Other noble forms there were ; but that " heart of oak " of the stern, hard fibre, the stubborn grain, even where it lies is might- iest. Even dead and crumbled into dust, the form of Stuart still fills the eye, and the tallest dwindle by his side — he seems so great. II. JACKSON. At five in the evening, on the 27th of June, 1862, General Stonewall Jackson made his appearance on the field of Cold Harbour. Fresh from the hot conflicts of the Yallej — an athlete covered with the dust and smoke of the arena — he came now with his veteran battalions to enter upon the. still more desperate conflicts of the lowland. At that time many persons asked, " Who is Jackson ? " All we thep knew of the famous leader was this — that he was born a poor ]ioj beyond the Alleghanies ; managed to get to West Point ;' embarked in the Mexican war as lieutenant of artillery, where he fought his guns with such obstinacy that his name soon became renowned ; and then, retiring from active service, became a Professor at the Lexington Military School. Here the world knew him only as an eccentric but deeply pious man, and a somewhat commonplace lecturer. Stiff and rigid in his pew at church, striding awkwardly from his study to his lecture- room, ever serious, thoughtful, absent-miftded in appearance — such was the figure of the future Lieutenant-General, the esti- mate of whose faculties by the gay young students may be imagined from their nickname for him, " Fool Tom Jackson." In April, 1861, Fool Tom Jackson became Colonel of Virginia volunteers, and went to Harper's Ferry, soon afterwards fight- ing General Patter.son at Falling Water, thence descending to Manassas. Here the small force — 2,611 muskets — of Brigadier- General Jackson saved the day. Without them the Federal JACKSON. 45 column would have flanked and routed Beauregard. Bee, forced back, shattered and overwhelmed, galloped up to Jackson and groaned out, " General, they are beating us back ! " Jack- son's set face did not move. " Sir," he said, " we will give them the bayonet." Without those 2,611 muskets that morning, good-by to Beauregard ! In the next year came the Valley campaign ; the desperate and most remarkable fight at Kerns- town ; the defeat and retreat of Banks from Strasburg and Win- chester ; the retreat, in 'turn, of his great opponent, timed with such mathematical accuracy, that at Strasburg he strikes with his right hand and his left the columns of Fremont and Shields, closing in from east and west to destroy him — strikes them and passes through, continuing his retreat up the Yalley. Then comes the last scene— friz's coronal. At Port Eepublic his adversaries strike at him in two columns. He throws himself against Fremont at Cross Keys and checks his advance ; then attacks Shields beyond the river, and after one of the hottest battles of the war, fought nearly man to man, defeats him. Troops never fought better than the Federals there, but they were defeated; and Jackson, by forced marches, hastened to fall upon McClellan's right wing on the Chickahominy. These events had, in June, 1862, attracted all eyes to Jackson. People began to associate his name with the idea of unvarying success, and to regard him as the incarnate genius of victory. War seemed in his person to have become a splendid pageant of unceasing triumph ; and from the smoke of so many battle- fields rose before the imaginative public eye, the figure of a splendid soldier on his prancing steed, with his fluttering banner, preceded by bugles, and advancing in all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war. Tlie actual man was somewhat difierent; and in this sketch I shall try to draw his outline as he really looked. In doing so, an apparent egotism will be necessary ; but this may be pardoned as inseparable from the subject. What men see is more interesting than what they think, often ; what the writer saw of this great man will here be recorded. It was late in the afternoon of this memorable day, and A. P. 46 WEAEING OF THE GRAY. Hill had just been repulsed with heavy slaughter from General McClellan's admirable works near New Cold Harbour, when the writer of this was sent by General Stuart to ascertain if Jackson's corps had gone in, and what were his dispositions for battle, A group near a log cabin, twenty paces from Old Cold Harbour House, was pointed out to me ; and going there, I asked for the General. Some one pointed to a figure seated on a log — dingy, bending over, and writing on his knees. A faded, yellow cap of the cadet pattern was drawn over his eyes ; his fingers, holding a pencil, trembled. His voice, in addressing me, was brief, curt, but not uncourteous ; and then, his dispatch having been sent, he mounted and rode slowly alone across the field. A more curious figure I never saw. He sat his raw- boned sorrel — not the " old sorrel," however — like an automa- ton. Knees drawn up, body leaning forward ; the whole figure stiff, angular, unbending. His coat was the dingiest of the dingy ; originally gray, it seemed to have brought away some of the dust and dirt of every region in which he had bivouacked. His faded cap was pulled down so low upon the forehead that he was compelled to raise his chin into the air to look from beneath the rim. Under that rim flashed two keen and piercing eyes — dark, with a strange brilliancy, and full of " fight." The nose was prominent ; the moustache heavy upon the firm lip, close set beneath ; the rough, brown beard did not conceal the heavy fighting jaw. All but the eye was in apparent repose ; there was no longer any tremor of anxiety. The soldier seemed to have made all his arrangements, " done his best," and he evidently awaited the result with entire coolness. There was even something absent and abstracted in his manner, as he rode slowly to and fro, sucking a lemon, and looking keenly at you when you spoke, answering briefly when necessary. Twice more I saw him that day — first in the evening, in the midst of a furious shelling, riding slowly with General Stuart among his guns ; his face lit up by the burning brushwood — a face perfectly calm and unmoved. And again at midnight, when, as I slept in a fence corner, I felt a hand upon my shoul- der, and a voice said, " Where is the General ? " It was JACKSON. 47 Jackson, riding about by himself; and be tied his horse, lay down beside General Stuart, and began with, " Well, yesterday's was the most terrific fire of musketry I ever heard ! " Words of unwonted animation coming from Jackson — that most matter-of- fact of speakers, and expressing much. From this time, Jackson became the idol of his troops and the country. Wherever he moved among the camps he was met by cheers ; and so unvarying was this reception of him, that a distant yell would often draw from his men the exclamation, " That's Jackson or a rabbit ! " the sight of the soldier or the appearance of a hare being alone adequate to arouse this tremen- dous excitement. From the day of Cold Harbour, success con- tinued to crown him — at Cedar Mountain, the second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, where he met the full weight of McClellan's right wing under Hooker, and repulsed it, and Chancellorsville. When he died, struck down by the hands of his own men, he was the most famous and the most beloved of Southern commanders. II. His popularity was great in degree, but more singular in character. No general was ever so beloved by the good and pious of the land. Old ladies received him wherever he went with a species of enthusiasm, and I think he preferred their society and that of clergymen to any other. In such society his kindly nature seemed to expand, and his countenance was charming. He would talk for hours upon religious subjects, never wearj'-, it seemed, of such discourse, and at such moments his smile had the sweetness and simplicity of childhood. The hard intellect was resting, and the heart of the soldier spoke in this congenial converse upon themes more dear to him than all others. 1 have seen him look serene and perfectly happy, con- versing with a venerable lady upon their relative religious experiences. Children were also great favourites with him, and he seldom failed to make them love him. When at his head- quarters below Fredericksburg, in 1863, he received a splendid 48 WEAEING OF THE GRAY. new cap, gorgeous with a broad band of dazzling gold braid, which was greatly admired by a child one day in his quarters. Thereupon Jackson drew her between bis knees, ripped oflf the braid, and binding it around her curls, sent her away delighted. With maidens of more advanced age, however, the somewhat shy General was less at his ease. At " Hay field," near the same headquarters, and about the same time, the hospitable family were one day visited by Generals Lee, Jackson, and Stuart, when a little damsel of fourteen confided to her friend General Lee her strong desire to kiss General Jackson. General Lee, always fond of pleasantry, at once informed Jackson of the young lady's desire,, and the great soldier's face was covered with blushes and confusion. An amusing picture, too, is drawn of the General when he fell into the hands of the ladies of Martinsburg, and they cut off almost every button of his coat as souvenirs. The beleaguered hero would have preferred storming a line of intrenchments. Jackson had little humour. He was not sour or gloomy, nor did he look grimly upon "fun" as something which a good Presbyterian should avoid. He was perfectly cheerful, liberal and rational in this as in everything ; but he had no ear for humour, as some persons have none for music. A joke was a mj^sterious affair to him. Only when so very "broad" and staring, that he who ran might read it, did humour of any sort strike Jackson. Even his thick coating of matter-of-fact was occasionally pierced, however. At Port Eepublic a soldier said to his companion : " I wish these Yankees were in hell," where- upon the other replied : " I don't ; for if they were, old Jack would be within half a mile of them, with the Stonewall Bri- gade in front ! " When this was told to Jackson, he is said to have burst out into hearty laughter, most unusual of sounds upon the lips of the serious soldier. But such enjoyment of fun was rare with him. I was never more struck with this than one day at Fredericksburg, at General Stuart's headquarters. There was an indifferent brochure published in those days, styled " Abram, a Poem," in the comic preface to which, Jackson was presented in a most ludicrous light, seated on a stump at Oxhill and gnaw- JACKSON. 49 ing at a roasting ear, while a wbole North Carolina brigade behind him in line of battle was doing likewise. General Stuart read it with bursts of laughter to his friend, and Jackson also' laughed with perfect good-humour ; but no sooner had the book been closed than he seemed to forget its existence, and said with an irresistibly matter-of-fact expression which made this writer retire to indulge his own laughter: '■^ By the hy^ in going to Cut- 'pejper^ where did you cross the Rapidan ? " His manner was unmistakable. It said : " My dear Stuart, all that is no doubt very amusing to you, and I laugh because you do ; but it don't interest me." On one occasion only, to the knowledge of the present writer, did Jackson betray something like dry humour. It was at Harper's Ferry, in September, 1862, just after the sur- render of that place, and when General Lee was falling back upon Sharpsburg. Jackson was standing on the bridge over the Potomac when a courier, out of breath, and seriously " de- moralized," galloped up to him, and announced that McClellan was within an hour's march of the place with an enormous army. Jackson was conversing with a Federal officer at the moment, and did not seem to hear the courier, who repeated his message with every mark of agitation. Thereupon Jackson turned round and said : "Has he any cattle with him ? " The reply was that there were thousands. " "Well," said Jackson, with his dry smile, " you can go. My men can whip any army that comes well provisioned." Of wit, properly speaking, he had little. But at times his brief, wise, matter-of-fact sentences became epigram- matic. Dr. Hunter McGuire," his medical director, once gave him some whiskey when he was wet and fatigued. Jackson made a wry face in swallowing it, and Dr. McGuire asked if it was not good whiskey. "Ob, yes," replied Jackson, "I like liquor, the taste and effect — thais why I donH drink itP m. I have endeavoured to draw an outline of Jackson on horse- back — the stiff, gaunt figure, dingy costume, piercing eyes ; the large, firm, iron mouth, and the strong fighting-jaw. A few 4 50 WEARING OF THE GRAY. more words upon these personal peculiarities. The soldier's face was one of decided character, but not eminently striking. One circumstance always puzzled me — Jackson's lofty forehead seemed to indicate unmistakably a strong predominance of the imagination and fancy^ and a very slight tendency or aptitude for mathematics. It was the forehead of a poet ! — the statement is almost a jest. Jackson the stern, intensely matter-of-fact mathematician, a man of fancy ! Never did forehead so contra- dict phrenology before. A man more guiltless of "poetry" in thought or deed, I suppose never lived. His poetry was the cannon's flash, the rattle of musketry, and the lurid cloud of bat- tle. Then, it is true, his language, ordinarily so curt and cold, grew eloquent, almost tragic and heroic at times, from the deep feeling of the man. At Malvern Hill, General received an order from Jackson to advance and attack the Federal forces in their fortified position, for which purpose he must move across an open field swept by their artillery. General was alwa3^s " impracticable," though thoroughly brave, and gallop- ing up to Jackson said, almost rudely, "Did you send me an order to advance over that field ? " "I did, sir," was the cold reply of Jackson, in whose eyes began to glow the light of a coming storm. " Impossible, sir !" exclaimed General in a tone almost of insubordination, " my men will be annihilated! — annihilated, I tell you, sir ! " Jackson raised his finger, and in his cold voice there was an accent of menace which cooled his opponent like a hand of ice. "General ," he said, "I always endeavour to take care of my wounded and to bury my dead. Obey that order, sir ! " The officer who was present at this scene and related it to me, declares that he never saw a deeper suppression of concentrated anger than that which shone in Jackson's eye, or heard a human voice more menacing. There were other times when Jackson, stung and aroused, was driven from his propriety, or, at least, out of his coolness. The winter of 1861-2 was such an occasion. He had made his expedition to Morgan county, and, in spite of great suffering among the troops, had forced the Federal garrisons at Bath ^nd JACKSON. 51 Eomney to retire, and accomplished all hisends. General Loring was then left at Romnej, and Jackson returned to Winchester. All that is well known. What follows is not known to many. General Loring conceived an intense enmity for Jackson, and made such representations at Richmond, that an order was sent to Loring direct^ not through Jackson, commanding in the Val- ley, recalling him. Jackson at once sent in his resignation. The scene which took place between him and his friend Colonel Boteler, thereupon, was a stormy one. The Colonel in vain tried to persuade him that he ought to recall his resignation. •' No, sir,'- exclaimed Jackson, striding fiercely up and down, "I will not hold a command upon terms of that sort. Twill not have those people at Richmond interfering in my plans, and sending orders to an officer under me, without even informing me. JN^o soldier can endure it. I care not for myself If I know myself I do not act from anger — but if I yield now they will treat better men in the same way ! I am nobody — but the protest must be made here, or Lee and Johnston will be meddled with as I am.*" It was only after the resignation had been with- drawn by the Governor of Virginia without his authority, and explanations, apologies, protestations, came from the head of the War Office, that the design was given up. Such is a little mor- ceaii of private history, showing how Jackson came near not commanding in the Valley in 1862. With the exception of these rare occasions when his great passions were aroused, Jackson was an apparently commonplace person, and his bearing neither striking, graceful, nor impressive. He rode ungracefully, walked with an awkward stride, and wanted ease of manner. He never lost a certain shyness in company ; and I remember his air of boyish constraint, one day, when, in leaving an apartment full of friends, he hesitated whether to shake hands with every one or not. Catching the eye of the present writer, who designed remaining, he hastily extended his hand, shook hands, and quickly retired, apparently relieved. His bearing thus wanted ease; but, personally, he made a most agreeable impression by his deliglitfully natural courtesy. His smile was as sweet as a child's, and evidently 52' WEARING OF THE GRAY. sprang from his goodness of heart. A lady said it was "an- gelic." His voice in ordinary conversation was subdued, and pleasant from its friendly and courteous tone, though injured by the acquired habit — a West Pointism — of cutting off, so to speak, each word, and leaving each to take care of itself. This was always observable in his manner of talking ; but briefest of the brief, curtest of the curt, was General Stonewall Jackson on the field of battle and " at work." His words were then let fall as though under protest ; all superfluities were discarded; and the monosyllables jerked from his lips seemed clipped off, one by one, and launched to go upon separate ways. The eccentricities of the individual were undoubtedly a strong element of his popu- larity; the dress, habits, bearing of the man, all made his sol- diers adore him. General Lee's air of collected dignity, mingled with a certain grave and serious pride, aroused rather admiration than affection — though during the last years of the war, the troops came to love as much as they admired him : to arrive at which point they had only to know the great warm heart which beat under that calm exterior, making its possessor " one alto- gether lovely." Jackson's appearance and manners, on the con- trary, were such as conciliate a familiar, humorous liking. His dingy old coat, than which scarce a private's in his command was more faded ; his dilapidated and discolored cap ; the ab- sence of decorations and all show in his dress ; his odd ways ; his kindly, simple manner ; his habit of sitting down and eating with his men; his indifference whether his bed were in a com- fortable headquarter tent, on a camp couch, or in a fence corner with no shelter from the rain but his cloak ; his abstemiousness, fairness, honesty, simplicity ; his never-fiiiling regard for the comfort and the feelings of the private soldier; his oddities, eccentricities, and originalities — all were an unfailing provocative to liking, and endeared him to his men. Troops are charmed when there is anything in the personal character of a great leader to "make fun of"— admiration of his genius then be- comes enthusiasm for his person. Jackson had aroused this enthusiasm in his men — and it was a weapon with which he struck hard. JACKSON. 53 One of the most curious peculiarities of Jackson was tlie strange fashion he had of raising his right hand aloft and then letting it fall suddenly to his side. It is impossible, perhaps, to determine the meaning of this singular gesture. It is said that he had some physical ailment which he thus relieved ; others believed that at such moments he was praying. Either may be the fact. Certain it is that he often held his hand, sometimes both hands, thus aloft in battle, and that his lips were then seen to move, evidently in prayer. Not once, but many times, has the singular spectacle been presented of a Lieutenant-General commanding, sitting on his horse silently as his column moved before him — his hands raised to heaven, his eyes closed, his lips moving in prayer. At Chancellorsville, as he recognised the corpses of any of his old veterans, he would check his horse, raise his hands to heaven, and utter a prayer over the dead body. There were those who said that all this indicated a partial species of insanity — that Jackson's mind was not sound. Other stories are told of him which aim to show that his eccentricities amounted to craziness. Upon this point the philosophers and physiologists must decide. The present writer can only say that Jackson appeared to him to be an eminently rational, judicious, and sensible person in conversation ; and the world must deter- mine whether there was any " craze," any flaw or crack, or error, in the terribly logical processes of his brain as a fighter of armies. The old incredulity of Frederick will obtrude itself upon the mind. If Jackson was crazy, it is a pity he did not bite somebody, and inoculate them with a small amount of his insanity as a soldier. Unquestionably the most striking trait of Jackson as a leader was his unerring judgment and accuracy of calculation. The present writer believes himself to be familiar with every detail of his career, and does not recall one blunder. Kernstown was fought upon information furnished by General Ashby, a most accomplished and reliable partisan, which turned out to be inaccurate; but even in defeat Jackson there accom- plished the very important object of retaining a large Federal force in the Valley, which McClellan needed on the Chicka- hominy. For instances of the boldness, fertility, and originality 54 WEARING OF THE GRAY. of his conceptions, take the campaigns against General Pope, the surprise of Harper's Ferrj, the great flank attack at Chan- cellorsville, and the marvellous success of every step taken in the campaign of the Yallej. This is not the occasion for an analysis of these campaigns ; but it may be safely declared that they are magnificent illustrations of the mathematics of war; that the brain which conceived and executed designs so bold and splendid, must have possessed a sanity for all practical purposes difficult to dispute. * IV. Jackson's religious opinions are unknown to the present writer. He has been called a " fatalist." All sensible men are fatalists in one sense, in possessing a strong conviction that " what will be, will be." But men of deep piety like Jackson, are not Ori- ental in their views. Fate was a mere word with Jackson, with no meaning; his "star" was. Providence. Love for and trust in that Providence dwelt and beat in every vein and pulse of his nature. His whole soul was absorbed in his religion — as much as a merchant's is in his business, or a statesman's in pub- lic affairs. He believed that life "meant intensely, and meant good." To find its meaning was "his meat and drink." His religion was his life, and the real world a mere phantasmagoria. He seemed to have died rejoicing, preferring death to life. Strange madness ! This religious dreamer was tlie stern, prac- tical, mathematical calculator of chances; the obstinate, un- yielding fighter ; the most prosaic of realists in all the common- places of the dreadfully commonplace trade of war. The world knocks down many people with that cry of " eccen- tric," by which is really meant " insane." Any divergence from the conventional is an evidence of mental unsoundness. Jack- son was seen, once in Lexington, walking up and down in a heavy rain before the superintendent's quarters, waiting for the clock to strike ten before he delivered his report. He wore woollen clothes throughout the summer. He would never mail a letter which to reach its destination must travel on Sunday. JACKSON. 55 All these things made him laughed at; and yet the good sense seems all on his side, the folly on that of the laughers. The In- stitute was a military school ; military obedience was the great important lesson to the student — rigid, unquestioning obedience. Jackson set them the example. He was ordered to hand in his report at ten, and did not feel himself at liberty to present it be- fore ten, in consequence of the rain. He was ordered to don a woollen uniform in the winter, and having received no order prescribing or permitting another, continued to wear it. He considered it wrong to travel or carry mails on Sunday, and would not take part in the commission of wrong. This appears logical, however eccentric. In truth, the great soldier was an altogether earnest man, with little genius for the trivial pursuits of life, or its more trivial processes of thought and opinion. His temper was matter-of- fact, his logic straightforward; "nonsense" could not live in his presence. The lighter graces were denied him, but not the abiding charm. He had no eye for the "flower of the peas," no palate for the bubble on the champagne of life ; but he was true, kind, brave, and simple. Life with him was a har'd, earnest struggle ; duty seems to have been his watchword. It is hard to find in his character any actual blot — he was so true and honest. Jackson has probably excited more admiration in Europe than any other personage in the late revolution. His opponents even are said to have acknowledged the purity of his motives — to have recognised the greatne:=;s of his character and the splen- dor of his achievements. This sentiment springs naturally from a review of his life. It is no part of my design to present a critical analysis of his military movements. This must sooner or later be done ; but at present the atmosphere is not clear of the battle-smoke, and figures are seen indistinctly. The time will come when the campaigns of Jackson will become the study of military men in the Old World and the New — the masterly ad- vances and retreats of the Valley ; the descent against McClel- lan; the expedition to Pope's rear, which terminated in the second battle of Manassas; and the great flank movement at 56 WEAEING OF THE GRAY. Chancellorsville, which has made the tangled brakes of the Spotsylvania wilderness famous for ever. Under the grave exterior, the reserved demeanour, the old faded costume of the famous soldier, the penetrating student of human nature will discern " one of the immortals." In the man who holds aloft his hand in prayer while his veteran battalions move by steadily to the charge, it will not be difiEicult to fancy a reproduction of the stubborn Cromwell, sternest of Ironsides, going forth to conquer in the name of the Lord. In the man who led his broken lines back to the conflict, and charged in front of them on many fields, there was all the dash and im- petus of Eupert. The inscrutable decree of Providence struck down this great soldier in the prime of life and the bloom of his faculties. His career extended over but two years, and he lives only in memory. But history cannot avoid her landmarks ; the great proportions of Stonewall Jackson will sooner or later be delineated. The writer of these lines can only say how great this man appeared to him, and wait with patience for the picture which shall " denote him truly." III. HAMPTOK I. There was a gentleman of South Carolina, of high position and ample estate, who in 1861 came to take part in the war in Virginia, at the head of a " Legion " of six hundred infantry. Tliis body of men, it was said, he had equipped from his own purse ; as he had sent to England and purchased the artillery with which he was going to fight. The " Legion " was composed of brave stuff, and ofiicered by hard-fighting gentlemen — the flower indeed of the great South Carolina race ; a good stock'. It first took the field in earnest at the first battle of Manassas — as an independent organization, belonging neither to Beauregard's '' Army of the Potomac " nor to Johnston's "Army of the Shenandoah." But there it was, as though dropped from the clouds, on the morning of that fiery twenty-first of July, 1861, amid the corn-fields of Manassas. It made its mark without loss of time — stretching out to Vir- ginia that firm, brave hand of South Carolina. At ten o'clock in the morning, on this eventful day, the battle seemed lost to the Southerners. Evans was cut to pieces ; Bee shattered and driven back in utter defeat to the Henry-House hill ; between the victorious enemy and Beauregard's unprotected flank were interposed only the six hundred men of the " Legion " already up, and the two thousand six hundred and eleven muskets of Jackson not yet in position. The Legion occupied the War- ren ton road near the Stone House, where it met and sustained with stubborn front the torrent dashed against it. General 58 WEARING OF THE GRAY. / Keyes, with his division, attacked the six hundred from the direction of Eed- House ford, and his advance line was forced back by them, and compelled to take refuge beneath the bluffs near Stone bridge. The column of General Hunter, meanwhile, closed in on the left of the little band, enveloped their flank, and poured a destructive artillery fire along the line. To hold their ground further was impossible, and they slowly fell back ; but those precious moments had been secured. Jackson was in position; the Legion retreated, and formed upon liis right; the enemy's advance was checked ; and when the Southern line advanced in its turn, with wild cheers, piercing the Federal cen- tre, the South Carolinians fought shoulder to shoulder beside the Stonewall Brigade, and saw the Federal forces break in dis- order. When the sun set on this bloody and victorious field, the " Legion " had made a record among the most honourable in history. They had done more than their part in the hard struggle, and now saw the enemy in full retreat; but their leader did not witness that spectacle. Wade Hampton had been shot down in the final charge near the Henry House, and borne from the field, cheering on his men to the last, with that stubborn hardihood which he derived from his ancestral* blood. Such was the first appearance upon the great arena of a man who was destined to act a prominent part in the tragic drama of the war, and win for himself a distinguished name. At Manas- sas, there in the beginning of the struggle, as alwa3\s afterwards, he was the cool and fearless soldier. It was easily scon by those who watched Hampton " at work " that he fougut from a sense of duty, and not from passion, or to win renown. The war was a gala-day full of attraction and excitement to some ; with him it was hard work — not sought, but accepted. I am certain that he was not actuated by a thirst for military rank or renown. From those early days when all was gay and brilliant, to the latter years when the conflict had become so desperate and bloody, oppressing every heart, Hampton remained the same cool, unexcited soldier. He was foremost in every fight, and everywhere did more than his duty ; but evidently martial ambi- tion did not move him. Driven to take up arrns by his princi- HAMPTON". 59 pies, he fought for those principles, not for fame. It followed him — he did not follow it ; and to contemplate the character and career of such a man is wholesome. His long and arduous career cannot here be narrated. A bare reference to some prominent points is all that can be given. Colonel Hampton, of the " Hampton Legion," soon became Brigadier-General Hampton, of the cavalry. The horsemen of the Gulf States serving in Virginia were placed under him, and the brigade became a portion of Stuart's command. It soon made its mark. Here are some of the landmarks in the stir- ring record. The hard and stubborn stand made at the Catoctin Mountain, when General Lee first invaded Maryland, and where Hampton charged and captured the Federal artillery posted in the suburbs of Frederick City ; the rear-guard work as the Southern column hastened on, pursued by McClellan, to Sharpsburg ; the stout fighting on the Confederate left there ; the raid around McClel- lan's army in October ; the obstinate fighting in front of the gaps of the Blue Ridge as Lee fell back in November to the line of the Rappahannock ; the expedition in dead of winter to the Occoquan ; the critical and desperate combat on the ninth of June, 1863, at Fleetwood Hill, near Brandy, where Hampton held the right, and Young, of Georgia, the brave of braves, went at the flanking column of the enemy with the sabre, never firing a shot, and swept them from the field ; the speedy advance, thereafter, from the Rapidan ; the close and bitter struggle when the enemy, with an overpowering force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, about the twentieth of June, attacked the Southern cavalry near Middleburg, and forced them back step by step beyond Upperville, where in the last wild charge, when the Confederates were nearly broken, Hampton went in with the sabre at the head of his men and saved the command from destruction by his "do or die" fighting; the advance imme- diately into Pennsylvania, when the long, hard march, like the verses of Ariosto, was strewed all over with battles ; the stubborn attack at Hanovertown, where Hampton stood like a rock upon the hills above the place, and the never-ceasing or receding roar 60 WEARING OF THE GRAY. of bis artillery told us that on the right flank all was well ; the march thereafter to Carlisle, and back to Grettysburg ; the grand charge there, sabre to sabre, where Hampton was shot through the body, and nearly cut out of the saddle by a sabre blow upon the head, which almost proved fatal ; the hard conflicts of the Wilderness, when General Grant came over in May, 1864 ; the fio-htino" on the north bank of the Po, and on the left of the army at Spotsylvania Court-House ; the various campaigns against Sheridan, Kautz, Wilson, and the later cavalry leaders o^ the Federal side, when, Stuart having fallen, Hampton com- manded the whole Virginia cavalry ; the hot fights at Trevil- lian's, at Keanis, at Bellfield, in a hundred places, when, in those expiring hours of the great conflict, a species of fury seemed to possess both combatants, and Dinwiddle was the arena of a struggle, bitter, bloody, desperate beyond all expression ; then the fighting in the Carolinas on the old grounds of the Bdisto, the high hills of the Santee and Congaree, which in 1864 and 1865 sent bulletins of battle as before ; then the last act of the tragedy, when Sherman came and Hampton's sabre gleamed in the glare of his own house at Columbia, and then was sheathed — such were some of the scenes amid which the tall form of this soldier moved, and his sword flashed. That stal- wart form had everywhere towered in the van. On the Rappa- hannock, the Rapidan, the Susquehanna, the Shenandoah, the Po, the North Anna, the James, the Rowanty, and Hatcher's Run— in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania — Hampton had fought with the stubborn courage inherited from his Revolution- ary sires. Fighting lastly upon the soil of his native State, he felt no doubt as Marion and Sumter did, when Rawdon and Tarleton came and were met sabre to sabre. In the hot conflicts of 1865, Hampton met the new enemy as those jireux chevaliers with their great Virginia comrade, " Light-Horse Harry " Lee, had met the old in 1781. But the record of those stubborn fights must be left to another time and to abler hands. I pass to a few traits of the indi- vidual. HAMPTON. - 61 II. Of this eminent soldier, I will say that, seeing him often in many of those perilous straits which reveal hard fibre or its absence, I always regarded him as a noble type of courage and manhood — a gentleman and soldier "to the finger nails." But that is not enough ; generalization and eulogy are unprofitable — truth and minute characterization are better. One personal anecdote of Caesar would be far more valuable than a hundred commonplaces — and that is true of others. It is not a " general idea " I am to give ; I would paint the portrait, if I can, of the actual man. The individuality of the great South Carolinian was very marked. You saw at a glance the race from which he sprang, and the traits of heart and brain which he brought to the hard contest. He was " whole in himself and due to none." Neither in physical nor mental conformation did he resemble Stuart, the ideal cavalier — Forrest, the rough-rider— or the rest. To compare him for an instant to the famous Stuart — the latter laughed, sang, and revelled in youth and enjoyment, Hampton smiled offcener than he laughed, never sang at all that I ever heard, and had the composed demeanour of a man of middle age. Stuart loved brilliant colours, gay scenes, and the sparkle of bright eyes, Hampton gave little thought to these things ; and his plain gray coat, worn, dingy, and faded, beside the great cavalier's gay "fighting jacket," shining with gold braid, defined the whole difference. I do not say that the dingy coat covered a stouter heart than the brilliant jacket — there never lived a more heroic soul than Stuart — but that in this was shown the individuality of each. The one — Stuart — was young, gay, a West Pointer, and splendid in his merriment, e/an, and abandon. The other, Hampton, a civilian approaching middle age, a planter, not a soldier by profession — a man who embarked in the arduous struggle -with the coolness of the statesman, rather than the ardor of the soldier. It was the planter, sword in hand, not the United States ofi&cer, that one saw in Hampton — the country gentleman who took up arms because his native soil was 62 WEARING OF THE GRAY invaded, as the race of which he came had done in the past. That the plain phahter, without military education, became the eminent soldier, is an evidence that " the strain will show." Here is an outline of the South Carolinian as he appeared in July, 1862, when the cavalry were resting after the battles of the Chickahominy, and he often came to the old shady yard of Hanover Court-House, to talk with General Stuart under the trees there. What the eye saw in those days was a personage of tall stature and " distinguished " appearance. The face was browned by sun and wind, and half covered by dark side-whis- kers joining a long moustache of the same hue ; the chin bold, prominent, and bare. The eyes were brown, inclining to black, and very mild and friendly ; the voice low, sonorous, and with a certain accent of dignity and composure. The frame of the .sol- dier — straight, vigorous, and stalwart, but not too broad for grace — was encased in a plain gray sack coat of civilian cut, with the collar turned down ; cavalry boots, large and serviceable, with brass spurs; a brown felt hat, without star or feather; the rest of the dress plain gray. Imagine this stalwart figure with a heavy sabre buckled around the waist, and mounted upon a large and powerful animal of excellent blood and action, but wholly " un- showy," and a correct idea will be obtained of General Wade Hampton. Passing from the clothes to the man — what impressed all who saw him was the attractive union of dignity and simpli- cit}' in his bearing — a certain grave and simple courtesy which indicated the highest breeding. He was evidently an honest gentleman who disdained all pretence or artifice. It was plain that he thought nothing of personal decorations or military show, and never dreamed of " producing an impression " upon any one. This was revealed by that bearing fall of a proud modesty ; nei- ther stiff nor insinuating— simple. After being in his presence for ten minutes, you saw that he was a man for hard work, and not for display. That plain and unassuming manner, without pretension, affectation, or "official" coolness, was an index to the character of the individual. It is easy to tell a gentleman ; something betrays that character, as something betrays the pretender. Eefinement, good-breeding. HAMPTON". 63 and fealty tbrough all, to honour, were here embodied. The General was as courteous to the humblest private soldier as to the Commander-in-Chief, and you could discover in him no trace whatever of that air of "condescension" and " patronage '^' which small persons, aiming to be great, sometimes adopt. It was the unforced courtesy of the gentleman, not the hollow politeness of the pretender to that title, which all saw in Hampton. He did not act at all, but lived his character. In his voice, in his bearing, in all that he said and did, the South Carolinian betrayed the man who is too proud not to be simple, natural, and unassuming. Upon this trait of manner, merely, I may seem to dwell too long. But it is not a trifle. I am trying to delineate a man of whom we Southerners are proud — and this rare grace was his. It reflected clearly the character of the individual — the noble pride, the true courtesy, and the high-bred honour of one who^ amid all the jarring strife of an excited epoch, would not suffer his serene equanimity of gentleman to be disturbed ; who aimed to do his dut}^ to his country, not rise above his associates ; who was no politer to the high than to the low, to the powerful than to the weak ; and who respected more the truth and courage beneath the tattered jacket than the stars and wreath on the braided coat. The result of this kindly feeling towards " men of low estate " was marked. An officer long associated with him said to me one day : " I do not believe there ever was a General more beloved by his whole command ; and he more than returns it. General Hampton has a real tendeimess, 1 do believe, for every soldier who has ever served under him." He was always doing the poorer members of his command some kindness. His hand was open like his heart. Many a brave fellow's family was kept from want by him ; and a hundred instances of this liberality are doubtless recorded in the grateful memories of the women and children whom he fought for, and fed too, in those dark days. This munificence was nowhere else recorded. The left hand knew not what the risrht hand did. A few words more upon his personal bearing. His composure upon trying occasions, as in every-day life, indicated a self poised 64 WEARING OF THE GRAY. and independent character. He rarely yielded to hearty mirth, but his smile was very friendly and attractive. You could see that he was a person of earnest feelings, and had a good heart. In camp he was a pleasant companion, and those who saw him daily became most attached to him. His staff were devoted to him. I remember the regret experienced by these brave gentlemen when Hampton's assignment to the command of all the cavalry separated them from him. The feeling which they then exhibited left no doubt of the entente cordiale between the njembers of the military family. General Hampton liked to laugh and talk with them around the camp fire ; to do them every kindness he could — but that was his weakness towards everybody — and to play chess, draughts, or other games, in the intervals of fighting or work. One of his passions was hunting. This amusement he pursued upon every occasion — over the fields of Spotsylvania, amid the woods of Dinwiddle, and on the rivers of South Carolina, His success was great. Ducks, partridges, squirrels, turkey, and deer, fell before his double-barrel in whatever country he pitched his tents. He knew all the old huntsmen of the regions in which he tarried, delighted to talk with such upon the noble science of venery, and was considered by these dangerous critics a thorough sportsman. They regarded him, it is*^aid, as a comrade not undistinguished; and sent him, in friendly recognition of his merit, presents of venison and other game, which was plentiful along the shores of the Rowanty, or in the backwoods of Dinwiddle. Hampton was holding the right of General Lee's line there, in supreme command of all the Virginia cavalry ; but it was not as a hunter of " bluebirds " — so we used to call our Northern friends — that they respected him most. It was as a deer hunter; and I have heard that, the hard-fighting cavalier relished very highly their good opinion of him in that character. It is singular that a love for hunting should so often characterize men of elegant scholarship and literary taste. The soldier and huntsman was also a poet, and General Stuart spoke in high praise of his writings. His prose style was forcible and excellent — in letters, reports, and all that he wrote. The admirably written address to the people of South Carolina, which was HAMPTON. 65 recently published, ■will display the justice of this statement. That paper, like all that came from him, was compact, vigorous, lucid, " written in English," and everywhere betrayed the scholar no less than the patriot. It will live when a thousand octavos have disappeared. III. Such was Wade Hampton the man — a gentleman in every fibre of his being, Ifwas impossible to imagine anything coarse or profane in the action or utterance of the man. An oath never soiled his lips. " Do bring up that artillery ! " or some equiva- lent exclamation, was his nearest approach to irritation even. Such was the supreme control which this man of character, full of fire, force, and resolution, had over his passions. For, under that simplicity and kindly courtesy, was the largely-moulded nature of one ready to go to the death when honour called. In a single word, it was a powerful organization under complete control which the present writer seemed to recognise in Wade Hampton. Under that sweetness and dignity which made him conspicuous among the first gentlemen of his epoch, was the stubborn spirit of the born soldier. Little space is left to speak of him in his military character. I preferred to dwell upon Hampton the man, as he appeared to me ; for Hampton the General will find many historians. Some traits of the soldier, however, must not be omitted ; this character is too eminent to be drawn only in profile. On the field Hampton was noted for his coolness. This never left him. It might almost be called repose, so perfect was it. He was never an excitable man ; and as doubt and danger pressed heavier, his equanimity seemed to increase. You could see that this was truly a stubborn spirit. I do not think that anybody who knew him could even imagine Wade Hampton " flurried." His nerve was made of invincible stuff, and his entire absence of all excitability on the field was spoken of by his enemies as a fault. It was said that his coolness amounted to a defect in a cavalrj^ leader ; that he wanted the dash, rush, and impetus which this 5 66 WEARING OF THE GRAY. brancli of the service demands. If there was any general truth in this criticism, there was none in particular instances. Hampton was sufficiently headlong when I saw him — was one of the most thoroughly successful commanders imaginable, and certainly seemed to have a natural turn for going in front of his column with a drawn sabre. What the French call elan is not, however, the greatest merit in a soldier. Behind the strong arm was the wary brain. Cool and collected resolution, a comprehensive survey of the whole field, and the most excellent dispositions for attack or defence — such were the merits of this soldier. I could never divest myself of the idea that as a corps commander of infantry he would have figured among the most eminent names of history. With an unclouded brain ; a coup d'ceil as clear as a ray of the sun ; invincible before danger ; never flurried, anxious, or despondent ; content to wait ; too wary ever to be surprised ; looking to great trials of strength, and to general results — the man possessing these traits of character was better fitted, I always thought, for the command of troops of all arms — infantry, caviilry, and artillery — than for one arm alone. But with that arm which he commanded — cavalry — what splendid results did he achieve. In how many perilous straits was his tall figure seen in front of the Southern horsemen, bidding them " come on," not " go on." He was not only the commander, but the sahreur too. Thousands will remember how his gallant figure led the charging column at Frederick Cit}^, at Upperville, at Gettysburg, at Trevillian's, and in a hundred other fights. Nothing more superb could be imagined than Hampton at such moments. There was no flurry in the man — but determined resolution. No doubt of the result apparently — no looking for an avenue of retreat. " Sabre to sabre I " misjht have been taken as the motto of his banner. In the " heady fight" he was everywhere seen, amid the clouds of smoke, the crashing shell, and the whistling balls, fighting like a private soldier, his long sword doing hard work in the melee^ and carving its way as did the trenchant weapons of the ancient knights. This spirit of the thorough cavalier in Hampton is worth dwelling on. Under the braid of the Major-General was the brave soul of the fearless soldier, the HAMPTON. 67 " fighting man." It was not a merit in him or in others that thej gave np wealth, business, elegance, all the comforts, con- veniences, and serene enjoyments of life, to live hard and fight hard ; to endure heat, cold, hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and pain, without a murmur ; but it was a merit in this brave soldier and gentleman that he did more than his duty, met breast to breast in single combat tlie best swordsmen of the Federal army, counted his life as no more ,J;han a private soldier^s, and seemed to ask nothing better than to pour out his heart's blood for the cause in which he fonght. This personal heroism — and Hampton had it to a grand extent — attracts the admiration of troops. But there is something better — the power of brain and force of character which wins the confidence of the Commander-in-Chief. When that Commander-in-Chief is called Robert E. Lee, it is something to have secured his high regard and confidence. Hampton had won the res^iect of Lee, and by that " noblest Roman of them all " his great character and eminent services were fully recognised. These men seemed to understand each other, and to be inspired by the same sentiment — a love of their native land which never failed, and a willingness to spend and be spent to the last drop of their blood in the cause which they had espoused. During General Stuart's life, Hampton was second in command of the Virginia Cavalry ; but when that great cavalier fell, he took charge of the whole as ranking-oflicer. His first blow was that resolute night-attack on Sheridan's force at Mechanicsville, when the enemy were driven in the darkness from their camps, and sprang to horse only in time to avoid the sweeping sabres of the Southerners — giving up from that moment all further attempt to enter Richmond. Then came th^ long, hard, desperate fighting of the whole year 1864, and the spring of 1865. At Trevillian's, Sheridan was driven back and Charlottes- ville saved ; on the Weldon railroad the Federal cavalry, under Kautz and Wilson, was nearly cut to pieces, and broke in disorder, leaving on the roads their wagons, cannons, ambulances, their dead men and horses ; near Bellfield the Federal column sent to destro}^ the railroad was encountered, stubbornly opposed, and driven back before they could burn the bridge at Hicksford ; at 68 WEARING OF THE GRAY. Burgess' Mill, near Petersburg, where General Grant made his first great blow with two corps of infantry, at the Southside railroad, Hampton met them in front and flank, fought them all an October day nearly, lost his brave son Preston, dead from a bullet on the field, but in conjunction with Mahone, that hardy fighter, sent the enemy in haste back to their works ; thus saving for the time the great war artery of the Southern army. Thence- forward,' until he was sent to South Carolina, Hampton held the right of Lee in the woods of Dinwiddle, guarding with his cavalry cordon the line of the Eowanty, and defying all comers. Stout, hardy, composed, smiling, ready to meet any attack — in those last days of the strange year 1864, he seemed to my eyes the heau ideal of a soldier. The man appeared to be as firm as a rock, as immovably rooted as one of the gigantic live-oaks of his native country. When I asked him one day if he expected to be attacked soon, he laughed and said : " No ; the enemy's cavalry are afraid to show their noses beyond their infantry." Nor did the Federal cavalry ever achieve any results in that region until the ten or fifteen thousand crack cavalry of General Sheridan came to ride over the two thousand men, on starved and broken- down horses, of General Fitz Lee, in April, 1865. From Virginia, in the dark winter of 1861:, Hampton was sent to oppose with his cavalry the advance of General Sherman, and the world knows how desperately he fought there on his natale solum. More than ever before it was sabre to sabre, and Hampton was still in front. When the enemy pressed on to Columbia h^ fell back, fighting from street to street, and so con- tinued fighting until the thunderbolt fell in South Carolina, as it had fallen in Virginia at Appomattox, and the struggle ended. The sword that Hampton sheathed that day was one which no soil of bad faith, cruelty, or dishonour had ever tainted. It was the blade of a brave and irreproachable chevalier, of a man who throughout the most desperate and embittered conflict of all his- tory had kept his ancestral name from every blot, and had proved himself upon a hundred battle-fields the worthy son of the " mighty men of old." Such, in rough outline, was this brave and kindlj' soldier and HAMPTON. 6JJ gentleman, as he passed before our eyes in Virginia, " working his work." Seeing him often, in camp, on the field, in' bright days, and when the sky was darkest, the present writer looked upon him as a noble spirit, the truthful representative of a great and vigorous race. Brave, just, kindly, courteous, with the ten- derness of a woman under that grave exterior ; devoted to his principles, for which he fought and would have died ; loving his native land with a love " passing the love of woman; " proud, but never haughty ; not so much condescending to men of low estate, as giving them — if they were soldiers — the warm right hand of fellowship; merciful, simple-minded; foremost in the fight, but nowhere to be seen in the antechamber of living man ; with a hand shut tight upon the sword-hilt, but open as day to " melting charity ; " counting his life as nothing at the call of honour ; contending with stubborn resolution for the faith that was in him ; never cast down, never wavering, never giving back until the torrent bore him away, but fighting to the last with that heroic courage, born in his blood, for the independence of his country. Such was Wade Hampton, of South Carolina. There are those, perhaps, who will malign him in these dark days, when no sun shines. But the light is yonder, behind the cloud and storm ; some day it will shine out, and a million rush- lights will not be able to extinguish it. There are others who will call him traitor, and look, perhaps, with pity and contempt upon this page which claims for him a noble place among the illustrious figures shining all along the coasts of history like beacon lights above the storm. Traitor let it be ; one hundred years ago there were many in the South, and they fought over the same ground. Had the old Revolution failed, those men would have lived for ever, as Hampton and his associates in the recent conflict will. " Surrender," written at the end of this great history, cannot mar its glory ; failure cannot blot its splen- dour. The name and fame of Hampton will endure as long as loyalty and courage are respected by the human race. IV. ASHBY. In the Yallej of Virginia, the glory of two men outshines that of all others ; two figures were tallest, best beloved, and to- day are most bitterly mourned. One was Jackson, the other Ashby. The world knows all about Jackson, but has little knowledge of Ashby. I was reading a stupid book the other day in which he was represented as a guerilla — almost as a robber and highwayman. Ashby a guerilla ! — that great, powerful, trained, and consummate fighter of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, in the hardest fought battles of the Valley cam- paign ! Ashby a robber and highwaj'man ! — that soul and perfect mirror of chivalry ! It is to drive away these mists of stupid or malignant scribblers that the present writer designs recording here the actual truth of Ashby's character and career. Apart from what he performed, he was a personage to whom attached and still attaches a never-dying interest. His career was all romance — it was as brief, splendid, and evanescent as a dream — but, after all, it was the man Turner Ashby who was the real attraction. It was the man whom the people of the Shenandoah Valley admire, rather than his glorious record. There was some- thing grander than the achievements of this soldier, and that was the soldier himself. Ashby first attracted attention in the spring of 1862, when Jackson made his great campaign in the Valley, crushing one after another Banks, Milroy, Shields, Fremont, and their asso- ciates. Among the brilliant figures, the hard fighters grouped ASHBY. 71 around the man of Kernstown and Port Republic at that time, Ashby was perhaps the most notable and famous. As the great majority of my readers never saw the man, a personal outline of him here in the beginning may interest. Even on this .soil there are many thousands who never met that model cheva- lier and perfect type of manhood. He lives in all memories and hearts, but not in all eyes. What the men of Jackson saw at the head of the Valley cavalry in the spring of 1862, was a man rather below the mid- dle height, with an active and vigorous frame, clad in plain Con- federate gray. His brown felt hat was decorated with a black feather ; his uniform was almost without decorations : his cavalry boots, dusty or splashed witli mud, came to the knee ; and around his waist he wore a sash and plain leather belt, holding pistol and sabre. The face of this man of thirty or a little more, was noticeable. His complexion was as dark as that of an Arab ; his eyes of a deep rich brown, sparkled under well formed brows ; and two thirds of his face wa& covered by a huge black beard and moustache ; the latter curling at the ends, the former reaching to his breast. There was thus in the face of the cavalier something Moorish and brigandish ; but all idea of a melodramatic personage disappeared as you pressed his hand, looked into his eyes, and spoke to him. The brown eyes, which would flash superbly in battle, were the softest and most friendly imaginable; the voice, which could thrill his men as it rang like a clarion in the charge, was the perfection of mild courtesy. He was as simple and "friendly " as a child in all his words, move- ments, and the carriage of his person. You could see from his dress, his firm tread, his open and frank glance, that he was a thorough soldier— indeed he always " looked like work " — but under the soldier, as plainly was the gentleman. Such in his plain costume, with his simple manner and retiring modesty, was Ashby, whose name and fame, a brave comrade has truly said, will endure as long as the mountains and valleys which he defended. 72 WEARING OF THE GRAY. 11. The achievements of Ashby can be barely touched on here — history will set them in its purest gold. The pages of the splen- did record can only be glanced at now ; months of fighting must here be summed up and dismissed in a few sentences. To look back to his origin — that always counts for something — he was the son of a gentleman of Fauquier, and up to 1861 was only known as a hard rider, a gay companion, and the kindest-hearted of friends. There was absolutely nothing in the youth's character, apparently, which could detach him from the great mass of mediocrities ; but under that laughing face, that simple, unassuming manner, was a soul of fire — the unbending spirit of the hero, and no less the genius of the bom master of the art of war. When the revolution broke out Ashby got in the saddle, and spent most of his time therein until he fell. It was at this time — on the threshold of the war — that I saw him first. I have described his person — his bearing was full of a charming courtesy. The low, sweet voice made you his friend before you knew it; and so modest and unassuming was his demeanour that a child would instinctively have sought his side and confided in him. The wonder of wonders to me, a few months afterwards, was that this unknown youth, with the sim- ple smile, and the retiring, almost shy demeanour, had become the right hand of Jackson, the terror of the enemy, and had fallen near the bloody ground of Port Republic, mourned by the whole nation of Virginia. Virginia was his first and last love. When he went to Har- per's Ferry in April, 1861, with his brother Richard's cavalry company, some one said : " Well, Ashby, what flag are we going to fight under— the Palmetto, or what ? " Ashby took ofi" his hat, and exhibited a small square of silk upon which was painted the Virginia shield — the Virgin trampling on the tyrant. "That is the flag /intend to fight under," was his reply; and he accorded it his paramount fealty to the last. Soon after this incident active service commenced on the Upper Potomac ; and ASHBY. 73 an event occurred which changed Ashbj's whole character. His brother Eichard, while on a scout near Eomney, with a small detachment, was attacked by a strong party of the enemy, his command dispersed, and as he attempted to leap a " cattle- stop " in the railroad, his horse fell with him. The enemy rushed upon him, struck him cruelly with their sabres, and killed him before he could rise, Ashby came up at the moment, and with eight men charged them, killing many of them with his own hand. But his brother was dead — the man whom he had loved more than his own life ; and thereafter he seemed like another man. Richard Ashby was buried on the banks of the Potomac — his brother nearly fainted at the grave ; then he went back to his work. " Ashby is now a devoted man," said one who knew him ; and his career seemed to justify the words. He took command of his company, was soon promoted to the rank of a field officer, and from that moment he was on the track of the enemy day and night. Did private vengeance actuate the man, once so kind and sweet-tempered? I know not; but something from this time forward seemed to spur him on to unflagging exertion and ceaseless activity. Day and night he was in the saddle. Mounted upon his fleet white horse, he would often ride, in twenty-four hours, along seventy miles of front, inspecting his pickets, instructing his detachments, and watching the enemy's movements at every point. Here to-day, to-morrow he would be seen nearly a hundred miles distant. The lithe figure on the white horse " came and went like a dream," said one who knew him at that time. And when he appeared it was almost always the signal for an attack, a raid, or a " scout," in which blood would flow. In the spring of 1862, when Jackson fell back from Winches- ter, Ashby, then promoted to the rank of Colonel, commanded all his cavalry. He was already famous for his wonderful activity, his heroic courage, and that utter contempt for danger which was born in his blood. On the Potomac, near Shepherds- town, he had ridden to the top of a crest, swept by the hot fire of the enemy's sharpshooters near at hand ; and pacing slowly np and down on his milk-white horse, looked calmly over his 7i WEARING OF THE GRAY. shoulder at his foes, who directed upon him a storm of bullets. He was now to give a proof more striking still of his fearless nerve. Jackson slowly retired from Winchester, the cavalry under Ashby bringing up the rear, with the enemy closely press- ing them. The long column defiled through the town, and Ashby remained the last, sitting his horse in the middle of Lou- doun street as the Federal forces poured in. The solitary horse- man, gazing at them with so much nonchalance, was plainly seen by the Federal officers, and two mounted men were detached to make a circuit by the back streets, and cut off his retreat. Ashby either did not see this manoeuvre, or paid no attention to it. He waited until the Federal column was nearly upon him, and had opened a hot fire — then he turned his horse, waved his hat around his head, and uttering a cheer of defiance, galloped off. All at once, as he galloped down the street, he saw before him the two cavalrymen sent to cut ofi!" and capture him. To a man like Ashby, inwardly chafing at being compelled to retreat, no sight could be more agreeable. Here was an opportunity to vent his spleen ; and charging the two mounted men, he was soon upon them. One fell with a bullet through his breast; and, coming opposite the other, Ashby seized him by the throat, dragged him from his saddle, and putting spur to his horse, bore him off. This scene, which some readers may set down for romance, was witnessed by hundreds both of the Confederate and the Federal army. During Jackson's retreat Ashby remained in command of the rear, fighting at every step with his cavalry and horse artillery, under Captain Chew. It was dangerous to press such a man. His sharp claws drew blood. As the little column retired sul- lenly up the valley, fighting off the heavy columns of General Banks, Ashby was in the saddle day and night, and his guns were never t-ilent. The infantry sank to sleep with that thunder in their ears, and the same sound was their reveille at dawn. Weary at last of a proceeding so unproductive. General Banks ceased the pursuit and fell back to Winchester, when Ashby pursued in his turn, and quickly sent intelligence to Jackson, which brought him back to Kernstown. The battle there fol- ASHBY. 75 lowed, and Ashbj held the turnpike, pressing forward with invincible ardour, flanking the Federal forces, and nearly getting in their rear. When Jackson was forced to retire, he again held the rear; and continued in front of the enemy, eternally skir- mishing with them, until Jackson again advanced to attack General Banks at Strasburg and Winchester. It was on a bright May morning that Ashby, moving in front, struck the Federal column of cavalry in iransita north of Strasburg, and scattered them like a hurricane. Separated from his command, but burst- ing with an ardour which defied control, he charged, by himself, about five hundred Federal horsemen retreating in disorder, snatched a guidon from the hands of its bearer, and firing right and left into the column, summoned the men to surrender. Many did so, and the rest galloped on, followed by Ashby, to Winchester, where he threw the guidon, with a laugh, to a friend, who afterwards had jt hung up in the Library of the Capitol at Eichmond. III. The work of Ashby then began in earnest. The affair with General Banks was only a skirmish — the wars of the giants fol- lowed. Jackson, nearly hemmed in by bitter and determined foes, fell back to escape destruction, and on his track rushed the heavy columns of Shields and Fremont, which, closing in at Strasburg and Front Eoyal, were now hunting down the lion. It was then and there that Ashby won his fame as a cavalry officer, and attached to every foot of ground over which he fought some deathless tradition. The reader must look else- where for a record of those achievements. Space would fail me were I to touch with the pen's point the hundredth part of that splendid career. On every hill, in every valley, at every bridge, Ashby thundered and lightened with liis cavalry and artillery. Bitterest of the bitter was the cavalier in those moments ; a man sworn to hold his ground or die. He played with death, and dared it everywhere. From every hill came the roar of his guns 76 WEARING OF THE GRAY. and the sharp crack of his sharpshooters, but the music, much as he loved it — and he did love it with all his soul — was less sweet to him than the clash of sabres. It was in hand-to-hand fighting that he seemed to take the greatest pleasure. In front of his column, sweeping forward to the charge, Ashby was " happy." Coming to the Shenandoah near Newmarket, he remained behind with a few men to destroy the bridge, and here took place an event which may seem too trifling to be recorded, but which produced a notable effect upon the army. While retreating alone before a squadron of the enemy's cavalry in hot pursuit of him, his celebrated white horse was mortally wounded. Furious at this, Ashby cut the foremost of his assail- ants out of the saddle with his sabre, and safely reached his command ; but the noble charger was staggering under him, and bleeding to death. He dismounted, caressed for an instant, with- out speaking, the proud neck, and then turned away. The his- toric steed was led off to his death, his eyes glaring with rage it seemed at the enemy still; and Ashby returned to his work, hastening to meet the fatal bullet which in turn was to strike him. The death of the white horse who had passed unscathed through so many battles, preceded only by a few days that of his rider,' whom no ball had ever yet touched. It was on the 4th or 5th of June, just before the battle of Cross Keys, that he ambuscaded and captured Sir Percy Wyndham, commander of Fremont's cavalry . advance. Sir Percy had publicly an- nounced his intention to "bag Ashby;" but unwarily advancing upon a small decoy in the road, he found himself suddenly attacked in flank and rear by Ashby in person'; and he and his squadron of sixty or seventy men were taken prisoners. That was the last cavah-y fight in which the great leader took part. His days were numbered — death had marked him. But to the last he was what he had always been, unresting, fiery, ever on the enemy's track ; and he died in harness. It was on the very same evening, I believe, that while commanding the rear-guard of Jackson, he formed the design of flanking and attacking the enemy's infantry, and sent to Jackson for troops. A brave associate. Colonel Bradley Johnson, described him at that mo- ASHBY. 77 ment, when the bolt was about to fall : " He was riding at the head of the column with General Ewell, his black face in a blaze of enthusiasm. Every feature beamed with the joy of the sol- dier. He was gesticulating and pointing out the country and position to General Ewell. I could imagine what he was saying by the motions of his right arm. I pointed him out to my adjutant — 'Look at Ashby ! see how he is enjoying himself! ' " The moment bad come. With the infantrj^, two regiments sent him by Jackson, he made a rapid detour to the right, passed through a field of waving wheat, and approached a belt of woods upon which the golden sunshine of the calm June evening slept in mellow splendour. In the edge of this wood Colonel Kane, of the Pennsylvania "Bucktails," was drawn up, and soon the crash of musketry resounded from the bushes along a fence on the edge of the forest, where the enemy were posted. Ashby rushed to the assault with the fiery enthusiasm of his blood. Advancing at the head of the Fifty-eighth Virginia in front, while Colonel Johnson with the Marylanders attacked the enemy in flank, he had his horse shot under him, but sprang up, waving his sword, and shouting, "Virginians, charge!" These words were his last. From the enemy's line, now within fifty yards, came a storm of bullets ; one pierced his breast, and he fell at the very moment when the Bucktails broke, and were pursued by the victorious Southerners. Amid that triumphant shout the great soul of Ashby passed away. Almost before his men could raise him he was dead. He had fiillen as he wished to fall — leading a charge, in full war harness, fighting to the last. Placed on a horse in front of a cavalryman, his body was borne out of the wood, just as the last rays of sunset tipped with fire the foliage of the trees; and as the form of the dead chieftain was borne along the lines of infantry drawn up in column, exclamations broke forth, and the bosoms of men who had advanced without a tremor into the bloodiest gulfs of battle, were shaken by uncontrollable sobs. The dead man had become their btau-ideal o^ a soldier; his courage, fire, dash, and unshrink- ing nerve had won the hearts of these rough men.; and now when they read upon that pale face the stamp of the hand of 78 WEARING OF THE GRAY. death, a black pall seemed slowly to descend — the light of the June evening was a mockery. That sunset was the glory which fell on the soldier's brow as he passed away. Never did day light to his death a nobler spirit. ly. Mere animal courage is a common trait. It was not the chief glory of this remarkable man that he cared nothing for peril, daring it with an utter recklessness. Many private soldiers of whom the world never heard did as much. The supremely beau- tiful trait of Ashby was his modesty, his truth, his pure and knightly honour. His was a nature full of heroism, chivalry, and simplicity; he was not only a great soldier, but a chevalier, inspired by the ^nsca fides of the past. "I was with him," said a brave associate, " when the first blow was struck for the cause which we both had so much at heart, and was\with him in his last fight, always knowing him to be bej^ond all modern men in chivalry, as he was equal to any one in courage. He combined the virtues of Sir Philip Sidney with the dash of Murat. His fame will live in the valley of Virginia, outside of books, as lonsr as its hills and mountains shall endure." Never was truer comparison than that of Ashby to Murat and Sidney mingled ; but the splendid truth and modesty of the great English chevalier predominated in him. Tlie Virginian had the dash and fire of Murat in the charge, nor did the glit- tering Marshal at the head of the French cuirassiers perform greater deeds of daring. But the pure and spotless soul of Philip Sidney, that "mirror of chivalry," was the true antetype of Ashby's. Faith, honour, truth, modesty, a courtesy which never failed, a loyalty which nothing could affect — these were the great traits which made the young Virginian so beloved and honoured, giving him the noble place he held among the men of his epoch. No man lives who can remember a rude action of his; his spirit seemed to have been moulded to the perfect shape of antique courtesy; and nothing could change the pure gold of his nature. His fault as a soldier was a want of discipline ; ASHBY. 79 and it has been said with truth that he resembled rather the chief huntsman of a hunting party than a general — mingling with his men in bivouac or around the camp fire, on a perfect equality. But what he wanted in discipline and military rigour he supplied by the enthusiasm which he aroused in the troops. They adored him, and rated him before all other leaders. His wish was their guide in all things; and upon the field they looked to him as their war-king. The flash of his sabre as it left the scabbard drove every hand to the hilt; the sight of his milk-white horse in front was their signal for " attention," and the low clear tones of Ashby's order, " Follow me ! " as he moved to the charge, had more effect upon his men than a hun- dred bugles. I pray my Northern reader who does me the honour to peruse this sketch, not to regard these sentences as the mere rhapsody of enthusiasm. They contain the truth of Ash b}'', and those who served with him will testify to the literal accuracy of the sketch. He was one of those men who appear only at long in- tervals — a veritable realization of the " hero " of popular fancy. The old days of knighthood seemed to live again as he moved before the eye ; the pure faith of the earlier years was repro- duced and illustrated in his character and career. The anecdotes which remain of his kindness, his courtesy, and warmth of heart, are trifles to those who knew him, and required no such proofs of his sweetness of temper and character. It is nothing to such that when the Northern ladies about to leave Winches- ter, came and said, "General Ashby, we have nothing contra- band about us — you can search our trunks and our persons ;" he replied, "The gentlemen of Virginia do not search ladies' trunks or their persons, madam." He made that reply because he was Ashby. For this man to have been rude, coarse, domineering, and insulting to unprotected ladies — as more than one Federal general at "Winchester was — that was simply impossible. He might have said, in the words of the old Ulysses, " They live their lives, I mine." Such was the private character, simple, beautiful, and "alto- 80 WEARING OF THE GRAY. getlier lovelj," of this man of fibre so hard and unshrinking ; of dash, nerve, obstinacy, and daring never excelled. Behind that sweet and friendly smile was the stubborn and reckless soul of the born fighter. Under those brown eyes, as mild and gen- tle as a girl's, was a brain of fire — a resolution of invincible strength which dared to combat every adversary, with whatever odds. His intellect, outside of his profession, was rather medi- ocre than otherwise, and he wrote so badly that few of his pro- ductions are worth preserving. But in the field he was a master mind. His eye for position was that of the born soldier ; and he was obliged to depend upon that native faculty, for he had never been to West Point or any other military school. They might have improved him — they could not have made him. God had given him the capacity to fight troops; and if the dic- tum of an humble writer, loving and admiring him alive, and now mourning him, be regarded as unreliable, take the words of Jackson. That cool, taciturn, and unexcitable soldier never gave praise which was undeserved. Jackson knew Ashby as well as one human being ever knew another; and after the fall of the cavalier he wrote of him, "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 sagacit}^ almost intuitive in divining the purposes and move- ments of the enemy." The man who wrote these words — him- self daring, enduring, and heroic — had himself some sagacity in "divining the purposes and movements of the enemy," and could recognise that trait in others. The writer of this page had the honour to know the dead chief of the Valley cavalry — to hear the sweet accents of his friendly voice, and meet the friendly glance of the loyal eyes. It seems to him now, as he remembers Ashby, that the hand he touched was that of a veritable child of chivalry. Kever did taint of arrogance or vanity, of rudeness or discourtesy, touch that pure and beautiful spirit. This man of daring so proverbial, of pow- ers of endurance so incredible, of character so heroic, and of a sagacity so unfailing that it drew forth the praise of Jackson, ASHBY. 81 was as simple as a child, and never seemed to dream that he had accomplished anything to make him famous. But famous he was, and is, and will be for ever. The bitter struggle in which he bore so noble a part has ended ; the great flag under which he fought is furled, and none are now so poor as to do it reve- rence. But in failure, defeat, and ruin, this great name survives ; the cloud is not so black that the pure star of Ashby's fame does not shine out in the darkness. In the memories and hearts of the people of the Valley his glory is as fresh to-day as when he fell, lie rises up in memory, as once before the actual eye — the cavalier on his milk-white steed, leading the wild charge, or slowly pacing up and down defiantly, with proud face turned over the shoulder, amid the bullets. Others may forget him — we of the Valley cannot. For us his noble smile still shines as it shone amid those glorious encounters of the days of Jackson, when from every hill-tbp he hurled defiance upon Banks and Fremont, and in every valley met the heavy columns of the Federal cavalry, sabre to sabre. He is dead, but still lives. That career — brief, fiery, crammed with glorious shocks, with desperate encounters — is a thing of the past, and Ashby has "passed like a dream away." But it is only the bodies of such men that die. All that is noble in them survives. What comes to the mind now when we pronounce the name of Ashby, is that pure devotion to truth and honour which shone in every act of his life ; that kind, good heart of his which made all love him ; that resolution which he early made, to spend the last drop of his blood for the cause in which he fought ; and the daring beyond all words, which drove him on to combat what- ever force was in his front. We are proud — leave us that at least — that this good knight came of the honest old Virginia blood. He tried to do his duty ; and counted toil, and danger, and hunger, and thirst, and exhaustion, as nothing. He died as he had lived, in harness, and fighting to the last. In an un- known skirmish, of which not even the name is preserved, the fatal bullet came ; the wave of death rolled over him, and the august figure disappeared. But that form is not lost in the'' 6 82 WEARING OF THE GRAY. great gulf of forgotten things. Oblivion cannot hide it, nor time dim the splendour of the good knight's shield. The figure of Ashby, on his milk-white steed, his face in "a blaze of en- thusiasm," his drawn sword in his hand- -that figure will truly live in the memory and heart of the Virginian as long as the battlements of the Blue Ridge stand, and the Shenandoah flows. V. BEAUIIEGARD. I. The most uniformly fortunate General of the late war was Beauregard. So marked was this circumstance, and so regularly did victory perch upon his standard, that Daniel, the trenchant and hardy critic of tlie Examiner^ called him Beauregard Felix. Among the Romans that term signified happy, fortunate, favoured of the gods; and what is called "good luck" seemed to follow the Confederate leader to whom it was applied. Often he appeared to be outgeneralled, checkmated, and driven to the "last ditch," but ever some fortunate circumstance intervened to change the whole situation. More than once the fortune of war seemed to go against him, but he always retrieved the day by some surprising movement. In the very beginning of his career, at the first great battle of Manassas, when his left was about to be driven to hopeless rout, his good genius sent thither Evans and Jackson, those stubborn obstacles, and the battle which was nearly lost terminated in a victory. Of this famous soldier I propose to record some traits rather of a personal than a military character. As elsewhere in this series of sketches, the writer's aim will be to draw the outline of the man rather than the official. History will busy itself with that "official" phase; here it is rather the human being, as he lived and moved, and looked when "off duty,'' that I aim to present. The first great dramatic scene of the war, the attack on Sumter, the stubborn and victorious combat of Shiloh, the defence of Charleston against Gilmore, the assault upon Butler 8-4 WEARING OF THE GRAY. near Bermiula Hundred, and the mighty struggles at Petersburg, will not enter into this sketch at all. I beg to conduct the reader back to the summer of the year 1861, and to the plains of Manassas, where I first saw Beauregard. My object is to describe the personal traits and peculiarities of the great Creole as he then appeared to the Virginians, among whom he came for the first time. He superseded Bonham in command of the forces at Manassas about the first of June, 1861, and the South Carolinians said one day, " Old Bory's come ! " Soon the Virginia troops had an opportunity of seeing this " Old Bory," who seemed so popular with the Palmettese. He did not appear with any of the " pride, pomp, an'se to relate took place. Fitz Lee's brigade was ordered to move by way of Verdiersville to Raccoon Ford, and take position on Jackson's right ; and General Stuart hastened forward, attend- ed only by a portion of his staff, toward Yerdiersville, where he expected to be speedily joined by " General Fitz." Stuart reached the little hamlet on the evening, I believe, of the 16th of August, and selecting the small house which I have described for his temporary headquarters, awaited the approach of his column. Half an hour, an hour passed, and nothing was heard of the 206 WEARING OF THE GRAY. expected cavalry. General Stuart's position was by no means a safe one, as the event showed. He was ten miles distant from any succour in case of an attack. The country around Verdiersville was known to be full of prowling detachments of Federal cavalry ; and the daring cavalier, upon whose skill and energy so much depended at that crisis, might be quietly picked up by some scouting party of the enemy, and carried as a rich prize to General Pope. Stuart was, however, well accustomed throughout his adventurous career to take such risks; they even seemed to possess an irresistible charm to him, and he pre- pared to spend the night, if necessary, in this exposed spot. He accordingly tied his horse to the fence, the bridle having been taken from his mouth to allow the animal to feed, spread his gray riding-cape upon the porch of the little house, and prepared to go to sleep. First, however, he called Major Fitz Hugh, of his staff, and sent him back about a mile down the road to look out for General Fitz Lee. The major was to go to the mouth of the Richmond and Antioch Church road, await General Fitz's arrival, and communicate further orders. Having arranged this, Stuart lay down with his staff and they all went to sleep. Let us now accompany Major Fitz Hugh, an old (though still youthful and alert) cavalryman — used to scouting, reconnoi- tring, and dealing generally with Federal cavalry. The major took a courier with him, and riding down the road about a mile in the direction of Chancellorsville, soon reached the mouth of the Antioch Church road — a branch of that most devious, puzzling, bewildering of all highways, the famed " Catharpin road." Major Fitz Hugh found at his stopping-place an old deserted house, and as this house was a very good " picket post " from which to observe the road by which General Fitz Lee must come, the major came to a halt at the old rattle-trap — forlornest of aban- doned wayside inns — and there established his headquarters. An hour, two hours passed — there was no sign of General Fitz ; and the major, who had ridden flir and was weary, tied his hand- some sorrel near, directed the courier to keep a sharp look-out, and, entering the house, lay down on the floor to take a short nap. ONE OF Stuart's escapes. 207 Such resolutions, under such circumstances, generally end in a good night's sleep. About daylight Major Fitz Hugh was awakened by a noise of hoofs on the road without, and, rising, lie went to meet General Fitz Lee. The first circumstance which induced him to change his views of the "situation" was the sight of a swarm of hlue-coated cavalrymen around the house, one of whom had untied and was leading off in triumph his glossy sorrel! A dozen others, who had arrived too late to secure the prize, were uttering imprecations on their luck. A glance took in the whole scene — Major Fitz Hugh found himself surrounded by Federal cavalry, and a party soon burst into the house, and, with pistols at his breast, ordered him to surrender. The major was furious at this coTitretemps^ and glanced around for his weapons. He clutched his pistol and cocked it; but his wrist was immediately seized, and an attempt made to wrench the weapon from his grasp. The major retorted by twisting his hand, and firing one or two barrels, but without result. They then rushed upon him, threw him down ; his arms were wrested from him in a trice, and he was conducted to the commanding officer of the force, at the head of his column without. The officer was a colonel, and asked Major Fitz Hugh a great number of questions. He was evidently lost. The major declined replying to any of them, and now his fears were pain- fully excited for Greneral Stuart. If the column should take the direction of Verdiersville there was every reason to fear that the General would be surprised and captured. Meanwhile Major Fitz Hugh had taken a seat upon a fence, and as the column began to move he was ordered to get up and walk. This he declined doing, and the altercation was still proceeding, when an officer passed and the major complained of having his horse taken from him. "I am accustomed to ride, not to walk," he said ; and thi-s view of the subject seemed to impress the Federal officer, who, either from courtesy or to secure a mounted guide, had his horse brought and returned to him for the nonce. The major mounted' and rode to the front amid " There goes the rebel major!" " Ain't he a fine dressed fellow ? " "Don't he 208 WEARING OP^ THE GRAY. ride proud ? " sounds soothing and pleasant to tlie captured major, who was dressed in a fine new roundabout with full gold braid. But his thoughts suddenly became far from pleasant. The head of the cavalry column had turned toivard Yerdiersville^ only a mile distant, and General Stuart's danger was imminent. The courier had also been captured ; no warning of his peril could be got to the- General; and worse than all, he would doubt- less take the column for that of General Fitz Lee, which was to come by this very road, and thiis be thrown completely off his guard. A more terrible coyUretemps could not have occurred than the Major's capture, and he saw no earthly means of giving the alarm. He was riding beside the colonel commanding, who had sent for him, and was thus forced to witness, without taking part in it, the scene about to be enacted. n. Let us return now to the small party asleep on the porch of the house in Verdiersville. They did not awake until day, when Stuart was aroused by the noise of hoofs upon the road, and concluding that General Fitz Lee had arrived, rose from the floor of the porch, and, without his hat, walked to the little gate. The column was not yet discernible clearly in the gray of morning; but in some manner Stuart's suspicions were excited. To assure himself of the truth, he requested Captain Mosby and Lieutenant Gibson, who were with him, to ride forward and see what command was approaching. The reception which the two envoys met with, speedily de- cided the whole question. They had scarcely approached within pistol-shot of the head of the column, when they were fired upon, and a detachment spurred forward from the cavalry, calling upon them to halt, and firing upon them as they re- treated. They were rapidly pursued, and in a few moments the Federal cavalry had thundered down upon the house, in front of which General Stuar.t was standing. ONE OF STUART S ESCAPES. 209 The General had to act promptly. There was no force within many miles of him; nothing wherewith to make resistance; flight or instant capture were the alternatives, and even flight seemed impossible. The Federal horsemen had rushed at full gallop upon the house ; the horses of the General and staff were unbridled, and the only means of exit from the yard seemed to be the narrow gate in front, scarcely wide enough for a mounted man to pass, and right in face of the enemy. In addition to this, the little party had just been aroused; the General had even left his hat and cape upon the floor of the porch, so com- plete was the feeling of security ; and when Mosby was fired on, he was standing bare-headed at the gate. What followed all took place in an instant. The General and his party leaped on their horses, some of which liad been hastily bridled, and sought for means of escape. One of the staff ofii- cers darted through the narrow gate with his bridle-reins hang- ing down beneath his horse's feet, and disappeared up the road followed by a shower of balls. The rest took the fence. Stuart, bare-headed, and without his cape, which still lay on the porch, threw himself upon his unbridled horse, seized the halter, and digging his spurs into his sides, cleared the palings, and galloped off amid a hot fire. lie went on until he reached a clump of woods near the house, when he stopped to reconnoitre. The enemy did not at once follow, and from his point of obser- vation the General had the mortification of witnessing the cap- ture of his hat and cape. The Federal cavalrymen dashed up to the porch and seized these articles, which they bore off in triumph — raising the brown hat, looped up with a golden star, and decorated with its floating black featlier, upon the points of their sabres, and laughing at the escapade which they had thus occasioned. Major Fitz Hugh, at the head of the main column, and beside the Federal Colonel, witnessed all, and bui-st into laughter and sobs, such wiis his joy at the escape of his General. This at- tracted the attention of the Federal officer, who said : " Major, who was that party i " " That have escaped ? " 14 210 WEARING OF THE GRAY. "Yes." The Major looked again and saw that, on his fleet " Skylark," Stuart was entirely safe by this time, and unable to contain his triumph, exclaimed: " Do you really wish to know who that was. Colonel ? " " I do." "Well, it was General Stuart and his staff! " "General Stuart!" exclaimed the officer; "was that General Stuart?'' " Yes, and he has escaped ! " cried the overjoyed Major. " A squadron there ! " shouted the Colonel in great excite- ment; " pursue that party at once ! Fire on them ! It is Gene- ral Stuart ! " The squadron rushed forward at the word upon the track of the fugitives to secure their splendid prize ; but their advance did not afford the General much uneasiness. Long experience had told him that the Federal cavalry did not like woods, and he knew that they would not venture far for fear of a surprise. This idea was soon shown to be well founded. The Federal squadron made a very hot pursuit of the party until they came to the woods; they then contented themselves with firing and advancing very cautiously. Soon even this ceased, and they rapidly returned to Verdiersville, from which place the whole column hastily departed in the direction of the Eapidan. The Colonel carried off Major Fitz Hugh to serve as a guide, for he had lost his way, and stumbled thus upon Verdiersville. If you wish to laugh, my dear reader, go and see Major Fitz Hugh, and ask him what topographical information he gave the Federal commandant. It very nearly caused the capture of his com- mand ; but he got back safe to Pope's army, and took our friend, the Major, with him. Such was Stuart's narrow escape at Yerdiersville. He suc- ceeded in eluding them, but he lost his riding cape and hat, which the enemy had seized upon, and this rankled in the mind of the Genera], prompting him to take his revenge at the earliest practicable moment. That moment soon came. Just one week afterwards, when ONE OF Stuart's escapes. 211 General Lee had pressed on to the Eappahannock, and General Pope had hastily retired before him, Stuart made an expedition to the enemy's rear, and struck the Orange and Alexandria Eail- road at Catlett's. It was one dark and stormy night that the attack was made — the column plunging forward at full speed, through ditches and ravines, without light enough to see their hands before them; and by a singular chance Stuart came on Pope's headquarters, which was at Catlett's. The Federal commander fled with his staff, and Stuart captured all his official papers containing the fullest information of his strength, position, and designs. Those papers were transmitted to General Lee, and probably deter- mined him to send Jackson to Pope's rear. In addition to the papers Stuart made a capture which was personally soothing to his feelings. In his flight, General Pope left his coat behind ! and when the leader of the Southern cav- alry, so recently despoiled of his cape and hat, left Catlett's, he bore off with him the dress uniform coat of the Federal com- mander, who had prophetically announced to his troops upon taking command, that " disaster and shame lurked in the rear." The account was thus balanced. Catlett's had avenged Ver- diersyille ! And so, my dear reader, you know why I always glance at that little house in the village as I pass. The dilapidated porch is still there, where Stuart slept, and the fence which he leaped still stands, as he pointed it out to me one day, when we rode by, describing with gay laughter his adventure. All these inani- mate objects remain, but the noble figure which is associated with the place will never more be seen in the flesh — the good knight has been unseated by a stronger arm than that of man. He passed unscathed through this and a thousand other perils; but at last came the fatal bullet. At the Yellow Tavern he fell in front of his line, cheering on his men to the last, and on a beautiful slope of Hollywood Cemetery, above the city which he died defending, he " sleeps well." Thus passed away the " flower of cavaliers," the pearl of chi- valry. Hying, he did not leave his peer. IV. A GLIMPSE OF COL. "JEB STUART." This sketch, may it please the reader, will not contain any "historic events." Not a single piece of artillery will roar in it — not a single volley of musketry will sound — no life will be lost from the very beginning to the end of it. It aims only to draw a familiar outline of a famous personage as he worked his work in the early months of the war, and the muse of comedy, not tragedy, will hold the pen. For that brutal thing called war contains much of comedy ; the warp and woof of the fabric is of strangely mingled threads — blood and merriment, tears and laughter follow each other, and are mixed in a manner quite bewildering ! To-day it is the bright side of the tapestry I look at — my aim is to sketch some little triflinr scenes " upon the outpost." To do so, it will be necessary to go back to the early years of the late war, and to its first arena, the country between Ma- nassas and the Potomac. Let us, therefore, leave the present year, 1866, of which many persons are weary, and return to 1861, of which many never grow tired talking — 1S61, with its joy, its laughter, its inexperience, and its confiding simplicity, when everybody thought that the big battle on the shores of Bull's Run had terminated the war at one blow. At that time the present writer was attached to Beauregard's or Johnson's " Army of the Potomac," and had gone with the A GLIMPSE OF COL. " JEB STUAUT." 213 advance force of the army, after Manassas, to the little village of Vienna — General Bonham commanding the detachment of a brigade or so. Here we duly waited for an enemy who did not come ; watched his mysterious balloons hovering above the trees, and regularly "turned out" whenever one picket (graj) fired into another (gray). This was tiresome, and one day in August I mounted my horse and set forward toward Fairfax Court-House, intent on visiting that gay cavalry man. Colonel " Jeb Stuart," who had been put in command of the front toward Annandale. A plea- sant ride through the summer woods brought me to the pictur- esque little village; and at a small mansion about a mile east of the town, I came upon the cavalry headquarters. The last time I had seen the gay young Colonel he was stretched upon his red blanket under a great oak by the road- side, holding audience with a group of country people around him — honest folks who came to ascertain by what unheard-of cruelty they were prevented from passing through his pickets to their homes. The laughing, bantering air of the young com- mandant of the outpost that day had amused me much. I well remembered now his keen eye, and curling moustache, and cav- alry humour — thus it was a good companion whom I was about to visit, not a stiflf and silent personage, weighed down with " official business." Whether this anticipation was realized or not, the reader will discover. The little house in which Colonel Jeb Stuart had taken up his residence, was embowered in foliage. I approached it through a whole squadron of horses, picketed to the boughs ; and in front of the portico a new blood-red battle flag, with its blue St. Andrew's cross and white stars, rippled in the wind. Bugles sounded, spurs clashed, sabres rattled, as couriers or officers, Bcouts or escorts of prisoners came and went ; huge-bearded cavalrymen awaited orders, or the reply to dispatches — and from within came song and laughter from the young commander. Let me sketch "him as he then appeared — the man who was to become so famous as the chief of cavalry of General Lee's army ; who was to inaugurate with the hand of a master, a whole new 214 WEARING OF THE GRAY. system of cavalry tactics — to invent the raid which his oppo- nents were to imitate with such good results — and to fall, after a hundred hot fights in which no bullet ever touched him, near the. scene of his first great "ride" around the army of Mc- Clellan. As he rose to meet me, I took in at a glance every detail of his appearance. His low athletic figure was clad in an old blue undress coat of the United States Army, brown velveteen panta- loons worn white by rubbing against the saddle, high cavalry boots with small brass spurs, a gray waistcoat, and carelessly tied cravat. On the table at his side lay a Zouave cap, covered with a white havelock — an article then very popular — and beside this two huge yellow leathern gauntlets, reaching nearly to the elbow, lay ready for use. Around his waist, Stuart wore a black leather belt, from which depended on the right a holster containing his revolver, and on the left a light, keen sabre, of French pattern, with a basket hilt. The figure thus was that of a man "every inch a soldier," and the fiice was in keeping with the rest. The broad and lofty forehead — one of the finest I have ever seen — was bronzed by sun and wind ; the eyes were clear, piercing, and of an intense and dazzling blue; the nose prominent, with large and mobile nostrils ; and the mouth was completely covered by a heavy brown moustache, which swept down and mingled with a huge beard of the same tint, reaching to his breast. Such was the figure of the young commandant, as he appeared that day, in the midst of the ring of bugles and the clatter of arms, there in the centre of his web upon the out- post. It was the soldier ready for work at any instant ; prepared to mount at the sound of the trumpet, and lead his squadrons in person, like the hardy, gallant man-at-arms he was. After friendly greetings and dinner on the lid of a camp-chest, where that gay and good companion. Captain Tiernan Brien, did the honours, as second in command, Stuart proposed that we should ride into Fairfax Court-House and see a lady prisoner of his there. When this announcement of a " lady prisoner " drew forth some expressions of astonishment, he explained with a laugh that the lady in question had been captured a few A GLIMPSE OF COL. " JEB STUART." 215 days before in saspicious proximity to the Confederate lines, which, she appeared to be reconnoitring ; and that she was a friend of the "other faction" was proved by the circumstance that when captured she was riding a Federal Colonel's horse, with army saddle, holsters, and equipments complete. While on a little reconnoissance, all by herself, in this guise she had fallen into Stuart's net ; had been conducted to his headquarters ; assigned by him to the care of a lady resident at the Court-Housc, until he received orders in relation to her from the army head- quarters — and this lady we were nt)w about to visit. We set out for the village, Stuart riding his favourite "Sky- lark," — that good sorrel which had carried him through all the scouting of tlie Valley, and was captured afterwards near Sharps- burg. This horse was of extraordinary toughness, and I remem- ber one day his master said to me, " Ride as hard as you choose, you can't tire Skylark." On this occasion the good steed was in full feather; and as I am not composing a majestic historic narrative, it will be permitted me to note that his equipments were a plain " McClellan tree," upon which a red blanket was confined by a gaily coloured surcingle: a bridle with single head-stall, light curb-bit, and single rein. Mounted upon his sorrel, Stuart was thoroughly the cavalry-man, and he went on at a rapid gallop, humming a song as he rode. We found the lady-prisoner at a hospitable house of the village, and there was little in her appearance or manner to indicate the "poor captive," nor did she exhibit any "freezing terrour," as the romance writers say, at sight of the young militaire. At that time some amusing opinions of the Southerners were preva- lent at the North. The " rebels " were looked upon pretty much as monsters of a weird and horrible character — a sort of " anthro- pophagi," Cyclops-eyed, and with heads that " did grow beneath their shoulders." Short rations, it was popularly supposed, com- pelled them to devour the bodies of their enemies ; and to fall into their bloody clutch was worse than death. This view of the subject, however, plainly did not possess the captive here. Her fears, if she had ever had any of the terrible gray peopl(^, 216 WEARING OF THE GRAY. were quite dissipated ; and she received us with a nonchalant smile, and great indifference. I shall not give the fair dame's name, nor even venture to describe her person, or conjecture her age — further than to say that her face was handsome and laughing, her age about twenty- five or thirty. The scene which followed was a little comedy, whose gay par- ticulars it is easier to recall than to describe. It was a veritable crossing of swords on the arena of Wit, and I am not sure that the lady did not get the better of it. Her tone of badinage was even more than a match for the gay young officer's — and of badinage he was a master — but he was doubtless restrained on the occasion by that perfect good-breeding and courtesy which uniformly marked his demeanour to the sex, and his fair adversary had him at a disadvantage. She certainly allowed lier wit and humour to flash like a Damascus blade ; and, with a gay laugh, denounced the rebels as perfect wretches for coerc- ing her movements. Why, she would like to know, was she ever arrested ? She had only ridden out on a short pleasure excursion from Alexandria, and now demanded to be permitted to return thither. " Whj^ was she riding a Federal officer's horse ? " Why, simply because he w?is one of her friends. If the Colonel would "please" let her return through his pickets she would not tell anybody anything — upon her word ! "The Colonel" in question was smiling — probably at the idea of allowing anything on two feet to pass "through his pickets " to the enemy. But the impossibility of permitting this was not the burden of his reply. With that odd "laughter of the eye" always visible in him when thoroughly amused, he opposed the lady's return, on the ground that he would miss her society. This he could not think of, and it was not friendly in her to contemplate leaving him for ever so soon after making his acquaintance 1 Then she was losing other pleasant things. There was Eichmond — she would see all the sights of the Con- federate capital ; then an agreeable trip by way of Old Point would restore her to her friends. Reply of the lady extremely vivacious : She did not wish to A GLIMPSE OF COL. " JEB STUART." 217 see the Confederate capital ! — she wished to go back to Alexan- dria! — straight! She was not anxious to get away from him, for he had treated her with the very greatest courtesy, and she should always regard him as her friend. But she wanted to go back to Alexandria, through the pickets — straight ! That the statement of her friendly regard for the young Colo- nel was unaffected, the fair captive afterwards proved. When in due course of time she was sent by orders from army headquar- ters to Kichmond, and thence via Old Point to Washington, she wrote and published an account of her adventures, in which she denounced the Confederate officials everywhere, including those at the centre of Rebeldom, as ruffians, monsters, and tyrants of the deepest dye, but excepted from this sweeping characterization the youthful Colonel of cavalry, who was the author of all her woes. So far from complaining of him, she extolled his kindness, courtesy, and uniform care of her comfort, declaring that he was " the noblest gentleman she had ever known." There was indeed about Colonel Jeb Stuart, as about Major-General Stuart, a smiling air of courtesy and gallantry, which made friends for him among the fair sex, even Mdien they were enemies ; and Bayard himself could not have exhibited toward them more respect and consideration than he did uni- formly. He must have had serious doubts in regard to the errand of his fair prisoner, so near the Confederate lines, but he treated her with the greatest consideration ; and when he left her, the bow he made was as low as to the finest " lady in the land." It is possible that the worthy reader may not find as much entertainment in perusing the foregoing sketch as I do in recall- ing the scene to memory. That faculty of memory is a curious one, and very prone to gather up, like Autolycus, the " uncon- sidered trifles " of life. Every trivial incident of the times I write of comes back now — how Stuart's gay laugh came as he closed the door, and how he caught up a drum which the enemy had left behind them in the yard of the mansion, sprang to the saddle, and set off at a run through the streets of the village, causing the eyes of the inhabitants to open with astonishment at 218 WEARING OF THE GRAY. the spectacle of Colonel Stuart running a race, with a drum be- fore him, singing lustily a camp song as he rode. In a number of octavo volumes the reader will find an account of the great career of Major-Greneral Stuart — this was Colonel Jeb Stuart on the outpost. And now if the worthy reader is in that idle, unexacting mood so dear to chroniclers, I beg he will listen while I speak of another "trifling incident" occurring on the same day, which had a rather amusing result. In return for the introduction accorded me to the captive, I offered to make the young Colonel acquainted with a charming friend of my own, whom I had known before his arrival at the place; and as he acquiesced with ready pleasure, we proceeded to a house in the village, where Colonel Stuart w\as duly presented to Miss . The officer and the young lady very soon thereafter became close friends, for she was passionately Southern — and a few words will present succinctly the result. In the winter of 1862, Colonel Mosby made a raid into Fair- fax, entered the Court-House at night, and captured General Stoughton and his staff — bringing out the prisoners and a num- ber of fine horses safely. This exploit of the partisan greatly enraged the Federal authorities ; and Miss , having been denounced by Union residents as Mosby's "private friend" and pilot on the occasion — which Colonel Mosby assured me was an entire error — she was arrested, her trunks searched, and the prisoner and her papers conveyed to Washington. Here she was examined on the charge of complicity in Mosby's raid ; but nothing appeared against her, and she was in a fair way to be released, when all at once a terrible proof of her guilt was dis- covered. Among the papers taken from the young lady's trunk was found the following document. This was the "damning record " which left no further doubt of her guilt. I print the paper verbatim ei literatim^ suppressing only the full name of the lady : A GLIMPSE OF COL. '' JEB STUART." 219 " To all Whom it May Concern : " Know Ye, That reposing special confidence in the patriot- ism, fidelity, and ability of Antonia J. , I, James E. B. Stuart, by virtue of the power vested in me as Brigadier-General of the Provisional Army of the Confederate States of America, do hereby appoint and commission her my honorary Aide-de- Camp, to rank as such from this date. She will be obeyed, respected, and admired by all true lovers of a noble nature. " Given under my hand and seal at the Headquarters Cavalry Brigade, at Camp Beverly, the 7th October, A. D. 1861, and the first year of our independence. "J. E. B. Stuart. " By the General : "L. Tiernan Brien, A. A. G." Such was the fatal document discovered in Miss 's trunk, the terrible proof of her treason ! The poor girl was committed to the Old Capitol Prison as a secret commissioned emissary of the Confederate States Government, was kept for several months, and when she was released and §ent South to Eich- mond, where I saw her, she was as thin and white as a ghost — the mere shadow of her former self. All that cruelty had resulted from a jest — from the harmless pleasantry of a brave soldier in those bright October days of 18611 V. A DESERTER. I. Of all human faculties, surely the most curious is the memory. Capricious, whimsical, illogical, acting ever in accordance with its own wild will, it loses so many "important events" to retain the veriest trifles in its deathless clutch ! Ask a soldier who has fought all day long in some world-losing battle, what he re- members most vividly, and he will tell you that he has well-nigh forgotten the most desperate charges, but recalls with perfect distinctness the joy he experienced in swallowing a mouthful of water from the canteen on the body of a dead enemy. A trifling incident of the second battle of Manassas remains in my memory more vividly than the hardest fighting of the whole day, and I never recall the incident in question without thinking, too, of De Quincey's singular paper, " A Vision of Sudden Death." The reader is probably familiar with the arti- cle to which I refer — a very curious one, and not the least admi- rable of those strange leaves, full of thought and fancy, which the "Opium Eater" scattered among the readers of the last generation. He was riding on the roof of a stage-coach, when the vehicle commenced the descent of a very steep hill. Soon it began moving with mad velocity, the horses became unma- nageable, and it was obvious that if it came in collision with anything, either it or the object which it struck would be dashed in pieces. All at once, there appeared* in front, on the A DESERTER. 221 narrow road, a light carriage, in which were seated a young man and a girl. Thej either did not realize their danger, or were powerless to avoid it ; and on swept the heavy stage, with its load of passengers, its piled-up baggage, and its maddened horses — rushing straight down on the frail vehicle with which it soon came in collision. It was at the moment when the light little affair was dashed to pieces, the stage rolling with a wild crash over the boy and girl, that De Quincey saw in their awe- struck faces that singular expression which he has described by the phrase, " A Vision of Sudden Death." It requires some courage to intrude upon the literary domain, of that great master, the " Opiunl Eater," and the comparison will prove dangerous ; but a reader here and there may be in- terested in a vision of sudden death which I myself once saw in a human eye. On the occasion in question, a young, weak- minded, and timid person was instantaneously confronted, with- out premonition or suspicion of his danger, with the abrupt prospect of an ignominious death ; and I think the great English writer would have considered my incident more stirring than his own. It was on the morning of August 31, 1862, on the Warrenton road, in a little skirt of pines, near Cub Eun bridge, between Manassas and Centreville. General Pope, who previously had "only seen the backs of his enemies," had been cut to pieces. The battle-ground which had witnessed the defeat of Scott and McDowell on the 21st of July, 1861, had now again been swept by the bloody besom of war ; and the Federal forces were once more in full retreat upon Washington. The infantry of the Southern army were starved, broken down, utterly exhausted, when they went into that battle, but they carried everything before them ; and the enemy had disappeared, thundering with their artillery to cover their retreat. The rest of the work must be done by the cavalry ; and to the work in question the great cavalier Stuart addressed himself with the energy, dash, and vigour of his character. The scene, as we went on, was curious. Pushing across the battle-field — we had slept at "Fairview," the Conrad House on the maps — we saw upon every side the reeking traces 222 WEARING OF THE GRAY. of the bloody conflict ; and as the column went on across Bull Eun, following the enemy on their main line of retreat over the road from Stonebridge to Centreville, the evidences of " demo- ralization" and defeat crowded still more vividly upon the eye. Guns, haversacks, oil-cloths, knapsacks, abandoned cannon and broken-down wagons and ambulances, — all the debris- oi an army, defeated and hastening to find shelter behind its works — attracted the attention now, as in July, 1861, when the first "On to Eichmond" was so unfortunate. Prisoners were picked up on all sides as the cavalry pushed on ; their horses, if they were mounted, were taken possessipn of; their sabres, guns, and pis- tols appropriated with the ease and rapidity of long practice ; and the prisoners were sent in long strings under one or two mounted men, as a guard, to the rear. As we approached Cub Eun bridge, over which the rear-guard of the Federal army had just retired, we found by the roadside a small wooden house used as a temporary hospital. It was full of dead and wounded ; and I remember that the " Hospital stew- ard" who attended the Federal wounded was an imposing per- sonage. Portly, bland, " dignified," elegantly dressed, he was as splendid as a major-general ; nay, far more so than any gray major-general of the present writer's acquaintance. Our tall and finely-clad friend yielded up his surplus ambulances with grace ful ease, asked for further orders ; and when soon his own friends from across Cub Eun began to shell the place, philosophically took his stand behind the frail mansion and "awaited further developments" with the air of a man who was resigned to the fortunes of war. Philosophic steward of the portly person ! if 3^ou see this page it will bring back to you that lively scene when the present writer conversed with you and found you so com- posed and " equal to the occasion," even amid the shell and bullets ! But I am expending too much attention upon my friend the surgeon, who "held the position" there with such philosophic coolness. The cavalry, headed by General Stuart, pushed on, and we were now nearly at Cub Eun bridge. The main body of the enemy had reached Centreville during the preceding A DESERTER. 223 nigLt, and we could see their white tents in the distance; but a strong rear-guard of cavalry and artillery had been left near the bridge, and as we now advanced, mounted skirmishers from the Federal side forded the stream, and very gallantly came to meet us. On our side, sharpshooters were promptly deployed — then came the bang of carbines — then Stuart's Horse Artillery galloped up, under Pelham, and a " rear-guard affair" began. Stuart formed his column for a charge, and had just begun to move, when the Federal skirmishers were seen retiring ; a dense smoke rose from Cub Eun bridge, and suddenly the enemy's artillery on a knoll beyond opened their grim mouths. The first shot they fired was admirable. It fell plump into a squadron of cavalry — between the files as they were ranged side by side in column of twos — and although it burst into a hundred pieces, did not wound man or horse. The Horse Artillery under Pel- ham replied to the fire of the opposing guns ; an animated artil- lery duel commenced, and the ordinary routine began. II. There is a French proverb which declares that although you may know when you set out on a journey, you do not know when you will arrive. Those who journey through the fine land of memory are, of all travellers, the most ignorant upon that score, and are apt to become the most unconscionable vagarists. Memory refuses to recall one scene or incident without recalling also a hundred others which preceded or followed it. " You people," said John Randolph to a gentleman of an extensive clan, with which the eccentric orator was always at war, "you people all take up each other's quarrels. You are worse than a pile of fish-hooks. If I try to grasp one, I raise the whole bunch." To end my preface, and come to my little incident. I was sitting on my horse near General Stuart, who had put in the skirmishers, and was now superintending the fire of his artillery, when a cavalry-man rode up and reported that they had just captured a deserter. 224 WEARING OF THE GRAY. ""Where is he? " was Stuart's brief interrogatory. "Coming yonder, General." " How do you know he is a deserter? " " One of my company knew him when he joined our army." " Where is he from ? " " county." And the man mentioned the name of a county of "Western Virginia. " What is his name ? " "M ." (I suppress the full name. Some mother's or sister's heart might be wounded.) " Bring him up," said Stuart coldly, with a lowering glance from the blue eyes under the brown hat and black feather. As lie spoke, two or three mounted men rode up with the pri- soner. I can see him at this moment with the mind's eye, as I saw him then with the material eye. He was a young man, appa- rently eighteen or nineteen years of age, and wore the blue uni- form, tipped with red, of a private in the United States Artillery. The singular fact was that he appeared completely at his ease. He seemed to be wholly unconscious of the critical position which he occupied ; and as he approached, I observed that he returned the dark glance of Stuart with the air of a man who says, " What do you find in my appearance to make you fix your eyes upon me so intentl}'- ! " In another moment he was in Stuart's presence, and calmly, quietly, without the faintest exhi- bition of embarrassment, or any emotion whatever, waited to be addressed. Stuart's words were curtest of tbe curt. "Is this the man ? " he said. "Yes, General," replied one of the escort. " You say he is a deserter ? " " Yes, sir; I knew him in county, when he joined Cap- tain 's company ; and there is no sort of doubt about it, General, as he acknowledges that he is the same person." "Acknowledges it!" A DESERTER. 225 " Yes, sir ; acknowledges that be is M , from that county ; and that after joining the South he deserted." Stuart flashed a quick glance at the prisoner, and seemed at a loss to understand what fatuity had induced him to testify against himself — thereby sealing his fate. His gaze — clear, fiery, menac- ing — was returned by the youth with apathetic calmness. Xot a muscle of his countenance moved, and I now had an oppor- tunity to look at him more attentively. He was even younger than I at first thought him — indeed, a mere boy. His com- plexion was fair; his hair flaxen and curling; his eyes blue, mild, and as soft in their expression as a girl's. Their expres- sion, as they met the lowering glances of Stuart, was almost confiding. I could not suppress a sigh — so painful was the thought that this youth would probably be lying soon with a bullet through his heart. A kinder-hearted person than General Stuart never lived ; but in all that appertained to his profession and duty as a soldier, he was inexorable. Desertion, in his estimation, was one of the deadliest crimes of which a human being could be guilty ; and his course was plain — his resolution immovable. " What is your name ? " said the General coldly, with a lower- ing brow. " M •, sir," was the response, in a mild and pleasing voice, in which it was impossible to discern the least trace of emotion. " Where are you from ? " " I belonged to the battery that was firing at you, over yon- der, sir." The voice had not changed. A calmer tone I never heard. "Where were you born?" continued Stuart, as coldly as before. " In , Virginia, sir." "Did you belong to the Southern army at any time? " "Yes, sir." The coolness of the speaker was incredible. Stuart could only look at him for a moment in silence, so astonishing was this equanimity at a time when his life and death were in the balance. Not a tone of the voice, a movement of the muscles, 15 226 WEARIN-G OF THE GRAY. or a tremor of the lip indicated consciousness of his danger. The eye never quailed, the colour in his cheek never faded. The prisoner acknowledged that he was a deserter from the Southern army with the simplicity, candour, and calmness of one who saw in that fact nothing extraordinary, or calculated in any manner to affect his destiny unpleasantly. Stuart's eye flashed ; he could not understand such apathy ; but in war there is little time to investigate psychological phenomena. '' So you were in our ranks, and you went over to the ene- my ? " he said with a sort of growl. " Yes, sir," was the calm reply. " You were a private in that battery yonder ? " " Yes, sir." Stuart turned to an officer, and pointing to a tall pine near, said in brief tones : " Hang him on that tree ! " It was then that a change — sudden, awful, horrible — came over the face of the prisoner ; at that moment I read in the dis- tended eyeballs the " vision of sudden death." The youth be- came ghastly pale ; and the eyes, before so vacant and apa- thetic, were all at once injected with blood, and full of piteous fright. I saw in an instant that the boy had not for a single momeiit realized the terrible danger of his position ; and that the words "Hang him on that tree! " had burst upon him with the sudden and appalling force of a thunderbolt. I have seen human countenances express every phase of agony ; seen the writhing of the mortally wounded as their life-blood welled out, and the horror of the death-struggle fixed on the cold upturned faces of the dead ; but never have I witnessed an expression more terrible and agonizing than that which passed over the face of the boy-deserter, as he thus heard his sentence. He had evidently regarded himself as a mere prisoner of war ; and now he was condemned to death 1 He had looked forward, doubt- less, to mere imprisonment at Richmond until regularly ex- changed, when " hang him on that tree ! " burst upon his ears like the voice of some avenging Nemesis. Terrible, piteous, sickening, was the expression of the boy's A DESERTER. 227 face. He seemed to feel already the rope around his neck ; he choked ; when he spoke his voice sounded like the death-rattle. An instant of horror-struck silence ; a gasp or tv;o as if the words were trjang to force their way against some obstacle in his throat ; then the sound came. His tones were not loud, impas- sioned, energetic, not even animated. A sick terror seemed to have frozen him ; when he spoke it was in a sort of moan. " I didn't know," he muttered in low, husky tones. " I never meant — when I went over to Maryland — to fight against the South. They made me ; I had nothing to eat — I told them I was a Southerner — and so help me God I never fired a shot. I was vath the wagons. Oh ! General, spare me ; I never " There the voice died out ; and as pale as a corpse, trembling in every limb — a spectacle of helpless terror which no words can describe, the boy awaited his doom. Stuart had listened in silence, his gaze riveted upon the speaker ; his hand grasping his heavy beard ; motionless amid the shell which were bursting around him. For an instant he seemed to hesitate — life and death were poised in the balances. Then with a cold look at the trembling deserter, he said to the men : " Take him back to General Lee, and report the circum- stances." With these words he turned and galloped off ; the deserter was saved, at least for the moment. I do not know his ultimate fate ; but if he saw General Lee in person, and told his tale, I think he was spared. That great and merciful spirit inflicted the death-penalty only when he could not avoid it. Since that day I have never seen the face of the boy — nor even expect to see it. But I shall never forget that " vision of sudden death" in his distended eyes, as Stuart's cold voice ordered, " Hang him on that tree." VI. A YOUNG YIRGINIAN AND HIS SPURS. I. There is