Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson by his widow, Mary Anna Jackson

Front matter

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Preface

For many years after the death of my husband the sliadow over my Ufe was so deep, and all that concerned him was so sacred, that I could not consent to lift the veil to the public gaze. But time softens, if it does not heal, the bitterest sorrow ; and the pleadings of his only child, after reaching womanhood, finally ])revailed upon me to write out for her and her children my memories of the father she had never known on earth. She was my inspiration, encouraging me, and delighting in every page that was written ; but the work was not more than half completed when God took her to be with him whose memory she cherisiied with a reverence and devotion which became more intense with the development of her own pure and noble character. After her departure, which was truly " sorrow's crown of sorrows^" I had no heart to continue the work ; but, remembering ho\v earnestly she wished me to write it for her and her children, I renewed the effort to finisli it, for the sake of the precious little ones she left. In forcing my mind and pen to do their task, I found some " surcease of sorrow " in carrying out her wishes; and, as I went on, the

VI

PREFACE.

grand lessons of submission and fortitude of mj' husband's life gave me strengtii and courage to pei-sevei'e to the end.

If it be thought that I have been too free in my revelations of what was so purely personal, in that it pertained to his home circle, it must be remembered that this was written expressly for his grandchildren, who in no other way could ever know that tender and exquisite phase of his inner life, which was never revealed to the world.

Mary Anna Jackson.

NOTE.

On pages 56 to 88 there appear frequent and extended extracts from an interesting article by Mrs, M.irgaret J. Preston, entitled " Personal Characteristics of Stonewall Jackson," which was published in the Century Magazine for October, 1886. The appropriate credit for the use of these extracts was inadvertently omitted from the first edition of this work, and the Publishers are glad of the opportunity to make this acknowledgment to the author of the article referred to.

A similar acknowledgment is due to the late Colonel William Allan, of General Jackson's staff, for the use of materials furnished in his admirable " History of the Valley Campaign."

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Old English and Scotch-Irish Stock ... 1

II. " The Boy IS Father OF THE Man " 14

Introduction

XV writer submits in t'onclusion that when an unbiased and intelligent analysis is made of the character of " Stonewall '" Jackson, of his opportunities and resources, and of the results achieved by him, he will undoubtedly be accorded in history a commanding position among the great generals of the world.

The time has come when we can do justice to those who were once in arms against us. Our lieroes, on the one side and on the othei', are nearly all gone to the grave. As they drew near the end, those who had been separated in unnatural strife felt the old love come back again, and yearned for mutual recognition. General Grant, on his death-bed, opened his heart to General Buckner. speaking with the utmost tenderness of the South, which had suffered so much. It was his dying wish that all her wounds might be healed ; and that henceforth the I^orth and the South should stand together, equal partners in one glorious Union. It is only a few months since General Sherman was borne through our streets, and among those who followed at his bier was his great adversary. General Johnston, who. by a singular coincidence, survived him but a few weeks. Thus the warriors who once "to battle rode" at the head of hostile armies, now fall into Une in the great procession to that realm of silence in which all enmities are buried.

In this bearing of our great soldiers towai-ds each

XVlli IXTRODIX'TIOX.

other, they who were " first in war " were also " fii-st in peitce;" and it were well if they should remain "first in the hearts of their countrymen," as the leaders whom we are to follow in the work of reunion. " Why, then, do we recall the memories of a war that is ended, and that had better be forgotten i Let the dead past bury its dead." But out of tiiat deatl past comes the living present. A great war cannot be forgotten. If it were only as a terrific explosion of human passion, a ti'agedy of which all the world are spectators — it would have a terrible fascination. Civil war has a still more tragic interest, as it is a war between brothers, and, though family quarrels are proverbiallj' bitter, yet all the while, deep down in our hearts, there is a lingering tenderness that other times and other scenes may awaken again. To rekindle this feeling, if it be not the design of the present volume, cannot fail to be one result of it. It is a poor reconciliation which is obtained only by agreeing never to speak of the past. It is the very thing of which we should speak, kindly indeed, but without reserve. Men who are honest and brave have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to conceal ; and the better they know each other, the more will thej' be drawn together by the mutual attraction of noble characters. Besides, the four years of our Civil War were in some respects the grandest since the nation was born. Awful, terrible, it is true, but magnificent and sublime. Then for the first time the American people learned what stuff they were made

INTRODUCTION. XIX

of. For the development of character those four years were better than a hundred years of unbroken prosperity. Better than all the summer sunshine on ripening harvests were the thunders and lightnings that woke a nation to life, and gave it the full consciousness of its power. Never did our countrymen rise to such heights of courage and devotion. Never did they perform such deeds, or make such sacrifices. We must be sunk low indeed if we are capable of forgetting the most splendid period of American history.

Nor would we have our annals limited to those who fought on the side that was victorious. A na^ tion's life is counted not by years, but by generations. A generation that was distinguished by its wars is followed by one that is devoted to the arts of peace; and sons may be proud of the deeds of their fathers, and yet not think it a part of loyalty to keep alive their hatreds. Indeed, there comes a lime when the great figures that pass before us on the canvas of history are so blended that we hardly distinguish friends from foes, but recognize them all as actors in a time that is forever past. And so we can read the story of Lee and of Jackson with no wish to depreciate their greatness, but claiming it as belonging to us, since, if they were Southerners, they wei-e also Americans, and their illustrious names are a part of our common inheritance of glory. Therefore it is that we welcome a tale of war which mav be said to be told in the in-

XX INTRODrc'TKiN.

terest of peace, as it describes a career that illustrates some of the noblest qualities of human character. Believing that a generous recognition of what was true and bi-ave on both sides is the surest pletlge of complete reconciliation, I count it a privilege to have a part, however slight, in this tribute to a Christian soldier, who, if he were '"not with us but against us," showed such high qualities, such power of command, such fortitude, and such true moral greatness, as to be worthy of the honor of us all.

Stonewall Jackson was the most picturesque figure in the war. Kot so high in command as General Lee on the one side, or General Grant on the other, neither had a personality so unique. In Jackson there were two men in one : he united qualities that are not only alien to each other, but that seem almost incompatible — military genius of the highest order with a religious fervor tJiat bordered on fanaticism ; a union of the soldier and the saint for which we must go back to tlie time of Cromwell. A thunderbolt in war, he was in society so modest and unassuming as to appear even shy and timid. A character in which such contradictions are combined is one of the most fascinating studies to be found in American history.

One view of this extraordinary man has already been given to the world. In the great operations of war he was a character apart ; a man of mystery ; silent and uncommunicative ; wrapping himself in liis reserve as in a military cloak; asking no advice; forming his own plans, which those nearest to him could

IXTRODUCTION. XXI

not penetrate and hardly dared to conjecture, and which were disclosed even to his military family only when he gave his orders for the march and the battle. Such is Stonewall Jackson as his martial figure passes before us on the canvas of history.

But such is not the figure which it is the purpose of this volume to portray. The author has no thought of adding one more to the histories of the militar}' career of General Jackson. That has been written by his old companions in arms, and by military critics at home and abroad who have made a study of his campaigns, following on the map those rapid marches in which he was not surpassed by Napoleon in his first campaigns in Italy ; and finding in his peculiar strategy enough to give him a place among the great captains of the age.

But with Jackson, as with others who have acted a. great part in public aff'airs, there was another side to the man — an inner life, known but to few, and fully known onlj^ to hei' who was united to him in the closest of all human relations. Of the war itself she has but little to tell us ; for he did not confide his plans even to her. It was not that he distrusted her womanly discretion ; but, in the midst of thousands of watchful eyes, had he disclosed to her the dangers into which he was going, her cheek might have blanched with fear, or a shade of anxiety passed over her countenance that would have set all to wondering what it meant. Only when he signified that she should retire to a place of safet}' had she a forebod-

XXU IXTRODICTION.

ing of what was to come ; though she knew not in what direction he was to move, nor how, nor when, nor where he was to strike. But, with a woman's loyalty to her husband and her faith in God, she was content not to know, and prayed only for the gift of patience as she waited for the event.

But when the battle was over, then the tidings came ! Now we expect to know everything from the chief actor. But again we are disappointed, for in his letters, even when written from a field of battle, there is no attempt to describe it, and hardly an allusion to it, except in a general way, in the expression that often recurs in his letters, that " by the blessing of Almighty God their arms have been crowned with victory."

But this extreme reticence, Avhich at first is a disap- 2)ointment, when looked at a little more closely is a revelation of the man, as it shows the supreme selfcommand, which could turn at once from tlie terrible excitement of war and direct his thoughts into a channel so remote that it carried him quite away in an opposite direction. While the battle raged he sat on his horse unmoved in the very front of danger ; but when the crisis was past, and he could be spared from the field, even though the thunders were still rolling in the distance, he rode back with the tension of his mind relaxed, and entering his tent, *' shut to the door," and calmed his spirit in the presence of God.

Next to the acknowledgment of his Maker was the thought of home, and of the young mother with his child in her arms I The man of war was at the same

INTRODUCTION. XXIU

time the most domestic of men. All his heart was centred in one spot. Many who read these ^Jages Avill be surprised at the revelation of his passionate love of home, to which he was eager to return, though he was never to cross its threshold again. While the world saw only the soldier with a coat of mail over his breast, those who knew him best saw under it a great human heart. Above all, to her who looked up in his face with perfect trust and confidence, that face was open as the day. To her this man of ii'on was the gentlest and tenderest of human beings ; whose first thought was always for her; whose strong arm guarded her from harm ; who would not " that even the winds of summer should visit her too rough!}'."

Such devotion cannot be forgotten even after the lapse of a quarter of a century. Still the yearning heart turns fondly to the past. Still the faithful bosom carries within it a great memory and a great affection. As she looks back through the mist of years, she sees not the military hero, the idol of the army, riding down the line of battle, but the husband of her youth, *till the same. In her quiet hours, as she sits by her desolate fireside, the old days come again, and they are once more in the home that was always made bright by the sunshine of his presence. They sit round the old hearthstone, and kneel together in prayer, and walk to the house of God in company.

Filled with such memories, it is but the impulse of loyalty to the dead that she should wish that others xxiv IXTRODUCTION.

should know him whose name she bears as she knew him ; that the world should appreciate not only the soldier, but the man ; that the}' should know all the gentleness and the tenderness that were in that lion heart. This is revealed nowhere so fully as in his letters to her during the war, which those who have been permitted to see them privately have earnestly requested to have given to the public. If to any they seem too personal, I answer, that they are not to be judged coldly and critically, but with the symj^athetic feeling of those who are themselves capable of such tenderness; and I have met the womanlv shyness and timidity that shrank from this " unveiling," by saying, " Yes, you can leave it all out, and in every case you can replace the word of endearment by a blank ; but every time you do this you leave out a touch of Stonewall Jackson, for this fond devotion, this exquisite tenderness, was a part of the man as truly as his military genius. Sacred, indeed, are these words of the dead, but nothing is too sacretl to be devoted to such a memory." Knowing, as she only can know, all his worth — that he was not only sfl-ong and brave, but tender and true, with a heart as soft as her own, and that the nearer men came to him the more they loved him — she is right to let him speak for himself in these gentle words that ai'e whispei'etl from the dust. And sure we are that those who have read all the great histories of the war will turn with fresh interest to this simple story, written out of a woman's heart.

LIFE AND LETTERS

OF

GENERAL THOMAS J. JACKSON

CHAPTER I. THE OLD ENGLISH AND SCOTCniRISH STOCK

In the year IT-iS a ship sailed from the coast of England, bearing a number of passengers who were seeking new homes in the British colonies of America. In this vessel were a young man and a young woman, both from the city of London, but who were probably unknown to each other when they embarked for the strange land to which they were bound.

The young man, John Jackson, was about twenty-three years of age, and was endowed with many of the qualities which insure success in life — being true and upright, active and energetic, of quiet but determined character ; and he needed only the help of the noble woman whom God gave him as a wife to make his home in the forest a happy and prosperous one. He was small of stature, but of good mind and sound judgment, and left the impress upon his generation of great goodness, industry, and tranquil courage. He was of Scotch -Irish descent, and when, fifty years after he left England, his eldest son, George Jackson, 1 was a member of Congress at the same time that Andrew Jackson was Senator from Tennessee, they found, on comparing notes, that their ancestors came from the same parish near Londonderry.

Elizabeth Cummins, the young woman who was the fellow - passenger of John Jackson, was a handsome blonde, with the stature of a man, six feet in height, and as remarkable for sti'ength of intellect as for beauty and physical vigor. She was well educated, her father having been in sufficiently easy circumstances to own and rent out a public-house in London called " The Bold Dragoon," from which he derived a good income, and he was supposed to own landed estates in Ireland. After his deatii, his widow married her brother-in-law — a marriage which was so repulsive to her daughter that she could not become reconciled to it. Her step-father, who was also her uncle, one day aroused her indignation to such a pitch that with her powerful arm she hurled a silver tankai'd at his head, and then fled from her home. She scarcely missed her aim. it is supposed, for. young as she was — not more than fifteen or sixteen — she was not of a nature to do things by halves. However, the unfortunate man must have recovered from the broken head, or family tradition would have recorded his death. It was the custom at that time for emigrants who had not the means of paying for their passage across the Atlantic to bind themselves for a certain terra of service on reaching the colonies. As the circumstances of Elizabeth's flight made it impossible for her to procure money for her journey, she proved her heroism by adopting tiiis mode of escaping from a life which had become intolerable to her.

THE OLD ENGLISH STOCK. 3

John Jackson was so captivated with this stately Saxon beauty, that he eagerly offered her his heart, his hand, and his purse, but she proudly refused his assistance. During the voyage she formed the friendship of a family bound for Maryland, and accepted their offer of a home and employment, and thus earned the money to pa^' her passage. John Jackson's devotion, however, made an impression upon her heart, and a year or two later they were married in Calvert) County, Maryland, he also having settled in the pos-i sessions of Lord Baltimore upon his arrival in the Kew World. It is natural to suppose that Elizabeth was the magnet that kept him from wandering farther until he succeeded in winning her for his wife. The young couple, in their desire to find new and cheaper lands, moved at once to Western Virginia, and made their first home upon tlie south branch of the Potomac, at the place now known as Moorfields, the county seat of Hardy County. But after a shoit residence in this beautiful valley, the enterprising spirit of the pair led them to seek broader lands, and they crossed the AUegiiany ridge, and settled upon the Buckhannon Eiver, at a place which was long known as Jackson's Fort, but is now the little village of Buckhannon. Here, surrounded by the Indian tribes, who were stiU contending with the whites for the possession of the lands, the settlers were often attacked by these treacherous foes. For their protection the whites were compelled to build stockade forts, to which they fled with their families in times of danger. Tradition has preserved many instances of the intrepid spirit which Elizabeth Jackson displayed on these occasions. She never quailed at the sound of the war-whoop, and her voice was heard, not only in soothing and cheering the women and children, but in inspiring the men to heroic resistance.

When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, John Jackson and his older sons bore their part in it as soldiers, and at its close returned to their homes and devoted themselves to the improvement of their fortunes. The patriarch, John, and his true helpmeet, Elizabeth, by their sagacity and industry acquired the most valuable lands of the country, and were enabled to endow each one of their eight children with a farm. Indeed, it is said that several patents are still in existence, transmitted to Elizabeth Jackson, in her own name — lands which proved valuable property to her descendants. Their eldest son was Colonel George Jackson, who lived at Clarksburg, Harrison County, and who received his title in the Revolutionary war. He represented his State in the General Assembly of Virginia, and also in Congress. After the death of his father he removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life.

The second son was Edward, the grandfather of the suljject of this memoir. He made his home in Lewis Count}', about four miles from the village of Weston, and was a vigorous and energetic man, esteemed and beloved, and for a long time was surveyor of that region of country — a business that was very lucrative in those early .days, and he acquired a lai'ge estate. He first married a Miss Hadden, by whom he had three sons, George. David, and Jonathan, and three daughters, of whom one married a man named White, and the other two married brothers of the name of Brake.

A second marriage added to his family nine more

DEATH OF THE OLD PIONEER, 5

sons and daughters, among whom was Cummins, the kind half-uncle who befriended Thomas J. Jackson in his youth, and the only one, so far as we know, that had much to do with his early life.

In their declining years the old couple, John and Elizabeth Jackson, removed to the town of C'larksburg, to be near their eldest son, (jeorge, and the tleath of the aged sire is thus described by his grandson, John G. Jackson, in a letter to Mrs. President Madison, whose sister he had married in 1801 :

" Death, on the 25th of September, put a period to the existence of my aged grandfather, John Jackf?on, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The long life of this good man was spent in those noble and virtuous pursuits which endear men to tlieir acquaintance, and make their decease sincerely regi'etted by all the g(jod and virtuous. He was a native of England, and migrated hither in the year 17-18. He took an active part in the Revolutionary war in favor of independence, and, upon the establishment of it, returned to his farming, which he laboriously pursued until the marriage of his youngest son, when he was prevailed upon by my father to come and reside near him ; there he lived several years with his wife, enjoying all his mental faculties and great corporeal strength, until a few days before his death. I saw him breathe his last in the arms of my aged grandmother, and can truly add, that to live and die as he did would be the excess of happiness. He left a valuable estate at the entire disposal of the widow, with the concurrence of all the natural heirs, as his liberality had been amply experienced by them all in his lifetime."

The stout-hearted wife of his youth survived him until 1825, living to the extreme age of one hundred amdfive years ! A great-granddaughter describes her at the age of a centur}' as being well preserved and very interesting, and greatly beloved and revered by her long line of descendants.

By her rare physical and intellectual stamina, this remarkal)Ie woman was fitted to be the mother of a strong and noble race ; and those of her descendants who have met with any success in life have shown the same clear intellect, sterling integrity, and force of will. The house of Jackson has much to be thankful for in both of these pioneer progenitors, for John Jackson himself, according to tradition, was the equal of his wife in u])rightness, energy, and courage. General Jackson always had a pride in his ancestry, and wished that the iiigh character of the fathers should be perpetuated in their descendants. Before the war, when one of his relatives was a candidate for some political office, he took the liveliest interest in his election, and wrote several letters in his behalf, one to his cousin. Judge William L. Jackson (at that time Lieutenant- Governor of Virginia), urging his support, and saying: '• I am most anxious to see our family enjoying that high standard and influence which it possessed in days of yore." He always said his Jackson relations were very clannish, and lie himself was warm in his family attachments, taking an intei'est in ever^^ worthy person who had a drop of his blood in his veins.

One of the most distinguished sons of the house was John G. Jackson, of Clarksburg, the eldest son of Colonel George Jackson. He was an eminent lawyer, succeeded his father in Congress, and was appointed

JUDGE JACKSON. 7

the first Federal Judge of the Western District of Virginia. He married Miss Payne, sister of " pretty Dolly Madison," the much-admired wife of President James Madison.* A second wife was the only daughter of Governor Meigs, of Ohio. He died in the prime of life in the same year with his venerable grandmother, 1825, aged forty-eight years.

* The following letter from Mrs. President Madison to Judge Jackson, expressing herself in regard to the illness of her sister (his wife), will be of interest: , " Washington, D. C, January 12th, 1807.

" Oh, my dear brother, your letter has plunged me in the deepest distress ! What can I do for that beloved sister whose image and whose sufferings, I can say with truth, have never for an hour been absent from my mind ? Week after week have I looked and prepared to receive and to nurse my dear Polly, and now, alas ! she is too ill [for me] to expect at all. I have consulted everybody, my dear Jackson, whose judgment I could trust, and have been flattered with the hope, from them and my own opinion, that she would get well. Oh that Heaven may spare her to you and to us, my brother !

" I send you Doctor Jones's letter, whom I have seen and conversed with a great deal. — You cannot doubt your sister's love for you, and her soul-felt sympathy.

"Hasten to tell me your hopes are revived, and that I may yet see you leading to us my precious sister and your children. How dreary, how forlorn, does this world appear without you all ! I cannot express to you the desolation that seems to surround me since I received yours of the 7th.

"All here is bustle and confusion, on account of Rose's arrival, the quarrels in Congress, and the multitude of strangers ; but it falls upon my senses like the gloom of death !

"I hope Mr. Madison will get time to write to you. I feel scarcely able to hold my pen. Prepare for the next post, and tell me of your sweet little Mary also.

" Ever your affectionate sister, Dolly P. Madison.

"Anna is well, and feels for you as she ought. Adieu."

S LIFE OF GENERAL THOMAS J. JACKSON.

The other sons of Colonel George were Edward, a physician ; William L., a lawyer, and father of the judge of the same name (now living in Louisville, Ky.) ; and George Washington, the father of Colonel Alfred H. Jackson, who was a staff -officer of General Jackson, was mortally wounded at the battle of Cedar Run, and lies buried near his beloved commander in the cemetery at Lexington, Virginia.

Jonathan Jackson, son of Edward, and the father of Thomas Jonathan, like his grandfather, John, was a man of sliort stature. There is a beautiful miniature ■of him, representing an open, pleasing face, blue eyes, and handsome mouth. He was a lawyer, having studied his pi'ofession with his distinguished cousin, Judge John G. Jackson, whose patronage induced him to settle at Clarksburg, and soon afterwards he married Julia Beckwith Neale, the daughter of a merchant of Parkersburg.

The following facts relative to the Neale family and also to Jonathan Jackson ^vere furnished by Dr. David Creel, a connection of the Neales ; and as they were written in his nineUj-fird. year, this, together with his quaint style, will add to their interest. He died at Chillicothe, Ohio, only a few years ago. It appears that General Eobert E. Lee had had some correspondence with him about the history of Gene»'al Jackson. He wrote :