Personal recollections of Stonewall Jackson, also sketches and stories

PART II. Sketches of Travel and Biography - - 69

Switzerland _ _ . _ . i(X)

Pompeii ------ ng

The Twenty-second Day of February - - 135

Part III. Personal Recollections

OF

"STONEWALL JACKSON."

Part I. 1^

M

STONEWALL JACKSON.

PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF "STONEWALL" JACKSON.

BY JOHN G. GITTINGS.

(Late Adjutant 31st. Virginia Infantry and Major (Confederate Cavalry).

PART I.

Major Thomas Jonathan Jackson was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, Virginia, when the writer, a cadet, first met him in the year 1852.

A relative of Jackson and coming from his native town, he bore a letter of introdution to him, which letter, however, was not presented; for this young recruit had met with such a warm reception from the older cadets on his arrival, and was withal, so depressed by the rigid discipline of the school, that he feared to face this professor, whom he looked upon even then as a hero, one who had received the "baptism of fire" in Mexico, and was "the only officer promoted twice in one day" — as he had been informed by the village chronicler, who thus dilated on the 1 achievements of- Jackson in the war against the Mexicans. - '

I found on my arrival at the school that Jackson was then absent and would not return for some weeks; in fact, I had been a cadet for a month before I finally met him.

One evening shortly after his return, he sent the sergeant of the guard with the order that I should report at his quarters without delay. On receiving this order my first thought was that I had violated some one of the innumerable military rules and was about to be called to an account therefor ; so it was with some trepidation that I went to the Major's quarters.

However, he met me at the door of his room with a pleasant smile ; he took my cap and placed it carefully on the table, gave me the best chair, then seating himself, began to look on me critically, as if taking an inventory of my person. He spoke kindly of our mutual friends, in quick, sharp and rather inarticulate tones, and appeared to be making an effort at politeness; but boy as I was, I thought his manner strained and awkward, yet I regarded him with deference, and perhaps awe.

This was my first meeting with "Stonewall" Jackson. He v/as then about twenty-eight years of age, six feet tall, with gray-blue eyes, a well chiseled aquiline nose, and a very fair and ruddy countenance. He wore side whiskers, and one noting his complexion, ruddy countenance, and reserved manner, might have mistaken him for an Englishman ; but here the resemblance ceased, for in thought and expression, this quiet, unaffected man was all American.

As I sat in his presence that day, and observed his diffidence, this thought passed through my mind : Can this modest man be the one who fought so bravely in Mexico; and who stood by his cannon after all his men had been

killed or driven away?

*****

Thomas Jonathan Jackson, the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Clarksburg, now West Virginia, on the 21st of January, 1824. His birthplace was i little story-and-a-half brick house which stood on Main Street nearly opposite the court house. This building was torn down only a few years since. His father, who was a lawyer of good ability, died when "Tom" was only three years old, leaving his widowed mother with his sister Julia, an infant in arms, together with his brother, Warren, perhaps two years older than himself. The father's grave is still to be seen, marked by a simple head- stone, in the old "Jackson graveyard" at the eastern end of town. The young widow and her children were left almost destitute, but they had a large family connection of Jacksons in this vicinity, and among them the children and their mother lived for several years, until the time when the mother remarried and the elder brother, Warren, had died. "Tom" was then left to the care of his uncle, Cummins Jackson, and grew up at "Jackson's mills," sixteen miles south of Clarksburg. Here he received the little schooling the country could aiford, and, at least could read and write. He did chores about the mill and also acted as a deputy sheriff of Lewis County, until about the age of eighteen, when he learned of the vacancy at West Point, from this congressional district.

Cummins Jackson, a rugged, stern man, was very kind to his young relative, and let him have his own way pretty much. He was a man of ample means, and lived with a free hand; he kept race horses, and was fond of sport generally. Little Tom w^as noted as being almost a sure winner whenever he rode his uncle's racers, which he did on important occasions.

The writer has been told by men who knew him that Cummins Jackson was a fine speciman of physical manhood. They said he was a giant in stature and built in proportion.

The fact is that "Stonewall" Jackson was descended from a long line of distinguished ancestry, men prominent in the affairs of this section, both in state and nation, from before the Revolution down to the present day.

The family had its rise from the union of

John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummins, emigrants from England, who came over in the same ship in the year 1748. Soon after their arrival in this country they were married in Maryland. They then removed to the vicinity of Moorfield, Hardy County. In the year 1765 they crossed the Alleghany mountains and settled in the wilderness on the Buckhannon River, near a place afterwards known as .Jackson's Fort, but which is now the town of Buckhannon.

John Jackson was of Scotch Irish descent; he was about twenty- three years of age when he crossed the ocean to make his home in the western wilderness. He has been described as "a man of medium stature, of great goodness, industry, and tranquil courage."

Elizabeth Cummins, the young English girl who united her fortune with his, and from whom the Jacksons are said to have derived their vigor of body and intellect, had a romantic history. She was the daughter of a landlord in London ; her father was the proprietor of a public house called "The Bold Dragoon." As the name would indicate, the place was the resort of the military officers of the garrisons near by. Elizabeth is described to have been a stately blonde, nearly six feet in stature, and almost perfect in form and feature. She was well educated and possessed a resolute, active mind. It happened on a day when she

6 STONEWALL JACKSOX.

was about sixteen years of age, that a soldier, presumably an officer, offered her some impertinence, or what she considered as such, and which excited the ire of the stately beauty, till in her anger she hurled a heavy tankard at his head with such force that it laid him bleeding and senseless on the floor.

In her fright at what she had done, she hastily left the house and repaired to the docks, w^here she took refuge on a vessel that was just weighing anchor, bound for America. She was acquainted with the captain of the ship, and also made friends with a family who was glad to have her accompany them to the colony of Lord Baltimore in Maryland. Thus she met her future husband, and left England never to return.

They lived in the western wilderness, in the turmoil of the Indian warfare, until the breaking out of the Revolutionary struggle. Meanwhile, they had acquired some of the most valuable real estate in this section of the country, and had each of them played their part in the hand to hand conflicts with the savages.

It is the tradition, that on an occasion when an Indian had killed a white man near the'[settlement, while the rest of the men were at work at a distance, Elizabeth Jackson took down her husband's rifle, and calling the dogs, chased^the savage out of the neighborhood before the men could be collected.

On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war John Jackson and his elder sons, George and Edward, the latter the grandfather of "Stonewall," bore their part as soldiers, staunch and true, and at the close returned to their homes in the wilds of Virginia.

Col. George Jackson, who lived at Clarksburg, became a member of the First Congress under the Constitution, and Edward Jackson also became a member of a later Congress.

One of the most distinguished members of the family w^as John G. Jackson of Clarksburg, where many of his descendents still reside. He was the eldest son of George Jackson, and served in Congress for about twenty years, and finally became the Federal Judge of the Western District of Virginia, which office he held until his death in 1825. It was in this year that the mother of the family, Elizabeth Cummins Jackson, died, at the great age of one hundred and five years ! Her husband had died twenty-four years before, at the age of eighty-six.

Judge John G. Jackson, before there was any outlet from this region save by pack-horses over the mountains, built iron forges and furnaces, woollen-mills, foundries, and salt-wells ; he proposed to make the West Fork river navigable for steam-boats, by building slack water dams; and also, by a short tunnel, he would turn the head waters of the Buckhannon river into the

West Fork and thus increase its volume of water. And as before the clearing of the forest along the head streams, the volume of water was much more constant than at present, and with the supply, by tunnel, from the Buckhannon river, men now say his plan was feasible, and all this he would probably have accomplished seventy years ago, had not death stricken him down, at the early age of forty-seven years!

Lately, surveys of the West Fork of the Monongahela river have been ordered by the National Congress, and a liberal appropriation for that purpose has been made, in order to make this river navigable, and to carry out the designs that Judge Jackson had put in active operation nearly three quarters of a century ago. But now that the river banks have been denuded, to a great extent, of their forests ; and that the hydrographic conditions have entirely changed, it is believed that it is now impracticable to make this channel navigable for any except small boats.

In coiinection with this family history, it may be stated that the first wife of Judge John G. Jackson was a sister of Dolly Madison, the wife of the President. They were married in the White House during its occupancy by President Madison, and it is said that this was the first marriage that was ever celebrated in that historic building. Judge Jackson's second wife was Mary Meigs the daughter of Return Jonathan Meigs, Governor of Ohio. Governor Meigs was a son of that Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs of the Revolutionary army, who marched through the wilderness of Maine, as a colonel of Connecticut militia, with Benedict Arnold to the siege of Quebec. He was by the side of Montgomery, when that gallant officer fell in the assault on the Citadel. Meigs served with great distinction, to the close of the eight years' struggle for liberty. He received a vote from the Continental Congress thanking him for having captured a British fleet at Sackett's Harbor; that body also presented him with a handsome sword in acknowledgment of his services to his country.

"Stonewall" Jackson always took a lively interest in his family history; and from Mrs. Jackson's Memoirs of her husband, and to which work we are indebted, we learn that prior to the war he wrote to his cousin William L. Jackson, then Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, in behalf of some relative w^ho was running for a political office. W. L. Jackson afterwards served on the staff of "Stonewall" in the war; he subsequently became a general, in command of a cavalry brigade ; he survived the war, and after serving as a judge for many years, in Kentucky, lately died at Louisville.

In the letter above alluded to, "Stonewall" wrote to his cousin : "I am most anxious to see our family enjoying that high standard and influence which it possessed in days of yore."

He said his Jackson relations were -'very clannish" and he was warm in his family attachments, himself. But he would give none of them military office, unless they first proved themselves worthy of it, by actual service on the battle-field. From this section, he appointed his relative Col. Alfred H. Jackson on his staff. This gallant officer fell on the battle-field of Cedar Mountain and died soon thereafter. He was buried in the cemetery at Lexington near "Stone-wall's" grave.

"Stonewall's" mother was Julia Neale, the daughter of Thomas Neale, of Parkersburg ; her father was descended on the maternal side from the Lewises, a distinguished family, the relatives of Washington, and prominent in the Indian wars and Revolutionary history.

"Stonewall" Jackson felt all the pride of descent from a long line of worthy ancestors; he also felt his lack of education and how much it would cripple him in his efforts to rise from the humble position in which he had been cast by cruel fate.

Hence, while he was riding over the hills of Lewis County, in the performance of his duties as deputy sheriff, when the news was brought to him that there was a vacancy at West Point from his congressional district, he immediately set about to obtain the appointment. His friends, knowing his manly, brave spirit, and knowing also, that it was of such metal that soldiers were made, were especially anxious that he should obtain the appointment.

Tom now began to study his books at night, after his hard labor of the day. He was doubtful about his ability to enter West Point, but was determined that he would fail through no lack of effort on his part, either to obtain the appointment, or to sustain himself after he had done so. But his impetuous temper could not brook delay; so it came about that he started alone, and with poor outfit, on the long journey to Washington City before he had received any notice that he could get the appointment! *****

The writer lives in the town where Jackson was born, and has often conversed with old citizens who were men grown at that time ; they have told him that Jackson made the journey on foot to Washington, a distance of nearly three hundred miles — carrying his clothing in his saddle-bags — in order to solicit the appointment to West Point from Mr. Hays, the representative from this district.

It is said Mr. Hays was much startled at the apparition of a country boy,dressed in homespun and all travel stained, marching into his presence, with saddle-pockets on his shoulder and abruptly demanding the appointment as a cadet to West Point !

The congressman thought that, considering his limited opportunities, surely Jackson was not qualified to pass the examination which was required to enter that institution. But when he had learned that he had made the long journey on foot, over two mountain ranges and through the forest, for three hundred miles, merely to ask for the appointment, and that "he must have it," then he replied: "You shall have it!"

It is related that after Mr. Hays had consented to give him the appointment, he asked Jackson if he w^ould not like to w^alk over the city and see the sights, but he declined, saying, "he would like to climb up in the dome of the Capitol and take a view from there, and then he would be ready to go on to West Point and begin his work, and he w^as anxious to do so as soon as possible."

His life at West Point was a long struggle ;he w^as barely able to sustain himself in his class for a year or two, but he gradually forged ahead, and it was thought that if the course of study had been several years longer, he would have climbed to the top. The cadets, at first, were disposed to treat him with especial rigor, as he appeared unsophistocated, but in time they came to respect him and to believe that wdth his sincerity of purpose, and unwearied application, he would be able to acquit himself with credit, which he did.

Let us return now, to the scenes at the Virginia Military Institute, and to my intercourse with Jackson as a professor before I knew him in the sterner duties of war.

It was not until my second year at the Military Academy that I came to recite in the classes taught by Major Jackson, but in the meanwhile I was under his instruction at artillery practice, which consisted principally, as far as the "plebes" were concerned, in drawing the pieces and caissons.

Jackson always wore his uniform and his military cap, the visor of which almost touched his nose ; he was lank and long-limbed and walked with a long, measured stride, swaying his arms leisurely, while his gray-blue eyes seemed to search the ground in front. His brow w^as expressive and bore, without doubt, the impress of genius. "Calm dignity; unalfected modesty; sincerity; and the intense honesty of his nature were imprinted on his countenance," and shown forth in every trait of his manners.

I will admit that the cadets generally, did not regard him in this light, but differently ; yet such was my opinion at the time, and in looking back through the vista of years, I believe it to be a correct one.

14 STONEWALL JACXSON.

At the artillery practice we soon learned that Major Jackson was a very strict and exacting officer. He expected every cannoneer to do his duty, and every "plebe", who served in place of a horse, too!

One day on the parade ground afeIlow"plebe" managed, in some way, to draw out a linchpin from the wheel of a "limber" at which I was pulling, and as a consequence, in trotting down hill at a fast pace, the wheel flew off with considerable force. As the fates would have it, it rolled directly towards "Old Jack," who was looking in an opposite direction. He turned his head in time to see its approach, and although it passed within a few inches of his person, he did not budge from his tracks.

A cadet remarked : '"He would not have moved if it had been a cannon ball going right through him !" But we soon observed that his gaze was fixed intently on our battery in a way that made us feel very uncomfortable, and in a brief space we were placed under arrest-officers, cannoneers, horses, all; and as a result this breach of discipline was settled in a way that did not invite any repetition of the offense.

Professor Jackson was an able instructor at artillery tactics, but in the regular collegiate course he did not appear to have any special genius for teaching; yet he was always a conscientious, laborious instructor. He was said to be dyspeptic, and perhaps was something of a hypochondriac, as his health had been very much impaired by his service in Mexico; he had been at a water-cure establishment in the north, and the prescription had been given him to live on stale bread and buttermilk. He followed this prescription for some time while boarding in the hotel in Lexington, and these peculiarities attracted the attention of the public and he was much laughed at by the rude and coarse. He bore all their jests with patience. In a like manner he carried out another order from the water-cure — to go to bed at nine o'clock. If that hour found him at a party, a lecture, or a religious exercise, he would invariably take his leave. His dyspepsia caused drowsiness and he often went to sleep while sitting in his chair; he was a devout member of the Presbyterian church, over which the Rev. Dr. AYhite presided, but he would sleep during the service. And it is stated that Jackson was thrown into confusion, on a public occasion, when a mesmerist failed to put him to sleep — some one in the audience called out — "No one can put Major Jackson to sleep but Rev. Dr. White!"

It was the custom at the Military School to fire salutes of artillery on the Fourth of July and Washington's birthday. In honor of such occasions Major Jackson would always don his best uniform and wear his finest sword, a very handsome one, which the cadets said had been presented to him by the ladies of New Orleans at the close of the Mexican War.

In the gray dawn of the morning he would come marching on the parade ground, with his fine sabre tucked well up under his left arm. He had the long stride, as has been noticed, like that of a dismounted cavalryman, and on such occasions his manners would be brisk, if not cheery, for he took special pride in these celebrations and was very punctilious in all their observances.

Major Jackson married a daughter of Doctor Junkin, president of Washington College, in the second year of my stay at Lexington. He then took up his residence in the town. Before his removal from the barracks, however, an incident occurred which will go to show the estimate in which he was held, even by the most intractable characters. A number of cadets who were about to be dismissed through incompetency in their studies or for excess of demerit marks, while on a Christmas frolic made a raid on the professors* rooms in the barracks, and despoiled them. Major Jackson's room alone was left intact. It is difficult to determine why these young vandals should have respected his quarters when they seemed to respect nothing else. Some suggested that as cadets, they respected his military fame won in Mexico. It is a notable fact that even at that time the cadets had an abiding faith in Jackson as a military man, and perhaps very few of them were ever afterwards much surprised at his great achievements in war.

But I have learned that after my time at the institute, Jackson became unpopular as a professor through his rigid notions of discipline, and his uncompromising enforcement of the rules. He was intolerant of neglect of duty, inattention to studies, and carelessness at drill and thereby became uncongenial, and through his eccentricities became an object of the tricks and witticisms of idle cadets.

He was one of the most scrupulously truthful men that ever lived, and even carried his exactitude of expression and performance to extremes in small matters.

On one occasion he borrowed the key of the library of one of the literary societies, and promised the secretary to return it within an hour. However, becoming absorbed in his book, he put the key in his pocket and did not think of it again until he had reached his boarding place, in the town, nearly a mile away. Then, although a hard storm had sprung up in the meantime, he turned about and marched all the way back through the rain to deliver the key as he had promised, though he knew the library would not be used and the key would not be needed on that day.

In conversation if he ever happened to make an ironical remark, even if it were so plainly ironical that none could misapprehend it, yet would he invariably qualify his expression by saying: "Not meaning exactly what I say." This peculiarity of speech became almost a byword with the cadets and subjected him to much embarrassment, but such was his regard for truth that he would not depart from it, even in e st, without immediately correcting his statement.

He belonged to a literajy society in Lexington which embraced in its membership men of learning and ability. It was a custom of the society to hold a series of public lectures during the winter season. This was one of the few entertainments the cad&ts were permitted to attend, and when Major Jackson's turn came to lecture there was considerable interest evinced by them, in anticipating the subject of his lecture, and the manner in which he would acquit himself.

When he appeared on the lecture platform, he was embarrassed, it is true, and his lecture lacked in oratorical effect; yet it was said at the time to have been one of the best of the whole course, and was very entertaining. The subject of his discourse was "Acoustics," and he discussed very effectively all that was then known about the properties of sound. He said that it was "an undeveloped science," and that no doubt in the near future progress would be made in it, and discoveries, especially in the "transmission of sound." This prediction has since been verified in the perfecting of the telephone. * * * It must be admitted that Major Jackson was regarded by the cadets and others as an eccentric man ; either from his impaired health by his service in Mexico, or from some other cause, it remains a fact, that he always seemed to be more or less sensitive and ill at ease in his intercourse with strangers.

Speaking from a social standpoint, no man ever had a more delicate regard for the feelings of others than he, and nothing would embarrass him more than any contretemps that might occur in his presence, to cause pain or distress of mind to others. Hence he was truly a polite man, and while his manner was often constrained and even awkward, yet he would usually make a favorable impression through his evident desire to please. However, before he became famous in war, he was generally underrated by his casual acquaintances, for in such society he was a taciturn man, and would listen in silence, while others discoursed at length upon subjects in which he was himself well versed. He would thus create a false impression of his own acquirements, which were very consider ible outside of collegiate learning, and embraced a wide knowledge of men and things.

About the second year of my stay at the Virginia Military Institute, Major Jackson was suffering from weak eyes and he would not read by artificial light. So, when near one of the examinations our class had prevailed on him to give us a review of a difficult study, he was compelled to hear us after dark, the only time he had to spare for the purpose. We used to meet in the "section room" in the dark. Professor Jackson sat in front of us on his platform, and with closed eyes questioned us over many pages of a complicated study. This work required a strong effort of memory and concentration of thought, and no doubt it was just such exercise that fitted him for his duties in the field — in holding in his mental grasp the countless details that perplex the mind of a commander of armies. ^ ^ ^ % ^

It was one of the marked characteristics of Major Jackson that he always inspired confidence in those who knew him intimately. The cadets believed in him as a religious man, although, as has been stated, he would sit placidly and sleep through a greater part of the long, tedious sermons of the Presbyterian divine in whose church he was an elder. They knew that he slept because of physical weakness, and that insincerity was not a part of his nature.

Governor Letcher, of Virginia, who had been familiar with him for a number of years, appointed him to a colonelcy at the beginning of the war, and he never had a doubt of Jackson's capacity to fill any rank in the army, however great.

Major Jackson was married twice; he lost his first wife while the writer was still at the Military Institute. The Rev. Dr. White, the aged minister of the Presbyterian Church, oflaciated at the funeral, to which the cadets marched as a guard of honor. After the services were over at the grave and the attendants had all left the ground except the cadets who were forming their ranks at a distance, it was noticed that Jackson was standing alone with uncovered head by the open grave, as one distraught. The venerable clergyman, who was a lame man, was compelled to hobble all the way back from the gate and lead him away, as he would heed none other.

In the year 1857, after having returned from a tour of Europe, Major Jackson was united in marriage to Miss Anna Morrison, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister of Lincoln County, North Carolina. His widow still survives him; by this marriage there was one child, a daughter, Julia, who lived to womanhood and married a Mr. Christian. This daughter died, leaving two children, a son and daughter, as the only lineal descendants of "Stonewall" Jackson.

Mrs. Jackson, the widow of the General, has written an interesting life of her husband,which dwells especially upon his charming home life and religious character.

* * * *

Soon after the outbreak of war, the writer was ordered to Harper's Ferry to see General Jackson on military business, and arrived at his office about daybreak, on a morning in May. This was his regular office hour when he received the reports of his subordinate officers ; and after hearing the reports of the officer of the day, the officer of the guard, scouts, and others, hew^ould dispatch business in a very prompt and energetic way. He knew exactly what ought to be done and how it should be done. There was no wavering in opinion, no doubts and misgivings; his orders w^ere clear and decisive. It occurred to us at the time that Jackson was much more in his element here, as an army officer, than when in the professor's chair at Lexington. It seemed that the sights and sounds of war had aroused his energies ; his manner had become brusque and imperative ; his face was bronzed from exposure, his beard was now of no formal style, but was worn unshorn.