Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 25.djvu/313

 Incidents <>/ General '/'. ./. Jackson. .;<>'.'

[From the Richmond, Va., Times, January 23, 1898.]

GENERAL T. J. ( STONEWALL"; JACKSON.

Incidents in the Remarkable Career of the Great Soldier.

BY GENERAL DABNEY H. MAURY.

He Made a Poor Impression When he First Arrived at West Point A Second in a Duel He Obeyed Orders at Great Cost.

Men will never cease to wonder at the character and history of General Thomas Jonathan Jackson. No other man in history can be likened to him. He has oftener been compared with Oliver Crom- well than with any other great soldier. But Cromwell was a great statesman, who ruled his people with far-reaching wisdom. We have no evidence that Jackson can be likened to Cromwell in this, but would be inclined to pronounce Jackson a warrior, pure and simple, devoid of any great strategic capacity, as he seemed to be of good fellowship, humorous inclinations or any degree of tenderness.

Four years of incarceration together at West Point and subsequent service together in the armies of the United States and Confederate States gave me as good opportunities of estimating the mind and the nature of Stonewall Jackson as any man has ever enjoyed. I believe Jackson was as fond of me as he ever was of any man of our times. It was for his wife to waken and nurture, and since his death to disclose to the world the deep tenderness of that wonderful char- acter, a tenderness never before suspected by any human being to exist.

In the life and letters of Stonewall Jackson, published by her, are revelations of affectionate gentleness" unknown to any but to her. The world owes her untold gratitude for this work, so beautifully accomplished that it will be a classic as long as the English language shall be known.

JACKSON AT WEST POINT.

I entered the Military Academy at West Point in June, 1842. A week afterwards a cadet sergeant passed, escorting a newly-arrived cadet to his quarters. The personal appearance of the stranger was so remarkable as to attract the attention of several of us, who were