Upon the Roll of Fame.
Upon hearing the news of Jackson’s death, the grief of the South was
equalled only by the wish to do him honor.
President Davis sent a special train to bear his remains to Richmond. He
also sent, as the gift of the country, the beautiful new flag of the
Confederate Congress to be his winding sheet.
[Illustration: Jefferson Davis]
When the train reached Richmond, it was met by a vast concourse of
weeping people. On Wednesday, the coffin, preceded by military, was
borne from the Governor’s Mansion to the Capitol through the main
streets of the city. The hearse was drawn by four white horses and
followed by eight generals as pallbearers. Then came his horse,
caparisoned for battle, and led by his body-servant; then followed his
staff, the President, the Governor of Virginia, the city authorities,
and a vast number of sorrowing people.
[Illustration: _“Fancy,” or “Little Sorrel.” General T. J. Jackson’s
War-Horse, 30 Years Old._]
As the procession moved along, cannon were fired and bells tolled. At
last the Capitol was reached and the body was borne, amid the tears of
the multitude, into the building where it lay in state all day. Twenty
thousand persons are said to have passed in front of the body to gaze
for the last time upon their mighty chief.
It is said that President Davis stood long, gazing at the quiet face,
and then in silence left the house.
Old soldiers pressed around the bier with tears streaming down their
bronzed faces, while one stooped and kissed the cold lips of his beloved
commander.
The next day the remains were borne, attended by a guard of honor, to
Lexington, where they were received by General Smith, the corps of
cadets, the professors, and many sorrowing citizens. They were borne to
the barracks of the Military Institute and placed in the old class-room
of the dead general. Every half hour, the cadet battery pealed forth a
fitting requiem to the great teacher of artillery tactics. Then
“escorted by infantry, cavalry, and artillery, under command of Col.
Shipp, and borne to the grave upon a caisson of the cadet battery,” he
was laid to rest beside the graves of his first wife and child in the
beautiful cemetery of Lexington.
The “right hand” of Lee was thus taken away just as the heaviest stroke
had fallen upon the enemy. General Lee, the army, the whole South
mourned for their fallen hero. There were other generals as brave and
true as Jackson, but none who possessed his keen insight into the
movements of the enemy, his celerity of action, and the wonderful
certainty of victory which made him the idol of his own soldiers and the
dread of the foe.
But the renown of Jackson is not confined to the limits of his own land.
It has crossed the ocean, and now the plans of his battles in the Valley
of the Shenandoah and of Second Manassas and of Chancellorsville are
studied by military men, and used by them as models of strategy and
tactics. All English-speaking people are justly proud that the greatest
military genius of the age belongs to them.
[Illustration: _Jackson’s Statue in Capitol Square, Richmond, Va._]
Not long after the end of the war, his admirers and friends in England
presented to the State of Virginia a statue of Jackson in bronze. It was
placed in the Capitol Square in Richmond not far from the statue of
Washington and the great Virginians of his time.
In the spring of 1891, a beautiful and imposing statue of our hero was
erected in Lexington, Virginia, by his old soldiers and friends
throughout the South. On July 21st of that year, it was unveiled in the
presence of a vast multitude of people.
The anniversary of the First Manassas, when Jackson, in a “baptism of
fire,” received the new name of “Stonewall,” and flashed like a meteor
upon the wondering world, was thought a fitting day on which to display
to his countrymen his figure in enduring bronze.
For days and nights, the trains bore into the historic town crowds of
soldiers and visitors from all parts of the country. Beautiful arches
and mottoes graced the buildings and highways, and the whole was crowned
by perfect weather.
At 12 o’clock, the great parade moved from the Virginia Military
Institute. General James A. Walker, the only commander of the Stonewall
Brigade then living, was chief marshal of the day.
As the procession moved on, band after band of Confederates were
seen—battle-scarred veterans in the old Confederate grey, military
companies in bright uniforms, famous generals with bronzed faces and
grizzled hair, the chaplains of the Confederacy, and visiting camps of
veterans from other States.
Following these came the officers of the Virginia Military Institute and
Washington and Lee University. Finally came a large concourse of
citizens and carriages. Among those in the carriages were General Jubal
A. Early, the orator of the day, and his host, General Custis Lee; the
sculptor of the statue, Edward V. Valentine; Mrs. General T. J. Jackson
and her son-in-law, Mr. Christian, and his children, Julia and Thomas
Jackson Christian.
At last, the grand-stand in the University grounds was reached. After
prayer and the reading of three Confederate war poems, “Stonewall
Jackson’s Way,” “Slain in Battle,” and “Over the River,” General Early,
clad in Confederate grey, made the address, which gave a simple account
of the great battles fought by Jackson. He was greeted with hearty
cheers, and tears rolled down the checks of many veterans as they again
in memory fought and marched with the immortal Jackson.
At the end of the speech the procession again formed and marched to the
cemetery where stood the monument.
At the given signal, Mrs. Jackson and her two grandchildren, Julia
Jackson Christian, aged five years, and Thomas Jackson Christian, aged
three years, mounted the steps of the platform. A single gun sounded,
and the two children with united hands pulled the cord and let the veil
fall, revealing to admiring thousands the face and form of Jackson.
Cheers and shouts rent the air, while the Rockbridge Artillery fired a
salute of fifteen guns from the cannon which they had used at Manassas.
The statue, clad in the uniform of a major-general, stands with the left
hand grasping a sheathed sword, upon which the weight of the body seems
to rest. The right hand rests upon the thigh and holds a pair of field
glasses, which it would seem that the General has just been using.
The figure is eight feet high and stands upon a granite pedestal ten
feet tall. Upon the stone are carved only the words, “Jackson,
1824-1863,” and “Stonewall.”
Under the monument, in a vault, rest the remains of the dead soldier and
his daughters, Mrs. Christian, and Mary Graham who died in infancy.
[Illustration: _Jackson Statue at Lexington._]
The veterans lingered long about their beloved hero. Many times had they
followed him on the weary march and through the smoke of battle, and now
it seemed as if he were with them again to lead them on to victory.
At last, saluting, they marched in silence away, carrying his image in
their memories and the love of him in their hearts.
Perhaps it will interest my readers to have a pen and ink portrait of
Mrs. Jackson at that time, as given by a leading journalist of the day.
“Mrs. Jackson sat just behind the famous generals. She wore a handsome
costume of black silk trimmed with crepe, black gloves, and a crepe
bonnet. Her face is a most attractive one. Her black hair, still unmixed
with grey, was brushed in graceful waves across her forehead. Her eyes,
large and dark, sparkled and filled with tears, as veteran after veteran
pressed forward to grasp her hand.”
Not long before, her daughter, Mrs. Christian, the baby Julia whom
Jackson had loved so well, had died, leaving two children, Julia and
Thomas. These children are the only descendants of our beloved General.
At this writing, in the year of our Lord 1898, Mrs. Jackson is still
living, and to her the hearts of Southern people turn in fond affection,
because she was the best beloved of their mighty chief.
But not enough had been done to honor our hero. In 1896, a noble
building called the “Jackson Memorial Hall” was completed at the
Virginia Military Institute, and dedicated with fitting ceremony to the
memory of Jackson. In these halls and beneath the shadow of this
building, the cadets of the South for many long years will be trained
for war. How fit the place! Near by rest Lee and Stonewall
Jackson—mighty soldiers, and Christian warriors!
[Illustration: _Jackson Memorial Hall, Virginia Military Institute._]
There the sweeping winds proclaim our heroes’ fame, and nightly the
glittering stars chant in heavenly chorus: “They shine, they shine with
our brightness.”
Cā-is-son, a chest for ammunition.
Capăr′isoned, dressed pompously.
Tăc′tics, the science and art of placing forces for battle.
Rē′quiem, a hymn sung for the dead.
Vĕte′ran, one who has grown old in service.
Pĕd′-es-tal, the base of a column or statue.
Write in your own words—
A description of the reception of General Jackson’s body in
Richmond.
A description of his monument in Lexington, Virginia.
Transcriber’s Notes
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