His hold on the devotion of his
troops was very sure: "God knows," said his adjutant-general, weeping
the tears of a brave man, "I would have died for him!" and few
commanders have been followed with more implicit confidence or have
inspired a deeper and more abiding affection. Long years after the
war a bronze statue, in his habit as he lived, was erected on his
grave at Lexington. Thither, when the figure was unveiled, came the
survivors of the Second Army Corps, the men of Manassas and of
Sharpsburg, of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and of many
another hard-fought field; and the younger generation looked on the
relics of an army whose peer the world has seldom seen. When the guns
had fired a salute, the wild rebel yell, the music which the great
Virginian had loved so well, rang loud above his grave, and as the
last reverberations died away across the hill, the grey-haired ranks
stood still and silent. "See how they loved him!" said one, and it
was spoken with deepest reverence. Two well-known officers, who had
served under Jackson, were sitting near each other on their horses.
Each remarked the silence of the other, and each saw that the other
was in tears.
Pages:
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385
1386
1387
1388
1389
1390
1391
1392
1393
1394
1395
1396