The people sorrowed for him with no ordinary
grief, not as a great man and a good, who had done his duty and had
gone to his reward, but as the pillar of their hopes and the
sheet-anchor of the Confederate cause. Nor will those familiar with
the further history of the Civil War, from the disaster of Gettysburg
to the surrender at Appomattox, question the truth of this mournful
presage. The Army of Northern Virginia became a different and less
manageable instrument after Chancellorsville. Over and over again it
failed to respond to the conceptions of its leader, and the failure
was not due to the soldiers, but to the generals. Loyal and valiant
as they were, of not one of his lieutenants could Lee say, as he had
said of Jackson, "Such an executive officer the sun never shone on. I
have but to show him my design, and I know that if it can be done it
will be done. No need for me to send or watch him. Straight as the
needle to the pole he advances to the execution of my purpose."* (*
Hon. Francis Lawley, the Times, June 16, 1863.)
These words have been quoted as an epitome of Jackson's military
character. "He was essentially," says Swinton, "an executive officer,
and in that sphere he was incomparable; but he was devoid of high
mental parts, and destitute of that power of planning a combination,
and of that calm, broad, military intelligence which distinguished
General Lee.
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