Nevertheless, the opinion of the soldiers is no convincing proof that
Jackson was equal to the command of a large army, or that he could
have carried through a great campaign. Had Lee been disabled, it
might be asked, would Jackson have proved a sufficient substitute?
It has already been explained that military genius shows itself first
in character, and, second, in the application of the grand principles
of warfare, not in the mere manipulation of armed masses. It cannot
well be denied that Jackson possessed every single attribute which
makes for success in war. Morally and physically he was absolutely
fearless. He accepted responsibility with the same equanimity that he
faced the bullets of the enemy. He permitted no obstacle to turn him
aside from his appointed path, and in seizing an opportunity or in
following up a victory he was the very incarnation of untiring
energy. He had no moments of weakness. He was not robust, and his
extraordinary exertions told upon his constitution. "My health," he
wrote to his wife in January 1863, "is essentially good, but I do not
think I shall be able in future to stand what I have already stood;"
and yet his will invariably rose superior to bodily exhaustion.
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