THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY

167345

ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS 1900

EDINBURGH

T. CONSTABLE,

PRINTER TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY.

PREFACE.

THE cause for which General Jackson fought and died

has been overthrown.

But it is believed that this fact has

not diminished the affectionate reverence for his memory and interest in his exploits felt by those who laboured with him in that cause. On the contrary, they regard the events which have occurred since his lamented death as further evidences of his genius and prowess. Although he who undertakes to write the history of an acknowledged failure usually has a hopeless and discouraging topic, yet the lustre of Jackson's exploits and character is too bright to be dimmed, even by disaster; and his is universally admitted by his friends and foes to be a name so spotless, that it shines independent of the cause with which he was connected.

My chief motive for supplying this customary exordium to my book, is the wish to answer the natural question in the reader's mind, what right I suppose myself to have to claim qualification for the task I have assumed. My answer is, that it has been intrusted to me by the widow and family of General Jackson, supported by the urgency

of his successor in command, Lieutenant-General Ewell, of his venerable pastor, and of many other friends in and out of the army. One advantage for my work I may claim, which brings far more of responsibility than of credit to me, in the possession of the fullest collection of materials. The correspondence of General Jackson with his family, his pastor, and his most prominent friends in public life, has been in my hands, together with copies of all the important official papers on file in the War Department of the late Confederate Government. I have had the advantage of the fullest illustrations of the battlefields, and the theatre of war where General Jackson acted, from the topographical department of the same Government, and from careful personal inspection. It was also my privilege to enjoy his friendship, although not under his orders, during the campaign of Manassas, in 1861; and to serve next his person, as chief of his staff, during the memorable campaigns of the Valley and the Chickahominy in 1862. So that I had personal knowledge of the events on which the structure of his military fame was first reared.

My prime object has been to portray and vindicate his Christian character, that his countrymen may possess it as a precious example, and may honour that God in it, whom he so delighted to honour. It is for this purpose that the attempt was made so carefully to explain and defend his action, as citizen and soldier, in recent events.

Next, it was desired to unfold his military genius, as displayed in his campaigns. The prominent characteristic of General Jackson was his scrupulous truthfulness. This Life has been written under the profound impression, that no quality could be so appropriate as this in the narrative which seeks to commemorate his noble character. Hence the most laborious pains have been taken to verify every fact, and to give the story in its sober accuracy, and with impartial justice to all. I am well aware that perfection is not the privilege of man in any of his works; and hence I must be prepared to be convinced, by the criticisms of others, that I have not been wholly successful, in this aim, but I trust I have been so far successful as to receive credit for right intentions. And especially would I declare, that in relating the share borne by General Jackson's comrades and subordinates in his campaigns, I have been actuated by a cordial and friendly desire to do justice to all. If I shall seem to any to have done less than this, it will be my misfortune, and not my intention.

If my story presents the hero without any of those bizarre traits which the popular fancy loves to find in its especial favourites, it is hoped that the picture will be, for this reason, more symmetrical, and if not so startling, more pleasing to every cultivated mind. The reader may at least have the satisfaction of knowing that it is the correct picture, save that no pencil can do justice to his

devoted patriotism, his diligence, his courage, and the sanctity of his morals.

The reader will note a certain polemic tone in the discussions which attend the narrative; and while strict truthfulness has been studied, candid expression has been given to the feelings natural to a participant in the recent struggle. The explanation is, in part, this that the whole work was written before the termination of the contest; the first portion, containing all the controversial matter, was published in Great Britain more than a year ago, and has been circulated in that country and this; and the remainder of the biography was in process of publication when the Confederate armies surrendered. The animus of my book will not appear strange to any one who remembers that, when it was published, my fellow-citizens were universally engaged in a strenuous war against the United States, and I was myself in the military commission of the Confederate States. The question may be asked, Does not the termination of that contest, by the complete submission of the South, point out the propriety of modifying the tone of the work? After a careful consideration of this question, I have been constrained to believe that it was best to leave my original work substantially untouched. As has been stated, the first eight chapters, containing all that is most controversial, had been irrevocably given to the public many months before the end of the war. To attempt to recall