‘Can you give me a description of
General Jackson?’
asked the reporter.
‘In person
Jackson was a tall man, six feet high, angular, strong, with rather large feet and hands,’ was the reply.
He rather strided along as he walked, taking long steps and swinging his body a little.
There was something firm and decided, however, even in his gait.
His eyes were dark blue, large, and piercing.
He looked straight at you and through you almost as he talked.
His nose was aquiline, his nostrils thin and mobile.
His mouth was broad, his lips very thin.
Generally they were compressed.
He spoke in terse, short sentences, always to the point.
There was never any circumlocution about what he had to say. His hair was brown and inclined to auburn.
His beard was brown.
He was as gentle and kind as a woman to those that he loved.
There was sometimes a softness and tenderness about him that was very striking.
Under every and all circumstances he never forgot that he was a Christian and acted up to his Christian faith unswervingly, and yet he was not a bigoted denominationalist.
At one time just before the fight at Chancellorsville we were ordered to send to the rear all surplus baggage.
All tents were discarded except those necessary for office duty.
We were allowed at the headquarters only one tent, and that to take care of the papers.
A Catholic priest belonging to one of the Louisiana brigades sent up his resignation because he was not permitted to have a tent, which he thought necessary to the proper performance of his office.
I said to General Jackson that I was very sorry to give up Father——; that he was one of the most useful chaplains in the service.
He replied: “If that is the case he shall have a tent.”
And so far as I know this Roman Catholic priest was the only man in the corps who had one.
In my opinion those people who have made General Jackson a narrow-minded, bigoted Presbyterian have belittled him. He was a true Presbyterian and Christian, but not a narrow one.
I remember one night he was in my tent very near Charleston, W. Va. It was a bitter cold, snowy night and he was sitting by the fire that I had
[303]
made.
He said to me: “I would not give one-thousandth part of my chances for Heaven for all the earthly reputation I have or can make.”
