May 18, 1863

May 18, 1863

---Gen.  McClernand gets his engineers to throw a pontoon bride across the Big Black, and his troops march over.  Farther upstream, Grant has McPherson cross and Sherman even farther upstream.  The road to Vicksburg is open, and it is only 12 miles away.  By nightfall, McClernand’s troops are only 4 miles from Vicksburg, and McPherson and Sherman are close at hand and link up in a line that covers at least ¾ of the Vicksburg defenses.  The Siege of Vicksburg is underway.

 

---Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd, of the 20^th Ohio Infantry Regiment, writes in his journal of the victorious advance of Grant’s troops over the Big Black, and their quick pace in closing up the trap at Vicksburg:

As we crossed the river and marched up the bank, a brass band stood playing national airs. O, how proud we felt as we marched through the rebel works, and up to the muzzles of the abandoned guns that had been planted to stay our progress. Every man felt the combined Confederate army could not keep us out of Vicksburg. It was a grand sight, the long lines of infantry moving over the pontoons, and winding their way up the bluffs, with flags flying in the breeze, and the morning sun glancing upon the guns as they lay across the shoulders of the boys. Cheer after cheer went up in welcome and triumph from the thousands who had already crossed and stood in waiting lines upon the bluff above. This is supposed to be the last halting place before we knock for admittance at our goal—the boasted Gibraltar of the west.

Our division has made a long march to-day, and we have bivouaced for the night without supper, and with no prospect of breakfast, for our rations have been entirely exhausted. Murmurings and complaints are loud and deep, and the swearing fully up to the army standard.

Rainy Day Picket Duty, by Edwin Forbes
 

---News apparently does not travel as accurately as desired in the South.  The Daily Journal of Wilmington, North Carolina publishes an editorial that is patently wrong about the fortunes of Grant’s Yankee army in central Mississippi:

The news received to-day by telegraph is less discouraging than any we have had for some days past.  At last we get something from Jackson and the West.  As we knew, Jackson was entered last week by the Federals.  It would seem that they must have been checked in their advance, as they are retreating, after having done much damage.  It is to be hoped that they will be made to regret their sudden advance into the interior. Vicksburg and Port Hudson still stand and the enemy’s base and communications are threatened.  We shall look for further news from that quarter with much interest.

---Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, the titular chief of this department, writes to Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton after the battle of Champion Hill, urging Pemberton to abandon Vicksburg---that between saving the city and saving the army, he must save the army, and that if he is trapped in Vicksburg, he will have to surrender and lose both, since Johnston does not have the means to raise the siege that surely must ensue.  In answer, Pemberton writes this letter, with a strange argument that abandoning Vicksburg will make his 30,000 men unfit for service: that they will then lack “such morale and material as to be of further service to the Confederacy”:

HDQRS. DEPARTMENT OF Mississippi AND EASTERN LOUISIANA,

Vicksburg, May 18, 1863.

General JOSEPH E. Johnston:

    GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, in reply to mine by the hands of Captain [Thomas] Henderson. In a subsequent letter of same date as this latter, I informed you that the men had failed to hold the trenches at Big Black Bridge, and that, as a consequence, Snyder's Mill was directed to be abandoned. On the receipt of your communication, I immediately assembled a council of war of the general officers of this command, and having laid your instructions before them, asked the free expression of their opinions as to the practicability of carrying them out. The opinion was unanimously expressed that it was impossible to withdraw the army from this position with such morale and material as to be of further service to the Confederacy. While the council of war was assembled, the guns of the enemy opened on the works, and it was at the same time reported that they were crossing the Yahoo River at Brandon's Ferry, above Snyder's Mill. I have decided to hold Vicksburg as long as is possible, with the firm hope that the Government may yet be able to assist me in keeping this obstruction to the enemy's free navigation of the Mississippi River. I still conceive it to be the most important point in the Confederacy.

     Very respectfully, your obedient servant,\

    J. C. PEMBERTON,

    Lieutenant-General, Commanding.

Strangely enough, Pemberton, in disobeying Johnston's order (or suggestion, at least) has sealed the fate of his nearly 30,000 now trapped in Vicksburg.

---The U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, writes in his journal about some common reservations about Gen. Joseph Hooker’s moral liabilities:

Senator Doolittle came to see me to-day. Has faith, he says, but fears that General Hooker has no religious faith, laments the infirmities of that officer, and attributes our late misfortune to the want of godliness in the commanding general.

---In Britain, in the House of Lord, the Marquis of Clanricarde charges that the United States has been lax and even flawed in respecting the rights of British ship owners of ships seized by the U.S Navy in the course of blockade duty.  The Foreign Secretary, the Earl Russell, makes a speech in reply, saying that the Crown has investigated such claims and so far can find no legal fault with the way the Union has dealt with British ships.  Russell goes on to categorically deny Crown complicity in the escape of the CSS Alabama (built in Liverpool) from British waters, and that Britain has no desire to interfere unfairly in the Civil War in America.

May 17, 1863

May 17, 1863

---Battle of Big Black River, Mississippi – The day after Champion Hill, Pemberton pulls his divisions back to the crossing of the Big Black River on the road to Vicksburg: the last big obstacle to that city.  He posts John Bowen’s division on the east bank, with his back to the river, with 5,000 men.  Stevenson’s division had been badly hammered the day before, and so Pemberton retires Stevenson to the safe western bank of the river.  Grant sends Sherman’s XV Corps on a flank march to the northwest, upstream from the Rebel position---mainly to prevent Pemberton from marching to unite with Johnston.  He pushes McClernand’s XIII Corps forward directly at the Confederate line, and McPherson’s XVII Corps remains in reserve.  McClernand’s hope is to capture the bridge across the Big Black before the Rebels can destroy it.  The Federals probe the Rebel line, and find a shallow bayou in front of it; a reconnoitering attack by Carr’s division is repulsed.  McClernand then orders Osterhaus to advance against the Rebels’ left flank.  Osterhaus is wounded, and his division is taken over by Brig. Gen. Albert Lee.  Under cover of artillery fire, Lawler’s brigade sprints forward to a protective depression in the ground, and finds that they are on the Rebel flank.  Lawler advances, and they begin to roll up the Confederate line in a rolling assault.  Bowen’s troops---especially the large number of East Tennesseeans, who are Unionists that were conscripted and are lukewarm at best---begin to break and flee.  The Confederates crowd the bridge, and many dive into the swift-current Big Black, and many drown.  The Confederates set fire to the turpentine-soaked bridge, so that many Rebels are unable to cross.  The day ends in panic and rout for the Southerners, who lose nearly 400 killed and wounded, and another 1,700 captured, along with 18 cannon.  Union Victory.

Losses:                         U.S.  276                         C.S.  2,100

 

Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton, CSA
 

---Capt. J.N. Groves, a surgeon in the 98^th Illinois Infantry, writes home to his wife about a wild raid amongst the “Secesh” in central Tennessee with Col. Wilder’s Lightning Brigade---a brigade of mounted infantry who carried repeating rifles.  Groves is very frank about the stolen booty he acquired, some of which he is sending to his wife.  This war sounds like a jolly holiday:

Dear Regina-

We have just returned from a grand thieving expedition; some may call it a scouting party but the most appropriate name is the former. We captured about a thousand horses, five hundred negroes, and two hundred prisoners. It was the first trip I had been on of the kind. We would go to the field where the negroes were plowing and make them unharness and get on the horses and strike out; enter the smoke houses and take all the house we could carry, and then burn the rest. The women would cry and beg, but to no purpose.–One of our men was shot, and Dr. Vertress and I amputated his leg, at a Mr. Anderson’s. We took all his horses but one. This belonged to a young lady, who gave me the mare, and told me she would sooner make me a present of her than to let the soldiers steal her. I have got her; she is the finest animal ever saw. –I could talk about incidents for a month that happened on this trip, but I will refrain. I have got a very fine silk dress for you and Nelly. I will send them as soon as possible.–The black one is for you and the green one for Nelly. Your dress pattern is worth thirty dollars; and also a fine scarf, red; you may do as you please with it. I do not know what the latter is for. Tom Cox, the man that took the coffee, stole the silks and gave them to me.–He run out of money going home and sold the coffee. I have got a shot gun for Walter; a nice carbine that will shoot a thousand yards for your father. If I get a chance I will send them home. Officers are resigning every week. I will send your dresses next week by Capt. Cox; he will express them from Olney. I am not caring whether I get home or not; I could only stay there a few weeks if I were to go, and it will not cost any more for you to come to see me than for me to go and see you. Get your clothing made and when you are ready to come let me know, I want you to travel some, and this will be a nice trip. Whenever you see Col. Winders [Wilder's] mounted brigade mentioned look out for breakers; they run the rebels into the mountains and catch them. It is the brigade that the bloody 98th belongs to. I love to go on these wild trips, but it is not often that I get the privilege of going. I have not received any word from your mother for a long time. I have gone up to the gallery to have my picture taken twice, and did not get one to suit me. I will not send one until it suits me; you don’t want an ugly picture. You can’t guess what we had for dinner. Eggs, biscuit, butter, ham, potatoes, molasses, pies, peaches and blackberries, and other articles too tedious to mention. I wish you would send me some stamps, they are very scarce here. I hope you have got that money by this time.–Answer soon, your affectionate husband.

May 16, 1863

May 16, 1863

 

Battle of Champion Hill

Mississippi

 

U.S.     Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant           Army of the Tennessee        32,000

C.S.     Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton         Army of Mississippi             22,000

 

Grant pushes his troop westward from Jackson.  Pemberton, the Confederate commander of the Army of Mississippi, having been forsaken by Joseph Johnston, does not know whether to push East to attack the Yankees, divert southeast to destroy their supply line (not knowing that Grant no longer has one), to come out and fight, or to flee into the fortress of Vicksburg.  Pemberton marches 22,000 of his Confederates east to a crossroads where the roads from Jackson, Raymond, and Vicksburg meet, and deploys his line on a ridge overlooking the area, covering the Raymond and Middle Roads.  Grant orders McPherson’s XVII Corps to advance from Bolton Station, and for McClernand’s XIII Corps to advance from Raymond.  Gen. Pemberton deploys Bowen’s division on the Middle Road, Loring’s division on the Raymond Road, and Stevenson’s division farther north, making the Rebel left flank by the Jackson Road.  McPherson advances his divisions to attack the Confederate left at Champion Hill, where there were few Rebel troops.  McClernand finally gets his divisions on track and moving forward, but at a very slow pace. 

A fanciful interpretation of the Battle of Champion Hill
 

Pemberton, still unaware of how many Yankees were in front of him, almost gives orders to break off the fighting and head north to unite with Gen. Johnston’s 10,000.  However, soon Stevenson’s pickets encounter McPherson’s columns advancing along the Jackson (Clinton) Road, and so Stevenson deploys his division on the crest of Champion Hill, overlooking the road. 

 

 

McPherson’s Federals attack the hill, and are beaten off.  McPherson re-forms, and as the Yankees rush up the hill, Hovey and Crocker’s westward attack and Logan’s southward attack catch the Rebels in a vise: the Rebel left is crushed, and is routed.  As Grant arrives on the battlefield, he focuses on the left and pushes McClernand’s slow corps forward.  But Pemberton’s one remaining division, Bowen, launches a counterattack that pushes the Federals back on their heels.  Bowen splits the Union lines, but his losses are high and he is fearfully short of ammunition.  Pemberton looks for reinforcements, and tries to move Loring to the left to bolster the line on the right of Champion Hill, but Loring is reluctant, since he has McClernand’s Yankees in his front.  Stevenson  and Bowen rally and try to recover their position, but McPherson counterattacks, and once again the Rebel line collapses.  Bowen orders a retreat, and the entire army retreats west to Edward’s Station, where Pemberton sets up an artillery line, and the two sides shells each other for the rest of the day.  Grant’s men are too exhausted to push into another attack, but by midnight, the Rebels withdraw, and Grant’s men occupy Edward’s  Pemberton falls back to the Big Black River.  This battle turns out to be the decisive battle of the Vicksburg campaign.  Union Victory.

Losses:         Killed           Wounded                Captured/Missing           Total

U.S.                  410                  1,844                                  187                             2,457

C.S.                  381                  1,018                               2,441                            3,840

 

---Sergeant Osborn H. Oldroyd, of the 20^th Ohio Infantry Regiment, records his impressions of this battle and aftermath in his journal:

The enemy charged out of the woods in front of us in a solid line, and as they were climbing the fence between us, which separated the open field from the timber, DeGolier's battery, stationed in our front, opened on them with grape and canister, and completely annihilated men and fence and forced the enemy to fall back. Such terrible execution by a battery I never saw. It seemed as if every shell burst just as it reached the fence, and rails and rebs flew into the air together. They, finding our center too strong, renewed their charge on our left, and succeeded in driving it a short distance, but their success was only for a moment, for our boys rallied, and with reinforcements drove them in turn. We now charged into the woods and drove them a little ways, and as we charged over the spot so lately occupied by the foe, we saw the destruction caused by our battery, the ground being covered thickly with rebel grey. When we reached the woods we were exposed to a galling fire, and were at one time nearly surrounded but we fought there hard until our ammunition was exhausted, when we fixed bayonets and prepared to hold our ground. . . .

This was a hard day's fight, for the rebels, finding that they had been beaten in three battles about Vicksburg, had no doubt resolved to make a desperate stand against our conquering march; but alas! For them, this day's course of events was like the rest. When the fight was over, Generals Grant, McClernand, Sherman, McPherson and Logan rode over the victorious field, greeted with the wildest cheers. I wonder if they love their men as we love them. We received our mail an hour or two after the fight, and the fierce struggle through which we had just passed was forgotten as we read the news from home. Our fingers fresh from the field left powder marks on the white messengers that had come to cheer us.

Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

---Private Jenkin Lloyd Jones, of the 6^th Battery, Wisconsin Artillery, writes in his journal of Champion Hill, where his battery has been engaged:

Logan’s Division managed to get on their [Confederate] right flank, driving them with rapidity, but at the same time they were driving the line on the left and came near penetrating our center, many of our men having used all their ammunition, and the amount of stragglers falling back without order becoming dangerous. It was a dangerous moment. All eyes were anxiously looking, almost trembling, for the result; but at last there comes Colonel Holmes with his Brigade on double quick, which soon checked their progress, and the artillery were brought into position, McAllister’s 24-pounder howitzers on the left, with Quinby’s on the right and center. The infantry fell back at double quick as we opened fire on them, shelling the woods—38 pieces in all, belching away in fearful rapidity. Kept it up for one hour. When we ceased firing, they had left and all was still. The fight continued about five hours, the musketry having been exceedingly hot. We took seventeen pieces of artillery and about 2,000 prisoners.

May 15, 1863

May 15, 1863

—Mississippi – After burning military supplies and stores in Jackson (and much of the city), destroying factories, and wrecking the incoming railroads, Gen. Grant puts his troops on the road again. The XIII Corps, under Gen. John McClernand, holds a forward position on the road from Jackson to Vicksburg, and Grant sends Sherman and McPherson that way, towards Vicksburg. The Confederate generals Johnston and Pemberton mull over the idea of cutting Grant’s supply line back to Grand Gulf. They do not realize that Grant no longer has a supply line, and is living on the largess of Mississippi farmers.

—Lt. Col. Arthur Fremantle of the Royal Army, on an official tour, records another stage in his journey:
15th May (Friday).—I nearly slept round the clock after yesterday’s exertions. Mr Douglas and I crossed the father of rivers and landed on the Mississippi bank at 9 A.M.
Natchez is a pretty little town, and ought to contain about 6000 inhabitants. It is built on the top of a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi river, which is about three quarters of a mile broad at this point. . . .

The scenery about Natchez is extremely pretty, and the ground is hilly, with plenty of fine trees. Mr Nutt’s place reminded me very much of an English gentleman’s country seat, except that the house itself is rather like a pagoda, but it is beautifully furnished. . . . I determined to push on to Vicksburg, as all the late news seemed to show that some great operations must take place there before long.

I had fondly imagined that after reaching Natchez my difficulties would have been over; but I very soon discovered that this was a delusive hope. I found that Natchez was full of the most gloomy rumours. Another Yankee raid seemed to have been made into the interior of Mississippi, more railroad is reported to be destroyed, and great doubts were expressed whether I should be able to get into Vicksburg at all. 

However, as I found some other people as determined to proceed as myself, we hired a carriage for $100 to drive to Brookhaven, which is the nearest point on the railroad, and is distant from Natchez 66 miles.

My companions were a fat Government contractor from Texas, the wounded Missourian Mr Douglas, and an ugly woman, wife to a soldier in Vicksburg. . . .

We slept at a farmhouse. All the males were absent at the war, and it is impossible to exaggerate the unfortunate condition of the women left behind in these farmhouses; they have scarcely any clothes, and nothing but the coarsest bacon to eat, and are in miserable uncertainty as to the fate of their relations, whom they can hardly ever communicate with. Their slaves, however, generally remain true to them.Our hostess, though she was reduced to the greatest distress, was well-mannered, and exceedingly well educated; very far superior to a woman of her station in England.

May 14, 1863

March 14, 1863:
 
---Ulysses S. Grant writes in his Memoirs of the campaign in central Mississippi at this point, and his reasoning in moving toward Jackson rather than straight to Vicksburg:
When the news reached me of McPherson's victory at Raymond [battle on May 12] about sundown my position was with Sherman. I decided at once to turn the whole column towards Jackson and capture that place without delay.

Pemberton was now on my left, with, as I supposed, about 18,000 men; in fact, as I learned afterwards, with nearly 50,000. A force was also collecting on my right, at Jackson, the point where all the railroads communicating with Vicksburg connect. All the enemy's supplies of men and stores would come by that point. As I hoped in the end to besiege Vicksburg I must first destroy all possibility of aid. I therefore determined to move swiftly towards Jackson, destroy or drive any force in that direction and then turn upon Pemberton. But by moving against Jackson, I uncovered my own communication. So I finally decided to have none—to cut loose altogether from my base and move my whole force eastward. I then had no fears for my communications, and if I moved quickly enough could turn upon Pemberton before he could attack me in the rear.
This is when Grant makes a risky decision: to march into enemy territory with no line of communications or supply. His men march and live off the land—that is, spoils of war taken from the countryside and the Southern populace. This campaign becomes the model for the Total War concept that Sherman uses in Georgia the following year. 

　

---Battle of Jackson – Grant’s troops dash towards Jackson, the Mississippi state capital. Gen. Joseph Johnston, who has hastened there with 10,000 men, decides that he cannot stop Grant, and so withdraws north of the city. Gen. John Gregg, with 6,000 Confederates, establishes a defensive line west of the city, unaided by Johnston, and McPherson deploys his Federal XVII Corps in line of battle. Sherman advances his corps from the south. Gen. Grant notes the opening movements of the battle in the midst of bad weather:
It rained in torrents during the night of the 13th and the fore part of the day of the 14th. The roads were intolerable, and in some places on Sherman's line, where the land was low, they were covered more than a foot deep with water. But the troops never murmured. By nine o'clock Crocker, of McPherson's corps, who was now in advance, came upon the enemy's pickets and speedily drove them in upon the main body. They were outside of the intrenchments in a strong position, and proved to be the troops that had been driven out of Raymond. . . . McPherson brought up Logan's division while he deployed Crocker's for the assault. Sherman made similar dispositions on the right. By eleven A.M. both were ready to attack.

As the Federals launch the assault, Gregg is driven back to a second defensive line. Grant adds details:
Crocker moved his division forward, preceded by a strong skirmish line. . . . the whole division charged, routing the enemy completely and driving him into this main line. This stand by the enemy was made more than two miles outside of his main fortifications. McPherson followed up with his command until within range of the guns of the enemy from their intrenchments, when he halted to bring his troops into line and reconnoitre to determine the next move. It was now about noon.

Just as the Federals launch a second attack, they find that Gregg has abandoned the position:
I had directed Sherman to send a force to the right, . . . This force, Tuttle's division, not returning I rode to the right with my staff, and soon found that the enemy had left that part of the line. . . . Tuttle had seen this and, passing through the lines without resistance, came up in the rear of the artillerists confronting Sherman and captured them with ten pieces of artillery. I rode immediately to the State House, where I was soon followed by Sherman. About the same time McPherson discovered that the enemy was leaving his front, and advanced Crocker, who was so close upon the enemy that they could not move their guns or destroy them. He captured seven guns and, moving on, hoisted the National flag over the rebel capital of Mississippi.
Before the fighting is quite over, Frederick Dent Grant, the General Grant’s son, dashes (without paternal permission) into the state Capitol to help pull down the Rebel flag and hoist the Stars and Stripes. The boy also confiscates the governor’s pipe and tobacco. Young Grant is afterwards reprimanded by the General. 
 
Losses:

U.S., 300              Confederate, 850
  

A Union soldier of the 8th New York Rifles on picket duty, by Alfred Waud

May 13, 1863

May 13, 1863:

—Captain Charles Wright Wills, a young officer in the 103^rd Illinois Infantry Regiment, writes in his journal of court-martial duty, of the progress of the war, and of Union successes:
Camp 103d Illinois Infantry, Lagrange, Tenn.,
May 13, 1863.

I have been on a General Court Martial for the last ten days, and we will not, in all probability, adjourn for some weeks yet. We tried Governor Yates’ brother. He is Adjutant of the 6th Illinois Cavalry. Another little reverse on the Rappahannock. All right! My faith is still large—in the army, but the commanders and citizens can be improved. We think that Grant is going to beat them all yet. But his army is more responsible for his good fortune than himself. Do you notice that one of our "raids" missed fire? Straight into Georgia, I mean. Grierson’s and Stoneman’s make up for all the rest though. We are constantly active here, in fact our troops move so much that I am unable to keep the run of even our brigade.
　
—George Templeton Strong writes in his journal about the death of the Southern hero Stonewall Jackson:
Today’s only news is a seemingly trustworthy report that that very salient rebel Stonewall Jackson died last Sunday of pneumonia, which attacked him while weakened by a recent amputation. He seems to have been a brave, capable, earnest man, good and religious according to his Presbyterian formulas, but misguided into treason by that deluding dogma of state allegiance.

May 12, 1863

May 12, 1863

—Battle of Raymond, Mississippi: As part of Grant’s campaign in Mississippi, Gen. James McPherson pushes his troops as they appear before the town or Raymond before the Confederates expect them. Gen. John Gregg of the Confederate army is there to greet the Federal advance with a division of Rebel infantry, almost 5,000 men, with artillery. McPherson sends Gen. John "Black Jack" Logan forward with his division, and Logan deploys, at first, a single brigade to probe the Rebel line. Gregg assumes that a brigade is all he has to deal with, and orders his line forward. But he finds that Logan has deployed his entire division, with a lot of artillery. The Federals overlap the Confederate line, and Gregg’s line is smashed. The Rebels retreat, leaving the road to Jackson open, and tempting the Yankees with the capture of the two nearby railroads, that meet at Jackson. Grant decides to turn the bulk of his force toward Jackson.


Losses:     Killed        Wounded        Captured/Missing           Total

U.S.             68                   341                            37                                446

C.S.           100                   305                         415                                820

Private William R. Clack, 43rd Tennessee Infantry Reg.
 

　
—Union Artilleryman Jenkin Lloyd Jones, of the Wisconsin Artillery, notes in his journal his own impressions of the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi:
Raymond, Tuesday, May 12. Awoke at the usual hour, hitched up at daylight and took up the line of march. Travelled slowly, stopping frequently until about 12 M. When we neared the firing, the report of which we could hear all day, we were ordered forward at double quick for two miles, and formed in line of battle immediately under the brow of the hill. But the work was done by Logan’s Division. The firing gradually ceased and at 4 P. M. all was calm and still after the leaden storm, and the heroes were allowed to recite the startling events of the morning. They commenced driving the enemy at sunrise and about 10 A. M. they met them in superior force. The 1st Brigade suffered the worst. The 20th Ill. and 31st Iowa losing more men than in the five previous engagements, Shiloh and Corinth included. Many were severely wounded. Took about 50 or sixty prisoners.

6 P. M. we limbered to the front and marched into Raymond at double quick. It was dark before we got in, and the dust was so thick that I could not see the lead-rider. The howitzers were posted on the entrance of the Jackson road in the public square, and stood picket. The horses which had been all day without water or feed, obliged to stand in the harness hitched up. Drivers lying by their teams.

The Richmond Daily Dispatch publishes an elegaic editorial on the death of Gen. Jackson:
Gen. Jackson.

Words have no power to express the emotion which the death of Jackson has aroused in the public mind. The heart of our whole people bleeds over the fallen hero, whom they loved so well because he so loved their cause, and vindicated it, not only with vast energy and courage, but with the most complete self-abnegation, simplicity, and single-mindedness. There was such an entire absence of pretension, vanity, ambition, and self in every shape about Gen. Jackson, that he had become a popular idol. The affections of every house-hold in the nation were twined about this great and unselfish warrior, who, two years ago, was an unknown man! He has fallen, and a nation weeps, but not as those without hope. No grave more glorious can a soldier ask than the lap of victory; no future brighter than that which awaits one who united with the soldier the saint!

Nor is the loss to his country, great as it is, irreparable. No doubt the puerile Yankee will be encouraged to believe that, now that Jackson is dead, the subjugation of the South is certain. Let them cross the Rappahannock again, and the delusion will be dispelled. The veterans of Jackson's corps, the men whom he led and loved, will show at the first opportunity whether or not they are capable of avenging his death. . . . At the head of our armies is still the great Commander-in-Chief, whose masterly combinations Jackson assisted to execute with unsurpassed vigor and success. Around him are clustered a group of such men as Longstreet, Stuart, Hill, and others, and, no doubt, not a few in the ranks, (for this war has been the best kind of military school,) who will yet achieve a renown fully equal to that of the departed hero. . . . Only let us cease to idolize man, and put our trust in that Providence which Jackson so constantly and reverently acknowledged as the hope and sheet anchor of our cause.

—Mrs. Judith White McGuire, of Richmond, writes in her journal of her feelings over Stonewall Jackson’s death:
The good, the great, the glorious Stonewall Jackson is numbered with the dead! Humanly speaking, we cannot do without him; but the same God who raised him up, took him from us, and He who has so miraculously prospered our cause, can lead us on without him. Perhaps we have trusted too much to an arm of flesh; for he was the nation’s idol. His soldiers almost worshipped him, and it may be that God has therefore removed him. We bow in meek submission to the great Ruler of events. May his blessed example be followed by officers and men, even to the gates of heaven!
We wonder—does she mean that all of the rest of the Confederate Army should likewise seek death in battle?

---George Templeton Strong, of New York City, writes in his journal of the war news, revealing how little the Northern populace knew, even yet, of the results of Chancellorsville:

Van Dorn’s death is established.  He was shot by some other gentleman for certain liberties with the other gentleman’s wife, a fit conclusion to a life of scoundrelism.  It is also established that Stonewall Jackson lost an arm at Chancellorsville.  Hooker’s advance and Lee’s retreat are not confirmed.