S^PiSW! DISCOURSE Off THE LIFE AND CHARACTER LT.GEN.THOS.J..IACKS(«. (C. S. A. LATE PROFESSOR OP NATURAL AM) EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. BY FRANCIS H. SMITH, A. JVI. SUPERINTENDENT OF THF. VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. Head before the Board of Visitors, Faculty an 3 Cadets, July 1st. 1863. WITH PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION, IN HONOR OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DEO EASED. [ Published by ord»-r of the Board of Visitors.] RICHMOND: RITCHIE & DUNNAVANT, PRINTERS. 1863. DISCOURSE ON THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF LT. GEN. THOS. J. JACKSON (C. S. A.) LATE PROFESSOR OF NATURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. BY FRANCIS H. SMITH, A. M. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. Bead before the Board of Visitors, Faculty and Cadets, July 1st, 1363. WITH PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION, IN HONOR OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS DECEASED. [ Published by order of the Board of Visitors.] RICHMOND: RITCHIE & DUNNAVANT, PRINTERS. 1863. THt FLOWERS COLLECTION DISCOURSE. The providential arrangements by which the Virginia military institute has been prepared and fitted for the great work devolving upon it, in the momentous struggle through which our country is now passing, is one of the most marked indications of the favor and J>lessing of God to it and to our country. Ushered into being at a time of profound peace — when nothing seemed so improbable as the existence of civil war — when the necessity, or even utility of a military school seemed scarcely to have been conceived of by it? founders — every step in its history, from its inception to the present moment, indicates the directing and controlling hand of God, which has brought it into existence — shaped its policy and animated its energies for the distinctive work to which he has called it. By its necessary organization as a public guard to the state arsenal, its military character was distinctively defined. With strong temptations, from the current of public opinion, to adapt its system of studies to the ordinary college curriculum, it has been kept, by the force of circumstances, strictly to the scientific course prescribed for military schools — so that it has been hemmed in, as it were, by causes over whfch it could exercise no control, to a work seemingly unnecessary, but which the experience of the last two years has shown to have been most effective for the cause of our oppressed country. See the wonderful evidences of public confidence, in the liberal support given to it by our state authorities — the no less obvious appreciation of its worth, not as a school for military knowledge so much as a school for discipline, by its patrons— in the con- stantly increasing demand for the benefits of its system of govern- ment. See' how state after state in our Southern Confederacy — some enthusiastically— others reluctantly — but all firmly — has T7ZZo1 taken up the system of military schools — thus following the lead of Virginia. First, South Carolina, with its well-endowed and well-managed schools at Charleston and Columbid; then Georgia, at Marietta ; Kentucky, at Frankfort; Tennessee, at Nashville; North Carolina, at Charlotte and Hillsbor^ ; Louisiana, at Alex- andria; Arkansas, at Little Rock; Florida, at Tallahassee — then Texas ; and finally, Alabama, in the thorough reorganiza- tion of its state university at Tuscaloosa, upon the model of this institution : And thus has each southern state been led, by an unseen guidance, to a work of preparation for the crisis of our country — so that, when the cry — "To arms!" was heard, the alumni of these various military schools rallied around the stan- dard of the country, and prepared the untrained bands of freemen for the dreadful conflict in which they were so soon to be engaged. Thus has Providence, through agencies which have been quietly and noiselessly operating through- a period of twenty-four years, raised up a class of educated officers, to meet the first onset of the trained and disciplined armies which our northern foe was hurling against us. It is not my purpose to argue here the value of such providen- tial pre-arrangement, or the necessity for it, or how much our country owes to the noble heroes who have made themselves and their country illustrious by their deeds, and yet have not had the advantages of the education which military schools supply — whose lessons have been acquired in the school of the soldier, on the .field of battle and in the camp. But.it does not detract from the merit or honor of these to say that our struggle would have been a very different one had we not.had the well-trained teaching and discipline of military schools, in our Dees and Johnstons and Jacksons ; our Beauregard and Longstreet and Polk and Bragg and Hardee and Pemberton ; the Hills and Ewell and Early and Magruder, and many other general officers of distinction from West Point ; in our own Rodes and Garland, and eight other general officers ; our sixty colonels, fifty lieutenant colonels, fifty majors, one hundred and fifty captains, one hundred general and regimental staff officers, and one hundred and fifty subalterns from the Virginia military institute; and in the hundreds of other officers of various grades and high distinction, from the several '5 military schools of the South. The testimony of our own Wash- ington, conclusive as it is, will he received with authority on this point. In his last annual message to congress, Decemher 7. 1796, he thus recommended the establishment of a military academy: " The institution of a military academy is also recommended by cogent reasons. However pacific the general policy of a na- tion may be, it ought never to be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. The first would impair the energy of its character, and both would endanger its safety, or expose it to greater evils, when war could not be avoided. Be- sides, that war might not often depend upon its own choice. In proportion as the observance of pacific maxims might exempt, a nation from the necessity of practicing the rules of the military art. ought to be its care in preserving and transmitting, by propel establishments, the knowledge of that art. Whatever argument may be drawn from particular examples, superficially viewed, a thorough examination of the subject will evince that the art of war is both comprehensive and complicated; that it demands much previous study; and that the possession of it, in its must improved and perfect state, is always of great moment to the 'se- curity of a nation. This, # therefore, ought to be a serious care of every government ; and for this purpose, an academy, where a regular course of instruction is given, is an obvious expedient which different nations have successfully employed." (U. S. Doc Foreign ReL, vol. iii, p. 31, 2.) When we contemplate the interior organization and history of the Virginia military institute, we arc no less struck with the providence which has guided the administration of the school. Although its operations have been steadily expanding, and the number of its professorships greatly enlarged, no resignation has ever taken place in its faculty since its organization in 1839 ; and no death has occurred in the corps of instructors or professors during this long period, until the heavy calamity which has clothed a nation in sorrow and mourning, when our own 'illustrious Jack- son fell. The same mind which originally conceived the plan, and enforced the practicability of such a military school, and gave its matured wisdom to the deliberations of the first board of visitors, still continues to direct the important department of in- 6 struction to which he was called on the 11th November 1839. The venerable and faithful officer, whose annual visits have known no omission for twenty-three years, still serves as our ad- jutant general, and gives to us to-day the wise counsels 'which have directed us through this long period : And when the war broke out, it was no less a providence that the governor of the state was one who had been born and reared in our midst, who knew intimately the character of the institution — was acquainted with the peculiar qualifications of all its officers, and was the bet- ter able to appreciate the nature of the work before him, and to avail himself of the institution in the way best calculated to pro- mote the public good. It was thus, by the sagacity of Governor Letcher, that the corps of cadets was ordered to Richmond, and organized at Camp Lee into a camp of instruction, in which 15,000 troops were drilled and prepared for the part taken by them in that first great victory of Manassas. It was he that selected General, then Major T. J. Jackson for one of his earliest appointments as a colonel of volunteers, and ordered him to the command of Harpers Ferry, where, with a large number of the alumni of this institution, and with a detachment of cadets, he organized and gave efficiency to his Stonewall brigade. It was thus too, that, forewarned by the John Brown raid, Governor Wise instructed the superintendent of the Virginia military insti- tute to detail a competent officer to prepare and publish a work on military tactics, for the use of our volunteers and militia; and that under this order our southern soldiers, as they rallied around the standard of the country, were supplied with Gilliam's Tactics as a hand book for the field. And thus, step by step, we may trace the hand of God in the successive instrumentalities which he has used, and by which he has made this school an important agent in the stupendous conflict now calling forth the full energies of our people. But the spirit of war is antagonistic to the genius and spirit of religion: and although it is a maxim of christian prudence, "in peace, prepare for war''' war itself must be counted one of the direst calamities with which God afflicts a nation. What suffering and cruelty result from it? How the heart and the conscience and the sensibilities are deadened — how the morals of the young are corrupted, and how varied and sad the train of evil, even when war has ceased, ana peace once again returns with its bless- ings to the land. How great the restlessness Of the young — the disregard of human life and human interests. Vice and immo- rality and irreligion stalk through a land when once war (and that civil war) falls upon it. The "feints" and "disguises" and "snares" and "stratagems" of the soldier are made the basis for many a "device" of the evil one, by which to entrap the unwary youth— so that, while the Virginia military institute has, under the providence of God, been prepared for the great struggle of our revolution, and to be used in it for the accomplishment of much that was good, it would seem as if this could only be done by endangering all that was "pure" and "lovely" and "of good report" in the school itself; and that germs of evil had also to be developed, which would well nigh neutralize all that was hopeful or good. And just here, when such thoughts were gaining access to the minds of the friends of the young, God has, by a mysterious pro- vidence, presented to the young soldier such a model of a christian soldier in the life and death of Lieutenant General T. J. Jackson, which has scarcely a parallel in the annals of christian heroism, with the design and purpose, as we humbly trust, of directing the hearts of the young, and especially of the young men of this in- stitution, to acknowledge him whom their illustrious professor honored, and to teach them, by his example, that true greatness rests upon a trustful submission to the will of God, as he is re- vealed to us in his Son Jesus Christ. Let us contemplate the lesson thus presented to us. Born in the county of Harrison, Virginia, of a large and most influential family, the early boyhood of Jackson, if not oppressed by poverty, was a continued struggle, from the straitened circum- stances of his family, caused by the loss of security money by his father, then a practicing lawyer in that section. Schools of an ordinary grade were inaccessible to his means ; and such instruc- tion as he received, was obtained in the midst of the severe de- mands for his labor on the farm, with the additional and most serious drawback of bad health and a feeble physical constitution. Thus were the years of his boyhood and early youth passed. We 8 may picture to ourselves that manly and conscientious and thought- ful though delicate boy, now running the furrow, now planting the grain, now harvesting the crop, or tending the cattle by day, and in the intervals of labor snatching up his grammar or geography or history, and thus laying the simple but solid foundation to that education he was soon to receive. These trials and struggles of early boyhood, in its thirsting after knowledge, present a sublime spectacle, while there can be no doubt that the discipline which Jackson thus underwent in his western home, while laying in the rudiments of a plain English education, constituted an important element in the development of those qualities which have added such lustre to his name. In the winter of 1842 he became aware that a vacancy existed from his district in the United States military academy at West Point. He was at once fired with the desire to secure the appoint- ment. He was conscious of the great number of applicants, and of the difficulties in the way of success. He knew he was poorly prepared for the severe and advanced studies of the academy ; but, nothing daunted, he resolved to make the effort — and trusting to that providence whose guidance he ever acknowledged and sought, he started for Washington. His journey was a difficult one, partly on horseback, partly on foot, and partly by the public conveyances, he reached the national capital, and laid his petition, in person, before his immediate representative, the Hon. Samuel L. Hays. The manner of the youth — his earnestness, his reso- lution, his hopefulness — all. spoke for him. These were his cre- dentials ; and the result was, he returned to his home with his warrant in his pocket — his first public reward to honest effort in the path of duty. On the 1st of July 1842 he was admitted a cadet in the United States military academy. His class was a large and distinguished one. Generals McClellan, FosXer, Reno, Stoneman, Couch and Gibbon, of the federal army, and Generals A. P. Hill, Pickett, Maury, D. R. Jones, W. D. Smith and Wilcox, of the confede- rate army, were among his classmates. He was at once brought into competition with young men of high cultivation ; and although it is doubtful whether he had seen a French book in his life, or a mathematical book, except his arithmetic, he was assigned to the fourth class, and entered upon the study of algebra, geometry and French. At the end of his first rear, in a class of seventy- two, he stood 45 in 'mathematics, 70 in French, had 15 demerit, and was 51 in general merit. Such a standing would have dis- couraged an ordinary youth. Not so with young Jackson. He knew his early disadvantages. He was rather encouraged that he could sustain himself at all — and stimulated In* this hope and confidence, he pressed forward to the work of the next advanced class. Here the studies were more abstruse and more compli- cated; but when the examination came round, he had risen to 18 in mathematics, 52 in French ; was 68 in drawing and 55 in engi- neering studies ; had 2'i demerit, and was 30 in general merit. In the second class a new course of studies was presented to him. Having completed the pure mathematics, French and Eng- lish, he had now to enter upon the study of chemistry and natural philosophy — and we see the upward and onward march of this resolute youth, in the result of the year, which placed him 11 in natural philosophy, 25 in chemistry. 59 in drawing — with no demerit for the year, and in general merit he was 20. In July 1846 his class graduated. In the studies of the final year he was 12 in engineering, 5 in ethics, 11 in artillery, 21 in infantry tac- tics, 11 in mineralogy and geology, 7 demerit for the year, and his graduating standing, including the drawbacks of his previous years, was 17. When we examine the steady upward progress which charac- terized his academic life, from 51 in his first year to 30 in his second — then 20, and finally 17 in general standing, we can un- derstand the remark of one of his associates, when he said that had Jackson remained at West Point, upon a course of four years longer study, he would have reached the head of his class. And the lesson which his academic career presents is that what he lacked in early previous preparation, he made up by extra dili- gence and unceasing effort — while resolute determination to do his duty caused him to have but 48 demerit, with the strict discip- line of West Point, in a course of foup years. It was scarcely possible for a young man to have entered upon a course of studies for which he was less prepared, from want of early preparation, than he was. Accustomed to the labor of the 2 1G field, the change in his habits of life would have unsettled any ordinary man — but the resolute purpose to accomplish what he had undertaken, and thus to vindicate the * confidence of his friends, animated him through all his difficulties, and crowned him with the honors of a graduate and with the commission as a brevet second lieutenant of artillery on the 1st July 1846. Lieutenant Jackson immediately reported for duty with his regi- ment, the 1st artillery, and was soon after assigned to Magruder's light battery, then serving in Mexico. On the 3d March 1847 he was promoted to a second lieutenant, and on the 20th of August of the same year, to the rank of first lieutenant. On that day the battles of Contreras and Churubusco were fought; and for "his gallant and meritorious conduct in these battles," he was brevet- ted a captain. The battle of Chapultepec was fought on the 13th September, and he was again brevetted a major of artillery for " gallant and meritorious conduct" in that battle. Thus, in the brief period of fourteen months, he had risen from a brevet second lieutenant of artillery to the rank of a brevet major of artillery— a success without a parallel in the history of the Mexican war. His division commander thus notices his conduct : " The ad- vanced section of the battery, under the command of the brave Lt. Jackson, was dreadfully cut up, and almost disabled." "Capt. Magruder's field battery, one section of which was served with great gallantry by himself, and the other, by his brave Lt. Jack- son, in the face of a galling fire from the enemy's entrenched po- sitions, did invaluable service preparatory to the general assault." Captain Magruder, in his official report, makes the following reference to him : "I beg leave to call the attention of the major general commanding the division to the conduct of Lt. Jackson, of the 1st Artillery. If devotion, industry, talent and gallantry are the highest qualities of a soldier, he is entitled to the distinc- tion which their possession confers." It is a singular coincidence that this report of Captain now Major General Magruder, was ad- dressed to one who has abundantly verified its accuracy in his own disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville. Captain now Major General Joe Hooker \ of the federal army, was the division adjutant gene- ral through whom Captain Magruder's report was transmitted. It is not surprising that when the board of visitors of the Vir- 11 ginia military institute were looking about for a suitable person to fill the chair of natural and experimental pffilosophy and artil- lery, the associates of this young and brave major of artillery should have pointed him out as worthy to receive so distinguished an honor. Other names had been submitted to the board of visi- tors by the faculty of West Point, all of them distinguished for high scholarship and for gallant services in Mexico. Gen. Mc- Clellan, Gen. Reno, Gen. Rosrcrans, of the northern army, and Gen. G. W. Smith, of the confederate army, were thus named. But the peculiar fitness of young Jackson, from the high testimo- nials to his personal character, and his nativity as a Virginian, satisfied the board that they might safely select him for the vacant chair, without seeking candidates from other states. He was therefore unanimously elected to the professorship on the 28th of March 1851, and entered upon the duties of his chair on the 1st of September following. The professional career of Major J. was marked by great faith- fulness, and by an unobtrusive,- yet earnest spirit: with high men- tal endowments, teaching was a new profession to him, and de- manded, in the important department of instruction assigned to him, an amount of labor, which, from the state of his health, and especially from the weakness of his eyes, he rendered at great sacrifice. Conscientious fidelity to duty marked every step of his life here, and when called to active duty in the field, he had made considerable progress in the preparation of an elementary work on optics, which he proposed to publish for the benefit of his classes. Strict, and at times stern in his discipline, though ever polite and kind, he was not always a popular professor ; but no professor ever possessed, to a higher degree, the confidence and respect of the cadets, for his unbending integrity and fearlessness in the discharge of his duty. If he was exact in his demands upon them, they knew he was no less so in his own respect for, and submission to authority: and thus it became a proverb among them, that it was useless to write an excuse for a report made by Maj. Jackson. His great principle of government was, that a general rule should not be violated for any particular good — and his animating rule of action was, that a man could always accom- plish TChat he willed to perform. Punctual to a minute, I have 12 . known him to walk in front of the superintendent's quarters, du- ring a hard rain, toecaiise the hour had not quite arrived when it was his duty to present his weekly class reports. For ten years he prosecuted his unwearied, labors as a profes- sor, making, during- this period, in no questionable form, such an impress upon those who, from time to time, were under his com- mand, that, when the war broke out, the spontaneous sentiment of every cadet and graduate was, to serve under him as their leader. The habit of mind of Major Jackson, long before he made a public profession of religion, was reverential. Devoutly recog- nizing the authority of God, submissiveness to him as his divine teacher and guide, soon matured into a confession of faith in him, and from that moment the '■'■triple cord," "not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" bound him in simple and trustful obedience to his divine master. With such a spirit animating a resolute, earnest and fearless soldier,, whose whole life had been one continual struggle with difficulties, tins was the character, and this was the man, fitted of God,*md trained by his providence, to be one of the leaders of our armies, in the momentous struggle which opened upon us with the year 1861 — and there was not an officer nor a cadet of the in- stitution that did not feel it to be so.. He left the military institute on the 21st of April 1881, in com- mand of the corps of cadets, and reported for duty at Camp Lee, Richmond. Dangers were thickening rapidly around the state. Invasion by overwhelming numbers seemed imminent. Norfolk, Richmond, Alexandria and Harpers Ferry wore threatened. Offi- cers were needed to command at these points. The governor of Virginia, with the sagacity which has been before noticed, nomi- nated Major Jackson as colonel of volunteers. His nomination was immediately and unanimously confirmed by the council of state, and sent to the convention then in session. Some preju- dice existed in that body, from the supposed influence of the Vir- ginia military institute in these appointments, and the question was asked by various members, Who is this Thomas J. Jackson? A member of the convention from the county of Rockbridge, Hon. 13 5. McDowell Moore, replied, U I caiitell you who he is. If you jnct Jackson in command ai Norfolk, he will never leer unless you order him to do so." Such was the impress made his neighbors and friends, in his <ni the point of view from which his character is contemplated. I know that he was brave and resolute and vigilant and indomit- able and rapid, and that these great qualities of a soldier gene- rally, give success, in military operations — but to my mind, the great principle that underlaid these capital qualities, and was the animating spirit which gave effect to them, was his svnple faith and trust in God. It was this spirit that gave " strength" to him in his "weakness." It was this that made his resolute will -in- vincible — caused him to be "valiant in fight," and gave him the power "to turn to flight the armies of the aliens." And his men partook of this spirit. They had faith in Jackson, because Jack- son had faith in God. Believing in the righteousness and justice of our cause, he had entire confidence that God would vindicate the right, and in his own good time give us deliverance. He was, in a word, a christian hero, who counted himself but as an instru- ment in God's hands, to do the work to which he had appointed him ; and therefore, in the midst of his greatest achievements, his spirit was that of the inspired penman, when he said : "We got not this by our own sword, neither was it our own arm that saved us ; by thy right hand and thine arm, and the light of thy Countenance, because thou hadst favor unto us." "The Lord hath appeared for us: the Lord hath covered our heads, and made us to stand in the day of battle." "The Lord hath appeared for us: the Lord hath overthrown our enemies, and dashed in pieces those that rose up against us." "Therefore, not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be given the glory." And therefore it is, tha>t while we bless God that he has given us such a leader, and count it an evidence of his favor to our be- loved country, and an earnest of our ultimate success, that he has raised up for us such a champion for our causefwe turn from the 15 work he has achieved for our country, to contemplate the lesson wLich his life and death prescui — and we repeal, that bj the mysterious providence which has taken him away in the midst of his usefulness, God has raised up for the young soldier such a model of a true christian hero, as to teach, by an illustrious ex- ample, wherein true greatness lies, and to lead the young- men of this new Confederacy to honor that God whom it was the highest glory of this great and good man to have loved and served. Young men of the Virginia military institute ! Would you honor the memory of one who had added such lustre to this school, fol- low him as he followed Christ. Would you strive for earthly glory, remember that great as his fame is, he "counted all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord." Are you at times discouraged by the difficulties thrown around your paths — contemplate this manly youth, struggling with trials more serious than fall to the lot of most young men, and en- couraged by his resolute example — buckle on the armor for the conflicts of life. Do temptations assail you, remember that by his teaching, al! things are possible to a resolute will. Resist them as he would have resisted, and then the most precious monument that can be. reared to his memory by this institution, will be the record of those who have been led by his example to the service of him whom he recognized as the captain of his salvation. And then we shall all see, in living lights, not only the leadings of that providence by which this institution has been trained and fitted for the great struggle through which we are now passing, but by which its pre- cious young men have been made more useful here, and prepared for honor and glory and immortality hereafter. 17 Adjutant General's Office, Va. May 11th, 1863. Sir: By command of the governor, I have this day to perform the most painful duty of my official life, in announcing to you, and through you, to the faculty and cadets of the Virginia military institute, the death of the great and good, the heroic and illustrious Lieut. Genl. T. J. Jackson, at 15 minutes past 3 o'clock yesterday. This heavy bereavement, over which every true heart in the* Confederacy mourns with irrepressible sorrow, must fall, if possi- ble, with heavier force upon that noble state institution to which he came from the battle fields of Mexico, and where he gave to his native state the first years' service of his modest and unobtru- sive but public spirited life. It would be a senseless waste of ♦ words to attempt an eulogy upon this great among the greatest of the sons who have immortalized Virginia. To the corps of cadets of the Virginia military institute — what a legacy he has left you, what an example of all that is good and great and true in the character of a christian soldier. The governor directs that the highest funeral honors be paid to his memory ; that the customaiy outward badges of mourning be worn by all the officers and cadets of the institution. By command. W. H. KICHABDSON, Adj. Genl Ma j. Genl. F. H. Smith, Supt. Va. Mil. Institute. 18 Head Quarters V. M. Institute, May 13th, 1863. GENERAL ORDERS, No. 30. It is the painful duty of the superintendent to announce to the officers and cadets of this institution the death of their late asso- ciate and professor, Lieut. Gen. Thomas «!F: Jackson. He died at Guinea's Station, Caroline County, Va., on the 10th instant, of pneumonia, after a short but violent illness, supervening upon the severe wounds received in the battle of Chancellorsville. A na- tion mourns the loss of General Jackson. First in the hearts of the brave men he has so often led to victory, there is not a home in the Southern Confederacy that will not feel the loss, and lament it as a great national calamity. But our loss is distinctive. He was peculiarly our own. He came to us, in 1851, a lieut. and brevet major of artillery from the army of the late United States, upon the unanimous appointment of the board of visitors, as pro- fessor of natural and experimental philosophy, and instructor of artillery. Here he labored with scrupulous fidelity for ten years in the duties of these important offices. Here he became a sol- dier of the cross, and as an humble, conscientious and useful christian man, he established the character which has developed into the world-renowned christian hero. On the 21st of April 1861, upon the order of his Excellency Governor Letcher, he left the institute, in command of the corps of cadets for Camp Lee, Richmond, for service in the defence of his state and country ; and he has never known a day of rest un- til called by divine command to cease from his labors. The military career of Genl. Jackson fills' the most brilliant and momentous page in the history of our country, and in the achievements of our arms, and he stands forth a colossal figure in this war for our independence. His country now returns him to us, not as he was when he left us. His spirit has gone to God who gave it — his mutilated body comes back to us — to his home — 19 to be laid by us in the tomb. Reverently and affectionately we will discharge this last solemn duty — And "Tho' his earthly suu is set, ht shall linear round us yet, Bright — raiiiant— ': Yonng gentlemen of the corps of cadets : The memory of neral Jackson is very precious to yon. You know how faithfnrly, how conscientiously he discharged every duty. You know that he was -emphatically a man of God, and that christian principle impressed every act of his life. You know how he sustained the honor of our arms when he commanded at Harpers Ferry — how gallantly he repulsed Patterson at Hainesvilk — the invincible stand he made with his Stonewall brigade at M You know the brilliant series of successes and victories which immor- talized his Valley campaign — for many of you were under his standard at McDowell, and pursued the discomfited Milroy Schenck to Franklin. You know his rapid march to the Chick- ahominy — how he turned the flank of McCleUan at Gaines' mill — his subsequent victory over Pope at Cedar mountain — the part he bore in the great victory at Second Manassas— his investment and capture of Harpers Ferry — his rapid march and great conflict at Sharpsborg — and when his last conflict was passed, the tribute of the magnanimous Lee, who would gladly have Buffered in his own person, could he, by that sac;- e saved General Jackson, and to whom alone, under God, he gave the whole glory of the. great victory at Chancellorsville. Surely tl institute has a precious inheritance in the memory of General Jackson. His work is finished. God gave him to us and to his country. He fitted him for his work; and who done, he called him to himself. Submissive to the will of his Heavenly Father, it maybe said of him, that while in every heart there ma^be some murmuring, his will was to do and svjfcr the will of God. Reverence the memory of such a man as General Jackson. Imitate his virtues, and here over his lifeless remains, reverently dedicate your service and your life if need be, — in defence of that cause so dear to his heart — the cause for which he fought and bled — the cause in which he died. 20 Let the Cadet battery, which he so long commanded, honor his memory by half hour guns to-morrow, from sunrise to sunset, under the direction of the commandant of cadets. Let his lecture room be draped in mourning for the period of six months. Let the officers and cadets of the institute wear the usual badge of mourning for the period of thirty days ; and it is respectfully recommended to the alumni of the institution to unite in this last tribute of respect to the memory of their late Professor. All duties will be suspended to-morrow. By command of Maj. Gen. Smith. A. GOVAN HILL, A. A. V. M. I 21 Extract from the Report of the Superintendent— June 22, 1663. DEATH OF LIEUT. 'GEN. THOMAS J. JACKSON, Professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy. The progress of the war which our vandal foes are waging upon us with such savage ferocity, continues to swell the list of the alumni and ex-cadets of this institution who have fallen in the battles of the country. I append a list of the names of those who have been killed or died in service, and also of those who have been wounded in battle. This list shows at what costly sacrifice the Virginia military institute is returning to the state its debt of gratitude. ■ 3 m TO 4k a s o 30 1 a "o O O o 2 O CO a | cs O P B "5 i - as > E - < O EH Hilled and died, l 18 8 4 22 20 13 96 Wounded, 3 18 14 11 19 20 - ' Total, 4 36 22 15 41 40 13 171 This table, from the nature of the case, is doubtless very in- complete, as no returns have been received from the army of the Mississippi and that of the Trans-Mississippi. But this institution has met with an irreparable loss in the re- moval of one of its most honored professors, while his death has covered the nation with sorrow and mourning. Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, professor of natural and experimental philosophy, after having been severely wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville. died at Guiney Station on the 10th day of May, of pneumonia. His remains having been brought back to the institute by the order of the governor, were received and buried with military honors. 22 The military escort was commanded by the commandant of cadets, Maj. Scott Ship, one of his former pupils. It was composed of a regiment" of infantry, of which the corps of cadets constituted eight companies, one company composed of detached members of the Stonewall brigade, and one company of convalescent soldiers from the hospital. The Cadet battery, whicli he had so long command- ed, and which constituted a part of the original Stonewall bri- gade, serving with him at First Manassas, was the artillery escort. A squadron of cavalry of Sweeney's battalion, Jenkins' command, many of the members being from General Jackson's native sec- tion, opportunely arrived in Lexington in time to form the cavalry escort, and thus complete the military honors provided for an offi- cer of his rank by the Regulations. The body was borne on a caisson of the Cadet battery, drawn by four horses, and led by ser- vants of the institute, acting as grooms- I communicate herewith the orders from the adjutant general and from these head quarters, announcing this great calamity to the officers and cadets of this institution. As appropriate to the . relations sustained by Gen. Jackson to this institution, and the brilliant military career which lias added such lustre to his name and to his country, I have prepared an address, commemorative and illustrative of his' life and character, which I propose to deliver to the corps of cadets, in the presence of the board of visitors, on some appropriate evening of the week. I deemed it my duty to specially detail one of the professors* Lt. Col. James W. Massie, to escort Mrs. Jackson to her home in North Carolina. In this connection, it is proper that I should state what is al- ready known to the board of visitors, that when the war broke out every professor and assistant professor of the institution en- tered the military service, in the various departments of duty to which they were called,' and continued in the discharge of these duties until required to resume their special duties here, by the order of the governor and board of visitors, upon the reopening of the school in January 1862. 23 The board of visitors responds, with mournful satisfaction, to the suggestions and observances of the institute in honor of the memory of the lamented Thomas J. Jackson. The superintend- ent, both in his annual report and in his discourse to the assembled cadets, evinced the affection and esteem with which he was cherished by the brethren of the faculty, and paid a just tribute to the lofty character and heroic services of the illustrious de- ceased. It was fit that the public lamentation should find its most touching expression at the institute, whose reputation as a profes- sor he had contributed to extend, and from which he had gone forth to fight his country's battles, to return again to his academic labors, after the enemy had been expelled and subdued. The death of Lt. Gen. Jackson was deplored as a personal bereavement by the army, and smote the confederate heart with the weight of an unconsolable sorrow. Such was his varied expe- rience, and in so true a sense was he a philosopher, hero and christian, that there is not a trial or emergency, of military or even civil life, for which due provision may not be derived from an appeal to his example ; nor any position of distinction or influence to which his example does not furnish incentives to aspire. He was taken away m the nine and thirtieth year of his age, "hav- ing so mucli dispatched the true business of life, that the eldest rarely attained to his immense knowledge, and the youngest enter •not into the world with more innoceucy. "Whosoever leads. such a life, needs be the less anxious upon how short warning it is taken from him." Resolved, that the chair of natural and experimental philoso- phy, so long and honorably filled by Lt. Gen. T. J. Jackson, be hereafter designated by the name of its first and illustrious pro- fessor. Hollinger Corp. P H8.5