General Jackson is performing prodigies of valor in the
Valley; he has met the forces of Fremont and Shields, and whipped them in
detail. They fought at Cross Keys and Port Republic yesterday and to-day. I
must preserve his last dispatch, it is so characteristic:
Through God's blessing, the enemy, near
Port Republic, was this day routed, with the loss of six pieces of artillery.
T. J. Jackson,
Major-General
Commanding.
And now we are awaiting the casualties from the Valley. This
feeling of personal anxiety keeps us humble amid the flush of victory. What
news may not each mail bring us, of those as dear as our heart's blood? Each
telegram that is brought into the hospital makes me blind with apprehension,
until it passes me, and other countenances denote the same anxiety; but we dare
not say a word which may unnerve the patients; they are rejoicing amid their
pain and anguish over our victories. Poor fellows! dearly have they paid for
them, with the loss of limb, and other wounds more painful still. They want to
be cured that they may be on the field again. “Thank God,” said a man, with his
leg amputated, “that it was not my right arm, for then I could never have
fought again; as soon as this stump is well I shall join Stuart's cavalry; I can
ride with a wooden leg as well as a real one.”
The “Young Napoleon” does not seem to be dispirited by his
late reverses. The New York Herald acknowledges the defeat of the 31st,
but says they recovered their loss next day; but the whole tone of that and other
Northern papers proves that they know that their defeat was complete,
though they will not acknowledge it. They are marshalling their forces for
another “On to Richmond.” O God, to Thee, to Thee alone, do we look for
deliverance. Thou, who canst do all things, have mercy upon us and help us!
SOURCE: Judith W. McGuire, Diary of a Southern
Refugee, During the War, p. 120-1
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