William N. Pendleton to Alexander S. Pendleton, April 16, 1861

lexington, April 16, 1861.

My Dear Son, — As I may miss you, I leave this letter. Serious as is the state of things in the country, and imperative as may be the call of duty to brave everything in repelling wrong, —  at a day not far distant, — I am very clear that your duty now is to quiet your mind to the utmost, and to finish your course at the University. God, my dear son, indicates this for you in the circumstances of the case. It is all-important that you secure the advantages of the A.M. And I express it with all the emphasis of my judgment, and of my own concern alike for your happiness and for the interest we all have in your career, as my decided expectation that you will brace yourself for the full measure of effort that may be needed for your degree. Say not, my son, that you cannot command your faculties under the excitements of the time. Why, if you cannot bring mental agitation into subjection for so important a purpose when God directs, as I am sure He does, will you not be too much flurried for calm endurance in a hundred ways for the trying times we expect?

No, no, my son. Possess your soul in patience yet awhile. If we have real war, your time will come soon enough. Considerable delay will be unavoidable, and I still trust God may frustrate Lincoln's schemes. Much is to be done besides this movement of militia.

If it becomes clearly duty by and by, I will bid you go with my blessing, and looking up for heaven's grace to attend you. But now — if you come home — return immediately, and stand firmly in your lot at the University.

Your fond father,

W. N. Pendleton.

SOURCE: Susan Pendleton Lee, Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., p. 135-6

Diary of Margaret Junkin Preston: Friday, May 8, 1863

Today we hear that General Jackson's arm is amputated, and that he is wounded in the right hand. How singular that it should have been done through mistake by a volley from his own men! It happened at midnight, Saturday. Major Crutchfield is severely wounded by the same volley, and one of the staff instantly killed. How must our near neighbors the Pendletons feel tonight, knowing that it may be Sandy, as he is one of Jackson's staff! No relief still to the tormenting suspense which is hanging over almost every household. Not a letter yet from the army.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Preston Allan, The Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston, p. 164

Jackson’s Staff Officers.

Of those who served on the staff of General Jackson in the several staff departments and at various times, four fell in battle: Capt. James Keith Boswell, engineer officer, Fauquier County, fell at Chancellorsville; Col. Edward Willis, 12th Georgia Infantry, Savannah, Ga., fell at Cold Harbor; Lieut. Col. A. S. Pendleton, A. A. G., Lexington, Va., fell at Fisher’s Hill; Col. Stapleton Crutchfield, chief of artillery of the Virginia Military Institute, fell on retreat from Petersburg.

At the beginning of the war, when Jackson went to Harper’s Ferry, there came to his aid from the V. M. I. Col. J. T. L. Preston, Prof. James Massie, Col. Alfred Jackson, Col. Stapleton Crutchfield.

To these were added Maj. John Harman, chief quartermaster; Maj. W. Hawkes, chief commissary; Dr. Hunter McGuire, medical director; Capt. George Junkin, A. D. C.; Maj. Jed. Hotchkiss, topographical engineer.

And the following came from time to time: Major Bier, ordnance; Capt. J. M. Garnett, ordnance; Col. William Allan; Colonel Snead, assistant inspector general; Maj. H. K. Douglas, inspector general; Capt. W. Wilbourne, chief of signal officers; Maj. D. B. Bridgforth, provost marshal; Maj. R. L. Dabney, A. A. S.; Lieut. Col. C. J. Falkner, A. A. S.; Capt. J. P. Smith, A. D. C., now the sole surviving member of the staff.

SOURCE: Confederate Veteran, Volume 28, No. 2, February 1920, p. 48

Lieutenant-Colonel John T. L. Preston to Margaret Junkin Preston, December 5, 1861

Headquarters, Valley District,

Winchester, Dec. 5th, 1861.

(This is the regular heading to all documents that we send out.)

Two letter in one day! This is getting worse instead of better. I do not think that while I was a crane, musing, crabbing, and spreading the pinions of fancy, I ever perpetrated more than one epistle in 24 hours.  . . . But now that Jim Lewis is going home on furlough, I cannot refrain from scribbling again. White people here have no chance of getting a furlough; it is only our colored friends who can escape for a time the evils of war. I had but time to gobble up your letter this morning before I wrote, but to-night I have enjoyed it as an epicure ought to eat and be thankful for a dainty. Speaking of dainties, we had for supper to-night two pheasants and some partridges; that will do pretty well, I should say! In fact we live very well. Our mess is: the General and myself; Alfred Jackson, Sandy Pendleton, and George Junkin; very smart fellows all of them (Sandy most uncommonly so), and as nice as can be, and full of gayety. We have a merry table; I as much a boy as any of them, and Jackson grave as a signpost, till something chances to overcome him, and then he breaks out into a laugh so awkward that it is manifest he has never laughed enough to learn how. He is a most simple-hearted man. He said to me the other day, “Do you know that the thing which has most interested and pleased me to-day, is to learn by a letter from Mr. Samuel Campbell that my lot is well set in grass.” This would make Clark laugh, that any one should think so much of such a rocky bit of land! Don't repeat this; it would seem as if I were laughing at the General. Jackson said to me last night, that he would much rather be at the Institute than in the army, and seemed to think fortunate those of us who are to go back. I sleep in the same room with the young men. Jackson invited me to share his room,  . . . but I know that privacy would be more agreeable to him. Besides, I have a notion that he goes to his room many times a day for special prayer. As to myself, you know anything will do for me and  . . . any place to sleep will answer very well. I sleep on what they call a stretcher, a military cot, with my overcoat and cape under my head for a pillow. I sleep soundly and get up early. . . . Well, I have written you an objective letter, and I enclose you a sort of diary that I keep on my business table, to help my indifferent memory. I do so many and such various things that I jot them down to prevent my forgetting. This is the diary of one day, and gives you a sample of my occupations; you must allow that it would take up a good deal of time to fill up these outlines! Hardly room left to say — I love you!

Your Husband.

SOURCE: Elizabeth Preston Allan, The Life and Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston, p. 122-3

Major-General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, January 17, 1863

January 17th.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of receiving a letter from my esposita four days after it was written. Doesn't it look as if Confederate mails are better than United States mails? Don't you remember how long it took for letters to come from Charlotte to Lexington under the old regime? I derive an additional pleasure in reading a letter from the conviction that it has not travelled on the Sabbath. How delightful will be our heavenly home, where everything is sanctified!  . . . I am gratified at hearing that you have commenced disciplining the baby. Now be careful, and don't let her conquer you. She must not be permitted to have that will of her own, of which you speak. How I would love to see the little darling, whom I love so tenderly, though I have never seen her; and if the war were only over, I tell you, I would hurry down to North Carolina to see my wife and baby. I have much work to do. Lieutenant-Colonel Faulkner is of great service to me in making out my reports. Since he is my senior adjutant-general, Pendleton is promoted to a majority, and is the junior adjutant-general. Major Bier, my chief of ordnance, has been ordered to Charleston, and Captain William Allan, of Winchester, is his successor. Colonel Smeade is my inspector-general, so you must not complain of my not writing to you about my staff. I regret to see our Winchester friends again in the hands of the enemy. I trust that, in answer to prayer, our country will soon be blessed with peace. If we were only that obedient people that we should be, I would, with increased confidence, look for a speedy termination of hostilities. Let us pray more and live more to the glory of God.  . . . I am still thinking and thinking about that baby, and do want to see her. Can't you send her to me by express? There is an express line all the way to Guiney's. I am glad to hear that she sleeps well at night, and doesn't disturb her mother. But it would be better not to call her a cherub; no earthly being is such. I am also gratified that Hetty is doing well. Remember me to her, and tell her that, as I didn't give her a present last Christmas, I intend giving her two next.  . . . Don't you accuse my baby of not being brave. I do hope she will get over her fear of strangers. If, before strangers take her, you would give them something to please her, and thus make her have pleasant associations with them, and seeing them frequently, I trust she would lose her timidity. It is gratifying that she is growing so well, and I am thankful she is so bright and knowing. I do wish I could see her funny little ways, and hear her “squeal out with delight” at seeing the little chickens. I am sometimes afraid that you will make such an idol of that baby that God will take her from us. Are you not afraid of it? Kiss her for her father.

I have this morning received two presents — a pair of gauntlets from near the Potomac, and another beautiful pair from Mrs. Preston Trotter, of Brownsburg. A kind gentleman, Mr. Stephens, of Nelson County, sent me a barrel of select pippins.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 413-4

Major-General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, November 4, 1861

November 4, 1861

This morning I received orders to proceed to Winchester. I am assigned to the command of the military district of the Northern frontier, between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghany Mountains, and I hope to have my little dove with me this winter. How do you like the programme? I trust I may be able to send for you after I get settled. I don't expect much sleep to-night, as my desire is to travel all night, if necessary, for the purpose of reaching Winchester before day to-morrow. My trust is in God for the defence of that country [the Valley]. I shall have great labor to perform, but, through the blessing of our ever-kind Heavenly Father, I trust that He will enable me to accomplish it. Colonel Preston and Sandy Pendleton go with me.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 200

Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, August 5, 1861

August 5th.

And so you think the papers ought to say more about your husband! My brigade is not a brigade of newspaper correspondents. I know that the First Brigade was the first to meet and pass our retreating forces — to push on with no other aid than the smiles of God; to boldly take its position with the artillery that was under my command — to arrest the victorious foe in his onward progress — to hold him in check until reinforcements arrived — and finally to charge bayonets, and, thus advancing, pierce the enemy's centre. I am well satisfied with what it did, and so are my generals, Johnston and Beauregard. It is not to be expected that I should receive the credit that Generals Beauregard and Johnston would, because I was under them; but I am thankful to my ever-kind Heavenly Father that He makes me content to await His own good time and pleasure for commendation — knowing that all things work together for my good. If my brigade can always play so important and useful a part as it did in the last battle, I trust I shall ever be most grateful. As you think the papers do not notice me enough, I send a specimen, which you will see from the upper part of the paper is a leader. My darling, never distrust our God, who doeth all things well. In due time He will make manifest all His pleasure, which is all His people should desire. You must not be concerned at seeing other parts of the army lauded, and my brigade not mentioned. “Truth is mighty and will prevail.” When the official reports are published, if not before, I expect to see justice done this noble body of patriots. My command consists of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Twenty-seventh, and Thirty-third regiments of Virginia Volunteers, commanded respectively by Colonels James W. Allen, James F. Preston, Kenton Harper, W. W. Gordon, and A. C. Cummings; and, in addition, we have Colonel Pendleton's Battery. My staff-officers are Lieutenant-colonel Francis B. Jones, acting adjutant-general; Lieutenant-colonel J. W. Massie, aide; Lieutenant A. S. Pendleton, ordnance officer; Captain John A. Harman, quartermaster; and Captain W. J. Hawkes, commissary.

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 179-81

Colonel Thomas J. Jackson to Mary Anna Morrison Jackson, July 4, 1861

DARKESVILLE, July 4th.

My precious darling, day before yesterday I learned that the enemy had crossed the Potomac and were advancing upon me. I immediately ordered my command under arms, and gave such instructions as I desired to have carried out until I should be heard from again, and with Captain Pendleton's Battery and one regiment of Virginia volunteers advanced to meet the Federal troops. After proceeding to the locality which had been indicated as occupied by them, and ascertaining the position of their advance, I made the necessary movement for bringing a small part of my force into action. Soon the firing commenced, and the advance of the enemy was driven back. They again advanced, and were repulsed. My men got possession of a house and barn, which gave them a covered position and an effective fire; but finding that the enemy were endeavoring to get in my rear and that my men were being endangered, I gave the order to their colonel that, if pressed, he must fall back. He obeyed, and fell back. The artillery of the foe opened upon me, and I directed Captain Pendleton to take a favorable position in rear and return their fire with one gun. His first ball cleared the road, which was occupied by the enemy.¹ I still continued to fall back, checking the enemy when it became necessary, so as to give time for my baggage to get into column at camp before I should arrive there, as one of my objects in advancing was to keep the enemy from reaching my camp before my wagons could get out of the way. Besides my cavalry, I had only one regiment engaged, and one cannon, though I had ordered up two other regiments, so as to use them if necessary. My cannon fired only eight times, while the enemy fired about thirty-five times; but the first fire of Captain Pendleton's Battery was probably worth more than all of theirs. I desired, as far as practicable, to save my ammunition. My orders from General Johnston required me to retreat in the event of the advance in force of the enemy, so as soon as I ascertained that he was in force I obeyed my instructions. I had twelve wounded and thirteen killed and missing. My cavalry took forty-nine prisoners. A number of the enemy were killed, but I do not know how many. As I obeyed my orders, and fell back, after ascertaining that the Federals were in force, the killed of the enemy did not fall into our hands. My officers and men behaved beautifully, and were anxious for a battle, this being only a skirmish.² I wrote out my official report last night, and think General Johnston forwarded it to Richmond. This morning one of his staff-officers told me that the general had recommended me for a brigadier-general. I am very thankful that an ever-kind Providence made me an instrument in carrying out General Johnston's orders so successfully. . . . The enemy are celebrating the 4th of July in Martinsburg, but we are not observing the day.

__________

¹ It is said that, before firing this first ball upon the enemy, the reverend officer lifted his eyes to heaven and uttered the prayer, "Lord, have mercy upon their souls!”

² The affair was known as that of “Falling Waters.”

SOURCE: Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 164-6