My dear Maggie:And again,I am much obliged for your kind letter of the 19th, and for the arrangement respecting Amy and Emma (slaves owned by Jackson). Please have the kindness to go to Winny Buck's occasionally and see that Amy is well cared for, and that not only she, but also Emma, is well clothed. I am under special obligations for the religious instruction you have given Amy, and hope that it may be in your power to continue it. Remember me to her very kindly on the first opportunity, and say that I hope she has rich heavenly consolation. This evening I expect our own pastor (Dr. White) and Dr. McFarland, I will send some money by Dr. White for you to use as occasion may require for Amy and Emma, and I will so manage to keep a supply in the Rockbridge Bank, or elsewhere, subject to your order. . . .
Your affectionate friend,
T. J. Jackson.
My dear Maggie:More than once your kind and touching letter respecting the sainted Amy brought tears to my eyes. For several months before leaving home I was impressed with her great devotion to the cause of our beloved Redeemer. She was evidently ripening rapidly for a better world, where I hope that we, and the ransomed of the Lord, may be privileged to join her. I am very grateful to you for your Christian kindness to her. If the money I sent by Dr. White is not enough to meet the little demands connected with her funeral, please let me know how much more is required, and I will promptly attend to having it forwarded, I am much gratified to know that you gave her a decent burial, and that so many followed her remains to the grave. Though such numbers cannot affect the dead, yet such demonstrations of regard are gratifying to the living. . . .
Very affectionately yours,
T. J. Jackson
Ibid., pp 337-338.
Oh the humanity </sarcasm>
How tragic that such a man was blind to the evil he served when he could have done so much good in helping remove that evil. Had he stayed with the Union the Slavers' insurrection could have been ended earlier with the saving of hundreds of thousands of lives.
But Jackson's tragedy, like all tragic heroes, was that he was blind to the realities of the political world. Blindly following the path of destruction as surely as Oedipus did.