Posted on 02/21/2003 12:32:15 PM PST by Jael
Here is a snippet from Hugh White's letter to his father after the Manassas battle - this dated July 23, 1861.
My dear Father,
I wrote you yesterday that you might know of our safety. You will hear more of the particulars of the battle of the 2st than I have time now to give. Our Company has suffered sadly......Who thought that our ranks would thus be thinned and so many be hurried into eternity? Where are their souls? This thought often perplexes and saddens me. I pray that I may hereafter be far more zealous in seeking to bring sinners to Christ, that if they die, they may only sleep in Him. I wish that I was with you to join in ascribing praise and glory to the good providence which preserved me in such danger. Everyone in the fight was in imminent peril. Balls flew fast around and over us, and many of our brave comrades fell at our side. But brother James and I, though separated for awhile during the first charge, soon met again and side by side we passed through the remaining scenes of the day. We are unhurt. Though our loss has been great, the field is ours. The enemy was put to flight and chased for miles. .......They fought bravely - for their regulars and best soldiers were engaged. But they could not stand the charge of bayonets. Every time we advanced, they fell back. Who would not praise God for thus overthrowing those, who, on His Holy day, sought to execute their wicked purpose to crush those who sought to defend their liberties and their home. It was an awful Sabbath.
How often I long to be with you, enjoying the privileges of the Sabbath. Even one hour would have been delightful. But God ordered otherwise. We are all in His Hands. He casts down and He keeps alive. May He speedily crown our cause with complete success! If it please Him, may I again see my father and mother in peace and spend my life in preaching His Gospel. The scenes in which I am now engaged are very sad; yet the taste of victory, though bought by precious blood, is sweet. But to preach would be far better. .......But surely God has spared us in this protracted and bloody battle, as He has, He can spare us in the future. There was an incessant roar of cannon and musketry for over eight hours. The hardest fighting was from eleven to four o'clock. We were in this........I hope to see you again in peace. But if we do not meet here again, we have a home in heaven.
Hugh
The recent disasters, especially that at Fort Donaldson, have not discouraged but aroused the Army, and they are more anxious to do something to redeem our cause than ever. I am glad that the same effect has been produced among the people, many of whom should have been in the army long ago. No man ought to permit himself to be drafted. It is my intention now to remain in the army. Although you are not yet 17 years of age, I wish you could be here. But, T, I am afraid to see your life in so much danger. I should tremble far more for you than for myself. If I am killed, I have a good hope, that I should at once enter heaven, and be happy forever. This hope cheers and animates me at all times...so that while death walks on every side, no tormenting fears arise. But alas! How different with those who, unprepared for death, meet it on the field of battle. I have heard such men cry to mercy in the midst of the battle, when the cries seemed louder than the roar of the cannon, and certainly pierced the heart with keener anguish.
How then could I endure to see you placed in danger of such a fate? Will you then, at once, seek preparation for death, so that whether it meets you at home, with everything to promote your bodily comfort, or amid the horrid carnage of the battlefield, it will be without terror? Why not, at once, do so? Why wait one day, one hour longer? Everything calsl you to decide for God and against sin. Every day you live out of Christ sin is binding you more and more firmly in its fetters, and may thus hold you as its captive forever. I beseech you, therefore, to break off from every form of sin. Tear yourself away from it by fleeing at once to Jesus Christ, the only Savior from sin and death. Do you never feel anxious to be a Christian? When you sit in your room at night, with your Bible at your side, does something never whisper to you----open, read, obey this book, that you may be happy forever? I know it does. This is the Spirit of God speaking to you. Heed its voice---search the Scriptures, and you shall find eternal life. I wish I could write more to you, but I cannot today. My prayers follow you day and night. But even this will avail nothing if you will persist in rejecting the Savior. The question of life and death, salvation or eternal destruction, must be decided by yourself. The only reason why sinners are lost, is that they "will not come to Christ that He may give them life." It is their own fault. How will you decide? Decide at once for Christ, I beseech you!
Your fond brother,
Hugh
More letters of Hugh exist regarding the battles of that year. His last letter to his father was dated August 24, 1862, from the Banks of the Rappahannock.
My dear father,
You are al no doubt anxious to hear from T and myself. We have not had another battle though there has been some sharp skirmishing, and the roar of artillery has been almost incessant for several days past. We have moved some distance up the banks of the Rappahannock each day, halting occasionally to throw shells at the enemy and receive some from them. ......General Stuart has just captured 300 prisoners, destroyed a large number of Yankee wagons, bringing off the horses, and found the trunks of General Pope and thirt other officers at a railroad station. ......T. is now behind the Army, sick with jaundice. He is able to go about and I have just heard that he is with a citizen making his way toward Gordonsville. He has the surgeon's permission. I deeply regret that I did not see him again and furnish him with more money before he left. He must be transferred to the Cavalry because he cannot stand the Infantry service.
The order has just come to cook 3 days rations, and it is probable that we shall move forward in the morning but no one knows.
This has been very little like the Sabbath....The busy preparations for tomorrow prevent any enjoyment of the Sabbath. However, Dr. Stiles is to preach to the Brigade this afternoon, and I hope to hear him. It requires a great struggle to keep the busy scenes around me from driving all devotion from my heart. They ought to have a contrary effect. I ought now more than ever seek my strength, my happiness, my allin God. How can I live without Him? With Him no storm can disturb my peace, no danger can come nigh, no harm can befall me which will not do me good.
I feel greatly relieved at T's absence. I hope he may not return until the shock of battle I see approaching is past. ....God will give us victory, and enable us to crush the infamous man who now leads "The Grand Army of the Glorious Union." When Lincoln presides, with Halleck as Military Chief at Washington and Pope is the first commander in the field - how can they triumph over our leaders who are as distinguished for their piety as they are for their bravery and skill?
I send you three hundred dollars. Of this I wish you appropriate one hundred dollars for T's outfit for the Calvary, one hundred be held subject to my order, and one hundred as a donation to the Confederate States Bible Society and our Committee for the publication of religious tracts and Books.
Give my warmest love to all at home. You are constantly in my mind, firmly engraved upon my heart. Write when you can to your devoted son.
Hugh
On August 25th, 1862, Captain Hugh White's company was part of the 27,000 man army that Jackson led in a great semi-circle west to the Shenandoah Valley and then east through Manassas Gap and on to Bristow Station and Manassas Junction, a two day march of over 50 miles. The stage was set for the second great battle of Manassas. There was hard fighting August 27th and 28th. But the real battle began on August 29th. On that day, the 4th Virginia Infantry was able to pur in line only 180 men, 76 of whom became casualties. Colonel W.T. Poague in his memoirs tells of attending a prayer meeting that evening which was led by Captain Hugh White. The next day, August 30th, 1862, there were 21 more casualties in the 4th Virginia, including that of Captain Hugh Augustus White. The battle was a victory for the Confederate forces. But, as reported by Dr. James Robertson who wrote a history of the 4th Virginia Infantry, "The western Virginia regiments never fully recovered from a bitterly contested struggle."
Here is a letter from General Stonewall Jackson to Dr. W. S. White, father of three sons fighting for the Confederacy but moreso, fighting for freedom from oppression. Dr. White was the pastor at the Lexington Presbyterian Church where Stonewall Jackson had met him and they had become friends. Both men were concerned with the state of mens' souls as well as with the state of the war in which they found themselves. General Jackson, for one thing, was involved with Dr. White in the establishment of Sunday schools for "colored" children. (the language of the time). One letter is from a soldier who reports Jackson - in the heat of battle preparations - rode up beside him and commented on these Sunday Schools with good hopes of their continuance and effect.
Below is a snippet from General Jackson's letter to Dr. W.S. White, dated March 9, 1863.
My Dear Pastor,
Your letter of the 5th inst. was handed me yesterday. I am much obliged to you for it and thankful to God and to yourself for the deep interest you take in the Army. I felt that if you were a young man that you would delight to labor in the Army. Though your health will not admit of such constant labor yet I trust that you will find it convenient to come and preach a few sermons. I do not feel that I can accurately express by letter the inducements that exist for Christian labor among our troops. If you could come and spenda few days and see for yourself, I believe that good would be accomplished not only by our labors here but by the impressions which you would carry away.
(the next section is about General Jackson seeking more Ministers of the Gospel to be sent to his Army. Evidently Dr. White wanted Gen. Jackson to so state publicly his desires but the General was hesitant because, "This I shrink from doing because it looks like presumption in me to come before the general public and even intimate what course I think should be pursued by the church (people of God). I have had so little experience in church matters as to make it very proper it appears to me to keep quiet beyond the expression of my views to friends. Whilst I feel that this is the proper course for me to pursue and the one which is congenial to my feelings, yet if you and Col. Preston after prayerful consultation are of the opinion that my name in connection with my wishes will be the means of doing good, I do not desire any sensibility that I may have to be a drawback in the way of doing good. I desire myself and all that I have to be dedicated to the service of God. .....
My views are summed up in a few words which are these. Each Christian branch of the church should send into the Army some of its most prominent ministers who are distinguished for their piety, talents, and zeal and that such ministers should labor to produce concert of action among Chaplains and Christians in the Army. These ministers should give special attention to preaching to regiments which are wihout chaplains, and induce them to take steps to get chaplains, to let the regiments name the denominations from which they desire chaplains selected and trhen to see that suitable chaplains are secured.A bad selection of a chaplain may prove a curse instead of a blessing. If a few prominent ministers thus connected with each Army would corially cooperate, I believe that glorious fruits would be the results.......I would like to see no question asked in the Army as to what denomination a chaplain belongs; but let the question be does he preach the Gospel. The neglect of the spiritual interests in the Army may be partially seen from the fact that not half of my regiment have chaplains. .....Give my love to Mrs. White ......
Very truly yours,
Your friend,
T.J. Jackson
Movie as a whole was OK but couldn't they have edited out that blabbermouth, Mrs. Chamberlain? Her scene kept going on and on and on and on and...
Clearly, the Civil War is too large a topic to try to capture in any one film, or even any three films (as Maxwell is planning a third and final film in his trilogy). I can see how some critics felt that this is a film for the Civil War buff, as some knowledge of the events leading up to the war, and the sequence of battles, was necessary to fill in the gaps in the film.
It is a challenge to do a film about the Civil War that is fair to both sides, but this film, I thought, achieved it. Aside from the issues leading up to cessession and the war, clearly, the emphasis of the film were the main characters. Robert Duvall is one of my favorite actors, and he was fabulous in the role of Lee. But the characterization of Thomas Jackson was awe inspiring. I teared-up three times during the film (which says a lot, because I don't tear up at films, as a rule): when Jackson prayed on behalf of his dying fellow-officer ("I'll have faith enough for the both of us..."), when he wept for the loss of the little girl, Jane, who befriended him in Fredericksburg, and, naturally, as he died in a fever-induced delirium, calling out orders to A.P. Hill, and then seeing the "green grass under the trees" just across the river. It would take a cynical person, or a cold-hearted one, not to be moved by the honor, dignity, faith, tenderness, and courage portrayed by the performace of the actor who played Jackson; and the fact that the events portrayed were actually true to history and to the man made it all the more impressive and powerful. In this regard, Maxwell is to be congratulated for doing a historical film without promoting an agenda, allowing, for the most part, history to speak for itself.
I've never been sympathetic to the Southern "cause" in the Civil War (as a personal note, my ancestors lived in Canada at the time of the Civil War, but two of my distant relatives served in the Union army, one with the Maine militia, the other serving with the militia from Connecticut), but I was impressed by the honor of the men who led their brothers in their cause. Lee and Jackson were great leaders, great Virginians, and great Americans.
Care to elaborate?
And I am still nearly speechless and completely awed -- the day after seeing Gods and Generals. A wonderful review that says it all.
I've never seen a better performance and interpretation of a historical hero than that of Stephen Lang as General Stonewall Jackson.
I am somewhat of a collector of Civil War era documents and books written in and by witnesses with first hand accounts, and this movie follows as close as I imagine can be done within the restraints of time and substance. This film stuck to the true development of the actual characters they portrayed as anything I have documenting the facts in real time. We were especially shocked to hear the leaders describe their reasons which motivated them to fight with such conviction, and inspiration, divine and otherwise, which contradicts the prevailing political thought portrayed in today's sanitized view of history.
I didn't think I would ever say this but, I would recommend this movie to everyone, with the belief they will join me in welcoming a new breed of non-PC film making as we could expect out of Hollywood. This movie wasn't at all too long, as the critics claim, it wouldn't have pleased them if it was only 10 minutes of the true facts about the quality of the leaders in the Confederacy.
However, I couldn't help but think that we would have had to cross a liberal picket line to see this movie if Mel Gibson or any conservative would have dared dispense the truth about the integrity of the southern cause and take on the PC whores and media. Only Ted Turner could get this kind of pass, just as Clinton did with welfare reform.
It also revealed more clearly than any other film the perspective of the south, that they had been invaded by the north, their placement of state over union, and their belief that God was on their side of the conflict. They prayed for God's will as well as those in the north........and it was done, even though it was not what they prayed that it would be. God clearly wanted the evil of slavery to end, and desired that this nation be united in order to accomplish great things in the next century, and I believe in this one......
Did it move me as much as Chariots of Fire, or Gettysburg (or The Two Towers)? Probably not.......but that perhaps was because I was preoccupied with the horror of sending one's son to war.
If you haven't seen it yet.....GO.
Thank you so much for sharing this history from your family and our country with us. Perhaps some of our troops who frequent FR will read your posts and find encouragment.
Stonewall was a GREAT man and a better Christian than i'll ever be.
FRee dixie,sw
FRee dixie,sw
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