The Greatest General Of All Time - For Jesus Christ

The desire by General Stonewall Jackson for chaplains to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen in the following quote:

"On the first of March, Rev. Mr. Lacy, a minister of the Presbyterian church, came, on General Jackson's invitation, to his head-quarters, to begin the species of labors described in the above letter. The Government, after a time, commissioned him as an army chaplain, without assigning him to a particular regiment; an exceptional act of courtesy accorded to General Jackson's high character and express request. In his letter to his other friends, he had modestly expressed his inexperience of ecclesiastical affairs, .and his intention to commit the details of the plan of evangelical labors in the army to the advice of the clergyman, after Mr. Lacy had examined his ground. But the scheme adopted was that which the General had entertained in his own mind in the beginning of the campaign of 1862, and which, indeed, he had then attempted to effect. The exacting nature of the campaign, and the failure to enjoy at that time the assistance upon which he relied for its execution, had caused its postponement. But it was his design, which was now ill substance resumed. His objects were three: to supply regiments destitute of chaplains with a partial substitute in the shape of the itinerant labors of efficient ministers; to supply a channel of intercourse between the army and the bodies of clergy of different denominations, through which the latter might learn the wants of the former, and to give to the labors of the chaplains and other ministers in the army, the unity and impulse of an ecclesiastical organization within their own peculiar field. His chaplain was intended by him to be ad exemplar, who, he hoped, would be followed by many others from among the most efficient preachers of all churches, until they should be brought into vital sympathy with the army."

The desire by General Stonewall Jackson for his men to hear the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen in the following quote:

"One of the measures adopted was the preaching of the gospel at the head-quarters of General Jackson, and under his immediate countenance, every Sabbath, while the troops were in their camps. For this end, a place in the open field was prepared, near Hamilton's crossing, (to which General Jackson removed his quarters soon after,) with rude seats and a temporary pulpit, where public worship was held in the open air. The example of so famous a warrior, always potent among soldiers when sustained by official rank, the curiosity to see him and the galaxy of celebrities who came to worship with him, the eloquence of the preachers, and the purer motives which the great religious. awakening now began to propagate far and wide, soon drew a vast congregation to this spot on the Sabbath days. From hundreds it grew to thousands, until the assemblage surrounded the preacher in a compact mass, as far as his voice could be distinctly heard. Here, on a bright, Sabbath in the spring, might be seen the stately head of the Commander-in-Chief, with a crowd of Generals, whose names had been borne by fame across the ocean, and of legislators and statesmen, bowed along with the multitude of private soldiers, in divine worship; while the solemn and tender wave of sacred emotion subdued the great and the unknown alike before it. At these scenes, which were so directly produced by his instrumentality, General Jackson was the most unobtrusive assistant. Seated in some retired spot amidst the private soldiers, he listened to the worship and the preaching' with an edifying attention, and watched the power of the truth upon the great congregation, with a glow of elevated and tender delight. Never, since the days when Whitefield preached to the mingled crowd of peers and beggars in Moorfields, has the sky looked down upon a more imposing worship.

The desire by General Stonewall Jackson for temporary places of worship and for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is seen in the following quote:Another enterprise which marked the evangelical labors of this winter was the building of temporary chapels by the men for their own worship. Two or three contiguous regiments usually concurred in the work. Tall trees were cut down, and brought to the spot by the teams of the Quartermasters, and built into walls of logs. Chimneys were built of the rude material, and plastered with clay, whence the huge fires and the torches of resinous pine, diffused a ruddy glow of warmth and light. The structure was roofed with clapboards, and seated with rude benches formed from the split bodies of trees. The Stonewall Brigade was the first to begin this work, to General Jackson's great delight. No sooner had they completed their own huts, than they set to work, and by a multitude or willing hands, completed their church in a few days. The next Sabbath it was formally dedicated to the worship of God"; and during the winter, was constantly occupied in turn by the chaplains of the several regiments. During the week, frequent meetings for prayer, and bible classes, were held here by torchlight, and the men were encouraged to expend their leisure in the study of the scriptures, and in sacred music, instead or the degrading amusements of the card-table. As this chapel was near the quarters of General Jackson, he often came to worship in it with his favorite brigade. Instead of affecting the chief seat in the synagogue, he delighted to sit among the rough, weather-beaten privates, and lay aside all official dignity to accompany them to the throne of grace on the common footing of worshippers. Their reverence for his person sometimes led them to leave a respectful distance between themselves and the seat he occupied; but he would never consent that any space should be thus lost, where so many were crowding to hear the word. As he saw them seeking seats elsewhere, he was accustomed to rise, and invite them by gesture to the vacancies near him; and was never so well satisfied as when he had an unkempt soldier touching 1is elbow on either hand, and all the room about him compactly filled. Then he was ready to address himself with his usual fixed attention to the services.

The desire by General Stonewall Jackson for the chaplains and evangelists to be organized into a temporary association to further the interest of "our common Christianity" is seen in the following quote:"The most important measure which he introduced was the weekly chaplains' meeting. This was a temporary association of all the chaplains and evangelists of his corps, who, on meeting, appointed one of their own number to preside as a chairman or moderator, and another as their secretary, and after joining in public worship, proceeded to consult upon the spiritual interests of their charges, to arrange and concert their labors, and to devise means for supplying the destitutions of the army. These counsels were a true evangelical union. By a common and silent consent, which bears high testimony to the cultivation and honor of these laborious men, all subjects of sectarian debate, were effectually excluded, and their deliberations were confined to the interests of our common Christianity. But it was also a high evidence of the general soundness of religious opinion in the Confederate States, that there was not a single regiment in the army, which showed a disposition to introduce a minister who did not belong to an evangelical and orthodox communion, as their chaplain, except one or two priests of the Romish Church. On the other hand, the office in the Federal army was as frequently filled by Universalists, and other erratic heretics, or by laymen who never preached, as by regular ministers of the gospel."

All above quoted from: Life and Campaigns of Lieutenant General Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson by Robert Lewis Dabney, Sprinkle Publications, 1893, Pages 648-651

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