In what was General Robert E. Lee’s
greatest campaign victory, that of Chancellorsville, Virginia, in the spring of
1863, was also his greatest loss, for it was in that battle that he lost the
services of General Thomas Jonathan Jackson, better known as Stonewall Jackson.
Wounded several times in the early
hours of May 2, Jackson was shot by his own men who thought that the small
group on horseback were Federal cavalry. His arm was amputated back at the
field hospital. Taken by wagon to Guinea Station, he was to eventually contract
pneumonia and die. But before he died, he had this conversation with his
Presbyterian chaplain, Rev. Lacy:
“You see me severely wounded, but not
depressed, not unhappy. I believe it has been done according to God’s holy
will, and I acquiesce entirely in it. You may think it strange, but you never
saw me more perfectly contented than I am today; for I am sure that my Heavenly
Father designs this affliction for my good. I am perfectly satisfied that,
either in this life, or in that which is to come, I shall discover that what is
now regarded as a calamity is a blessing. And if it appears a great calamity,
as it sure will be a great inconvenience, to be deprived of my arm, it will
result in a greater blessing. I can wait until God, in his own time, shall make
known to me the object He has in thus afflicting me. But why should I not
rather rejoice in it as a blessing, and not look on it as a calamity at all? If
it were in my power to replace my arm, I would not dare to do it, unless I know
it was the will of my Heavenly Father.”
Stonewall Jackson was a Christian
Presbyterian, a deacon in the Presbyterian church back in Lexington, Virginia.
He had learned the Shorter Catechism in his married life, repeating it word for
word to his beloved wife, one Sabbath afternoon. And, he lived an outstanding
Christian life in peace and in war.
It was said that just before his death
on Sunday, May 10, 1863, he uttered the last sentence on this side of
glory, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”
His wife, Mary Anna, said, knowing him intimately, “Was he reaching forward
across the river of death, to the golden streets of the Celestial City, and the
trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations? It was to these that God
was bringing him, through his last battle and victory; and under their shade he
walks, with the blessed company of the redeemed.”
No comments:
Post a Comment